Chapter 78: Digging Deep
The splashing continued and he could tell there was a predator in the water watching them, investigating and searching for a chance to strike. Marix knew he had to get them out of the ocean as soon as possible.
He continued staying close to the rocky cliff face. The splashing predator was causing more waves, making it more difficult for him to swim.
Exhaustion was overcoming him. He could feel his limbs starting to ache and weaken like the life was being pulled out of them by the relentless sea.
Every so often, he’d dip underneath the surface and yank himself up. Eilownia would cough and readjust herself on him; the shifting weight being of no help.
He knew he had to stay hypervigilant, as he grew increasingly tired, their chances of survival dwindled.
Finally, he could see what looked like something he could grab onto. He reached up and grabbed on.
"Wrap your legs around me and hold on tight. No matter what, do NOT let go." He said before taking a deep breath.
Eilownia nodded and hooked her legs around his waist, her arms circled his neck tighter as she dug her fingers into the soaked fabric of his shirt.
He hoisted them up, the water from their clothes rained down back into the ocean below them.
His arms quivered, the added weight from the water their clothes had absorbed combined with the slippery rock made his task feel near impossible.
As he pulled them up further, his hand slipped off, sending them plummeting back into the ocean.
Their weight had sent them deep. He frantically swam upwards until they broke the surface. Eilownia coughed hard and gagged. He could tell she’d taken in some of the water.
"I’m sorry, bear with it."
She nodded while continuing to cough, "It’s....coming out of....my nose-"
He reached up and grabbed back onto the hold, using it to rest for a moment as he gulped.
"Yeah," He panted, "That’s normal. Just blow it out. It’s okay."
She started blowing her nose in the air as he tried to dig deep and steady his breathing.
He looked around and wiped his hands against the rocks, hoping he could somehow dry his hands off a bit and any dirt on them would give him some extra grip.
The ocean spray didn’t give him much faith and he winced as his hands brushed against the coarse cliff side.
After taking a few deep breaths, he grabbed on extra tight and lifted them up again with a herculean effort.
"AUUUGHHHH!" He let out a strained groan as he lifted their heavy bodies out of the sea, his muscles screaming at him to stop; begging him for rest.
The cool night air grabbed onto their soaking skin, sending shivers through them and causing their hairs to stand up in protest.
He could hear Eilownia’s teeth chattering as he reached up and grabbed another piece of rock that jutted out and pulled them up further.
Marix clenched his jaw as he continued scaling the cliff side. His muscles and body shook so much, both from the cold and from his exhaustion. He knew deep down that if he stopped for a break now, that he would be sending them to their deaths.
The image of their unborn child flashed his mind. He saw the two of them raising their child, holding them, putting them to bed.
Before he knew it, he was pulling them up over the top of the cliff. He climbed over a bit before laying down, his feet still over the cliff side.
Marix laid there, panting hard as Eilownia sat up and crawled away from the cliffside.
She wiped her nose and hugged herself as she stared at Marix’s feet.
"C-C-C-Come o-o-v-v-v-ver he-he-here." She stuttered out as she shivered.
"Just......give me a second...." He panted, his eyes closing.
There was not an ounce of strength left in him, not even enough to keep his eyes open.
He laid there for a few moments when he felt something grab his hand. His mind tried to figure out what it was, and when he felt his body being dragged, he was sure it was Eilownia.
"I’m fine....." he muttered out.
"I d-d-don’t like y-you b-b-b-by the cl-cl-cliff-ff-ff..."
She stumbled backwards and fell on her butt as the cold froze her muscles, not allowing her to use any more of her strength to pull him.
Eilownia panted and took a few deep breaths before grabbing his hand again.
"Just...a second...Whin."
He opened his eyes and shifted his head to look up at her. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her teeth were clenched as she tried to pull him again.
Then, he noticed that her lips were turning a dark shade. Either blue or purple, he couldn’t tell which.
He took a deep breath and forced himself up, shaking as he stumbled to his feet.
"Strip. Now." He said as he began to take off his shirt.
Eilownia smiled, "Are w-we going t-t-t-to d-d-d-do-do th-that-t-t th-thing-ing? I d-d-d-d-don’t think I h-h-ha-have the st-str-strength."
He shook his head as he tossed his dripping shirt to the side. "No. It’s for warmth. We can’t light a fire, our clothes are soaked. If we want to survive, we need to be skin on skin for a while. Hopefully they’ll dry a bit."
He continued to strip, revealing his glistening muscles as he then laid the clothes out so they’d dry properly.
Eilownia pulled off her dress putting it with the other clothes before Marix led her to a dry patch of grass. He laid them down and pulled her tight to his chest, holding onto her like she was his lifeline.
That afternoon, the Viraaz ship crew headed back towards the docks of Vasis, their supplies loaded into a small cart that they hauled behind them.
Its wooden wheels bumped over small pebbles that littered the path. They took a deep breath as they approached the church and saw the Solan soldiers there.
When the crew had arrived earlier that morning, the soldiers hadn’t been anywhere in sight. They’d felt relaxed, believing the army had probably already departed, ready to relay the information back to the Viraaz army back on the ship to come pick up more supplies.
Now, their hope for survival and belief in a peaceful restock trip had dwindled right before their eyes.
They’d sailed these seas for years and had never had any issues with any military, but now Sola was causing them so many problems.
"Just keep walkin’" The captain whispered as they passed through the group.
"Excuse me! Have you signed up for the Solan army yet?!" One of the soldiers said, getting in front of them to stop them from continuing further.
"I’m not from Vasis. Does Sola always harass people like this? What are you even doing in Vasis to begin with? This aint Sola."
The soldier snarled and raised his hand to hit the Captain.
"Excuse me? Who do you think you’re talking to?!"
The crew rushed over and apprehended him.
"What is wrong with you Solans! Just accosting innocent people! Why would anyone want to join your army?! Get out of here!"
Citizens from nearby joined in, yelling.
"Yeah! You’re making it hard for us!"
"You’re causing visitors to our island not want to come! You’re going to damage our economy and cross boarder relationships!"
"This is hurting Vasis!" They screamed as they grabbed onto the arms of the Solan soldiers, not allowing them to strike.
As the ruckus increased, more and more people came over and joined in, causing an all out brawl.
"GET OUT OF VASIS! GET OUT OF VASIS! GET OUT OF VASIS!" The crowd roared.
Back on the ship, Whimble was still working on his invention.
Tryde leaned against the side of the ship as he watched with Aleiza sitting right next to him.
"What are you doing?" Tryde asked as Whimble poked at the potato sack covering the barrel.
"I’m looking for a way to efficiently....slrrrrp.....separate the sssssalt from the....slrrrrrrrp.....water so it’s drinkable."
Tryde scoffed, "It’s not possible. It would’ve been done already if it were. Aren’t you just wasting your time?"
Aleiza furrowed her eyebrows slightly and gently smacked his arm.
Whimble hopped and limped over to him and held out his hand.
In his palm were grains of salt.
"It isssss.......slrrrrp....I just need to figure out how to.....slrrrp.....speed up the processssssss and.....slrrrp.....pull it all out completely."
Tryde raised his eyebrows.
"I see. Well, I suppose I was incorrect. It seems it is possible."
Whimble nodded and flashed him a crooked smile as he turned his focus back to his invention.
Etil came over to investigate and leaned against the side of the ship next to Tryde.
"I’m starving. I don’t know if I can take this anymore. I’m about ready to jump ship."
Tryde shook his head, "We knew that the way forward wasn’t going to be easy when we all decided to follow General Marix. We made our beds, now we have to lie in it. We shouldn’t abandon them just because things are hard when we knew it would be like this coming into it."
Etil sighed, "Just let me complain. My stomach is growling at me so loudly, I need to talk over it."
Aleiza bit her lip as her stomach growled loudly as well.
"I guess we’re all starving huh?" Etil said quietly.
