He dry heaved, barely able to draw breath.
Then, they stepped back.Bastion barely had time to look up before Buck’s foot connected with his face, and everything went black.
Chapter 9
A low, angry voice woke him.
“What would you have done if we hadn’t heard your call!?”
Bastion groaned as the ship rocked violently, making his stomach roil.Every nerve, every muscle cried out in agony.
“This is exactly the sort of thing your father wanted to avoid,” the voice continued.“You need us!You needme!”
The ship undulated again.Distantly, Bastion heard shouting.The pull of sticky, drying blood between his face and the floor made him grimace as he rolled onto his back.That was a mistake.Sharp pain lanced through his chest, and he coughed, making it worse.He was certain someone had slid a knife between his ribs.
A calm, assured presence knelt beside him.He flinched at the sting of metal jangling against his raw wrist and cried out as he rediscovered the torn muscles in his shoulders.One manacle dropped to the floor.A moment later, the second followed.Cool hands cupped his face and something in him sighed in recognition.Then, the pain surged.Bastion tried to pull away, but he couldn’t.Like a wave breaking, it dissipated, and a soft, blue-white glow lit up behind his eyelids.
“We have togo,” the voice said, more urgently this time.“Leave him!There’s a squall coming, and even unbroken, a human wouldn’t survive a sea this turbulent.”
The hands left his face.Bastion opened his eyes slowly, blinking until what he saw made sense.
Ulla knelt beside him, gesturing furiously at another Yvri standing over them–a male, dressed only in a waist wrap that dripped with water.Across his bare chest, he wore two large daggers, handles pointed down, their sheaths secured to a lightweight harness.He watched Ulla sign, shaking his head.
He looked vaguely familiar.
“You know I don’t understand you,” he hissed.“Just communicate here!”
The male tapped his temple angrily.
Ulla stood and crossed her forearms, slicing her flattened palms downward.She raised her hand and flicked it in dismissal.
The male caught her wrist before she could return to Bastion’s side.
“This roaming–thistantrum–has gone on long enough, Ulla,” he said through his teeth.
Bastion tried to rise.His core screamed, and he fell back.He would endure this pain, but he could not stand how this male talked to Ulla.
Sweating, Bastion lifted a hand to his chest, searching for the hilt of a knife, but found none.Ulla twisted out of the male's grasp.She pushed him and signed aggressively before she made a rude gesture and collapsed beside Bastion.Her fingertips ran over his body.
The male crossed his arms and scrutinized them contemptuously.Bastion’s eyes trained on Ulla as she searched out his worst injuries.He could feel the male’s blatant disapproval pouring over them like an unwelcome rain.
When she touched his broken fingers, Bastion tried to yank his hand away.Ulla’s grip tightened, and he cried out as the pain rejected her magic.Her power overwhelmed the injury and coaxed bone and tissue back to their natural state–to the form they most wanted to be in.
When she came to the place that felt impaled, she paused.Bastion groaned at her light touch.She swallowed.
Suddenly, the Yvri male knelt beside Ulla.
“The whale can’t distract these pirates forever,” he seethed.His hand went to one of the daggers strapped to his chest.“I put the entire pod at risk by coming here.If you won’t leave this undeserving cur, I’ll put him out of his misery.”
Fear hit Bastion as the male drew his dagger.
Ulla slapped the blade away.She bowled the male over as the ship suddenly rocked to one side.His horns sank into the floorboards with athunk!The next moment, she was on top of him, the other dagger drawn.She pressed it to his neck, fangs bared.Unhinged mania sparked in her eyes as she threw all her weight into the blade.He fought to keep it from breaking his skin.
The male’s face screwed up.He blinked rapidly, as if her gaze on him was too bright and intense.With his horns embedded in the floor, he couldn’t move his head.
“All right, all right!”he exclaimed.“Enough shouting!”
With a final glare, Ulla threw the dagger down and returned to Bastion’s side.
