Bʀᴏᴋᴇɴ Hᴀʀᴍᴏɴʏ || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ: Fᴀʟʟ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Bᴇᴀsᴛs Bᴏᴏᴋ Oɴᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sɪxᴛᴇᴇɴ || sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ

Zay

Following our departure from Greenhaven, unease blanketed the ship so thick I could almost taste it. Something like grief accompanied it, a helpless anger in the wake of what we'd lost.

I much preferred anger to the melancholy the others carried. It was easy, hot, and familiar.

"Hey." Sasha startled me as he walked up.

I nodded in response, keeping my eyes on the ocean.

"You okay?"

I could feel his gaze on my face and resisted the urge to grind my teeth. It would be a sure indicator that I was not. "I'm fine. Just pissed." I stated emotionlessly.

He laughed bitterly. "Me and you both." There was a stretch of silence. Then he sighed. "I talked to Tyler. He said he saw who was leading the Infected."

"Mhm?" I grunted, but curiosity tugged my gaze to his.

Sasha shrugged. "He said it was some old Conqueror leader— Zerif?"

My stomach dropped. "Zerif." I repeated dumbly.

"Yeah." Sasha's eyes flicked back and forth between mine, trying to decipher whatever I'd shown. "You know him?"

"Only by name." I replied slowly. Olraz hissed softly, coiled around my neck. "He was Zarlo's superior."

"Oh." Sasha winced. "Sorry."

"Mmm." I shook my head, trying to dislodge the memories that surged behind my eyes. "It's okay. You didn't know. Did Tyler happen to hear what his plan was?"

"No." The jaguar summoner answered heavily. "But whatever it is, it can't be good."

I twisted my lips into a grimace of agreement. Dread, colder than the ocean around the ship, had settled into my chest at the idea of an ex-Conqueror being the reason for the parasite infection. My fingers found Xavier's old tattoo and traced it, knowing the lines without even looking.

I saw Sasha's eyes crinkle with worry as they followed my hand's path, but he didn't say anything.

I was glad he didn't.

"Hey, lovebirds!"

Sasha and I turned simultaneously.

Skye hung off the mast of the main sail, looking obnoxiously pleased with themself. "Tyler said you gotta help me train."

I barely suppressed a groan.

Sasha patted my shoulder, but looked about as stoked as I felt. "C'mon. Tyler's the boss, right?"

"I really wish he wasn't." I grumbled back.

Sasha frowned and looked like he wanted to say something, but I was saved from his scolding when the ship promptly lurched to the side.

I caught the railing to stop myself from hurtling overboard, calling Olraz to passive so he wouldn't be in any danger.

"What on Erdas was that?!" Niko came scrambling out from belowdecks, the others hot on his heels.

I noted from the corner of my eye that Skye hadn't moved. They looked concerned— not nearly as good at hiding their emotions as they thought, I suppose.

"Hang on, I'll send Ian out to check." Tazi said briskly, pushing his way to the railing. There was a splash as his stingray flashed from passive. Tazi frowned, leaning over the side to try and keep his spirit animal in sight.

The ship rocked again, this time so drastically that a few boxes tumbled overboard.

"What's happening?!" Skye called from their perch.

"Tazi, what are you seeing?" Niko grabbed the other boy's shoulder to steady both of them.

After a moment, the stingray summoner looked up again. His brows were deeply furrowed. "It's... there's something wrong with the whales. They're attacking the ship."

"Well, do something about it!" Lucia screeched.

Tazi threw her a withering look as Ian returned to a tattoo on his hand. "I can't. I don't know what's wrong with them, and it's obviously not safe to go look!"

"Okay, enough with the panic and the sass," Sabien cut in, trying to deescalate the situation. "We have to stay calm and wait it out. Whatever is happening to the whales will pass."

"And if it doesn't?" Tazi meant the words to be scathing, but the fear in his expression destroyed the tone.

"Then we figure it out when it comes to that." Sasha spoke grimly before Sabien could. "Now, everyone grab hold of the person next to you with one hand— Skye, get over here and join us— and hold the railing with the other. If we go over, we go over together."

The spider summoner reluctantly climbed down, hurrying to join the chain.

A strong hand seized my left forearm and I glanced over to see Lucia, her lips pressed together so tightly they were near purple. I didn't offer any comforting words. Neither did she.

Down the line, I grabbed onto Sasha, who had hold of Niko's arm. Niko, in turn, was clutching Sabien like a lifeline. Sabien had Navia's wrist in a death grip, and she was hanging on to Tazi. Tazi looked furious, as he was forced to grab Skye.

Something smashed into the hill of the boat, the wood groaning. The blow travelled straight up my arm and shook my teeth. I retaliated by clenching my jaw even tighter.

The next things happened so fast I could hardly process them. The railing was getting slick as it was splashed, causing our holds to waver. Another blow sent us reeling.

Sasha slipped, and so did Niko. They crashed onto the deck and slid over, held up by only Sabien.

I went to reach for Sasha, briefly releasing the railing. But then Lucia pitched forward and dragged me with her.

The freezing water shocked me so bad I nearly froze up. But Lucia was still clinging to me— I swear that girl was impossible to get rid of— and she started thrashing us back to the surface. Breaking through the water, I gasped and spluttered, salt stinging my eyes. Waves pushed us around, and I had to close my eyes to protect them.

I couldn't hear anything over the rushing of the waves and my heartbeat in my ears. My fingers and toes were going numb, the only thing I could feel was Lucia hand around my arm. I gripped her wrist with my other hand as well, hoping suddenly that she was impossible to lose, because being lost at sea would be a whole lot worse alone.

16/08/21
i skipped yesterday oop.
anyway!! that's the last chapter :))
thank you for reading and you're welcome for the cliffhanger.
stick around for the epilogue, i promise you won't regret it!
stay safe! xx