Mistress of the Damned

Flipp

Imoaned as I leaned over the side of the ship. I heaved what little was left in my stomach into the Bay of Blood. I felt weak and my stomach was raw. We had well advanced into the open sea, and it had caused a nausea in me that forced everything that I ate or drank to come right back up. I had been dangling over the side for around an hour, just trying to get it all out, and no one on the ship seemed to care.

Originally, I had been pissed that I had to sleep on the deck, but it had been a blessing in disguise because the waters in the Bay of Blood were tumultuous. Had I been lower, I would have felt sicker and ended up with some bruises from tumbling around. I had never been at sea before, and the ship was basically twisting through a garden of rocks, and red water was splashing up onto the deck. There was a coppery smell to the water too that made me believe all the rumors about what really made the water red were true. That didn’t help with the nausea one bit.

There was pounding on the ship, and I furrowed my brow. I turned to look over my shoulder and saw Azil walking out of his cabin. He was shouting orders to his men, and I flopped back onto the deck to watch. The sea was tossing the boat around and I didn’t think that I could handle much more.

I squinted as I watched Azil order his men to jump on and off the deck. I thought I was imagining what I was seeing.

“What the hell?”

The Sirens continued to jump off the deck and then back on. Off and on, off and on, over and over again. I couldn’t figure out exactly what was going on and was starting to wonder if I was hallucinating. They looked like they were doing some sort of dance or ritual.

“What are you doing?” It was meant to be a shout to Azil but it came out as a squawk because my throat felt raw.

I looked up at the two large sails above me. I watched as the boat stabilized itself in the water and that's when it dawned on me. The Sirens were jumping on and off the deck because the boat didn’t have a wheel. They were trying to change direction and only had the sails to work with. I couldn’t believe the work they put in to sail in the Bay of Blood.

My stomach roiled. “Ugh.” I leaned back over the railing and retched into the sea. Vomit poured out of me, and I slumped against the side feeling weaker than ever. I wanted food, but there was no point putting anything in my body if I was going to continue to spill it out.

“This is a nightmare.”

I heard a shout and turned to look over my shoulder again, only to have the mast swing over towards me and hit me straight in the face. All I remembered was the world fading to black.

Blink. Blink. My eyes were so heavy. I was trying to keep them open, but they would just close again. Suddenly, water hit me like a force, and I sat straight up, spluttering.

“Was that necessary?” Azil barked.

I was coughing out water, and realized that one of the Sirens had poured a bucket of water over me.

“What the hell?”

Azil turned back to me and bent down towards me. “I apologize, Flipp. I made the mistake of asking one of my men to help you regain consciousness, but I didn’t realize that I was talking to a fool.”

Soaked, I glared at him and tried to wring out my clothing. My head was throbbing, and I put my hand up to feel a large goose egg on my forehead.

Azil bent down and took a closer look at my head. He gently touched the goose egg and I flinched.

“You kind of smell, Flipp.”

My face burned bright red as I looked down and saw that I was covered in vomit. It wasn’t a good look for anyone.

“Now you know why we wanted you up on deck. It would have been much worse down below.”

I nodded as I tried to wipe the vomit off my clothes. The water that had been thrown at me was making it easier to get the vomit off. I really needed a warm bath, but there was no telling when that would happen. I swayed back and forth, and realized that the water wasn’t tumultuous any longer. I looked out at the sea and saw that it had calmed once again. The blood red coloring was gone, and the bay was back to being a cool blue.

“The water actually looks nice.” I hadn’t seen it any other color but red. “Is it true what they say about the Bay?”

He sat down beside me and leaned up against the railing of the ship. He was quiet for a while before responding. I had started to think he wasn’t going to respond at all.

“I guess it depends on what you heard.”

“Are you telling me there’s more than one story?”

He looked over at me, his eyebrow raised. Being that close to him, I felt a warmth go through me. His eyes were mesmerizing, I could get lost in them if I wasn’t careful. I saw his eyes flicker down to my mouth and I stopped breathing. What was with these Sirens? They walked around like it was always mating season.

“The Dragons certainly tell a story of bloodshed and defeat, my dear Flipp.”

“Where all the Dragons died?”