Berganashio - Chapter 17

Keenwai's arms and shoulders ached from days of rowing. The captured meerbirds onboard the sea-wolf ship had adapted to their new life of slavery as good as they knew how. Twice a day, they were permitted to walk around the ship deck. One of the sea-wolf's would lead the chained line of meerbirds out for a walk around the perimeter of the ship. The meerbirds were back rowing with a steady rhythm. "I wonder how Grinyella and Podder are doing with rest of the mob?"

Kunya had a dazed look in her eyes from being overly fatigued. "They're bound to be much better than us." She sleepily added, "I miss home."

"True... and me too." Keenwai shifted. His wrists were bruised from the chains. He looked over at Kunya but she had slumped over with her face against the ship wall. She was fast asleep.

The ship anchor was usually put down at nighttime and then the meerbirds would row during the daytime. Keenwai was unsure exactly where they were heading, but wherever they were going, it felt like an endless journey. Did the sea go on forever? The meerbirds were hardworking creatures but the working conditions on the ship were beyond brutal.

Keenwai looked in front of him at another meerbird named Dror. Dror was around the same age as Keenwai but a head taller. He also had thicker shoulders and arms. There was a moment of admiration that Keenwai had for Dror as they continued to row in unison. As his thoughts wandered, Keenwai felt a bit awkward but he was grateful to not be alone. He gently caressed Kunya's limp hand as she slept. He looked back at Dror, wondering what he was thinking about. Dror was always very pensive. "Dror, what were you anointed with on anointing day?" Keenwai asked.

Dror twitched and turned around a bit to face Keenwai. "Freedom." He turned back to face forward. "Why do you ask?"

"Just out of curiosity I suppose..."

The floor of the ship had a leak and each day it seemed like there was more and more water coming in. Keenwai stuck his feet in the inch of water below that had leaked in.

Suddenly, in a powerful flash, something blasted through the bottom of floorboard. Panicked and shocked, sea water started pouring in all around Kunya and Keenwai.

Kunya jolted awake. "What the...?"

There was another knocking blast several feet away from Keenwai. It happened several more times and the meerbirds were getting soaked. Their hearts filled with dread and frenzy. Meerbirds hate being in water because they cannot swim. They were panicked beyond anything they'd ever experienced. Not only could they not swim, but they were shackled on the bottom of a boat with no way of escape. They cried for help, frantically flapping their white wings.

"What are we going to do?" Kunya yelled.

Sea water continued to rush in endlessly.

"We're gonna' drown!" one meerbird screamed.

Just as she said that the largest blast came up from the bottom but this time a black spear flowed upwards. Massive amounts of water ran into the boat. There was so much water flooding in now that it was almost up to Keenwai's neck. In another minute the waters would be over their heads all the way. The meerbirds were now all floating and grappling with the chains that linked them together.

Dror choked on water. He flapped wildly and pulled to the front of the meerbirds. He was strong and several meerbirds flowed along with him as he pulled. There were too many to pull though. With an unexpected jerk, the whole string of meerbirds was suddenly being pulled with Dror leading. There was a sea-wolf helping pull the chains! The sea-wolf was one he'd never seen before though. This sea-wolf was pure white with ocean blue eyes. Dror and the white sea-wolf pulled the long string of meerbirds toward the top of the ship deck.

Hardly able to breath, Dror took his paws and held the chains. He kept saying, "Freedom, freedom, freedom..." though the word was garbled by the water. The white sea-wolf gave one more powerful pull and the string of meerbirds made it to the top of the deck.

Dror's paws started glowing. He closed his eyes and then the chains broke into a thousand pieces. The chain links flew up, in what felt like slow motion. Their wrists and ankles had been miraculously freed from the heavy shackles. The meerbirds were still writhing around in a chaotic heap.

In a pile of meerbird bodies and feathers, that did not handle water well, Keenwai looked up to see a strange blacked-haired bird of some kind flying through the air up by the masts. He had daggers in both of his hands. He slashed the masts with his daggers defiantly.

Many of the sea-wolfs were not onboard, as they'd left to go on another raid. The few sea-wolfs that were still on deck snarled ferociously up at the black-haired creature. Several sea-wolfs shot net traps up at him but it was no use because he was too quick and agile.

Three sea-wolfs saw the white sea-wolf and sprang at him. They fought wildly with fangs bared.

Two other finned creatures flew up and sprinkles of something silver flew through the air. Like the chains moments before, the silver sprinkles fell as if it was in slow motion. Some of the silver flecks dropped on the sea-wolfs and some got on the meerbirds too.

One of the flying finned creatures, who appeared to be a female, screeched, "Oh nooo!"

The male flying finned creature yelled below, "Fly away! They can't catch you in the sky!"

Still stunned, choking and sputtering, the meerbirds started to flap up into the sky toward the finned creature who still held his daggers.

Some of the meerbirds flew one way and some flew another. Wings lifted everywhere. The sea-wolfs snarled and nipped at them, trying to slash them from the sky. Abruptly, the top of the mast took a nose dive. The ship smacked the top of the ocean waves. Sea-wolfs jumped into the water, swimming back up to the top of the water. The white sea-wolf still battled the other sea-wolfs but now he was fighting them in the water. They had flipped off the boat. The ship creaked as if it were in a painful state. Then the ship plummeted further into the water. The wooden boards splintered and broke and the ship dipped lower and lower.

“Follow me!” The black haired rebel who cut the masts called at the meerbirds.

Read chapter 18 via the following link: