Chapter 10
My mouth dropped open. “What?!”
“That’s only a concern for those who go ashore,” Torvus assured me as he folded his arms over the railing. “It’ll take more than a minor crash to sink the Tempest. We only need to make the repairs and we’ll be on our way.”
My eyes flitted between the two of them as my heart pounded in my chest. “But what do you mean the island wants to feed us to a monster? What kind of island is this? What kind of monster is it?”
“A hideous creature born from the ungodly union of a bull and a very sick woman,” Ramaro told me as he wrinkled his nose. “Whatever possessed her to have sex with a bull is beyond me. Those things not only smell nasty, but they’re incredibly full of themselves.”
Torvus frowned at the agama, who only lifted his chin and turned his face away. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. No one’s stepping foot on the island except to do the repairs.”
“Captain!” The shout came from below us and at the bow. It was Fidel.
Torvus pushed off from the railing and hurried past me. He strode into the mist, but I could see his shadowy form as he reached the bow. “What is it, Fidel?”
“We’ve found a breach in the hull. It’ll take some time to fix it.”
“Get all the men working on the inside, but keep only a few on the island,” Torvus commanded him. “And have one of you stand guard at all times.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
Ramaro sighed. “I can’t wait to get out of this terrible fog.”
“Why?”
He grasped his tail between his two front claws and stroked a kink at the last two inches. “All this cold water isn’t going to help my poor tail to straighten out.” He hopped down and sauntered away, muttering to himself. “Damn fools and their fat boots. . .”
I couldn’t help but smile a little at his complaints, but another cold spell struck me. The chill was harsh enough to cut through the blanket. I shivered and moved toward the cabin door, but something touched my leg. I froze and a bone-chilling cold crept up me. Ramaro was in front of me. If this wasn’t him, then what-
I looked down and my blood ran cold. A thick vine had wrapped itself around my ankle. I let out a scream, but it was cut short when the plant yanked me off my feet. My side slammed against the deck, and the wind was knocked out of me. The vine yanked me across the boards and to the railing, where it had slunk over the top to grab me.
Instinct was stronger than the pounding pain in my side. I rolled over and clawed at the boards as a scream erupted from me. “Ramaro! Torvus! Help me!”
Feet pounded against the boards as I was pulled up off the deck and over the railing. Torvus appeared from the mist and grabbed at my outstretched hand. We missed each other by mere inches. The small figure of Ramaro raced up Torvus’ body and threw himself off his arm.
The agama landed on my back as I was pulled below the height of the deck. Ramaro raced down my body and gnawed away at the vine. Unfortunately for us, more of the plants emerged from the rocks and latched onto my arms and other leg. The plants flew me over the stones and past the hull, where a half dozen of the crew looked on in horror.
Fidel drew a knife from his boot and lunged at my captors, but the ground beneath their feet shuddered. The rocks randomly shot up, pushing them back to the rope ladder that hung over the side. They were forced to flee up the ladder, with Fidel being the last one up the rungs.
I couldn’t see any more of the crew’s adventures as I was pulled into a dense undergrowth. The mist slightly cleared, allowing me to see tall palm trees that loomed over our heads. Huge leaves slapped my face, and branches tore at my blanket.
While I thrashed in the hold of my green captors, Ramaro worked away at their bodies. His sharp jaws snapped them one by one, and breaking one caused me to drop to the ground. The remaining two vines dragged me along, but I grabbed a stone and hugged it tight. The rock rattled and sank into the ground, breaking my hold, but not before Ramaro gnawed through the last few vines.
I scrambled to my feet as he crawled up my body and onto my shoulder. “Run to the ship!”
I took a step forward, but froze before I whipped my head to and fro. “Which way is that?”
Ramaro used a claw to point at an angle to my left. “That way! I can smell our scents-”
A terrible rumble interrupted him. The plants in that direction shivered and shrank into the ground. New ferns, grasses, and flowers popped up to replace them. There were even new trees.
Ramaro dropped his claw to my shoulder, and his shoulders sagged. “I could smell our scents.”
“What’s going on?” I asked him as I stepped away from the changing landscape. “What’s it doing?”
“The island can change itself like some of my kind,” he told me as his tongue flicked out. “It replaced the plants, so I can’t use the scents to lead us back.”
My heart pounded in my chest. “So what do we do now?”
