“Incredible isn’t it?” Pete said. “In all my years I’ve seen nothing like it.” He took a puff from his cigar. “I’ve never captured a god before either though. I was kind of starting to think we never would.”
Louis sidled up to us with a grin on his face. “My prayers were answered,” he said, pointing upward at the clear sky. He held up the Sacred Circle pendant and said, “The gods continue to protect even the likes of us. From eternity to eternity and always.”
Marco laughed. “Is this what you prayed for? Wouldn’t it have been better if the storm had vanished completely?”
“It will pass soon,” Louis said.
Pete took another puff on his cigar. “I think it’s been as stationary as we’ve been ever since this bubble showed up. At this rate we’ll be here forever.”
Louis looked to me for support, but I could give none. “She did it to help her friend not to answer your prayers. I don’t even think she knew you were praying.”
“Friend?” Louis said.
“The stowaway,” I said.
“Stowaway? Nothing she can do will help a stowaway on this ship. Raul will have him walk the plank for sure.” Pete knew Raul even better than me.
“Her,” I corrected him. “She had a baby below deck during the storm.”
Louis looked at me wide-eyed. “Just now?”
I nodded.
“Was it healthy?” Louis asked.
“No,” I said and they all nodded knowingly.
“But I thought she was a god,” Louis said.
Pete pointed with his cigar to the clear sky overhead. “She must be something. How else can you explain this?”
“I know, but why wouldn’t she help her friend’s baby?” I couldn’t make sense of what I’d seen below deck. I’d come here hoping that the god we captured could stop all of the sorrow that had been haunting the mortal world for years. Without healthy infants our whole future was in jeopardy. I was under the impression that only a god could do something to help us. We all were, but after seeing Twee’s baby born with a condition I’d never even heard of I didn’t know what to think. I’d assumed that Amara would be the solution to our problems, but I hadn’t asked. It never even occurred to me that I might be wrong. She was a god. If she couldn’t help us who could?
Pete and Louis both shrugged. “Why do the gods do anything they do?” Pete said.
Marco came out of the wheelhouse to join us. He lumbered over with a grin on his face. “Lighten up, guys. You look like you’re at a funeral.” He slapped Pete on the back.
“We might be at our own funerals soon,” Pete said.
We all laughed even though the possibility of death was all too real. We all knew now that Amara was out she could choose to do whatever she wanted with us. There was a strong possibility that she’d abandon us here. I liked to think of myself as optimistic. That’s a good way to move around in our world, but I didn’t hesitate in preparing for the worst. That way I was always prepared both physically and psychologically for whatever might come my way. I believed that Amara would keep all of us alive, but I couldn’t know for sure.
“Are we still taking on water?” Marco asked Pete.
“Not as long as the sea around us is calm. Once we’re out of this bubble who knows what will happen.” Pete took another puff on his cigar. “I did what I could.”
“You always do,” I said. “I’m sure it will hold.”
I heard the hatch door open and looked over to see Twee’s small, dark-brown hands clawing at the deck as she hauled herself into the daylight. She pulled her body out of the hole, her dress damp and stained a rosy hue. Her feet still hanging in the hole, she rested for a moment, exhausted. Her eyes were wide with panic.
“How did you get up here?” I walked toward her with a determined stride.
“Amara sent me to find you.” Her breath was fast and raspy like someone who’d just been saved from drowning.
“What’s wrong?” I squatted down and tried to look into the hatch.
She shook her head and put her hand on my leg. “Help me up.”
“Is that the stowaway?” Louis asked.
“She looks like hell,” Pete said. “She won’t last long.”
Ignoring them both I slowly helped her to her feet careful not to cause her any more pain than what she’d already been through. She leaned all her weight into me trying to find her balance. Once she was standing I heard a whoosh. My ears popped and it was like all the air in the world was falling down on top of us. The bubble that surrounded us burst and the storm poured over us. The boat dipped and the largest wave I’d ever seen rose up over us. The men scattered, each trying to find cover before the wave hit. It was no use though. Louis went over the side first, screaming in terror as the water pushed him over the side of the ship. Pete was unconscious against the railing for a few seconds before the boat bucked throwing his limp body into the water. Marco held onto the railing, his legs flailing in the wind.
“Help,” he called before his fingers slipped, sending him plunging into the sea below.
The storm hurled everyone off the boat so quickly that I didn’t have time to feel anything at all. Columns of heavy water pelted us but I managed to grab hold of the rail with one hand. With the other I held onto Twee firmly.
“We have to find cover!” I yelled in between the bursts of violent waves. I let go of the rail and ran toward the wheelhouse, dragging her along behind me. As I went I kept a firm grip on her arm. She was like deadweight barely able to stand and too weak to run.
“We’re going to die!” she yelled, gaping at another wave.
I looked up at the wall of water about to crash down with enough force to flatten us. “Amara already said she wouldn’t let you die.” Even though I’d just seen everyone go overboard, I didn’t think she would let me die either. Why would she bring me all this way just to let the sea swallow me up?
With one hand wrapped firmly around Twee’s skinny wrist I reached out with my other hand to open the door of the wheelhouse, but the deck was slippery and my feet were unsure. There was so much noise and motion. My mind was working too quickly. Somehow I fell. As the wheelhouse door careened toward my face everything seemed to slow down. Trying to catch myself I let go of Twee’s wrist, putting both hands out in front of me and bracing myself for the impact. I hit the deck hard. My head grazed the metal door, stinging. Before I could get my bearings enough to reach for Twee again icy sea water came crashing down on me with such force that I thought it might pull the flesh from my bones. Cold water pushed me from the solid surface of the ship and sent my body into a series of confused tumbles into the unknown. “Twee,” I called out, the water filling my mouth and nose. I gasped for air, my arms and legs flailing outward in a fruitless attempt to swim. Realizing the waves were too strong to swim in I stopped, letting them push me whatever way they did, hoping they wouldn’t tear me apart. Unable to make sense of all of the motion and objects around me I closed my eyes and when I did I saw Lourdes’s beautiful smiling face looking back at me, her mouth moving. She was saying something I couldn’t hear. In my mind I focused on the serenity in her eyes and watched her moving lips. I was never very good at lip reading, but I swore she was saying, “You’re going to be all right.”
Chapter 15
When Eilim created man there was no death. The beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and every creeping thing had life eternal, but from the beginning he knew this wasn’t the way. Without death there could be no new life. Without death all would remain the same. So he sucked immortality from all of us keeping that life force that burns eternal only for himself and a select few that he chose. This is how they became gods and we became mortals. I was certain of my humanity until my head broke the surface of the water after our ship was dashed apart by a wave that surely should’ve ripped the life from me. It did not. I credit Amara with my survival. Even though I could not see her in my vicinity I felt that she was the invisible force that helped me find the s
urface of the ocean that day. I survived to witness the carnage that mountain of water left in its wake. I survived.
The sea is a massive creature bursting with more impetus than we could ever measure. Millions of waves crashed over me, each with a drive to push me under. My will to stay alive for my wife and daughter kept me struggling to the surface again and again, gasping for air and clinging with slippery hands to life. I grabbed hold of a large section of wreckage floating past me. I fought against the water and hoisted myself up on my elbows. I was able to rest like that for a few moments, catching my breath and surveying the scene around me. The ship was gone. Only pieces remained. Twisted and broken the wreckage bounced over the waves.
“Is there anyone there?” I yelled, my voice hoarse from the salt water I’d swallowed. I lay flat on my stomach on the wreckage gripping its edge to prevent the angry sea from throwing me off. “Is anyone there?” I called out again over the roar of the storm. My eyes darted from place to place looking for a sign of life amongst the destruction, but I could only make out scraps of wood and metal in the waves. My body tensed as the reality of my situation sank in. I was alone.
“Anyone?” I called, my throat thick with fear. This couldn’t be possible. I wondered where Amara was. There was no way she would leave me. “Is anyone out there alive?”
Initially the adrenaline of the moment drove me to try my best to survive. My racing heart assisted in the struggle to live. Hanging on and reaching and struggling for life-giving air was automatic. It was like a muscle memory that I couldn’t deny myself. Once I realized I was alone clinging to the wreckage of a sunken vessel with nothing but ocean for hundreds of miles, my impending death became a reality almost impossible to deny, but still I clung to the wood and waited for the storm to pass. I would not let death take me so easily. I’d survived too much so far to let go of that wreckage and slip into the dark watery grave that awaited me. There was too much for me to live for. I closed my eyes against the stinging rain and held on to the wreckage as tightly as I could.
Beneath the fury of the waves, I heard a small voice saying, “Help!” That’s just what it said, “Help. Please help me.” Relief washed over me when I realized I was not alone after all.
It was a woman’s voice and I knew immediately it was Twee. I didn’t see her at first. But finally the ocean’s surface dropped to form a valley between the waves in just the right place for me to see her struggling to keep her head above water. “Somebody help me,” she cried out and shot her thin arm above the surface of the water before slipping out of sight.
I stuck my hands in the water and started to paddle in her direction, but the wind and the waves made all of my work useless. I didn’t seem to be making any progress at all. I was exhausting myself splashing about in the water, so I stopped for a moment to get my bearings and waited for her to surface again so I knew where to head next. When her head finally broke the surface again like a slick seal she was right next to me. I was so startled by the sight of her so close that my heart nearly stopped. I reached out my hand and she seemed to catch hold of it effortlessly. It took some balancing to get Twee onto my bit of wreckage without us both slipping into the dark depths of the angry sea. There was just enough room for the both of us.
“Thank you,” she gasped once we had both settled.
I nodded continuing to hold on for dear life. There was no time to relax. The storm would not allow such luxuries.
“Will we survive?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. We had no water or food. We only had a piece of wood that was roughly six feet across and nine feet long and each other, but I didn’t want to give up hope. Amara was still out there somewhere. “Can you do anything to help us?”
“What do you mean?”
“I just thought because you were on the island maybe you were …”
“A god?” she said.
I nodded.
“I am a mortal just like you. I don’t have any special powers.”
I thought for a moment. “Can you call Amara?”
She shook her head. “Can you?”
I could not, but our conversation didn’t continue because the wind and waves required every ounce of our attention. We clung to our piece of wreckage as waves crashed over us. The rain was so heavy and hard it felt like we were being pelted with pebbles. Even though we were out of the water I struggled to breathe; water often found its way into my lungs.
“I’m so tired,” she called out to me.
“Just try to hang on,” I said.
I don’t know how long we lay on that piece of wreckage in the storm. It felt like an eternity. It felt like we were there longer than anyone would even guess possible. All of the muscles in my body ached from the tension of hanging on. At points Twee would let go as if surrendering herself to the deep. I’d notice her beginning to slip off and I’d reach over and hold on to her. I refused to let her feed herself to the hungry storm. It had already taken too many of us.
Just when I thought we wouldn’t be able to hold on any longer the clouds parted. The sea calmed. We survived. I wanted to stand up and celebrate, but our little raft of wreckage was too unstable. I’d never been through anything as physically trying before in my life. Looking out at the calm waters before us gave me so much joy I wanted to sing. “We’re alive,” I yelled. The gulls flying overhead seemed to swoop and squawk in celebration along with us.
Twee opened her eyes and looked at me. Immediately she frowned and let go of our accidental raft with her right hand which I could see was bloodied from holding onto its rough edge so tightly.
“You’re bleeding,” she said as she touched my head.
I reached up and felt a gash on the side of my head. It must’ve been from when I fell against the wheelhouse door before we were swept off the boat. “You are too,” I said.
She looked at her own hand with numb indifference. “Soon we will be food for the sharks.”
I started to look for the tell-tale fins breaking the surface of the water.
“You will not see them,” she said. “They will come from beneath you and pull you under before you realize what is happening.”
“You say this like you know.”
“I have done this before,” she said. “We should not speak. Every word we utter is lost moisture. It is best for us to try to relax.” She rested her head on the splintered wood and closed her eyes.
I did the same. I closed my eyes and listened to the water sloshing against the wood we rested on. The sun seemed much stronger here in the middle of the sea than it ever had on land.
As more time passed we busied ourselves with conversation. I did more talking than she did. I’d told her all about Lourdes and Tatiana and how I started hunting gods. I told her about how I hoped to get Amara to stop so many sick babies from being born in the mortal world.
“I don’t think she can do that.” The water was calm enough for us to move around on our scrappy raft. We were both sitting up looking out at the expanse of sea in all directions.
“Why not?”
“It sounds like something only Eilim can fix.”
Eilim was the chief god. Ever since I was a child he was my favorite. “I should’ve kidnapped him then.”
She chuckled. “You’d never be able to do that.”
“If you aren’t a god, how did you get to the island?” I asked.
“I was in a shipwreck. I washed ashore when I was nine years old.”
“And they cared for you all this time?”
“Only eleven years. To gods who live forever that’s no time at all.” She shielded her eyes with her hand. “The sun will go down soon. I wish we had food.”
My stomach twitched with hunger.
She lay on her side. “I think I need to sleep,” she said and within seconds had drifted off.
The moon loomed over us large and white. It seemed to sparkle like the diamond earrings Lourdes had asked me to buy for her once. There were so many stars. No wonder we used to
think that the gods lived up there somewhere.
We spent nearly three whole days looking out at nothing but blue water as far as the eye could see. The heat baked the blood in my wound, drying it into a thick scab. It also baked me, calling up my thirst so quickly that the inevitability of our deaths became more real to me than anything I’d ever experienced before. There was water all around and we could not drink. Instead the water seeped out of us, shriveling us up from the inside until we hurt. My muscles throbbed. My tongue seemed to swell. My head felt as if it would implode. When my pulse had slowed to the point of being just at the threshold of death I closed my eyes to sleep the long black sleep of death.
I wanted so badly to be a good husband and father, but in this moment when I was considering the possibility of my own death I could only see where I’d fallen short. I was selfish and impatient. I took when I should’ve given. Tatiana was still very young so I hadn’t had the chance to fail her like I’d failed Lourdes when I cheated on her. She was right. Sailing was too dangerous. I was tempting the gods every time I refused to accept my destiny and came out here on this ridiculous hunt. Each time I was playing with fate and now my luck had run out. I shouldn’t have gone, but it was too late for that now. None of it mattered because I did go and this was what happened. If I could’ve taken it all back, every scornful word, all of those hurt feelings, every time I did less than I should’ve, I would have. I would’ve changed so much in a heartbeat. The moment I thought would be my last was when I saw what was around me and knew it all should’ve been done differently. I noticed it when it was already too late. I noticed that I’d been quietly tiptoeing around my own inadequacies hoping no one would notice them instead of doing something to change them. I hid my own imperfections instead of doing something about them. I thought I was pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes when in reality the only one I was fooling was myself. No one else. They all knew. This was what I was thinking about when delirium started to overtake me. I was giving up. I began to embrace the idea of death. I wanted to be ripped from the monotony of the sea and the sky. Pain had begun to whittle away at my will to live. I felt like I might never open my eyes again.
Isle of Gods I: Damek Page 10