Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 93948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
There isn’t a different route available, though. Not in this. Our only chance is to blow the damn horn and summon the damn Cŵn Annwn and hope they don’t kill us on the spot. Maybe they will. Maybe that’s what Siobhan believes, and why she’s said goodbye in the only way she can stomach. I don’t fault her for it. I very much do not want to die, but death comes for us all at one point or another. Might as well make it count.
Cye makes a happy noise that’s almost a purr and bounces on their toes. “Almost there.”
Within a few minutes, we’ve left the claustrophobic closeness of the jungle behind and emerged onto a beach with pristine white sand. It’s the kind of beach poets wax on about and painters spend days twisting themselves into knots to re-create. It hardly looks real.
Because it isn’t.
Dao pounces on what appears to be air, and the entire beach ripples. I watch in shock as the image flickers and flickers again, finally fading away to a significantly narrower spot with grainy sand beneath our boots and a trio of ships bobbing gently just past the surf.
I glance at Cye, who purrs again. “We aren’t without defenses.”
“I see that.” I shake my head. The thing Dao jumped on is a large crystal glowing a gentle green. I’ve never seen anything like it, but Bastian watches it like it’s a snake about to strike. I nudge him. “Relax.”
“That’s a Boax crystal. How did you get it?”
Dao’s ears flick, and they flash their teeth. “Trade.”
As if it’s that simple. Boax is inhospitable to the point that it’s forbidden to even land there. People still do, of course. The greedy and the desperate are willing to risk their lives to potentially return home with one of the legendary crystals. They’re rare enough to be rumor, but it’s said they can hold spells for such a duration that it might as well be eternal. To find one here, hiding a handful of ships on an island where no one comes…It’s fascinating, to say the least. “Good for you.”
Dao points to the ship on the far right. “Take that one.”
Cye bounds up with a bag that looks light enough to be empty, but when they pass it over, it nearly topples me. Siobhan comes up and snags it. “Thank you,” she says. “For everything. We won’t forget it.”
The two youngsters exchange a look and bow deeply enough that their tufted ears nearly brush the ground. “Thank you, Cŵn Annwn. We wish you luck on your journey and victory in your battles.”
Then they’re gone, bounding away with the chaotic energy of youth, disappearing into the trees in moments. Lizzie stretches her arms over her head and drapes one around Maeve’s shoulders. “Something you want to tell us?”
“No,” Siobhan says shortly. She eyes the distance between us and the ship. “We should be able to swim the distance easily enough.”
“Go. I’ll bring up the rear.” The better to help along anyone who struggles with the currents.
Siobhan nods and then she’s wading out into the water, the bag looped easily around her shoulders. Bastian and Evelyn follow, Bowen not far behind. Maeve pulls her pelt out and wraps it around her shoulders. In a shimmer of magic, the adorable redhead is gone, replaced by a large leopard seal. She boops Lizzie’s shoulder.
“I’m going,” Lizzie snaps, but she’s moving slower than normal. The vampire fears the water. It’s something I noted when she first started sailing with my crew, but she’s a proud creature and I like my blood inside my skin, so I only prod her about it periodically.
It’s still the height of entertainment to watch her sweet partner herd her into the waves like a wandering duckling. By the time she’s made it to deeper water, Maeve swimming circles around her body, the rest of the others have reached the ship.
I follow. There’s no need for magic. Honestly, it feels good to swim. For those few minutes it takes me to reach the ship, my mind is clear and there is nothing but the faint strain of my muscles and the steady sound of the waves. There’s part of me that wants to exist in this moment forever. We haven’t lost anyone yet. Bad things have happened, but we’ve prevailed. If I never reach the ship…
But I do.
Bowen extends a hand to pull me aboard, and he doesn’t even need magic to practically toss me onto the deck. I land easily and pull the water from everyone’s clothing to send it back where it belongs. “Let’s go.”
Bastian looks like he wants to argue, but the rest of them quickly move to their respective responsibilities. We won’t have a proper navigator for this, but we don’t need one unless things go catastrophically wrong—and then we’ll have bigger problems to worry about than being lost. All we have to do is sail directly west and we’ll come to the east side of Lyari.