Elven Legacy

Chapter 137

Noah

It's for the best, he told himself, not for the first time, as he gripped the coarse wood of the starboard railing. I'm shit at goodbyes anyway.

He stood on the stern of a Nimisian passenger ship called The Storm Prince. Her captain had been pleasantly surprised that Noah spoke Nimisian, and she'd accepted his and Fen's offer to do maintenance work on the ship in lieu of money.

In exchange, she would carry them across the Tocherro Ocean and back home to the south-western continent. They were actually sailing to Vustormi, so on the way back to Hart Delun Noah would get to see a part of Nimis he'd never visited before. Not that he could bring himself to feel any excitement at the prospect. Right now, Noah felt like his ability to experience emotions like joy and excitement had been replaced by this massive, gaping crater inside him, toxic fumes still pluming out from the recent destruction.

Behind him, and all across the fifty-foot long ship, the mostly Nimisian crew were busy hauling in ropes and anchor. The boisterous wind caught in the ship's rigging, with all the bustle and clanging that came with it.

Noah wasn't alone at the stern, a dozen other passengers stood in loose clusters of families or friends, watching the quays and the people that stood on it to see them off. Noah looked up, beyond the other sailboats lined up in neat rows along the wharfs, to the shingle beach that sloped up to meet a small cobbled path.

He had no idea why he looked up to that particular path – could very well have been a coincidence – but at that exact moment a familiar white horse trotted down the cobbles, the clip-clop of his hooves carried by the wind and reaching Noah's ears. He froze, his grip tightening anxiously on the railing.

Jaden reined Silver in just as cobbles became shingles. He cast his gaze frantically about, desperately searching for something, somewhere on the quays or aboard the moored ships; searching for someone among the passengers or crews, a familiar face amidst all the comings and goings.

Finally, Jaden saw him – over the line-up of ships and masts that separated them, he saw him – and he froze too. Late afternoon sunlight suffused his blond hair as it unfurled in the wind, and time seemed to slow down and accelerate all at once, the planking underneath Noah's boots seeming to sway with more than just the back and forth of the waves.

Noah's heart seized up, and the nerves down his legs ignited with the need to move. Only, he wasn't sure if he wanted to run away, or run to him.

So for now, he just stayed rooted to his spot by the starboard railing, especially since Jaden was suddenly moving plenty enough for the both of them.

He leapt off Silver with graceful efficiency, knees bending a little before he jumped forward to break into a sprint. Panic flared up Noah's stomach as he realized the passengers beside him were waving to the people that stood on the quay below. The telltale rattling of a long wooden ramp against the ship's edge had Noah's head snapping over his shoulder. They were hauling in the gangplank.

"Wait!" Noah shouted in Nimisian before his mind could form any other thoughts. Already he was racing to the ship's side, to where the captain stood, holding her black tricorne so it wouldn't fly off in the wind.

She glanced at him with a surprised frown, though she didn't tell her crew to stop what they were doing.

"Can you hold off just a minute?" he asked, and was abruptly aware of his heart thrashing madly against his chest. He was also aware of Jaden running up the quay to which the ship was nearly unmoored. A few more ropes, and they'd be sailing away across the sunlit ocean.

The captain shook her head, crossing her muscular arms under her breasts. "We're already late. I'm sorry."

"Noah!" Jaden's voice, shouting from the quay. Noah flung himself to the railing.