Days had passed and it seemed as if he had been wiped off the face of the world. The elf sat along the red shore, staring at the still waters, and thinking silently while his finger dragged along the sandy beach. His auburn hair was a mess behind him and his clothes were in shambles, but all he could think about was finding those he had lost. The last thing he remembered was someone pulling him out of the water and before that, he saw pieces of wood and items from his ship.
“Dammit, my bloody ship,” he mumbled. He picked up a nearby stone and threw it into the ocean. Taking a deep breath, he leaned back and looked at the red sand with the squiggly lines beside him. In one swipe, he erased the doodles and started to draw lines, connecting them with other lines and curves. He wasn’t paying attention to what he was writing until he finished, lifting his finger from the sand and sighing.
“She still on joor mind,” Tia’Zula spoke from behind him. Cris looked down at the name on the sand. Rain. Tia shook her head, reaching for his hair and pulling it slightly.
Cris winced. “Ow. Well it’s not like I’m dead or anything, Tia. I still remember and I still feel. And no, she’s not on my bloody mind.” He stood and looked at the troll. “She’s in my heart.”
Tia rolled her eyes and with her large foot, she stomped on the name and wiped the sand. “Well joo keep ‘er der and not on da bloody beach.”
“I don’t need this bullshit from you, alright?”
“Joor friends be lost out der, Cristianno, and all joo can tink about is ‘er?”
The elf shook his head. “No, because she’s surrounded by her…” he rolled his eyes, “…her bodyguards. She’s fine. I’ll look for her once we find the others.” He ran his fingers through his hair and looked out at the sea. “Ziggly is crucial. Laerchel is going to be extremely difficult. And Niela…”
Tia tilted her head and stared at Cris. “Joo keep sayin’ dat name. ‘Hoo be dat?”
“A friend. Nothing to worry about.” But he did worry for her and about her. Ever since Laerchel had warned him about working with Ravenholdt agents, he worried a little. However, after the last conversation he had with Niela, where she was kind enough to make him a meal allowing him to have his own personal picnic on the roof of the Ratchet bank, he was beginning to trust her and oddly enough, he was beginning to miss her. “I would show you a picture I drew of her, but my bloody journal is somewhere under water!” He threw his hands up in the air and screamed.
“Calm jooself. Joo scare de oters.” Both Cris and Tia turned behind them. At the point of awakening, Cris found out that Tia had saved two crewmembers and the beach they had landed on had a few other sailors and humans who were shipwrecked. They only appeared during the day and were quick to disappear at night.
“They scare me.”
“But remembah, joo need ta feed.” Tia reached for his giant shark tooth at the base of his neck and cradled it in her hand. “Da stress be wearing joo out. Joo soon be needin’ souls.”
“I don’t feel anything.” Cris looked away, his eyes back on the ocean.
“Joo don’ wait ‘til joo be starving ta eat, do joo? Don’ wait ‘til joo about ta die to feed it.” Tia let go of the tooth and cupped his chin. “We will find dem, Cristianno, but joo need ta take care of jooself too.”
“I should take Davy and find out what lies behind those cliffs.”
“I don’ recommend it right now, Cris. Da sun be settin’ soon and dose people still be worryin’ me. Why do dey hide at night?”
“I dunno. But make sure we keep two bonfires up tonight and Davy nearby. I don’t trust them.” Cris gazed at the serenity of the water and recalled how only a week ago it had devoured everything that he held dear to him. “Where am I going to get a bloody ship, Tia?”
The troll shook her head and patted his back. “First find joor friends, den we worry ‘bout a ship. I be tinking dat we set out soon. Leave da ‘umans alone to deal wit der problems.”
Cris looked back and noticed children running around and laughing. He smiled softly. “They’re the innocent ones in this chaos, Tia. Look at them. No idea what happened and they still run around, playing.” He sighed and waved at the children, who stopped and giggled, waving back before they ran around once more.
“Cristianno, we don’ even know wat ‘appen!” She smacked his arm, breaking his reverie and making him turn toward her. “Stop dis foolishness and let’s figure out where we be.” She walked toward their little camp, took a few pieces of bones she had in her pouch around her waist, and rolled them onto the sandy ground. “Der be bad tings, Cris. The earth not be happy. The world be not right.”
“But what happened? What was up with that giant wave? Did it have anything to do with the earthquakes?”
“I donno, Cristianno!” Tia reached to grab her pieces of bones, along with a handful of red sand. “It not clear ta me!” She walked to the edge, her hands holding her own arms, as if comforting her self. The seas were indeed calm, but she knew they held more secrets from her than they were letting on. “I need ma ‘erbs.” Turning to see Cris, she said, “Only den can I see wat ‘appen.”
“Sure, or we can just ask someone as soon as we get out of here.” Cris shrugged and turned away, walking toward a piece of wood they had found in the water. Tia glared at him and with the snap of her fingers, a tiny bolt of lighting zipped straight from her to his ass. He screamed out and jumped, grabbing the afflicted area. “What the fuck?”
“Don’ doubt me, Cristianno.”
“I wasn’t doing shit!” He touched his pants and growled, “And now there’s a hole there. Great. My ass cheek is gonna show.”
“As if joo care.”
Cris growled again and plopped onto the pierce of wood. “We need to get of here. Tell Penny and Larry. They’re going to help us escape this…red shore.”
“Dey be joor sacrifice, Cristianno.” Tia walked closer to him, accompanying him on the wooden plant. Her hand gently fell upon his knee and she looked at him with determined eyes.
“But we can’t leave them out of the loop. It’s too suspicious.”
“Fine. But da way der souls look, joo lookin’ at six days at da most.”
“Combined?” Tia nodded. “Damn, lousy immoral men.”
“Joo soul don’ look too pure eeder.”
Cris reached out and placed his hand over her eyes. “Will you stop looking at my soul? This isn’t about me.” Tia chuckled and removed his hand, holding it in hers, to which Cris didn’t argue against. Davy’s foot stomps were getting closer and he sat beside the wooden plank, beside Cris.
“We’ll find a way back. We’ll rebuild. We’ll make a name for ourselves,” Cris said, looking out into the ocean. Tia nodded, but inside, all Cris could really think about were his friends…and the three women whom he loved, one of them being the one he was dying to be with at this very moment.
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