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176 - Beneath A Sea Of Stars

Consciousness slowly returned to Daana’s body. The first thing she noticed was how the jolting gait beneath her lacked the smooth roll and sway of the ocean. Confused, Daana forced her heavy eyelids open and squinted at the pale light stretched above. Orange and pink clouds streaked across the sky like brushstrokes on a lavender canvas. The breeze tickling her nose was wrong as well. The familiar stench of salt and water rot had been replaced with the sweet undertones of fireweed and tundra grass.

The cool night air stung the skin on her face, but the rest of her body was warm, wrapped tight in a mound of blankets. The warmth was placating, lulling her back into another dreamless sleep. Daana was already drifting off again when her hearing returned, transforming the low hum of background noise into distinguishable voices.

“Shh, Ellie, look. I think she’s finally coming around. For real this time.”

Ellisar’s dry voice replied, “And that requires us to be quiet because?”

“In case she tries to say something.” Ashwyn spoke notably lower, almost quiet enough to be considered a whisper–had the loud orc any concept of what constituted a whisper. “I want to be able to hear.”

“Should we hide and shout ‘surprise’ too?”

“I wouldn’t. She’s a jumpy little thing. Might kill her. Probably best just to smile and wave.”

“For the gods’ sakes, how about you two just don’t do anything?” Daana recognized the third, scratchy voice as Snag’s. It was coming from the opposite direction of the other two. “Give her some space. Let her come around on her own, would ya?”

Like a moth drawn to flame, Daana followed the voices, fighting the weariness that bogged her down. After several unsuccessful tries, she was able to keep her eyes open long enough for her blurred vision to clear. Tilting her head to the side, she found herself swaddled like an infant, lying on her back in what appeared to be the back of a small wooden cart.

Cart.

The word burned bright within her muddled thoughts as a swell of relief washed over her. Cart meant land. They’d reached land! Overcome with joy, Daana tried to sit upright. To her credit, she got nearly halfway before her body remembered it was broken. Every muscle in her back seized tight in protest, squeezing the air from her lungs. Daana slumped back down, unable to scream.

“Maybe don’t do that,” Ellisar said helpfully.

Daana rolled onto her side, drawing her knees to her chest as she breathed through the waves of pain radiating from her lower back. Squinting through the hot tears pooling within her eyes, she could just make out Ellisar’s and Ashwyn’s respective shapes trailing behind the cart. “Fuck,” Daana gasped between tightly clenched teeth. “It hurts just to breathe. What did I break?”

Everything? Definitely everything. It was the only explanation for the sheer agony coursing through her veins.

“Nothing important,” Snag assured her, his voice drifting down from above. He was bent over the back of the seat, staring back down at her. His expression, a combination of relief and concern, seemed to be at odds with itself. The creases around Snag’s yellow eyes softened when he said, “You’re just beat up is all.”

In that case, Daana hated to imagine what it felt like to break something important. “Is everyone else okay?”

“Ashwyn lost her hand,” Ellisar said.

Daana’s stare shot back in their direction in time to see the orc’s shoulders slump miserably. “Why must you keep reminding me? Damn seagull swooped down and swiped it right out of my clutches! It was going to be your anniversary present, Ellie dear”

“Eh. Probably for the best. You know how I feel about handouts.”

Ashwyn raised her hand to her forehead dramatically. “My poor heart. It’s been backhanded with your callous words.”

The pair were acting stranger than usual. While lighthearted banter was commonplace for Ashwyn, it was rare for Ellisar to partake so willingly. Daana peered at the latter more carefully. The elf’s normally pale face had a touch of color and there was a twinkle in her eyes Daana hadn’t seen before. Was she…giddy? Dear gods, it looked downright unnatural.

Daana twisted around, gritting at Snag through clenched teeth as stabbing pains rippled across her bruised rib cage. “What’s wrong with El?”

“She blew another hole in the Ducky Luck before jumping overboard. Been quite pleased with herself ever since.”

Ellisar tilted her head up at the darkening sky with a dreamy expression on her face. “Best night of my life.”

Ashwyn promptly forgot all about her lost hand. “The best night of your life, really? Nothing else comes to mind like, oh I don’t know, a particularly passionate night with your wife, perhaps?”

“I recall we kissed quite passionately after I sank the ship.”

“I was resuscitating you!”

“And I came to beneath a sea of stars, with the flickering firelight of a sinking ship in the background and your beautiful face whispering sweet nothings in my ear.”

“I was screaming ‘don’t die, don’t die, don’t you fucking die on me’.”

“As I said, best night of my life.”

Daana’s eyebrows furrowed together as the pieces of the night in question slowly emerged from the dark recesses of her mind. The effort resulted in a noxious stabbing sensation deep within her skull. She massaged her aching temples with her fingers, stammering, “I-I remember the fire. Was it the powder charges that caused it? The rest is all a blur.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The gathering grew suspiciously quiet. Daana glanced up in time to catch the nervous glance Ashwyn and Snag traded over the top of her head. The fact that neither was volunteering information even after getting caught was even more troubling. Gritting her teeth, Daana held a hand to her side and eased into a sitting position. Despite her attempt to take it slow, the change in elevation still made her head swim. She closed her eyes and waited for her vision to stop spinning before demanding answers.

“Alright, out with it,” she said. “What is it you aren’t telling me?”

Snag and Ashwyn still had their eyes locked together, engaged in a silent conversation Daana hadn’t been invited to. Their efforts to break the news gently were thwarted by Ellisar. “You killed an air elemental by siphoning all their magic in a single go and then made it rain lightning fire from the sky,” the elf said nonchalantly. “Hands down, the most impressive thing you’ve ever done.”

Ashwyn swiveled her head at her. “Ellie!”

“What? I gave her a compliment. No mention of the spread, as requested.” Ellisar crossed her arms over her narrow chest triumphantly. “You’re welcome.”

Spread? Gripping her sleeve, Daana peeled the fabric away from her skin, unable to contain the startled gasp that leapt from the back of her throat. The black veins snaking up her arms had spread. It branched past the elbow, already halfway to her shoulder. A quick examination of her other arm proved the same.

Panicked, Daana searched their faces for a sense of reassurance and found none. “You’re all looking at me like I’m a sick puppy. It’s bad, isn’t it?”

“You were convulsing when we got you out of the water and onto the long boat,” Snag admitted. “You should have been chilled to the bone after a dip in the ocean, but your skin was hot to the touch. I wasn’t sure you were going to make it through the night.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Four days.”

Ashwyn interjected with what was clearly forced cheerfulness. “The good news is, while we didn’t make our intended port, we made it ashore and are in the flatlands. A little further south than expected, but we made good progress while you were out. Traded the boat for a cart and are already halfway to our destination. If we keep going at this rate, we should reach your mother in three days’ time.”

That was good news, right? Her mother would have answers and maybe even a cure. Her mother who just happened to be a witch, surrounded by an army of witches, all with powerful magic. Magic Daana could siphon at any moment and use to destroy everyone without meaning to. The more she considered it, the more it was sounding less and less like good news.

Ashwyn noticed Daana’s dismayed expression. “I know those marks seem like an impossible setback, Peaches. But your mother will have answers. Her people will have you fixed right as rain before you know it.”

Daana drew her knees to her chest and slumped over them, wincing at the twinge of protest in her back. “What if it doesn’t work? What if she doesn’t have answers? What if she takes one look at me and tells me to turn back around again?”

“Sounds about right,” Ellisar agreed.

“Ellie! Ashwyn hissed.

“Her mom’s a bitch. There’s no sense in telling her fantasies.”

“We all know what sort of high opinion you have of Larkspur. You never fail to bring it up at every opportunity.”

“So?”

“So I’m saying maybe this is the opportunity not to bring it up.”

“Say, was that a rabbit I just saw?” Snag’s nervous smile bordered on manic as the severity of his glare wilted the arguing pair into submission. “Maybe you two should go do some hunting, yeah?”

“Ew,” Ellisar said, wrinkling her nose. “Why? So you two can have another heart to heart?”

“El, so help me, another smart word out of you and I’m gonna drive a stake through your heart.”

“Goddess, what I would do for a steak right now,” Ashwyn muttered wistfully. “Almost as good as a hand. Except you can eat it.”

Whereas Ashwyn was oblivious to the lethality of Snag’s glare, Ellisar took note. In a rare show of compliance, she threaded her hand through Ashwyn’s and pulled the orc off of the narrow, winding road and into the sea of swaying tundra grass. “Come on. Let’s find you that steak. Let these two get all their touchy-feely shit out of the way.”

“We’re actually hunting, right? That’s not some sort of euphemism? Because I might cry if you drag me all the way out there just to take your pants off.”

“Food first,” Ellisar said, disappearing into the grass. “Then pants off.”

Daana waited until the pair had disappeared from sight before gathering her leaden legs beneath her. The left side of the cart struck a bump, causing her to lose what little balance she had. Daana caught herself against the short wood siding, saving her battered body from a painful spill. She waited, allowing her equilibrium to return, before swinging one leg up and over the back of the driver’s seat. It was tedious work. She could feel Snag’s concerned gaze watching her the entire time, but he kept his reservations to himself. A fact she was grateful for.

Finally, breathless, convinced her bones had turned to jelly from four days of unuse, Daana settled triumphantly onto the hard seat beside him.

“Do I want to know what you’re doing?” he said after a moment of awkward silence.

“Sitting.”

“Can’t argue with that logic.”

“I feel like you, of all people, could,” Daana replied.

“You’re right. But I won’t.” Snag clutched Wormy’s reins as though he was afraid they would rip out of his gnarled hands. The shaggy horse clomped along ahead of them, tail swishing back and forth without a care in the world.

Overcome with exhaustion, Daana slumped over and rested her head against Snag’s bony shoulder. She half expected him to shove her off, but he didn’t. The goblin only clutched the reins all the tighter as some of the lovely green color drained from his pained face.

The pale lavender sky stretched on overhead, steadily giving way to the inky blackness spreading from the east. The sun was low. The last of its brilliant orange rays caught the edges of the clouds, making them appear more gold than gray. A sea of tall grasses spread up and over the undulating hills on either side, as far as the eye could see.

For the first time in weeks, Daana felt like an animal set free of its cage.

As she took in the cool evening air, listening to the distant calls of the crickets and frogs, she recalled how her freedom had not come so freely. The weight in her chest grew heavier at the realization that the greatest cost had yet to be paid. Daana had never known family, not in any traditional sense anyway. And now, days away from reuniting with her own flesh and blood, something screamed at her to turn back. She’d forged her own bonds and the thought of closing that chapter of her life in order to start anew suddenly felt like a fate worse than death.

Snag would be fine without her, she was certain of that. She just wasn’t sure if the reverse was true. Blinking the tears from her eyes, Daana swallowed the grief building within her throat and resolved to make the most of the time she had. She rode the rest of the night with her head bouncing against his shoulder, savoring the sounds of the night, as remorse clawed at the back of her mind like a cat begging to be let back into its cage.