The Star of Morcyth_ Book Five of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [68]
When he reaches them, he asks, “Is this everyone?” Several heads bob affirmative.
He glances over the side to the water below. Debris has already begun to dot the surface. “Over the side!” he yells.
“I can’t swim!” one girl screams, terrified.
“You got no choice!” he tells her. One of the older girls goes to the rail and jumps over, a couple others follow. Finally he’s left there with the unconscious girl in his arms and the frightened girl who won’t go over. The heat from the fire consuming the ship is beginning to burn his skin. The central mast suddenly cracks and topples over sending sparks and embers flying.
One ember lands in the frightened girl’s hair and James quickly puts down the girl in his arms and brushes it out before it has a chance to catch. He then looks over the side and sees that Gwynne and the others have all managed to find something to grab a hold of to keep from going under.
“Gwynne!” he yells.
She looks up at him.
“One girl can’t swim,” he hollers. “You’ll have to help her!”
She gives him a nod.
Turning to the frightened girl, he says, “You can’t stay here!”
Looking at him with fear in her eyes, she says nothing, just stands there with her bottom lip trembling.
He picks her up and she begins fighting him. Struggling, he manages to get her to the rail and then tosses her over. She lands with a scream and a splash near Gwynne.
Gwynne immediately dives under the water and pulls her up. Helping her, they both grab hold onto the flotsam floating nearby.
Suddenly, the deck under which James is standing gives out with a crack, but doesn’t collapse. Picking up the unconscious girl he jumps over the side and together they hit the water.
The impact knocks the breath out of him and he loses hold of the unconscious girl. Little hands begin reaching for him and help him to the surface. When he breaks through the surface, he looks around in a panic and sees another girl having already rescued the unconscious girl.
“Away from the ship!” he hollers. “We’ve got to get away before it goes down!”
Bam!!!
An immense explosion sends wood and other debris through the air. The ship begins to tilt even more precariously in the water.
“Now!” he yells as they begin kicking and swimming away from the burning wreckage. From behind them, a groan and a crack can be heard as the second mast topples over.
They continue swimming away and soon, the ship upends before sinking completely under the water. Steam and hissing sounds erupt as the flames meet the water. Then, all is quiet.
As the second mast falls, the dinghy with six sailors in it begins moving carefully toward the wreckage. All the while keeping its distance from the raging inferno.
“There she goes!” one sailor hollers as the ship upends and sinks below the surface.
The flaming ship produces a massive amount of steam as its burning carcass enters the sea. When the steam begins to dissipate, Meliana screams, “There!” The others look to where she’s pointing and she sees several forms floating in the water. One of them is waving, trying to gain their attention.
“Is it James?” Miko asks.
“Hard to tell from here,” Illan says. “But I think so.”
“James!” Dave yells from his position by the rail. Waving madly, he looks as if he’s about to have a fit from jubilation.
The dinghy makes its way through the flotsam scattered about the surface of the water as it continuous to head for the survivors. When they draw close, those still on the ship watch as they haul them out of the water. After they’re all in the dinghy, they turn and start returning to the ship.
“It is James!” Meliana exclaims happily. She turns and gives her father a hug and kiss.
“But what happened?” he says to no one in particular.
“James happened,” Jiron tells him. When her father glances at him, he adds, “This is why the Empire wants him so badly.”
“But you said he had been drugged?” he asks.
“True,” replies Jiron. “That’s