The Companions: 006 (The Meetings Sextet) by Tina Daniel

Author:Tina Daniel [Daniel, Tina]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780786963287
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2012-05-29T00:00:00+00:00

FOURTH DAY

The water has turned as foreboding as the skies. Dark blood-red is its color here in the Outer Reach of the Blood Sea. The waves heave in great swells.

Raistlin explained that the color of the water stems from the reddish soils of the fertile fields that once surrounded the city of Istar. Since Istar was destroyed in the Cataclysm, the Maelstrom that flows in its place constantly churns up those soils, coloring the water red, giving the Blood Sea its name, and reminding all of the fate of the fabled city entombed beneath it.

Overhearing him, Captain Nugetre scoffed and said the color of the sea came from the blood of the thousands trapped and drowned when the gods wreaked their will on the city of Istar.

Flint is up and hobbling about now; his leg is getting stronger. He joined us on deck at midday when a commotion spread over the ship. Sailors stood in clusters, pointing excitedly, arguing about the omens of the sea and sky.

One of the crew, a stout, manly veteran, insisted that dragons have been spotted in the skies over the Blood Sea in this vicinity. Challenged by his fellows, he admitted that he never sailed this close to the Outer Reach before and that these were stories he heard in taverns in Bloodwatch.

The others jeered at his admission, but I noticed that Raistlin had listened to him carefully, a thoughtful expression on his tense face. “Dragons!” snorted Flint. “Next we’ll be hearing about genies who grant three wishes!”

By midafternoon, we found ourselves in the grip of a strong current that pulled us northwesterly. Captain Nugetre’s instructions were to lay off any drag, take the sails down, and glide with the current. The first shift of crew took positions along the rails, in small groups assigned to one of the anchors or the oars or the extra rudders. But they were under orders to do nothing for the time being, to let the ship be sucked along the Outer Reach.

The Castor was swept along in a gradually accelerating curve. The skies above had darkened so that it was difficult to say whether it was night or day, based on the evidence of our eyes. Thunder exploded in the air, lightning flashed, and a stinging rain attacked us intermittently.

Captain Nugetre manned the helm of the ship. We all watched him as he stood in the aft castle, tossing the wheel back and forth violently, trying to correct the movement of the ship and keep it from being drawn into the Tightening Ring. Whatever else the crew was supposed to be doing, we all stole glances at the captain, knowing that beyond the Tightening Ring lay the Nightmare Sea and the place where Istar slept beneath the vengeful Blood Sea, the Heart of Darkness. No seafarer is known ever to have ventured beyond the Tightening Ring and made it back to tell his story.

I noticed that Kirsig ran to assist Yuril, whose job it was to move from post to post, calming the sailors.

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