Hunting For The Sun

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

All At Sea

The rest of the time we spent at sea was fairly warm, so I went back up on deck. Aeroplanes were flying over, back and forth, and it was fun to watch. Great warships chugged past us regularly, and huge formations of Animagi birds and bats soared overhead. I created a camera and took pictures of it all. I still have those. It amuses me to look at them. Silly wars. They had no idea what they were getting themselves in for. They didn´t know. I watched all of it with a kind of sick amusement. They didn´t even think what they were doing. They just barged on regardless.

I had the stupidity to stay out in the dark on the fourth or fifth day. I was watching the stars and the icy water as we plodded along, and got carried away. The night was beautiful. The sky was the same colour as purple velvet, dotted with those little silver cake decorations. The stars glowed as bright as fire and the sea was as black as pitch. I looked up at the sky again, casting my eyes along the trail of light that led to the bloated, full moon. I didn´t realise what the scattered cloud was until it was almost right over me.

The vampires.

Millions of them, stretching from horizon to horizon. The bats blotted out the stars and cast shadows over the sea. My eyes widened like dinner plates and my stomach dropped out completely. My heart was thrumming at max speed. I already felt sweat breaking out on my forehead. I dove behind a crate and pressed my back to it, panting hard and pulling my hood up over my bright hair. I was terrified. How much trouble was I in for running away?

But it seemed that they passed, and the rustle of wings and the faint squeal of their echo-vision were gone. I breathed a sigh of relief, although I knew better than to count my chickens, and turned around to kneel and peer over the top of the box...

Then I heard a thud behind me, and turned to see Skye. I knew it was her. Her white hair billowed slightly with the wind, catching the moonlight and turning silver against the purple of night. I screamed and slammed against the crate, banging my head and swallowing dizzy stars. She was wearing a cloak lined with white silk, and it flowed back from her shoulders to swirl like a pool of ink on the ground. Her hands were planted firmly on her hips and her lips were twisted into an odd smile. Her bright blue eyes glinted red for a split second, and then she stepped forwards.

`Rae, Rae, Rae,´ she sighed, shaking her head. `You never thought we´d fall for that, did you?´

`What do you want?´ I cried, scrabbling away, but the crate cut me short. I jumped to my feet, fully intent on bolting.

`Oh, nothing,´ she said airily, straightening her short skirt.

`Leave me alone!´ How pathetic was that? I was ashamed of myself, and felt the blush creep through my skin.

She laughed. `Oh, of course we´ll leave you alone!´ she exclaimed. `We haven´t spent all this time tracking you down to actually stay with you! Heavens no!´

`What did you...´ I was confused. I began to shuffle away.

`Although, in your defence, you´re very good at hiding, Rae,´ she complimented. `We spent almost a month looking for you. It´s a disgrace for all of assassin and vampire kind.´

`Why are you doing this?´ I shrilled.

`Can´t you see? You can´t get away from this,´ she explained heavily. `It´s not up to any of us. It´ll all be over soon. If you only knew...´ She gave a smile that was about as warm as an Arctic winter.

`But I know that I can´t! So just stop fucking teasing me!´ I yelled, my anger and frustration getting the better of me. I bet you have no idea how hard it is to spend as long as I have not knowing what you have to do, but knowing that it´s something.

`You´re right,´ she nodded. `The vampires have all been Called to war. I´m going to stick with you and make sure that you don´t do anything, or we could go with them. It´s up to you.´ She examined her fingernails. I swallowed, flexing my hands into fists.

`I don´t want either! Make your own bloody way back to England. I want to go on my own!´ I shouted.

`Not an option. We´re all stuck together in this. You can´t run away.´ She came very close and put her mouth to my ear. She now spoke in an urgent whisper.

`I have to pretend that I´m threatening you, Rae. They´re going to kill me if I don´t, and if any of us die then we´re in trouble. Persephone broke the prophecy when she became a vampire. Now we have to hold it together, because it won´t hold itself. Now, listen very closely and don´t interrupt. They´re going back to England for the war. We need to get back to the temple and talk to the others. Then we need to get to Hogwarts, which is going to be even harder in this war. It has to be done before the Spring Equinox or we´re out of time and everything goes balls up. Don´t argue. We need to steal a boat and go faster. Perse said she´d let us stay here if we kept up with them.´ I tried not to appear shocked. I swallowed a few times and closed my eyes. I cleared my throat.

`We could steal a lifeboat,´ I suggested quietly.

`I´m really sorry that I had to do this to you, Rae,´ she told me sincerely. I could hear her words catch tearfully in her throat, and she coughed, lowering her voice to hide the sound. `We´ll have to take the lifeboat and do what we...´

`I do hope we´ve been able to reach some agreement, ladies?´ Persephone drawled, swirling into view behind Skye.

`The brat´s scared of heights,´ Skye snapped, glaring at me. She winked slowly to me.

`Bugger,´ Perse hissed. `Take a lifeboat or something and get moving.´ Then she spun and vanished, her cloak swirling up like the night itself around her. A lone bat made its way back to the others.

`Phase one, complete,´ Skye muttered. Then she looked around. `We need to find a boat.´

`How are we going to shake them off?´ I asked, as we started walking around the dark rail.

`We´ll just have to hope that they can´t find anywhere to sleep,´ she said. `Then we keep sailing and hopefully get away.´

`It´s a faint hope,´ I grimaced.

`I know,´ she sighed. `But these people are lethal. We have to use guile. We aren´t strong enough for brute force.´

`I know that,´ I nodded.

She pulled a tarpaulin off a boat and hefted herself up to look inside.

`Looks about right,´ she said, dropping inside.

I put my foot on the rail and then hooked my other leg over the side, sitting on the edge before dropping down into the craft. Skye was checking through the supply crates at the far end, lashed to the benches.

`Lifejackets, dried food, blankets, first-aid kits. Looks alright,´ she nodded, slamming the lid shut. She turned and sat on the bench.

`Now, how are we going to get it into the water?´ I asked.

`I´m not sure,´ she murmured, nibbling on a lock of milky white hair. She crossed to the edge and looked down the rail. `How do the Muggles get them down?´

I pointed upwards. `Those crane things.´

`How do we work those?´ Skye asked, standing up to have a closer look.

`You need about ten people,´ I said dubiously.

`Bollocks. How do they work?´

`Well, those ropes over there lift the boat up when you pull on them, then it swings out over the sea and they lower it down.´

`Simple,´ she laughed, jumping out and picking up one of the ropes.

`Skye, you need at least ten strong sailor-types,´ I reminded her.

`Oh,´ her face fell. `Well, what are they for?´ she asked, pointing up at the hovering cloud of bats.

`We need ten strong blokes!´ she called, cupping her hands to her mouth.

Ten bats detached from the swarm and flickered back into form on the deck.

`Pull on those ropes,´ she instructed. I sat down prudently. Skye vaulted back in and stood at the helm of the vessel, giving orders.

The boat rose ponderously into the air.

`Tell me when,´ she said to me. I nodded and looked over the sides.

`Okay!´ I cried, holding out a hand. We stopped moving.

`What now?´ Skye asked.

`You need to turn that big wheel,´ I told them. One split from the others and spun the wheel. The dinghy swung out over the water. I cried out. It was quite a lot farther down than it had seemed.

`Now lower the ropes back down,´ Skye instructed. We began to jerk down and down towards the sloshing ocean. The rail passed us by, and then the grey metal flank of the ship blocked our vision. Skye sat down and cradled her head in her hands. The boat hit the water, and I drew my dagger, hacking through the ropes and freeing us. A little cluster of bats flitted back into the night. I got all the ropes cut and we began to drift away from the ship.

`We aren´t rowing, are we?´ I asked Skye.

`At first,´ she sighed, looking up and wiping her eyes wearily. `They´ve forbidden me to use magic.´

`Bugger,´ I spat, picking up the handles of the oars. Skye grasped a set, and we turned backwards to start.

`Count us, Rae,´ she asked. `I have a crap rhythm.´

`Alright,´ I nodded. `One two, one two, one two, one two...´

We started to push and pull on those great big sticks. It was hard already, and I couldn´t envisage keeping this up all the way to Scotland. We were moving, though, so I kept counting and rowing.

After about an hour, my voice was beyond hoarse, and it was all I could do to grunt the rhythm. My back was aching, my hands were blistered and my arms were bloodless and dead. I was baking and freezing simultaneously.

`Pause,´ I croaked, dropping the oars and stretching my back, flexing my fingers and spitting on my raw hands. The icy wind cooled my face, but I didn´t dare to take off my coat. I could die. Not that it wouldn´t have been an improvement.

`We have to keep going,´ Skye coughed. `Just get some water and get going.´

I snatched the bottle from under my bench and sipped at it, savouring every meagre mouthful.

`We can´t stop,´ Skye said wearily. I nodded and picked up the oars. My hands protested immediately, and I winced. There was nothing to do. I pulled on the oars again, and we started to move.

~

`Dawn!´ I croaked, putting down the oar to point at the stained horizon in our wake.

Skye lifted her disconsolate head and gazed blearily at it. `Dawn,´ she whispered. `They won´t follow us now. Wait till the sun breaks the horizon. Put everything you´ve got until the sun breaks the horizon, then we´ll charm the boat and get out of here.´

I nodded, taking one more second to gaze at the enchanting sight, before lifting the paddle afresh.

The bats were falling behind. Skye tapped me on the back and I dragged the oars inside the boat.

`We did it,´ she croaked.

`We haven´t done it yet,´ I disagreed.

`Whatever,´ she sighed.

I put my hand on the side of the boat, tapped it once, then released the spell. We began to progress along, building speed until we were flying through the water as though all the demons of hell were snapping at our heels.

Oddly true.

Skye cast healing charms on our hands and we drank all of our water, replenishing the supplies magically. It was like a picnic. And we could see bats dropping out of the sky, turning human on their way down.

`Might want to speed up a little,´ Skye recommended, pointing at the few bats that were going ahead of the sunlight as it crept across the water.

`Sure,´ I nodded, patting the boat again. A metallic buzz filled the air and the nose of the boat rose up as we churned the water.

Skye cheered hoarsely, slapping me on the back. I didn´t turn around. I needed to watch that horizon.

`I´m really sorry, Rae,´ she sighed.

`I know.´

`We had to do it. I had to stay with them or they´d kill Ori. That´s what Persephone said.´

`Why do we care?´

`Because without anyone involved, the prophecy will fail,´ she explained. The colour drained out of my face and my mouth dropped open.

`Skye! They´re going to die if we leave them to the sunlight!´ I shouted, spinning and slapping her across the face.

`Oh gods!´ she cried. `You´re right! We need to go back!´

`We can´t!´ I cried, standing up and looking at them. `We can only save those two.´

`We could Summon them,´ Skye suggested.

`Yes, yes. That´s what we´ll do. You get Ori, I´ll get Persephone. Hopefully they´ll see our point now.´

We cried out the charms, holding our hands out ready.

For a while I could see nothing. I was scared. There was a sinking dread in my stomach and I wanted to cry. It was such a good plan! Now we found out that it was useless, and the two we were avoiding most of all had to come with us.

Two bats hurtled down out of the sky, crashing into our hands. They were squealing and flailing, but I wrapped my hands around Persephone´s wings.

`Now you listen to us,´ I said to her, also turning to see Ori. `We´re in charge now, and we´ll have no nonsense from you. The slightest toe out of line and we´ll tie you up in the sunlight, am I making myself clear?´

Persephone snapped at my finger, but Ori gave her a stern look, and she turned her head away.

`Do you agree to our terms?´ I asked. `Cause the sun sure is getting closer.´

They squealed in terror and tried to cover their faces with their wings. Skye nodded to me, and I took Ori from her. She emptied out a box and upturned it, putting it upside-down in the bottom of the boat. She tilted the edge, and I shoved the two vampires inside. Then I sat on the top, and we kept going.

All the bats dropped down into the sea before that hour was up, except Ori and Persephone. They squeaked at first, but I started to lift the box, and they got the idea.

It was a wonderful feeling, being in charge. The way Skye was looking at me, I could tell she was shocked. I think I´d impressed her. I´d impressed the unimpressible. She asked me what to do. She actually deferred to me! I got the feeling that she was slightly scared of my attitude. She´d always been really butch and scary and in charge, but the one thing that had broken her spirit had put me in my element. I was proud of me.

Like I said, I couldn´t remember how long we spent at sea, but we had to cut ourselves and pour blood into a cup for the bats to live. The food lasted us alright, but I didn´t like all this bleeding. Sure, I could heal the cuts with magic, but I hate the sight of blood. It was one such day when I had just squeezed blood into a dish for them. I sat moodily in the prow of the boat, rubbing the tingles out of my freshly healed wrist.

`Don´t worry,´ Skye muttered. `We won´t have to do this for much longer.´

I just growled at her.

`Oh come on!´ she grinned.

`I don´t want to have to look after them,´ I whined.

`Neither of us do, but at least we´re in charge here.´

`How did they think they would get all the way across this ocean?´ I asked, gesturing at the vast expanse of water.

`I think they were going to stick to the coast. Your boat wasn´t meant to be that far out. You were meant to catch a coastal trawler.´

`Ship,´ I corrected absently. `This was the first ship to Scotland. What else was I going to do?´

`Oh, don´t ask me. They´re pretty set in their ways. I guess they never considered that you would do something they wouldn´t. They need to be able to get out quickly, in case anyone gets suspicious.´

`You seem to know a lot about them,´ I commented.

`Yeah. I came a while ago. It was where I met Draco. He was staying with Persephone. I can´t remember why. We visited there a lot of times, but Ori did that thing he did to you, and Draco left me. It wasn´t my fault!´ she protested loudly, slamming her hand on the bench.

`I know, but it wasn´t the bench´s either,´ I reminded her.

`I should warn you,´ she sighed, `Draco´s a player. He won´t keep you past the time he needs you. The moment all this is over...´ She made a cutting motion across her throat with a finger.

I stayed silent.

`He´s got the looks, he´s got the money, he´s got the connections. He´s never been poor. He´s never had anyone say no to him. He won´t keep you unless it benefits him in some way.´

I still didn´t say anything.

`I´m just warning you,´ she said, shaking her head. `You don´t have to listen.´

But I did. I did listen. I heard every word, and I knew that she was probably right. He was a player. He had always had what he wanted without question. He probably would ditch me when he didn´t need me anymore. That added a new dimension to my worries. Now I was not only looking to be poor, mortal, weak and powerless after the war. I would be lonely too.

~*~