Chapter Six

I walked through the open doors of the church silently, my belonging stuffed into my brown bag. The only thing I left behind were the Atreals. She could have poisoned them.

"Mr. Taytum!" I called out loudly. There was no answer, so I called again, louder this time, "MR. TAYTUM!"

"Hush, child," He said turning me around, "Are you trying to wake the entire church?" I shook my head and felt my eyes start to burn. This time I couldn't be brave; I let the tears fall.

"What's the matter Erin?" He asked concerned. I sniffled and I started to tell him what had happened, starting from my finding of the book on Eleusian in the library, and ending with me packing my things and coming to find him. He listened carefully, nodding at the right times.

"Wyvern, you say?" He asked, still shocked that Remi could be such a person, "I knew her, her entire life. I would have never guessed that she…" He trailed off.

"Neither did I." I mumbled, "Until I found that book." He nodded and took a deep breath, running his hands through his now clean hair.

"What should we do?" I asked, feeling like a very small being in a very large and dangerous situation.

"'We'?" He repeated, raising his eyebrows at me, "When did I get involved with you?"

"The moment you became friends with my grandfather." I retorted, angry that he would discard me at the first sign of danger. Maybe I had been foolish to come to him for help, maybe he was only a cowardice clergyman, hiding behind the face of the church.

"Indeed, it seems so." He chided to himself. He looked up at me sympathetically and nodded to himself.

"Well? Will you help me?" I asked anxious, angry, scared. He nodded tentatively, seeming to wish he were someone else.

. "I can't do much," He gestured to the church, "My life is here." I was about to say something, but he continued.

"But I shall help you escape." He looked up at a clock on the wall, and proceeded to pull something out of his pocket. It was a slip of paper, which he glanced at, then put it back into his pocket.

"A large ship, owned by my nephew Emory, called the Pelennor docks everyday at midnight. He will be able to take you to Olvion"

"Everyday? How?" I asked scrupulously. He nodded.

"He is a very good captain." He said, "And his ship has been marked by the Arcadion."

"The god of the seas." I nodded. It was rare, but still possible for certain ships to be marked, blessed I would say, by the Arcadion. He was a generous god. Indeed, it was wise for a caption to pay homage to him.

"Erin!" Mr. Taytum said sharply, "Pay attention!"

"Sorry." I said automatically. He shook his head at me and sighed.

"As I was saying," He said, "He should be here soon, so you had better make your way there now. Tell him I sent you. He should let you aboard."

"Thank you." I said sincerely, but Mr. Taytum just shook his head.

"Best be off with you." He said, nodding toward the door. "It's not safe here for you, anymore." I nodded and pulled my bag tighter around me.

"Goodbye." I called to him, walking out of the door. I only caught a wisp of what he said to me before the door closed, but I'm fairly sure I know what he meant.

"…indeed goodbye, as we never again shall meet…"

I looked around me, the streets still. It was unusual. Extremely unusual. And the eerie silence made my blood run cold. I tightened my grip on my bag and looked to where the market was. I took a breathe and counted to three.

I began to run.

I reached the dock, minutes before midnight, and indeed a ship was pulling into port. I waited a while until the ship had anchored and the crew set off to work. Silently I crept over and up to the gangplank, about to go aboard, when someone stopped me. A man, maybe some years older than me, stood tall, looking down on me. His green eyes studied me suspiciously and his dirty blonde hair fell in limp curls, no doubt from the time at sea.

"What do you think your doing?" He asked, seeming a bit annoyed.

"I was going aboard to look for a man named Emory." I answered honestly, "Do you know him?"

"Depends on who's askin'." He said with a frown, eyeing me like I was a nothing more than a stowaway.

"I'm asking." I sighed, "His uncle, Isus Taytum, sent me." The young man's face lit up.

"That no good, cowardly, man who dares call himself a clergy in the name of the gods, sent you, to find me." He laughed at the sound of it. He smirked at me and did a little bow, before standing straight again.

"As you might have guessed already," He said, his confidence almost being arrogance, "I am Emory. Emory Elloner, captain of The Pelennor."

"Nice to meet you," I said, with a roll of my eyes, "I'm Erin Levine."

"As in Aspen Levine?" He asked. I huffed, irritated that so many people knew my family.

"How is it everyone knows my family?" I asked, more or less to myself.

"Well," He said, shrugging, "I don't know your family, but my uncle always talks about his 'adventures' with Aspen. So, yeah."

"Uh huh." I said, chewing my lip. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"So, what does he want?" Emory asked. I shook my head, looking up at him.

"Nothing," I said, "But I need someone to give me safe passage to Olvion."

"And you expect that someone to be me." He stated with a nod of his head. I nodded agreement.

"Could you?" I asked, getting anxious, remembering who could be right around the corner.

"I could," He said with a smug smile, "But would I?"

"Please," I pleaded desperately, "It's a matter of life and death." I clasped my hands in front of me, my eyes shining.

"Well," He said, obviously feeling a bit guilty.

"My life and possibly my death." I added, and he looked at me for a moment, before nodding.

"Fine." He said, looking away, "I guess I can take you there. That is our next stop anyway." I couldn't help but hug him before running up the gangplank. He only stood there, staring after me.

"I think we should split up to look for her." A young woman said to the young man she was walking with. The young man nodded and they turned opposite ways and began to search for something. Or more like someone.

"Oh Erin," She said, worry clouding her pretty features. Her wavy gray hair falling into her face as she looked down into an alleyway, her hooded brown eyes scanning as far as she could see.

She and her friend, the young man, had been searching for Erin all day.

"Raina," She heard someone call from behind. The young woman, Raina, turned to see her friend shaking his head sadly. "It's too dark now. We should look again tomorrow."

"We can't stop looking now!" She said stubbornly, glaring into his light colored eyes.

"Raina." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head, looking away.

"We can't give up Lewis." Raina sighed. The man, Lewis, lowered his eyes as well.

"I never said we were giving up," Lewis said softly, "I said we should take a break and get some sleep."

"But-" Raina started to say, but upon seeing Lewis's face she silenced.

"Olvion will still be here when we wake up, Raina." He said soothingly. Raina couldn't hold in the tears any longer.

"Erin wasn't." She managed to say, before she began to sob, and was overcome with grief.

"I do hope they made it to Olvion safely," A woman said to her husband, as they lay in bed about to go to sleep. The day had been hectic, and without their daughter there to help, it had been all the worse.

"Don't worry Arisa," Her husband said as he turned over, getting comfortable.

"How can I not?" Arisa asked softly, "My daughter has been missing for days." Her voice trailed off.

"Lewis and Raina are going to find her," He mumbled through a yawn, "Erin will be home before we know it."

"I hope so." She said, before she too rolled over and got comfortable, drifting off into another night of troubled dreams.

The night passed by slowly though the ship sped through the water. Emory and his men were in constant motion, tugging at sails, tying ropes, moving things about.

Then all at once the sped stopped, and we were going at a normal pace. I could hear some men swearing loudly, but above them I could hear Emory.

"Seems a storm is brewing crew," He said, calm and collected, "You know the drill." All at once the men went into action, clearing the deck, pulling in the sails. Emory sidled up next to me and looked out over the water.

"Why is the ship slowing down?" I asked curiously. Emory sighed and gestured to the sky, now pitch black. The stars and moon hidden completely.

"The ship is powered by the moon," I could dimly see him shake his head, "And the thick storm clouds are blocking it."

"I thought the Arcadion blessed it." I questioned. "So shouldn't it work all the time?"

"Okay, Miss know-it-all," He said turning to look at me. "What makes the water move?"

"What?" I asked. What a weird question, I thought. He sighed, shaking his head at me again.

"What makes the waves, Erin, what makes the sea move around." He stated slowly, as if I was an idiot.

"The moon." I said matter of fact.

"Exactly." He scoffed. Oh, I thought, the moon. Now I did feel a bit like an idiot. Emory laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked, turning to look at him.

"Nothing, nothing." He said looking away from me, and instead staring out over the water.

"What?" I asked, annoyed. He turned to me and laughed again, shaking his head and looking away.

"Your face." He mumbled.

"Excuse you?" I huffed. How rude, I thought angrily.

"The face you were making," He said, and he puffed out his cheeks and squinted his eyes.

"I do not look like that!" I said, hitting his arm. He laughed again, and I couldn't help but laugh too.

"Of course not," He said leaning forward, "You're a lot cuter than that." He smiled playfully, and I stepped away from him, still laughing. I didn't catch the disappointed look in his eye.

"Stop joking around." I said, giggling softly, trying to control myself.

"I wasn't-" He started to say, but the rain started down all at once.

"Get inside," He said ushering me to the door of his cabin. He didn't have any private ones, and all the other bunks were housed by the crew. So…I was glad to be separate from them, even if I had to share a room with Emory.

The rain was coming down hard, harder than I had seen in a while, and there was fog thicker than blood, adding to the fact that it was already pitch black out. And while being aboard a ship, that wasn't really something good.

"Batten down the hatches men!" I heard Emory yell. "She's gonna hit us hard!" He stood tall under heavy fire of the downpour, I standing in the doorway of his cabin.

"Erin, come inside," He said turning to me, the fog starting to obscure his face, but soon he was close enough for me to see the concern in his eyes.

"Emory, what's wrong?" I asked curious. He only shook his head and ushered me inside. All at once I could feel his arms wrap around me and was pulled into an embrace.

"Emory! What are you-" He cut me off from my question.

"Erin, thank you." He muttered into my shoulder. I could feel his damp clothes already becoming cold.

"For what?" I asked confused, but he only pulled away and shook his head.

"Never mind," He said turning to leave, "Just stay here inside, okay?"

"Alright." I sighed, looking down at my hands. "Um, Emory, you will be back, right?"

"Of course, but after the storm has passed." He said, leaving me alone. I stood there for awhile, pitying my foolishness.

"Of course he needs to be out on deck," I muttered to myself, "Just because I don't want to be alone, doesn't mean he has to accommodate me." I was so absorbed in my thoughts, I was oblivious to the shouting on deck, and to the window, which was creaking open.

Only when I felt arms come around me and pull me toward the window did I hear Emory yelling from outside the cabin.

"Pirates!"

After a brief struggle, I was pulled out of the window and was nearly almost dropped into the raging sea. Fear of being dropped into oblivion, overcame the fear of being kidnapped and soon the fighting spirit in me died away and I let my captor take me aboard his ship.

"Sit still, and be quite," My capture muttered, who I knew now to be a man. He had Auburn hair and striking gold eyes.

"What do you want from me?" I asked as he forced me to sit down in a chair in what looked like a captains cabin.

"I said to be quiet." He said, his voice low as he began to tie me to my seat.

"Who are you?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Be quiet!" He said loudly, pulling the ropes tighter, making me wince.

After making sure I wasn't going to be able to escape he stood and walked to the door.

"Nathaniel Borden." He said, not looking at me. I remained silent.

"My name is Nathaniel Borden." And for the second time that night, I was left alone in silence.

Some time later Nathaniel Borden came back into the room in which he left me.

"What's your name, and who do I contact to get a ransom." He said bluntly. I shook my head slowly, keeping my mouth shut. He sighed, rolling his eyes.

"You can talk now." He added. Defiantly, I shook my head and said nothing.

"I said you could talk now." He said, louder, annoyed. I just glared at him. He got closer and soon he was right in my face.

"You do realize what situation you're in, right Missy?" He growled. I smiled haughtily, hoping he couldn't see the fear behind my eyes.

"I realize there's an idiot in front of me." I said rudely. He got closer, and it took all of my will power not to back away.

"And what makes you say that, kid?" He said lowly, right in my ear. It sent shivers down my spine and I gulped.

"Because you obviously don't know that I am completely worthless to you." I said smoothly.

"How so?" He whispered in my ear. I sucked in a breath and tried not to flinch away.

"I don't have any family." I lied swiftly, and I could feel him frown.

"And not a bit of money to my name," I added, remembering my bag was on board Emory's ship. Nathaniel pulled away and glowered down at me.

"If you're telling the truth," He said looking down at me, "Then I might as well feed you to the sharks." I gulped, looking down. I could see him get closer again, out of the corner of my eye.

"Or I could just let my crew have fun with you," He added lowly, and I flinched. I knew what would happen if he did that. I would rather be eaten alive by sharks than that.

"Please," I pleaded softly, looking up at him. He smirked, looking down at me.

"Please what?" He asked smugly.

"Please don't do that." I said desperately. He crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows looking down at me, studying me.

"Well," He said, rolling his head back in forth, watching me. "What could I do to put you to use?" He seemed to be talking to himself, so I said nothing.

"Anything but what you said before." I sighed softly. He stopped and looked down at me with a cruel glint in his eye. He leaned closer, and this time I let myself pull away.

"I could just keep you for myself, sweetheart." He whispered in my ear, then he leaned away, smiling at me. I scowled, disgusted.

"Anyway, for now," He said turning and walking to the door, "Sleep well."