Silas POV

“Two nights… I am only two nights away from being home, Amory,” I whispered into the night sky. The wind carried the sails upriver under the starry sky. There was something poetic about being under such a peaceful sky in total darkness.

The toll of the day was weighing on me, but I couldn’t bring myself to head below deck just yet. Braxton had slept through the whole day of us packing and trying to find passage to the capital city. It took all three of us to lug the orc out of the villa and onto a wagon I borrowed. I wonder if he will sleep for three days like Emera had after her drunken escapades.

Rosewyn made Braxton and I swear not to tell Emera the extent of her three-day sickness. It was hard on everyone. Braxton was living her nightmares while Rosewyn was battling her symptoms. Rosewyn had to cool Emera’s fevers and warm her up through the chills. The worst moments were when her breathing became shallow and her heart slowed. My healing magic has never been used as much as it has since I met Emera and Rosewyn. Braxton stayed awake the whole time Emera was out, and now he’s out cold from exhaustion. Will he go through the same nightmares, fevers, and near-death moments Emera did? Heavens, I pray not.

Rosewyn, Emera, and Braxton were in our bunk sleeping below deck. We were in luck this afternoon when we encountered Mr. Ian Queens, the merchant Captain Boom had robbed. He offered us safe passage to Desfyra. I could tell Mr. Queens was originally from somewhere in Solis, but we had already checked with most of the ships at port for passage to Desfyra. Mr. Queens went out of his way to invite us on board. I am hoping my trust wasn’t misplaced in Mr. Queens.

Too often, I am met with dishonesty because of my station in Desfyra. I have been tricked and robbed more than once as a kid. Elves live for hundreds of years, so it’s common to only have one child if they can have a child. My parents had my sister when they were 300 or so, and they believed they were finished having children. My sister had already begun her reign as queen when my parents were surprised to have me at 800. My childhood was spent in the countryside since my sister was queen and the other kids tried to use me for my power as a prince. My sanctuary was the library. Books didn’t lie, cheat, or steal from me. Braxton was my first true friend.

Most elves still try to gain power through me today. Those at court want me to marry their daughters, so they can raise their station. My parents would have put them off if they were still alive. My sister does her best, but she’s the reason the court wants me married. Although none of it was her choice, the court has been demanding I marry since I turned 100. Twenty-two years later, they have tried to match me with different maidens and failed. I didn’t want to walk back into that castle any time soon, but I made a vow to protect Rosewyn and Emera.

“Getting lost in the stars, Silas?” A warm voice greeted me.

“Something like that.” I hadn’t realized how cold the air was since I had gotten lost in thought. Staring at the stars helped me process my thoughts better. My body was shivering when Rosewyn put my jacket on my shoulders. Her warmth made my skin tingle from the slightest brush of her fingers.

She leaned on the railing next to me, looking out over the wide river. The tides crashed against the boat and all the background noise from the crew faded. It was still like a magic spell frozen in time. I felt content. My anxiety had vanished from the appearance of Rosewyn at my side. Was it because I had a friend at my side, or was it because we found a sense of peace in each other?

“What’s going on in that brain of yours? You look like you're trying to solve an ancient puzzle, but the instructions are written in another language.” Rosewyn was demonstrating her wit even at this late hour.

I could answer about my wondering about our connection, but we just started feeling normal after that firecracker kiss. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin our friendship. “Have you noticed how quiet it is?”

Her eyes got big in an instant. She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me away from the ship’s railing. A cannonball blasted straight through the side of the ship. What the hell? On instinct, I cast light magic to illuminate the darkness of the river. Another boat came into view, firing another cannonball toward us. I forced it away with my water magic. Our ship stayed quiet even though we were under attack.

“Silas, the crew has abandoned ship,” She shouted in a hurry before disappearing below deck.

Running up to the steering wheel, I find it rigged to keep us sailing straight upriver. I cut the binding loose and tried to steer us away from the other vessel. Rosewyn returns on deck with Emera armed with her bow. No Braxton in sight. Is that orc going to miss another battle? He was pouting when Red and I told him of our battle with Captain Boom.

The other vessel stayed close to us, firing cannonballs, fireballs, and ice chunks. How many wizards were on that ship? I steered our ship to the best of my ability. I received military training when I was in my sixties, but that was sixty years ago. Ships have changed a bit since then like all technology does.

“Emera, take out the crew!” I shouted just as the other ship latched ropes onto ours. Emers scurried up the mast to begin her assault.

Pirates or mercenaries began swinging their way onto the ship. Red had her daggers ready while Emera began picking them off one by one. I threw a few gusts of wind at the men trying to board our vessel, but a handful made it onto our ship. Red looked excited to engage them. Within minutes she liberated a man of his sword and threw it toward me. It landed inches away from the heel of my boot.

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“Defend yourself, Captain!” She grinned like she didn’t almost impale my foot.

Restringing the ropes that I had cut with my knife to keep the steering wheel locked in place. My opponents approached me in a hurry. I had my back to the steering wheel while avoiding their jabs. I managed to pierce the thigh of a purple orc who was trying to box me in further. The orc stumbles backward as I free the sword from his thigh. A half-giant stands before me with a massive hammer and swings at me. It misses me by a hair and smashes the steering wheel to pieces.

“Shit,” I murmured as the orc composed himself enough to stab my foot in return for his injury. The steel blade goes straight through my boot, and I can feel a rush of pain as well as blood flooding out from the wound. “Asswhole.”

I force the orc back with a blast of wind while dodging the hammer flying toward my head. Seconds pulse by as I pull the sword from my foot and throw it at the orc’s shoulder with a wind gust to increase the force of the blow. The sword impacts the orc's shoulder all the way through. I don’t get a chance to breathe as I must swerve out of the way of the hammer, which smashes into the deck of the ship. Wood chips fly in every direction as adrenaline pumps through my body to allow me to move.

The ship has been rocking uncontrollably since the steering wheel was mangled by the hammer. The other ship is still locked onto ours as the current has begun to push us toward the shoreline. We were going to crash into the shore in a few minutes, and these attackers didn’t seem to care. I slice into the half-giant’s arms with the sword.

“Emera!” I yell toward the mast where she’s perched. “Get Braxton, the ship is going to crash!”

Emera must have heard me as she managed to get an arrow into the half-giant’s eyes as she descended the mast. The half-giant falls back for a moment in pain. Red was laughing as she plunged her dagger into the sides of her foes. The thrill of battle seems to excite her more than a library ever could. She was raised as an adventurer, but I wonder if it goes deeper than that for her. I have seen Emera get just as excited during battle.

“Focus, princey,” the orc grunted. How was this guy moving again already? Healing magic works quickly, but not that fast.

Our blades clashed. The orc spat blood at me as he dueled me. Slight left, swing right, block under. Move after move, the metal clangs as we clash over and over. The orc trips backward, giving me the upper hand. My blade rests at his throat while I kick his blade away.

“Who sent you?” I question him.

The orc laughs dangerously. “Kill me, princey.” He answered. “No matter what you do, the red lady will fall.”

These were hunters sent by the Kingdom of Solis. “Is this worth your life?” I try to appeal to his desire to live, but he laughs harder.

“I am only a tool, princey. Bought and sold to the highest bidder.” His words were sad. “You pissed off the Solis King and his backer, and the Red Lady will pay the price for it.”

Anger. Frustration. Guilt. All the emotions filled me as I fought the urge to tear the asswhole into shreds. Amory warned me of the bounty hunters on my tail, and I should have been more careful. I opt to use the hilt of my sword to knock the orc out. Stumbling about, I join Red on the deck. The ship was approaching the shore fast. We needed to get off this boat.

Braxton and Emera emerge from below deck with all of our packs. My best friend looked like hell, but he was standing. “I fall asleep in the villa and wake up on a ship crashing into the shore. What the hell, Si!” He exclaims.

“We’re being hunted,” I said, cooly. “We can continue this later. We have to jump.”

Both ships have collided. Fires have started. The mercenaries are abandoning ships everywhere. Red grabs her pack and leaps off the bow like she’s going for a leisurely swim. Emera cannonballs into the water after. Braxton and I plunge into the freezing waters right after. The water pulled me down from the weight of my pack and the current was pushing us upriver. A piece of debris knocked the back of my head. My vision blurred. Air was threatening to escape my chest as I let my mana slip into the water. I used my magic to pull the four of us together underwater and propel us to the surface.

The four of us swim to the surface for air as my lungs burn from holding my breath for too long. Braxton illuminates the air around us. All of us cough up water. My head was pounding. Behind us, the ships crack and explode into a bright blaze. The river carries us away from the crash in a blink of an eye. Chilled from the water, we lock ourselves together to try to push through the strong currents of the river. I am using every bit of my mana to fight the river and keep us together. Braxton manages to catch onto a rock formation to pull us from the river.

The four of us make it onto the riverbank in complete darkness. Our bodies barely move after fighting the river for so long. We are wet and cold, but Braxton is up securing the area. Red starts gathering limbs and piling them together. Emera’s pulling rope from her pack to create a clothesline. They might be talking, but I can’t hear them over the ringing in my ears.

I can’t help. My foot was pounding from the pain, so I used the last of my magic to begin healing the wound. I have never used my magic to fight a river before, and I can only imagine how we would have fared without my magic. It takes all my attention to heal myself enough to take the edge off the pain.

Time passed quickly as I shivered from the cold air. When Red came to help me, a roaring fire had come to life in the middle of a dome shelter made from Red’s magic. Red stripes me to the bare minimum and sits me down in the dome while she hangs my clothes. Emera bandages my foot. I feel like a child unable to do anything for themselves, but I am barely functioning.

“Good job, Captain,” Red whispers in my ear. I wasn’t sure where she came from, but I was surprised to hear her voice at all.

I blink and my senses start to return to me. The doom is warm. I can feel the heat caressing my skin from the fire. Braxton and Emera were curled up on the other side of the dome. Everyone had shed their wet clothes in favor of the heat of the dome. Red pulled me next to her, so we were both lying near the fire. I felt the heat from her body. Every soft curve of her skin against me begged me to look at her, but I was too rattled to function like a man right now.

Red hugged me tight. “Just for tonight, Silas. You need to sleep. I will watch over you.”

As if her words were a spell, my eyes drifted closed. I felt safe there. Warmth embraced me although there was still a chill in the air. There were lots of things I could worry about. Many problems that I needed to face, but they felt like they were miles away. I wonder if this was how Red felt in my arms all those times that I healed her. It was sweet bliss.