by Cheree Alsop
A shriek escaped my lips. I grabbed the bars and yelled at the top of my lungs, “Sathen! Sathen are climbing up the side of the boat!” I listened as hard as I could, but a crash of thunder was the only response. The claws continued along the hull. They must have swam to the boat and climbed up the anchor chain. I yelled so hard my voice cracked and my throat burned, but no one heard me above the sound of the storm.
More claws sunk deep into the wood, but this time they paused just below the level of the room in which I waited. I froze and listened. The claws scrabbled and I heard chunks of wood rip away. The storage room had to be either at water level or below, and I wondered what the Sathen were up to.
More chunks were torn away and suddenly a huge rushing sound followed. Terror filled my chest. I shook the bars and started yelling again despite my hoarse throat. I used my manacle to hit the bars and make more sound, but no one seemed to hear me. Then screams came from above.
I fell back against the bars and slid down until I sat on the ground. Yells and screams of pain made their way through the cracks and under the door. I closed my eyes, but pictured Luminos weakened by the lack of sun being torn apart by the same sharp claws I had felt. I covered my ears, but it didn’t help.
Something cold touched my foot and I opened my eyes in fear that the Sathen had made their way into the room, but ice ran through my veins when I saw that water ran across the floor instead. I scooted to the end of the cage furthest from the wall, noting how the floor sloped upward as I did so. The water level slowly rose and I stood to avoid it, then rose on my tiptoes, but soon the cold water lapped at my bare feet. I irrationally took one foot out of it, then traded for the other, not thinking past the cold depths below the ship and the ocean’s monsters beyond.
Water filled the room faster than I had thought possible; the floor continued to tilt until I had to hold onto the bars to keep from sliding back toward the wall. The water touched my knees, then flowed past my waist. The floor tipped until the cage itself rolled. I clung to the top and lifted myself above the water, linking my legs through the metal bars, but the waves soon lapped at my back. I held onto to the bars and closed my eyes. My heart raced against the touch of the water and I wondered how long it would beat after the water was above my head.
Panic filled me and I screamed at the top of my lungs for help, but there was no one to hear me. My voice cracked and soon the scream was barely above a whisper, but I continued to shout in hoarse, strained tones, hoping beyond hope that someone had survived the Sathen attack and would remember me. I knew the hope was futile, but I wouldn't give up. I wanted to live; I had to live. I refused to die in a cage.
Only an inch or so of air remained between the water level and the top of the cage when I heard my name. I pulled my head against the bars and turned so I could hear better. The echoed sound of water combined with creaks and groans of timber filled my lower ear, while the one I held above water strained past the lap of water against wood and floating barrels that hit against each other.
“Nexa?”
My breath caught at Axon’s voice. I yelled, but my throat was so hoarse I could barely force out a sound. My heart dropped as the water rose further, then I remembered my manacle. I lifted my left wrist and hit it as hard as I could against the bars over and over again. The water level flowed past the bars. I held my breath and continued to bang, despair chasing away any hope that he could hear me, or that it had truly been his voice at all. My lungs screamed until my last breath escaped in slow bubbles. Blackness started at the corners of my vision and my arm wouldn’t respond to my screaming brain. I fought the urge to breathe in the water and end it all.
My hand slipped and I started to sink to the bottom. My tears joined the water that chilled me to the bone. I regretted not thanking Axon and his men for their friendship. I thought of the Caves, and hoped that my parents, whoever they were, were happy and had found a way to have a life together. I pictured the other Duskies and wished I had found a way to give them the freedom Axon had promised me. I thought of Axon trying to save his kingdom, and hoped that he had escaped the boat and would make it home in time to defend those he loved.
I held my favorite memory of Axon in my mind, of talking softly in my room at the Lysus castle and feeling the brush of his lips against mine for the first time. I had no more air left to sob, but my body shook with the pain of never seeing him again. I closed my eyes.
A hand caught mine and lifted me. Axon’s strong fingers grabbed my arms and pulled me up to the bars, then he put his mouth against mine and breathed out his air. I sucked in and had to fight to keep from coughing it all out again with the salt water that made it into my lungs along with his breath. Axon squeezed my hand once and let go.
I gripped the bars and waited heartbeats that felt like an eternity until his hands returned and I felt something shoved between my fingers. I took it with my free hand and found a hose like the kind used to siphon water from the fresh water barrels. I put the hose to my lips and sucked deep. Water filled my throat and I coughed it out, then breathed in again. Air, glorious air, flowed into my starving lungs and tears stung my burning eyes.
I squinted and watched Axon make his way down the side of the cage to the lock. He put something metal in it and twisted. The water echoed the quiet snap as the lock sprung open. I took one last gulp of air through the hose, then kicked against the cage floor and swam through the open door.
Axon pulled me to the surface and gathered me in his arms. Blood streamed from a gash on his forehead and his light blue eyes were full of pain. “I was so worried,” he gasped out.
“You came for me,” I cried, tears streaming down my cheeks.
He wiped them away and kissed me. “I couldn’t let you drown in a cage.” He grabbed my hand and we swam toward the door.
I was so glad to feel the touch of his hand again I barely cared we were in a ship that was possibly sinking to the depths of the ocean as we swam through its belly. “Is everyone else gone?”
Axon turned away from me and pain colored his voice. “I think they’re all dead.”
I stopped and stared at him. Horror flooded my limbs so that I couldn’t move. “All of them?” I whispered.
He turned back. “I couldn’t tell. The Sathen killed so many people. There’s blood and body parts everywhere. I don’t think anyone escaped.”
Energy faded from my limbs and I held onto a beam. “What are we going to do, Axon?”
His jaw clenched and his eyes met mine with ferocious intensity. “We’re going to live. I’m not getting off this boat without you.”
I could only nod past the lump in my throat. Axon led us between floating crates and barrels and pushed his way to the hatch. The scent of carnage and death met us as we climbed up the ladder to the main cabin floor. Limbs, open chest cavities, and heads, some with eyes still wide with horror, littered the hallway. I gasped and turned my face against Axon’s chest. He guided us through the hall, up the second ladder, and onto the roiling deck.
Carnage and blood drifted in the waves that lapped at one side of the tilted ship. The Sathen were nowhere to be seen, but I didn’t doubt they lurked in the dark corners. Axon took us to the highest edge, but the rowboat used for supplies and taking the crew to shore was gone, its beams and pulleys smashed to bits by the storm. We both stared at the vacant place it had been.
My mind reeled from everything that had happened and I couldn't think of what to do next. I felt numb and ice cold at the same time, and the rain that pelted down on us hit our skin with the sting of angry hornets. We stared at the angry sea and white-tipped waves crashing against the sinking bow. Then a guttural growl sounded behind us. The ice in my veins turned to the pure heated adrenaline of terror. We turned to find a dozen Sathen baring rows of pointed teeth in expectant grins. Axon took my hand and we jumped overboard.
Somehow the fathomless water seemed colder for its depth and anger. Wave rode upon wave to crash above our heads with white froth and pieces
of the ship. We tried to hold onto each other and swim at the same time, but as the ship went down, the suction kept pulling us back toward it.
“We’ve got to find something big to hold onto,” Axon said between waves. He turned to look behind me and his eyes widened. I twisted around to see what was wrong just as a whole wall of wood torn from the boat was thrown toward me by the waves. I put my right hand out in a futile attempt to stop it, and felt it buckle with blinding pain beneath the blow. The wood crashed into my shoulder and side with the speed of the waves and pinned me between it and the boat. Each wave drove the wood harder against me. I heard Axon yell as another wave picked up the wood. I turned to push against the ship to escape, but the wave rose higher and slammed the wooden wall against the side of my head.
I awoke to Axon huddled over me in the storm. I don’t know how we got on top of the wooden wall, or where the ship was. It was impossible to tell anymore if it was night or day. Lightning crackled through the livid black clouds and cast Axon’s face in shadow. He held my arm in one hand and touched my face gently with the other. I realized what he was doing.
“No, Axon! You can’t heal me without sun. You’ll kill yourself,” I protested weakly. But I already felt my wounds closing and bones knitting under his touch. The pain of the healing was almost as intense as the wounds and I cried out. Axon’s hands shuddered, he met my eyes for a brief instant, then crumpled against me. “Axon!” I shouted. I pushed to my knees and turned him over so that his face wasn’t in the water that flowed across the wood. His eyes were shut and his mouth hung open. His chest rose slightly against my hand.
I dragged him to the middle of the crude raft made of the wall that had smashed into me, and ran my hands quickly over his body to check for wounds. Except for the blood streaming from the gash on his forehead, I couldn’t find anything. I ripped off the bottom of my white shirt and tied it around his forehead to stem the flow of blood. He didn’t respond to my touch.
Something large smashed into our makeshift raft. I clung to Axon as the wood separated and we were thrown back into the ocean. I managed to hold onto one of the logs and lifted Axon weakly against the current so that his arms draped over the wooden beam.
He lifted his head groggily. “What’s going on?”
My heart rose at his voice, but his eyes wouldn’t focus and he stared past me at something I couldn't see. “Just hold on,” I told him. “Whatever you do, don’t let go.”
Axon’s hands tightened on the log. Something snaked about my arm and I grabbed it. The rope came loose in my hands and I wrapped it quickly around Axon, securing him to the log. The waves rose and more debris drifted past, just missing us. I knew we had to get out of there before we were both killed. I tied the end of the rope to my manacle, grateful that I still had it, and began to swim against the powerful waves.
Wave after wave crested over my head. I checked time and again to make sure Axon’s face was out of the water, then paddled as hard as I could. My only swimming experience had been the few times I slipped into the icy pools at the bottom of the Caves, and then I had done little more than float on my back; but as fear gave strength to my limbs, they fought efficiently against the waves. Little by little, we drew away from the logs, body parts, and debris that were all that remained of the boat.
I don’t know how long I swam. My arms and legs grew numb and responded only sluggishly to my weary demands. My side and shoulder ached from being hit by the wooden wall, and my wrist throbbed from the partial healing Axon had performed. The rain still pounded down, but the winds lessened and the waves began to let up. I floated on my back for longer periods of time trying to catch my breath and will energy into my exhausted limbs. My wrist burned where the manacle rubbed from pulling Axon and the log. Salt water bit into the raw skin and kept my mind focused.
I had to hold onto the log several times to keep from sinking below the surface out of sheer exhaustion. On one such occasion, Axon lifted his head and met my eyes, his own surprisingly clear.
“Nexa, what happened?”
I fought back tears. “The ship was attacked by Sathen. Everyone was lost. You saved my life and we’re adrift at sea.” A knot formed in my throat. “I don’t know where we are or if we’ll ever find land.”
Axon tried to reach out a hand but couldn’t past the rope that bound him to the log. He frowned and his brow furrowed, then he followed the rope to my wrist and his eyes widened. “Let me go, Nexa. You’ll kill yourself trying to save me!”
“Like you were going to kill yourself to save me from the cage?” I shot back. I hated the tightness of my voice and the fear that tainted my words. I didn’t believe we would survive no matter what I did.
“You’ll have a better chance surviving by yourself,” Axon replied. He struggled against the rope, then gritted his teeth. “I can’t feel my arms or legs.”
“It’s the cold water,” I said. I feared it might also be the effects of performing a healing without sunlight, but I refrained from saying anything. “You’re going to be fine.”
Axon’s eyes lost their sharp look and he glanced out at the ocean. “I don’t feel fine.”
I touched his cheek. “Stay with me, Axon. You can’t leave me, not now, not like this.”
He smiled and his eyes closed. “My little cave rat,” he said, his lips barely moving. “Making things complicated again.”
I pushed off into the water and swam as fast as I could against the waves. They beat me back every time I paddled forward until I wasn’t sure if I was making any progress. I didn’t even know if we were going in the right direction or if I was taking us further from land. I pushed my body until I woke up under the waves and had to force my way back up the rope to the surface and cough out the sea water. I put my arms over the log, set my cheek against its rough surface, and closed my eyes.
Chapter 17
“Surround her!”
“She looks dead,” someone pointed out.
“Do as your told,” the first voice snapped.
The sun beat against my face. I rolled over and opened my eyes, squinting against the sunlight.
Feet surrounded me and metal tipped spears were pointed at my body. I groaned and then coughed, spitting out mouthfuls of salt water. I vomited and then couldn’t stop retching. My arms shook with exhaustion until I finally collapsed again in the warm sand.
“What is her connection to the Prince?” someone questioned, disgust in his voice.
My mind cleared at the mention of Axon. I pushed up to my knees, afraid to find him dead. “Where is he?” I managed to croak out. I glimpsed a red cloak with a body resting on it. The log was gone and tatters of the cut rope littered the beach. I crawled toward Axon’s body to see if he was still alive.
Someone hit me on the side of the head with the handle of a spear. “Keep your distance, Duskie.”
I landed on my side and curled into a fetal position, holding my throbbing head. My thoughts wouldn't focus and fear knotted in my chest.
“I say we kill her. She held the Prince hostage. She deserves to die,” one of the voices said. Several spoke in agreement.
“What if she saved the Prince?” a softer voice pointed out.
Another man laughed. “One less Duskie in the world wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
They debated until the first voice I had heard cleared his throat. In the following silence, he commanded, “Kill her, throw her body back into the ocean, then get the Prince to the castle. Send riders ahead to have the healers ready.”
Eager steps moved forward and I cringed, expecting the bite of metal from all sides.
A voice shouted, “Stop!”
I opened my eyes just wide enough to see Axon fling one of the soldiers to the ground, grab up his spear, then crack two more soldiers in the head with the staff. He crouched and spun, throwing another onto his back and catching a fourth with a blow to the knee that dislocated it backwards. Axon backed up and crouch over me, his free hand on my shoulder. “I’ll kill
you if you so much as touch one hair on her head!” His eyes rolled wildly and I knew he suffered from the effects of the salt water and the healing.
“Back up!” their commander, a blue-eyed man with square shoulders and a thin frame cloaked in green and gold shouted. “Lower your weapons from the Prince!” The soldiers stepped back in surprise and lowered their spear tips to the ground. The Commander fell to his knees in the sand. “My Lord, we feared you were dead. We thought,” he gestured vehemently at me, “That she tried to kill you.”
Axon gave a grim laugh that ended with him coughing up blood and spitting it on the sand. “She saved my life, you fool. Do you think before you kill?”
The Commander sputtered and looked at his men for help, but they were busy watching Axon. The blue-eyed man bowed, his head nearly touching the sand. “Forgive me, my Lord. We didn’t know. Let us get you back to the castle. The healers there-“
“Will heal whatever wounds she has first,” Axon said, cutting him off.
The Commander gaped and then nodded helplessly. He motioned and the sound of wheels on the sand drew near. Hooves stopped near me and Axon threw his spear to the ground.
“My Prince-“ the Commander tried to protest.
But Axon ignored him and picked me up in arms that were surprisingly steady despite all we had been through. He carried me to the carriage and lifted me inside. He glared one more time at the soldiers and their commander, then stepped up and shut the door with a bang.
Axon sank to the floor next to the bench where I was still curled up and took my hand. “We’re safe, Nexa.” A tear slid down his face. I reached out with my free hand and wiped it away. Axon held my fingers against his cheek and closed his eyes as the sound of sand faded away and the carriage rolled onto a harder surface.
I caught glimpses of being carried under vaulted white ceilings hung with green and gold flags. Muscles I didn’t even know I had screamed in defiance of the abuse I had put them through. My partially healed wounds burned and ached even though Axon carried me gently through his palace as though I weighed little more than a kitten.