Chapter 48: Rescue Efforts Gone Awry

Nienna watched her negotiation efforts disintegrate as Seren threw her weight into Captain Morrow’s side and knocked her over. Lord Aedan Byrne uttered a primal growl and pushed his wife aside as if she were a minor obstacle in his way. Lady Bryne fell to the ice with a pained cry. He ignored her, as she scuttled back out of the fray, her face frozen in bewilderment at being so easily pushed aside. She stared at her husband, mouth agape, as he then leapt at the young guardian with the Sanguinary Blade’s point aimed at her throat.

Nienna drew her axe free from the holster on her belt and swept it upward, blocking the frozen blade from cutting into Seren. The two weapons met with a metallic cry that rang out over the floe. Lord Byrne let out a furious cry and turned his attention to Nienna, swinging his weapon at her arm. Fearing what even one little cut from the weapon could do to her, she jumped back and pulled the kodan dagger she had hidden in her belt against her back. She held it to her lips and blew out a swarm of shadow insects to blind and confuse him just long enough for her to grab Seren. As soon as she had Seren’s arm in her grasp, she pulled her close just as Lord Byrne thrust his weapon at her direction. The Sanguinary Blade’s sharp point instead found a mercenary’s chest who had jumped in to intervene, and it sunk deep. Their skin turned an unnatural blue hue as they clutched their arms to their chest and fell to the ground, writhing in pain and confusion.

“Get to the boat!” Nienna yelled. She pulled on Seren’s arm again for her to follow as the young girl shook her loosened shackles free from her wrists. They fell to the ice behind them. “Grenth’s horns! Why did you do that?”

“I wasn’t going to stay their prisoner any longer than I had to, and you were taking forever,” she shot back between labored breaths as they all ran toward Nienna’s emergency exit plan.

“I was taking forever for a reason!” Nienna replied.

“Well, I didn’t know that!”

The boat waited for them at the edge of the Shattered Ice floe, bobbing in the icy water. Quint and Michi were the first to get there. He whistled and gestured toward the water, and the red drake dove in. He then grabbed the vessel and held it steady for Seren to get in. As Nienna neared the ice, she cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled toward Deep and Troubled Waters where Clarkus and the kodan were waiting. She hoped the charr heard her or was at least paying attention through the spyglass.

Thankfully, the rope attached to the stern of the boat lost its slack and rose from the water as the vessel was pulled back from the floe. Before the distance between Nienna and the boat grew too large, she ran and jumped, aiming for the empty seat at the bow. However, she had not considered the charr’s great strength, and the vessel started retreating faster than she anticipated. She landed awkwardly on the bow’s edge and fell into the water. Her side erupted in a sharp, burning pain, but she still managed to grip the edge tight for fear of being left behind to the mercenaries.

Icy cold water bombarded Nienna’s face, filling her nostrils and mouth. She sputtered and coughed, all the while still doing everything she could to hold on. Mustering as much strength as she could, Nienna reached up and grabbed the top edge with her other hand and pulled herself up. She spat out a curse at the growing pain in her side. Seren reached out and grabbed Nienna’s arms to try to pull her out of the water, but something large struck the water next to them, sending large waves that wildly rocked the boat.

“The catapults!” Seren called out as she clambered back up onto the middle seat. She pointed back toward the floe. “They’re firing at us.”

Quint grabbed the edge of the boat to steady himself as he peered over the side of the water looking for Michi. “Well, they weren’t going to let us go that easily after our sudden departure. I’m sure the lord and lady are not happy with losing a valuable bargaining chip either.”

Another small boulder plunged in the water behind them, sending a large wave toward the boat. The force sent the boat hard to one side before eventually capsizing. They were all unceremoniously dumped into the bay, tossed about by the wild current from the assault. Using her arms and legs, Nienna worked to right herself and swim to the surface. It felt so far away, but she kept swimming until her lungs burned and her muscles ached. Her lungs utterly spent, she finally broke through the surface and greedily gulped in air.

“Seren? Quint?” Nienna called out as she searched the rolling waves. She tread water, turning one way then another, but the bottom of their boat was all she could see. All sorts of frightening thoughts swam through her head. She grew scared and started yelling out their names frantically, until one head then another broke the surface. She breathed a sigh of relief and started swimming for the capsized boat which was dead in the water.

Nienna called out to the others. “Hurry! Get to the boat!”

Seren and Quint swam hard toward her, and they pulled themselves up onto the hull as another boulder hit the water nearby, sending a deluge of water splashing down on them all. Nienna clung to the wood, but another boulder sailed through the air and landed on the bow’s end, shattering the wood planks and destroying half of the vessel. The force sent Nienna back into the water. She fought her way to the surface again and looked for the others. Seren popped back up shortly after she did, and she could see the Michi’s red tail thrashing in the water before disappearing below.

“Where’s Quint?” Seren yelled out over the water.

Nienna shook her head. “I don’t know.” She took in a deep breath and dove under the water to look for Quint. The light was dim under the water, but she spied a form slowly sinking toward the bottom. Reaching for her underwater breather secured on her belt, Nienna put it in her mouth and took a deep breath in and out, producing a number of tiny bubbles around the sides of her face. She felt stupid for not remembering she had it earlier when she had gotten knocked back into the water, but she was thankful to have it. She kicked her feet to propel herself down toward Quint, following Michi as she thrashed her tail back and forth. The red drake was an adept swimmer, and Nienna found it hard to keep up.

Ahead of them, Quint’s form slowly sunk to the depths. Michi circled him, trying to nudge his unconscious body upward with her large head, but she was only able to move him a little before he slipped away. Nienna swam up to him, wrapped an arm around his chest, and started swimming upward. Michi positioned herself under him and helped get him to the surface. She struggled to keep him above the water, but Michi swam under Quint’s legs to help bear some of his weight.

“Gods, what happened?” Seren asked as she swam over to help.

Nienna spit out a mouthful of saltwater she had nearly swallowed. “I don’t know,” she replied between labored breaths. His tall form was heavy, even in water.

Together, they pulled Quint up onto the remaining part of the boat’s hull. A thin stream of blood trickled down the side of his face. Water splashed over them as another boulder landed nearby. Looking toward Deep and Troubled Waters, Nienna saw the hook and rope that had once been secured to the stern of the boat being pulled away as Clarkus kept cranking the winch. Nienna guessed he didn’t realize they were no longer tethered.

They were stranded in the water on half a boat with boulders and large rocks being catapulted at them. Back on the edge of the floe, the mercenaries had started gathering. They dragged makeshift rafts to the water’s edge as the assault continued from above. Shots rang out from Deep and Troubled Waters as Clarkus and the kodan tried to ward off their assailants, but they were still too far away for their ammunition to do anything.

“We need to get moving,” Seren said as she slid down the edge of the hull until her legs were fully submerged in the water. She started kicking as hard as she could. “C’mon, help me!”

Nienna lowered herself into the water like Seren and started kicking as she held onto the edge of the broken boat. Between the two of them they barely managed to get the broken boat to move. They kicked as hard as they could to try to propel themselves forward, but it was too much weight to move. Another large rock plunged into the water next to Nienna, covering her in a wave of saltwater. She coughed and wiped at the water on her face.

“It’s not working,” Nienna said. She flopped onto the hull, exhausted from the exertion.

Seren pulled herself up onto the wood to rest, letting Michi swim by as she nervously circled them. She craned her head to check on Quint. He was still unconscious, and there was more red streaking down the side of his face. Reaching out, she grabbed his arm and shook him, but he didn’t respond.

“We need to get him to safety,” the young guardian warned.

Nienna turned to look behind them at the floe and then forward toward Deep and Troubled Waters. The situation felt helpless. They were stranded in the water with their enemies moving in. She looked up at the chaos unfolding in Deep and Troubled Waters. She hoped they were close to a solution for their situation. Craning to look over her shoulder, Nienna’s heart leapt into her throat as she spied the mercenaries getting closer.

Suddenly, the hull lurched forward. Nienna almost lost her grip on the wood as it moved, but she reached up and gripped a plank that had loosened and stuck out from the others. She pulled herself up, out of fear of what had hold of their vessel. Seren was already perched on the top next to Quint’s unconscious form with one hand holding onto him so he wouldn’t slip off. Once she was out of the water, Nienna peered down into the murky depths and scrunched her face in surprise as she watched a rotund form swimming just under the surface. She spied another and another.

“Are those—quaggan?” she wondered out loud.

“What was that?” Seren asked. “Did you say quaggan?”

Nienna turned to look back at her. “They’re pushing us back to the sanctuary.” she said, her tone filled with hope.