Hunter Sky

B2: Chapter 29 - Life At Sea

Fire gashed and roared above as Zack hung on to the helm of the ship slowly being swallowed up by the sea. The rear deck was now submerged under water, and the front side of the ship foundered, pointing to the skies as waves washed upwards beating upon it.

"Argh!" he groaned, feeling the strain in his arms from holding on tightly.

As his body dangled side to side holding on to the helm for dear life, the ship jerked again, sinking deeper into the water, but then it stopped. His heartbeat raced as if it was going jump out of his chest, and he felt a tingling rise in his stomach. He wanted to puke, but only desperate the coughs from being choked by the rampaging smoke came from his mouth.

"Urhhhhhhh!" he heard Lea groan.

He flashed his head up to see as she slipped from the front deck, sliding helplessly toward the rising waves, until she slid into a post gut first. She curled onto the post like clothes on a line, holding on for dear life as her face expressed her pain. Over to his side he saw Jirell dangling off the edge of the ship, using his elbow to muscle onto the rails.

He looked up again wincing from the excruciating soreness in his arms, and saw everyone else at the top part of the ship that sat in the air, holding on to different parts of the vessel.

A flame flickered above Zack stinging his left hand, and out of pain he flashed his hand in the air with a wince, releasing his grip. "Ahhh!" he screamed thinking he was going to fall, but his right hand still gripped the wheel tightly. He took a breath of relief, but soon his heart began to race again seeing the deadly fire growing around him.

It was then that he heard Sir Gale's voice. He looked up as if he saw a beacon of hope, desperately hoping Sir Gale had some plan that could save them.

"Everyone!! Jump ship!!" Sir Gale shouted from the depths of his gut.

"What!! No way!!" Zack yelled as he looked back down at the aggressive waves swallowing the back of the ship, waging war against the flames on top of it. Broken pieces of wood and masts with sharp edges floated below. Zack wanted no part of down there.

"That is an order!! We'll sink with the ship if we don't!!" Sire Gale bellowed back.

One by one, everyone jumped off the ship. First Arran, then Liam, then Jirell, the sailors all at the same time, then Kenroy, then Gabe, then Lea, and finally, after realizing everyone did it, Zack let go.

Zack slid down the floors of the ship flying through the flames biting his skin, until he crashed into the water with wooden debris falling all over him. He quickly dove underwater and away from the sinking vessel consumed by flames, escaping the broken edges of the masts floating around him.

Everything sounded muffled and much louder underwater. He could feel the cold wet pressure on his skin as he tried to kick away from the dark blue space below his feet, swinging his arms in the bluish-green space near the surface where flames sat atop.

His lungs burned as he tried to swim around the fallen debris from the ship, and starved of air he rushed to get to the top. He swam up into the space between the two ships and took a deep gasp as his head shot up through the surface. Relieved to receive air once more as water slicked his blonde hair down, draining droplets down his back, chest, and shoulders.

"Look! There's Zack!" he heard Lea's voice screaming from above.

He looked up to see Lea and Jirell's peering their heads over the rails of the pirate ship. They threw down one of the ropes in the water.

"Get up here you idiot!" Jirell yelled.

Zack swam over to the rope and began to climb up with water pouring out of the creases of his armor like a fountain. Jirell and Lea pulled the rope up together to help get him up faster, as the sounds of the fire battling with the sea hissed and roared across from them.