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“What for?” squeaks Maple.
Tammy points at the ocean. “I need to forget what that thing tasted like.”
I struggle not to laugh.
“Wait. Did you eat it?” blurts Paxton.
“No, I bit a piece off it and spat it out.” Tammy shivers. “I am not going to consume the flesh of pure evil, duh.”
“Good plan,” I say. “That wouldn’t have been wise.”
“What happened down there?” I ask, glancing at Kingsley. “Where’s Angus?”
“We had an infestation.” Kingsley spits to the side. “Hundreds of those little gremlin things. He’s probably still throwing up.”
“You’re handling it well,” I say.
Kingsley shrugs and makes a ‘Yeah, so what? I eat rotting corpses each month’ face at me.
“Ach.” Angus staggers up into view, wiping his mouth. His overalls are torn like he got into a fistfight with a wood chipper, but they’re functional enough. Looks like they had one heck of a scrap down there. “The engines are back on. Let’s finish this.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Even the Ocean Seems Evil
I run to the cabin I’m sharing with Tammy and Paxton and put on some real clothes.
Kingsley has borrowed a set of crew overalls from Angus. He’s not worried about being fancy out here. No reason to ruin an expensive suit. I think he kinda misses his old life on boats. There is a certain romantic charm to being a man of the sea… as long as no giant evil squids are involved.
It’s not too big a deal that the mortal crew witnessed this. They’re sailors. It’s not as though anyone would take them seriously if they started telling stories of a grand battle with such a sea monster. ‘Attacked by a giant squid’ is one of those ‘yeah, sure pal’ stories sailors tell all the time. Of course, that gets me wondering just how many of those tall tales might have been true.
Everything is pretty calm right up until it isn’t.
The crewmen start shouting and freaking out.
My body just wants to drop and not move. The idea of another squid coming after us is making me want to grab this unicorn by the horn and take my chances attempting to forcibly teleport her back to this damn island-continent.
I don’t though. My brain is faster than my exhaustion. It’s not dark out again. Nope, still quite sunny. In fact, it’s so bright and clear out, I have a great view of a vast field of jagged rocks sticking up out of the sea like daggers in the hands of giants.
That explains the crew’s alarm.
Angus stands there at the wheel, staring out at the ocean for a moment, then decides to make use of the captain’s chair and its seat belt. “Ye may wan’ tae hold onta somthin, laddies.”
We all scramble to seats and buckle up.
As we approach the field of rocks, the ocean gets rough again. It’s as if we’ve strayed into a giant wave simulator at a museum. The sea shifts from calm to violent in mere seconds. It’s far from natural. Is this the magic that tries to prevent the outside world from discovering Thelmora or is something more sentient taking particular objection to our presence?
Angus barks orders at the crewmen at the three main stations on the bridge. I have no idea what each one does, but they’re all scrambling over the controls. I feel like I’ve been sucked into an episode of Scottish Star Trek. Don’t ask me to translate what the heck Angus is saying. At least the crewmen appear to understand him.
Despite the large size of The Bonnie Lass, we’re getting tossed around and rocking side to side. Stuff flies off tables and shelves. All over the ship, bangs and clanks come from furniture shifting. Everything left unsecured goes flying.
After a few minutes of this, Tammy lurches forward and throws up all over the floor. It’s mostly bile since we hadn’t had dinner yet and lunch was a few hours ago. Not sure I like the black goo, though. Guess she did swallow some fluids when she bit the squid.
Maple flicks her hand at the mess, throwing it out a small open porthole window into the ocean.
Watching someone else throw up makes it hard not to do the same. Paxton loses that battle. She’s not seasick but… yeah. Watching someone else hurl. Maple cleans up that mess, too. I probably would’ve tossed my cookies, too, if I was still mortal. Don’t tell anyone, but I just ate. I bumped into a crew member on the way out of my cabin after getting dressed. Couldn’t help myself. Exhaustion made my brain act by itself.
He’s fine. Just… sleeping in his bunk downstairs—and missing the big show.
