Chapter Twenty One

Crossing the Dark Sea

VALLOkEN

This is looking like a rerun of last time. Val clenched his jaw as he clutched the back of the seat right in front of him. Peggy had managed to coax the plane into taking off - somehow - and they'd risen into the skies and beyond the clouds once more.

All seemed fine at first, and the afternoon skies were clear. But halfway across the ocean, the weather changed abruptly. It was almost as if something - or someone - had realised that they were flying towards Ahtohallan, and was doing everything to stop them. A storm arose, winds screaming at them and rain pelting the plane like hailstones. And to top it off and make things worse, lightning.

"Please don't tell me we survived the crash and a battle just to crash again." Val groaned.

"Well on the bright side, we've made it further than we did last time." Talya said tightly. "We can make it."

"It's going to get bumpy again!" Peggy shouted from the cockpit. "Might wanna buckle in this time!"

"Damn right I'm going to." Val quickly fastened his seatbelt, just as a bolt of lightning flashed right in front of the plane's nose. His fear of heights had been greatly exacerbated after this whole debacle. "I'm never stepping foot on a bloody plane ever again."

"We'll make it." Talya said, and Val didn't know whether she was telling him or simply reassuring herself. "We have to. We've come this far."

"Yeah, tell that to the storm. I'm sure it'll understand."

Turbulence rocked the plane from side to side, and Val hung on for dear life. His nails dug into the chair in front of him, and his fingertips turned white. His eyes darted to the window and he saw the repaired airplane wing bearing the punishment being doled out by the storm. Frankly, he was surprised that the plane had even lasted this long.

And then he wished he hadn't thought it. Jinxed. A bolt of lightning struck the plane, and something exploded.

"Shit!" Peggy swore, yanking on the controls quickly and checking the panel.

"What's happening?" Talya shouted.

Peggy unbuckled her seat belt and began scrambling towards where Val and Talya were seated. "Get up, get up!"

Val fumbled with his seatbelt. "What the hell is-"

"We need to bail!" Peggy shouted. The plane was already tipping downward, and Val could feel the descent sharply in the pit of his stomach. "If the plane crashes into the water while we're still in here, we're all gonna drown!"

So much for destiny. Sighing in exasperation, Val grabbed his bag containing his tablet, and followed both Talya and Peggy to the door.

"Are you sure we can do this?" Talya hollered as Peggy pried open the door and a gust of strong wind and rain pelted them in the face.

"We have no choice!" Peggy shouted to be heard over the howling winds and the rumbling of thunder.

Val looked down and instantly regretted it. What had been a decent, warm afternoon had suddenly turned into a raging storm at what might as well have been midnight. The waters were dark and hostile, waves crashing over each other simultaneously and roaring all the while.

"We won't survive the storm! We'll drown!" Val protested.

"If we don't move we're going to drown anyway!" Talya shouted in response. "It's not like we have any other choice!"

"Oh, God." Val looked down at the unwelcoming waters. "We're going to die, aren't we?"

"Once we hit the water, stay close to each other!" Peggy instructed them. "Last thing we want is to get separated by the storm! Alright, we move in three! One!"

Val shot Talya a hard stare. She was not going to push him this time.

"Two!"

He braced himself for the free fall into the dark sea. Oh, god.

"Three!"

Peggy was the first to leap out of the plane, assuming a perfect diving form. Talya glanced at him but didn't say a word. Then, she followed suit, jumping off from the edge of the plane.

He was running out of time if he didn't want to be separated. It was now or never. Inhaling deeply, Val forced himself to step off the edge, and he gasped as his body plummeted towards the water. The fall was excruciating torture, and Val could hear himself yelling above the howls of the winds and waves, punctuated by growling thunder.

Hitting the water ungracefully, Val sank for a good few seconds. His eyes were still open and they smarted painfully. He began to thrash towards the surface but from the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a blue figure moving towards them.

"Gah!" Val broke through the surface of the water, thrashing wildly. He looked round for Talya and Peggy, enduring the rolling motions of the waves and allowing them to crash over him as he turned his body, looking for the two girls. "Talya! Peggy!" He bellowed as another wave filled his mouth full of seawater. "Where the hell are you?"

Nothing. Nothing, except for the screaming of the winds and the roar of the waves. Treading water furiously, Val could feel himself growing tired as he kept his head above water.

"Talya! Peggy!" He tried again. Shit.

"Val!"

He strained his ears to try to make out where the sound was coming from, but it was nearly impossible.

"Where are you?" He hollered.

"Here! Val, over here!"

Val turned, spotting the two girls about fifteen yards from his position. Relieved, he began to swim towards them, aided by the direction of the current. Reaching them, he held on to both of them, and the three huddled close.

"What now?" Talya asked loudly.

"We have to keep swimming!" Peggy answered, sounding as if she hadn't even lost her breath yet after all this time of treading water.

"Are you kidding? We're in the middle of the freaking Dark Sea!" Val shouted. "We're not going to get far like this!"

"Wait, I feel something!" Talya interjected, frowning hard. "Something's wrong?"

"You mean other than getting caught in a freak storm?" Val asked, getting a mouthful of water for his efforts.

"I don't know, it feels like-" Talya's eyes widened. "Sorcery! It's getting nearer!"

Val was about to ask how the hell sorcerers had managed to find them in the middle of the Dark Sea when something from below threw him into the air. Screaming, he was catapulted through the air and hit the water with arms and legs waving.

"What the-" he gurgled as he tried to orientate himself, another wave slapping him directly in the face and blinding him for a second. It couldn't have been water. It felt like a solid object had rammed into him from below. And it had felt alive. His heart was beating so fast that he was sure it would explode.

"Talya! Peggy!" He turned round as best as he could to face them, but found them also being harassed by…What?

He blinked. A horse? What the hell is a horse doing in the middle of the damn ocean?

"Talya! Peggy!" He thrashed, letting the current carry him towards them.

Peggy was as helpless as he was, being mercilessly tossed out of the water. Talya however, was doing her best to grapple with the beast. Her unreliable powers weren't working, evidently, for Val could see her trying to grab ahold of the horse without using her ice sorcery to her advantage.

Swimming nearer, Val squinted, trying to ignore the waves that threatened to pull him under. He still couldn't believe his eyes. It was a horse all right, but made out of pure water. Its mane, hooves, bridle…it was disturbing. It has to be sorcery of some sort.

Talya had managed to seize its neck and was clinging on to it for dear life. It suddenly galloped off, pulling her along with it. Her body would have gone flying if it weren't for her firm grip on the beast, and she was dragged through the water unceremoniously, moving out of sight.

"Talya, let go!" Val shouted after her, accidentally swallowing a mouthful of water. "Let go of it!"

From the corner of his eye, he saw Peggy attempting to swim back towards them, but the waves were relentlessly trying to pull her down. This entire thing seemed too unnatural. It was as if something or someone out there was manipulating the storm.

"Peggy!" Val coughed and gasped, trying to swim towards her. He managed to grab hold of her arm before she got pulled under by another wave. They clung to each other, treading water for all they were worth.

Val looked around frantically. His sister was nowhere in sight, and the water horse was gone too.

"Talya!" He bellowed, but his voice was drowned out by the waves. "Talya, can you hear me? Where are you?"

Nothing.

"Val, we have to keep moving!" Peggy sputtered. "Otherwise we won't last very much longer like this!"

"I'm not leaving my sister!" He roared. "Talya! Where the hell are you?"

"Don't be a fool!" Peggy grabbed his shirt. "There's no way we can find her in a storm like this!"

"I'm not losing her. Not after all our lives apart!" Val raised his voice at the top of his lungs. "Talya!"

The water horse sprang over the waves and galloped across the surface towards Val and Peggy. Val braced himself for the coming impact. He did a double take. On the horse's back was Talya, who'd seemingly managed to master the beast. Leaning back, her hands sawed on the reins and brought the horse to a halt beside where Peggy and Val were treading water.

"What-how-" Val stared at his sister in disbelief.

"I'll explain later. Just get on!" Talya motioned to them from horseback, leaning over to grab Peggy's hand.

Peggy swung herself gingerly onto the horse, sitting behind Talya. She then reached out her hand to help Val up. With great difficulty, Val clambered onto the horse clumsily, and all the while he waited for the horse to scream and throw him off like a rag doll. But the moment never came. The horse waited tamely, snorting or grunting periodically. It was large enough to sit three, but with barely enough space to breathe.

"What-I don't understand." Val stuttered, trying to keep his balance on the horse as it began trotting off. "Will someone please explain to me what the hell just happened?"

"I don't know for sure," Talya admitted, casting a glance behind her. "But when I was wrestling with the horse, I managed to use my ice to fight it. The sorcery must have resonated somehow, because the horse stopped fighting immediately."

"So you tamed the horse with your sorcery?" Peggy asked.

"I think so. It seems to recognise that I'm a sorcerer of some sort at least, and is letting me pass," Talya inclined her head towards the sky. "And I guess the same can be said for the weather."

The waves had began to calm and the winds had already stopped howling. The rains and the lightning died down too, and soon the sea was calm, albeit with dark skies still looming over them and threatening to unleash its fury at any time.

"I don't get it." Val said, still bewildered. "Why would the water horse and the weather allow us to pass?"

"I think it might have something to do with the fact that I'm a sorceress. Everything changed the moment I unleashed my ice sorcery." Talya said. "But I can't be sure."

"Whatever it is, it seems your new pet knows exactly where we wanted to go." Peggy pointed ahead of them.

Val looked, and his eyes widened as a large glacier came into sight. It was indeed real. Ahtohallan was real.