Captain Magnus spun the wheel and the ship turned at his command so the bow pointed directly at the storm. The seas grew rough and bounced the ship around as we approached the violent clouds.
Tillit, Xander and I stumbled around like drunken sailors as the deck tilted. Our sus friend grabbed a nearby box of crates and glared up at the captain. “If you want to die leave us-” The ship swayed to and fro. His eyes widened. He clapped a hand over his mouth and rushed to the side where he lost his second lunch. “When will I learn. . .” he groaned.
I yelped as the ship rocked violently to one side. Xander caught me in his hands and whipped his head up to glare at the captain. “There must be another way!”
Magnus cringed as the winds whipped at the sails and the boards of his ship groaned under the onslaught of the waves. “She’ll make it!”
Lightning struck overhead and the electricity made the ends of my hair rise. “But will we?” I quipped.
“Captain, she fails to follow,” Nimeni informed him.
All eyes turned back to the perusing ship. Most of her sails were tied up and her bow was turned away from the storm.
“So we can turn around, right?” I spoke up.
Magnus gripped the wheel and gritted his teeth as he tried to turn it. The behemoth of a mechanism didn’t shift. He pursed his lips and shook his head. “It’s too late for that.”
A crack of lightning over our heads proved his point. The winds grew more violent and tore at our sails. The hope of the bright sun was obliterated by the thick black clouds that thundered its annoyance at our presence.
“Captain!” cried one of the men on the masts.
We all looked at him. He pointed at the starboard-bow where a wave as tall as the tallest mast rose from the waters a hundred feet from us. The winds threw it in our direction, and its heavy waters slammed into the ship. A great cracking alerted us to the breaking of the front mast. The seamen aboard the toppling wood leapt onto the deck and scattered in all directions as the heavy wood slammed onto the deck. Planks were cracked asunder and bits of wood flew in all directions. The sails of the ruined mast flapped uselessly atop the destruction.
A dozen sailors rushed over to inspect the damage. One of them looked over his shoulder at the captain and cupped one hand over his mouth. “Another blow like that, Captain, and she’ll go under!”
Captain Magnus shook his head. “We’ll need a miracle to make it out of this.”
“Or a mare fae,” Tillit spoke up as he turned to me with a smile. “I think now would be a good time to show off your mare skills, Miriam.”
My mouth dropped open and I thrust a hand at the rough waters around us. “Are you kidding me? This is a storm, not the seas! I can’t-” Another wave crashed against our starboard side. Xander pinned me between him and the mast, but he couldn’t block all the cold spray that washed over me. I shuddered and looked past Xander at Tillit. “Even if it was, I don’t know what to do!”
“It is our only chance.” I whipped my head up and found myself staring into the unblinking eyes of my dragon lord. “You must use your powers.”
I frowned. “You told me not to use it with other people watching.”
“There’s an exception to every rule!” Tillit assured me as the boat was thrown from side-to-side.
“But all I can do is make a stupid little dragon! How is that supposed to stop a wave even half that big?” I asked him.
Xander grasped my shoulders and met my eyes. A soft smile teased the corners of his lips. “I have faith in you, partner.”
I pursed my lips. “You’re really evil throwing that at me now.”
“Captain!” Nimeni yelled.
The dark shadow of a large group of waves formed in the distance off the bow. The waves grew taller and the wind tore at my clothing. I could feel it in my bones, another mega wave was forming. I swallowed the lump in my throat and scooted out from Xander’s protection.
The ship rocked from side-to-side as I stumbled to the bow. The mess of mast was strewn over the deck. My foot caught on the rope rigging and I fell onto my hands and knees five feet short of the tip of the ship.
A rumbling noise made me whip my head up. My eyes widened as I beheld a mammoth of a wave. It was twice as tall as the ship and four times wider. Its shadow fell over us and a shower of droplets foretold its promise of a merciless onslaught of water.
“Shit,” I mumbled as I struggled to my feet.
The wave curved forward over the ship as I stumbled out of the rope and to the bow. I reached the tip just as the top of the wave licked at the middle mast at my back. My fingers began to glow blue as the water came crashing down over the ship. I threw up my hands just as the millions of gallons of water rushed down on us.
The brilliant blue light of my fae heritage sprang from my hands and spread outward and upward. The light created a huge wall in front of the ship and twenty feet beyond on either side. I winced as the water slammed into the wall. The water from the huge wave slipped over either side of the wall and crashed into the rough seas.
The weight of so many thousands of tons of water was cushioned by my wall, but the magic couldn’t absorb all the pressure. A great load pressed against my hands. I felt like I was trying to stop a slow truck. My hands began to shake. My knees buckled and I fell onto one as I clenched my teeth. The light of my wall flickered as the last of the wave drained into the sea.
My wall broke. I gasped and fell face-forward. Xander’s strong hands wrapped around me and I was cradled against his chest. Then I blacked out.