Stormlands ( Book 2 of the Torrent Skies Saga)

Chapter Ten: Splashes

The sailing went smoothly under Magrum. Their sails were always full, their course was set, and most days the sun shined on them. For even if a storm surrounded them, the magics that Trunk, Moki, and Arjiah possessed could keep it at bay.

The longer they sailed, the more accustomed to the ship Katerin became, and less reliant on the star-shaped bottles she carried.

Though this morning she had made a very regretful decision. She had forgone drinking from one of the star shaped bottles and now she was on watch duty, far up in the nest on the mast. It could fit two people if need be, but was not exactly comfortable to start with—as it swayed on occasion, causing her to ponder whether she trusted the bolts and straps that held it in place.

Her head was spinning and her stomach lurched with every movement, but she pushed it aside as best she could.  She simply refused to be sick, clamped her mouth shut and scanned the horizon. They had left the visibility of Ellispyre's coast a few days before, and now there was nothing but the dazzling blue water. She settled in as comfortably as she could, and watched.

It was quite boring, in her opinion. She could not read or study anything, and there was nothing to be seen out here. It almost seemed pointless. There were no other ships, no land, and nothing distracting to look at, aside from the occasional bird. It made her feel very alone. Made the world feel quiet, vast, and empty. A feeling that both intrigued and unsettled her.

The wind made soft ripples in the waves, as it danced across the ocean, and she lamented not being on the deck. There were a thousand things she could learn on the deck. A thousand distractions to keep her thoughts from sad or terrifying places. But up here they wandered at their own behest.

She felt she understood the crews of such ships, when she was on watch. Their trust was as deep as family—deeper, even. For it was only them, it seemed, and that isolation was a terrifying thought. The ocean was wide and expansive, but here it felt as if it was nothing more than tiny box that you could not escape.

The sun caught the water on a wave, and it glistened with a thousand times the beauty of any gem. She watched Arjiah at the bow below her, leaning out over the water. And even from here Katerin could sense the love for the water that Arjiah possessed. She looked as if she was capable of anything out here. Maybe that is what the ocean gave to her: freedom in a form of isolation. Did she look at land the way Katerin viewed the water? Was there any semblance at all? Katerin wondered if she truly could understand or enjoy it, as her nausea caught up to her again and she gripped the sides of the nest for a minute.

Capable, alone, and ill... not such an inspiring vision after all. After she righted herself, and refrained from being sick on the crew below her, Katerin looked back to the water, pushing her thoughts back to her job and away from the fantasies of her thoughts.

There was a big splash, just inside a wave not terribly far to their right side. Katerin peered over the railing and her breath caught as she saw a form just under the surface, swimming back and forth in a mesmerizing pattern. She shook herself and searched for Beymor on the deck. When she found him, she wrapped a small piece of wire around her finger, and pointed toward him.

Captain, big splash a few hundred yards ahead to our right, she said. Speaking into his mind with the help of her spell.

What're you doing? he asked, sounding startled. Can't you yell like a normal person?

If I try to lean out to holler at you I'm going to be sick all over your fine ship.

It's bow, stern, port, and starboard, he grumbled. What is it you see?