Veils of Storm

24. Here's to Us

Kat couldn't believe how hard it had been to pick themselves off the deck and make their way inside. Jazz had done a quick inspection of the ship and after making certain that it would survive the night, he instructed them all to get to the mess hall.

Easier said than done. Kat had no idea if she was the one holding Cage up or whether he was supporting her as they stumbled inside. It took an embarrassingly long time to go down the few steps which led from the main deck to their quarters. Then it was moving at a crawling pace down the narrow hall and once again stumbling down the steps.

By the time she could finally sit down at the table, her entire body felt as if she'd faced the sea serpent once again. She was in awe of Harrison who actually reached over and lit the oil lanterns. The light swayed with the quiet movement of the ship, but after the violent jolt from the monster, the waves didn't seem to make much of a difference.

Sitting down felt like heaven. It took everything in her not to plop her head on the wooden surface. The others settled around the table as usual. Jazz, Jinx ,still wearing his shirt, and Trix, both his eyes uncovered for once, took one side, with Leila, still scared and shaky, joined her and Cage on the other.

But even so, many things were odd this time. Jinx being nearly naked for one thing, then Jazz, sitting shirtless, the gaping wound on his right arm bleeding weakly over the surface of the table. Even so, to Kat's exhausted mind, it was Trix renouncing his eyepatch that unsettled her most. She'd never seen him like this and he looked like an entirely different person. More open, more handsome. No wonder he'd caught Alathea's eye.

Harrison wobbled away from them and returned shortly with pints filled with what looked like rum.

"Fucking finally," Jinx mumbled, grabbing hers and downing it in one swig.

Kat's hand shook as she reached out for her pint. Her muscles ached so badly from hitting the mast and holding up the body of the monster that she had to drag it across the surface of the table to her. By the time it reached its destination, Trix, Jazz and Cage had already finished theirs first.

"Keep 'em coming!" Trix mumbled, sending the pint sliding across the table in Harrison's direction. "I really want to stop feeling for a while."

"How's your bite?" Cage asked, nodding towards Jazz while accepting a refill from Harrison.

"Hurts like the seventh circle of hell, but it should heal," Jazz answered before taking another long drink.

His muscles did seem to still be tense, as if he was trying to hold his body together. Kat hadn't even considered that he might be in pain, happy as she was that no one had died. But the wound looked serious, maybe even beyond the obvious.

"Are you sure that thing's not poisonous?" she asked. Her voice came out trembling, so she decided some rum was in order.

She'd avoided it so far on their journey, wanting to keep her head clear, but now seemed like the perfect time not to concern herself with that anymore. The liquid burned on her tongue and down her throat and had her bursting into a violent coughing fit. Cage grasped her knee under the table in support. Jazz just grinned at her, but decided not to comment on her ineptitude.

"Nah, I don't think it's poisonous."

"How can you be sure? We don't even know what that thing was because it sure as hell wasn't a regular sea serpent..." Cage's voice faded. "Oh."

"Suddenly remembered that he would know if he were dying?" Trix asked with a grin.

"Useful skill," Jinx mumbled into her drink. She'd placed her elbows on the table and her chin rested on the rim of her pint.