Yvette wished she could be somewhere, anywhere else. She was certain she was dying. If she wasn’t, she hoped she’d start just so this misery would end.
The beginning of their voyage had been wonderful. Gervas had given her a small, bronze ring that was now worn on her left hand. It would protect her from being tracked by magic, or so he said. She wasn’t sure how much she trusted it, considering it had come from Ursula. Not that she had any choice but to believe it would.
However, within the first few hours of the trip, she had made an all too terrible discovery. Sea sickness, or so Gervas called it. It had started with a bit of nausea that had slowly grown until she could barely stand. Not long after that, nothing in her stomach agreed to stay down and she had been brought to the deck and forced to lean over the side. The dry heaving was the worst.
Gervas had promised her that she would sleep it off and be all better afterwards. She had not been, not that she had gotten much sleep. It had been three days of pure, unbridled misery. The most she’d been able to stomach without losing it were a few salty crackers and a little bit of water. Even then, she’d never felt more miserable in her life.
“You look terrible,” Gervas said before walking up besides her.
She opened her mouth to yell at him, but before she could muster the words she felt his hand gently rubbing her back. She let out a soft groan and leaned into the hand. It didn’t make her feel any better, but it made things feel a little more tolerable. “Don’t stop… please,” she whispered.
“Of course.”
“Is this normal?” she asked, giving a soft whimper.
“I mean… sometimes. Most people I’ve known get better after a few hours. A day at most. I’ve only known a few people who were this bad for this long.”
She gave another soft whimper before retching over the side of the boat. “I-I wish I was dead. This is torture.”
“There’s magic to fix it,” he offered. “I don’t know it, though. But when we’re done here, I’m sure we’ll find someone who can help you learn it. It can’t be much more difficult than any of the other magic you do.”
Yvette nodded. Since they’d departed she hadn’t been able to practice any of her spells, though she swore if she found a way to cure this terrible torment, she wouldn’t stop until she learned it.
“We’re almost there. If you look up, you can see the island,” he whispered, his hand moving in small, soft circles. “It’s going to be okay, we’re almost done.”
She looked up and, true to his words, she could. Off in the distance she could see a small, brown line. Rising out of the horizon. They were so close. She didn’t know if it was the excitement or the rubbing of her back, but she swore she felt just a tiny bit better. “We’re almost there,” she whispered. “How close will they take us?”
“They’re getting a dinghy ready. We’ll be going on our own, soon. Are you going to be okay?” he asked. “It’ll be slower. But--”
“The alternative is going back,” she whispered. “I think I’d rather the dragon turtle just eat me. After we’re done, I never want to see another ship as long as I live.”
“You’ll get used to it eventually. Then it’ll all be over and you’ll remember the good times,” he said with a smile.
“What good times?”
“Okay, so I didn’t think of any. But if there had been, you’d remember them.”
She gave a chuckle, closing her eyes. “You’re insane.” After a few moments, her nausea seemed to get worse. She quickly opened her eyes and focused on the island, her stomach settling just a little. “Want to give me one happy memory?”
“I’m not throwing you overboard or drowning you myself,” he said firmly.
“Okay, so not that then. Would you play for me?” she asked.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
He gave a quick laugh and patted her gently on the back. The motion made her lean forward and retch. “Sorry! Sorry,” he said sheepishly before continuing to rub her back. “I told you, I haven’t done that in years.”
“But it might make me feel better.”
“I don’t have a lute or lyre.”
“Awww,” she said, her voice filled with disappointment. “Please?”
“Have you just pretending to be sick so I’ll--”
Yvette felt another bout overtake her and leaned forward, dry heaving over the side of the boat.
“Okay, no. You haven’t. Fine, I’ll tell you what. When we’re back on dry land, if we can get our hands on one, I’ll play for you. One song. That’s all. So long as we make it back.”
Yvette nodded, chuckling. “Ahhhh. Well, now I truly do have motivation,” she said with a teasing grin. “Our lives, this scale, all of that is one thing. But to hear the great Gervas play for me? Truly this is a… a...” She gave a soft whimper and fell to her knees, resting her head on the railing of the ship. “I feel like I’m dying.”
“It’s okay, it’s going to be okay,” Gervas whispered, leaning down to gently stroke her back. “We’ll be on dry land before nightfall. You just need to endure a little longer. Think about why we’re doing this, okay? You need that scale. You want to be a girl, don’t you?” he asked.
She nodded. “I do...”
“Then you can do this. I’m here with you, you don’t have to do it alone. Remember? I’m here to help you.”
“I’m not alone,” she whispered, glancing up at him and giving a small, weak smile. “We’re doing this. Together. R-right?”
“Right. So just be strong for a little while longer. Please?” he asked gently.
“I’ll be strong for a little longer,” she whispered back to him and leaned against his side. “Just a little while longer. Just… please keep rubbing my back.”
“Of course.”
------
Yvette’s suffering was finally, after what felt like days of torture and torment, almost over.
The island was massive. The mountains were so high they pierced the clouds like great white teeth and surrounded it on all sides, seeming to go off towards the horizon forever. However, there seemed to be a single, massive opening in the mountains, a single entryway that one could go through to arrive on firm, solid land. While it was surrounded on both sides by a cliff, the entrance itself was incredibly massive, a full fleet could have gone through it with ease. The beach, however, was only a small expanse of sand, past which massive trees rose from the ground and made it impossible for her to see any further.
The ship had brought them to a little beyond that entrance, before lowering a small dinghy into the water with the two inside. From there, Gervas began to row them towards land.
Yvette stared up at the massive cliffs on either side of the entrance. It felt so much colder now that the two were in the shade of the great cliffs. The mountains seemed to go up forever. “How do you think these formed?” she asked gently.
“Probably the dragon turtle made them,” Gervas said. “I hear their magic is incredible.”
She slowly sat up and stared at the beach waiting for them. So close. Soon, she’d be on dry land. “We’re almost there. Just a little--”
“SHIT!” Gervas said, his eyes locked behind her and down. “Don’t move, don’t move.”
Yvette turned immediately and let out a soft whimper.
“What did I just say?” he whispered.
She couldn’t help but stare. Under the water, she didn’t know how far, was a strange oval shaped shadow, which seemed to be outlined in a dim glow. It was hard to make out anything about it, only its massive size, but the light glow made the size easy enough to judge.
It was many times bigger than the vessel they’d taken to get here. She doubted even a fleet of ships would have posed a problem for something so large.
“That’s the dragon turtle, isn’t it?” she whispered.
“I think so.”
“Should I… should I go down and--”
“No!” he snapped. “What did I just tell you the other day about going into its mouth?”
“Okay,” she said sheepishly, unable to take her eyes off it. Her stomach was now jumping for an entirely different reason. The monster was the size of a small island, how could she possibly ask it for one of its scales? Could she even carry such a scale? They had to be bigger than her.
Then the creature seemed to just disappear entirely, the glowing shadow gone.
Gervas let out a sigh of relief and started rowing again. “We’re almost there,” he whispered.
“Okay,” she said softly, unable to take her eyes off where it had been. Even if she got the scale, how were they going to get the two of them off the island with such a massive creature in their way? At least it seemed to be okay with the pair of them being here, small miracle though it was.