The rest of the trip, save for a bloody run in with a few rogue crawlers, went relatively smooth. Dire came into view as they crested the final hill, desperate for water and ready for sleep on anything other than the ground.
“There she is.” Stone squeezed Aesira’s shoulders. “Home.” He nodded toward the Aquila where it sat still docked and the idea of home roused something deep in her middle.
Nightfall was beginning to settle, turning the sky shades of deep purple. The four of them wove through the remains of Dire, careful not to step on any of the broken fragments left behind from the Strix. When they got to the dock, Aesira dropped her bag.
“Stone…” It was dark. Too dark.
All of the torches on the ship were out.
“Patch!” Stone thundered through the ship, not pausing long enough to notice how disheveled it was. Crates and barrels thrown about. Cut ropes and broken bottles. Aesira’s stomach roiled as she approached the hull where a deep, crimson stain smeared across the planks.
“Nora!”
Eerie silence, then, “He’s in here!” Aesira, Bee, and Birdie followed Stone’s voice until they were in the crew mess. The entire ship had been overturned. Every room in tatters. Their maps torn to bits, their stocks of food and drink completely empty. “He’s okay,” Stone said, pressing his fingers to Patch’s pulse. “Breathing, albeit barely.”
Aesira scanned the room again. “Where is Nora?” Stone was at her side, breathing heavy. “Nora!” Aesira tore through the room, her legs bumping into the emptied cargo containers. “Nora!”
No answer.
“I’ll check the other cabins,” Birdie said.
“I’ll find some supplies,” Bee said.
“I’ll get theastrafilled.” Stone’s eyes burned through Aesira, like he was waiting for her permission to go. To leave. She nodded, only once, and the team broke up, doing their assigned jobs with efficiency and ease. All the while Aesira stood there. Her heart slamming in her chest, her breaths coming out short and fast. If she lost Nora–
“Aesira!” She followed Stone’s voice until she was on deck and there she was, red hair matted and tangled, body leaning into Stone’s.
“Nora.” She peeled her from Stone’s arms and wrapped her in her own. “Are you hurt?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “But Patch, he’s hurt. He needs–”
“We’re on it,” Stone said, then disappeared below deck.
“What happened?” Aesira led Nora to a crate where they sat together. Dried blood lined her nose, under her nails.
“Crawlers, I think,” she said. “It was hard to tell but they came out of nowhere. Wrecked the ship. Almost took me over.” She closed her eyes, a few tears sliding down her cheeks. “Almost got Patch.”
“They didn’t, though,” Aesira said. “You’re okay. We’re here.”
“We’re okay,” Nora whispered. “We’re okay.”
Beneath the ship, Stone crouched beside Patch, examining the wound at his side, the bruising along his jaw.
Patch groaned, his eye struggling to open.
His arm was wrapped poorly in a tight make-shift tourniquet. His skin was too pale, his lips dry and cracked. “He needs water.” Aesira snagged a canteen from the table and tipped it to his lips and poured. Slowly, he swallowed. Stone unwrapped the bandage on his arm and got to work cleaning the festering wound.
“Where is she?” Patch grumbled. “Nora?”
“I’m here.” Nora slid next to him, gently pushing his hair away from a gaping wound on his face. “We’re not alone anymore,” she said. “We made it.”
“We made it.” Patch’s eye rolled back, head slumping behind him.
Stone gripped either side of his face, giving him a light tap. “You need to wake back up.”
“I’m awake, boss.” He cracked his eye open. “Glad to see you made it back.” His eye quickly fell shut again. Patch hissed as Stone poured something sterile smelling onto his wound. “There was a hive,” he said. “More crawlers than I’ve ever seen.” He struggled to sit up then relented when Nora urged him back down. “They were different too.”
“Different how?” Aesira’s body grew impatient, fingers curling, her teeth digging into her bottom lip. They needed to get out of Dire before whatever tore through here came back.
