Page 123 of Of the Stars and Sea

Tommy’s eyes are wide as he swings forward and misses my outstretched hand. He lets out a guttural sob as his leg starts to slip from my grasp.

“Come on, Tommy!” I scream at him, my heart near bursting from my chest.

He swings again, and this time our fingers touch and I wrap mine around his. “I’ve got you!” Adjusting my grip, I let go of his leg and reach for his waist, pulling him hard against the netting. His arms pull through and he swings his legs down, finally getting his feet secured.

Both of our bodies shake from the effort as our eyes meet.

Tears stain his cheeks as he mutters, “You saved me.”

“We’re not out of this yet,” I tell him, trying to stop my body from quivering. “You climb down first.”

His bottom lip shakes as he nods and starts to move hastily down the net. I start to follow when another round of shots are fired and the net below me quakes. A loud crack tears through the air and a blast of wood splinters all around me.

“Rowenya!” Grayson roars from below, but I cannot see him. Not as I shield my face from the splintering blast. Hot pain sears through my arms, belly, and legs as dagger sharp wood cuts into my flesh. The moment I open my eyes, I start to fall backwards, even though my hands still grasp firmly onto the net.

Looking up, I see the foremast pillar falling toward me.

I reach out, trying to find anything else to grasp onto, but the loose net tangles around my arms and the pillar hurtles toward me.

Faster and faster I fall. My stomach dropping as my body soars through the open air.

Then a whip of agony flashes across my back, hot and unrelenting, like a strike of lightning.

I’m no longer floating.

I’msinking.

Water floods around me. The salt burning my eyes as I let out a garbled scream. A darkened shadow lands above me.

The pillar.

Bubbles cloud my vision and I start swinging my arms wildly, trying to swim for the surface, but the net traps me. The harder I swim, the more entangled I become. Darkness surrounds me as I reach for my dagger and try to pull it free, but the blade doesn’t move.

I yank on it again.

Nothing.

Looking down, I see the net is wrapped around my weapons belt.

I pull on the dagger again. Too hard this time. The blade soars through the water, too far from my reach, and I start to panic.

My lungs burn.

My body screams at me to breathe in.

A dark shadow passes next to me and I watch the pillar race toward the murky depths below, bringing me along with it in a vicious roar.

I’m desperate for breath and my body betrays me. I suck in a lungful of saltwater.

It burns.

It burns.

IT.

BURNS.

Something splashes above, drowning out what little sunlight peaks through the surface and I look to see it’shim.