Free Sennar's Mission by Licia Troisi Page B

everything but the spell he was reciting. Which wasn’t so hard to do, with his arms aching and his hands full of pins and needles. Soon he felt nothing at all, only the sensation of the magic formula flowing through his fingers like flooding rivers.
    “Is there any opening ahead?” he asked desperately, even though he knew he’d be the first to notice, from up in the lookout tower.
    “Nothing yet!” Aires shouted from below. “Don’t let up!”
    With every second, Sennar could feel the strain of his body increase. One wave after another pounded against the barrier, until the force field began to shrink. He wouldn’t be able to hold the ocean off much longer.

    Everyone on board was exhausted—Aires and Benares, still struggling with the rudder, Rool glaring into the dark to find any sign at all that would guide them in the right direction, the rest of the crew digging their oars into the ocean’s raging current.
    Sennar was on his knees, his arms on the edge of the crow’s nest, his palms open.
    The force field shrank visibly.
    Rool was the first to notice. “Hold off, Sennar! Hold off!” he shouted.
    But the sorcerer seemed to have slipped into unconsciousness.
    “Devil take him! It’s going to cave in! This is what happens when you leave things up to a little kid,” Benares spat.
    Aires shot him a disapproving glance. “Quiet! If it weren’t for him, we’d already be dead.” Then she raised her voice. “Stay strong, Sennar! We’re out of this thing, we’re almost out of it!”
    But there was no response from up in the crow’s nest. The silver shield grew even smaller.
    “Pirates, all of you! Paddle faster!” Rool ordered, but he knew he was asking too much of his men. “We’re done for,” he murmured.
    “Look!” Benares shouted suddenly.
    A gap appeared in the wall of black clouds. A blade of light sliced through the darkness. Aires broke into laughter, nearly losing hold of the rudder.
    “Row, men, as fast as you can!” Rool called out.
    Between flashes of lightning they could make out a wedge of blue sky, and then a small segment of land, framed in green. Seen from their dark inferno, the islands appeared as some heavenly vision. Salvation was within reach, but the storm gave no sign of letting up. Waves and lightning made a constant racket against the barrier.
    “Stay strong, Sennar! Just a bit longer!” Aires shouted, using all the breath in her lungs, but the force field was pressing against the prow and shrinking further.
    All of a sudden, the barrier began to chip into a thousand silver shards and the sculpted wooden figure on the prow came once again face-to-face with the storm’s full fury. The ship began to swerve off course as the storm swallowed it up, plank by plank. The force field had grown as thin as silk, and the storm was steering the ship. They continued spinning in circles, first in one direction, then the other. Shouts, orders, confused pleas rose from the deck.
    Of all that great cacophony, Sennar heard only a distant, muffled static. He could feel his strength leaving him, a strange languor taking hold.
I’m tired. I’m so tired.
He wanted only to let go, to be cradled by the empty space surrounding him—but something, somewhere in a dark corner of his consciousness, would not let him surrender. One last burst of energy surged from head to toe. His muscles tensed with the jolt, his hands raised, vibrating, toward the black sky, and the barrier returned to its full strength, enveloping the ship’s entirety once again. Then he closed his eyes and fell unconscious.

    A peaceful archipelago stretched out before the ship. Behind them, the pitch black mass that had nearly swallowed the
Black Demon
was retreating rapidly. The crew burst into a roar of excitement; Rool wrapped his arms around his daughter. Benares wiped his face with trembling hands. They were safe.
    Aires slid out from the captain’s arms and ran toward the mainmast. “Sennar! You were incredible,