SWNOVELS Dragonia: Rise of the Wyverns – Chapter 18
The ship tipped starboard, knocking Devarius from the bed in the cabin. He sat on the floor, an inch of water soaking into his breeches. He rubbed his head. After shaking his head to clear his mind, he reached onto the side of the bed and pulled himself up. His cabin door sprang open.
“Devarius?” Aquila whispered.
“I’m up.”
“Paedyn needs you.”
“I assumed.” He rubbed his head again. “I thought he knew how to steer a ship. This is dreadful.”
She shook her head, her beautiful black hair waving over her smooth brown face. “How you could sleep during his steering is beyond me.”
Devarius grinned.
He followed Aquila out of the room and to the main deck. The storm hadn’t relented an ounce. Rain raged from the sky with a fury. Thunder crackled all around, and lightning flashed from cloud to cloud in the dark sky. Devarius wondered what time of night it was. He found Paedyn at the helm, holding onto it for dear life.
“What’s the problem?” Devarius asked.
Paedyn turned to look at him, his eyes wide. He inclined his head forward.
Devarius frowned and glanced ahead. All he saw was darkness. He shrugged.
“I don’t see anything.”
“Wait for it,” Paedyn whispered.
Devarius raised his eyebrows and stared ahead. Besides the crashing of waves and the pounding of rain, the ship was silent. Lightning flashed in the sky in front of them in the west. For a few seconds, Devarius could see what lay in front of them. Several large mountains towered out of the sea in a direct line with small passages of water between each one. He saw a large creature with several tentacles at the base of one of the mountains. It was larger than their ship.
“Oh,” Devarius said.
“I don’t know what’s on the other side of those mountains, but I cannot steer away from them. The storm is still too strong to change the sails.”
“What do we do?” Devarius asked.
Paedyn bit his lip. “Pray to the Creator that we don’t crash?”
“Are you going to be able to miss those mountains?”
“Unless lightning flashes at the instant we reach them and we have enough strength to move the steering … I don’t know. There isn’t much we can do. All we can do is pray we can reach land.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“Prepare everyone in case we have to swim. At least with mountains there, we have somewhere to go. Perhaps with mountains in the water, there will be land nearby. At least we can hope.”
Devarius nodded. He paced around the ship, preparing everybody for the worst. The storm did not relent. He prayed they would be able to survive.
After he warned everybody, he stepped back next to Paedyn. Together, they watched the mountains as they approached. Lightning filled the sky every few seconds as the storm raged on, growing more fierce with every second. No one liked the storm, but at least the lightning provided them enough light to see. However, Devarius wasn’t sure if being able to see was good or bad. All it meant was they could see their impending doom.
Miraculously, the ship squeezed between two of the mountains in the water. The lightning stopped. Thunder echoed from the last strike, then slowly faded away. Blackness surrounded them. They could not see ahead. Only darkness awaited them.
“What do you think is out there?” Devarius asked.
“I don’t kn—”
The ship collided with something hard, jerking all of them forward. They no longer moved forward. The storm slowed. Silence filled the air around them. Rain sprinkled from the sky, no longer pounding. Everyone remained silent for several long minutes.
“Where are we?” Aquila asked.
“I don’t know,” Devarius replied.
“Well, are you ready to explore?” Paedyn asked.
Devarius glanced around. They still hadn’t moved. He shrugged. They walked to the bow of the ship and gazed down. Clouds still covered the sky, making it hard to see too far in the darkness without the aid of the moons or the stars. They had found land. Devarius smiled. He couldn’t help it; he thought he’d never see land again. They hadn’t crashed on a mountain. The land in front of them was flat. Devarius gazed off into the distance, lost in thought.
“Well?” Paedyn asked.
“Let’s do it,” Devarius said.
They found a rope and tied it to the ship. Everyone else stayed on top, watching from the bow of the ship. Only Devarius and Paedyn used the rope to climb down. Devarius took a deep breath after he reached the ground. He glanced around. With the clouds still in the sky, and darkness all around them, it was still too hard to see very far. Mountains surrounded them on all sides.
Devarius and Paedyn traveled further onto the land. The land was quiet, almost too quiet. It unsettled Devarius. However, with all their searching, they found no threats.
“Do you think this land is safe?” Devarius asked.
“No. I have a bad feeling there’s something out there.”
“Me too,” Devarius replied. “But what can we do?”
“We’ll have to wait ‘till morning to see if the ship is damaged. It’d be best if we get everyone off the ship and camp for the night.”
“Take turns keeping watch?” Devarius asked.
“Definitely.”
They helped everyone off the ship and made camp. There was little else they could do until morning. Devarius prayed they would stay safe.
Paedyn stepped next to Devarius, slapping him on his shoulder. “Look at the bright side, Devarius.”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t believe the dragonriders are following us anymore.”
Devarius chuckled.