Lucia
A dense, heavy curtain of mist had dropped over the ocean as we continued toward our destination. It felt like a warning, to stay away from the cursed land where we were headed. This only made everyone more anxious. The air about the ship was ominous, as we sailed slowly through the clouds. The captain had ordered everyone out to the deck, to help navigate in case there were sharp rocks in the waters. I rubbed at my ankle nervously, were Elle was resting dormant. The mare didn't fare well on boats, but I wished for her steady warmth beside me nonetheless.

Beside me, Tazi was frowning in the direction of the whales that were pulling our ship.

"What is it?" I asked, noticing the expression on his face.

"They're in pain." He answered finally, though never moving his gaze from the water. "The whales, I mean. I can... I can sense them."

"Why?" I felt my eyebrows furrow. "Are they hurt?"

"No... well, not really." He sighed. "I can't tell for sure, but... I think they're sick."

"The water around Stetriol is notorious for being filthy." One of the other Greencloaks jumped in. He had a turkey vulture perched on his shoulder, who let out a shriek of agreement.

"Well, if that's the case, then..." Tazi paused, his eyes closing briefly. A white flash appeared around him as he let his stingray out into the water. Ian rippled beneath the surface of the waves, partially obscured by the fog.

I followed the black shape with my eyes, ignoring the light stab of jealousy I felt. As Ian disappeared from view, I drew my eyes back up toward Tazi's face, which had drained of colour. He gripped the railing with white knuckles.

I studied his face, but couldn't make sense of the emotions flashing over it. "What is it?"

Tazi glanced toward me, his lips pursed together. "I think... I think the whales are dying."

The other Greencloak stared out over the water, his lips turned down. "The water can't be that dirty."

Tazi gasped with relief as Ian resurfaced, quickly calling the animal back to passive. He exhaled calmingly, his cheeks regaining some colour. "The water is filled with poisonous fish. It's really affecting the whales. We can't go any farther with them."

The Greencloak's massive vulture let out a squawk and took flight off the man's shoulder, presumably to scout ahead. He was still frowning. "We'll have to alert the captain and the others, to figure out some other way to get to land." The Greencloak sighed– I still had no idea what his name was– and added, "but in the meantime, Arcell will see how close we are to land. You two stay here." He strode away purposefully.

"So we wait." I turned slightly toward Tazi. "Do you know that guy's name?"

"Uh." The blond half-shrugged. "I've heard the others call him Vik."

"Alright." I let out a soft laugh, then turned back to stare over the water.

About an hour later, Tyler called us together in the mess hall. "So, according to Tazi and a few other expert eyes, the whales are sick." He started,  "to be clear, they're dying. Which means we'll have to either cut them free or find another way to land." Our guardian pushed his hand through his mane of black hair, the salty air leaving it stiff and standing up as he did so. "Unfortunately, the captain is unwilling to cut them lose." Tyler let out a sigh. "As  soon as Arcell comes back from scouting, we'll be taking the lifeboats to shore."

"The lifeboats?!" Sasha sounded incredulous. "There's no way we'll all fit in them! There's way too many of us!"

"Well maybe if you ate less, then we'd all fit." Zay muttered, digging an elbow into his ribs.

Sasha opened his mouth to reply indignantly, but Ryan interrupted him. "We'll make it work. It'll be us ten in one of them, plus Lishay, Hoya, and Vik. The others will divide up in the other boats."

The meeting dispersed, and I found myself walking alongside Niko. His face looked drawn, the lines of his mouth tight. I raised my eyebrows in a silent question.

He read it off my face and reached out to take my hand. "Sorry, just thinking."

I squeezed his fingers softly, a gentle reassurance. "We'll win this." I told him, squaring my shoulders confidently.

"How can you be so sure?"

The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. "Because I don't know what I'll do if we don't."

Niko's eyes darkened and he didn't reply. We walked toward the railing, our eyes scanning the water.

A few minutes later, Arcell had returned and we were piling into the lifeboats. I scooted closer to Lizzie, reaching down to rub distractedly at Elle's tattoo again. "Everything alright?" Lizzie seemed to notice my agitation as the boat was lowered into the water.

"Yeah." I nodded, "just nervous."

"Aren't we all," Sasha, who was seated on my other side, muttered.

It was quiet in the boat, save for the soft splash of the oars that Lishay and Tyler were using to move us forward. I stared over the side of the boat, at the black and churning water around us.

Soon, however, the quiet was punctured by a loud shriek from Arcell. The vulture was above, to keep an eye out for Conqueror ships or land. Ryan glanced toward Vik, whose eyes were drawn toward the call of his spirit animal. "What does that mean?"

"I think he's trying to tell us that we're close." Vik answered, though he sounded uncertain.

"Perfect." Lishay responded, though it was so heavily sarcastic that I had no idea what she actually meant.

The fog began to thin as we continued forward, though there was no sign of land as of yet. Another cry came from above, though this one sounded like a warning.

Then a cannonball splashed into the water beside the boat.

A scream leapt out of my throat, along with Lizzie's.

"I'm pretty sure that wasn't a 'we're close' call!" Lishay shouted, both her and Tyler speeding up their paddling.

"It wasn't!" Vik responded, his face white. Another cannonball fell in our wake, followed by a loud bang. Ryan eased herself up onto her knees and turned, looking backward over our heads. I followed her gaze and felt my heart drop to my toes.

There was a Conqueror ship behind us.

"Go faster!" Zay urged Tyler.

"We're trying!" He grunted in return. I glanced back again– they were catching up. There was no way we'd outrun them. Not in this.

"We have to abandon ship!" Ryan called. Her spirit animal, Eden, was perched on her shoulder. The frog's tongue flicked in and out.

"Why in all of Erdas did we get the guardian with the poison frog?" Sasha grunted, "why couldn't we have gotten someone with something useful, like a massive shark? Or a killer bird?"

Tyler shot him a sharp look, but Sasha couldn't take back the words. Ryan pretended not to have heard, but the tightness around her mouth showed that she had.

"Ryan's right!" Vik called out. "Arcell showed me, shore is just up ahead. If we don't abandon ship now, we'll be blowed to smithereens."

We all jumped as another cannonball soared through the air, this one narrowly missing. Lishay dropped her oar. "Everybody off!" She instructed, pointing toward the water.

Tazi didn't hesitate a moment longer, leaping into the water. Zay followed, Olraz clinging tightly to her neck. After went Navia and Sabien, each diving off and vanishing beneath the surface. Niko launches himself after them, a shriek escaping his mouth as he entered the water. Lizzie leapt in a moment later, then I followed.

The cold water shocked me, the breath leaving my lungs. I floundered to the surface, paddling forward. I avoided fish and rocks as I swam, moving slowly but steadily toward land. My arms ached as I burst through the top of the water, my hair falling out of its braid and clinging to my wet face.

A figure appeared beside me. It was Hoya. She gripped my arm and pulled me along as she swam, stopping only when our feet touched the sand. I crawled out onto the gravelly beach, coughing. "Thanks." I told her breathlessly. "You saved my life."

"Someone had to." She was panting, but stood. "Come on." We made our way, stumbling, over to where the others had gathered.

"Is everyone here?" Tyler asked. His hair was slicked down, sticking to his skin.

"I think so." Hoya shook the water out of her eyes, looking bone-tired.

I glanced around. "Wait, where's–"

My question was cut off as Lizzie let out a shriek. "Ryan!"

We all turned. She struggled through the surf, collapsing nearby onto her back. Sabien and I crawled toward her, followed by a worried Tyler. The female guardian's face was ghostly white and her lips were a deep shade of purple. She was trembling from head to toe, and covered in angry red welts.

Sabien sat back. "Poison." He muttered, looking sick. "From stonefish stings. She's in a great deal of pain."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Sasha and the others had joined them, his voice rising in pitch with panic.

"No." Sabien shook his head. "It's fatal. I'm sorry."

Ryan let out a raspy, shuddering breath, then lay still.

Sasha looked stricken. "I didn't mean it." He muttered. "I didn't mean it!" The Zhongese boy cried. "I'm sorry!" He repeated, until Navia finally took his hand and told him gently that Ryan couldn't hear him.

I tore my gaze from the body and looked around. Vik, Lishay, Tyler and Hoya all looked shaken, speechless. Zay was clenching her jaw so hard I thought it might break. Lizzie was crying softly onto Tazi's shoulder, who stared blankly at their fallen guardian. Niko has his hands folded together, nails digging into his skin. Sabien stared out over the sea, where the remains of our lifeboat floated. The Conqueror ship was long gone.

I stared at the sand, my hands balling into fists in my damp skirt. I would make the Conquerors pay for the pain they had caused us. No matter what.

Ahhh it's so long I'm sorryyyyyyy.
But I hope y'all like it!
I'm sorry about killing Ryan :(
She was a good character, but we needed a good motivator-
Anyway, I can't wait to hear what you guys have to say in the comments! Stay healthy and see you soon! xx