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

Chapter 17

The Saltum Sea; To the South 

As Celeste and Kaz left the estuary behind and navigated the Legend into the open waters of the Saltum Sea, dusk quickly evaporated and the starless night enveloped them. The freezing mist rolled over the Legend, coating the wooden railings with silvery white icicles. The farther away from the estuary they sailed, the deeper and more aggressive the waves of the Saltum Sea became and the white foam tips clawed over the bow of the boat, edging its way closer and closer to the feet of Celeste and Kaz.

Kaz steered the Legend through the waves and out to sea until Celeste was sure that they had passed the part of land that jutted out before turning hard towards the port side of the boat. He held tight to the helm as they sailed parallel to the waves and close enough to the coast as Celeste's instincts would allow. As the estuary disappeared behind them, they entered the deep nothingness of the night and cut a fine line between the coast and the sea.

Celeste said but two words since they had entered the Saltum Sea. The silence between them amplified the urgency and peril of the journey. Celeste listened intently for the most minute of sounds and the most minute of feelings to indicate if they veered too close to the rocks of the coast, too close to the stonefish, too close to death. She stood as near to Kaz as physically possible, her arm against his, and gently touched his gloved left hand to indicate a little more port or a little more starboard or dead-ahead.

Kaz's eyes strained in the darkness and time seemed to stand still. There was nothing. Nothing but Celeste and himself. Nothing but himself and the Legend. Nothing but his hands on the helm. Nothing but the waves to the starboard side and the stonefish to the port. Kaz was tempted to close his eyes. It would be the same darkness. But he knew that if he closed his eyes, he risked falling asleep standing right there at the helm of the Legend. The journey so far had tired him. Death lurking had tired him. The penetrating cold had tired him. If he fell asleep out there at the helm, it would not be the stonefish that would transport him from this Kingdom to the beyond but rather the cold that would crawl over his body, tighten its grip and transport him to elysian dreams.

Kaz shook his head and startled Celeste.

"Shush - be still," Celeste whispered.

"This is crazy!" Kaz whispered swallowing the frozen salty air.

"Shush, you're doing great," Celeste said standing closer to him again, "I can her the coast."

"We've been doing this for hours."

"Kaz, keep going. Dead-ahead. We're good," Celeste reassured.

Silence fell between them again and time passed - the seconds turned to minutes and minutes to hours and the blackness of the night eventually gave way to a dim glow on the horizon out to sea. The mist had dissipated, the waves calmed and ahead lay the faint outline of the Anastase Mountain Range and more importantly, the rocky coast.

Celeste moved away from Kaz and walked the deck checking overboard on both sides for stonefish.

"Well?" Kaz shouted.

"Kaz! Come see!"

Kaz locked the helm in place immediately and braced himself for the worst – stonefish attached to every free space on the hull. Celeste was leaning far the rail – dangerously far.

"Celeste! Be careful!" Kaz grabbed the back of her coat and pulled her back onto the deck as icicles smashed around their feet.

"Look – there's hundreds of them! All around the boat!"

But what Kaz saw was not a hull covered in stonefish, but hundreds of salamanders that had ventured far from the rocky coast and had surrounded the boat, swimming alongside, in front and behind - almost in formation – an army of salamanders guarding the boat on its journey up the coast.

"That's impossible Celeste," Kas said. "Salamanders – well, giant salamanders like these, don't come this far out in the Saltum Sea."

"No," agreed Celeste as she watched them weave in and out of the sea sometimes surfacing and other times diving deep, but without a doubt they were escorting the Legend up the coast. "We will make it to the base of the Anastase Mountains Kaz."

"What do you mean 'we will make it'? You didn't think we would? Is that what you're saying Celeste?"

"Calm down Kaz, I knew we'd make it – but you know, you never know, you never know, I mean really know, for sure," Celeste said.

"You never know? You never know?" Kaz said, his voice rising.

"Look there," Celeste said pointing at the mountains. "Let's get back to the helm. We have the light on our side, a clear calm sea and the salamanders for protection. Full speed dead-ahead Kaz!"

Kaz and Celeste returned to the helm and headed up the coast to carve a path toward the Anastase mountain range . Kaz shifted the boat to capture the best of the wind in its sails and following the salamanders, headed full pelt towards the mountains.

Celeste scanned the sea; the uneasy feeling that she had when they left the estuary returned. Something out there was getting closer. She couldn't see anything. But she felt it, and it was stronger than before and the gap between whatever was out there, and the Legend was closing. Celeste watched as the salamanders worked in unison, propelling themselves forward with urgency – their slender bodies, lizard-like, but still fish-like, with short limbs and a tail that moved them with impressive speed. She contemplated their ability to regenerate their damaged body parts and wished that there was some way it was possible for her and Kaz to regenerate also. Celeste scoured the horizon. Nothing. Dead calm. But it was coming.