ship draws near the wreckage though the captain still maintains a safe distance so as not to suffer the same fate.
A rattle of chains and the anchor drops into the water with a splash. “Mr. Bessin, lower the boat and search for survivors.”
“Aye captain,” he replies.
“Incinerate!” James yells as another seaman erupts in flames. The sphere in his hand is now the size of a softball, a deep glow wells from within due to all the power it has stored.
All across the deck are charred remnants of the crew as well as withered husks from whom James drew the power necessary to maintain the spells. The Ambassador and captain lie among them.
At one point during the battle, the ships crew had taken a spare spar that was stored at the base of the ship’s rail. Using it as a battering ram, they tried to push him off the boat and into the sea.
Crying “Leech by a hundred,” he sucked them dry as they crashed to the deck, the spar hitting the deck and rolling to the side. So much power being absorbed by the sphere had caused it to crackle like static electricity. James begins incinerating crewmen simply to release the pressure. The last thing he wanted was to have it explode in his hand.
Fire rages throughout the ship, most of the crew either lies dead or has jumped over the side. A scream from below rips through the air. The Girls!
Racing for the hatch, he sees black smoke billowing up out of it like a chimney. A quick glance around the ship shows it to be almost completely engulfed in flames. Taking a deep breath, he steps through the hatch and begins making his way down to the hold through the black smoke.
Unable to see, he uses the sound of the girls coughing and crying to guide him. “Over here!” he calls to them. “To me!”
A hand reaches out through the thick smoke and takes hold of his shirt. He looks down and sees little Daria there with several other girls in tow. “Where are the others?” he cries out.
“B…b,” she says then a coughing fit robs her voice.
Taking her by the hand, he leads her to the stairs and says, “Go up on top. I’ll get the others.”
A quick nod of her head and she begins leading the others up the stairs.
Coughing badly now, James pulls off his shirt and uses it to try to filter out the smoke. Helping only slightly, he begins working his way further to the back. “Where are you?” he hollers but there’s no answer.
In the thick smoke, he can barely see anything. A crack from above and a portion of the flaming deck falls in, crashing to the bottom of the holds several yards away. “Girls!” he cries again.
Moving as quickly as he dares, he tries to see through the smoke but his eyes are so red and burning now it’s all a blur. Useless, he keeps them closed, only peering out of them every now and then.
Suddenly, he hears coughing from up ahead. The coughing and crying of a small child. Using the sound as a guide, he comes to the barrels he told the girls to hide behind earlier and finds a small girl lying with her head on the chest of a larger. The older girl looks to be unconscious, the smaller one not much better.
“You okay?” he asks her when reaches their side.
The small girl looks up at him with red rimmed eyes and tries to say something but only breaks into a massive coughing fit.
All around them, the heat from the fire is increasing as more of the ship becomes engulfed.
“Can you crawl?” he asks her.
When the coughing spell lets up a little, she manages to nod.
“Follow me then,” he says. Grabbing the older girl, he gets on his hands and lays her across his back. Moving on all fours with an unconscious girl upon his back, he begins leading the other little girl to the stairs.
At this level, the smoke isn’t nearly as bad, though it is still thick. Glancing back every other step, he makes sure the little one is keeping up.
They make it about halfway to the stairs when he suddenly feels the ship lurch slightly and cold seawater flows across the floor. The hold begins to fill with water. He doesn’t have that much time.
“Come on!” he manages to yell to the girl behind him. He removes the girl from his back and then stands up. The water is now about ankle deep and rising. Picking up the unconscious girl, he carries her toward the stairs, the little one following, holding onto his shirt.
As they reach the stairs and start to climb up, the ship lurches again and begins to tilt. Scenes from Titanic run through his head as he climbs the stairs. Before he makes it to the top, another section of the burning deck caves in and lands upon a small stack of barrels lining one wall. He hopes they aren’t flammable.
Clearing the hatch, he sees an inferno all around him. The girls who had come out before are huddled against one side of the ship. It’s the only area yet to be consumed by the fire and it’s not going to last very much longer.
When he reaches them, he asks, “Is this everyone?” Several heads bob affirmative.
He glances over the side to the water below. Debris has already begun to dot the surface. “Over the side!” he yells.
“I can’t swim!” one girl screams, terrified.
“You got no choice!” he tells her. One of the older girls goes to the rail and jumps over, a couple others follow. Finally he’s left there with the unconscious girl in his arms and the frightened girl who won’t go over. The heat from the fire consuming the ship is beginning to burn his skin. The central mast suddenly cracks and topples over sending sparks and embers flying.
One ember lands in the frightened girl’s hair and James quickly puts down the girl in his arms and brushes it out before it has a chance to catch. He then looks over the side and sees that Gwynne and the others have all managed to find something to grab a hold of to keep from going under.
“Gwynne!” he yells.
She looks up at him.
“One girl can’t swim,” he hollers. “You’ll have to help her!”
She gives him a nod.
Turning to the frightened girl, he says, “You can’t stay here!”
Looking at him with fear in her eyes, she says nothing, just stands there with her bottom lip trembling.
He picks her up and she begins fighting him. Struggling, he manages to get her to the rail and then tosses her over. She lands with a scream and a splash near Gwynne.
Gwynne immediately dives under the water and pulls her up. Helping her, they both grab hold onto the flotsam floating nearby.
Suddenly, the deck under which James is standing gives out with a crack, but doesn’t collapse. Picking up the unconscious girl he jumps over the side and together they hit the water.
The impact knocks the breath out of him and he loses hold of the unconscious girl. Little hands begin reaching for him and help him to the surface. When he breaks through the surface, he looks around in a panic and sees another girl having already rescued the unconscious girl.
“Away from the ship!” he hollers. “We’ve got to get away before it goes down!”
Bam!!!
An immense explosion sends wood and other debris through the air. The ship begins to tilt even more precariously in the water.
“Now!” he yells as they begin kicking and swimming away from the burning wreckage. From behind them, a groan and a crack can be heard as the second mast topples over.
They continue swimming away and soon, the ship upends before sinking completely under the water. Steam and hissing sounds erupt as the flames meet the water. Then, all is quiet.
As the second mast falls, the dinghy with six sailors in it begins moving carefully toward the wreckage. All the while keeping its distance from the raging inferno.
“There she goes!” one sailor hollers as the ship upends and sinks below the surface.
The flaming ship produces a massive amount of steam as its burning carcass enters the sea. When the steam begins to dissipate, Meliana screams, “There!” The others look to where she’s pointing and she sees several forms floating in the water. One of them is waving, trying to gain their attention.
“Is it James?” Miko asks.
“Hard to tell from here,” Illan says. “But I think so.”
