Luky and the Birdmen
Chapter 5

The ship rocked from side to side. Massive waves crashed against the sides of the galley.

Aurielle looked left and right in search of something to hold. They barely made it to the lower deck when the ship almost rolled over.

“How did such a storm suddenly start?” Ezra asked, but he had to shout to be heard.

One of the ship’s crew members, a woman with dark curly hair and strong arms, pulled on a rope to secure crates against the wall. She turned to Ezra, holding on tight to the rope with all the strength she had.

“The Arc Stream!” she shouted back. “It’s a breeding ground for hurricanes!”

Ezra was shocked. “Why on Terra did we take the Arc Stream route?”

“We were told there were storms west of Ailura!” The woman almost lost her balance. “But don’t worry! We just have to avoid the clouds.”

“Doesn’t look like we’re doing much avoiding!” Ezra almost fell too. “Do you need help on the main deck?”

She didn’t respond with words. She just nodded and let go of the rope, signing for Ezra to follow her up the stairs.

Aurielle wanted to stop him, but she felt sick to her stomach. She couldn’t say a word without the risk of vomiting.

Desperate to distract her attention, she searched for Luky. She found him on the other side of the place, squeezing one of the crates, eyes closed, shivering. He must be so scared.

A lost kitten with no home met his end in a storm at sea. That idea was terribly depressing, but it popped into Aurielle’s mind. She shook her head to rid herself of those horrible thoughts.

“Luky!” she screamed to catch his attention. “It’s going to be alright! The woman said it, we just have to avoid the clouds.”

Aurielle saw other passengers around her, scared, terrified, like they had never been at sea before. Neither had she, and she was dead afraid.

Even if the woman had told them not to worry, Aurielle couldn’t do anything but worry.

What if they couldn’t avoid the clouds? What if they’d head straight into the storm because it was too late to turn around? What if the ship was pulled into the darkened sky like a moth to a flame?

She’d fail her mission. She wouldn’t replace the item she was looking for.

Vanhaui would lose everything.

Shouts and screams rang outside. They were no longer structured orders. Aurielle heard the panic in the crew’s voices.

She raised her head to the exit when water entered the lower deck. A savage wave swallowed her whole.

Crewmen opened hatches in the walls of the ship to evacuate the water fast. Aurielle could breathe again. She gasped for air and instantly checked on Luky, but he was nowhere in sight.

“Luky!” she screamed again before another wave struck them.

Aurielle had lost any sense of direction. She didn’t know where up or down was anymore. Once she managed to breathe again, her only thought was to replace Luky.

“We’re going to drown!” she heard a man shout.

“My wife!” another man shouted. “Help! She’s not breathing!”

But the crew seemed to have it under control, evacuating the water each time like they knew exactly what to do and when. They rushed to those who needed help, struggling to keep their balance, but they managed.

It should have reassured Aurielle. These men and women had probably seen storms before. So why was she still so worried?

Once the lower deck was free of water, she scanned every wall, every corner, every crate in search of Luky, but he was nowhere to be found. He must have gone outside.

Aurielle climbed up the stairs, holding on to the wall because the ship still rocked side to side. On the main deck, she’d have to replace a way to stand still, but at least she wouldn’t be trapped in a room where she might drown.

She made it outside, the rain pouring, and she could barely see anything but a shuffling crew and ocean waves going wild.

She caught sight of Ezra and—thank the gods—Luky by his side. She couldn’t see what they were doing.

She shouted to get their attention, “Ezra! Luky!”

“Miss Aurielle!” Luky shouted back.

“Go back to the lower deck, Your Highness,” Ezra screamed. “We’ve got this.”

But they didn’t have this. Aurielle realized something. They weren’t avoiding the storm—they were right in the middle of it. By the gods, how was that even possible?

A giant wave struck again, pouring into the lower deck. Aurielle heard screams. When the wave slid off the ship, she could swear some of the crew was missing.

It should have stopped there, but it didn’t. Another wave came with a vengeance. It was larger, higher, stronger. It soared over the ship like a serpent, like the goddess of the sea.

In the roar of thunder, Aurielle saw what was to come. The ship had begun rolling over, and she doubted that it would rise again.

How sad of a fate, terribly depressing. She’d never replace that secret, and she’d never save Vanhaui, the kingdom that, after that, would never be hers.

She knew what the headlines would say. Her Royal Highness Aurielle Valdum, First Daughter of King Lionel Valdum the Second, Duchess of Shelb, Princess of the Hauian Kingdom, lost at sea.