All I received in response to that assertion was a scowl.
“Please?I’ve always wanted to see an aetherstorm like this up close,” I whined, pouting in excess and batting my eyelashes for dramatic effect.
The old man let loose a heavy sigh, rubbing at his temples as he so often did when my stubborn side came out to vex him.
“You’re a reckless one, little star-seeker. It’s gonna get you killed if you’re not careful. But fine. You can stay,for now, under two conditions.”
I raised a challenging brow, but allowed him to continue without protest.
“One, let the record show that there’s no rescuing you if you fall off the damned ship. We’ll leave you behind and let you sink down into the Abyss in a heartbeat.”
They wouldnot, but I grinned and nodded in agreement regardless.
“Naturally.”
Conrad held up a second finger, still scowling at me, clearly unphased by my enthusiasm.
“Two, the next time I tell ya to go down below—you listen. No arguments.”
I made a face, displeased with any sort of clause against arguments. I was good at arguing. Ilikedto argue. But I did have to acquiesce that Conrad knew these seas like the back of his hand, and this was my first seafaring voyage… ever. All of the tomes, journals, and lectures in the world couldn’t make up for what I lacked in direct experience.
“Fine. But if you send me below over a light drizzle, you’ll never hear the end of it, old man.”
Conrad chuckled.
“You’re only gonna be in my hair for a few more days, Arken. I think I’ll survive.”
That was true. After six long weeks of travel, we would soon arrive in Port Sofia, and I could finally seek entry to Sophrosyne: The City of the Gods.
The storm hit within the hour.
Angry gales of wind whipped past me so violently now that my skin felt raw, and the wooden planks beneath my feet were becoming dangerously slick. I had given up trying to remain on the prow, as my well-worn and now-sodden leather boots werenothelping in the matter of my staying upright.
All of that aside, the storm was gorgeous. I continued to marvel at the sheer force of the tempest, utterly fascinated while I clung to the mast of the ship with a desperate death grip. As the next roaring rumble of thunder rolled in, I was both enthralled and terrified.
I was asmidgereckless, yes, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew this was risky, yet even in such adverse conditions, I much preferred to be above deck. I would take wind-chapped skin, rope burns, and a little bit of downpour over the stale musk and miserable wailing that awaited me below.
A vast majority of the other travelers on board were the sons and daughters of the elite and noble families of Atlas—though noblesse, I was not. Most of them were aged anywhere from thirteen to somewhere in their early twenties, like me. Many of us also had the same final destination, but that was where our similarities seemed to end. My so-called peers had grown up in such comfort and luxury that stale food, occasional turbulent waters, and a general lack of privacy made for the most dire of circumstances.
They were constantly worked up and whining, as though the last six weeks were the worst days of their lives. If they weren’t bemoaning their fates and cursing their parents for sending them to the Arcane Studium in the first place, they were bickering amongst themselves and hurling insults at one another over a myriad of House dramas. As if any of them played a part in the successes or failures of Atlassian politics.
I really couldn’t stand it half of the time, and so I had made a habit of spending as much time as possible on deck. I tried to make myself useful where I could… or at the very least, I seemed to keep the crew entertained.
“You can’t avoid them forever, star-seeker,” Conrad had reminded me the other day. While I got along just fine with the other sailors, he and I talked the most. We had bonded overmy interest in his hand-drawn star maps, and how the sailors charted their courses based on known celestial bodies. Thus, the nickname.
“Can’t say I like the brats much either, but you’re all headed to the same place, are ya not?”
On one hand, he was correct: Almost everyone on board was on their way to Sophrosyne as a prospective student, hoping to be accepted into the Arcane Studium. On the other hand, Sophrosyne was the largest city in Atlas. Surely I could find more like-minded company, if I so chose?
But that’s hardly what I was looking for.
There were quite a few things that Iwaslooking for in Sophrosyne, but connections weren’t really on the list. I had other priorities. Priorities that I had avoided thinking too hard on as of late, lest my nerves eat me alive.
I focused my attention back on the weather, though the winds were growing so strong now that the storm was almost equally as anxiety inducing as everything else. The onslaught of saltwater was starting to feel like pins and needles cutting into my skin. I could hardly see a thing, blinded by the downfall and angry ocean spray—when suddenly, a massive flash of Light aether came out of nowhere. It was followed almost immediately by thunder, not a low rumble this time but a sharp crack, as if the very skies were being split open.
Shit, I thought to myself.I could feel the residual aether in the air intensify, which meant that the lightning had struck far too close for comfort. I hadn’t seen where it landed, but my suspicions were confirmed when I heard Conrad bellow out an order. The one that I had promised not to disregard.
“Arken! Go.Now.”