Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 106107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
The crew jostles us over to the side of the ship, one of them removing the siding until there’s a lone plank jutting out over the black, endless sea.
And in that sea floats a shark fin, ominously circling below.
“Aren’t you supposed to discuss this with Nill?” I ask as several swords prick my back, urging me to move forward onto the board.
“You will be discussing it with Nill,” Ramsay says, leaping up on the railing and leaning on one of the ropes from the mast. He points at the water with his sword. “That’s him down there.”
“A shark?” I exclaim.
“He’ll be the judge,” Maren says. “Trust me, he’s good at it.”
I try to twist around to face the crew. They’re all enjoying this all too much.
“Bloody pirates,” I growl.
They bare their fangs and hiss at me in return.
Normally, I would think I could easily take on a shark. I took on Larimar, and she was much more cunning and vicious. But with my hands bound and this weakening spell, I’m not sure I’ll have much of a choice.
Perhaps we’ll be alright, Abe says from behind me where he’s being held on the deck, not bothering to put up a fight anymore. A shark can’t kill us.
I give him an incredulous look. It could bite off our heads.
His face is immediately crestfallen. Ah. Yes, I suppose it could.
“Enough!” Ramsay bellows. “Let the judgment begin for the Holy Man. Walk the plank!”
I try to stand my ground, but half a dozen swords spear into my back.
I cry out and stumble forward, losing my footing.
I pitch over the side and fall toward the dark waves, moonlight reflecting on the crests.
The water hits me like a hammer, and I immediately sink until I start kicking. It’s freezing cold, but to my relief, it doesn’t bother me, which means whatever weakening spell they had on us up there doesn’t work down here.
I dive under the waves and away from the sides of the ship, just in case. When I break the surface, I look around for the shark’s fin, but to no avail. Abe’s cry brings my attention to the ship as they push him along the plank. He handles it a lot more gracefully than I did, making it all the way to the end of the plank before one of the pirates shakes the other end, and he goes falling into the surf, sinking with a splash.
I quickly start kicking my legs over to him, moving my bound hands over like I’m pulling myself forward.
“Abe!” I yell, but he hasn’t surfaced.
I dive under, opening my eyes to see him hovering in the darkness, looking at me.
What do we do? he asks. Go to the surface? Start swimming? Which way? Where are we?
I blink at him, the salt stinging my eyes, trying to figure out a plan of action. We can’t drown, so we aren’t in any danger there, but drifting in the ocean for eternity doesn’t sound very enticing.
Then the shark comes up behind Abe like a ghost from the darkness, a shadowy shape that would strike fear in the heart of any man, mortal or not.
Behind you! I yell.
Abe whirls around just in time to see the shark, his mouth opening in a watery scream, bubbles rising to the surface.
But the black-eyed fish pays him no attention and keeps gliding over toward me. Its mouth is open slightly, displaying rows of serrated teeth, and in an absurd instance of longing, I’m reminded of Larimar.
The shark comes right to me, and I’m getting ready to fend it off. If it bites off my hands, at least I’ll be free of the chains.
It veers off to the side just before we collide, and I swirl around, watching it circle me, unable to take my eyes off it. It’s a large, sleek, graceful, killing machine, and the way its empty eyes stare at me suggests an intelligence greater than I thought.
The shark continues to swim around me in lazy circles, expending as little energy as possible before it suddenly swims over to Abe with giant sweeps of its tail. It goes around him for a few revolutions and then suddenly takes off into the deep, disappearing from view.
Abe turns to look at me. Do you think it’s going to come back?
I shake my head, staring into the inky black depths where the shark—Nill—disappeared. I have no idea.
Suddenly, there’s a splash in the water from the direction of the ship, and two heavy ropes sink below the waves.
Perhaps this is a parlay, Abe muses.
The two of us swim as well as we can over to the ropes, grabbing them with our bound hands before kicking up to the surface.
Despite the fact that I can’t drown, I still instinctively gasp for air. Then, I look up at the ship to find the crew peering over the sides at us.