Free Crossroads 04 - The Dragon Isles by Stephen D (v1.1) Sullivan Page A

annoyed. “I...”
                 As
she spoke, the waves behind them erupted, and the dragon burst from the deep.
     

 

Nine
     
    Tempest's Fury
     
                 Tempest
exploded from the breakers like a blue green mountain. Boiling steam erupted
from her massive jaws; her yellow eyes shone with the fury of the storm.
                 Hatred
of the Dragon Isles and all those who sailed to them burned in her black heart.
She would make sure that if she could not reach the archipelago, no one would.
                 The
sea cascaded away from Tempest in huge waves. The sudden torrent crashed
against Kingfisher , threatening to
tip it on its side. High on the mast, Trip clung desperately to the rigging.
Sharks, razorfish, and Turbidus leeches as thick as a man’s arm sped in a
maelstrom circle around the tottering caravel.
                 The
crew working Kingfisher’s deck
toppled when the waves hit and screamed as the dragon-fear swept over them. Mik
hung onto the tiller, but the backwash from the waves carried Ula toward the
rail.
                 Mik
stabbed his hand out, but Ula slipped away from him.
                  The sea elf slammed against the
gunwale and regained her footing. A razorfish, carried high into the air by the
swell, flashed past her face. Ula barely ducked aside in time. The fish flopped
onto the deck, and she seized it in one slender hand. She dashed the fish’s
brains out against the hull and threw the body back into the raging surf.
                 At
the front of the ship, Marlian, Karista, and Bok froze as the dragon rose
before them. Marlian pushed them all to the deck as the breaker hit. All three
of them got wrapped up in the anchor chain, which kept them from heaving over
the side in the backwash.
                 Poul
wasn’t so lucky. The old man had been working amidships when the wave struck.
The water seized his thin body and thrust him toward the bow. Marlian reached
for him as he swept past, but her outstretched hand merely brushed his callused
fingertips.
                 The
tall sailor woman struggled out from under the tangled chains and lurched to
her feet. Poul was hanging half over the rail, his feet dangling toward the
raging water below. Marlian grabbed his right arm just as he went over.
                 “Help
me!” she cried.
                 Bok
lurched to his feet and toward the lanky woman sailor. Marlian’s fingers dug
into the old man’s stringy flesh. Terror flashed across Poul’s ancient face.
                 “I
won’t let go,” Marlian said. “Hold on!”
                 A
glimmer of hope lit within Poul’s ancient eyes. The breakers clawed at his bare
legs and feet as he tried to scramble aboard once more.
                 A
huge mangier shark burst from the waves below the wizened mariner. The
creature’s blue-gray sides glistened with foam. Seaweed and huge Turbidus
leeches hung from its flanks. Jagged triangular teeth jutted from its gaping
mouth. Poul’s legs disappeared into the fish’s maw; the shark bit down on the
sailor’s midsection.
                 Poul
gasped, and blood spurted from his mouth. Marlian screamed.
                 The
shark lunged forward, clamping its jaws down over the old man’s head. A hideous
crunching sound filled the air. The shark jerked its head to the side and dived
back into the deep.
                Marlian clung to the old man’s arm,
but Poul was no longer attached to it. The momentum of the shark’s dive jerked
her half-way over the rail. She flailed with her hands but found only rain,
crashing water, and wind. Wide-eyed, she gazed into the deep. A dorsal fin cut
through the water in front of her terrified face.
                 Strong
hands grabbed Marlian’s ankles. “Karista, help!” the big bodyguard cried. He
clamped his thick fingers