When Miko has left, the captain says, “They know it to be suicide to link ships in this weather. They must want something, or someone real bad and are willing to risk their ship to get it.”
James just stands there silently, as he glances between the approaching ship and the captain.
“Is there something I should know?” the captain asks.
“They want us,” James tells him.
“I thought so,” Captain Caril says. “I’m not going to endanger my crew or my ship. You understand that?”
Nodding, James says, “Yes, captain, I do.”
Just then, Miko returns with Jiron and James says, “The warship means to board, and the captain here says that would most likely damage if not destroy his ship.”
“Why do they mean to board?” Miko asks. When he sees the look on James’ face, he says, “Oh, us.”
James nods his head.
“What do you mean to do?” Jiron asks the captain.
“I have to think of the safety of my ship first,” he explains. “You have to get off my ship.”
“What? In this storm?” he asks incredulously.
“I’ve got no choice,” the captain tells him. “If you’re gone, they’ll leave us alone.”
James looks over to the choppy seas and says, “That’s a death sentence!”
“We can lower you down in our dinghy,” the captain says. “At least that would give you some chance.”
“But what about the warship!” Miko cries out, realizing they’d be easy pickings sitting in a small boat.
Looking sad, but resigned to the situation, the captain says, “Not my concern, lad.”
“Alright, captain,” says James. “Lower us in the dinghy.”
“James, are you crazy?” Miko exclaims. “We’ll die!”
Turning on Miko, James yells, “If we stay, they’ll all die with us! I’ll not have innocent blood on my hands.” Then softly, as if to himself he says, “I already have enough as it is.”
The captain hollers to a crewmember standing nearby and he goes over to the dinghy and with the help of two others, gets it ready to be lowered overboard.
“Good luck to you boys,” the captain says.
“Sorry to have endangered your vessel,” James says to him. The captain just nods his head.
Grabbing a very unhappy Miko, he makes his way down to the main deck where the dinghy is already on the other side of the rail, ready to be lowered.
Coming to the rail, he climbs over into the waiting dinghy. Once he’s in, he turns back and helps Miko. Jiron climbs in after Miko and when they’re all settled in on the seats, the sailors begin to slowly lower them to the choppy water below. A sailor comes to the railing and tosses their packs down to them.
Once the dinghy is resting upon the water, James and Jiron release the ropes and the sea begins to drag them away from the ship.
The sea quickly takes them, and pulls them away from the ship. Waves crash over the sides of the dinghy as the wind pummels them with rain and spray. James looks back to the ship as the gap between them widens rapidly and sees the captain watching them as they drift further away.
The warship must’ve noticed them there in the dinghy for it changes its course slightly as it begins bearing down upon them.
Chapter Three
The dinghy rocks in the waves, all three holding on and praying they don’t tip over. A large wave crashes into them, causing the dinghy to pitch precariously. Miko screams as the edge of the dinghy dips into the water, but then the wave passes by and it once again rights itself. The amount of water in the bottom is growing by the minute.
“We’re not going to last much longer!” Jiron hollers over the roar of the storm.
“What are we going to do?” Miko cries out. He cups his hands and tries to bail out the water collecting in the bottom of the boat but is having little effect.
“Just shut up for a minute!” James hollers at them. He gazes at the approaching warship and then to the rising level of water in the bottom. Glancing over to Jiron, he says, “Don’t let me fall out.”
Realizing what James is about to do, he nods his head.
Miko sits there as he watches the Foam Breaker moving further and further away. Then his attention comes back to what’s happening in the dinghy as Jiron moves next to James. His eyes dart toward James and watches as he closes his eyes and becomes still.
James concentrates on the storm above and suddenly, a large bolt of lightning flashes down from the clouds toward the ship.
A gasp escapes Miko as he watches the bolt seem to be deflected away from the ship before it even reaches it.
James’ eyes fly open and he cries out, “They have a mage on board!”
“Can you deal with him?” Jiron asks as he watches the warship move ever closer.
“I’m not sure,” he replies. “He feels somewhat different than the others.”
“Different?” asks Jiron. “How so?”
“I don’t know,” explains James. “It just feels different somehow.”
“You better do something fast,” he says. “That warship is getting close.” Another wave crashes over them and Jiron holds tight to James, keeping him from being washed overboard.
Closing his eyes again, this time he searches beneath the waves until he finds what he’s looking for. With a little coaxing, he gets it moving toward the surface.
Suddenly, one of those whale-like creatures they’d seen the day before, lurches out of the water next to the warship. As it comes back down, it slams into the side of the warship and boards are ripped away, creating a large hole just at the water line.
“Yeah!” Miko yells as the creature sinks back into the depths.
James begins to feel the prickling of someone else doing magic. He looks to the warship and sees someone in armor standing at the rail with arms raised. Suddenly, the dinghy begins to crack as the boards holding it together begin to break apart.
“James!” cries Jiron as the dinghy begins to rapidly fill with water. “Do something!”
Thinking fast, he attempts to place a magical seal across the broken boards but it doesn’t stop the leak, just slows it.
“The warship!” Miko cries out.
Turning to look, James sees it’s listing slightly off center. On the deck, he can see the man in armor arguing with a sailor as the ship begins to turn and heads back the way it had come.
“They must be sinking!” Miko cries out jubilantly.
“Looks like it,” agrees Jiron.
James continues to look toward the men arguing on the deck. Suddenly a decision must’ve been reached, the sailor turns away and the man in armor again stares at them as the warship begins to sail away.
Then, the prickling returns again as the man in armor raises his hands once more. With a loud crack, the dinghy completely breaks in two as if it was pulled apart.
“James!” Miko cries as he falls out of the dinghy, into the raging water.
Reaching out to him from where he still floats within half of the dinghy, James almost gets a hold of his hand before a wave crashes into them and knocks him backward out of the remains of the dinghy. The force of the wave pushes him beneath the water and by the time he again regains the surface, Miko has already been pushed away by the crashing waves.
He watches helplessly as Miko is dragged ever further away. He tries to swim toward him but waves continue smashing into him, thrusting him beneath the water. Each time he gains the surface, Miko is further away. Jiron had managed somehow to cling onto a piece of the dinghy, and is desperately trying to stay on it while at the same time move in his direction.
