The Rise of the Sea Ghosts (from The Gelid Times Trilogy)

Chapter 13

The River Elin; To the South

Celeste held the mainsail taught as Kaz rammed the boat down the centre of the river at full speed cutting a path directly through the immortal stingers. The sails caught the freezing wind and propelled them towards the viaduct in the distance. The wake churned up the underbelly of the river and the immortal stingers swirled through the agitation of the water. Spray from the river splattered over the boat and little icicles froze on their coats and in their hair making Celeste shiver as she held tightly to the ropes. Kaz was oblivious to the freezing river particles and held the boat firmly rammed into high gear. The river widened and the viaduct, consisting of ten stone arches, grew larger. The viaduct connected the land to the south of the River Elin with the land to the north of the River Elin and once they passed under the viaduct, they would be able to make their way to the estuary and eventually out onto the Saltum Sea where they could sail northwards up the coast to the Anatase Mountain range.

"Have we passed the worst of it yet?" Celeste shouted to Kaz. Her breath seemed to hang in frozen particles as she finished each word.

"Almost – hang tight – once we pass the viaduct it should be smooth sailing until we reach the sea," Kaz shouted into his hood.

Celeste heard the first part and did, in fact, hang tight to the ropes of the sails so they wouldn't fly loose. As the boat careered forwards, Celeste could see the remains of the immortal stingers that were left to regenerate. This was not an immediate concern for Celeste, as she knew it would be some time before they returned to this particular stretch of the river and the only home she had ever known.

Kaz stood solidly at the helm. Despite his concern, he demonstrated great fortitude in cutting through the immortal stingers, it was that or complete stupidity. Regardless, the viaduct neared and Kaz slowed the boat down slightly choosing the middle arch to pass under.

"Reef the sails," Kaz shouted at Celeste.

They both knew if they approached the viaduct with too much speed there would not be enough time to adjust the direction of the boat and the potential to crash into one of the columns was high. Celeste quickly lowered the sails to de-power the boat.

"Reefing the sails!" She shouted in confirmation lowering the sails as she glanced backwards to ensure that none of the immortal stingers were lurking too close to the stern.

The boat slowed and Celeste tied up the excess rope. She carefully picked her way towards the bow and joined Kaz at the helm. The viaduct bore down on them, its grandeur overwhelming. They had never been this close to the viaduct. It was always something small in the distance. Not many people ventured this far, not even in summer no less during the Gelid Time.

On the south side of the viaduct, the density of the trees increased until their frozen canopies formed a dense forest. To the north, the land sloped upwards in a sheet of ice that covered what would have been a blanket of velvet green.

"Here we go! Are you ready Celeste?" Kaz asked as he steered gently through the middle arch of the viaduct. Celeste stood closer to Kaz and observed the imposing columns of stone.

"Steady Kaz," Celeste whispered as she could almost reach out and touch them.

"Steady as you go," Kaz repeated as they passed to the other side of the viaduct. The river that opened out before them was calm and had the appearance of a sheet of frozen glass. Kaz steered a course slowly towards the estuary barely making a ripple.

Taking one hand off of the steering, Kaz turned to Celeste, "That was totally crazy. If you had said this morning that we would career through tons of immortal stingers, I would have said you talking a fantasy dreamland. But no. That's what we did alright."

As Kaz began to process what they had just done, he began to breathe heavily taking in more breaths than he was breathing out. Celeste grabbed the steering as Kaz become breathless.

"You're overbreathing," Celeste observed calmly as she steered the boat, "You're breathing too much Kaz."

Kaz pushed his hood off his head and unzipped the top of his coat slightly. The cold air momentarily arrested his breathing, and he suddenly could not breathe at all. Trying to talk, all he managed to utter was a variety of squarks and squeaks. He pulled his gloves off his hands and stuffed them into his pockets.

"Kaz," Celeste said.

Kaz did not respond, but rather clutched his chest.

"Kaz!" Celeste shouted as she pulled him with her free hand to sit on the floor of the helm. "Kaz – listen to me. You're breathing too much. You have to slow down. Purse your lips like you're going to whistle."

"What?"

"Purse your lips like you're going to whistle – like this," Celeste bent down, keeping one hand on the steering, and pursed her lips like she was going to kiss him. "Do this and try to breathe slowly."

Kaz stared at Celeste's pursed lips and almost laughed, but he tried anyway, pursing his lips.

"Take one breath and then count to five," Celeste ordered.

Kaz took one breath through his pursed lips and whistled a choppy whistle as he did so. Counting to five, he managed to slow his breathing and began to relax.

"Good – now just repeat that several times slowly," Celeste instructed.

Kaz rubbed his frozen hands on his face and continued to breathe through pursed lips.

"We could have died," Kaz said eventually as he rested his face in his hands.

Celeste put the steering lock on and knelt next to Kaz, "Yeah, we could have died Kaz. But we didn't, did we? We are still here, and it won't be long before we're at the estuary. You're too smart Kaz, you know your boats and I can navigate with the sun, stars and moon - together we've got each other's back. We're not going to die."

Kaz almost believed her. But he knew that the most dangerous part of their journey was yet to come. The Anatase Mountain range was an unruly place, and they did not know exactly where Celest's Great-Gram Agate lived, or if she was living at all.

Celeste could see the doubt in his eyes, "Kaz – she is alive, and she will help – I would know if she was dead. I would feel it in the pit of my stomach."

Kaz nodded as he stood up, his breathing returning to a more normal pace. He took his gloves out of his pockets and replaced them on his hands, he pulled his hood back up and took the steering lock off as he said, "Let's get to the estuary – we want to chart our course along the coast before nightfall."

Celeste took out her note book out of her coat pocket and slowly began the calculations as she wondered about the truth of her words. Would she really know if Great-Gram Agate had died? Would she instinctively know where to find her? Would she even be able to help them overcome the Gelid Time? Celeste shook her head and let the questions tumble away from her mind as she focused her attention solely on the route calculations.