Lorellia (Everlasting Legends, Book 1)

Ch. 14 - Death in the Water, Fire in the Sky

Ardaik 8th - Central Ocean

As quickly as the storm had come upon them, it passed, and by morning the skies were clear once more. All that was left in its wake was a gentle morning breeze and calm serenity. For those unlucky few who had spent the night on duty, the shift change at dawn couldn't have come too soon. The weather-worn night shift headed below deck to get food and some well-deserved rest while the morning shift took over to assess the damage.

The aft mast had a crack, though it was nothing new. She'd had the thin hairline for several months now, though the storm had lengthened it. The rig lines had also been tossed into knots, which were now being straightened out after a handful of the shipmates began passing the word along to the captain. Such a buzz could only mean one thing.

"Admiral?"

"Yes, captain?"

"La'Trest is on the horizon."

Laurent grabbed his jacket, shrugging it on as he made his way up to the helm from his office. One of the helmsmen immediately offered his telescope once he'd spotted the admiral, who thanked him for it before taking the device to have a look for himself. Sure enough, the high, white stone walls of the port city and the vague shape of the eastern portion of the castle were there, but a deep frown settled onto his face as he began to inspect the expanse of water between them.

"Ready to drop sails!" a sailor hollered from the deck.

"Excellent work, gentlemen!" the captain replied. "Full sail!"

"No," Laurent snipped.

The captain raised a brow. "Admiral?"

"...There's wreckage in the water." Laurent's own murmured statement raised the hairs on the back of his neck. "And a considerable amount of it."

The captain pulled out his own telescope so quickly that he might have nearly given himself a black eye as he raised it to his bearded face.

"Don't drop those sails," the admiral reiterated.

"Hold the sails!"

A thick silence settled over the deck until the captain broke it—his voice wire-thin. "Laurent...there's a man."

"Where?"

"There. Just off the starboard bow."

Laurent gritted his teeth as he spied the silhouette of a man bobbing in the waves, kicking and clutching a few floating bits of wood and rope. "Captain, get one of the boats out to him. Urgently, please."

"Yes, admiral!"

It took only a few minutes for one of the L'épine de Rose's four rowboats to be lowered. By the time it was making its way toward the man, Flavien's ketch had lowered a bit of their forward sail, getting them moving just enough to drift within range to investigate as well.

"Hang on, Sir! We're almost to you!" the forward-most officer aboard the rowboat yelled when he noticed the man had stopped splashing. "Hurry, boys!" The three sailors seated behind him fought valiantly with their oars against the short, choppy waves to make quick headway. But as they got within a yard or so, the officer and the sailor peering just over his shoulder froze. The man looked terribly pale. Grey, even.

"Did he just...die?"

"Sir?" the officer called again, but the man didn't move. "Get us closer."

Within another moment, the ketch was on their right, her wake causing their small boat and the wreckage to bob further, a row of curious sailors and soldiers lining her side. "He alive?" one called down.