Sentria: The Age of Adventure (Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Maelstrom

The sixth day was just as fruitless as the days before it. There still weren't any signs of the Green Lizard  and that troubled me. The Iron Lass was content in knowing that the Emperor King would reach Sparrow island by tomorrow, a full day ahead of schedule thanks to Eldwyn's magical assistance, but our mission wasn't yet completed, not until we recovered Lucas. 

We had become close to many of the pirates—those that were amiable at least—they even gave us sea names, mine was the "Silver Sentry" and Eldwyn's was "Lagoon Lad". Eldwyn pointed out that he was from the moors and not a lagoon, but they didn't seem to care.

They weren't so bad, the pirates. They smelled horrible and their manners were lacking, but they lived by a code. You always knew where you stood with them. If they had a problem, they'd fight it out and solve it then and there. In the Sentria Kingdom, personal battles over minor offenses could last for years and all manner of underhanded stratagems were employed in their attempts at vengeance. You never knew where you stood, you always had to discover it on your own.

We had dinner that night with the rest of the ship in the lower deck. Everyone gathered together: the quartermaster, the sailing master, the boatswain, the carpenter, the surgeon, the gunners, the mates, the riggers, and the sailers all. They all communed without separation between their ranks. The food left much to be desired, but I appreciated the attempts at over-seasoning the fish meat make up for what the cooks lacked in skill. We went in and out of the galley serving the pirates and when we were done we made plates for ourselves. I had turtle eggs and scalper fish and Eldwyn had beans, and all they had to drink was ale. Eldwyn could go for extended periods of time without liquids, but I required it and drank just enough ale to quench my thirst without losing my wits.

The pirates sang filthy songs, but the melodies were beautiful despite their poor execution. I thought it might have offended Eldwyn, but he seemed happy about it and sang along once he learned the words.

That night, I went to bed with the gentle rocking of the waves lulling me to sleep. I had thought that the movement of the sea would be difficult to adjust to, but it actually felt soothing. Eldwyn slept in the bunk above me and he seemed comfortable with this way of life as well. At this point, we were such a team that it was as if nothing could stand in our way.

In the middle of the night, I felt something brush against my face. I opened my eyes and saw that Eldwyn was on top of me, stroking my face with the back of his hand.

"Eldwyn?" I asked, unsure if this were a dream or reality.

'Prince Darren,' he said in a whisper.

"What are you doing?"

"I've missed you so much. I missed your touch." Eldwyn leaned in for a kiss and I quickly turned my head.

"Eldwyn, we can't." I looked at the wall, trying to push away my carnal thoughts and breathing heavily.

"Please, knight?" he asked with a whimper. "I need you."

Eldwyn pressed himself against me and I had to fight to hold in a groan of pleasure. His hands reached for my waist and I felt myself becoming hot with arousal. I grabbed his arms and pinned him against the bed.

"Why do you tempt me?! Do you know how badly I wish to rip off your clothes and have my way? I am still betrothed and Lucas will be my husband. Do not make this hard."

"But...I need you," said Eldwyn with watering eyes.

"Eldwyn...what has gotten into you?"

Suddenly, the ship rocked to the right and the sound of waves crashing filled the ship. Eldwyn and I fell off the bunk and then the roaring sound of thunder followed.

"A storm," I said, and helped Eldwyn up.

We left our cabin and ran up to the top deck. Rain poured down on us as teams of sailors held onto the ropes to tend to the sails and the sailing master yelled out commands to them. Others used buckets to scoop the water on the deck back into the sea, but the sea wouldn't relent.

"You there!" said the sailing master Lodi, a wide and stubby mountainman from the Mountainlands. "Lagoon Lad! Control these ungodly winds!"

Eldwyn went to the bow of the ship and held his hands up to the skies as lightning struck the sea. When it landed, fire erupted on the waters like some vivid nightmare come to life. Eldwyn pushed up with his arms again as the ship was pulled back and forth from the continuous waves. The storm wasn't slowing down—it was getting worse. It rocked so badly that it pushed Eldwyn down to the deck.

"Eldwyn!" I yelled, and ran to him. I grabbed him and held him tight.

"I'm sorry, knight," he cried. "I don't know...I don't know what's happening to me."

"It's all right, Eldwyn. Everything will be well." Suddenly, a vortex appeared in front of the ship, swirling around us with unnatural fury. Mist obscured my vision but I swear I saw a face with its mouth opening and howling as it spun. It was old and familiar and pure evil. It then descended and a violent maelstrom was created. We started spinning around the swirling hole and I held on to Eldwyn tighter as the boat leaned to the side. If this was our last moment, I wanted him to know that I was with him.

I blacked out.

When I opened my eyes again it was day and the Iron Lass stood above me with a smirk. "He's awake," she said, then helped me up.

"We're alive?" I asked, trying to get my bearings.

"Just barely." She put her hands on her hips. "The vortex nearly did us in. The good bit of it is that it threw us to Sparrow Island."

I looked at the island behind me. It had tropical trees with big leaves that had cast big shadows on the bright yellow sand beach. The sun above us shined brightly and the temperature was so warm. It was as if the Winter weather had no say in this bright land.

The Iron Lass looked out towards the island. "Our ship will need repairing. That should take a day. Plenty of enough time for us to go in search of the treasures inside the cavern."

"Knight!" said Eldwyn, running up to me. "You're alive." He hugged me and I hugged him back. He then turned to the Iron Lass and looked her straight in the eye. "I wanted to apologize for not stopping the storm. It was just too powerful for me to control."

"That's fine, Lagoon Lad," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We made it here and that's all that I care about. In an hour I'll lead ten members of my crew through the forest. We'll get the treasure and come back by nightfall then set sail in the morning. You two are to stay here. Understood?"

"Understood," we both said, and the Iron Lass tipped her hat and walked away.

"That maelstrom was monstrous," I said, looking out at Eldwyn. I was talking about the event, but a part of me was also talking about the events of that night. It had felt like an omen, and I had gotten proficient at detecting them.

"It was a terror," agreed Eldwyn.

"When we were on the Ansel River, I don't think it was the Dark Wizard Nolein. When the lightning struck the sea, fire appeared on the water just like it did by the river."

"Who do you think is responsible?" Eldwyn looked to the skies.

I paused for a while and then said, "I don't know."