Three Broken Kingdoms-Book 1 of the Lost Continent (Completed)

Chapter Seventeen: The Storm

Jasper's Point of View

Jasper was curled up in a ball in the corner of the ship, trying to hold back his breakfast. It was just his luck to be caught in a storm in the usually calm Asriel Strait.

If he had thought properly, then he would have chosen a ship in better condition for the long journey across the strait and down the kingdom.

Or perhaps he would have ended up in the same place anyway. Perhaps he was always destined for this path. This cursed yet blessed path.

But it didn't matter now. he had not thought properly. He had dashed to the nearest ship he could find. And ended up in the middle of the ship-sinking sort of storm.

The lightning streaked outside, and Jasper watched with dread from his small cabin window. The last time he had seen the captain, his face had been grim. They were being battered about right into the heart of the Western Asrieli Isles. Even if they had managed to get a signal for help out, it would have gone right out to the valkyries and elves, who were probably intent on leaving Kallias in nothing more than ash.

There was no one for them to pray to. The Goddesses didn't care for the fate of mortals. Jasper offered up a prayer to the sun anyway. If it came out of the clouds and lit the way back to his burning kingdom, he would never complain about the heat again. He would learn to celebrate summer, if the sun just came out and ended the storm.

But the next day the news was even grimmer: they were passing around the Isthmus, growing closer and closer to Miras. At least under the Asrieli Islands, they were unlikely to be found. In Miras, on the edge of the Hawk Mountains, the valkyries would almost certainly find them. A couple of the passengers began to discuss throwing themselves overboard before any of the God-Born could get to them. Jasper had considered that himself. A sudden crack filled the air and he was struck by the urge to race upstairs and see what was wrong. He forced himself to stay inside. It was safer down here, even if every instinct pushed him to figure out what damage every blast of wind was doing to the ramshackle ship. Yes, the WindSurfer had been a bad decision. But at least it had a no-questions-asked, cheap-as-chips policy. At least he wasn't paying all too much for a ship that was now going to take him to the bottom of the ocean.

"Abandon ship!" The cries rang out and he froze.

Was this the end, then? The bottom of the ocean so foreign and cold compared to the flickering flame he loved, in a no-name ship, running from the army? He wished he had a chance to see his aunt again, to explain everything. To know the truth about why she had left. Nala would never know how he had died now.

At least she was alive. Jasper was glad that she had lived. Even if this was his end. He scrambled up to the deck, looking around. All around him, people were jumping off the ship, aiming for lifeboats that deflated to nothing. His last thought as he hit the ocean floor was that Medea would be really, really annoyed that she couldn't track him down.

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Jasper thought this afterlife sucked. It was freezing cold, and he had never been this cold before. It turned out that being cold wearing desert clothes was a whole lot worse than being boiling hot wearing desert clothes. He was also dead, and that was a major bummer.

Death really, really sucked. It gave him a raging headache. At least this was better than the burning hell realm he had expected to end up with. Maybe whatever god ruled the afterlife had taken pity on him. He was rather pitiful.

Jasper staggered to his feet and suddenly realised he was alive. Because there were very living elves looking down at him. And very real chains on his wrists.