Tor-kenna and the twins had been hunkered down in the bowels of the ship, hiding the best they could from the crew. There were many goats and sheep near them to help hide any noise that they would make. Tor-kenna spent a lot of her time as a rat and would sneak through the ship to find food for herself and the twins.
She had just returned from the galley of the ship with a loaf of stale bread. The loaf was too big for her to drag through the holes that led to the hiding spot, so she took the form of a raven and flew out a porthole in the galley and returned to the ship through another porthole that was closer to the where the twins were.
Food was not that hard to get, but getting enough water to drink was difficult. They would often fill their cups from the same troughs that the goats drank from, but every so often, at night, they would get milk from a goat that had given birth the day after they set sail. They had to be careful not to be caught, because the ship's crew took advantage of the milk from the new mother as well.
It was hard for the kids to tell how long they had been aboard the ship. For the first few days, Joel's stomach gave him problems. The smell from his retching made it difficult for them to remain where they were, so they had to move around to other spots in the belly of the ship to get away from the smell and to not get caught, before they found their current location. Joel's stomach had finally settled down as he became used to the rocking of the ship caused by the waves of the ocean.
They lost count of how long they had been at sea, but could guess that they had been aboard the ship for nearly a fortnight. They couldn't see any of the portholes from any of their hiding spots, so they had to rely on what Tor-kenna would tell them, whether it was day or night. It was the evening of their thirteenth day aboard the ship and Joel had gone off to relieve himself while the crew ate their evening meal above deck.
He had just finished dumping the bucket that they had been using out one of the portholes in the side of the ship. He turned around and started to return to his hiding spot, but he saw a man standing at the base of the stairs leading up from the cargo hold. He panicked and began to run as the man shouted out to the others above deck.
The man started to chase after him. Joel's panic driven run startled the animals below deck and they began to sound off loudly. The noise from the animals made it hard for Joel to hear the man getting closer to him. Joel changed directions many times trying to out run his pursuer and lose sight of him before he made his way to their hiding place.
Joel, believing that he had lost the man that was chasing him, ducked through the opening behind the animal stalls that led to space at the rear hull of the ship. He stepped on Tor-kenna's rat tail as he entered the hull. She squeaked loudly and he motioned for them to be silent. They moved to the furthest place they could away from the opening. The opening was small enough that a grown man would not fit through. It was dark in the hull, but they could see a man's hand reaching through the opening.
He began feeling around the hole with his hand, but felt nothing but wood. Tor-kenna pounced on his hand and began biting him over and over. The man pulled his hand back and shook it violently. Tor-kenna was sent flying into the cargo hold behind him. The man withdrew his hand from the opening and chased after the rat. Jessie and Joel could hear him stomping the floor at Tor-kenna.
They heard the man yell out as Tor-kenna ran up his leg and began biting his face before he threw her off of him again. She scurried back through the opening and returned to the twins. Her mouth and whiskers were covered with the man's blood. She was breathing hard and the twins could see her heart beating in her tiny little chest as her ribs heaved in and out while she tried to catch her breath.
Jessie scooped her up, held her in her arms to try and calm her. She quietly thanked her for what she had done. The three of them sat quietly as they waited to see if the man would return. They tried to relax while they waited, but they were frightened not knowing if or when the man would return. They were getting anxious and were about to try and find another spot to hide.
They stared, motionless at the opening. Joel began to hear footsteps from the other side of the opening. He began breathing faster as the fear inside of him began to swell. They could see light coming towards them as it neared the hole in the wall. They started to hear voices coming from the other side of the wall that separated the hull from the cargo hold. "I saw the runt run through here," said the man that had begun chasing Joel in a scruffy voice.
"He ran around the stall and I lost sight of him when he turned the corner. There's no place else for him to hide, but in there." Another voice that sounded younger and much less scruffy began to speak, "Are you sure you actually saw someone?" "Yes, I'm sure that I saw a boy running through here." There was a pause. Joel heard the footsteps fade away, but after a few moments, they returned. "This is the bucket I saw him dumping out of the hole."
Joel looked around for their bucket. He became angry with himself. He must have dropped it when he turned and saw the man. The light from outside the hole became brighter as the footsteps drew nearer to their only way out. "Just stick yer head in there and see if you can see him," said the man with the scruffy voice.
The twins listened as the man neared the crawl space and heard him get on his knees. As they watched the opening, they saw a head filled with red hair poke its way through as he crawled towards them. When he looked at them, he was silent. Jessie and Joel could see now that it wasn't a man, but a kid, no older than they were.
He had red hair and freckles like them. Joel pulled a finger to his lips to try and signal the boy not to say anything. "Do ya see him?" asked the man with the scruffy voice. "Pass me the lantern, I don't see nothing in here but a few rats." The twins watched helplessly as the boy reached for the lantern and then he said to the other, "Looks like there's a space that leads around to the front. I will follow it and meet ya at the other end. May bees I can flush them to ya."
"Alright den, I'll go to the other end. Holler if ya see anything." The twins heard the man walking away. The young boy said, "I can't keep him away long. You must find another place to hide quickly." "Thank you," said the twins, "but where?" they asked. "I don't know," said the boy, "but it can't be here. He will keep looking until he finds you."
The boy squeezed through an opening that only Tor-kenna could fit through and disappeared from the twins' sight. They quickly made their way to one of their other spots, but before they made it inside, they heard a voice shouting at them. "Stop, or I will loose this arrow." They turned to see two men standing by the stairs leading up to the deck.
There was an older man with a grizzled beard. He spat on the floor and said as he pulled a sword from his scabbard, "W’ere ya t'ink ya are a goin'?" The other man, a younger man, had a bow pulled back with an arrow pointed at Joel. “Don’t shoot!” said Joel. “We will come with you.”
Tor-kenna leapt from Jessie’s arms and ran away to hide as the twins were taken above deck. As they climbed the stairs that led to the deck of the ship. The twins were blinded by the bright light from the sun. They hadn’t seen the sun since they boarded the vessel and the light hurt their eyes.
Through squinted eyes, they were led across the deck to the rear of the ship. They saw a doorway to a room that had a set of stairs on either side that led to a platform overlooking the rest of the ship. Above the door was a wooden sign that had the word “CAPTAIN” burned into it.
They were forced up the stairs to a platform that housed the helm of the ship. There was a man standing there with his hands on a large wooden wheel with wooden spokes sticking out for hands to hold. “What do we have ‘ere?” asked the man steering the ship.
“A couple o’ sto’ways, Captain,” replied the older man who was holding the sword. Jessie and Joel remembered the captain from the time that Greygon had escorted them to see about getting passage aboard the vessel. “It be them kids that the elf spoke of,” said the captain.
“Squirrel,” the captain called out for one of his men. The twins watched as a man climbed down the ship’s mast head first and leapt to the deck in front of the captain. The captain handed him the helm and said, “Keep her steady.” The captain motioned for the man with the sword to follow as he went down the stairs and into his quarters.
The captain’s room had items from all across the realm that decorated his chambers. At the back of the room was a large table that had maps and instruments used for navigating the waters of Tenroha. He went behind the table and sat in the most elaborately decorated chair that the twins had ever seen. The chair was facing a window.
He waved his hand at the man with the sword and said, “Tell Cook that we have found where the missing rations have been going.” The man turned and left the room, leaving the twins alone with the captain. The door closed behind them and they were unsure if they should be frightened or relieved.
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The captain stared out the window, watching the waves left behind from his ship, as he sat in his chair. “I remember the two of you.” began the captain. “Aboard my ship I am known as Captain Jonathon Wynters. My crew calls me Captain, and my friends call me John. You are neither of those, so you may only call me Captain Wynters.” “Yes. Captain Wynters,” said the twins with a nod of their heads.
“The elf that brought you two to see me before we disembarked, had come and paid me a visit the night before. Do you know why that is?” asked the captain. The twins shook their heads. “I asked if you know why the elf came to see me,” repeated the captain. “No,” replied the twins. “It seems he believed that you were headed for the Dragon Isles. Is this true?”
Joel nodded his head and said, “Yes, Captain Wynters.” “Why is it that two young’ins such as yourselves would want to go to such a dangerous place?” The twins remained silent. “I am not a man who likes repeating himself,” stated the captain. “We wanted to meet the dragons,” said Jessie.
“Did you know that your elf friend paid me a handsome price to refuse your passage aboard my ship.” “No, Captain Wynters,” replied the twins. They looked at each other feeling confused and betrayed by Greygon. “I am not the smartest of men, but I know that when an elf is willing to pay for something, they had a reason for it.”
The twins were becoming more confused. “I believe that you are searching for something on the Dragon Isles,” said the captain in a way that suggested that it was more a question than a statement. Not knowing what to say, the twins remained quiet. The captain spun his chair around, placed his arms on the table. He folded his hand together by placing one hand over a closed fist and stared at the twins.
“My ship makes many voyages to the land of the dragons. The crown pays me and my crew a lot of gold to transport these critters to the islands of their dominion. Nowadays, there aren’t too many captains brave enough to make the trek. There be monsters lurking below the waves, and that keeps them all close to the shore. There be more than a dozen islands that the dragon's call home, and me and my crew make a trip to each and every one of the largest of the islands,” said the captain.
He continued to tell the twins all about each of the islands, and explained to them that the dragons are friendly enough, as long as the ships keep returning. He also explained that on some of the islands, there are dragons that are larger than any ship ever built and some of them are viscous towards anything that comes near their islands.
“On the biggest island that we travel to, there is a dragon so large that it would sink some of the smaller islands if it tried to land on one of them,” said the captain. “He is referred to as Dracus. He is what you would call the king of the dragons.” The twins looked at each other when the captain had finished his story.
“Now,” said the captain, “What is on those islands that would cause the two of you to risk going there?” The captain stared across his folded hands at the twins and waited for a response. “I told you that we wanted to meet the dragons,” said Jessie. The captain looked at her with a look of displeasure upon his face.
“I have a secret for the two of you, and since you won’t be around to tell anyone about what I’m about to say, I will just say it.” A big smile began to form on the captain’s lips as he said, “There are no monsters below the sea. We are the monsters of the sea. When a vessel travels too far from shore, we, that is my crew and I, board the ships. We kill everyone and take what we want. If the vessel is fair, we take her too.”
A look of shock and terror came on the faces of the twins. “Now, you can tell me the truth and become members of my crew, or you can swim to the nearest island that is three more days with a full sail,” said the captain as he leaned closer to the twins. They became frightened and tried to take a step backwards.
The door behind them opened up. The man with the sword entered. “Tanner! Tie these two to the mast. Ready the board and prepare them for a walk.” Tanner grabbed the twins and drug them to the mast of the ship. He wrapped large ropes around them that they couldn’t lift by themselves. He wrapped the rope around them many times. When he was finished tying them to the mast, he went below deck.
He returned a short while later carrying several stones that were used to balance the ship. He tied several to each of the twins’ feet and legs. The twins were left tied to the mast for the remainder of the day. At the setting of the sun, Tanner untied them and pulled them to the side of the ship where the gang plank had been placed overhanging the side of the ship.
The rest of the crew had come to watch under captain’s orders. “I’ve told you all what happens to stowaways aboard by ship. But,” began the captain. “I believe that not one of you, excepting for my first mate, have had the privilege of witnessing it.” He turned to face the men in front of him. “I also believe that one of you have been helping them to hide from us. When I find out who it was, you will receive the same fate as them.”
The twins looked at the crowd that was gathered around, trying to see the young boy who tried to help them to hide. He was nowhere to be seen. “Where is the cabin boy?” asked the captain as he too searched the crowd. “Here, Captain,” came a small voice near the back of the men.
He made his way to the front and the captain said, “Well bring it here.” “As you men know, I pride myself as being very hospitable.” A roar of laughter went out from the ship. “And as you know, it would not be very hospitable of me to allow my guests to leave without at least offering them some food and drink.” More laughter rang out among the men.
The cabin boy came forward carrying a platter of rotten food and cups of spoiled milk. The captain had him put the food in front of their faces. The twins turned their heads at the smell of the rancid meat and milk. “It would be considered inconsiderate for you to refuse my hospitality,” said the captain to another roar of laughter.
The cabin boy looked away as he passed the food in front of the twins. Joel’s uneasy stomach caused him to retch again and the crew laughed even harder. The captain calmed the men and walked over to where the twins were standing. Joel was still coughing from the smell and the retching. “I’ll give you one last chance to tell me the truth. If I believe you, you can join us as part of my crew, or,” the captain paused for a moment and gestured towards the plank, “you can go for a walk.”
“We told you the truth,” began Jessie. “We only want to go to see the dragons. We met one before, and want to meet some more.” The captain drew his sword and pointed at Jessie as he made his way closer to her. She tried to back away but she was still tied to her brother and couldn’t move away. The captain touched the tip of his sword to her side and said, “Take a walk, Little Lass,” and poked her harder with his sword.
The gang plank was tied to the ship between a gap in the railing and the far end was supported by ropes that were tied to the rigging. The twins slowly made their way to the end and waited. They didn’t want to jump. The captain began bouncing on the plank causing it to move up and down. It was hard for the twins to keep their balance. The last thing they saw before they fell into the water below was the grin on the captain’s face as they began to fall.
Jessie and Joel pulled at their ropes as the weights that had been fastened to them, pulled them deeper and deeper into vast blue expanse. A sea otter swam towards them and began chewing at the ropes that held the weights. One by one they fell to the bottom. Jessie and Joel, with their hands still tied together, began to make their way to the surface. Their lungs ached as they tried to hold their breath. The sea otter, once the ropes had been cut, transformed into a sea animal that they had never seen and swam them to the surface.
The twins gasped for air in unison as their bodies emerged from below the surface. They did their best to hold on to the sea creature p that was swimming away from the ship. The captain and the crew were oblivious to the twins resurfacing. Tor-kenna swam with all she had, trying to keep the twins heads above water. She swam for what seemed an eternity. The moon was high in the sky and nearly full, before she spotted a log that was floating in the ocean.
Tor-kenna was exhausted from the swim, but she managed to bring the children to the log and they climbed on top of it. She held on to a branch as Jessie was finally able to untie the binding on her hands. Jessie reached for Tor-kenna to help her to climb on top of the log, but it was too late.
Tor-kenna had already slipped back into the water and was slowly sinking below the waves. Jessie called out to her. Jessie could not see her any longer. She called out again and began to cry for the loss of her friend. She went to where Joel was perched on the log and began to untie his hands. He had passed out from the strain of holding on to the fur of Tor-kenna.
He woke briefly, and Jessie explained what had happened to Tor-kenna. “We will see her again.” said Joel before he fell back asleep. His words made her feel better. She turned her gaze to the distance and began to see lightning flashing far away. She suspected that they would be entering a storm before morning, so she used the ropes that had tied their hands together and tied her brother and herself to the log and then fell asleep.
Jessie awoke to a loud clash of thunder. The light from the moon was gone and the wind had become strong. She looked around in panic trying to see her brother. A flash of lightning allowed her to see her brother still tied to the log. He had awoken as well and was checking his ropes. Jessie did the same just as a large swell of water came towards them. “Hold on!’ shouted Joel over the sound of the wind blowing all around them.
The log rolled over as it went up the wave. The twins resurfaced as the log plunged through the wave and rode down the other side. They climbed wave after wave, rising up and crashing into the next one. It was hard for the twins to breathe. Every time they surfaced, another wave crashed into them and pushed them under the waves.
Jessie was about to lose hope that they would make it through the storm as another wave began to pull them under. She held her breath as they went under the water. She could feel her body being pulled in different directions, and she couldn’t tell which way it was to the surface. A flash of light pierced the sky overhead. She panicked and tried to untie her ropes as the log was being pulled towards the bottom.
Below her, in the depths of the ocean, she saw a different kind of light glowing. It was a faint blue light that glowed steadily. The light grew larger the closer it came to her and her brother. Jessie's breath was fading and she tried to remove the ropes faster. The light began to fade and Jessie felt something hit the log. It began to move rapidly towards the surface. She exhaled and drew in a fresh breath, gasping hard trying to catch it before she was to be plunged beneath the waters again.
She looked for her brother and found him gasping for breath as well. He was alive, and that was all that mattered to her right now. She braced herself and waited for the log to crash into another wave, but it didn’t. She looked down and saw that the log was sitting on top of a giant sea creature. It was Tor-kenna. She saw that they were moving quickly towards the rising sun. Behind her, she saw the storm still raging, but in front of her, she saw the vast ocean and her hope that had begun to falter began to shine inside of her once again.
