She had tried venturing out of her cabin after her father left, but was told to remain there once again by two sailors who escorted her back. She could hear their boots out in the companionway as they guarded her door now.

It seemed like hours, but eventually a lot of noise starting coming from atop the deck. It started with cheering which lead to a kind of pounding rhythm.

It sounded like a war chant!

The ship lurched and came to a stop. At least she thought it did? The general cheer and battle cries of the crew seemed to change into more of a cacophony. Things knocked about and the ship groaned. Now it was listing somewhat.

The clash of swords amongst the screaming of hundreds of men was clearly evident.

Anara’s heart was pounding. She couldn’t keep her eyes off the roof of her cabin as she listened to what was going on above her. There was a full-on battle being fought up there. And yet, she felt exhilaration as if she were a bird that had discovered her cage door had been left open.

This was her chance to get out of this mess.

Anara moved into the narrow corridor, first peeking out of her door to make sure her guards were gone. It was clear. Of course it was. She ventured out, searching for the hold where the pegasi were. If she could get there and find Raizha she could escape.

But the path to the hold that she was familiar with was above decks. She explored the corridors, cursing her refusal to venture out of her cabin earlier to explore the ship more thoroughly.

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Idiot girl, she chided as she made her way into what she thought the general direction toward the middle of the ship, but with so many men running up and down the corridors with weapons, it was difficult to get by.

She pressed herself against a bulkhead as five sailors ran past in a hurry to shore up some area where more men were needed.

The last sailor bowled her over. Anara yelped from the impact as she slammed into the deck, her wrist smarting from her fall. She got back up, made her way to the hold, dodging wounded men and shouting sailors trying to hold the companionways from the enemy.

Were the Atalayan’s winning this fight? she wondered. It did not seem so from down here, at least not from the general air of fear cutting through the air in the men’s glances. Most of them barely even saw her as the scurried about.

She thought she found the hold and gritted her teeth as she strained to unbar the door. She tossed the heavy stopper aside. These people and their rudimentary ways!

Blinding light shot into Anara’s eyes. The sounds assaulted her ears and the smells wafted into her nose. The scent of blood and death was a physical shock. She jerked her hand and shielded herself, stepped back and closed the door. A panicked sailor shouted something at her, but in the cacophony she couldn’t make out what he was saying as he barred the door again.

The air was thick and warm. Breathing heavily, she got to her feet and went the other way amidst the sailor’s barking orders at her. She pushed the door open and found herself in the hold where the pegasi had been stalled with the other wingless ones they called horses.

The Wind Steppe princess found only one pegasus. It was Raizha and she was dead. “No! Nonono!” Anara called, both out of loss and her need to escape. She fell to her knees, sliding into the straw next to the dead animal. Her wings were curled and her feathers broken and dirty.

She had struggled before the end. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked upon her pegasus. Raizha’s eyes were still open. Anara bent over her friend and hugged her neck, sobbing amidst the sounds of fighting and battle.

“They’re in the hold!” a sailor called. “The Amalfi fighters have breached the hold!”