Island Dream [a Damian Priest fantasy story]

10 Mates

"Thank goodness! Finally! Come with me, Damian," she said and grabbed his hand at the same time.

Together they hurried out of the water and set off. Sanja knew that it would be a while before her family reached safe shore, but she couldn't wait any longer. She pulled Damian behind her until they finally reached the small, rather wobbly landing place. It was still something that had suffered from the strong storm. But it would have to hold up for today.

Slowly but steadily, the ship drew closer. Sanja tried to recognize someone, but failed. Everything inside her tightened again. She just wanted to see her grandfather. He was the most important thing to her. He was the only connection she had left to her real family.

Sure, the others were like family to her and she called them that too. But there was nothing like blood.

"Sanja!" she heard a faint voice call out when the ship was only 100 yards away.

Relief flowed through her like warm water. It was him. Her beloved grandfather. The hand she still held Damian's with tightened a little. He reciprocated by squeezing Sanja's hand lovingly. Damian also felt how important it was for her to know that her grandfather had returned safely.

But then everything happened in a flash. Garro, another one of the island's inhabitants, spotted Damian next to Sanja and jumped off the ship before they could anchor it. From one second to the next, he stormed towards him and pulled out his knife.

"Who is this stranger?" he shouted and had the knife at his throat before anyone could move.

"Garro!" shouted Paya, his mate.

Sanja reacted quickly. She grabbed his hair from behind and had her own knife forced against his throat. She pressed firmly against it. All it took was one wrong move from him and she would do it.

"Drop the knife, Garro. Or I'll end you before you even get to cut his skin. I'll slit your throat and you know as well as I do that there's no coming back from that," she said into his ear as she pulled his head back.

The knife fell to the ground with a dull thud. Damian, who had been frozen, breathed a sigh of relief. He had expected that not everyone would be friendly towards him, but he hadn't expected such hostility. 

"Have you lost your mind, Sanja? You can't threaten Garro like that," scolded Paya as she jumped off the ship and stood next to her.

"If he's acting like a savage, I can do it! Damian was washed up on the beach here after a shipwreck and now he belongs to me. Whether you like it or not. But Garro, as always, has to act without asking questions. He just doesn't learn." Sanja defended herself.

"That's enough. Sanja, child, come to me." her grandfather called out.

When Sanja could see him properly, she was alarmed. He looked so weak. He was also visibly aged. It was worse than she had expected. The journey had taken too long and had obviously drained his strength.

She rushed to him to help him off the deck. She reached for his hand and immediately noticed how cold he felt.

"Damian... Help me, please." she then said.

"Ah, a new face. Someone survived? I didn't think I'd live to see this in my old age." replied the grandfather before he began to cough.

"It's nice to meet you all, Sir." said Damian as he and Sanja helped to get him off the ship.

"My name is Erwindro. That will do. I'm sure we'll have some time to talk. First we have to unload the ship," the old man replied.

"But... Where are the others?" Sanja wanted to know when she finally noticed that no one else had come off the ship.

Erwindro sighed deeply as he looked at his granddaughter. He would have loved not to talk about the events of the last few weeks, but she needed to know.

"We lost Tyron, Heath and Clamea during a storm. They tried to save the sail and fell into the sea. We tried to get them back on board, but the raging sea pulled them into the depths too quickly. We had no chance. And then... on the mainland, Kylenne and Lumi... met men and made them their mates. They decided to stay there and not return.

This travel was a bitter loss. I should get some rest. Is everything all right here? I see that a storm has raged here too. How long has the smell of the volcano been perceptible?" he explained in a weak voice.

"It was last night. Since then the strong smell. Let me help you. You need to eat something. I could make you your favorite soup," Sanja suggested.

"No... no... You help the others. I can handle it." he contradicted.

"Damian... could you help? I don't want to leave him alone like this." she said, looking at Damian.

Of course he immediately saw how worried she was. And this worry about her grandfather and Damian. But she knew that he could take care of himself. She trusted him.

"You go ahead. We won't be long." he replied and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Thank you. Keep an eye on Garro." she replied.

"Yes, thank you, my boy. We'll have a lot to talk about. And Garro? Behave yourself and be nice to our guest. I'm sure Sanja won't hesitate to follow through on her threat. You know that the mates are off limits." Erwindro adds.