Dive Deep into Creativity: Discover, Share, Inspire
Erin felt her blood pumping through her body as she tried to jog to the schooner. Her head was fuzzy, and all she could see was them. Her lungs filled with air she couldn’t breathe and she clutched her chest. Gunshots and cries rang out around her but she couldn’t hear them. Get to the ship, she thought. If you don’t get to the ship they're dead.
From on the roof, Jesper spotted her stunning towards the dock, and moved to pick off anyone that tried to attack her.
“There!” Jesper yelled, hoping someone would go help the Shadow. Wylan was the only one who heard him, and looked to see Erin getting closer. Sweat covered her face and it looked like she’d been crying. Erin clumsily pushed past Rotty, who was helping Wylan keep the shooters back.
She staggered over the ship, grabbing the ropes that kept them from floating off.
Untie the ropes, lift the anchor, fly the sails. She repeated it in her head like a mantra. Rope, Anchor, Sails.
She hadn’t touched a ship since… well since she came to Ketterdam. Her heart was pounding faster than Jesper could shoot, and she felt her stomach rise. Erin froze as she tried to lift the anchor, her hands touching the cold water.
I’m drowning. Where is the surface? I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe—
“I got it”
Rotty pulled the anchor up for her. His voice broke Erin out of her trance for the moment. She looked around, realizing everyone was on board and they had left the harbor. Matthias was the only one on deck, throwing up over the side.
Erin sank down to the floor of the ship, shutting her eyes. This is not the Cardea. This is not the Cardea. You will not drown, you will not drown. It took everything she had to stand back up, placing her feet on the railing and hoisting herself up the rope rungs to reach the sails. She gagged as she looked down. Even from his place on the deck, Rotty could tell she was trembling. He disappears below deck, looking for something.
The Shadow pulled the sails down and out, the boat picking up speed. It gave her a rush, and for a moment she enjoyed the wind in her face. Then she vomited.
“Watch it!”
Kaz looked up from the deck, scowling. He looked like shit. Blood splattered on his face and clothes, his usual sheened back hair in his eyes. Erin didn’t respond, shimming down the rope and placing her feet on solid ground.
“I thought you were a sailor.” He grumbled, stepping around the liquid on the deck. He gripped the railing, obviously queasy himself.
Erin held onto the rope
“I said I had been sailing. There’s a difference.”
Now that she was close enough to the edge, she saw her reflection in the water. It flickered between the mess she was now, and the scared girl she was. She felt sick again and covered her mouth, shaking. Kaz glanced at her.
“You need to be faster. If you had been gone any longer we’d have been screwed” he said coldly. Underneath his demeanor, she could’ve sworn there was concern in his eyes.
“Wouldn’t have to worry about it if you hired a damn crew” Erin grimaced as water splashed her.
“I didn’t think I needed one. Clearly I was wrong. You can barely stand without getting sick.” He scoffs
Erin glares at him, sweat dripping from her chin. If he noticed, he wasn’t letting on. She roughly pushed past him and up to the wheel, trying to think about anything other than the unforgiving water. Kaz was upset about something and followed her.
“Do you understand me? If you falter we all die.” He raises his voice slightly. Erin flinches, for the first time since they’ve known each other. That, he notices.
“Erin.” His voice is taught.
“I’m perfectly aware of the situation.” She responds.
“Then act like it”
Erin clutches the wheel tighter. She’s angry. She’s not sure why, maybe Kaz’s attitude had been too much. He didn’t seem to care about how she felt, of being on the sea made her feel. Erin’s face falls into a dark glare.
“You’re tardiness almost got us all killed and if you get sick while piloting the ship-“
“I know!” Erin yelled. She whipped her body to face him. Kaz merely raised an eyebrow, expecting her to continue. She wasn’t sure where she was going with this, her breathing was labored.
“Why are you acting like this is my fault. You didn’t have to be first mate”
That pissed her off. “First mate?? I am the only mate. I am the only person on the godforsaken ship that knows how to sail, or navigate, or anything that will get us to Fjerda.”
Kaz’s face remained unemotional. He glanced up seeing Jesper come up from the cabin. The sharpshooter looked at Erin and his eyes widened in concern
“Erin? Erin are you ok? Saints Kaz, what did you say to her” Jesper glared at his friend. Kaz shifted his weight.
“Reminding my Shadow that we’ll be fish food if she’s late again.”
Jesper puts his arms around Erin, who was clearly not hearing their conversation. He felt her shaking, and bet that Nina could hear her heart beat, even from below deck.
“She’s having a panic attack Kaz”
Jesper leaned down and looked at Erin. He tried to run the dried blood from her face.
“I’m fine” was all she could say. From behind her, Kaz clenched his jaw. He wasn’t quite sure how to feel. Upset he didn’t notice or upset she could be affected so easily. It’s not like he had a place to speak, it took most of his strength to not go running to the rail and throw his breakfast up.
“You are not fine. What happened at the harbor? You looked like you’d been running,” Jesper asked. Erin’s breathing calmed slightly and she was able to speak again.
“There were too many of them- I led five, no six of them down an alley. There wasn’t an exit.”
“And then?”
Jesper thought of Erin as a capable girl. Her shadows were not something to be on the wrong end of, but six men? He wasn’t sure how she made it out alive.
“And then I…. Then I-“
“Spit it out” Kaz said from his place at the wheel. He was growing impatient with her stuttering
“I cut them.”
Kaz looked over at her. The Cut. He’d never seen her do it, but from description of those that survived attacks from the Darkling, an infamous shadow summoner, he was sure he didn’t want to. He glanced at Jesper and the two of them made eye contact. There was a reason he’d never seen her do it, much like how he’s never taken his gloves off.
He stood unwavering in his place, watching Jesper comfort her. Part of him wanted to hold her too, and part of him wanted to strangle himself for thinking that. Kaz turned on his heels and departed to the cabin, needing to clear his head.