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He had sworn guardianship to Leshil and his companions. His first duty was to protect them, and the ship was on fire. But when he saw the elven woman vanish into the sea, his heart seemed to stop.
He was Anmaglahk, sworn to protect his people. He could not let her die.
Sgaile broke the sea's rolling surface and gasped for air, but in his mind, he kept seeing Magiere's face up on the deck.
Eyes black, lost in vicious madness-the same monster that had attacked his caste in Cuirin'nen'a's glade. Even though he had sworn guardianship, his first instinct had been to kill her. Then he saw Wy
Osha ran for them, shouting. "Go! I will protect them!"
And Sgaile had jumped.
The sea swells made it hard to search. Everything was beyond his control but the woman who had been dropped to her death. He only hoped she had stayed calm enough to flatten herself and float until he could find her.
Wy
A living ship.
Some of the crew tried to douse the fire with buckets of seawater, but spattered oil and falling sails kept feeding the flames.
And then Sgaile jumped overboard.
Wy
And Leesil's shout carried to Wy
He bolted toward Magiere, and Wy
"Leesil, stop!" she screamed out.
He leaped the cargo gate. Rigging and shredded sails tore away under the falling mast as it slammed down on the deck's center-and Leesil vanished from sight.
"Leesil!" Wy
Two sudden impacts, like shattering glass, struck somewhere on the deck, and a wall of flame erupted around the fallen mast. Droplets of ignited oil splashed up like fiery fountains and scattered everywhere.
Wy
He ran along the shoreside rail-wall, the glint of a stiletto in his hand. Before Wy
Wy
The whole ship swirled away as she slammed down hard, sliding across the deck beneath Osha. She felt him roll, curling himself around her, until they slid to a stop.
And that rolling column of fire-the fallen foremast-crashed against the rail-wall where she and Osha had been an instant before.
Osha lurched up on his knees and slashed down at her with his stiletto. She barely flinched before the blade split the side of her cloak's collar. He ripped it off of her, nearly flipping her over on her face, and grabbed her by the arm. As he pulled her up, they both looked frantically about.
The crew had abandoned any attempt to control the flames. A visceral scream, like a great cat in anger, broke over the fire's crackle. Before it had even faded, Osha shouted.
"Leshil!"
Wy
Wy
Osha swung her back with his arm around her waist.
"Put me down!" Wy
"Bith-na!" Osha shouted in her face, then shoved her into the corner between the aftcastle and rail-wall.
"No" to what? Wy
Another bright red-yellow light grew in the air. Gasping, she saw the burning mainsail sagging toward the deck.
"Magiere, look up! Get back!" Wy
Cargo hold. Now!
Chap's voice erupted in Wy
She saw him racing along the far rail-wall from the forecastle… ru
Wy
Osha released her, shaking his head, and she grabbed his wrist, pulling him. She stopped at the hatch stairwell and shouted as loudly as she could.
"Magiere, come on! Chap says to go to the cargo hold!"
But Magiere either did not hear her or would not leave. The burning mainsail writhed in the wind, like a living thing of fire that coiled down to snatch her in its grip.
Magiere cried out like an animal, reaching through the flames for Leesil. Her gloved hand began to smoke, and she snatched it back. She let hunger fill her and shut her eyes against the fire's brightness. She tried stepping into it.
Heat instantly seared her face and hands, and she leaped back.
Wy
Another flickering blur raced toward him from the ship's far end. It loped along the burning rail-wall, and then brightened by firelight into a silvery canine form.
Chap leaped high through the flames.
His forepaws struck Leesil's shoulder. Both toppled upon the burning cargo grate, and it shattered beneath their sudden weight.
Firelight surged around Magiere as she screamed.
Leesil was gone. And Chap with him.
More light descended from above her.
She saw the first whipping corner of the burning sail coil around the mid mast. She threw herself backward, rolling away as the descending inferno swallowed the midship.
Wy
Magiere turned on all fours, knocking aside a deckhand as she lunged toward the hatchway. A blur of gray-green cloak disappeared down the stairs, and she rushed in behind it, nearly falling over the first step.
Osha turned with wide eyes, and Wy
"Chap said we must get to the cargo hold!" she shouted.
Magiere understood now.
"No!" she growled back. "You… get off the ship! I'll… get to Leesil and Chap."
Wy
"Take her!" Magiere shouted into Osha's face.
She shoved him against the stairwell wall, grabbed Wy
Magiere didn't even slow. She hit it with her shoulder at full speed, and the door crashed open, dangling in pieces from its hinges.
"Leesil!"
Water sloshed knee-deep around her legs as she slogged in. The hold was filling with seawater through a hole torn in the hull's far side. And then she heard splashing that didn't come from her own steps.
Leesil broke the water's surface, rising up, and Chap half-waded and half-paddled toward him.
Magiere struggled forward, her boots already heavy with water. She was breathing too fast and couldn't say anything as she pawed frantically at Leesil, searching for injuries.
Ru