Chereads / Xerxes by Micheal_Achonye / Chapter 20 - The storm

Chapter 20 - The storm

The ship moved silently but swiftly through the afternoon waters with the suns light bouncing off it. The occupants of the ship ran around doing their daily chores like their life depended on it as I leaned over the port looking at the skies in awe. Mr Roman and the old man were talking in a cabin below deck, leaving us with the ships crew. As for Petra, she was being attended to by the ships physician. I had been with her throughout her healing session and when she had fallen asleep, I dragged myself to the railings.

"What's on your mind?" Trina asked before leaning over the port with me. She had interrupted my 'alone' time. Looking at her, I began to see why Harry worshipped the warrior. She might have been a toned down version of Queen, but she was no slacker. Her body could make any man fall onto the ground in pleasure at being accepted or in anguish at being rejected. She could make a grown man misbehave, but those things did not intrigue me. She still looked weak. I noticed that as my powers grew, my taste in everything changed. Before the dark forest I had found her attractive, but after the white mountains she was repulsive.

"Hey," she said snapping her fingers. "Back to the ship oh wanderer. Where's your mind drifting off to?"

I blinked hard before shifting my gaze onto the ocean. "Nothing," was all I could say.

"If you ever need someone to talk to," she whispered moving close to me. "I'm here for you."

Brushing a hand behind my ear while kissing my cheek, she walked away with a smile as I watched her hips sway with added momentum.

"Oh no you didn't!" I heard an excited Harry scream out making me turn with my hands up ready to explain what had happened.

"Harry, I can explain."

"Explain what Xerxes! First off, you take Queen from Olly and now you're trying to do the same to me?" he lamented. "Keep off man, she's mine!"

"I wasn't trying to take her away from you," I countered. "Besides, she's not my type."

That set him off. "Oh, so she's not sexy enough, is that it?"

He misunderstood me. "No, I don't mean... I mean she's sexy as hell, I'm just saying..."

"Stay away from her demon kid. She's my girlfriend. She belongs to me."

"No she doesn't," a sober Indigo walked by laughing.

"She could be if she would just say yes," the young man cried out dramatically.

"But she didn't. Now get over yourself and come play kilo with me," she croaked out, leading him down the ships cabin.

I was alone once more. Breathing out loud, I looked at a seagull that had landed close to me. Its green eyes staring at me with curiosity. Looking around for nuts, I found some laid out on the ground to which I picked and smashed into tiny grains, setting it on the surface of the port.

The bird looked at the nuts before pecking on them. Watching its head move in an up and down rhythm made me remember a time I was locked away in the engine room of a ship. I had gone down there to deliver a message to a General when the door closed up, locking me in. I screamed for help but no one could hear me, after all, the noise from the room was really loud. I had stayed in there watching the pistol move in a rhythmic fashion, up and down. A few hours later, the general I had been looking for opened it and was startled to see me in there. I gave him his message before running off without explaining to him how I got barricaded in there.

The bird looked up suddenly then flew off without warning. I looked back to see the cloud darkening with the wind getting harsh. A storm was coming.

"Oi Xerc! You coming or what?" Indigo called out, interrupting my thoughts.

"Don't call him, he's moody just like his father," Harry laughed.

"Give me a minute," I answered, smiling and waving them off.

Turning to look back at the dark blue skies in front of me, a hand hit my shoulder.

"I'm not taking 'no' for an answer Xerc. Let's go, right now," her voice piqued. She was getting serious.

Sighing deeply, I reluctantly agreed to her wishes, letting her lead me to the cabin as the kilo board laid on the floor with the cards and candles lit on fire. They started without me. Olly frowned as I got in, and when I tried to sit, he got up ready to leave.

"Where are you going?" Indigo queried.

"I need some air," he replied.

"I'm a magician, I'll make plenty of..."

"Indigo," he called with seriousness in his tone. "Not now."

They had a staring match for a minute which made me uncomfortable. It was all my fault for being in love with Queen. I should have stayed in my own lane.

"No need to do that," I answered smiling. "I'll go back outside. You guys should carry on."

"Don't even think about it demon," he rapped out. "I'm up from my seat and I'm going out. You'd better stay here and play your game."

Looking into his eyes, I knew it would take me nothing to walk over to him, demon sword or not and crush his windpipe. He was human and I was still figuring out who or what I was.

We stared at each other intensely before the ship got hit sending everyone falling to the floor.

"What was that!?" Trina exclaimed.

"A storm!" I answered in unison with Olly.

Running outside, we saw the crew trying their best to keep the ship from sinking. A huge wave had formed under the dark skies and it was threatening to drop on the ship.

I looked at my hands and wished there was something I could do. My powers were not back yet, I still felt weak and drained.

"Here," Olly said, handing me a knot. "We'll go to the end of the ship to tie the fallen mast back up.

There was no time to object, so I held it and followed him to the rear of the ship. A mast had broken off and it was hooked onto the bottom of the ship. It had to be unhooked manually before being pulled up to be fixed.

"Someone needs to go down there and get it," he shouted above the raging storm. "You stay here and I'll go down the ships side to pull up the mast."

He could die if he got caught in the storm. I had to make sure that did not happen.

"I'll go," I said, holding him back before he could climb over the ships rails.

Pulling off my jacket, I dropped it on the floor with the knot as I mentally prepared myself for the task ahead.

"You don't have..."

"Yes I do. This is me paying my debt to you for being with Queen," he frowned at my words, but I didn't care. When I was ready to go, I tied a rope to my waist as well as the ships railing, climbed down the side while unhooking the masts knots as I went. The storm was getting heavier by the minute with the ship swaying violently upon the waters. Anybody caught in this storm alone was surely going to die.

When I was done, I yelled out to him to pull up the mast. He was efficient and flawless with the handling of the object as I waited patiently for him to be done and help me up. Seconds turned to minutes and I wondered if he had ditched me when I didn't see him anymore.

"I'm going to pull you up now!" he screamed.

I held onto the rope as the storms lightning started to get intense. I could feel myself going higher little by little. When I was an inch away from the rails, he stopped pulling.

"What's wrong?" I asked in concern, but his expression was a blank one. "What are you doing Olly?"

He laughed while bringing out a pocket knife.

"You said earlier that the pulling up of the mast was your debt to me for being with Queen, but it isn't."

His voice was murderous.

"Your death is," he said before cutting the rope loose, sending me into the raging waters below.

I plunged into the waters while looking at his face as I made a solemn promise to never trust anyone again, human or god. I tried to get to the surface, but the storm was too violent. Pushing past the raging waters, I floated to the surface to see the ship at a great distance.

"Harry! Trina! Indigo! Fatherrrrrrr!" I screamed, but the storm impeded my voice from getting to them.

Swimming towards the ship, I knew it was a lost cause, but I had to do something or I would drown. A wave smashed into me, sending me deeper into the ocean. Was this it, I asked myself. Was this the end?

I could no longer fight against nature. It was useless doing so. Letting the waves carry me, I lost consciousness as the air in my lungs started to get thin.

It was dark, too dark.