As yet untitled
an excerpt

The storm raged and snarled, tossing the ship around like a feather. The men onboard clung for dear life to ropes strung around the ship as they struggled to maintain some sort of control. Huge waves crashed over the ship again and again and lightning lit up the sky around them in a dazzling display of pyrotechnic wizardry.

“Captain! We’re losing ground fast!! The storm is driving us onto the reef, we’ll never make it!” the sailor could barely be heard over the sound of the storm.

The captain was struggling with the great wheel on the deck, fighting the losing battle with every ounce of strength, but instinctively he knew that this was one fight they wouldn’t win.

“Get everyone to the life boats.” He yelled back at the sailor as he lashed the wheel with a rope to try and keep the ship on course for as long as possible.

He raced below decks to where his passengers were. “Unhook the nets! You need to get out!” he bellowed as he tore down the steps. The passengers were netted to the beds to stop them from being flung about the cabin, and he quickly started unhooking the nets of those to ill to do it for themselves as other passengers started up the steps.

“Up the stairs! Up the stairs NOW! Find a lifeboat and get in it.” He kept yelling as he freed them, and each one struggled as quickly as they could up the steps and onto the deck.

In the few minutes he had been below in the passenger cabins the storm seemed to have doubled its ferocity and it was a struggle just to reach the railings. Just as he reached the first lifeboat there was a huge crack as the main mast was struck by lightning and slowly toppled over, hitting the foremast as it came down, bringing what remained of the sails crashing down in a tangled mess. The first lifeboat was full and ready to go, and the small group of sailors heaved on the ropes as they lowered it to the water before racing to the next one. One by one the lifeboats were freed from the ship, and soon they were all cast adrift in the middle of the storm, separated from each other within seconds, and with little chance that any of the precarious craft would survive.

Zubiri huddled in a heap at the bottom of the lifeboat as it was tossed from wave to wave like a leaf in the wind. He’d never felt so sick or helpless in his entire life and if he survived this he swore to himself that he would never sail again. Ever. The lifeboat lurched over another wave and water crashed over them. He could hear screams and weeping coming from some of his companions in the lifeboat but he was silent, to sick and weary to even moan anymore. Another wave swamped the tiny boat, and he coughed and spluttered as he accidentally swallowed a mouthful of the salty water. His body rolled around as the waves rocked the lifeboat again and again, until he began to wish that he would die, just so that the pain and suffering would stop. As the hours wore on his companions quietened down, although there was still the occasional moan of pain or despair. In spite of the violence of the storm he was able to doze for a little, hovering between consciousness and sleep for what seemed like an age until gradually he became aware that sound of the storm was coming from a distance, and that the tiny little boat was more stable than it had been for a very long time.
“What’s happening?” he heard himself say. The other people were quiet, and he wondered if anyone other than himself was alive. His question was answered a moment later when a voice near his feet replied.

“It’s… the… eye… of… the storm.” The exhausted sounding voice belonged to a cabin boy, who was draped over a seat, so weary that he was unable to haul himself up any further. “This calm… won’t last long.” The lads voice was raspy, and Zubiri could hear his breath rattling in his chest. As he spoke, blood bubbled out of his mouth, and then his eyes rolled back in his head and he slipped back into unconsciousness.

Zubiri slowly sat up, dragging himself to the edge of the boat and pulling himself upright. He just managed to get his head over the top of the rail and what he saw amazed him. All around the little boat was a wall of cloud, stretching way up into the air. The sea was almost black and although a lot calmer, the swell was still uncomfortably big. And then, right at the edge of the cloud wall, he saw rocks… and as the wall of cloud moved slowly away from him, he thought he saw land. Suddenly a huge gust of wind hit the boat, and moments later they were back in the full force of the storm. He fell back into the bottom of the boat and almost wept as his last hope was dashed by the huge waves and violent winds. This time, he did not expect to survive the tossing of the waves, and even as he was thinking this, the boat slammed against the rocks and splintered beneath him. Before he even had a chance to react, something hit him hard on the head, and he slipped into blessed oblivion.

**

Elinor finished saddling the horse and led him out into the yard. The storm that just passed had been one of the biggest in living memory, and already messengers were coming in with damage reports and requests for help. She turned as a voice belonging to her sister Tangwen called out her name, and with an ‘I’ll be right there’ wave she quickly handed the reins of the horse over to the messenger who was about to head back to her community with replies and other news.

“Here you go, good riding, and give my best wishes to your mother.” The messenger mounted up, and was out the gates in a flash. Elinor turned towards her sister and they met halfway across the yard.

“Elinor, we’ve just had a report of bodies on the beach, looks like a ship must have been too far out and got caught in the storm. Can you come?” Tangwen was jiggling nervously – it was the first storm since she’d turned old enough to join the work parties and she was nervous with excitement.

Elinor smiled at her sister, “Of course I can come, I don’t think anyone will need a teacher today, they’re all helping with the clean up. You know, it might be an idea if we take one of the healer with us as well, can you wait here a minute whilst I go and get Sian or do you need to find anyone else first?

“No, you’re the last one, they’re meeting down at the cliff tops. Getting Sian sounds like a good idea, so I just have to get some ropes and when you get back here with Sian we can be on our way.”

“Ok, off you go then, I’ll meet you back here real soon.”

Elinor strode off in the direction of main building in search of Sian. The building was long and wide, with a tall tower stretching several stories high at the back. Dotted around it at irregular intervals were other half a dozen other buildings including the school, the stables, the blacksmith, the weavers, and a few storage rooms for foodstuffs, clothing, tools and other useful items.

It didn’t take her long to find Sian who was in the kitchen treating a young girl who had gotten in the way of a very sharp knife and given herself a very nasty cut on the hand.

“That doesn’t look very good Maire, how on earth did you manage that?” Elinor asked with a reassuring smile.

The girl sniffled a little, and wiped her face with her apron. “I wasn’t paying proper attention,” she admitted, “I was watching Gwern play with the spit dogs and the knife split.”

Sian frowned, “I hope you will, it’ll be a week or so before this starts to heal properly, so I don’t know what you’re going to do until then. Silly girl.” She smiled to soften the reprimand a little, Maire was generally very careful and was going to be an excellent cook one day.

As she finished sewing up Maire’s cut Sian noticed Elinor waiting quietly behind her. “Oh hello Elinor I didn’t see you there. I’ll only be a couple of minutes.” She leaned in a little closer for privacy, “I heard the storm washed us up some flotsam,” she said quietly, “You’ll be needing me?”

“You heard right,” Elinor replied, “I don’t know anything other than that though, we’ll just have to see when we get there I spose.”

Sian smiled as she washed her hands and finished packing her things up. “There, all done, now lets go see what gifts the storm brought us!”

The two women made their way out of the kitchen, through the main hall and into the yard at the front of the house. Tangwen was waiting for them at the gate with several ropes strung across her shoulders and together they walked through the gate and then turned towards the ocean and the cliffs.

“So how much damage is there?” Sian asked, as they strode down the gentle slope towards the cliffs, Tangwen skipping along in front of them. “I haven’t really had a chance to hear much of the news all those messengers brought in this morning. Is it very bad?”

Elinor sighed, “It could have been a lot worse, and it still may be… there are plenty of smaller settlements we haven’t heard from yet, and of course it will be several days before we hear reports from any of the other coastal towns.”

“So far we’ve heard of 7 deaths, two of the inner settlements have lost stock and one of the outer settlements has had a building collapse – that’s where 3 of the deaths were. Everyone has lost trees, rooves etc and many of the crops are ruined. It will be a long recovery.”

They reached the cliff top, and stood for a moment looking down at the wide beach below. There was debris spread along it for as far as they could see, and directly below them were two bodies, both unmoving in the sand.

“Come on Elinor, Sian! Come and help with the ropes!” Tangwen called out to them as she and the people already at the cliffs started securing the ropes to large stakes embedded deep into the rock. With everyone helping they soon had the ropes secured and the first people started the climb down the steep cliff face. It wasn’t a completely vertical drop, and there were footholds and handholds aplenty, as well as a very narrow path of steps that wound its way down. The ropes were mainly for support, and they would also be used to haul things up the cliff.

Elinor and Sian were the last ones to climb down, and soon they were standing by the first body. It was a young boy, dressed in strange clothing, and with features that were unfamiliar to the people surrounding him on the sand.

“My goodness… look at him…” breathed Tangwen in an awed voice. “I’ve never seen anyone who looks like him before.” Elinor had to agree, she had never seen anyone with such strangely coloured skin and hair before either. Sian quickly confirmed that he was dead, and leaving him to be wrapped by others, went to investigate the second body. The second body was a much older man, but by the angle of his head it was obvious that he hadn’t survived either. “There’s nothing we can do for them now, except give them a burial.” Elinor said as they wrapped his body in cloth and carried him back to the cliff to be hauled up.

As they watched the body being slowly raised up the cliff they heard shouting from further up the beach. “Looks like they’ve found something else. Come on, we’d better go and investigate.” Sian headed up the beach and Elinor followed a few steps behind.

They walked in silence for several minutes, anticipating the discovery of another dead body. They arrived to see another male, this one only a few years into manhood, sprawled out across the sand. As Sian squatted down to check him for vital signs he suddenly moved, startling everyone.

“Oh my goodness, he’s alive!” They just stared at each other for a moment, and then they burst into a flurry of activity as Sian began looking him over more thoroughly, and Tangwen went back to the cliff to send for a stretcher to move him with.