Chapter 23

The roar of the ocean echoed off the rocks around them as they descended a hill, which had become a new beach. From the far side of a boulder, a familiar voice met their ears.

“Put ye back into it!” a man yelled above the sound of the waves. “If that tide leaves without my ship, ye’ll be carrying her back to sea on ye shoulders!”

The teenagers exchanged looks of wonder before running around the rock. Stranded on the new shore was Captain Carrick and his ship. The words Sea Sprite were painted gold across the side.

The crew was digging as fast as they could, trying to get the boat back into the sea before the water receded. The captain was walking up and down the new shore behind the sweat-soaked men, yelling orders to hurry up. He didn’t see the teens until they were right up on him.

Turning around at their approach, Captain Carrick stared at them for a moment before saying, “Should have known ye four would show up,” he said, then searched the hills behind them. “No rock monsters chasing ye this time?” he asked, completely serious.

Despite it being the worst day of her life, Neviah found herself smiling. “No, not this time.”

He harrumphed before saying, “Ye wouldn’t happen to know why a wave the size of Colossus just tossed my ship from one hemisphere to another, would ye?”

“Sorry,” Victoria squeaked, which caused the captain to stare at her wide-eyed.

Carrick looked them over before asking, “Are ye in the mood for digging?”

Asa whispered something in Victoria’s ear, and she nodded. To Captain Carrick, he said, “If we all board the ship, Victoria can get it unstuck for us.”

“I’m sure she can,” he said and turned back to yell at the crew to dig faster.

“I’m serious,” Asa pressed. “You trusted me once. Believe me now.”

The captain looked doubtful but yelled for his men to get aboard the ship. After they all climbed up the rope ladders hanging from the starboard side, Victoria looked over the side and visibly relaxed herself. The sailors exchanged sideways glances when nothing happened. The sea was already receding, and they were losing valuable time.

Suddenly, the ship groaned, and the rear began to bob with the waves. Everyone rushed to look over the side, including Neviah. Water was rushing around the ship, making furrows in the dirt, pulling the earth away. In moments, the ship slipped free and began to move out to sea with the water. Once they were a few hundred feet from shore, everyone turned their eyes on Victoria and stared.

She shied away from the attention and picked at her hardened leather armor. Captain Carrick was the first to recover from his awe.

“Ye aren’t going to have a wee girl do all the work for ye, are ye? Unfurl the mast, get the oars out the starboard side, and turn the ship about! Mind the trees sticking up out of the water!” He walked off, yelling more orders at men as he went. The ship was a madhouse of sailors running about, getting the ship ready to sail.

“So, what’s the plan then?” Asa asked Neviah. This time, she had an answer.

“We are going to stop the Imprisoned One.”

“How?”

She opened her book of prophecies to where she’d been reading and showed it to them.

“We still have four pieces to the Armor of Light to find.”

She looked at her friends as they leafed through their own copies of the prophecies. Asa leafed through the book, reading impossibly fast. Victoria leaned back with her head on his shoulder, alternating between looking at the book and looking at Asa.

Neviah watched the pair for a moment. Looking at them, it was hard to imagine the sweet blond-haired girl was going to kill him. Worse still was the knowledge that if she didn’t, the world would end.

The night is far spent; the day is at hand:

let us, therefore, cast off the works of

darkness, and let us put on

the Armor of Light.

Other Works

The Armor of Light Series

The Sword of Re’u

The House of The Forest

The Road to War

The Tower of Leethaar

For more information, visit thearmoroflight.net.