Splinter Salem Part One by Wayne Hill

Author:Wayne Hill [Hill, Wayne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wayne Hill
Published: 2021-05-31T22:00:00+00:00

7

Tommy wades through the shallow water and boards his catamaran. Aboard the boat, Tommy sits and tentatively pokes at his broken nose. Using sea water, he tries to clean away the dried blood as best he can. He feels around the bone, it does not seem like a bad break — but then, he is no medic.

Putting his fingers either side of his nose, he thinks Fuck it! and slowly pulls his nasal-cartilage back into alignment. The pain is sharp and fresh blood gushes immediately. He washes the rest of the blood away, and from his flask takes a long drink of water. Sailing away from the horror of the cliff, he studies the coastline, dotted with coves and inlets. The hidden bays sparkle in the sunlight, their picturesque mystique an illusion covering the harsh reality. The lie is not fooling Tommy. Not now. He sails further from the shore, from the temptation of exploration. The slaughter on the cliff haunts him still, poisoning everything he thought would be magical about this adventure. He seems mired by uncertainty, and paranoid questions fill his head. How many of those beaches hide mass graves? How many innocent lives were lost? How much blood spilled? With no answers forthcoming, the questions only multiply. He sails on, imagining alien eyes watching him from the shore. Paranoia keeps you safe, thinks Tommy.

On the calm sea the nautical miles fly by and, as the daylight fades, a small impact on the port side of Slash draws his attention. He scans the water and catches a fleeting glimpse of a shadow, keeping pace with Slash and disappearing under the boat. He thinks it could be a shark or a dolphin, so he rushes to the other side to check. Peering over the edge, he is wetly slapped in his face by something. Face reddening, and not just from the blow, Tommy falls back into the catamaran.

He did not see a tail coming out of the water, nor going back in, but guesses it must have been a shark. He laughs at his fortune — it could have bitten his head off! More cautiously this time, he returns to the side of the boat and peers beneath the racing waves. He sees nothing. Still smiling, he returns to the basics of sailing Slash.

The sky’s subtle tonal changes are more appealing to Tommy as the sun sets in the west. His imagination keeps him company. The patterns in the sky are the slashes of a fire-sword carving through the pink flesh of a heavenly Titan’s throat. The colours originate from an apocalyptic volcanic explosion, magma exposed, leaving fiery trails in the sky. The ever-changing sunset was a theatrical performance, placed there by the gods, to entertain Tommy on his adventure, speaking a thousand tales of ancient and forgotten mysteries.

Soon, just ahead, he could make out the jutting fingers of the towers described by Talon. Black, at first — silhouetted against the blood red sky — they grow, and their details appear rapidly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.