Snippets of Eventide

No.6 : Capsized

(Author's note: contains spoilers for the ending of the city of eventide)

The storm seemed to have come up from nowhere. When she'd left the docks early in the morning the skies had been clear, with nothing but calm winds in the forecast. But now, on their way back, the skies had darkened and opened up with heavy rain and howling winds. Gentle morning waves grew to massive swells, and she fought to keep the bow of her modest fishing vessel facing into the waves as the rest of her crew, a couple of terrified teenagers who never thought their lives could be at risk for a simple weekend job, scrambled to tie down any hazards sliding around the deck until she shouted for them to leave it. It was too dangerous, with swells sweeping cold and hungry over the sides of the boats. She wasn't going to risk either of them falling overboard today.

So the three of them huddled in the cabin, tense and silent as the wind howled louder, spraying waves and rain water against the glass windows as she held all her weight to try and steer the ship. But it was no use. The wind and waves of this freak storm were too much for the little boat to handle as they drifted closer and closer to the rocky coast just outside of the city of Eventide.

"Call a mayday!" She whipped her head around to one of the teenagers.

He obeyed without question, scrambling for the radio on the deck. She would have done it herself, but she didn't dare take either hand off of the wheel.

"Mayday Mayday Mayday this is—"

The boat lurched as a massive swell slammed into the side of her hull, and the three person crew barely had time to cry out before the boat tipped sideways.

She grabbed the teenagers by the arms and dragged them out of the cabin as the ship fully capsized, sinking deep into the grey waters. The water was ice cold as they submerged, bobbing up seconds later only from the lift of their lifejackets.

"Hold on to each other!" She shouted, keeping an iron grip on both her crew's wrists.

But it was no use. With every passing minute in the pelting rain and bone chilling cold, her grip weakened. She could barely hear them shouting for her as they separated, only seconds later disappearing among the rise and fall of the grey swells.

She floated, tossed by the waves and wind. She didn't know which way the shore was and which direction held nothing but open ocean. She must have lost her radio, usually clipped safely to her belt, sometime in the panic. She started to swim, but with every movement the cold sapped her strength until all she could do was float, praying to whatever god was listening. She shivered, knees tucked close to her chest, but what was it worth. This was it. Tears fell from her eyes, warm against the chill of the rain. This was the end.

The shadow of something massive glided through the clouds above and suddenly the winds shifted. The sound of wingbeats pounded the air above, even over the roar of the wind and waves. Lightning flashed, forked and bright between the clouds, capturing the silhouette of a sleek dragon with wings outstretched as it glided on the howling wings.

#

"Next thing I knew, I woke up on the beach beside my crew." She took a sip of her beer and set it back onto the table. "All three of us alive and unharmed. Couldn't have been coincidence."

"Well you know what they've been saying," the man she was talking to said. "There's been all sorts of rumors coming out in the last couple of years. Winds shifting to push stalled boats away from rocky shores, people falling overboard finding themselves safe and sound on the beaches... Hell, we haven't had any kind of catastrophic storm damage in years."

She nodded, taking another drink. "I've heard talk that the wind favors Eventide. Never thought it was more than superstition till now."

"No one's really sure what, but something out there seems to be watching over this coastline with a keen eye."