Chapters (37)
Lann stared about him at the Ra’magulsha’s crew. Some wandered about the decks, blank eyed and shaking their heads. Others sat and hugged themselves, swearing they would never take to the seas again. Seafarers often told stories of sea monsters from the deep, but few in truth believed these creatures really existed. Now, the stuff of every mariner’s nightmares had dismantled a ship before their very eyes, and they could not understand how their own vessel had been spared.
Fariz was the first of them to regain a semblance of control and composure. The captain began to bark orders at crew members, urging them to work in an effort to take their minds off the ordeal they had been through. He ordered an extra-large rum ration be given to every deckhand, and personally went among his crew to offer them reassurance and help.
It was as this was going on that Lann finally felt his aunt stir in his arms. Relief poured through him when he looked down into her face just as her eyelids fluttered open. She looked terrible. She was barely breathing, and was so weak it was as much as she could do to raise her own eyes to meet his.
‘I didn’t think you were coming back,’ he whispered.
She gave a small cough, a hint of a smile touching her corners of her mouth. ‘Neither did I. It was not easy to do so.’
‘That creature … How did … ?’ He stopped, and turned his head at the sound of heavy footsteps approaching them. Captain Fariz’s face was a mask of conflicting emotions. Relief was there, but so too were anger and fear. He stood before them, staring down at the woman before slowly sinking to his haunches.
‘Was that your doing?’ the captain eventually asked her, gesturing with his head to where the pirate ship had been.
She parted white lips. Her voice was barely a whisper. ‘I raised the kraken, yes.’
The man nodded and got slowly to his feet again. He gathered himself before he spoke. ‘I suppose I should thank you for saving the lives of my crew … but I cannot bring myself to do so. I wish I had never seen the things I did today. I will take you to Stromgard as agreed, then I will use your gold to repair my ship and pay my crew. I hope I never encounter you again, Fleya Gudbrandr.’
With that, he turned his back on the pair and walked away without another backward glance.