Regent

storm. What approached from the west wanted her dead; she could feel it.

The dive back to low altitude had gained them speed, and Catrin shaped the wind to give it the most efficient flow. The air sang and, as the rigging began to vibrate, Kyrien thrust them upward and into the approaching storm. Screaming gouts of fire clogged the air, leaving behind trails of oily black smoke. One struck the deck, and immediately fire spread. With most of the crew holding on for their lives, the fire got a chance to establish itself. By the time the crew had tied a rope around Farsy's waist so he could let go and fight the fire, the flames were spreading. With Kyrien's unpredictable movements, there was not much Farsy could do to protect himself, and Catrin hoped that slim line of rope would be enough to save him from going overboard.

Another flaming projectile struck the mainsail, which was soon awash with fire. Catrin had to remind herself to breathe as Bryn climbed the rigging without a rope to secure him. Kyrien banked a sharp turn as another screaming ball of flames arched over the bow. Bryn hung by his arms alone, and he nearly swung in a complete circle as the ship banked, creaking and groaning against Kyrien's back, but when the ship righted itself, he landed deftly.

Catrin's efforts continued to lend them speed, and Pelivor kept most of the weight off Kyrien. It was only when they needed to climb or change direction that Kyrien would take more of the weight onto his back. It must be painful, Catrin thought, but she could sense Kyrien laughing.

I am stronger than you might believe.

Catrin smiled.

'I'm not so sure about this,' Kenward said as they neared the leading edge of the towering storm cloud, its structures larger and more imposing than any fortress ever built. The Slippery Eel was about to disappear into it, even as lightning continued to illuminate it from within. 'I didn't agree to this!'

Still, Kyrien drove them upward and directly into the storm. Almost instantly it became clear that the air currents within the storm were more unpredictable than Kyrien's movements, and the ship along with Kyrien flew erratically, sometimes dropping through pockets of air as if they would crash to the sea. Light flashed around them, and Catrin felt the ship building up a charge. It reminded her of when she'd been struck by lightning in Pinook Harbor. Her skin crawled with energy, and a coppery taste filled her mouth. The structures Pelivor used to provide lift seemed to gather the charge as they sliced through the excited air around them, and balls of floating lightning danced along the deck and through the solid walls of the deckhouse. The curses that poured from the galley made it clear that the lightning continued to the other side of the walls.

'I should have listened to my mother,' Kenward said after having to duck ball lightning and nearly being thrown overboard by turbulent air.

'Now there's a first,' Catrin said, unable to resist.

'Really?' Kenward said in mock horror. 'You're going to hold that over me now? While we're flying through a storm I wouldn't sail through and being chased by balls of light and fire, if we're not tossed into the open air first. I'm not certain which death I prefer, but I'm pretty sure I don't want one of those balls of light catching up to me.'

'Get low and stay away from the mainmast!' Catrin said.

'Oh, I don't like the sound of that at all,' Kenward said. 'Why do I even let you on my ship?'

Catrin got no chance to respond as the storm chose that instant to relieve the ship of its charge. She had expected it to hit the masts, but she had not considered that they were inside the cloud instead of below it. In a surreal moment that would forever be burned into Catrin's memory, she saw a fine, silvery web of energy form, and in the space of a breath, it grew to blindingly bright light that crawled over every part of the ship and its crew. In the next moment, darkness engulfed them and rain whipped around them, but the most terrifying part was the feeling of falling. Even stunned and confused, the crew managed to hang on to the now plummeting ship. Pelivor remained where he'd been clinging to the railing, but he appeared to be having trouble hanging on. Catrin couldn't blame him; neither of them had been prepared for this, and she did not know how much more she'd be able to endure, but for the moment, she knew she needed to get control of the ship.

Standing up and supporting herself against the deckhouse, Catrin tied herself to the steerage, having flashbacks of nearly drowning as a result of the same idea, but she forced herself to do it as the prow dipped. The ship dived straight down into the clear skies below the storm clouds, and the seas rushed up at them with incredible speed. More turbulence caused the ship to twist, and Catrin drew a sharp breath when she caught sight of Kyrien below them, falling in a flat spin, as if he were already dead. Catrin cried out across the distance and tried to communicate with his spirit, but she got no response, and his body continued to spin out of control. Knowing everyone aboard would suffer Kyrien's fate if she did not do something, Catrin gathered her will. She created structures more like those Pelivor used than the ones she had created in the past, and she found them easier to maintain, except the speed of the air coming at them was so intense that it tried to tear the structures apart.

'I knew this was a bad idea!' Kenward shouted, even as the angle of their descent lessened.

The speed made the rigging sing, and Catrin wanted to look down and see what had become of Kyrien, but the ship was far from under control. Backlit by a flash of lightning, a giant shape filled the air near them. One could not confuse a regent dragon with a feral dragon, and this was definitely a feral. Its black scales glistened in the rain, and it matched their dive. Using all her might, Catrin changed the angle of her wings, scrubbed off some speed, and sent them back into as steep a climb as she could maintain.

'Hold on!' she shouted.

'Now you tell us to hold on? How can it get any worse?'

Catrin didn't bother to answer Kenward. She let the port-side wing dissolve into nothingness, just as the feral attacked, which sent the ship rolling aside. A mighty crash resounded and sent the ship careening as the dragon planted its claws on the hull and thrust itself away from the Eel. Catrin tried to reestablish the port wing, but the spinning of the ship made it difficult to do anything but hold on. After several tries, she managed to right the ship. Soon after, Pelivor joined her and did his best to secure himself in a similar fashion. With his help, the ship regained stable flight.

'Watch for the feral!' Catrin shouted.

It wasn't long until someone cried out, 'Here it comes!'

The information wasn't all that helpful in the sense that Catrin had no idea from what direction the attack would come, only that it would come soon. With a sharp turn to starboard, Catrin hoped she'd guessed correctly.

A muffled roar that sounded like a snake moving over rawhide, only a thousand times louder, shook the Slippery Eel, but the ship maintained stable flight. Momentarily allowing her concentration to waver, Catrin looked around, trying to figure out what was going on in the air around them, but once again, clouds had engulfed them, and she could see almost nothing. Even sound was dampened by the wet air, and the cries that rang out seemed distant.

Grubb brought a thick soup that sat heavily in Catrin's stomach and made her eyelids feel as if they weighed as much as a pair of hams. Nimsy braced her and took more of her weight as she swayed on her feet. It was simply too much to ask of her exhausted body. She needed rest more than anything. Vaguely she thought she heard someone calling her name. Wanting to tell the person to go away and just give her a little more time to sleep, Catrin realized she was falling; everything was falling.

Trying desperately to clear the sleep from her mind, Catrin lent energy to Pelivor, who looked as if he, too, would drop at any moment.

'We need to get the ship back in the water,' Catrin managed to say between gasps.

Pelivor just nodded without fully lifting his head.

Darkness crowded Catrin's vision, and she remained conscious only by the sheer force of her will. Nothing mattered in that instant except getting the Eel back in the water. If it killed her, then so be it. None of this seemed worth it anymore. How could anything be worth the pain and suffering she endured? How could anything make up for the anguish of loss or the frustration of failure? Catrin howled in spite of it and guided the ship lower.

'First we need to get clear of that!' Kenward shouted as the feral soared straight toward the prow of the ship at incredible speed. At the last instant, the dragon reached out and grabbed a crewman as it passed. The man's screams pounded against Catrin's resolve, trying to convince her that she could not win; they would not survive.

Buffeted by the wind, the ship angled toward the waves, and Catrin stood, trembling, ready to release the