The sea swelled. The desk heaved and fell away and Nystri landed hard upon the floor. 

A shout came, dulled by the wood of the decking and the pounding rain, "Man overboard!"

As the afterimage of Jules' face started to fade against the dark ceiling of the cabin, anger and fear rushed forth to replace it. She jumped up from the floor and ran as best she could along the unknowable footing of a ship caught in a storm. She fell forward against the door and started to whisper her desperate pleas into its planks.

"Nys!" Amorastra's voice was tight with pleading of her own.

Nystri turned to look at her, but could only shake her head, her lips pressed into a thin line. She turned back to the door and with another word it swung inward. Outside, water poured onto the deck, as though a waterfall had opened above them. She heard the loud creaking of a wooden beam far ahead near the prow. 

She rushed into the torrent. The wind lashed at her, pushing her against a wall. She trudged on until only the sky was above her. She pushed herself away from the wall, planting her feet as firmly as she could on that slick deck.

"Vortexes above! Hear me!" she screamed into the storm. The storm abated not at all. She willed her voice higher. Up and up. "Cease your raging tempers, tempests!" The rain seemed only to beat harder against her, each drop like a hammer's blow upon her skin.

Her eyes flared green as she tried to push back against the storm with her own winds. It was no use. She had no chance to find her footing and each attempt was batted aside as easily as a cat's paw against a butterfly.

She brought her arm up to shield her face, instead. She followed the wall further out to where it met a set of stairs leading to the upper deck. One by one she clambered up and over them. Another gust of wind nearly sent her falling back and down, she managed to press herself flat against the stair until she could regain her strength and press on.

With a final push she flopped onto the upper deck. She lay there, her entire body shaking, cold and numb. She forced herself to her feet, and her feet to the railing. She gripped a baluster and began climbing. She made short work of the climb, surprising herself with her own strength. She clung tightly to the railing, steadied on the banister knob. She brought herself up enough that she might face the clouds once more, this time with no wall blocking one side.

"I command you! Part, O! Nimbus!" She could no longer tell if she was saying anything at all, such was the deafening deluge around her. She sank to her knees, hanging heavily on the knob. She squeezed her eyes shut.

Can I truly do nothing? Nothing at all to save these kind souls?

At once the storm ceased to buffet her. She looked up, expecting to see the blue of parting skies, but found herself surrounded only by inky black. 

"Sorry, Nys. Took me a bit to find my cloak." Amorastra scooped Nystri into her hands and held her shivering body to the warmth of her skin.

"Am'ai," Nystri managed to say. "You came. I'm sorry, I thought the storm would hear me. I thought I could stop it." The rain was now beating against Amorastra's outstretched wings, brought into a circle to protect them.

"I know, love. Everything will be well. We're not all that far from Rouge."

A new bolt of fear ripped through Nystri's chest. "We cannot leave them, Am'ai. I shall not permit it!"

Nystri felt Amorastra's chuckle through her chest more than she heard it. 

"I figured you'd say that. Hold on." Amorastra pressed Nystri against her sternum and brought her wings back. She knelt low, then leapt.

Nystri could feel how each beat of Amorastra's wings strained her body. Within seconds they were soaring fast with the wind as Amorastra sought even the smallest updraft she might use to ascend. The beat of her wings grew less frantic the further she managed to climb. Yet, no less punishing.

A stray blast of air pushed into Nystri's cocoon and she inhaled sharply. The cold was impossible. A figment of the chill from the rain, surely. 

Nystri pressed herself further into the shelter of Amorastra's body. And, yet, more cold air stole into her. She could hear Amorastra's breath becoming labored, even more than it ever had been the day they flew to Brise. 

"Nys." Amorastra's voice was weak, barely audible even with Nystri's ear pressed against her chest. "Is this enough?"

Nystri pressed herself up until her head poked out just enough to see. She was immediately blinded by a sea of white all around them. She squinted hard, as much due to the fresh blast of frigid air as the light. She almost pulled back, the cold too much.

They need me.

She inhaled until her lungs could hold no more. "Gales, twisted and fraught! Trouble us no more. Begone!" 

The clouds instantly began to part, as if saying, "Well, all you had to do was ask." A ray of warmth finally found her.

"We did it! Am'ai, you were amazing!" Nystri sighed with relief. She closed her eyes and began to sink back into that warmth that had protected her.

The warmth dissolved. Nystri felt as though she was falling.

She was falling.

Her eyes shot open. Blue was all she saw. She twisted until she faced the ground. She scanned her eyes across the ocean below until … There! She could see Amorastra's limp body falling. She angled herself straight down towards the ocean, but it seemed as though the air itself held her up.

She extended her four wings, adjusted for the wind, then fluttered them as quickly as she could, but it wasn't enough to push the air aside. In the relative calm of falling through the sky, Nystri's own winds flowed out from her easily. Her eyes shone green once more. She drove a wedge through the sky as she raced down. Amorastra began to get closer. As did the water.

She was close enough she could see Amorastra's face. As serene as any time Nystri had watched her sleep. But, Amorastra's wings were limp and fluttered and flailed. Nystri pushed despair aside along with the air.

Just a little more!

She began to form a pocket around Amorastra. The flailing of her wings began to slow and steady, then Amorastra slipped out of the pocket. Nystri gritted her teeth and tried again. This time her wind slipped the other way, twisting Amorastra around, tangling her in her own wings, tumbling end over end.

Again Nystri pushed her winds out. A wide scooping motion. Like trying to lift a tiny fish from a pond. At last, Amorastra began to slow. Within moments Nystri caught up and strengthened the pocket of wind around them, bringing their descent to that of the gentle fall of a feather. But, she struggled to push them back towards the ship. She worked to untangle Amorastra's wings and steady her wind further. The mass of leathery membranes proved more than she could hope to budge as they fell.

Nystri moved up and held on tight to Amorastra's shoulder. "Amorastra! Wake up!" She watched for some sign of recognition. None came. "I'm sorry I was selfish. You were right. We could have just gone to Rouge. And yet! You did it. We're safe. Everyone's safe. Please wake up. Please!"

A grimace passed over Amorastra's face. "What happened?" she mumbled.

"Am'ai! Bring your wings in! Quick!"

Amorastra groaned and shook her head slowly, opened her eyes a little, then all at once. "Nystri!" She reached up with both hands to hug Nystri, which sent them spinning once more. Amorastra flexed her wings enough to stop the spinning, then let her them shrink down to their usual size. 

With the unpredictable drag of those enormous wings gone, Nystri easily guided her pocket of wind back to the ship where more than three dozen stood gaping at the sight above them. 

Nystri winced. What will we tell them?

She scanned the faces, hope fighting the tightness in her chest. She found Francies sitting with Jules in a rowboat. Jules was coughing up water while Francies patted his back.

Nystri counted another victory.

They landed on the upper deck, just behind the wheel. Nystri's heart felt light. Amorastra shakily got to her feet, placing Nystri on her shoulder.

The crew crept up the stairs and towards them.

"All is well!" Nystri shouted. "I can explain."

They did not seem to hear. They crept until just a couple yards away. Each one fell to their knees and bowed before them and cried out, "Spare us, Goddess!"