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26DAWN
The island wasa lot bigger than it looked from the water. When I was out there, fighting for my life, I would have sworn it couldn't take more than a few minutes to get from one end to the other. When I first left the seer’s hut, I was feeling pretty helpful. I figured I could reach the harbor in no time. Even barefoot.
Instead, the sun had set, and the sky was turning dark by the time I found the line of ships the seer had spoken of. These were the same boats I had seen from out on the water.
And none of their captains looked exactly friendly or helpful.
“What is this?” one of them called out as I trotted past one boat, then another. “Looking for a ride, are you? I can take you around the island and show you a few sights.” He burst into raucous laughter.
I didn't bother looking his way, although I did wonder what he would think if he knew half of what I had seen and experienced. There was no way he could measure up to Aldric’s cruelty.
The red, painted hull drew my attention, and I broke into a run. “Hello? Um…”
What was his name? I should’ve been repeating it in my head the whole time I ran across the island. It began with a G, didn't it? It was already nightfall, and I was losing precious time worrying about the captain's name.
“Gilvath!” I shouted when it came to me.
A grizzled head popped up from inside the boat. A grizzled head with two horns. I did my best not to show surprise. It wasn't like I could afford to make this guy angry when I needed him.
Although it would’ve been nice if the seer had warned me.
“That would be me,” he said.
His reptilian lips stretched in a smile. And stretched. It was like his whole face widened to accommodate what had to be a million teeth. Aside from that, he looked almost human.
“A seer from the island sent me. She sent me straight to your boat.” I waved an arm, now wishing I’d thought to ask what I was supposed to say to him when I found him. “There's an emergency. Please, I need your help. She said you would help me.”
“Help you with what?”
“There isn't much time!” How much longer did I have? I wished she had told me that, too. Why couldn't she have been a little more specific? “I need to get to Biryg. Right away.”
“Biryg?” He looked me up and down, unfolding his extremely tall, wide body from where he had been kneeling inside the boat.
Now that I had a better look at the full package, I found myself wishing the seer had picked somebody else. I would even have taken one of the laughing, lecherous cretins from earlier. Them, I could handle.
This man? I wasn't so sure.
“What business have you there?” he asked, climbing from the boat onto the wooden dock it was tied to. “I don't know if I'd feel quite able to sleep tonight if I’d left you there alone.”
“It's fine. I don't care. Please, I just need to go,” I begged.
“You know what type lives there, don't you? Those are the Witches’ lands.”
And that would be so much worse than this? Someplace where I'd been propositioned so many times that I’d lost count?
“I'm telling you, I don't mind. I won't hold you responsible for anything that happens. Only I need to get there, immediately. It's a matter of life or death,” I said.
“Unless it's a matter of life or death for me, I don't understand how any of this is my business.” He folded his thick arms, that smile of his unmoving. And unnerving.
“But she sent me to you. Doesn't that mean anything? Please, I have to go.” I couldn't help it. All the fear, frustration, and desperation gathered up inside me and came out through my eyes in the form of hot tears. “Please. She sent me to you.”
“Now, now,” he grumbled. “If there's one thing I never could stand, it was the sight of a crying woman.” And I was sure he had run into many of those, since I couldn't imagine many women not crying in his presence.
“Please, help me.”
“Alright. I'm not an unfeeling sort.”
Now, I wanted to weep with relief and gratitude. “Thank you so much! Can we leave right away?”
