Chapter 95 Aren #2
It was armed to the teeth and Lara was in command, which meant they needed to make it inside shipbreaker range, and they’d be safe.
“Ready!”
As they flew out from between the islands, the wind exploded against them, and the vessel tipped, the port side hull lifting out of the water.
“Lean!” Ahnna screamed, and Aren and the others threw their weight outward, trying to counterbalance the intensity of the wind.
The ship flew, faster and faster, seeming to barely touch the waves. Rope cut into Aren’s hand as the port side rose higher, lifting him and the others into the air.
We’re going to flip.
Aren’s lips parted to scream a warning at Ahnna, but from deep within him, something stronger and more primal than fear bellowed, Trust her.
Sea spray stung his eyes, but Aren fixed his gaze on the island that was their salvation.
Faster.
Ornak grew in the distance, and Aren made out a few flashes of steel. Motion in the dense jungle across the cliffs. Most important, the tiny opening into the cove, and the gleam of chains being lifted.
Almost there.
Against his will, Aren looked backward, and almost there felt nowhere near close enough. Two clippers were right on their wake. Their decks were swarming with soldiers, archers with arrows nocked, and a heartbeat later they let a volley fly.
Aren watched the arrows soar through the air, knowing that there was no way to evade them. No place to hide, because to move from his position would see the ship keel over and they’d be overrun. “Steady!” he screamed.
Ahnna’s expression was tight. Focused. Not once did she look over her shoulder, and he knew there was nothing but the wind, the ship, and the safety of the cove ahead.
They’d either beat them, or they wouldn’t.
They’d either all fall to arrows, or they wouldn’t.
Ahnna sailed on a razor’s edge, her nerves not faltering.
Surf hammered against the hulls of the Harendellian ships as they gained ground, and Aren could see the individual faces of the archers. The anger on them, because they believed that this pursuit was just. Believed that Ithicana was the enemy.
Crack!
The noise was faint, but Aren spotted a boulder soaring through the air to land with a splash in the water.
Not much farther.
An arrow thudded into the deck. Another grazed his forearm, but Aren barely felt the sting.
Another boulder hit the water.
So close. They were so close.
Lia screamed, an arrow jutting from her side. Aren reached for his friend, but their fingers only brushed as she fell, disappearing into the waves.
“Lia!” Ahnna screamed, her weight shifting, and Aren shouted at her, “Stay the course!”
But more arrows were falling.
Two pierced the sails, and two more screams cut the air, figures falling in Aren’s periphery.
The vessel tilted precariously, Ahnna forced to turn away from the wind lest they go over entirely.
They had been so close. So damned close. The clipper was nearly on them, but Aren stared at the island where the love of his life was watching. “Lara!” he screamed, not wanting her to see this moment.
Crack!
A boulder flew over his head, sending a wave of water over them as it struck the sea.
Crack!
Another boulder flew, but this time, his ears filled with a crunch instead of a splash. It had struck true, taking out one of the clipper’s masts. It fell sideways, taking another mast with it.
Crack!
A boulder landed square on the deck, punching all the way down to the sea, turning the clipper’s deck to chaos.
The other clipper veered away, sailing out of range of the shipbreakers, not quite ready to court this battle.
“Get us to that cove,” Aren shouted, knowing that tears mixed with seawater on his sister’s face as she sailed onward, beneath the raised chain and into the cove.
Familiar shouts called their names, and the beach was filled with the faces of comrades as they dropped the sails and drifted up onto the sand.
But Aren’s eyes were all for Lara as she sprinted down the beach.
He leapt into the water and met her as she flung herself at him, her arms going around his neck.
“Are you all right?” she demanded, and he couldn’t tell if the rapid thud of a heart he felt was his or hers.
“Yeah. But Lia…”
“We saw.” Her body tensed in his arms as though she fought a sob, and then she let go of his neck and settled into the knee-deep water. “We saw it all.”
Aren straightened, taking in everyone watching. “A lot has happened, but suffice it to say, William is dead. Harendell is coming for blood. We have a day, maybe two, until the Harendellian fleet arrives and begins its attack.”
Lara gave a tight nod. “I’ve sent word to Maridrina and to Valcotta begging for aid.”
“Zarrah was in Harendell with Keris. I imagine they’ll be trying to get back south, but they are in no position to help. And I think Maridrina’s parliament cares more for trade than they do for who holds the bridge.”
“This is it, then?” Her blue eyes met his. “The battle is upon us?”
Aren pulled his gaze from hers, surveying the Ithicanian warriors watching from the sand. Every single one of them stood square-shouldered and defiant, ready to make this last stand. And they needed to be ready.
Because in this fight, Ithicana stood alone.