“Into the tempest!”
They shouted, diving through the squall
Rather than fighting against it.
~Diary Richard Williams II
It was midday before Vidar called the crew to the upper deck again.
The ship was sailing with renewed speed and eagerness like a few days' rest and new sails truly did reinvigorate her. Billy took the helm in the calm winds and I suspected Vidar let him just to excite the boy. He’d been working in the kitchens with Boil since before I joined the crew. He could use the fresh air.
Everyone gathered on deck, eagerly waiting for Vidar’s next big announcement. By that point, we were too far out to sea to take anyone back to shore if they suddenly changed their mind about being a part of our journey.
“So?” someone spoke up. “Where we heading next, cap’n?”
“That’s what you’re all here for,” Vidar said. “In four days or so, depending on how kind the wind decides to be, we’ll be nearing the shores of Dornwich.”
“A resupply already?” someone else said.
“More like an acquisition of something or someone very particular. Someone who would benefit us and be better off away from those shores most likely.”
As expected, James stepped up. “You talking about my sister? What’s going on in Dornwich?”
“Got a bad feeling is all. And we might need Addison’s particular skills in the days ahead.”
“Weapons?” David said excitedly. “We all getting bronze ones finally?”
“Aye. And more, if we can pull it off. We need allies, as we all know. We’re a crew on the verge of being too small for the Rose. Sorry,” he cleared his throat, his lips forming a crooked smile. “The Storm Weaver.”
“Storm Weaver?” Mullins said. “That’s a good name.”
“You can credit Dahlia for that one.”
“About James’s sister,” Gus interjected.
“Right. Dornwich doesn’t sound like the ideal place to be right now. We won’t be staying. Just want to get your sister, James.”
James let out a slow laugh that caught me off guard. “I’m not worried about the bitch, cap’n. You of all people know she can take care of herself.”
“I don’t doubt it. Back to work! Let’s get this ship where she needs to go.”
The plans were set. The course was laid. The men all had their jobs and though Meridan and I had been learning the ways of sailing a ship bit by bit since we joined the crew, we still weren’t much use alongside men who had been doing it since they were children. Mostly, we were the eyes. The ears.
Meridan had taken to spending time in the crow’s nest and she could remain there for longer periods of time than any of the men. In the chilly wind. In the rain. In the night. She enjoyed it and her eyes could pierce the night’s darkness far better than even mine could.
I, on the other hand, spent most of my time on the bow, watching the sea in front of us like we were sailing across a giant trap. That’s what it was like those days. An abyss waiting to swallow us all whole. A noose waiting to tighten.
For days, our journey continued that way. Vidar sailing the ship. The men maintaining it. Boil cooking meals. The rest keeping watch.
During another early morning, nothing had approached the ship. It was almost more unnerving than if something had. I knew we were being watched. Something was always lurking and not knowing where it was made my skin crawl.
I felt Meridan’s presence before I heard it.
She’d finally come down from the crow’s nest and was draped in one of Mullin’s oversized shirts and a pair of drawstring pants.
Everything looked big on her, but for months she refused to get dedicated clothing that suited her.
If she had her way, she’d never wear clothes at all and the chill of the wind certainly didn’t bother her seemingly delicate, white skin.
She perched her hands on the railing beside me, her silver-white hair blowing in the breeze so languidly it looked like smoke.
“It is strange there have been no sightings,” she mentioned.
“It’s stranger after hearing all the rumors men were spreading in Thorpes. They were afraid to sail.”
“Pirates, of all people. They think they own the water and everything on it.”
“Pirates are cowards. We both know that. They choose the path of least resistance and hunt the weakest of prey.”
“And hunters?”
I shrugged. “They’re in short supply these days. I would have rejoiced over that fact only a few months ago. Now…” I sighed.
Meridan leaned over the railing until it looked like she might just fall into the water.
“They’re down there,” she said calmly. “It would be foolish to think otherwise.”
“I know.”
“And when we get to Dornwich? It could be a dangerous place for all of us. Especially if there are sirens on those shores.”
“We’ll know more when we get there.”
She turned around, leaning back on the railing with her arms folded over herself. Something was weighing on her mind. I watched her stare into the night, deep in thought, and then reached out and touched her arm.
“Do not withhold your thoughts from me,” I said. “We are sisters, in this together.”
She sucked in a deep breath before she turned her white eyes toward mine.
“Do you think it is right? Seeking Akareth?”
“I don’t know what’s right or wrong. All I know is that something is the root of this madness.
This madness that has infected our people.
” I stepped in closer to her. “What I feel for Vidar has lifted a veil from my vision. I see things more clearly now and it is more than clear to me that we do not need to be fighting this war. Against humans. Against each other.”
“One crew cannot change the minds of all. Even if we find these roots and pull up the weeds, the soil is still rotten.”
“Soil can heal over time. But cutting out the disease is a start.”
“He is a god,” Meridan whispered. “I know you question that fact, but we grew up thinking it. Knowing it. To go against him isn’t just blasphemy. It’s suicide. It’s eternal damnation if we are wrong.”
“You fear him.”
“Of course I fear him. I was raised to fear him. And now we sail in search of him. Not to surrender to his power but to challenge it.”
I pulled my hand away from her and swallowed, grounding myself.
“Do you wish we’d left you behind?”
“No,” she answered quickly. “Never.” Turning her body fully toward me, she said, “Because I am more loyal to you than I will ever be to the hatred and violence our people wrought in the name of Akareth. And after all of our efforts, all of our sacrifice, now he’s sent his sons to slaughter and devour us.
It was a great gift to have been cast out by my people.
It lifted a veil from my eyes as well to be banished by them and taken in by you.
I will follow you to the depths if I must. I will drive my bone dagger into Akareth’s eye if it means freeing you of his chains. ”
My heart swelled at her words. “You are braver and fiercer than the Naros ever gave you credit for,” I said, gently placing my hand against her cool cheek. “And you are more my sister than any Kroan ever was.”
Meridan’s face didn’t change color like a human’s might.
Her cheeks didn’t turn pink and her eyes didn’t get red.
It was hard to know she was feeling anything at all at times, but I knew at that moment that she was feeling quite a lot.
The tiny freckles of shimmering bioluminescence on her cheeks and along her collarbones rippled under the moonlight for a split second and then dimmed again.
It was the only sign I would ever get that she was processing her emotions because the woman also did not have the ability to shed tears.
A pair of booted footsteps strode up behind me. I turned my head to see Vidar standing there, his coat on and his thumbs hanging on his leather belts.
“We’re getting close,” he said.
“How do you know?” Meridan asked, noting the darkness and the thin fog that had rolled in. “Even I cannot see anything.”
Vidar quirked a brow and pointed a finger up toward the sky. For a second or two, we saw nothing, but then a white bird squawked, flying overhead.
Birds. They stayed close to land which meant we were closing in on a shore. Not only that, but flying birds meant morning was coming. Meridan and I exchanged a look—a silent commitment—to do what needed to be done. To challenge whoever we needed to challenge. Together.