Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 93948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Unfortunately, in Threshold, “something else” often signifies the kind of trouble that people don’t survive. Fuck. “I suspect part of the problem is that our crew has been working themselves to the bone.” Another gust of wind comes from the north, so strong that it pushes me back half a step and Siobhan has to catch my elbow to keep me steady. I glare into the darkness. It’s far too early in the day for that kind of dark. I don’t like what it signifies.
“It’s the storm.” Nox walks up to us, their expression pinched. “Captains who want to keep their ships stay out of these waters at this time of year. Unfortunately, we don’t have that option.”
I can’t help drinking in the sight of them. Soaked to the bone, with their clothing and hair plastered to their body, looking more tired than I’ve ever seen them, Nox is still so devastating that they take my breath away. It’s possible they’re even more attractive like this, because as worried as they are, they’re still in complete control.
I swallow hard. “We’ve dealt with storms before.”
Nox snorts, the sound almost lost in the howling wind. “Normal storms, yes. But these aren’t normal storms. Can’t you taste it on the wind?”
I almost stick my tongue out to see if I can actually taste what they say, but Siobhan speaks before I have a chance to make a fool of myself. “This is going to be a problem.”
“Welcome to my world.” Nox spreads their arms. Even in the midst of crisis, they are still a showman. “I would love to say that the storm will slow down the ships in pursuit, but there’s no guarantee. This territory is fickle.”
I don’t tell them that territory cannot be fickle. As they said, this is Threshold. We all know better. I’ve done plenty of research over the years on all the little quirks and nightmares that our realm has to offer. Even with that knowledge, I’m coming up blank about this so-called magical storm. I frown. “I’ve never read anything about this.”
Nox gives me a look that I can’t quite define. “You’ve been sailing around Threshold for well over a decade at this point. I would assume you’ve learned that not everything can be found in a book.”
“You’re patronizing me and I don’t appreciate it.” I scrub at my face, but it’s a wasted effort. The salt water is everywhere. “I understand there’s plenty of both good and bad things within Threshold that never make it into books for one reason or another. But that doesn’t negate the fact that if there are ship-killing magical storms in an entire section of the world, someone would’ve written about it by now.”
Nox shrugs. “There are only a handful of islands out here, and most of them are uninhabitable to humanoid beings. Your valued scholars never bothered to come this way once they decided they’d witnessed everything there was to see.”
Siobhan crosses her arms over her chest, her body easily shifting with the shuddering of the ship. “You’re not wrong, but neither is Bastian. This should have been reported.”
Nox rolls their eyes. “You are both too experienced in this world to be so naive. The storms started appearing a few years ago, and anyone who sails close to this route learned quickly to avoid them. There’s no reason they would’ve spoken about that to scholars or even the Council.”
They’re still being patronizing, but at least this argument makes slightly more sense. Most of the books written on Threshold are practically ancient at this point. Some Council long ago invested significant time and effort in mapping all of the permanent islands and shifting ones as well as they could, and cataloging every people, animal, and resource available on said islands. I know that there’s a trio of small islands north and west of our approximate location, but as Nox has said, they’re uninhabitable to anyone who breathes oxygen and likes their gravity to follow the expected rules.
I shift to stare north just as a lightning bolt shatters the sky. It’s a deep purple that makes me shudder. “That’s not—” The boom of thunder drowns out whatever I would’ve finished saying. So loud that it rattles my bones. I shudder. “What the fuck?”
Nox opens their mouth to answer, but a call trails down from the crow’s nest. “Captain! Behind us!”
All three of us waste no time sprinting to the upper deck to look where directed. I had seen the trio of ships in the distance, mere specks, when I was up here earlier helping Siobhan lash things down. Before, they’d been so far away that only someone with her eyesight would be able to pick out the details. Now they’re significantly closer. Worse, another trio of ships has appeared in the distance. Still too far away to detect the color of their sails, but I don’t need shifter eyesight in order to understand that it’s Morrigan and the other two ships sailing with her.