Charlotte grabbed one of the medic supply bags they’d brought from Obfuselt. “Just in case we’re boarded. Who do you suppose they are? Is this a random attack, or are they after us specifically?”
Jules shrugged. “Who knew we were on Solerin?”
“The Special Operations Guild on Obfuselt and The Council of Gardeners on Solerin,” Natalie answered, swallowing. The motion of the boat combined with her anxiety threatened to overwhelm her poor stomach entirely.
Em frowned. “I don’t see either of those people betraying—”
A loud thunk and four clinks of well-oiled metal interrupted her. One of the lower deck hands had just closed the door to the upper deck, well-reinforced with Obfuseltan steel and locked with four deadbolts.
“Whoever betrayed us, miss, it doesn’t matter. They will not get through that door in a thousand—”
The world exploded.
What happened? Where am I? Natalie coughed out seawater, gagging. Well, it would seem I’m in the Sionainne Ocean. I can’t hear a thing.
She wiped her eyes, trying and failing to blink away the sting of salt. Burning planks of wood floated around her. The boat. Where was the boat? Spinning in the water, she turned in time to witness the bow of the ship sinking beneath the water’s surface.
She thrashed toward the nearest object in the water. Her water-logged boots threatened to pull her to the same fate as the boat. She reached under the water and tore at them with her fingernails. The laces held fast, swollen with salt water. She spewed out a long string of curses.
Grabbing a floating plank, she rested an arm on it and kicked as best she could toward the first person she saw. The first body she reached was already dead, judging by the head trauma. Her shaking fingers pressed against his throat, feeling for a pulse to double-check. The water itself seemed to pull her down as she turned to swim onward when she couldn’t find one.
The next person she found was Anli sifting through the wreckage, panic etched on her face. Anli saw her approaching and her mouth moved. Oh, Goddess, Em. She’s worried about Em. Goddess damn it, why can’t I hear anything yet? But her Healer’s mind knew that the ringing in her ears might last a few hours.
Using hand signals, they worked out that Anli would search one half of the wreckage while Natalie would search the other.
Natalie pushed toward her half, praying she had the strength to find the survivors and make it to shore. From the water, Ismereld’s shoreline looked forever away. Ismereld: the place where she desperately longed to return, but her heart knew that somehow they all still needed to get to Obfuselt. To Ebenos Point Keep. Someone had to be warned … someone had to find the mages and start putting the Isles back together.
She spotted a familiar-looking face, dark cords of hair floating around the unusually pale face like seaweed. A vision of her bother, Aaron, sprawled on his back, unconscious from a fall from an apple tree sprung into her mind. The same panic that seized her when she was thirteen and was unable to help her injured brother seized her as she splashed through the water toward Onlo.
It was as her arms drew her through the water and she tried desperately to kick with her weighted down legs that her feelings for Onlo crystallized. Brother. He was the big brother she never had. He protected her, looked out for her. Comforted her when she woke up crying, taught her how to defend herself. No wonder she sought his comfort. Reaching his side, she pressed her fingers frantically to his throat. Good, he still had a pulse. Laying her hands on him, she reached down with her mind and could only find the tiniest bit of ley-line energy. Relying on that and her gut instincts, she concluded that Onlo was just unconscious. Using a floating bit of ship line, she tied him to a plank to keep him afloat.
To her right, she spotted a familiar dark head turning back and forth in the water, and grabbing her plank, swam toward it. Jules turned as soon as she reached him. She held her plank out for his hand. He grabbed the back of her neck instead and pulled her forehead to his.
Eyes widening in surprise, she admired the rainbows made by the crystals of salt on his eyelashes. “Why are you doing this?” Her words fell into the vast silence. She ran her hands through his wet hair. She didn’t need an answer now. This was enough. Being near him again was enough.
Jules opened his eyes and pulled his head back a fraction “Are you okay?” he mouthed.
She nodded. “You?”
He inclined his head, stroking her cheek.
She used sign language to communicate with him about searching for survivors; she would go in one direction and he the other. He showed his understanding, grabbed a nearby plank of his own.
Natalie turned in the water and kept swimming. Her thighs and lungs burning, she swore when a large chunk of debris collided with her head. Bracing her hands against the offending piece of wood, she tied a line from the ship to it and pulled it along to use it as a raft.
Spotting something white among the wreckage, Natalie swam for it. The closer she got, the faster she urged her tired limbs to move. Oh Goddess, it was Em’s scirpa. No. No no no no. Splashing over to her best friend, Natalie blanched at the amount of blood pooled around Em in the sea. Em was pale as a corpse and had a severe gash on her lower left arm. Only her scirpa caught on a piece of debris had stopped her from drowning.
Dammit, she needed a tourniquet. She tore a strip of cloth off Em’s shirt sleeve and tied it as tight as possible around Em’s upper arm. Hell in a kettle, couldn’t the ship have sunk closer to the ley lines so she could at least Name her to check for more injuries?
She had to get Em to shore where she could treat her for blood loss, or Em could lose the arm, or die from infection. Grabbing Em and reaching for her raft, which had drifted away when she tied the tourniquet, she swam while trying to keep Em afloat at the same time. Her head sunk beneath the surface several times and she coughed and choked, certain at least twice they’d both drown. Grabbing the raft with her nails, panting, she tied Em to it. Swimming to the other side, she jumped, pushing up on the raft in an attempt to get on. But like a stubborn horse, it dumped her back in the water. She screamed in frustration when she fell off for the fifth time. She collapsed on her back, chest heaving when she made it on the eighth.
Signal. She needed to tell to the others where she was. She reached over, grabbed the remains of Em’s white shirt and tugged it off her friend, mumbling an apology. Natalie levered herself to a precarious standing position. She forced her arm to wave the white object above her head. Shouting across the water as loud as her parched throat would allow, her ragged cries were the first thing she heard since fire tore apart her world.
Chapter 17
C
lawing her way up the beach, coughs racking her body, Natalie willed the muscles in her arms to pull the raft out of the water. Lifting her head to make sure Em was all the way on shore and out of reach of the tide, she lay back gasping for air, the blue sky and blazing sun blurring above her.
No. No, I can’t pass out. I need to loosen Em’s tourniquet or she’ll lose her arm. And we both need water. Turning over onto all fours, she shambled over to Em and tried to make her fingers undo the knot on the tourniquet. It was wet and her fingers wouldn’t obey her brain. She wanted to scream or pound something, but she had no energy left save the tears that spilled over. Her fingernails bled with the effort. The knot relented at last, and she re-tied it at the proper tension.
Sitting back on her heels, Natalie surveyed the beach. Where could she find fresh water? This was Ismereld. Despite being surrounded by salt water, there were usually freshwater sources not too far inland. Five willing, she could get to one before she passed out. Scanning the vegetation, she selected a dense area to head for, praying the greenery meant water, then pushed herself to her feet and staggered toward it.
She was in luck; she found a small pond of fresh water. Yanking a large, flat, heart-shaped leaf off a nearby heartfern, she folded it, knelt next to the water, and funneled the bliss
fully cool liquid into her mouth, careful not to splash a precious drop onto her face. She scooped water out of the pond again and again until her stomach threatened to burst. Pushing her way to her feet, every single muscle in her body protesting, she considered her surroundings, listened to her instincts, and set off into the forest.
Pushing branches and vines out of her way, she soon found a source of food—a large patch of larnberries. Picking as many as she could fit into two heartfern leaves, she folded these into a makeshift envelope which she tucked into her own shirt. She returned to the pond to wash the dark purple berry juice off her hands and to fill one last fern leaf and took water back to Em.
Rehydrate. Then Name her. Is anything else wrong? She listened to the energy of her home Isle. No, only the gash in her arm. I need sutures and a garlic poultice. Right. I’m sure they’ll just appear out of thin air.
“Nat, are you all right?” called a voice from far away.
She glanced over. The voice was Jules’s; he was nearby, coming out of the water with Charlotte. She nodded wearily. “I’m okay. Em is not.” Her voice sounded strange to her ringing ears. “Have you found anyone else? Or Jake?” Her heart clenched. Her beloved dog was a good swimmer, but if the explosion had killed him …
“Anli is on her way in with Onlo. He’s unconscious. A few of the crew are swimming in as well.”
Natalie nodded and informed them of Em’s condition. Charlotte dropped a wet leather bag next to her with a squelch. “I held onto it. The medic kit from Obfuselt.”
Natalie grabbed it. “You are amazing, thank you. Come, this will take at least two of us. But first, get water.” She gave them directions to the fresh water and then dug through the soaked supply bag for a suture kit. Natalie swore. They’d need to sterilize it. Fire. She needed to build a fire. Wait. Fire.
“Charlotte!”
“Yes?” Charlotte hastened back to the beach.
Natalie held the suture needle to her. “Can you use your fire to sterilize this?”
“I believe so.” Charlotte took the needle and sat still with the needle cupped in her hands. Natalie’s eyes widened as the needle glowed yellow and then bright orange. The light faded, leaving the needle gleaming in her palms. She picked the newly sterile needle up by one end and handed it to Natalie. “There you go.”
“Amazing. I need you to suture Em’s arm, since you’re the only one who—”
The princess froze. “Natalie, I’ve only ever sutured small wounds on Obfuselt, and that was before the mage training.”
Jules placed a hand on her shoulder. “Charlotte, you’ll do fine; we’ll walk you through it. With your mage power, you’ll be able to help stop infection. That’s why Natalie needs you.”
Bless Jules and his ability to build a students’ confidence. I should have realized when they were working together all those weeks in Ebenos Point Keep that that’s all he was doing. Working with a struggling student—and being one himself. I suspect my jealousy was unfounded. Ugh, how horribly I’ve treated everyone the last few weeks because of it. If we survive this, I’ll make it up to them all.
“Oh Goddess, Em!” Anli came running up the beach, having dropped Onlo, who was still unconscious, unceremoniously in the sand. Bending over her Em and stroking her hair, she peered at Jules. “Will she be okay?”
“She will be fine, but we must start right away. Charlotte, we need you to listen to Natalie right now. It’s what’s best for Em.”
Jules looked at Natalie, who snapped her jaw shut and turned to Charlotte, who was staring worriedly at Onlo. “Jules, could you please Heal Onlo while we tend to Em? Charlotte, let’s get started.”
Natalie and the princess knelt next to Em. “Before you start, I want you to practice accessing the ley lines. I know you have your mage Healing, but every little bit helps. Remember the drills we did on Obfuselt?”
Charlotte nodded.
“Good. Start there. Close your eyes. Breathe. Imagine you’re a tree with roots going right into Ismereld.”
Charlotte’s eyes widened. “Oh, my goodness,” she breathed. “It’s wonderful.”
“See,” Natalie teased, “you didn’t even have to finish the meditation. Now, just select one end of the wound. I will help hold it together. Focus on one bit at a time. I’ll loosen the tourniquet as we go, and I want you to use your mage fire to cauterize any bleeding or kill any infection you sense, okay?”
Charlotte nodded and dipped the needle into and out of Em’s wound. Tapping into the Isle’s magic herself, Natalie breathed and adjusted the wound to help Charlotte best. The muscles in her back and legs screamed at her, and the insides of her mouth felt wrinkled and dried. She dug deeper into the Isle and reached, trying to Heal her friend. Please, let me do everything I can to help her live and keep her arm.
Sweat poured down Charlotte’s face, and her hands shook as she neared the end. Natalie nodded at her. “You can do this; you’re almost there.”
Charlotte tied the final knot, sterilized the needle with her mage powers, replaced the needle and thread in the suture kit, and then turned and vomited. Natalie scurried over and held her hair back, murmuring words of comfort and praise.
A cold nose poked her elbow. “Jake!” Jake shook, spraying her with water, sand and salt. He made up for it by covering her face with kisses. Holding Charlotte in one arm and Jake in the other, with Em stabilized behind her, tears stung her salt-crusted eyes and coursed down her parched cheeks. We might make it out of this yet.
Leaving Charlotte huddled next to Jake, Natalie hauled herself to her feet and assessed their situation. Anli sat next to Em, holding her good hand, eyes wide. Jules bent over Onlo. Natalie stumbled toward them for an update.
“He’s unconscious, still,” Jules rasped, dragging a sandy sleeve across his forehead. “I Named him and he’s got a concussion. He must’ve hit his head hard when the boat blew.”
Natalie put her hand on the shoulder of the man she now considered the big brother she never had. How she needed his guidance now. What would he do next?
Natalie squinted up the beach at the sun hanging low in the sky. “Night’s coming. We need food water and shelter. How many other people made it to shore?”
“Five.”
Natalie swore under her breath.
“Can you help me drag Onlo and any other injured next to Em? I think it would be best if all the patients were in the same place.”
Jules nodded. Each grabbing the large man under an armpit, they dragged him until he was next to Em.
Panting, Natalie pressed her palms against her lower back and made a quick list of what they needed and who could help best. “Okay, Charlotte and Jules, I need you to watch over Em, Onlo, and anyone else who’s hurt. Make sure they stay stable. Anli, can you work with Cora to build us shelter for the night? The sun is setting and we’re all exhausted. I will find more food, and once you get a shelter built, we’ll build a low fire. We will have to risk it to keep Em warm, and to cook meat to help us all recover after today’s ordeal.”
Charlotte wiped her nose on her sleeve. “What about getting back to Obfuselt, Nat? My parents. They’re still working with Aldworth. We’re losing time.”
“Sweeting, we won’t be able to do anything if we’re not alive in the morning to tell anyone about it. Survival is our first priority.”
Charlotte nodded with resignation. Anli stared at Em. “I shouldn’t have left her. I shouldn’t have let her go below. We didn’t expect an attack at sea … it wasn’t an Obfuselt ship, but they had—”
Natalie squatted in front of Anli and gingerly placed her hands on the other woman’s shoulders, forcing her to make eye contact. Anli’s eyes were wide, unfocused, and empty. “Anli. It wasn’t your fault. I mean it. When you were in the water, did our attackers stay to see if there were any survivors?”
“No. I think they expected us all to be killed by the explosion or to drown at sea. They sailed off in the direction of Sol
erin.”
Solerin? Who on Solerin would’ve made an attempt on our lives?
“Okay, that’s good. That means we’re safe. Now, I need you to help Em survive by getting shelter for her and the rest of us for tonight. Can you do that for us?”
Anli blinked once. Natalie prayed she wouldn’t have to shake her.
Slowly, the curtain of short, black hair turned, and dark brown eyes met hers. “I can.” It was a whisper. But it was there.
Natalie stood back as Anli pressed herself into a standing position, checked her daggers and went off into the forest. She stumbled more than usual, but the stubborn set to her back had returned. Cora, the survivor Natalie asked to help Anli, nodded at Natalie and shadowed Anli into the wild.
Natalie spied a long, staff-like piece of driftwood lying in the sand. Lifting it, she twirled it experimentally. Good enough. Thus armed, she told Jules and Charlotte, “I’ll be back in about an hour,” and strode off into the forest.
Chapter 18
N
atalie walked through the forest near the Abbey, her white, sleeveless nightgown fluttering around her legs. Larks sung in the trees as her bare feet padded along the dirt path. She lifted a hand and lovingly caressed the dawn-dappled greenery with her fingers. The myriad of scents that combined to make the unique fragrance of this particular forest enveloped her. While some on the Isles worshipped the Goddess in temples, Natalie remained convinced that the Goddess was right here in nature, waiting for Her children to come walk amongst the trees and grass.
Turning her head, a stick poked her face. She swiped at it with one hand, but it was still there. Rubbing her palm against her cheek, the forest faded.
Blinking awake, Natalie managed at last to remove the twig poking her cheek and struggled to figure out where she was. All the scents and sounds from her dream were still here. Oh, right, in the Ismereld wilderness. Yesterday morning, she’d woken up on Solerin with every comfort imaginable. Today was quite another story.
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