Pekari -The Azure Fish by Guenevere Lee

Author:Guenevere Lee [Guenevere Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
Published: 2020-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

THE MIDDLE SEA

A GREAT KRAKEN ROSE UP FROM THE DEPTHS

The wave was like a fist. Samaki lost his footing on the deck and felt the sea pull him, ready to swallow him whole. A hand grabbed his arm, though the rain blinded him, and he couldn’t make out whose hand it was. Flashes of lightning illuminated moments; men clinging to the masts and bulwarks to keep from being washed into the ruthless water, other men wrestling with the sails in an effort to tie them down, Tiyharqu at the stern, desperately gripping the rudder and screaming something that was lost in the sound of water pounding them.

They were nearly back to safe shores when the storm had come. They had decided to sail directly for the Sephian Islands after leaving Caemaan. It would have been a much longer journey to head south and follow the coast but far safer. Safer. The word was a cruel laugh as the hand holding him slipped and Samaki was dragged away—but only for a moment. He slammed into the bulwark, his one arm screaming in pain as his other flailed about until it grasped a sturdy bench.

Samaki had gone to sleep the night before with a smile on his face. In the morning, the clouds in the sky unsettled most of the men, but Samaki didn’t worry until the winds picked up, and by the time it had started to drizzle, Samaki knew there was nothing to be done but make ready. You could not escape a storm. The same winds that were your salvation were the winds that blew the beast towards you.

Another wave crashed over the deck, and Samaki heard a man scream, but he was blinded by the salt in his eyes. The ship lurched up, crashed down, and seemed to settle for a moment. Samaki scrambled to his feet, trying futilely to wipe his eyes with the corner of his soaking wet vest. With another flash of lightning, he saw that the sail on the main mast had become completely unfurled and slapped in the wind, as though the very hand of Neiston were trying to rip it off.

He cursed his crew. They had had more than enough time to tie the sails securely; he had even ordered them to use extra rope. Had the damn fools listened? Did they know the proper knots to tie? They hadn’t taken on too many sailors in Caemaan, but those they had were young and inexperienced. He should have known better than to bring on such green men before a long voyage, but all he had been thinking about were the extra hands they needed to load their cargo so they could set off with the favourable winds.

If I had missed the winds, I would have missed the storm, he had a moment to think bitterly before a wave pitched them up.

The water was trying to turn them in one direction, while the wind seemed bent on them going the other. He heard the cracking, like a great rockslide, before he saw the mast give way.

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