“You have to follow the edge of it! Look, where the waves break.” I point at it, and Grim and Sable exchange a look, still clinging onto the wheel for dear life.
“The currents are too strong. We can barely hold the ship as it is!”
“You willlosethe ship if you try to bypass them, Captain!” I shout right back at him, every muscle in my body tense. “Trust me. You have to sail along the edges and follow the current instead of fighting against it.”
“You haven’t earned my trust.” He spits, and for a brief moment, it feels like he stares directly into my soul before he focuses on the dangers ahead of us again.
“Sable. Look.” Grim points toward the sea ahead of us. In that exact moment, the sails catch a strong wind, and he loses his grip on the wheel. It spins and spins as if it has a mind of its own, hitting Grim in the stomach. He crashes to the floor. I hear shouting, cursing –and for the first time– panic, in their voices.
The ship makes an abrupt turn. I grab the nearest rail to avoid tripping and falling overboard. A quick glance at the sea makes my heart almost fall out of my ass. No. Please let my eyes be deceiving me. Someone tell me we’re not sailing directly into one of the giant mouths of the sea. The thunder roaring above us now feels like the sea celebrating its victory. Not yet. I am not ready to die. I have things I must do first.
But the captain doesn’t hesitate. He grabs the wheel and yanks it in the other direction with unbelievable force. Where he finds that strength, I do not know. But the ship obeys and batters against the waves to follow a new course.
Then I see it. The familiar thread of silver trailing its way through the cursed water. Because of the foam and the waves, it’s barely visible. But I see it anyway, and I know that Grim and Sable see it too.
“The Glim,” I murmur, more to myself than to Sable, but he hears me anyway. My chest tightens, and my hands grip the railing a little tighter. I don’t know exactly what the Glim is, but the magic radiating from it is like the waves hitting the Noctis in an unsteady rhythm. Powerful and unyielding.
“Aye.” Grunting, Sable tries to keep the ship steady. Determination is written all over his face, but so is the pain of giving everything to his ship and his crew twisting at his features. His muscles must be completely torn at this point. I know mine are.
“I got you.” His first mate pulls himself up again and grabs the wheel, supporting the captain by using his body weight. They exchange looks, then nod.
“Nightglass!” Sable shouts to the man above in the crow’s nest. He immediately turns to look in his direction.
“You see the Glim? Do not lose track of it.”
The command is accepted with a sharp nod. I know for certain that we will not lose track of it now. Nightglass locks in and focuses completely on the water below.
“All hands! This will be rough, but we’ve seen worse! We follow the bloody Glim, my ship will not go under!”
“Aye!” the crew shouts back in unison, and they start working faster at his command. Most of the men are dripping wet. The cursed water clings to their bodies as if it doesn’t want to let them go. Tonight will be rough. I know exactly how it feels to lose a memory and not know what has been taken from you. The violation of it still presses down on me.
“Eryse.” I turn my head over my shoulder to look at Sable, my name sounding foreign in his mouth. Like an ancient warning I am yet to heed. He gives me a wry look that makes me leave my spot at the railing and walk toward him on unsteady feet.
“It follows the edges of the maelstrom. If you are right about this, you’re sleeping in a cabin tonight.” A smile tugs at his lips,but I don’t return the favor. Not when he only found value in my input when the Glim appeared to back it up. Another pair of eyes lands on me. Grim raises one brow and tilts his head slightly, as if to tell me: See, he has his good moments.
“I am right,” I say while turning toward the open sea ahead of us, curling my hands into the fabric of my dress. We have passed two of the maelstroms already by following the edges of it. My plan is working. I am going to have the best sleep of my life tonight. Before I let myself indulge in the thought of a proper bed, the ship must turn again to follow the current of the next whirl. Sable barks commands, and moments later, the ship lifts and drops harshly, crushes through the waves, and gets back on track. The moment the current is in our favor again, we gain speed. So much speed that the wind picks up and makes my hair whip across my face. I don’t mind the sting of it on my skin. It is refreshing to feel something so familiar after being locked away in this ship.
The fourth maelstrom ahead of us looms closer and closer. We have to leave this whirl now and aim for the next one, or the sea will swallow us whole. I’m about to shout, but Sable already maneuvers the ship to cut across the current.
“That’s it, lads!” he roars with no fear in his voice, “full bore and into the abyss!”
The Noctis groans and tilts, first abruptly to the left, then to the right. I clamp both hands around one of the nearest masts, so I don’t slide across the deck again.
Then the world goes numb.
Water–so much water– crashes down on me. I hold on to the mast for dear life. I cannot afford to slip even slightly. The rushing in my ears is so loud I can’t hear anything else. No shouts. No heartbeat. Nothing.
It goes as quickly as it came. A wave crashed over me.
When my surroundings come back into focus, the ship is steady beneath my feet. We must’ve already cleared the maelstrom. I double over, coughing up pure water, clamping my hands over my ribcage. There it is again, the burning in my lungs that reminds me of how broken I am.
Wait.
My muscles tense as realization washes over me. Besides the discomfort in my lungs. I don’t feel any pain. Anywhere. Not from the wound, not from my foot. The sea healed me, and I have no idea what memory it took in return. I swallow down the knot forming in my throat, along with the tears that sting in my eyes more than any salted water could. I must not dwell on it. There is no use in mourning what I do not know I’ve lost.
I piece myself back together, like I always do. My knees shake beneath me, but I get back up and face the captain. Storm-gray eyes meet mine, and that glint of sorrow in them is there again. Swirled with the murkiness of pity too this time. I will not stand for it. Not after he was so quick to dismiss my efforts to help them make safe passage back in the cabin.
“I will go check on the boy you let wander the deck,” I say, my voice a knife’s edge. If looks could kill, he’d certainly be a dead man now. “Someone needs to check if he remembers anything at all, considering he was soaked to the bone.” Lark is too young, too innocent to be out here in such a storm. If he were wounded, it’s too late anyway, as it is too late for me. But maybe I can give him a little comfort. The seas know he’ll be in desperate need of it.