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Blind Judgment
37 - Death Underwater

37 - Death Underwater

I don't know how long I waited before someone found me leaning against the wall. He shouted something I couldn't understand, and then I was dragged up some stairs, my feet thumping against every step.

Eventually, I was dropped onto a thin sleeping pad, and someone pressed a bundle of fabric to my wound to stop the bleeding. A groan escaped me as it felt like my chest was caving in.

"What's wrong with him, Jacob?" a young voice asked above me. The one pressing down on my injury responded.

"It's like he's experiencing seasickness, but a hundred times worse. He's too dehydrated and missing a lot of blood." He hummed, and I felt a pulse run through me. "His sternum is slightly fractured, but luckily no pieces of bone broke off. Let's bind his chest, and depending on his vitality, he should be good in at least two weeks."

"How'd you think we missed him?" the other asked while he pulled off my pack and lifted my shirt.

"I dunno. Must've had a hell of a hiding spot—probably came out ‘cause of this injury. We'll ask him when he's up for it." The man poured water into my mouth, grabbing my chin to tip it open. It was lukewarm, but I'd never tasted anything better.

They left then, and I began to fade. My stomach was still curled up tightly, the pain even worse than the one in my chest. My brain seemed to finally give up, and I fell asleep.

***

I had begun to hate the sun in this world.

Up on deck, I could vividly feel my shoulders burning from its rays even through my shirt, and sweat constantly rolled down my face. The salty spray of the water every now and then only made the burns on my arms sting more.

After I passed out, I had only fully woken up a week later, head and chest aching. Jacob—the crew member with some sort of body scanning skill who had helped me—told me that the cracks in my bone had already started to close up, the rate much faster than anything on Earth. He’d also wrapped the long slice on my forearm, and that was quickly closing up.

The after-effects of using the teleportation ring seemed worse than the wound Lifdol had given me. But Jacob had said it was a miracle that the bone remained intact since it had been so close to splitting apart when he first saw the injury.

I didn't feel much gratitude for any of this world's higher forces now, stuck in the sun. Below decks were even worse, with no wind to bring relief.

My bag was still with me, packed with some dried food and two flasks of water, and that was it. My knife remained in my sheath, but the ring hadn't transported my axe. I'd guessed that was because it hadn't been attached to me in any meaningful way.

Once I'd gained some reason, the captain had yelled at me for endless minutes, angry that I'd had the nerve to stow away on his ship. He'd slightly cooled down once I'd given him all my gold, but was still angry that I couldn't help out with anything due to my weak state.

The ship's quartermaster had been as cold as the captain, but he sometimes gave me a washcloth and bucket to clean the decks, saying I could at least do that. He also told me he only tolerated my presence because I'd managed to cough up some money.

I mostly stayed near the railing the next week, listening to the thumping and creaking of wood and the sailors doing their jobs. I usually remained till the air turned cool, giving me a rare reprieve from the heat, but eventually, it would turn icy and piercing in the dead of night.

Even when that hour hit, I mostly stayed on deck, sitting with my back against the mast. I didn't feel like heading to my cot, where I would still not sleep. My chest seemed to throb more when I laid flat on my back, but the pain had weakened to a faint pulse that had no longer hurt the past few days.

It began then, when the only sound was the odd creak of the boat shifting in the water, groaning and shuddering. I listened, sitting up straight.

Singing—it was singing, I eventually realized. The song floated over the still water, too soft to discern whether words were being formed. At first, I thought it was coming from below deck, but when I focused, I knew it was coming from the water.

Gradually, the volume rose, and the ship's inhabitants came with it. The men said nothing as they thumped across the ship, and it was then I figured that sirens existed in this world, much like the myths back on Earth.

Now alert, with a panicked sensation in my chest, I pressed the heels of my hands to my ears. The vocalization had no words, just the eerie swaying of smooth voices getting closer with every breath.

My head had gone hazy, filled with a blatant desire to find the source of the voice, but as I focused, channeling [Enhanced Sense], the singing turned into wailing, painfully bringing me back to the world. It felt like razors were digging into my ears.

[Perception +1]

I could still hear the soothing tones over the screeching, almost as if it were trying to conceal its true nature. Still, I stood, letting my hands fall to take the full force of the noise.

Rushing to the captain's quarters, I found the door already open and the room empty. Surely, as a captain who'd sailed, who knows how many times, he would've been aware of this threat? Something in me hoped the man was trying to help the others instead of already lost.

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With no crew, I'd never get back on land since even I knew a ship couldn't be controlled by one man.

Blood had begun to trickle out of my ears, and the noise started to send painful vibrations to my brain.

I turned back to the railing, hearing the first splash of a body hitting the water. Grabbing the first man I found, I attempted to pull him backward.

His strength was appalling, hands gripping the rail with an almost mystical force. Of course, it was no surprise that a sailor would be strong, but if they were all like this, they would all die, jumping to their deaths.

I attempted to cover the sailor's ears next, shoving the fabric of his own shirt into them. But, unfortunately, it didn't block the noises enough, and he still did not let go.

Moving on to the next person, I found him as unrelenting as the first. More splashes accompanied my struggle, and each one made the shrieking even louder. Every man I tried to pull away stuck to the rail like glue.

The last one I tried to help felt like an underfed teenage boy, ribs prominent under my grip, but he still did not let go even when I tried to pry his fingers off the wood. One snapped when I yanked it back, the bone cracking like a gunshot, but he still held on.

As my arms had wrapped around his chest to pull, I was too late to back up when I felt cool drips of water on my ankle. A slippery grip then clamped down like a bear trap, six points of pain stabbing through my skin and muscle, scraping the bone.

My head thudded against the deck as I was yanked forward, making my consciousness flicker momentarily. I grabbed for the railing but still slipped underneath it, and the fall to the water stole my breath.

I was submerged in seconds, the wailing song of the sirens muted under the water. That alien hand continued to pull me down as I kicked, losing blood until I could smell it in the water.

Garbled yelling and screams filled the water around me, and I thrashed my arms, trying to swim upwards.

A second hand joined the first, wrapping around my calf and spearing into the muscle. I made no progress then, starting to feel the dizziness from lack of oxygen.

After everything, I wouldn't die like this.

Pulling my knife out with a flash, I stabbed down at the hand lashed around my ankle, making sure to avoid my skin. Momentum dulled by the water, the knife didn't go as deep, but the creature holding me let out a resounding screech that popped my eardrums.

I stabbed down again, this time hitting the arm attached to the hand, and it finally let go. I kicked down with my other foot, hitting a torso or a head; I couldn't tell. The remaining claws sliced down and out of my skin, making me yell into the water, the salty liquid filling my mouth and choking me.

I swam up with everything I had, my right leg throbbing every time it moved. Then, with a gasp, I breached the surface, the air warmer than the sea. Turning in the water, I tried to gauge where the ship could be, the world strangely quiet now that the singing was gone.

Treading water, my jaw clenched in panic as I had no idea where to turn. I couldn't sense the ship disturbing the water anywhere close, so I must've been pulled farther away than I had thought.

My breathing rate finally returned to normal, but I was pulled back down again, choking as water flooded my mouth.

Two sets of hands were grabbing me this time, one on each leg. Strong fists squeezed over my wounds, making me hiss through my teeth. I kicked my legs, trying to get them off, but they kept pulling me down, down, faster than before.

Another clawed creature gripped my shoulders, digging into the skin. It pushed me down while the others below pulled, effectively trapping me.

I could hear the screams of those still alive again, bubbling through the water until I was pulled past. Then, a melodic voice with an underlying hiss whispered to me, surprisingly clear in the water. "Don't listen when they scream," she tried to persuade.

I threw my head back, knocking against something, but the siren behind me only chuckled. I didn't stop fighting the holds, knife out again, slashing down whenever I could. The creatures took the damage but never let go, my strikes dampened by the increasing pressure of the sea.

It was all going hazy again, a weight the size of the world sitting on my chest, and my grip on the dagger started to loosen.

"Fall asleep," that voice murmured again, hair brushing along the length of my neck. "It was all just a bad dream."

I hadn't dreamed since my life had turned into a nightmare. I haven't dreamed since I lost my eyes. But I could no longer fight the pull into oblivion.

***

The lapping of waves on my face was what finally made me wake, and several sensations began to scream at me. First was my prickling legs, numb and stiff under the water. Then my aching shoulders, my arms hooked over a piece of wood. Last was my burning face and back, the sun pounding into my skin ruthlessly.

My shirt was gone, I noticed, as I lifted my pounding head with a groan. I was floating in the water, held up by a wide piece of wood. The entirety of my body ached, and I had no idea how long I'd been out.

Why was I still alive? What had the sirens' goal been, if not to kill me? They had gotten the crew away from the ship, so maybe it had something to do with that. Whatever the reason, It didn't concern me anymore. I could only thank the fact that, once again, I was still alive.

The waves constantly pushed me in some direction, and I wondered if there was land close that I just could not see. It would be the ultimate joke if escape from the water was just a swim away, and I would just float past.

Still, I didn't want to waste energy, so I let the sea pull me along. There was nothing I could do to improve my situation, so I did not try.

I was so tired, despite my impromptu rest. My skin itched from the salt and the sun, and my wounds burned with every tug of the water. My dry tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, amplifying the ache in my throat.

I had no idea how long I drifted, thinking I wouldn't even notice if I just slowly died. It was so long that, at first, I didn't even register the sand my numb toes were scraping against. When I did realize the change, a bit of hope burned in my chest.

Kicking my legs only achieved more pain, the waves pulling me back whenever I made any progress. So instead, I let time take its course, and I slowly progressed with the water's help.

Eventually, I could stand, the water's surface brushing my chin. I held on to the block of wood as I moved slowly, every wave determined to knock me off balance.

Soon the ocean was only up to my chest, then my legs, and then my feet. I stumbled forward those last couple of steps, legs wobbly and weak, so I let myself fall to the ground. My hands dug into the sand, and I retched, seawater burning my throat as it came back up.

I never wanted to leave land ever again.