True Love of The Seven Seas Chapter 20
They weren't even halfway through the Granite Gates when the weirdest thing happened. A low rumbling was heard and one minute they were sailing through open water and the next the water was frozen with ice and snow with the air just as cold with snowflakes dropping lightly from the now cloudy sky. The ship shook as the water both surrounding and underneath the vessel turned into ice on the spot from the sudden mysterious blizzard. Frost and snowflakes covered every inch of square feet on the ship.
The change occurred so quick that the drool dripping from Spike's muzzle transformed into icicles on the spot pointing upwards To be honest it was a pretty amusing picture.
Eyes wide as she scanned the new freezing cold terrain, bemused and skeptical, Chryseis said "Why do I get the feeling there's someone who doesn't want us to reach Tartarus?"
"For crying out loud, what next," exclaimed Sinbad. He turned to move off nearly colliding with Kale's bare chest as he was standing at his shoulder. "Oh, get a shirt on before you poke someone's eye out."
Placing fisted hands on his hips Kale glared at Sinbad as he went to the railing of the upper deck to speak to the crew.
"Okay, guys get down there and break it up! We've got to keep moving," ordered Sinbad.
So in the course of adapting to the mysterious weather changes the crew dressed in warmer gear. The majority of them then jumped ship to chip away at the ice now hindering the voyage. Only Sinbad, Marina, Chryseis, and Spike remained on the Chimera. Both women now wearing warmer clothing clearly meant for females that Sinbad somehow had in storage.
Recalling that dancer and prostitutes top from a brothel in Syracuse they'd found in his cabin Chryseis wasn't surprised he had these on hand.
Faced with such disagreeable conditions some of Sinbad's crew was seriously questioning their questions judgment. Don't get the wrong idea they were all loyal to a fault to Sinbad, but that didn't mean they weren't going to complain. They just didn't where no one could hear them.
Using a miner's pick Rat was chipping away at the sold ice in front of the ship. He was shivering violently from the cold which wasn't a big surprise since he was extremely skinny under his nimble frame and was only wearing a furred vest and hat for protection.
"Steal the Book of Peace," grunted Rat, mockingly quoting exactly what Sinbad had said when he first broached the subject with his men. "We will retire in the tropics."
The deconstruction of the ice was well underway when out of nowhere Spike started barking like crazy. This immediately drew Sinbad's attention cause Spike was usually a very easy going dog and for him to act like this meant something very big was coming and it wasn't good. Not long after that a distance whooshing noise was heard.
This made everyone stop what he or she was doing and instantly go on the alert. The incident with the sirens and other past experiences made them all hold their weapons the equipment they were using to chip at the ice defensively. They weren't going to be made fools of again.
Then a large creature trailing heaps of snow flew out in the open, but just as quickly as it appeared it vanished behind rock formations.
Marina and Chryseis were standing close to Spike so when he stopped barking began whimpering, running off to hide they braced themselves.
There was a loud boom with snow flying into the air as the creature revealed itself. The snow cleared and all discovered the monster was in fact a Roc. A Roc is an enormous bird of prey with its feathers completely white. The appearance of this legendary creature sent the entire crew into a full blown panic at this assault.
The Roc screeched flying low over the ship making every person there instinctively duck. The Roc circled around preparing for another pass and that's when Sinbad seized the opportunity to get all his men back onto the ship.
"Everyone, back on the ship," called Sinbad.
Marina said "Hurry!"
"Come on! Come on," shouted Kale, running for the ship. "Move faster!"
No one needed to be told twice. The men dropped their equipment and booked it for the Chimera. Sinbad, Marina, and Chryseis went to the sides to help them get on board.
Only one of the crew was in trouble. Jed was too far away. He'd been the farthest distance and the Roc was closing in on him fast. Just when it seemed the Roc was going to grab him Jed chose the lesser of two evils. He dived head first into the freezing water avoiding the Roc's talons.
"Jed," said Marina, rushing to the bow and eyeing the spot where he went under.
Jed breeched the surface gasping for breath clutching the ice floating in front of him.
Marina found some rope and threw one end out to him, saying "Grab the rope!"
Jed caught it and Marina tied her end down so he could use it as an anchor. Sinbad and Chryseis didn't see this too busy helping the others.
It was only after Sinbad pulled up Kale did he realize the dangerous scenario Marina was in. He saw the Roc gunning for Marina before any of them did.
"Marina," he said, frantic to beat the bird, but wasn't fast enough.
The Roc took Marina in its talons and few off with her. Sinbad tried to grab her hand, but didn't have a good enough grip and her fingers ended up sliding out. The Roc flew to the top of the highest peek where they could hear Marina's frantic cries.
Sinbad quickly concocted a plan to rescue Marina. He put a shield onto his back, tied two of his daggers around his feet. All the while he was giving commands to his now rounded up crew.
"Rat, don't let the blocks freeze," said Sinbad.
"Aye, aye, Captain," said Rat.
"And Kale," said Sinbad, turning to his second mate.
"Aye," said Kale, standing tall.
"Give me a hug," said Sinbad, smiling.
"Excuse me," said Kale, taken aback.
Sinbad wrapped his arms around Kale and took the two daggers he knew his right hand man had hidden at the waist. He jumped back twirling them in his fingers. Sinbad went for the harpoon hidden at the front of the ship.
Kale heard some quiet giggling and looked to see Chryseis staring at him with a smile on her lips. Kale chuckled bearing a smile of his own.
Sinbad kicked a lever and the harpoon was revealed. He aimed it for the mountain where they last saw the Roc take Marina. Sinbad released a high-pitched whistle and Spike pulled the switch that had a bone hanging from it for him. The harpoon was launched and Sinbad grabbed hold of the line connected to it. When Sinbad got close enough to the surface he let go and slammed into the snow. Chryseis and the crew watched as he used the daggers to steadily climb up the slope.
Chryseis wore a worried frown. When she hard some of the crew betting on whether or not Sinbad and Marina would make it back alive she looked at them disturbed.
"Do you always make bets on your Captains survival," she demanded, indignantly.
The twins shrugged it off and Luca said "Yeah." They didn't see what the big deal was.
Chryseis shook her head and went off to wait in anticipation by herself.
An hour passed as they all stood there and still no sign of their missing comrades.
A loud explosion came from the fortress above with a cloud of snow bursting forth. That wasn't all that came out. Yelling Marina and Sinbad dropped from the highest point of the place directly over the ship. By the look of things they were going to make a landing right on the deck.
Upon hearing their voices the entire crew looked up to find the duo on route for them.
"Yep, there they are," said Kale, adjusting his hat back onto his head since he'd been fiddling with it while they waited.
One of the twins flipped a gold coin into his brother Luca's waiting hands. He won the bet.
Marina and Sinbad landed in the sail over the aft of the ship. They fell in a crumpled heap leaving the others to dig them out. Underneath the sail they were found unharmed and in one piece. Especially Marina much to the crews delight.
"It's Marina," they all said.
The men helped Marina up and Rat even went as far as to hug her bawling his eyes out.
"We thought you were gone forever," cried Rat, much to the crew's enjoyment and embarrassment.
Sinbad was far from amused that his own crew seemed more attentive over Marina than him.
"Oh, I'm fine. Really," said Sinbad, loudly clearing his throat, sarcastic. "But I'm touched by your concern."
Sinbad then bent his back, bones cracking.
As if on cue a loud rumbling was heard and the building formation behind him began to topple. The foundation disrupted by Marina and Sinbad's reckless ride down fleeing the Roc. Much to their amazed disbelief the boulders broke the ice when they crashed into the ocean clearing the way and freeing the ship.
The crews cheered in rejoice. Now they could continue on their way and the best part was they didn't have to do any more work in the cold to boot.
Authors Note:
Just so you guys have a bit of a heads up Chryseis is going to have a little surprise ready for Kale towards the end of the voyage. Because I love you guys so much I'll give you a tiny hint. It has something to do with this chapter. ;)