Raylan was surprised the entire city was not one big war zone. Each time he had seen battle, he had always been in the middle of the action, but this attack was on a much different scale. By underestimating Galirras’ presence, the Doskovian soldiers now found themselves forced into a ground battle instead of the intended chaos they had wished to unleash. It made it much more difficult for them to control a large part of the city.
Still, the number of ghol’ms on the shore was worrisome. And Raylan was certain there were still a few of the stone giants tramping along the city streets after surviving the airship crashes. Many more innocents would die before they could call themselves victors. If they could call themselves victors.
“Do you know where Captain Whitflow is? We need to send reinforcements to the beach. They’re getting pummeled down there,” said Raylan to Sebastian as the healer did his work.
“He left to do just that. The horseback units were sent first—being the quickest—but smaller squads are now on their way. To defend the streets and help down at the beach. They’re supplied with metal chains and heavy war hammers—just like you said.”
When the healer was done, Galirras hopped off toward a fountain to quench his thirst. He moved a bit better now the arrow was gone. He plunged his head in the water and started to drink.
But he had barely taken a sip when he raised his head again.
“Do you feel that?” said the dragon.
“Feel what?” asked Raylan.
Both men stared at Galirras with puzzled looks as the dragon stretched his long neck to scan their surroundings. Raylan looked around. In the distance, a large column of smoke rose toward the sky. On the plaza, soldiers were gearing up to go into the city, and a cart with supplies was being pulled by two large horses. But Galirras was not paying attention to any of them.
Then a slight vibration traveled through the ground. Raylan felt it through his feet as it grew stronger. It was as though the world briefly shuddered beneath them, but it was gone before he or Sebastian had time to fully become aware of it. On the other side of the river, a flock of birds took to the sky. Down in the furthest corners of the city—those parts still untouched by the fighting—stray dogs barked at nothing.
“What was that?” said Raylan.
Galirras, who stood on his hind legs to see even further, dropped back down. He swung his head around.
“I do not know. It seems to have gone now.”
“Could it be the ghol’ms? Are they attacking the castle already?” asked Sebastian, worried.
“I certainly hope not,” said Raylan, feeling the blood drain from his face at the thought of how many soldiers the ghol’ms would have plowed through if that were the case.
They saw others look around, uncertain, but everything seemed calm in the vicinity. The fighting was still confined to the outskirts of the city. Then something caught Galirras’ eye down in the harbor.
“What is happening with the water?” rumbled the dragon.
Raylan pushed off the rampart with his arms and stretched his neck to get a better look.
“You mean the boarding parties trying to take over the fireball ship?” he asked.
He saw heavy fighting taking place on the first deck, while additional Azurna soldiers were still trying to board the second ship.
“No, there. Where the dark goes into light water.”
Sebastian climbed on top of the rampart to see. Raylan quickly followed his example.
“What do you mean, Galirras? That white stuff?” asked Sebastian. “That’s just the churning of the river water meeting the ocean.”
“It was not there before.”
Raylan surveyed the river and both shores. He had seen all kinds of different waters during his days of sailing—it could do incredible things. It was not uncommon for some of the more superstitious sailors to believe the water had a life of its own.
“I think Galirras is right. There’s something off. The river’s flowing faster—just look at the shores, and the water in the harbor. It—it’s falling.”
In the harbor, ships swayed back and forth in the rushing water. The sound of stretching landlines crackled through the air as the water level dropped even further at an ever-increasing rate. Already, a tiny fishing boat hung a few feet above the water, until one of its lines snapped and the boat crashed down on one side, cracking its hull against the stone dock.
“The ocean. It’s retreating,” said Sebastian, astounded.
“And the river water can’t keep up,” added Raylan. “What’s going on? It’s not even low tide yet.”
The water was so low now that two of the larger merchant ships near the docks—one of them on fire—now rested with their hulls on the ground, leaning against the pier.
“Look, the fireball ships have also run aground,” said Galirras.
The ship that had not yet been boarded hung dangerously to one side. It barely managed to stay upright as the keel sank deep into the harbor’s silty ground.
“Are you sure this isn’t the ghol’ms’ doing?” wondered Sebastian.
Raylan shook his head.
“No, it wouldn't make sense. What would they do? Carry water with their bare hands? Something else must be going on—and I intend to find out what. Can you fly, Galirras?”
“I will manage,” assured the dragon.
Raylan jumped from the highest part of the rampart onto Galirras’ back. The dragon shifted back and forth to let Raylan settle down, but did not attempt to launch into the air just yet.
“What’s wrong?” asked Sebastian, watching them linger.
Raylan stretched out his hand as Galirras turned his head. Raylan smiled. Sometimes they did not even need to share a mind to have the same thoughts.
“Are you coming or not?” said their two voices in unison.
“You’ve done all you can here, so let’s stay together,” added Raylan. “We can use an extra set of eyes up there.”
Sebastian’s puzzled look transitioned into a surprised grin. He jumped up the rampart, took a few steps and climbed up behind Raylan.
“Won’t we be too heavy?” said Sebastian as an afterthought.
“Not like this. Just hold on to me,” said Raylan. He firmly grasped the strap around Galirras’ neck and clamped his legs together in anticipation of Galirras’ next move.
“Go.”
Galirras pushed off gently and dove off the rampart. Raylan felt Sebastian’s grip around his waist tighten, but his friend did not scream. The castle wall was not very high here, but gave the dragon plenty of time to snap open his wings. They felt the wind catch under them as their short fall transitioned into a glide.
The brief rest had done Galirras good. He beat his wings, applying his power to the wind to push them up. Within moments, they flew low over the rooftops.
Everywhere below, skirmishes took place in the streets. A ghol’m thrashed around and hit straight through a wall as it tried to squash its next victim. Raylan knew Galirras wanted to help, but there was no way he would be able to muster up enough power for a storm ball. For now, the city’s soldiers were on their own. The last of the houses dropped away behind them while the dragon made certain to stay clear of enemy archers.
They exited the harbor and stared down in disbelief. From Galirras’ back, they saw right down to the ocean floor, both in the harbor and offshore. The river itself had decreased to a slightly smaller but fast-running stream. Raylan spotted soldiers marching through ankle-deep water to get to the two stranded fireball vessels. They kept slipping in the wet, silty ground.
On one of the merchant ships, the entire crew hung over the railing to keep an eye out for attackers. They all had knives, swords and bows at the ready.
A moment later the ship abruptly shifted. An angry scream rose from the captain on deck. The large, double-masted ship keeled over. Wood cracked and iron groaned as the ship landed on its side. Men screamed as crates, barrels and other cargo slid across the ship’s deck and crashed into them
. Some were knocked around quite severely, but Raylan was glad to see that none of the men had used up their sailor’s luck just yet.
“What could do this?” Sebastian called out against the wind. The former slave had finally found his voice again now that he was accustomed to Galirras’ movements.
“I don’t know, but look how far it goes,” Raylan replied.
The entire coastline of Aeterra—for as far as their eyes could see—lay dry. Pools of shallow water held schools of fish; crabs quickly dug into the silt to hide themselves, while thousands of shells sparkled in the lowering sun. Seagulls and other water birds flocked together to feast on all that remained visible on the dry ocean floor between the stranded boats.
Raylan saw three of the enemy ships had not even made it to shore yet. They were now stranded, just like all the others. Within the city, people simply stared at the strange event. Around them, the dark columns of smoke were a strong contrast against the mostly white and colored buildings.
“Look—those must be Brenton’s ships,” shouted Raylan, pointing down.
“The Talkarian merchant you met in the bar?” asked Sebastian.
“Talkarian prince actually, so it would seem. See? They carry Tal’Kabur’s flag.”
“Looks like they are about to have company, too,” said Galirras.
Two of Brenton’s ships leaned against one another on the dry ocean floor, their masts crossed like a pair of sword-fighting knights. A third lay with its belly wet in a pond of seawater barely big enough to surround the ship. Not far from them all were two Doskovian black sails, run aground.
Without the ability to get to shore easily, the Doskovian soldiers were now on their way to the closest action they could get. The Talkarian crews had pulled out their own weapons and nervously waited in anticipation of the fight. But who would make the first move? Raylan feared it was the ghol’m that was slowly but surely making its way across the slippery ocean floor.
Raylan tapped Galirras’ neck.
“Let’s keep going. I have a feeling we need to know what this is.”
“Look at that,” said Sebastian as they flew further from the coast.
Below them, the sandy ocean floor abruptly dropped off into the deep. Dark sea water churned and splashed against the exposed ocean wall. Raylan looked back at Azurna and the ships.
“We’re about a mile out,” he yelled back to Sebastian. “I think that’s just the normal ocean drop-off; where the shallow coast meets the deeper ocean. See all those underwater plants on those rocks? Question is, where did all the water go?”
He had never seen anything like it. They banked left and flew parallel to the natural divide between sand and water.
“The water looks so calm out there,” said Galirras.
“Well, not down here,” remarked Sebastian, looking directly beneath them.
“He’s right. Just look at how the water crashes into the reef wall,” said Raylan.
The ocean below waved sluggishly, an unstoppable force that slammed into the exposed coral and water vegetation.
“Even the tiniest of waves just keeps pushing,” spoke Galirras out loud. “They must have a lot of water behind them.”
“You have no idea,” called Raylan back. “Ships are nothing more than play toys if the ocean gets going.”
“I don’t think we’re going to find anything out here,” yelled Sebastian. “Shouldn’t we get back to the fighting?”
Raylan looked out across the sea. The sky was clear; no storm was brewing. The wind was calm and there were barely any waves. It made the ocean floor cutoff look even more surreal.
“I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right. Besides, we just got here. Let’s do one more pass before we go back.”
Raylan tapped Galirras on the neck again. The dragon immediately made a wide turn back toward where they came from.
“Little one, I know you don’t really like to, but can you fly lower to the water? I want to have a closer look at that reef wall. Maybe we’ll see something that explains all of this.”
Without a word, Galirras slowly glided toward the water’s surface, making sure he still had the strength to rise back up. Raylan knew he had not forgotten the terrifying moments where he nearly drowned off the Dark Continent’s coast. Fortunately, the water looked calm enough, and he had enough room for his wings to keep moving.
Raylan was amazed to see they flew under the top edge of the reef wall. Water splashed upward with every wave, but it had receded so much he could barely see Azurna over the exposed ocean ledge. He watched the different colored corals and plants, but saw nothing that explained where the water had gone.
Sebastian suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Up! Up! Galirras, up!”
Raylan jerked around. A huge wave was right upon them. It was not a white foaming wave like one would see on the beach, but more a tower of water. Had they not been as low as they were, it might not even have looked dangerous. Yet now it felt as if they flew between two walls that were about to collide. With great effort, Galirras pushed himself up. Raylan felt the gush of wind from Galirras’ power launch them upward, followed not a heartbeat later by the full spray of water as the wave slammed into the ocean drop-off. It soaked them from head to toe. Galirras shuddered from the sudden cold, but continued to climb to safer heights.
Beneath them, the wave flowed over the silted sand. It looked like a melted, watery hand that tried to claw its way out of the dark depths. The water stopped for the briefest of moments before a new wave pushed forward, this one even higher than the first. It did not take anything else for Raylan to understand the danger.
“Go, Galirras, go! Back to shore as fast as you can. We must warn everyone. The water. It’s coming back,” he yelled.
With his gained altitude, Galirras stooped into a dive to gain as much speed as possible. The dragon’s wings beat heavily, aided by his wind power on every push.
“Don’t mind us. Go as fast as you can,” pressed Raylan privately into the dragon’s mind. He grabbed Sebastian’s arms as tightly as he could as he held on for his own dear life. Galirras’ breath rasped in and out of his throat.
Raylan’s eyes watered from the wind that rushed past his face. He dared to watch over his shoulder and saw a swell of water blow past the drop-off.
They passed the Talkarian ships. The ghol’m had punched a hole in the side of the nearest ship, while the deck and ocean floor crawled with sailors and soldiers tied together in a fight to the death.
“The water’s coming back,” screamed Raylan at the top of his lungs, but he had no time to see if any of them heard it.
He pinched Sebastian’s arm and yelled, “The coastal cliffs might slow it down a little, but not much. We need to warn the others to seek higher land, or they won’t make it.”
“What about the city?” Sebastian called out.
“Maybe the castle’s upper level is high enough, but the harbor and old town…”
Raylan dared not even think about it.
“Raylan, my sister…the kids,” said Sebastian.
It was like someone stabbed a burning poker into Raylan’s heart. He could only nod and press his thoughts to Galirras.
“Faster, Galirras. Like the wind.”
Chapter 15
Devastation
“The sea is coming! Seek higher ground!”
Galirras bellowed the words with such might they echoed in Raylan’s head as the dragon trumpeted his call vocally and mentally. The people still near the harbor were all busy putting out fires. As Galirras flew past the harbor’s first buildings, Raylan saw the confused looks they gave. Not all of them understood what had just happened; some did not even understand that the dragon’s sounds were actually spoken words.
“Rogue wave!” Raylan called down in an attempt to help.
But all he saw were people looking up in fear of the large, winged shadow that shot through the sky. Their warning failed and only added to the confusion in the
city streets, until those who had been watching the battle on the boats saw the water ram into the stranded ships. A collective realization settled in as Galirras’ words sparked the fight-or-flight parts of people’s brains. Shouts and screams reached the coast as sailors and soldiers alike were swallowed up by the water near the Talkarian merchant ships. The two entangled ships vanished under a blanket of water.
Galirras leaned forward and slid to a halt near their squad on the back end of the beach.
Raylan let out a sigh of relief when he counted the entire team present. Most were still on horseback; a few stood with reins in hand, trying to keep the horses calm. From the looks of it, they had been able to take down two ghol’ms, but at a heavy price. The beach lay littered with the dead and further along guards were still tied up in heavy battle.
Without delay, Raylan jumped to the ground as Galirras stood panting to catch his breath.
“Raylan, where have you been? We’re getting slaughtered here,” Ca’lek called out.
Next to the dark-skinned scout, Kevhin had his hands full with his mare, which was on the brink of blind panic.
“What’s gotten into you?” the archer exclaimed, annoyed with the horse.
“Get on that horse and go. All of you. Right now,” screamed Raylan. “Ride for higher ground. The sea is coming!”
Rohan look at him strangely. In his eyes, Raylan no doubt looked like a madman, completely soaked and dirty from the seawater, screaming and rambling insanely.
“What are you talking about?” asked Kevhin as he gritted his teeth and fought to keep hold of the reins.
Galirras snorted and stepped forward, spread his wings and roared his thoughts toward them. Sebastian screamed as he almost tumbled off.
“DO IT!” boomed the dragon.
Not a soul dared question the command. The sound awakened a primal fear buried deep in every human’s core. Even the city’s soldiers locked in combat turned around and fled.
No longer fighting to restrain their horses, Raylan’s squad members jumped in the saddle and let them run. The frightened horses did not need to be told where to flee—they knew very well what was coming.
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