“Fine,” I said absently. “Ready to be on solid ground again.”
She brushed my hair back. “You should wear a hat. Somethingto cover your skin before it burns. I can already feel this heat getting to me.”
She wasn’t wrong. As we’d traveled farther south, the air had grown denser, and sweat stuck to the back of my neck even in my sleep. Our summers in the capital were hot, but it was a dry heat—not this wet, heavy warmth that made every breath feel like drowning.
“Excuse me, Your Grace,” a crew member said as he dipped his head toward my mother, then me. “Your Majesty, look out the front of the ship.”
He beckoned us forward, and I exchanged a look with Mother before shrugging and following him across the wooden planks, around the captain’s quarters in the center of the quarter deck, and to the bow.
“Welcome to Mysthelm,” he said, eyes fixed to a spot beyond the waters. Sure enough, looming ahead was a massive stretch of tan land.
We had made it.
I could barely make out tiny groupings of tall, skinny trees with what looked like drooping leaves dotting the landscape. They reminded me of palm trees I’d seen in drawings of the beaches in Iluze. When I squinted, I saw?—
Something slammed into the bottom of the ship, making it rock precariously. I grabbed on to Mother with one hand and the railing with my other. Around us, the crew jerked to attention.
“What was that?” I asked the nearest man.
“We’re not sure, Your Majesty. The lookout hasn’t reported any obstructions in our path.”
Another thud echoed around us, coming from beneath this time. The waves surrounding the ship were no longer rippling and peaceful but choppy and wild. The vessel rocked hard enough that Mother and I had to grip the railing with both hands to avoid toppling over.
Crewmembers shouted behind us as they tried to locate thesource of the attack. Barks of commands and creaking of wood beneath feet met my ears, but my focus was on something else.
I leaned forward over the rail, my lips parting at what I saw on the surface. “Are those…are thosefish?”
Hundreds of little bubbles appeared in the water, followed by multicolored, scaly bodies. Some as small as my little finger, others as big as my arm, spread out around the front of the boat and beyond.
All of them, dead.
Sucking in a breath, I raced over to the left side of the ship. I was met with the same sight: dozens anddozensof sea creatures had floated to the surface, unmoving, save for the swaying of the water that carried them along. As the ship moved forward, I heard something clunk against wood. A few seconds later, a massive splash came from the back of the ship.
My mother and I both scurried toward the sound and found the body of an enormous beast bobbing above the waves. Mother gasped. I stepped closer, taking in its length, easily sixty feet long. Its underbelly was dark gray, rough, and thick, with grooves running along the side. It remained motionless, even as the bodies of other sea creatures bumped into its protruding fins.
Awhale.
I’d never seen one in person before—besides the time Leo and I had raced to the southern coast of Veridia City as teenagers, and I thought I’d glimpsed one from a distance jumping out of the water. What could have possibly killed one of these magnificent beasts? And was it after us next?
“We have to get to shore.Now,” I commanded, spinning on my heels to find the captain. Before I could take another step, something large and white landed at my feet with a resounding crash. Feathers flew into the air, and it took all of my willpower to not let out a screech.
Another one fell into the ocean behind me, sending up a spray of salt water.
I cursed. What washappening?
Shadows spilled over the deck, and I frantically looked to the sky, expecting to see a torrent of dead birds preparing to drop on our heads.
No birds. But what greeted me still sent chills down my spine. I grabbed my mother, pushing her toward the steps that would take her below deck.
“You have to get under cover before this storm hits,” I said when she tried to protest.
In what seemed like a single second, the sky had gone from bright blue and sunny to an angry sea of dark clouds. The waves picked up speed, rolling and crashing into the side of the ship, dousing us with drops of water. Seaweed and rocks had broken off from beneath the surface and now swirled with the dead creatures, their movements morbidly graceful as they danced and weaved in the storm.
Booms of thunder rang out. The ship jostled unsteadily, and men scrambled above the deck to man their stations. The captain ran forward when he saw me. “Your Majesty, you need to move below before you get?—”
Another peal of thunder sounded, and the skies opened, sending blankets of cold rain over us.
“—wet,” he finished with a splutter.
