by Ben Alderson
Before I could ask any more Nyah spoke up.
I need to leave you now, Nyah said gently. Give me time and watch the seas. I promise we will get to you soon.
You always are good at fulfilling promises, I thought. I have a final question.
You want to know about Princey?
I broke the orb that imprisoned his soul. Gallion instructed me to do so, but I can’t imag—
Zacriah, do not worry. Hadrian will see you soon, and if you let me go, he will see you even sooner.
In that moment my heart could have stopped. I had no words, even breathing was hard. Hadrian was fine. Hadrian is fine, I told myself over and over. Hadrian was coming.
I imagined his face, his smell. The way his right cheek dimpled when he smiled.
The memories were as bright as the sun that had begun setting in the distance and blushing the sky with a pale pink glow.
Will you watch out for me?
Until the end of time, I replied.
STORM CLOUDS FLOATED on the horizon, dark portentous beasts that moved in our direction and we in theirs. It started as a rustle in the winds. It woke me up before the sun had lifted into the sky. The rhythm of the boat changed enough to disturb me. Peering over the railing, knuckles white with worry, I watched the storm crawl closer.
Latching onto the winds I sensed its anger. It was like nothing I had felt through my magick before. It was raw, natural, and fierce. It caused the waves to rush over one another, crashing in bursts of white foam. The mast screamed, and the wood frame of the ship groaned with each slamming of wind.
I scanned the ships surface and saw no one else. Those in the pit of the ship guided us blindly into the storm. Or did they know? Was this their act of rebellion, to destroy us so we never reached Morgatis?
But where was Marthil? I couldn’t place why the storm worried me, but something didn’t seem right. It was hungry. Ready to devour.
“Marthil!” I shouted, running down the staircase and into the sleeping quarters. I found her room quickly. It was the only door closed in the entire corridor. Not a spec of worry surrounded me with fetching her. Not when the storm above was far greater of a threat. “You need to get up.”
Her door was locked firm in place. I tried everything to push it open, but it wouldn’t budge. Something heavy creaked above me, silencing me for a moment. Then I heard the gentle patter of rain. It was closing in, and fast.
“Marthil.” I slammed my hands against the door, then my forearms. “If you don’t open this door, I’ll take it down.”
Even saying it stirred my power. The Dragori within me needed a release. It had the strength and more to take this door down. I gave Marthil a moment to answer, but she said nothing.
Taking a deep breath, I willed my shift. Wings flexed in the narrowed corridor as I readied myself. I stood back, giving me enough space for a run up to the door.
“Keep away from the door,” I shouted a final time, hoping she would hear me.
I ran. Shoulder first I crashed into the door, breaking through it without much effort. I was a mess of broken wood and leathered wings for a moment until everything settled, and I stood in the middle of Marthil’s room.
She was in the bed, nothing more than a lump beneath the sheets. Marthil didn’t stir in response to my brash arrival.
“We are moments away from being battered by a storm!” I shouted, kicking a piece of wood that rested on the carpeted flooring. “Trust me, I wouldn’t be doing this. But we are going into… Marthil?”
I reached for the sheet, pulling it back to reveal the girl. Marthil was ashen, lips pale and eyes rimmed in black. Then I noticed the smell. Sick coated the side of the bedding next to her, some stuck in her hair and the rest dribbled off the cot onto the flooring.
In any other scenario I would have reveled in her dimes, but with a storm brewing I needed all the help.
“What is going on?” I asked, shying away from the puddle of sick.
She groaned, eyes fluttering shut as she fought sleep off.
“You need to get up, I am being serio—”
Thunder rumbled outside, interrupting my panicked plea. It was so loud it shook the ship. Like the roar of a wild bear it crashed on, slowly teetering off to silence again. I hoped that got Marthil’s attention, but as I looked back to her she was already fading off into unconsciousness.
I tried shaking her, but she didn’t even have the energy to push me off. I had heard of sickness on the seas before from Fa’s many stories and could only guess this was what it was. But there was a niggling in the back of my mind that suggested otherwise.
“I’m going to regret this,” I said to myself, turning for the door and running as fast as my legs could take me. My Dragori form, although powerful, was heavy and slowed me down. Mid-stride I shifted back and picked up my pace.
I got to my room before the second bout of thunder crashed in the skies around me. Ignoring it, I moved for the black uniform. Picking the jacket, I put my hand into the inner pockets until my fingers grazed glass. The vial of Forbian.
Vial in hand, I ran back to Marthil’s room, my lungs burning by the time I reached her.
“Here,” I said, breathlessly. “If it helps heal a stab wound, I am sure it will work on sea sickness.”
Marthil didn’t show any signs of response, so I did what I had to do. Lifting her head from the dampened pillow, I felt just how hot her skin was. To the touch, it could have burned me. Her raven hair was slicked down to her forehead, clumped in thick stands of sweat and sick.
“You’re going to hate me for this.” I put two fingers on her lips and pulled her jaw open. Keeping them there I uncorked the vial with my teeth and tipped the entire contents into her waiting mouth. Once I was certain not a drop was wasted, I discarded the vial on the floor and closed her mouth. “Swallow up. I’m going to need you”
More thunder growled, agreeing with me.
Marthil scrunched her nose, her eyes still closed, and shook her head ever so slightly. If she spat this out I would have no other means of helping her. I wasn’t even certain this would help. But it was worth a go.
With my spare hand, I pinched her nose together then, to my relief, she gulped the liquid Forbian. Instantly her face relaxed and she sagged back onto the bed.
From the thunder and rough rocking of the ship I could tell we were gaining on the storm. And a loud gush of water echoed from somewhere up the hallway.
Just after the sixth crash of thunder, Marthil stirred to life. The usual lush tones of her skin returned and with it her anger.
“What’s going on?” Marthil growled, grimacing as she tried to sit up. Instinctively I jolted forward to help her, but she raised a hand to stop me. “Get off me!”
She pressed both hands to her head and screwed her eyes.
“That is not your head,” I said, sparing a worried glance to the hallway. “That is the storm that we are moments away from entering.”
Marthil looked at me, head tilted and eyes squinting in disbelief. Then a loud crack exploded somewhere above us. I screamed, dropping to a crouch which melded with Marthil’s scream of shock.
With my ears still ringing, I jumped up and beckoned for Marthil to follow. The Forbian was clearly working, but we had no more time to spare.
“Faster,” Marthil shouted behind me as we left the room.
Such a high dosage had provided her with the strength she needed. She didn’t look back to her normal self, but it would do.
I kept ahead, turning the sharp corners of the hallway towards the staircase to the main deck. As I turned the final corner, the ship jolted. Pain coursed up my side as I slammed into the wall. My stomach turned with the ship’s sudden movement. As my head stopped spinning I noticed my cold feet. The entire hallway was flooded with water. It cascaded down the staircase like an angry waterfall. Cold sprays hit my face as I waded through the inches of water towards the staircase. Marthil was right behind me, hand on my back as she pushed me on. But we bot
h stopped when we caught our look of the world beyond.
Winds raged on, dense clouds made the sky look like night. Water was everywhere. Rushing around the ships deck, splashing in towering waves that knocked against the ship.
“Get up there,” Marthil screamed over the storm, which laughed mockingly above us. She overtook me on the stairs, grabbing a hold of the slick railing and half pulling herself onto the deck. I followed suit, shielding my eyes from the lashing of rain.
As soon as I made it onto the top deck, I was drenched to the bone. My clothes clung to me, wet and cold.
Marthil was wading through the lashings of rain, but it was too dark to see where she was headed. I tried to follow but careened sideways as another wave slammed into the ships side. Slipping, my knees vibrated with agony as I hit the deck.
“Take my hand,” Marthil screamed above me. I looked up, hair covering my face in clumped strands, and saw her waiting hand. She’d come back for me. “Zacriah, we don’t have time. Take my hand and help me.”
Our wet hands clapped together. With a tug, she pulled me up and pointed towards the main mast. “I’m going to lower the mast. You batten down the hatches and stop the water from going into the lower decks.”
I nodded, turning from her towards the staircase again. I closed the large shutters over the open staircase as quickly as I could muster. The heavy wooden hatches covered it entirely and stopped the flow of water instantly. There wasn’t a bolt that I left untouched.
Marthil moved around the main mast, flapping her arms in panic. I joined her, ready to help when she passed me a large rope that disappeared far above.
“Pull,” she said. “I’m too weak.”
Even in the darkness I could see her tiredness marked across her face. Most of her color had returned, but the Forbian was not working as I hoped it would.
I wrapped the rope around my forearm and pulled as hard as I could. It pinched at my skin, but I tried to ignore it.
A flash of lightning blessed the dark, illuminating everything in stark light. It halted my attempts. Then another. Thunder sounded straight after, signaling the storms final arrival. It was here, right above us.
Frustration and fear bubbled through me. Marthil was suddenly by my side, taking more of the slack rope and pulling with me. It budged, but still the mast flapped wildly in the skies, dancing amongst the storm that controlled it.
As my anger peaked, another flash of light burst before me, followed by a loud cracking. Sparks rained down around us, a shower of fire. The lightning had struck the main mast post. I dropped the rope, falling backwards just as the post groaned and snapped. The storm taunted us, flashing more lightning across the skies so we could watch as the post teetered to the side and fell right towards us.
I closed my eyes, allowing the anger and power to explode across my body. Marthil screamed from somewhere beside me as she watched our end fall closer. Then, with a single breath, I lost control.
SILVER LIGHT EXPLODED from my very skin. It formed a dome shield and enveloped us just as the wooden post was seconds from crushing both Marthil and me. Palms raised to the winds, we watched the post break from the force of my protection and fall either side of it. No rain reached us inside of my shield, no wind, no noise.
Marthil looked at me, face white with horror. “Think you’re strong enough to take on a storm?”
I smiled, the Heart Magick now fully in control. It was euphoria, a strength I could get used to having. “There is only one way to find out.”
“Then save us because if I die, I swear to haunt you in this life and the next.” Marthil faced the storm that ravaged around us. “Hurry before it rips this ship to shreds and leaves us for the creatures of the ocean.”
I got off the floor, controlling the shield with no more than a thought. Clicking my neck and hands, I closed my eyes and breathed. Without using my vision, I could see the silver light thread through my body into the air around me. My threads. Power I could take, use and give back. This storm was made from air, and so was I.
I pushed out, forcing my shield to explode into the skies. My silver light smashed into the angry clouds and lit them from the outside in. The winds screamed in defiance, and I screamed back.
My threads of power filtered into the sky, wrapping around the natural winds that billowed throughout the storm. I didn’t stop until I leashed the storm, making it my own monster to command. The storm blended into my own blood, filling me with its emotion. I relaxed in control for a moment from the shock of this new strength. It filled me with elation. I felt like I could devour anything. I could turn this storm in any direction, urge it on more or end it with no more than a breath.
My blood was lightning.
My body was the billowing winds.
My mind was the hurricane.
Hands splayed to the skies I conjured the winds and turned them back on themselves. Clouds parted, and the thunder cowered. The lashing rains dwindled to no more than a light splatter, and the lightning hid from me in dread, cowering in the dark corners of the dissipating clouds.
My heart thundered in my throat; my blood pounded in my ears. More I pushed until not a sliver of cloud was left.
When the warm sun beat down on my face, I finally relaxed. I dropped my hands to my sides and raised my chin to the sky in relief. All at once my silver light scurried back into my body, sending a shockwave through me.
Light headed I faltered, legs betraying me. The entire boat shifted, and I fell. So much energy I’d expended, energy that surprised me. Every time I latched onto the Heart Magick I felt more in control. As if the limits of my magick were only expanding with each use.
Such a powerful creature, a voice said from the darkness in my mind. I sense your new power and how much you adore it. Remember, I gave it to you, and I can take it away just as easily.
***
“You stopped a storm. I’m impressed. And I am certain Gordex would be.”
“I don’t care for Gordex and his pride,” I said, throat hoarse.
Marthil winced. “Regardless, one day you will. I was willing to take a risk on you.”
The warmth of the Forbian flooded me. Its familiar kiss tugged on strength and banished the tiredness. My body fulfilled its craving. Marthil had given me another dosage as I sat on the edge of my cot.
“Get up, we have a mess to clean.”
“A thank you for saving your life would suffice, and if I’m strong enough to end the storm, why can’t you clean the mess yourself? Is your sea sickness that much of a demon?”
“You think I am weak because of sea sickness?” Marthil raised a brow in jest. “You really still do not know much about our kind, do you?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “Like you said, I stopped a wild storm. I think I have a pretty good grasp on the Dragori now.”
“Then you know your power comes from your element. I’m not near mine.”
Marthil gave away her weakness without more than a thought. Did she really believe I was no match for her?
“This entire ship is made from a product of earth. Surely you can take power from the wood?” I pushed on.
“You truly are stupid. Pray tell how I can take power from earth when my only supply is the product of a dead tree?”
“Well you are still up and about now,” I said.
“That is because you tipped an entire vial of Forbian down my throat. Once it wears off, I will be back in bed till we reach shore.”
“Which you have no idea when that will be because Gordex sent us on this boat with no direction or clue as to when we will arrive, let alone where in Morgatis this ship will land?”
Marthil opened her mouth but did not respond. She squinted at me, eyes laced with annoyance. She stood from her perch at the side of my bed and moved for the door.
“I have changed my mind,” she said with her back to me. “Don’t bother following to help me. I fear if I hear you speak again today I might be forced to throw you into the sea myself.”
“I can’t say I am not disappointed that the life-threatening experience we just shared together has not brought us closer,” I replied to her. “I’m starting to regret ever stopping the storm.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have.” Marthil shrugged her shoulders. “But you are too good. That is your weakness. That storm would have ended Gordex’s mission entirely, and you single handedly made sure that his plans were not ruined. Like I said, he would be so very proud of you.”
I remembered the voice that greeted me in the darkness after the storm. It had been Gordex. I recognized his gruff tones even without seeing him.
“Do not worry yourself on my behalf, Marthil. I’ve a certain feeling that Gordex’s mission could still falter yet. I suppose time will tell.”
She didn’t know of my communication with Nyah, and Gordex had clearly not sensed it either. Maybe being far from both Nyah and me meant Gordex lost his ability to sense when I spoke with Nyah.
“Better go up and get cleaning. From the look of you, I think you will be back in bed in a matter of hours,” I shouted after Marthil. When she was out of view I looked towards the door and raised a hand. A burst of wind pushed it closed, leaving me in my room alone.
I rolled over in my bunk, the feathered pillow folded around me like a cloud. Sleep was still needed.
Marthil had admitted it herself. I was strong, strong enough to absorb a storm. And she was weak. As long as she kept away from land, she was useless.
I banked on that knowledge for I was certain it would come in handy soon.
MARTHIL, AS I thought, retried to bed before sunset. I could hear her sluggish movement in the hallway beyond my own room. I didn’t get out of bed until her own door closed, and I waited a hundred breaths after that.
No longer did the lingering memory of the storm buzz throughout my blood. I felt awake, alert and in no need for more sleep. The Forbian Marthil had given me really worked in replenishing my energy.
This night would be a long one.
I forced myself to walk the ship and check the damage the storm had left us. The floors and bottoms of the interior walls were damp, stained from the water that leaked inside before I closed the hatches. All along the bottom of the walls dark patches of moisture had been left, causing the paint to peel and flake off onto the ruined floor.
