I had another strange dream. This time it was with the woman that had been on the beach with me when Korell died. And this time it wasn't a memory, it was something that had never happened.

"The sea and the earth are constantly at war with each other," the woman said. "They both fight fiercely, but neither will ever win. They cannot be convinced to stop, though. For neither of them are at all tame."

I awoke with a start and sat up in my bed. I didn't know why I kept having these dreams about the sea. They had, as far as I could tell, nothing to do with me. I tried to go back to sleep. I succeeded, but not without being troubled by yet another dream.

It was about the woman, who claimed to be Brennan's mother. She was weeping, kneeling in the surf by the sea. Then she turned to look at me.

"Darya, you must save us! And not just myself, but you as well, and those who have not yet come to land! I have held out longer than any of those before me, but soon the curse shall have its fill of me. And then you."

Again, I was jerked awake. The other dreams were simple conversations, but this, this was frightening. A curse? On me? I didn't like it. I shivered. I was glad that we were leaving on the following day.

It was a delightfully sunny day when we loaded up the ship and set sail. I was glad to be out at sea again. It felt like home. I climbed up on the rigging and hung, just staring out at the endless blue, and where it met the horizon. It was amazing, really.

After a while, I climbed down again. Brennan came to stand beside me.

"Glad to be sailing again?" he asked me.

"Very," I answered. "And you?"

He nodded. "Especially since the town didn't seem to agree with you."

I smiled, but it faded soon after, as I thought again of the dreams, the woman on the beach, and the water nymph. It was intriguing, troubling, and just plain strange. I wanted to know what was going on, and yet I had a sense of foreboding, that maybe it would be better not to know.

Our second night at sea, a terrible storm came upon us. The wind howled away and ripped at the sails. We had to take them down, or risk having the mast be torn from the boat. When that was done, there was not much to do but wait it out.

I was preparing to go below deck, when an enormous wave sent the boat, nearly tipping over. I was thrown to the side, the side where the rail had not been repaired. I tried desperately to grab onto something, anything, but there was nothing. I fell into the cold, tumultuous ocean. Something hard, I thought it was probably a board, smacked my head. It was the last thing I remember about the storm.

I woke up on the shore of someplace. It was a misty morning. The cold waves were lapping around my legs. I was covered in sand. It reminded me all too well of when I first woke up, with no memories. At least I knew who I was this time.

I pushed myself to my knees, and saw that Brennan was lying next to me. At first I was worried he might be dead, but thankfully I saw that he was breathing. I crawled over to him.

"Brennan," I shook him.

He jumped. "Darya?" He looked around. "Where are we?"

"Shipwrecked," I replied. "Who knows where."