Waves of Ruin

Chapter 21

I heard it before I saw it. A huge guard ship had approached us while I was busy under the deck with Atlas. Now I could hear the yells and shouts of my crew, trying to fix whatever problems that ginormous ship had created. Then my door swung open and Roger burst through. Me and Atlas look over to him. Deep in my bones I know something is very wrong.

"You both need to come up it's bad I don't know how we missed it first we were all laughing at something then the next thing I knew we were being attacked!" He rambled out his words, one hand on the wall to steady himself. I have never seen him anything but quiet and composed.

"Do we know why they are attacking us?"

Guard ships don't usually attack unannounced, especially up in these waters. It's a death sentence. My heart pounds, everything I had be thinking about leaves me as fast as my breath. I climb the ladder as fast as humanly possible, my arms moving with precision and speed. My body moving on instinct, nothing but pure impulse.

I was on the deck in a minute. Chaos erupting on every inch of the ship. People running to get the cannons ready; trying to sail us away from the attack. Cianna was yelling. Calling for assistance, Vinnie making sure she was doing the best she could. Then I look over and see Ike at the wheel, his face masked, but not well enough to miss the terror in his eyes.

I don't know what to do. It seems that my crew is doing everything they can to ensure we will make it past this, and even that doesn't seem to be enough. The damage to our ship is almost irreversible. I see Art loading supplies into his arms, trying to bring as much with him to every part of the ship that needs it. Even with the help of Tyrus, who seems to be more focused on his job than I have ever seen him, the ship is being destroyed faster than they can fix it.

I run over to Ike, who is turning the wheel. Trying to sail us away from the enemy. "How did this happen?" I ask.

He is out of breath, I can see it in the way he has to take a deep breath before he can respond. "I thought I saw them, but when I went to go ask some of the others, it was too late. My eyes aren't what they used to be, and I second guessed myself. This is all my fault." He says, still trying to guide our ship to safety.

"This is not your fault Ike. None of us would have been able to stop this. It's not like this some random attack, this is the Guard we are talking about. The training and weapons they have is almost unbeatable." I put my hand on his arm. "I believe in you, do the best you can and don't beat yourself up, that won't do any good."

He nods and I jump from the navigation deck to the main deck, there I see Vinnie firing the cannons. No sign of Cianna anywhere. I am struggling to breath, because of the smoke, rushing to every destruction zone, or nerves, I haven't decided. When I reach Vinnie I can see she is bleeding, blood drips from her arm, staining her shirt crimson. The pain doesn't seem to be affecting her at all.

"Vinnie!" I yell. "You are injured, badly." I go to help her but she moves away.

"I'm fine. I deserve to be dead, so this is only fair." She omits.

What? How could she possible think that? "Vinnie what are you talking about." Another cannon goes off, missing the opponents ship by an inch.

"Damn!" She yells. "I was supposed to be on guard tonight, the powder needed to be set by each of the cannons just in case, but I was so stubborn I didn't do it. I was so annoyed by Cianna trying to tell me what to do. How stupid am I!" Tears stream down her face, a mixture of dirt, sweat, and guilt.

"No one deserves to die because of one mistake, especially one that small. Try the best you can to eliminate that ship, but don't kill yourself doing it." I look into her eyes, but her face is focused on the cannon and where her next target will be. "Understand?" she glances to me then fires another.