1
Trevan
Trevan woke up to the distinct sound of wood breaking under pressure, and screams. Disoriented, he groped around in the dark, trying to find his bearings and understand what was happening. A tail hit him as Emerian must have been trying to stir, but the raucous noise made him unable to hear whatever his roommates were doing. He bumped into a smaller body as he nearly made it to his feet, then the boat rocked, sending him back to the floor. That had to be Dave.
“What’s happening?” he asked loudly, hoping either would hear him. Unintelligible noise was all that greeted him as something else crashed into the ship. Their door was flung open, and the warm light of a lantern flooded the room, chasing away the darkness. Trevan knew the sailor’s face but not his name.
“We’re under attack! We need all hands on deck!”
Trevan was the first to start moving for the door.
No. Not now. Not when we’re so close.
He’d been on the ship for weeks. He knew they were passing Ellantia, but the captains had already made sure their route gave them a wide berth around the Elvasi port city. Was it not enough?
“What do you need from us?” he asked, stumbling into the far wall of the cramped hall. The sailor had better sea legs, not getting tossed nearly as bad.
“We’re not taking on water yet, but another ship is,” the sailor yelled. “We’re trying to move fast and grab survivors out of the water.”
Survivors. Another ship wasn’t just taking on water. It was down and probably sinking fast, then.
Trevan nodded and went running for the stairs to get above deck. He didn’t know if Emerian and Dave were behind him, but it didn’t matter. He knew they would find their feet soon and follow. He would keep them close once they got above.
He was one of several trying to race above deck, all the others. They ignored him, something he was used to now. It was better than having their attention, certainly. They didn’t mind him as he jostled among them, trying to get through the door to see what was happening. He nearly fell to the deck once he was outside and still didn’t have a good view of what was happening, as Andinna wings spread and flapped around him.
“Who can fly?” someone roared over the noise. “Help pull others out of the water!”
Trevan watched as some of the healthier Andinna launched into the air. After weeks on the ship, some of the Andinna had been able to power themselves back to a healthy enough point to fly and get into the air. Sometimes, Trevan would watch them fly around the ship at night. Now, he watched them soar like eagles—more aptly, wyverns—diving to grab people from the sea. Trevan, in all his years in the Empire, had never really seen an Andinna fly. It was awe-inspiring.
The moment was lost to him only seconds later as something caused water to splash onto the deck.
“THEY’RE ON THE STARBOARD SIDE!” someone roared. “GET THE INJURED BELOW!”
Trevan ran to see who or what was attacking them. Even in the dark, there was no mistaking the flags of the Empire fleet. Another cannonball crashed into the water, spraying him with the salty seawater. Someone bumped into him, and he growled at whoever it was, only to see Dave staring in fear at the Empire ships.
“What can we do to help?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Trevan answered.
“I know what I can do,” Emerian said, before climbing onto the railing and launching himself into the air, joining the others trying to save those in the water. He’d been one of the few who could get into the air faster than the others, since he’d only gone without several months and not several centuries.
Trevan looked around, scanning the water. He saw the single sinking ship, nearly completely under. He watched as the Empire ships drew closer, and archers sent arrows into the air and struck two of the few Andinna who could fly.
“How do we help?” Dave asked again, his voice softer, almost too quiet to be heard.
“Let’s find the captain,” he said in response, grabbing the human and pulling him along. “We’re probably in the way as it is.” He ran over to the wheel, where the captain was given a wide berth by everyone on the upper deck. The captain nodded at him as he approached.
“Glad to see you two are still alive. We’ve been hit twice, but they’re above the waterline.”
“What can we do?”
“My off-duty sailors are already patching the holes—” Something crashed into the ship. “SHIT! Get down there and help them. That one seemed bad.”
Trevan didn’t waste another breath, running for the door to get below again. At this point, every Andinna on board was on the deck, crammed together, watching everything go wrong. Sailors were shouting in the halls down below, but the moment Trevan approached one of them, he was given a few planks and pointed in a direction. He didn’t argue, running below to see who needed them.
Sailors snatched the wood from his arms before he could get anywhere to help. Dave was next, holding more pieces, only to lose them.
“Do you think they’ll try to board?” the human asked.
“Let’s hope not. They’ll take us to kill if they can. We were hoping to avoid this.”
“HELP!” someone screamed.
Trevan started running around, heading back to the deck to find waterlogged Andinna fighting to breathe. Someone held the body of a female who wasn’t moving. Her face was turning a light blue underneath her black tatua.
“Let me!” he snapped. “I know how to help her.”
The male glared at him only for a moment before backing away. The male wasn’t a gladiator, which meant Trevan had just a little more leeway to help and interact with the imposing Andinna.
He crossed his hands over the female’s chest and started pushing, hoping to force water out of her lungs. He didn’t stop as Andinna roared, and others landed on the deck with survivors. The captain was screaming something behind him. The sailors were shouting. Dave was off helping someone else, and Trevan had no idea where Emerian was anymore.
He kept pushing down in a rhythm on the female’s chest until he got the response he wanted. She started to cough, water pouring out of her mouth, her lungs forcing everything to clear. She continued to cough as he helped her roll to her side to keep from inhaling the water she was trying to expel.
“You’ll be okay,” he said gently to her. “You’ll be okay. Do you have a husband or children I need to find?”
“A little boy,” she said with more coughing. “By the skies, my little boy!”
Trevan held her in place and looked up at the Andinna who had been holding her. The male hadn’t moved.
“Find her son. Now! Go!”
The male darted away, calling to Andinna in the air to look for any children.
Trevan had no idea how many children were part of their group. He had only seen a few here and there, most kept below deck in their rooms with their mothers. Trevan moved back from the female who was now struggling to get up, her eyes darting everywhere.
He didn’t have time to watch her, trusting the Andinna male to help check any young male to see if it was her son. As he found his feet, the ship took a sharp turn, a wave crashing over the side and sending everyone on the ship sliding to the other side, crushed under the force of the water. He slipped several times, trying to find his feet again. The water exploded again as another cannonball missed.