The Vorrgistadt Saga - Arc I: The Witchling of Alsira

Milestones - Chapter 0 - The Hunter XIII

XIII

An Elemental Vengeance of Water

  Tyverus opened his eyes into a darkness that surrounded him. As his senses came back to the world of the living from the depths of slumber, he could feel a mass of furs covering his legs and the pitched rocking of waves. The sounds of snoring mixed with the groans of wood with each wave that struck the hull of the ship.

  He pushed the furs away and swiveled his legs over the side of the bed. The sounds of snoring sailors and Bhergom's nasal whistling were all around him. Tyverus lifted his hand up and snapped his fingers to summon sparks from the air. With each snap, tiny embers came to life allowing him to see all the other beds and hammocks around him. Several metal lanterns chained to the roof of the hold swayed with each wave. The candles within had burnt themselves out a long time ago.

  All around him, every hammock or bed was occupied by members of the expedition or the crew of the ship they had commissioned, that is all but the bed beside Tyverus'. A moment of concern washed over him as he stood up and ensured his breeches were tied secure. He let one of his hands run over the metal mantle branded into his exposed chest. He reached beside his pillow to pick up an old tunic and pulled it over his body to cover the metal and his exposed flesh. Next he grabbed one of his wolf fur coats he had draped over the end of his bed for warmth.

  The waves striking the hull of the ship didn't affect him much as he made his way from the hold up to the midship. He was used to being on ships that had taken him to many of the battles he had seen over his short life. He made his way up the wooden stairs to the midship and grasped a nearby ladder to get up on to the deck. All around him the ship swayed in the water. Any crew manning the night-shift were practically invisible in their duties if they weren't already asleep in the hold below.

  As he opened the hatch to the deck, the chilled northern wind blew into his face and made him shudder for a moment. He pulled himself up onto the worn wood deck and made his way to the aft castle. He didn't know where Isilda had gotten to, but she would suffer the cold out here if she was on deck.

  "You can't sleep either?" The now familiar and soothing sound of the young oracle came to Tyverus' ears from behind him. He turned to see her pressing her back to the wall of the castle, with her arms stretched out and gripping at the wood frames on either side of her. "I don't know if it's just my nerves or all this damned rocking."

  "Nerves?" Tyverus walked towards Isilda and leaned against a nearby door-frame. "Don't you want to go back down to the hold? You'll catch your death out here." Tyverus looked her up and down, seeing her barefoot and wearing nothing more than a nightgown covered by loose-fitting robes.

  "I can't be down there right now. I need to be up here and see the waves with my own eyes." Isilda pushed her chin out to point at the dark mass of water around the ship barely visible over the deck. "As for the nerves, well, we're almost there and I'm a little excited."

  "Oerstav Caelii." Tyverus remarked rhetorically and looked to his right over the bow of the ship. "How can you see any of the waves when you're hidden over here by the aft castle?" Tyverus leaned away from the wood with his arms crossed and looked around the deck nearby. "I can't see anything from here. Don't you want to move the rail to see?"

  "No." Isilda shook her head. "I'm afraid of falling overboard. The waves are too much for me." She paused and sighed. "Well, I might not be able to see the waves, but I can see the stars, okay?"

  Tyverus gave a chuckle and pushed from the door-frame to stand astride on the deck. The ship rocked and pitched beneath his feet but he kept still. He looked back to Isilda and then pressed toward the nearby port railing. He grasped onto the wood and raised an arm back to Isilda.