by Scott Moore
After that, Sweet Tongue would be there to gather them up. Then they would undoubtedly be dead before the sun set on that day.
Malik tried to push those thoughts from his mind. There had been nothing in his thoughts aside from pain, fear, and anguish. He wished there was something more to latch onto.
When Malik opened his eyes from sleep, he forgot where he was. His heart jumped into his throat. He tried looking around to figure out where he was, but there was no light to see by. He pushed back, trying to scoot across the floor but his back hit the wall.
“Calm down,” Mollie said, trying to soothe him.
Sometime during his sleep, she had scooted back closer to him. She caressed his cheek now.
“You are okay,” she said.
Malik let his breathing steady and slowly he recalled exactly where he was. It was not better to know, but at least he had Mollie there with him.
“Just a bad dream,” Malik whispered.
“Well you are awake now and I think we have hit land,” she said.
Malik listened. “Why do you think that?” he asked.
“The waves are not so strong, and I don’t hear the boat cutting through the water,” she said.
Malik listened again and supposed that Mollie was right. He did not hear the normal sounds of a boat sailing across the water, but that could have easily meant that they were just stalled and anchored.
Malik shifted, stretching himself out, feeling every ache and pain that had accumulated inside his muscles and joints. He groaned with the effort of it.
“I don’t think we have had enough time to reach land yet,” Malik said, after his stretch. He had been asleep twice, but there was no way he had slept for more than a few hours each time. At most, they had been sailing for just over a day. They had to have been at least another day from the other side of Luberg. There were shorter distances to land, but Malik doubted that they would have taken a boat to reach them. It would have been just as easy to ride across the land bridges if they were to be going just over the narrow parts of the Gray Waters.
“Well, for some reason we are no longer moving across the waters,” Mollie said.
Malik agreed with her on that point. They had for some reason stopped. Malik could see no benefit to pausing midway, unless Sweet Tongue had agreed to meet them on the waters. He doubted that Sweet Tongue would have been willing to meet them halfway.
Something else had to have been going on, but stuck in this dark room, there was no way of telling what it was. He also doubted that anyone would be rushing in to tell him or the others.
“I don’t know,” Malik replied.
It was the best he could manage.
“Do sailors stop to sleep during the night?” Embre asked.
Malik shook his head before realizing that no one would be able to see him doing so. “No, they will just change shifts. There is no reason to stop during the night. The only reason to stop would be to navigate treacherous waters or to fish and I don’t think that is why we are stopping here,” Malik answered.
“Then why are we stopping?” Embre asked.
Malik still had no idea why they were stopping. There was not a logical reason he could think of, but he was also not a boat captain. He had only sailed a handful of times and he had no business acting like he actually knew anything about sailing.
Malik was saved the burden of having to make something up. Outside the doors to the holding room, Malik heard the scuffling of feet against the wood of the deck. Then he heard the muffled screams on the other side of the walls. Malik wondered what was going on, but strain as he may, he could not see past the darkness.
“Is that screaming?” Mollie asked out loud.
Malik doubted that Mollie needed an answer from him. She had just been asking out of the confusion that the noises were bringing.
“Something is going on out there,” Malik said, needlessly.
It was obvious that something was going on outside their holding walls. Malik moved closer to the wall, although he could not see anything, holding his ear to the wall made the noises a little clearer.
He could hear voices yelling to scoop water. He could hear other voices yelling about being under attack. Malik wondered who would attack a lowly transport boat. There would be nothing lucrative to steal on board.
Malik only had to wait a few minutes more to figure out what was going on. The first few curls of smoke reached his nose faintly. Malik took in a deep breath and smelled clearly the next few. He could not feel the heat of the fire, but he knew there was one somewhere on the boat. Malik would never claim to be a boat specialist, but it knew one thing. “This isn’t good,” he said.
He heard Mollie and Embre shuffling around behind him. He imagined that Egg was still hanging onto Mollie’s arms.
“What is it?” Mollie asked.
“Do you not smell that smoke?” Malik asked.
Mollie did not answer, but he heard her taking in a deep lungful of air.
“I can smell it just faintly,” she said.
Malik could smell it with every breath now, but he supposed it was because he knew to look for it. He had to hope that the sailors were able to put out the flames before they reached them. Trapped in this room there would be nowhere for them to run.
“Is there nothing we can do?” Embre asked.
Malik thought about rushing the door. Maybe he could bring it down with his shoulder. Malik traced the wall with his fingers. If he could find the door, he could at least give it a shot. All he felt were the planks of the wall. Unless he could find a handle or the hinges, he doubted he would even know where the door was located. There would be no point trying to ram his shoulder into the walls of the boat.
“Unless I can find the door, I don’t know what we can do,” Malik said. “Even then I don’t know if I could break it,” he added.
Malik felt something touch his leg in the dark. He let out a small, shocked yell.
“What is it?” Mollie asked.
Malik waited to see if he felt it again and when he did, he tried to run backward away from it.
“Something is in here with us,” he said, fear lining his voice.
“What do you mean something is in here with us,” Embre sounded panicked too.
Malik heard something scratching across the wood of their room. He imagined some kind of creature in there with them and then remembered that there was a creature in there with them.
“Where is Egg?” Malik asked.
“Well he was on my arm, but I don’t know where it has gotten off to,” Mollie said.
“Well, I think it is trying to eat me,” Malik replied.
“I don’t think so,” Mollie said. “Egg where are you?” she asked.
There was the sound of scraping claws on wood again, but there was no answer.
“Egg what are you doing?” Mollie said.
Still no answer, but the claws on the wood did not stop.
“It has finally gone mad,” Malik said.
Malik felt the fear rising inside him. He would have run if there had been somewhere to go.
“Shut up,” Mollie demanded.
The claws stopped moving across the wood and Malik heard them begin to tap. They were not tapping on wood any longer but on something metal.
“Egg found the handle to the door,” Mollie said.
Malik listened to a few more taps and knew that Mollie was right. Egg had found the handle to the door.
“Malik follow the sound and try to get us out of here,” Mollie said.
Malik was still not fully sure that Egg would not eat him, but it was that or be burned alive. So, he moved toward the sound. Malik felt the skin of Egg before he felt the handle of the door. Egg scooted away from him and Malik reached out grasping the cold metal. He could smell the smoke heavier now. Malik first turned the handle to make sure the door was truly locked; it was. That meant he would have to resort to his initial plan of breaking down the door. He did not know if he could do it, b
ut he would have to try. Malik kept his hand on the door handle and drew his body back. He steadied himself and then drove his shoulder hard into the wood. The door did not budge. He tried it again and again. The door stood, but his shoulder throbbed with the pain of impact.
“I am not going to be able to break down the door,” Malik said.
“You have to keep trying,” Mollie said.
Malik knew they were all desperate to get out, but there was no way he was breaking down this door without some kind of help.
Malik heard something click on the other side of the door. Then, in his hand, he felt the door handle start to turn.
He gripped the handle tighter. It could have been anyone on the other side. Malik saw the face of Sweet Tongue ready to end their lives. He held the door handle hard. He heard someone on the other side of the door grunting with their effort to get into the room.
“Who is it?” Malik yelled.
At first, only a grunt answered him. Whoever was on the other side was not as strong as Malik. The door stayed shut.
“It is me, Khris!” came a yell from the other side of the door.
Malik loosened his grip only a bit. He knew that the voice on the other side was Khris’ voice, but did that actually mean anything at all? Khris was the reason they were on this ship. Even if he lied and said he had no idea his dad had been a Tempre.
“Let me in. I am going to get us out of here,” Khris said.
Malik tightened his grip back on the handle. Khris could be on the other side with anyone.
“Malik, what are you waiting for?” Mollie asked.
“I don’t trust him,” Malik replied.
Mollie scoffed. “He has no reason to lie to us. If he wanted us dead, he could just leave us in here to burn alive,” Mollie said.
Malik thought about it for a moment. Mollie did have a point. Khris had to know that there was no getting out of this holding room. All Khris had to do was leave them alone. If he just walked away, then they would die in the flames like everyone else.
“What if he is just doing this because Sweet Tongue is on the other side of the door waiting for us,” Malik asked.
“Malik, don’t be a fool,” Mollie said.
She was right and Malik knew it. He let go for the handle and the door shot open. Khris was on the other side, masked in shadow, sweat dripping down his brow.
“We won’t have much time. You all have to follow me. I have a life raft waiting for us. It is the only one, and I hid it,” Khris sounded very proud of himself.
Malik looked past Khris and out onto the deck. He could see the orange fingers of the flames rising all around the sailors fighting them off.
“What happened?” Malik asked.
Khris looked back and then waved them on, “I set fire to the boat. We have to get moving.” He turned and moved off onto the deck.
No one tried stopping them. Everyone was too busy trying to put out the growing flames. The wood fed the fire, making it grow and spread uncontrollably. The sailors all around were yelling and some were starting to jump into the water, abandoning the boat. Malik doubted that any of them would make it back to shore. A day’s boat ride was a very long swim and even a strong swimmer would be pressed to make it.
Malik and the others followed Khris to the back of the boat. There they found the captain undoing the riggings on the one life raft connected to the railings.
The captain looked up seeing them approach, “if you all help me you can survive too,” he said.
Malik looked back to the others and then stepped forward. He decked the captain in the jaw and watched him crumple to the decking. Malik had no intentions of helping the captain. The captain would have handed them over without a second thought and that meant Malik did not have to feel bad about what he had just done.
“Do you know how to work this?” Malik asked Khris.
“I have read a few books on boats,” Khris answered.
He came over moving the knots and lowering the boat.
“Do we just jump in after it?” Malik asked.
The boat was slowly moving away from the railing now.
“No, we just climb over and in. I can lower us down to the water with this rope,” Khris replied.
Malik looked back to where the sailors were fighting the flames. None of them would survive if the boat continued to burn. There was also no way for them to stop it from burning. Malik wondered if he should feel bad for these men, but he could not find it in him. They had known that they harbored captives. They had known that they were bringing them to die. Malik climbed over the railing and into the boat. He helped Mollie with Egg, and Embre do the same. Khris was the last over. Then the small raft started to lower toward the water. Malik heard others jumping from the top of the deck. No one came toward the back to stop them from getting away. When they hit the water, Khris passed Malik and oar and took one in his own hands.
“Which way do we go?” Malik asked.
“Depends where are we going?” Khris asked.
Malik paused to think for a moment.
“I am not sure I should pick this time,” he said.
Mollie answered for him, “I think we continue the way we were going. However, this time we are going to get what the old man sent us for,” she said.
Malik did not have the heart to fight. Plus, it looked like the way toward the relic was also the way toward Abrie. He put his oar into the water, and they started off.
It was not until the fourth or fifth stroke that Malik realized his shoulders were on fire from the aches that had built up over the past few days. He tried to not focus on them, but with each lifting of the oar they blazed like the noon day sun.
In the background, against the backdrop of the stars, Malik could see the boat turning into an orange ball of flames. Over the lapping of the water, he could hear the screams of the men as they were burned alive. Those who did not die by the flames were jumping into the waters to flounder and drown. Malik blocked that from his mind. He could not pass the oar to anyone else. He could not help those men, even if he wanted to. He just had to focus on getting away from the boat.
“How did you do that?” Malik asked, trying to take his mind of his own troubles.
Khris looked back over his shoulder, as if it was the first time he had noticed the flames.
“I have been planning it since boarding the ship. I told you guys I was not with Malum and the Tempre,” he said. Khris dropped his oar and slid across the raft to the other side. He moved a tarp lifting something into the air. “Here,” he said, sliding something long and metal toward Mollie.
“My dad’s sword,” she said, reaching out for it.
Khris was fumbling around with something else under the tarp. “I got this for you,” he said, tossing Malik his bow and arrows.
Malik had never thought to see this weapon again.
“How did you manage to get these?” Malik asked.
Khris shrugged. “I had to sneak out of my mother’s house hundreds of times. She did not want me wandering after Father died. I thought it was because of my books and stories, but maybe there was more to it than that. However, I still learned to get out of a locked room. I stole your weapons back and got onto the boat before Malum even realized I was gone,” Khris said.
Malik was secretly impressed. Not just at the fact that Khris had snuck out of his room and found their weapons. He was impressed that Khris was brave enough to plan this all. Maybe Malik was wrong about him.
“How did you get the weapons onto the boat?” Malik asked, genuinely interested in the answer.
“Captain was kind of an idiot. He knew that the life raft was there, but he left me to tie it down. All I did was walk back to the pier, grab the weapons, and hide them under this tarp. I could not believe how easy it had all been,” Khris said.
Malik wondered if he would have been brave enough to do the same thing. Khris had not come to free them from the cell, but he had been planning an escape for them. He may have not
known they would end up on a boat, or which boat, but he had made sure to be there for them. Malik would not lie and say he liked Khris, but he felt a little more respect for him after that.
Khris slid back into his spot on the raft and retook up his oar. He placed it back into the water. With Malik and Khris rowing, the boat became a distant beacon. Soon, it looked like nothing more than another star in the black sky.
They would not sleep that night, but at least they were free again. Malik leaned his head back and breathed in the fresh air. They were heading toward Sweet Tongue still, but maybe this time they had an actual chance to free Abrie and still get the relic. Malik felt his old companion, hope, rise up in his chest again. It was a deadly friend, but he was glad it was back.
Chapter 30
Oaring
Malik had thought he was sore before he started oaring down the Gray Waters. He had thought his muscles ached with the stiffness of standing and being captive. Then he had oared down the waters for a night and found that the pain had barely just started. Now his arms, forearms, and shoulders throbbed with every movement, but he knew that he could not stop. Khris was opposite him doing the same, but with each stroke they were moving slower and slower. Malik was not sure how much longer he could actually go.
“Here let me take over for you,” Mollie said, grabbing the oar as Malik pulled it from the water.
Malik would have protested, but when he tried to lift up his arms, they felt like dead weights at his side. Embre was on the other side of the raft taking the oar from Khris. Khris’ arms were too heavy as well to put up any protest.
“Get some sleep, both of you,” Mollie demanded.
Malik thought about arguing and then he thought about sleep. The thoughts of sleep won, and he scooted himself over to the middle of the raft. He looked up into the morning sun as it peaked out across the water’s horizon. They would still not reach land for some time, but Malik was just happy to be away from the boat and from the prospects of being handed over to the Tempre on the other side.
Malik took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He did not remember falling asleep. He was so tired that he just closed his eyes and drifted off.