Raw Winter

Chapter 36: The Cove

Rawintr stood beside Kircan as he traced his finger slowly over the map. "You can see where the cove is, can't you?" He was smiling at her, his eyes flicking up from the map and then back to it. "I don't know what the man knew, but he's definitely given us a boon. Are you feeling alright, captain?"

"More than alright," she replied. There were lanterns all over the room that made their shadows flicker. He probably couldn't tell, but her eyes were closed whenever she wasn't looking at the map. It disturbed her to see the shadows.

"Can you believe the cove is here? That we actually did it?" Kircan asked.

"It's hard to believe we're already here," she said, but she felt a bit of warmth. This was the last leg of her journey, and it seemed almost too easy. There was a natural pathway they could squeeze up through, and Whistle and Mesmar were checking where it led to see how close it was to the keep.

She felt her skin itching. They were close to leaving the sea and she couldn't distinguish if it was a good or bad feeling. It felt as if there were arms around her, but it was one of the rare moments when it didn't make her feel sick or anxious. What made her feel anxious was leaving the ocean behind. The sea seemed insistent she wouldn't be safe if she left this cove.

"I just mean this is like a miracle, isn't it, Captain? Sorry, I don't know how you feel about that sort of thing, yeah, but doesn't it?" His finger traced the map again. He was recalling what it was like for the current to take a hold of them and pull them along. She wondered, briefly, how it would treat them when they were leaving. It seemed so smooth to be guided here, but what about leaving? It reminded her of a story she once heard about a man that lured men to their deaths to play his game.

She could hear the low whistling before the door opened a good ten minutes prior. Kircan could hear it too, and she marked each time he looked up in anticipation of the news. She found it almost anticlimactic; it would have been a surprise if they just burst in, but she knew they knew better. Their captain hated to be surprised.

It was clear by the note that shrilled out and echoed through the cave that this was good news. Whistle was good at these nuances, and she felt they should praise a god for calling him exactly what he needed to be called. For a moment, she felt the hands of men and women tugging at her as she passed, but found herself with no one to cling to now. She felt she was wrong about who she clung to then.

Yet here she was on his ship and in this skin.

It's too good to be true, isn't it?

She snapped her teeth as the voice echoed in her head and Kircan didn't notice. Whistle and Mesmar entered, smiling widely. "Cap'n!" They said together.

"It leads right under him. Leads right into one of his walls," Whistle said. "It would be easy to sneak up on him. I bet they forgot all about any openings that might be there."

"No one would be the wiser. We could take everything before he knows we're there, and then we can skin him alive when he finally gets to noticing," Mesmar added, grinning toothily.

"I don't know," Rawintr said, knowing her words were flat and in contrast to their high spirits. "I don't believe passages like this one aren't known. I imagine there's someone that's aware, and might discover us."

"She's been down ever since we got here," Kircan said, as if he could ever speak low enough for the half-deaf man to hear without Rawintr also hearing him. "That's not going to be a problem, captain. We're going to be in and out of this thing before anyone that might know knows."

Her teeth gritted, but said nothing. She didn't feel she had a reason to be upset, but felt it nonetheless as she made her way to the door and they followed.