Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
We head down the stairs into the dark and silent deck below, Ramsay first, followed by me, the quartermaster and the rest of the skeleton crew. Ramsay grabs a lantern and lights it with a strike of a match that he fished out from his pocket and this is the second time he’s made fire easily appear. I have to wonder if this is some of the other magic that Venla gave him.
The Nightwind feels different now, like it lost its essence in the time that Ramsay was gone. He gives life to the ship and I know the ship gives life to him. Here in the dark gangways it feels sinister and cold, the shadows especially seeming to dance in the moving flame, and I see faces where there aren’t any. Perhaps it doesn’t help that every time I turn around I see skulls grinning at me.
We explore this deck, then the next, and each one is empty, dark as sin and quiet as the grave. I keep thinking we’re going to be ambushed, as if I can feel things watching me from the shadows, and yet nothing happens.
Finally we go to the hold, with all its different rooms for storage. Down here it always smells awful because of the bilge but even more so now that it doesn’t seem to have been emptied for a while and I know there are rotting corpses too. The air is thick with moisture that clings to your skin, the water sloshes against the hull. The captain of the Elephanten used to tell us that we were always three or four inches from death, which is the thickness of the planks of the vessel. I never felt it much until now, despite knowing that I can breathe underwater.
Ramsay heads straight toward the main hold where he had kept my crew and servants, the rest of us close behind him. The closer we get to it, the worse it smells, and I try to steel my stomach against the sight we may see. Even if the crew isn’t in there, I don’t care to see Hodges and the rest of the bodies.
With his lantern held out, he takes in a deep breath and puts his hand on the door.
Suddenly there’s a scurrying sound, a scraping of the wood, and the quartermaster lets out a gasp as countless tiny black crabs come crawling out from underneath the door, heading straight toward us.
All of us yelp as they keep on coming, a stream of black writhing legs and snapping claws, hundreds of them fanning out across the deck, then crawling up our bodies.
I violently run my hands over my body, flinging them off, trying not to panic as they get in my pant legs, in my shirt, until finally the swarm of them leaves us and continues up the stairs to the rest of the ship.
“What in the blazes was that?” Ramsay says, panting hard. His body gives off an involuntary shake, thoroughly disgusted. “Skip is going to have his paws full.”
I shiver, still feeling the crabs on me, even though they’ve disappeared into the darkness.
Ramsay puts his hand to the door again, steadies himself, and opens it.
The hold is full of bodies.
The bodies of his crew, piled high.
Dead.
I let out an ear-piercing scream and Ramsay stares in total shock, anguish and terror contorting his face in the light of the flame, while it shines on the pale, still faces of Sam, Henry, Thane, Cruz…
“God, no, god,” he whispers hoarsely and starts to sway on his feet.
I reach out to steady him and there’s a low rich laughter behind us.
We turn around to see Nerissa behind the skeletons who automatically part in fear of her. She’s grinning at us maliciously, twirling a piece of kelp around her finger.
“I thought you’d come sooner or later,” she says.
Ramsay tries to speak but he can’t form the words and I watch in real time as rage takes over and he runs at her, lantern held high.
“Stop,” she says, holding out her palm and Ramsay freezes in place, fighting against an unseen force. “And take a moment before you do something foolish. Look again at your dear crew.”
I look behind me. They haven’t changed position but even with the light fainter, I can see that Henry is breathing, his chest gently rising and falling.
“They’re sleeping,” she explains. “A bit of magic, hope you don’t mind. They were so unruly and loud once I stuck them down in the hold that I needed some peace and quiet.”
“You piled them on top of all the dead bodies,” I say to her, aghast, when it seems Ramsay needs a moment to catch up. “As if they were disposable. That’s cruel.”
“That’s cruel? Oh, my child. Goodness. That’s cruel? That’s exactly what they deserve! Don’t you know that I am a great purveyor of justice? The reason there are corpses in there to begin with is because the crew of the Nightwind put them there.” She gives Ramsay a look of disgust. “Your whole kind is remorseless, you bloodsucking lampreys of the land. It’s about time someone taught you a lesson. See what it’s like. Maybe you can change your ways.”