Page 78 of The Divine Lies We Weave

She swept a look at the rest of the crew. Bones coated the deck. Grunts and groans from the crew created a haunted symphony. Hot air stifled the crew as they swung weapons or shot the cannons through the white bones covered in red sand. With each fire, the ship shook, and Leela had to steady her footing to avoid going overboard into the sea of skeletons.

Rajesh took down a horde has they flanked him on the quarterdeck. He pierced one skeleton through the chest, dragging his sword up until he knocked its skull off. He gave another a kick in the knee, and the skeleton clattered on the ground as it broke into many pieces. The last one held a weapon, chkking it against Rajesh’s.

A skeleton jumped before Leela, knocking her back into the present.

She cried out as her muscles arched up to the danger. She imagined she was fighting Hema. Leela remembered how she was taught to step, weaving and moving like a dancer would across the stage. Each footstep was used to overpower her target.

She swiped right, digging into the skeleton’s spine. She yanked back her blade, arching again with more force and cleaving the opponent in half. It cried out, clattering on the ground, and she stomped on its skull, which shattered like glass at her heel.

A part of her felt guilty. Another knew it was either them or her.

Something grabbed her hair, and she cried out. She was flung backward, head hitting the ground and wrist bending.

A skeleton wrapped its fingers around her throat.

Leela kicked and punched. Despite the skeleton being all bone, there was a force with its hands. White dots started to splatter across her vision as the skeleton pressed down with unimaginable strength. She tried to punch it in the face, aiming between the eyes where normal people with skin and muscle would have had their noses broken and their brains racked.

Luckily, the skeleton reared back enough for Leela to wriggle free.

Spluttering, Leela inched toward the sword she’d dropped. As soon as she grasped the hilt, she swiped it over the skull’s neck.

Dead.

Again.

Coughing, she grabbed the railing and hauled herself to her feet. Her eyes burned, lungs wheezing as she tried to compose herself in the heat. In her bleary sight, she noted Rajesh battling a horde of skeletons as they continued to climb the rutters.

Animals snapped at bones. Silver blades cut the skies. Cannons continued to blast through the air, striking the oncoming storm of white bones. It was total and utter chaos, and Leela couldn’t feel more alive.

Time to fight more, mortal.

Leela jolted. Shit. Where have you been?

Waiting. Are you ready?

Leela grounded her feet. I am ready.

Rajesh grunted as he cut another skeleton down, foot crashing down into its rib. Rajesh met Leela’s gaze from the other side of the quarterdeck. His hair was strewn across his face, beads of sweat dripping down his exposed chest where a deep cut had opened. He gave her a look that asked if she was okay.

She nodded.

He returned to the fight.

His arms bulged, his shirt split at the center, showing off the muscles she hadn’t noticed when she was with him. A warmth grew in the pit of her stomach, and she shut her eyes. She needed to focus. She couldn’t get distracted by Rajesh and his steaming body.

Damned mortals, am I right?

Shut up.

Her head hit the deck as a skeleton gnashed its teeth at her. Pain embedded itself in Leela like a dagger, and she screamed. She shoved the skeleton’s chest with all her might, enough for her to scramble to her feet. She got up, and the skeleton followed. Leela ran up the stairs to get some height and then jumped down from the quarterdeck with her weapon raised. In one swing, she swung her jawblade up and back around into the skeleton’s ribs. The jawblade opened wide, catching the skeleton between its jaws and snapping shut.

Leela gasped, heart pounding.

Keep going, mortal!

She swung around and used her jawblade on another skeleton. She attacked every skeleton she could, discarding bones across the deck. A sea of white covered the deck.

She took down several more before her body gave in. She hadn’t eaten or taken care of herself the last few days, so of course her body was going to suffer. Her legs ached, chest heaving, thighs burning. Her arms were too weak to properly hold the jawblade and swing it, so now it was like an awkward second limb. But she continued to push through.