Aella (manxman) - ON HOLD

Bad spirits

Ceri-note: Hi everyone, I'm Ceri

I'd like to apologize on behalf of the writer for the long wait you had to endure to receive this chapter. She had to take her time to decide my fate

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Ceri

Boooooriiing

Sailing is so boring!

I've never thought about it before, but a place without trees and birds is just not worth living in. I love the sea, but it's the same everywhere I look! No matter how far you go, it's like you're still in the same place and it's maddening.

I peeked behind the wall of empty boxes. Still nothing interesting, only grumpy men coming and going. I came to learn that these men were all the time either busy or dancing and singing. They had a drink that helped them sing. It worked like magic every night and they called it 'special'. But it was really awful. Not as bad as their food, but still, horrible. It smelled like something rotten and it stung my throat. Ithel said I shouldn't take anything they offered again other than the cup of water. He also insisted that he smelled the cup and tasted the water before we shared it because the evil men tend to trick us by giving us their awful 'special' drink instead of sweet water. So my companion was wary of them and cautious all the time. Of course, Ithel was right.

I pulled myself to stand and looked over the edge of the large boat. The sea was beautiful and shimmering under the warm rays of the sun. However, watching the sea all day was so, so tedious.

The sea could not provide the distraction that I craved right now...

The sail has been longer than Ithel or I expected and I'm not allowed to do anything or go anywhere. I don't know how long we've been here exactly, definitely more than three weeks. During this time, nothing and a lot happened.

I'm saying a lot happened because most of my wounds have healed. It took a lot of time and pain, but I'm better now, from the outside. My eye wasn't swollen anymore, my shoulder and side didn't hurt, my hip that was aching from all the bumping into the rocks as I fell into the water, it felt better now, and I think I didn't have many colorful bruises anymore, only a few dark ones that refuse to fade.

My body didn't hurt anymore and that made me feel less miserable. However, I still have nightmares at night. Ithel's presence helps immensely with that, having him beside me makes the scary and sad feelings retreat faster. I didn't know what I would be if he wasn't with me. I would probably be gone by now if not for him.

Every day, I opened my eyes expecting some horrible revelation. I expected to find myself back in the cave with an angry stabbed Drita who looked for vengeance, or in the snare alone with Rhonwen wanting to strangle me with her long red hair. Even that dream where I was stuck in a deep dark place, it kept recurring and the more I saw it, the more real it felt. It wasn't something that had actually happened to me, like what happened with Drita, and yet my heart leaped every time I had it.