Chapter 14
THE RUN NORTH
The deck canted under Niri’s feet. A wave of exhaustion washed over her. For one moment, she thought of giving up. Instead, she turned her face into the evening breeze, hoping it would revive her.
The sun hovered over the western hills of the grassy and rocky shore of this isolated stretch of coast as if it was the only inhabitant of the barren landscape. Settlements had appeared along the shore the night before, dimly seen in the blue light of the greater moon. Nothing large enough to have been called a town, only a few stone houses with sod roofs and moss stuck between the boulders to protect the occupants from the wind. There were few lights in the villages and no wharves. What boats Niri and Lavinia saw were narrow and long with deep drafts, resting above the tide on the rough pebble beaches. The smell of peat smoke drifted from the land.
Now it was early evening again and that was the only reason Niri was on deck at the same time as Ria and Ty. It had been a long four days since they had lashed the heavy boom to the deck, put away the broken rigging lines, and raised the jib to head north. Lavinia was heartsick, but would not admit it. The knowledge of what her brother had gone through, along with his intent to abandon her in Drufforth, left her eyes dark and hollow.
Ria ignored Niri’s appearance on deck. For the last few days, Ria would not look in Niri’s direction, as if she did not exist. Ty's reaction was little better. After four days of it, Niri was tired of such a petty game, especially to be blamed as the cause. Really, she was tired of everything.
Sailing with only the jib, the boat hardly moved unless she pushed the tide. Between the continual binding of the Curse, its occasional struggles, keeping out the water seeping from the crushed timbers of the hull, and pushing the boat, Niri’s power was in constant use. There was never truly a moment to rest.
Adding to that was the growing dislike for hard bread, old cheese, and dry meats. Ria’s childishness was a small bother amid the rest, but Ty’s icy distance elicited an ache whenever she thought of it. His kindness had comforted her twice now.
Lavinia sat on deck already, her arms resting on the rail and legs dangling toward the sea. She watched the shore as its shadow stretched toward the boat. Lavinia saw Niri and stood. It was time for them to take over the boat while Ria and Ty disappeared below.
Niri stepped forward, but it felt like her foot sank through the deck. The world tilted, rocking under her feet so that she fell to her knees.
“Niri!”
Lavinia’s tone was panicked. But Niri couldn't see her. Instead she saw a world of azure blue. Arms supported her and she leaned into them, resting against a solid chest. Ty held her. Contradictory sensations of the boat and Ty's arms competed against flowing blue and liquid coolness. Then she understood.
“It’s the Curse. It wants free,” Niri whispered.
“It’s fighting you?” Ty asked with concern.
“Yes ... no, it’s not struggling. It’s sort of talking to me.”
The hazy image in Niri’s mind cleared. She looked into the golden eyes of the Curse. Niri wanted to fight it, to get away from however it had brought part of her to it. But she found herself struggling with Ty. He held her tighter.
The Curse’s power reached out to her. Niri reeled as images and emotions flooded her mind.
The Curse was tired and hungry. The need for food filled her body. Her lungs burned. Breathing water was weakening the beast. Magical or not, it was a living creature that was born to breathe air and to eat. It needed to stretch its wings and muscles. Every inch of it was cramped and bound by heavy water. The need to move blocked all else in Niri’s mind for a moment.
Her resolve wavered. The Curse streamed images, flipping them through her mind. She found herself in a cave, dark and mildewed. Chains that bit with more than iron shackled her to the depths. Silhouettes of Priests and Priestesses rose out of the blackness, bringing pain. But those were rare. Mostly there was solitary, soul-crushing darkness.
The cave swept away to a view of the sky and sun, clouds rolling below with flashes of distant fields, trees, and water. For a moment, Niri flew as the dragon, exalting in the freedom of days for the first time in memory, even while the compulsion to hunt magic drew it onward.
“Niri, NIRI!”
Ty shook her back to herself. She sobbed as the tension and images left her. Only Ty’s arms kept her from collapsing to the deck.
“It is in pain, suffering so much,” she gasped. “Has suffered so much under the Church.”
Ria leapt to her feet. “You can’t let it go! Kill it! If you can hurt it, you can kill it. Free me from it!”
Tears streaming down her cheeks, Niri looked at Ria. “I cannot wish it dead. It would die slowly, hungry and bound over years. I cannot do that to anything!” Niri retorted. “Besides, it is too late.”
“You let it go?” Lavinia asked in shock.
“Yes,” Niri said, straightening in Ty’s arms. He relaxed his hold but stayed next to her.
“It is hunting for me again?” Ria’s pitch whirled higher.
“No,” Niri replied. “It doesn’t know where we are and it is too weak. It won’t find you again unless you use your power. For now, its muscles are too cramped to fly. It is just floating on the surface of the sea enjoying the sun.”
“Enjoying the ...” Ty paused, uncertain. “How do you know it is enjoying it?”
“I can feel it humming.”
Ria glared at Niri, every line of her vibrating anger. Ria slammed the apple she had been eating onto the deck and hurtled down into the cabin.
Ty rubbed Niri’s shoulder, staring at the deck. When Ria’s steps faded, he looked at Niri. “Are you all right?” he asked. Niri nodded. “Are you using your power anymore at all? Are you using it right now?”
Niri sat back in surprise so they faced each other from an easy distance. “No, not at all. Why?”
“Your eyes have flecks of lavender in them.”
The sound of a crash resonated from the cabin. Niri and Lavinia jumped, Ty stared at the deck again.
“Ty ... I couldn’t let it suffer, not to die like that. I’m not a Priestess.”
“I know,” he said as he stood up, eyes dark with regret. “I realize that now.” Ty walked down into the darkness to join Ria.
Niri stayed sitting on the deck a moment longer. A hollow ache filled her pushing aside the irritation of Ria's outburst. Lavinia offered her hand, helping Niri find her feet.
“I’m sorry,” Niri said, needing to apologize to someone.
Lavinia hesitated, then leaned forward and gave Niri a hug. “I’m sorry, too.”
It took another minute to compose themselves for their night’s sail. The power to propel the boat through the sea came easier to Niri without the drain caused by binding the Curse. For a space of time, everything was quiet. No lights or noise came from the cabin. Stars filled the sky, demarcating the black sea by their absence.
Lavinia twitched the jib line in her hand. “My first memory is of Ty,” she said without warning. Her gaze lay in the distance, past the sea to the strange rocky coast.
“What was he doing?”
Lavinia smiled fondly. “I was crying because I couldn’t get this little paper boat I'd made to sail. He fixed it for me.”
“So, he started fixing boats at a young age?”
“Yes, I’ve given him plenty of experience.” She laughed.
Niri smiled at the sound. “You are very close to your brother,” she said.
“I thought I was.” Lavinia reflexively clenched her fist, which pulled on the jib line. The sail tightened, straining the mast. It creaked in the empty air. She let the line go and tied it off, glancing at Niri. “You are really the one sailing the boat, anyway. The sail is more for show if anyone sees us.”
Lavinia paused and sighed. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me sooner about what happened on his apprenticeship! Did he think I wouldn’t understand?”
“I don’t think tha
t is it. I think as much as he wanted to protect you, he also didn’t want to disappoint you.”
Lavinia was silent. “I’m not a child anymore. I was ... before all this started. I thought it was some grand adventure that would be over in a few days and then life would return to the way it had been, the way it was supposed to go. It isn’t ever really going to be the same again, is it?”
With Niri controlling the sea, not even waves lapped the hull. The night was quiet but for the occasional rustle of the useless sail.
“No, probably not," Niri finally answered.
Lavinia nodded curtly. She exhaled a snort. “Of course, life wasn’t really how I thought it was, anyway. I just didn’t know it then.” She sat up a little straighter. After a moment, she turned to Niri. “Did you know I found a sword on the boat?”
Niri glanced at her. “No, when?”
“After Sardinia, on the way to Tiero. It was in my cabin in this compartment under a bench. I hadn’t looked there before. I was going to tell Ty, but then ... after what happened in Sardinia ...”
Niri tried to sort out what Lavinia meant. “You thought he would sell it?”
Lavinia laughed softly. “No ... well yes, I thought we probably should. But when Causis took Ria, I saw Ty hold the knife to his neck and I had nothing. Nothing at all I could do to protect Ria. And I found this sword that we hadn’t known was there right after that. It is so beautiful, with carvings on the blade, and it fits my hand. It just feels right. I didn’t want to tell Ty because I knew he’d want to sell it and I ... I didn’t want to.”
“But it is funny. Now it isn’t about wanting to protect Ria. I just want to be able to use it. I never thought about sword fighting before. Only about my apprenticeship, about sailing, marrying some boy, and my children being friends with Ria’s. She and Ty ...” Lavinia bit her lip and looked quickly away. “Well, it seems so silly now. Something a child wishes for without understanding that it could never possibly work. But I do think I should learn to protect myself if we’re going to be crossing oceans and fighting off magical beasts.
Even if they leave in Drufforth, I’m not going back. I don’t think it would be the same if I went home. Leaving to go to my apprenticeship seems ... unnecessary now. If you don’t mind, I’ll stay with you. I can help sail once the Grey Dawn is fixed, and we can go to Karakastad to see what we find there.”
Niri smiled at the young woman. “Well, we may be in Drufforth for a while. Maybe you can find a way to learn to use a sword while we’re there.”
“I think I would like that.”