Wavebreaker

by A. J. Norfield

  The dragon lowered his head to give Raylan better access. In a moment of enlightenment, Raylan grabbed a long piece of rope that lay nearby before jumping back on. Galirras launched himself back into the air, barely giving Raylan time to grab the rope around his friend’s neck. Sebastian shouted in fright as he almost missed his grip around Raylan’s waist.

  In the distance, a thunderous rumble grew. From the air, Raylan saw the front of the wave roll into the city. People’s screams were swallowed up in the mass of water. Both Doskovian fireball ships toppled. One of them exploded as it was swallowed up by the sea, a fountain of seawater shooting up from the blast.

  Along the coast, the moving wall of water slammed into the cliffs and sprayed high above the land. The beaches were completely gone already, while trees near the coast were ripped from the ground, roots and all. In the distance, Raylan saw their group. Their horses were galloping madly, straight up the grassy hills, jumping over—or crashing through—any wooden fences they encountered along the way.

  Raylan did not have any more time to look. Following Sebastian’s directions, Galirras brought them straight to the little house with the round windows. The dragon crashed more than landed on the roof of a low building next to it.

  “They might not even be here,” said Raylan, hoping the opposite.

  But it fell on deaf ears. Without a moment’s hesitation, Sebastian jumped down, slid across the roof and fell into the tiny garden.

  “Seb, there’s no time,” Raylan called after him.

  The thunder of the ocean ravaging the land moved toward them from the harbor. The slush of water and debris pushed itself through the streets. Walls were swept away, roofs ripped open. There was no way Galirras could fight himself free of that rolling river of death.

  Elena ran out with Tobias in hand, who, despite the alarms, had been calmly playing in the back kitchen.

  “Seb? What’s all that noise? The alarms rang, so I took the kids home, but Lucas isn’t h—”

  Galirras clawed his way forward and swung his head low. Elena let out a scream that sent Tobias straight into a wailing fit. Sebastian took her by the shoulders and shook her desperately.

  “Elena, listen to me. Climb up now, or you and your son will die. Climb!”

  Galirras slid down as far as he could into the garden, but it was impossible to fit in more than his chest. Sebastian grabbed Tobias from his sister’s arms and half threw him up to Raylan. Elena’s mothering instinct kicked into overdrive and she immediately scrambled after her taken son. Raylan held on with one hand and pulled as hard he could to get the woman on Galirras’ back. The rush of water was so close now they could all feel the ground rumble.

  “Where’s Emi?” called Sebastian. Then Raylan noticed the girl standing in the back doorway.

  “Mommy? What is th—”

  The wave hit.

  Galirras pushed off. Raylan knew full well he was abandoning Sebastian and the little girl, but there was nothing any of them could do. Raylan saw Sebastian dive for the girl. His friend’s arms wrapped around her just before they both disappeared in a turmoil of brown, murky water that forced its way through the doors and windows.

  “Sebastian,” shouted Raylan.

  His hands moved in a blur as he looped the rope into a loose bowline while Elena clung to her son and the dragon, screaming. Beneath them the seawater rushed between the buildings. Trees, carts and those unlucky enough to have drowned were all carried with the wave.

  “Do you see them anywhere?” asked Raylan in Galirras’ head. “Do you?”

  The dragon landed on top of a higher building some ways down the street. Water already rushed past.

  “I cannot. I cannot see him,” said Galirras, whose eyes shot back and forth, the small sparkling vortexes within them spinning crazily.

  The dragon shot off a windblast, and another, but it had no effect on the massive amount of water.

  Suddenly, a voice called from below, barely noticeable above the creaking debris and thundering river that had taken possession of the streets.

  “Raaaaylan!”

  It had not even crossed his mind to jump toward Raylan and the others. Instead, Sebastian closed his arms around the little girl, who had made him laugh more in these last few days then in all his years as a slave. When he felt the rush of wind from behind, he knew it was too late. Galirras had taken off. He did not blame him, nor Raylan—who likely had nothing to say in the matter. The dragon merely wanted to keep Raylan safe. It was as natural a reaction as it was for Sebastian to jump toward his niece. He had just found his family again, and they were worth protecting.

  Emily’s scream was swallowed up by the wall of water that smashed into the house in a spray of salty foam. The world disappeared in a dark, wet turmoil that crushed the air from Sebastian's lungs. He felt the little girl panic in his arms, struggle in his grip, but he dared not let go lest she disappear forever.

  Something smashed into his back. He had no idea whether it hit him, or he hit it, but it knocked the remaining air stored in his lungs right out of him. A large gulp of water forced its way inside. He quickly swallowed to prevent it from going into his lungs. His teeth creaked from the sand between them. He moved his arm and legs around, trying to determine which way was up. Internally, he screamed Galirras’ name, knowing full well they did not share the same bond as Raylan had with the dragon.

  With rising panic, Sebastian suddenly noticed that his niece hung limp in his arms. He opened his eyes, but visibility was too low to make out anything. The water stung his eyes, like a hundred pins were jammed into them at the same time. He was forced to close them again as he continued to tumble with the strong flow of water and debris. His lungs burned for air. If he did not surface soon he would fail his sister miserably. He would fail his niece, not to mention himself.

  Sebastian’s mind turned his panic into anger. He did not escape the Stone King’s slave mines to give up so easily. He did not forsake his friends back in the tree village only to die in his hometown. And he certainly was not going to let his niece slip away in his arms.

  I will not stand for it!

  Then his feet found solid ground. A strange wave pattern; he felt it under his soft boots, which could only mean one thing.

  A roof. It’s a roof!

  He pushed off as hard as he could in the direction he hoped was up. He screamed an airless scream as he willed the water out of his way. It was still unexpected to see the blue sky pop up from the darkness. He quickly sucked in a breath before a wave overtook his head again. But he was at the surface now. He kicked his feet like a madman to keep his head above water, desperately trying to pull his niece higher in the process. Sebastian was able to grab the corner of a two-story building and coughed heavily. As soon as his throat allowed it, he screamed.

  “Raaaaylan!”

  He felt his fingers slip. A tree trunk came out of nowhere and slammed into the wall, barely missing his hand. On it sat a frightened cat, claws dug deeply into the bark of the tree. Time slowed as Sebastian’s eyes met those of the frightened animal. The tree slowly turned and slid off with the flow of water.

  Above him, something smashed into the top roof. It thrashed around as it tried to regain its balance. Roof tiles fell, splashing all around Sebastian. Galirras’ head swung over the edge of the roof.

  “I cannot get to him,” rumbled the dragon nervously. “Hold on, Seb. Just hold on.”

  Galirras scrambled off to find a better angle.

  “I can’t,” Sebastian half coughed as another splash of water forced its way into his lungs.

  The pull on his legs was too strong to fight. He felt the water drag his niece further away from his grasp. Only three fingers held on, but this was not a battle he could win. He heard his nephew cry and his sister’s voice scream—not in fear for the dragon anymore, but in encouragement. For him, her brother, and her child.

  Raylan’s voice carried down. The words carved into Sebastian's mind, though he could barely
understand his friend through the screams of his sister and nephew.

  “Let go and grab the rope,” shouted the voice from above.

  Sebastian tried to look behind him, but the current was too strong to see anything. Water kept washing over his face. If he let go, that was it. He would not be quick enough to grab something else. They would be carried away. Sucked underwater again. His fingers were cold and cramped. They would not hold on much longer.

  “Behind you,” screamed Raylan again.

  “I can’t see it!”

  The warning from above came at the same time Sebastian noticed the danger himself.

  “A cart. Watch out,” trumpeted Galirras.

  A wagon headed straight for Sebastian, pushed forward by a wall of debris behind it. It was now or never.

  Sebastian pushed away from the wall and spun around. For a frightful moment, he could not see anything but brown murky waves and floating rubble. Then he spotted the rope—just in time. He kicked his legs violently and threw his free arm and head through the loop that dangled just above the water’s surface. He grabbed the limp body of his niece with both hands as the noose around him tightened. The rope cut sharply into his shoulder and neck, his healed wound complaining against the pressure.

  His body felt heavy as the water dropped away below him. His clothes stuck to his skin, wet and cold. The shocks and jolts of Galirras’ beating wings swung the rope dangerously back and forth. The dragon struggled under the added weight and his exhaustion.

  Sebastian pulled the young girl in his hands closer and wrapped his legs around her. Her body hung limp in his arms, like a doll. His fingers tingled from the rope’s pressure in his armpit, but he clenched his teeth against the pain and strengthened his resolve to keep a firm grip on Emily.

  As they ascended and Galirras set a course for the castle’s highest level, Sebastian witnessed the devastation that stretched beneath him. The lowest parts of the city were completely flooded. Around the harbor, most of the houses and buildings were completely gone. Fishing boats lay on rooftops, or had crashed through walls. The water still moved inland and up the river. But as it claimed more of the city’s streets, the ocean’s flow slowed down—as if the water had decided that simply flooding everything would be enough for now.

  In the streets, drowned humans and livestock floated. Other people stood on the roofs of higher buildings, fearful looks in their eyes as they wondered whether the water would continue to rise. Beyond the city’s borders, the freak wave had overtaken large parts of the lower land. Their encampment was not there anymore, just a dark tongue of water that licked the rolling hills miles from the coast. Sebastian saw people in the distance, some on horses, but it was too far to see who they were.

  The city disappeared from sight as the castle walls rushed under him. Galirras did his best to land softly, but he could barely keep himself from smashing into the stone plaza. Raylan released the rope as Sebastian’s back scraped along the ground, ripping his clothes. The momentum made him tumble sideways, unable to easily stop with his niece still in his arms.

  Once the world stopped moving, Sebastian carefully opened his arms, which were cut and bruised from the stones, as were his legs. He looked down at the little girl. She was awfully white, with deep blue lips.

  Raylan jumped from Galirras’ back, helped Elena and her son down then rushed over to Sebastian.

  “Seb, are you okay?”

  But Sebastian did not hear him.

  “She’s not breathing. Help her,” begged his friend. Raylan dropped to his knees and took the girl from Sebastian.

  “She took too much water inside. The air can’t get in,” said Raylan, lying the girl flat on the ground. “We need to get the water out. Now.”

  Elena dropped to her knees, wailing.

  “My girl. Save her. Please, save my girl. Please.”

  Raylan felt with his hands along her stomach and ribs, placed them on top of each other and pushed down as hard as he dared. He had seen it twice during his voyages out at sea; men brought back from the brink of death after they fell in the water. He knew what to do—pump the water from the chest—but had never actually done it before. And he certainly did not want to break the girl’s ribs. But if he did not force the water out…

  A gulp of water flowed from her mouth. More. There’s still more in there.

  Raylan pushed again, then turned the girl onto her side to let the water flow out.

  “She needs air,” said Raylan inside Galirras’ mind. “The water is coming out, but no air is going in.”

  “Step aside,” spoke the exhausted dragon. He dragged himself back to his feet and moved closer to the girl and Raylan. “Let me.”

  Raylan moved back a little to give Galirras space. The dragon towered above the girl’s tiny, lifeless body.

  “Gently, now. We don’t want to break anything inside her,” added Raylan privately.

  Galirras brought his head forward until it was mere inches away from the girl’s face. Elena shot forward, but Sebastian caught her just in time.

  “What’s it doing? Stay away from my girl. Don’t you eat her, you hear me? Don’t you dare hurt her,” she screamed.

  “Elena, stop! He’s trying to save her,” shushed her brother.

  Galirras carefully breathed out, guiding the air into the girl’s nostrils with his wind manipulation. Raylan saw the child’s chest slowly rise.

  “Now press,” spoke Galirras.

  Raylan gave a light, short press, then pushed Emily’s chest down again with a heavier second push.

  “Again,” urged Raylan. “We have to jolt the body awake. Remind it how to live.”

  Galirras breathed again, slightly longer this time, before Raylan repeated his own pattern. Behind them, Elena cried in Sebastian’s arms. Tobias clung to his mother’s leg, unable to make sense of everything that was going on. His crying had given way to intense staring at his older sister, who lay motionless on the ground.

  “Again,” growled Raylan.

  Galirras blew in faster now that he had a sense of how much the small girl’s chest could hold. Raylan applied pressure once more. Suddenly, the girl coughed, and water sprayed from her mouth.

  Quickly, Raylan turned her on her side again. Elena shouted in relief and fell next to her daughter to help her. The girl coughed and vomited water once more before drawing a deep breath, then started to cry. She grabbed her mother’s dress and tried to disappear into it. Raylan looked up to see tears running down Sebastian’s smiling face.

  “Thank you,” said his emotional friend. “You too, Galirras. I thank you with all my heart.”

  Raylan looked around. The entire plaza was full of people who had sought higher ground to escape the oncoming water. A man suddenly pushed through the crowd gathered around them.

  “Elena? Is that you? Elena!”

  Elena’s husband ran over and put his arms around her.

  “You’re safe. I can’t belief you’re safe. Come here, Tobias. Thank god you’re all safe,” cried the man.

  Raylan was looking at the wall when Sebastian came over, obviously not wishing to intrude on his sister’s reunion with her husband.

  “What is it?” Sebastian asked.

  “There are bound to be more people out there who need help,” said Raylan.

  Immediately, Galirras stepped forward and offered him his front leg.

  “You had better climb on, then.”

  “No, you can’t,” said Raylan. “You’re nearly collapsing as it is.”

  “I still have a few more flights left in me today,” rumbled Galirras, though Raylan heard the fatigue in his winged friend’s voice. “There may be others who can still be saved.”

  In the end, both Raylan and Galirras worked far into the night. They scouted from the air, looking for those in direst need of help. Galirras ripped open buildings to free those trapped inside. At other times, Raylan tied the long rope around Galirras’ neck to lower himself down and pull people from the water. It
was far past the moon's highest point before Sebastian eventually convinced them to rest lest their exhaustion lead to a fatal mistake.

  Lord Algirio had ordered the city guards to bring any wounded to the highest square. It was one of the few places in the city the water had never reached. Some parts of the city on the northern river shore had been spared as well, protected slightly by the cliffs. The rest of the city was barely recognizable.

  After the first, two more waves had forced their way inland, though neither as strongly as the original one. The Doskovian forces—ghol’ms and all—were swept away in the flood. Unfortunately, it seemed like many of their own forces had been taken by surprise as well.

  When morning came and the water finally retreated, the full extent of the devastation became visible. The remains of those who had perished hung on broken walls and lay scattered throughout the streets. Others had drifted out to sea, following in the wake of the retreating water. Hundreds of lives lost, and many were still unaccounted for. Houses had crumbled; trees and wood stuck out of windows and doorways. And though the water had extinguished all the fires, the entire city was now covered in a thick layer of mud, seaweed and shells. In every corner, fish lay dead or dying, and on their second day of looking for survivors Galirras had even spotted a shar’ac as the large, swimming predator slowly made its way down one of the streets back to the ocean.

  Constant patrols walked through the devastated streets. They did not find many enemies alive, and those who were fought to the death. A few ghol’ms were encountered, but most of them were broken or stuck, so disposing of them was not really a problem.

  Now, on the fourth day, Raylan stood on the high-level ramparts and silently watched the ruins of the city below. It had been another long night. Rescue efforts were still in full progress, with every able hand helping to clear the debris and rubble in the hope of finding people still alive.

  Next to him stood Xi’Lao. Their group had made it out just in time, together with a good number of the city guards. They had pushed their horses to the limit as they tried to stay ahead of the wave. There were some close calls, but eventually they were able to stop on top of a large hill a few miles inland. When the water receded, they wasted no time in getting back to the city to see what was left.