Part Of Your World

The Storm

„This marks the end o four search for the sea whip. The good fortune was not on our side this time", the tall man said with an apologetic shrug „but we are almost home. So raise your glasses and I say thank you for accompanying me on this arduous journey. Better luck next time."

A collective murmur of agreements went through the group of which Alina knew they were Grisha according to the way they were dressed in Keftas.

„Hear, hear, General."Someone shouted.

All dressed in black, he must be the Shadow Summoner and their leader, Alina thought in awe.

He put down his glass and went over to two men dressed in red Keftas who were standing so close to one another that Alina thought they must be lovers or husbands,and he amiably put a hand on each of their shoulders, talking them.

And then he smiled.

A broad, genuine smile which had his nose crinkle and his eyes squinting, while a strand of hair fell over his brow in the evening breeze.

The world underneath Alina's mermaid-tail slipped away and with a rapidly beating heart,she fell into a deep pit that was as dark as his eyes and she knew...she just knew there was no coming back from this. That fundamental changes were lying ahead of her.

She must have sat therefor a long time and just stared, taking in the scene and drinking in the sight of him, when Mal whispered from below: „Alina, have you seen enough? Can we go now?"

But Alina felt like she could have stayed forever. And the realization that she couldn't hither hard.

A sad expression crossed her face although the longing never left her eyes. She would never get to know him. He would never notice her. This is the way it was and had to be. Right?

Just as Alina wanted to take one last look at her mysterious, dark summoner, she noticed that his expression had changed, too. He was sternly looking ahead towards the horizon where a rapidly approaching storm could be seen made of rolling, dark clouds and soundless lightning. Now that she saw it,she noticed that the wind had picked up considerably in the past minutes. This was no ordinary storm. It was a hurricane.

„General, all Squallers will join forces to get us to the nearest harbour. Hold on tight."Someone shouted.

The General nodded,concern was lining his face.

Chaos ensued on board and the storm was upon them already. Rain and strong gusts of wind made it hard for the crew to secure everything and for the Squallers to stay in position to control the air they were pushing into the sails to keep the ship on course. The anchor had been lifted again and the ship was moving forward slowly, but it was rather tossed from side to side and swerving with the tide and wind.

 As Alina held onto the bow,she searched the surface for Mal, but the ship had already moved away and the waves were now so high, she had lost sight of him. She could let go and dive into the safety of her watery element. But her heart was still skipping erratically. This time out of fear. Fear for the General and his crew.

The rain and storm made ithard to see ahead and Alina was very much occupied with holding on as well as keeping an eye on what everyone was doing that she spotted the large rocks almost too late.

She wanted to scream and warn them but nothing came out as her instincts took over and she threw her body back into the water before she was tossed onto the rocks or worse, was squeezed between the bursting bow of the ship and the jagged stones.

She was back above the surface in seconds and swam around the stern of the ship and kept some distance to observe what was happening. The sound of cracking wood and shouts was almost unbearable. The impact jarred the vessel so much that it jolted and reverberated, tilting to one side as well as being pressed into the rocks with full force.

Some Grisha were thrown over the ship's rails towards the water side and the General, who she had last seen on the second deck at the wheel was not able to stop his fall either. It looked like he was able to control the fall though as he stretched his lean body for a head-on, graceful dive.Alina sighed in relief when he came up gasping for air, mere feet from her. But in the dark, the chaos and the waves, he did not see her.

The longboat had been launched and everyone who was still on deck and those who had fallen into the water were climbing in. The General helped those swimming in the wild sea inside the longboat, when above the shouting and chaos,someone called „Fedyor! Fedyor...!"

„Ivan! What is it?"The General called to a man in red standing in the longboat.

Ivan pointed towards the deck of the ship: „I think he is still up there. I have to go ge thim!"

„No, you stay here and make sure everybody's safe."

And with that, the General swam towards the rope ladder and started climbing. He must have tossed his boots, coat and Kefta, because he was now wearing a black linen shirt with a V-cutout at the front, which revealed most of his chest and black linen pants which ended at his now bare ankles. He was a sight to see. All lean and muscles with wet hair clinging to his forehead.

By the time he reached the rails, the rain had receded, but thunder and lightning were having a wild dance in the sky above and with a loud boom, the main mast was struck by a fiery thunderbolt which had the wood and sails going up inflames immediately. The fire spread rapidly to anything it could reach. Alina remembered barrels which had a sign on them which looked like there may be explosives inside. She panicked. This can't be happening. They needed to get out of there!

Smaller masts came crashing down, the ship was groaning as if under duress and she felt utterly helpless.

After what felt like ages,she could make out the General who must have found Fedyor, who was bleeding from a head-wound and helped him over the side of the ship to the rope ladder, when the inevitable happened.

A large wooden beam came crashing towards the pair and hit the General square across the back.He was thrown against the rails and instantly spit out blood, his whole body going slack, his eyes rolled back and he slid off the side back onto the deck. Alina imagined the thud his body must have made when it hit the wooden floor, all the while screaming in her head:„NO!"

Desperately clinging to the rope at the bow, Fedyor yelled what she was thinking: „NO,General!", as he started to climb back up, but Ivan called from below: „Fedyor, please, it's too late. It's going to blow any second. Come down. NOW!"

Reluctantly, Fedyo rclimbed all the way down and into the arms of Ivan who showered him with kisses. The longboat rowers set to work and tried to get away from the ship as fast as possible.

To Alina's horror... the whole deck went up with a deafening BOOM!