COMMAND THE TIDES - Wren Handman Page 0,50
would be an impossible target.
“They don’t have to hit us. Only the Yariel-cursed boat,” Sarah replied through clenched teeth.
Not understanding, Taya turned back to look at the soldiers. They were notching bows, and their arrows seemed odd. They looked blunt, as if they had been wrapped in cloth. It wasn’t until they touched the arrows to the torch that Taya understood. They let loose a volley of fire, and it didn’t matter that three of the five arrows landed harmlessly in the waters, extinguishing in a violent fizzle of fire and waves. Two hit, landing between the cowering rebels, and though it could never burn through the stout wood, it ate through the rope that bound the logs together faster than Taya had imagined possible. Sarah and Jeremy grabbed handfuls of water, splashing it against the flames and snarling in helpless anger, while David held Darren to ensure he didn’t fall and Ryan stood in the center of the craft, seemingly immoveable against the violent rocking, and readied his knives. Liam traded places with Taya, trying to evade the next volley, though guiding the raft was almost impossible. There was nothing Taya could do but clutch the edge of the craft and pray, certain that this would be the last she saw of anything.
They were silent, waiting for the next volley, knowing each moment could be their last. The only sounds were Liam’s grunts as he struggled to keep the raft on course and Darren’s ragged breathing against his enduring pain. Taya prayed, silently, dredging up every sailor’s prayer that she had ever heard Darren utter. Ashua, watch over your children who sail upon your grief. Give them passage on your love. Let them carry your thoughts and hopes in their small and fierce hands.
Another five arrows ignited. Ryan waited until all five had been lit, brilliant targets in the darkness, and then let fly his knives. She heard two or three cries—saw one man fall, but the other four arrows flew true. One crashed into the wood only a hand-span from her face, and as quickly as she could she wrenched it free, attempting to hurl it over the edge of the raft.
She got it free easily enough, but as she lifted her hand for the throw a giant wave hit, and she felt the log she was kneeling on come loose beneath her. She threw herself sideways, trying to scramble back onto the safety behind her, but the raft was no longer where it had been, and her knees connected with nothing but the raging river. She crashed into the water, struggling to keep afloat, the arrow still clutched above her head.
She couldn’t breathe, could see nothing, not even the stars. She knew the surface was there somewhere, desperately close, but she could not find it. She was quickly growing numb in the vicious water, and couldn’t tell which way was up. Madly she picked a direction and kicked her feet, but she had only a rudimentary understanding of how to swim, and the efforts didn’t seem to have any effect. Her lungs were beginning to burn, and she knew if she didn’t break the surface soon she would breathe despite herself, and it would be the end. And then she saw stars, not from drowning but there in the sky, Yariel himself calling her upward, and she broke the surface.
The air felt warm against her face after the cold of the river. She threw her head back and opened her mouth to take a breath, to suck in the cold pureness of the sky, but found only water choking her throat. A wave had come as she straightened, and the water screamed into her lungs as she tried to cough it out, struggling to hit the water the way she had seen Darren do, in their trips to the beach together. She was shocked to see that her hand still clutched the arrow, a beacon to her friends on the raft. Somehow she had managed to hold it above water this whole time, and it had been lit with oil, so the splashing hadn’t put it out yet. The flames were licking close to her fingers now, scorching the skin, but she only held it tighter. She tried to relax, let the waves hit her, tried not to cough because if she opened her mouth it would fill with water again, but the drops still there burned like hot peppers and she wanted to scream.
She almost didn’t