Chapter 146: Under Fire & Water

 

  A winter storm began to brew over the Dire River, the wind howled, snow swirled throughout the Mora harbor. Sailors and dock workers hurried inside taverns for shelter. The few that stayed outside only did so because they were working. A single rider ran through the streets with a clear purpose.

  Clypeus held on to the reins tightly as his centaur galloped through the harbor. Callum sat in front of him, still unconscious from the battle with the lamia. Sailors and other workers shouted in annoyance as they barrelled past them.

  Clypeus glanced behind him at the Mortis Grove forest behind the docks. No one was following them. The other centaurs had split the moment they realized their masters wouldn’t be coming back. He briefly wondered where they would go, but he returned his attention to the task at hand, getting Callum to safety.

  The enemy army was close by and he didn’t want to stick around long enough to see what would happen if they came this way.

  “Castle Mora was attacked! Castle Mora was attacked!” Clypeus yelled.

  He needed to warn people that the enemy was nearby. The few sailors and dock workers that still walked the streets looked up at him with brief confusion then returned back to work. They were clearly too accustomed to the crazy and drunk ramblings of disheveled folk, even ones on centaurs.

  Clypeus frowned, no one was listening. The ships needed to disembark their cargo to make room for more passengers. The sailors needed to get ready to set sail as soon as possible. Yet Clypeus didn’t have time to waste and explain the situation to them.

  “Over there!” Clypeus pointed to the Dread Shadow in the distance.

  The centaur veered to the right and headed straight towards the enormous Veres flagship. Dozens of soldiers equipped with black and red armor stood near the Dread Shadow’s lift. None of the commoners nor sailors dared near the ship for fear of being cut down by the Veres guards.

  The guards raised their swords and shields at the sight of the centaur. The beastkin pulled up a dozen feet from the armed soldiers and stared uncertainly at the Veres retinue.

  “I need help! Callum is injured, we need a medic!” Clypeus yelled.

  The guards quickly recognized the speaker and their young master whom he carried. They ran towards the young men without hesitance. The centaur kneeled so the soldiers could carry Callum off and to the lift. Clypeus dismounted as well and walked next to Callum, never taking his eyes off his ward.

  The group hopped on the lift and waited as the lift’s chains were hauled up. As the lift was raised towards the ship’s deck Clypeus glanced out to docks below.

  “Dear gods help us,” he whispered.

  Hundreds of warriors poured out of the Mortis Grove tree line and charged at the docks. Even in the morning light, it was clear what they all held in their hands, torches. They didn’t plan on seizing the docks, they were going to burn it down.

  The lift’s chains rattled to a halt as they reached the deck. Sailors rushed towards them, asking a cacophony of questions.

  “Out of my way,” the ship’s captain pushed the sailors aside. He stopped in his tracks as he spotted the army closing in on the docks.

  “Callum was badly injured, he needs medical attention asap,” Clypeus panted, exhaustion clear in his voice.

  The captain shook his head, “Yes, of course. I’ll have the ship’s white magi look after him immediately. Thank you, young master Gale, for protecting him. You don’t look very well yourself, you should go down to the med bay as well.”

  “That sounds good,” Clypeus nodded.

  The captain was no longer listening, instead he was shouting orders to his men and women. “Get ready to sail off now! Move your asses, there is no time to waste!”

  The sailors and guards nodded in assent and quickly ran off to their duties.

  Clypeus grabbed the captain’s arm, “Excuse me, captain. We can’t leave yet.”

  “Don’t worry, young master Gale. You can explain to me what the fuck is going on later. We have to get off these docks before those damn torch men arrive.”

  “Captain, my friend is still back there! Callum’s friend. He came with us on this ship. We can’t leave without him.”

  The captain placed his hand on the young vampire’s shoulder, “I’m sorry. Young master Veres is our top priority. We have to make sure he makes it out of here alive. As a Gale, you must surely understand.”

  The captain didn’t wait for his response. He walked off towards the helm of the ship, shouting commands at his sailors every step of the way.

  Clypeus looked out to the Mortis Grove forest on the horizon.

  “Stryg, please hurry,” he whispered.

~~~

  “Stryg, how are you feeling?” Maeve whispered into his ear.

  His body started slipping off the saddle in response. Maeve wrapped her arms around his torso and steadied him.

  “Damn, you're heavy!” She groaned.

  “Master, are you alright!?” Rhian slowed down and twisted her back to look at them.

  Stryg’s breathing was rough, despite being out in the snow and cold, his shirt was drenched in sweat.

  “...I’m okay. I just need… to rest,” Stryg closed his eyes.

  Maeve placed her hand over his forehead, “He’s burning up.”

  “We need to get him to a healer,” Rhian bit her lip.

  She looked around their surroundings. Tall, pale dead trees spanned across their entire scope of vision. Snow, two feet tall, covered the forest floor. Each step was a difficult cold trudge. 

  “How are we going to make it in this cold?” Maeve shivered.

  Her usually pale skin was bright red from the cold. She was only wearing her torn dress from last night and Clypeus’ jacket. Maeve could feel the cold wind blow through her jacket and chill her body to the bone. 

  It had taken about an hour on the main road to reach Castle Mora from the docks. Unlike the other centaurs that had been able to escape earlier, they had been forced to stay off the main road for fear of being caught by the enemy. 

  Rhian wasn’t sure how long it would take them to get to the docks from here, nor how long she could keep running through the tall snow before she succumbed to the cold herself.

  Rhian stared at Stryg’s small blue face. His soft almost-baby-like cheeks had turned a dark blue, from the heat or the cold, she wasn’t sure. 

  Stryg always seemed like a lion prowling through the streets to Rhian. He never wavered, he fought for what he wanted, and when it came to his pack, he protected them with wild ferocity. Now, all she could think was how small he looked, like a newborn cub, helpless. How could such a small thing wake up every morning and have the strength to decide to be a lion?

  Rhian wanted to protect that brave little creature. She wanted to protect the smile that rarely crossed his face, the lilac eyes that carried the weight of a thousand scars, and the laugh that rang clear even in the loudest of rooms. 

  Even if Rhian didn’t know how, she was going to protect him. A shiver ran down her spine, liquid thunder rushed through her veins. The world quieted, her purpose was clear. She would protect him at all costs, she swore it.

  Rhian laughed unsteadily, “What choice do we have? Let him rest, Maeve. I’ll get us there.”

~~~

  Stryg felt tired, so very tired. Some small part of his mind realized he was in the water. His body floating just barely above the surface. Raindrops pelted his skin incessantly, drenching his clothes, pushing him ever so slowly below the surface. The water covered his ears, closing the echoes of the world to him.

  He couldn’t remember how he got here, but he was too tired to care. He closed his eyes, he just wanted to sleep...

~~~

  “No! My family’s docks,” Maeve gasped.

  Rhian stood behind the tree line, her grey eyes stared hard at the burning docks in the distance. The ships at the harbor were on fire, their decks consumed by the scorching heat.

  Rhian had been running across the forest for over an hour. Her lungs burned, the cold air stung with every breath. She couldn’t feel her legs anymore. The rest of her body felt sluggish, numb. 

  “All of my family’s ships are on those docks. Rhian, what do we do?” Maeve’s voice cracked.

  “...Are there any other docks nearby?”

  “No, the nearest docks are 40 leagues from here. It would take a fast centaur several hours to get there and that’s in good conditions! With this storm and all the snow on the ground, and you've been running non-stop…”

  Rhian squinted and pointed her finger to the docks, “What is that?”

  “Huh?”

  Beyond the raging inferno and the black smoke, Maeve spotted a large white silhouette near the harbor.

  Her eyes widened, “That’s -”

  “The Ghost Flame, House Noir’s flagship,” Rhian finished.

  “They’re still here. When I didn’t see the Dread Shadow I assumed the Ghost Flame had also left.”

  “We still have a chance. They’re probably waiting on Loh. They’ll definitely let her apprentice on board,” Rhian said, hope creeping into her voice.

  Maeve frowned, “The Ghost Flame, it’s not docked. It looks like they’re staying nearby for Loh Noir, but they aren’t actually docked!”

  “They probably don’t want their ship to be burned down by those valley warriors,” Rhian wiped the sweat off her brow.

  “Yes, but how are we supposed to get there? Even if the harbor wasn’t infested with a bunch of enemy soldiers, the ship isn’t docked, we have no way of getting on the lift.”

  Rhian stared at the shore a little ways away. “I’ll swim there. We can circumvent the dock and the enemy entirely. I’ll swim directly to the Ghost Flame.”

  “Are you insane? The Dire River’s current is incredibly strong and it’s always cold. In the winter, it’s freezing. Not to mention this storm, it is suicidal! Dozens of sailors die every year in those rushing waters. The waves can be over ten feet tall! We won’t make it!”

  “We won’t make it if we just stay here and wait for the enemy to find us,” Rhian said sternly.

  “Even on a good summer day it’d be almost impossible,” Maeve muttered.

  “All my life I trained for moments like this. To do what others deemed impossible. What’s more impossible than this?” Rhian chuckled shakily.

  “This isn’t some performance,” Maeve frowned.

  Rhian glanced back at the sleeping Stryg, “Make sure he doesn’t fall off.”

  “Rhian, wait, please, think this over!”

  Rhian remembered Stryg’s words before he had rushed off to Castle Mora. She breathed in deeply, the chilling air rushing through her nostrils, “I am proud to be a daughter of Ebon Hollow!”

  Rhian ran at the shoreline. The snow billowed past her in a wave of white, her black hair and coat in stark contrast. Maeve screamed behind her and gripped onto Stryg tightly. Rhian leaped high, they fell into the icy waters with a crash. Rhian sank underwater, the cold paralyzing her. She gritted her teeth and kicked the water beneath. Her head bobbed up above the surface, Maeve and Stryg soon followed.

  Maeve’s teeth chattered, she couldn’t even form words, but she held onto Stryg tightly. Rhian shook her head and kept paddling with her long legs. The water was nothing like the wind, the cold stabbed into her muscles like a thousand little needles.

  The Dire River’s waters weaved erratically throughout the river, pushing Rhian back and forth. Maeve screamed. Rhian took quick breaths and swam onward. She could see the Ghost Flame in the distance, a small white blot in her blurred vision.

  Their heads bobbed above and below the surface as the water pushed them under. Rhian pushed herself and gasped for breath. She was already exhausted from the run through the forest and the freezing waters sapped what little energy she had left.

  “Not… yet!” Rhian screamed in defiance.

  A massive wave blotted out the sky and crashed down on them.

~~~

  Stryg was tired, the rain was pouring and the waters closed around him. He just wanted to stay here and rest. His body sank below the surface. It felt nice, the warm waters soothed his aching muscles.

  A hand reached into the water and brushed his forehead, the cold fingers brought a faint shock to his skin. He opened his eyes blearily underwater, a figure stood over him, the water blurred their face.

  “Stryg, you cannot stay here.” 

  The voice was clear and soothing to his ears. He knew that voice, it sounded so familiar yet he couldn’t quite place it.

  “You came back,” Stryg mumbled and closed his eyes.

  “You’re the one who chose to leave,” the voice sounded annoyed.

  “You always leave,” Stryg murmured.

  “...We don’t have much time, you need to wake up. Your friends are in danger, you are in danger.”

  The hand slipped away, the blurred figure stepped away, their voice growing distant.

  “Please, don’t leave,” Stryg reached out.

  “Wake up, Stryg.”

  “Please, don’t leave. Please, don’t. Please, don’t…”

  “Wake up!”

~~~

  Stryg’s eyes snapped open. Cold water splashed on his face. His pupils narrowed to thin slits. His clothes were drenched and the lower half of his body was submerged in freezing waters. He glanced around, they were surrounded by rushing water. Rhian’s head popped up from below the surface.

  “Rhian!? Where are we!?” Stryg yelled over the raging currents.

  Rhian didn’t hear him, the little that was left of her consciousness focused on paddling.

  “You’re awake!”

  He turned around, “Maeve? What’s happening?!”

  Maeve pointed a shivering finger to the Ghost Flame in the distance.

  Stryg looked at the treeline far off in the distance. He glanced at Rhian, had she run through the entire forest and then swam here? How?

  Rhian’s paddling kept slowing, her body sinking a little more with each stroke. Stryg’s eyes widened, they were going to sink. 

  A faint memory whispered in his mind. Someone had told him his friends and he were in danger. He couldn’t recall when or who had said it, but the words reverberated in his head.

  Stryg couldn’t let it happen. He needed to help. Not for anger nor revenge, he wanted to save them out of sheer desperation to survive. He wanted to live, he wanted them all to live!

  Blue mana flooded his body, he threw his hands apart from each other. The water shook beneath them. A large wave surged behind them and pushed them forward. Stryg shouted in surprise, but he kept his focus sharp. Maeve screamed and held on tight to his shirt.

  The wave barreled through the water and hurdled them towards the hull of the Ghost Flame. Rhian slammed into the hull, her head hung loosely on her shoulders, her eyes dull, but her fingers clung to the hull.

  Stryg raised his hand up high, he concentrated and pulled out whatever orange mana had replenished in his body. The mana curled around his fingers, a small bright fireball shot up past the deck.

  He heard shouts from above. Several sailors looked down from the deck.

  “I am Stryg, Loh Noir’s apprentice! Help us, dammit!”

  “Man overboard!” A sailor yelled.