Read Online Sea Queen by Michael James Ploof - Free Book Online Page B

Akkeri.”
    She laughed at him. “You don’t have to get it for me. We can find it together.”
    “I’ve already found my corner of the world. It’s wherever you are,” he said.
    She laughed again and hit him playfully. “You’re fishing for kisses.”
    “So?”
    She pulled him down and kissed him softly
    “I love you, Talon Windwalker.”
     
    Talon woke with the memory of Akkeri’s kiss lingering on his lips. The dream began to fade and he closed his eyes tight, trying desperately to go back—but it eluded him. The waking world claimed him as the memory faded, and the smell of her hair with it.
    He gave a sigh and sat up. Tyson was not where he had fallen asleep—he was nowhere to be seen. The morning sun had yet to crest the burning horizon, and Talon turned to the east to watch it rise, unconcerned with Tyson’s whereabouts for the moment. Chief climbed the hill from the south and joined him.
    “Hey, boy,” he said, pulling him in for a hug and scratch behind the ears.
    Chief made funny groaning noises, sounding like wolf-speak.
    “You seen Tyson about?”
    “We been hunting together,” came Tyson’s voice from behind.
    Chief gave a small bark and panted happily. Talon turned to find Tyson proudly holding up a small deer by the hind legs.
    “A yearling, going to be some tender meat on this one,” he said, dropping it onto the grass.
    “How are we supposed to cook it?”
    “With a… fire,” Tyson replied, as if Talon were slow.
    “We’ve got men looking for us. You think a fire is such a good idea?”
    “What men?” Tyson asked. He extended his arms and looked around. “They got no idea what direction we was headed.”
    “They found us once.”
    Tyson scoffed. “We were careless—“
    “Exactly! Don’t you think cooking a deer on an open fire for hours is a bit careless?”
    Tyson acted as if he were considering the question. “Yeah, that would be careless. But I said nothing about an open fire. Me and Chief found a cave along the coast to the west… and we found some scattered boat parts.”
    Talon shot to his feet. “Show me!”
    They ran down the hill with Chief following behind, carrying the dead deer by the neck. The ground evened out and another hill began. They went around this one and headed straight toward the coast. The grass gave away to shale and sand as the ocean opened up before them. The shoreline seemed to be losing a thousand year war with the ocean. In many places, the steep cliff had slid into the waters long ago, and now lay mangled and broken among the crashing waves that rubbed them smooth.
    Water crashed and sprayed them both as they gingerly made their way. They came to an inlet of calmer waters unaffected by the break, and Talon stopped dead. There, along the rocks, was an old tattered sail and a pile of splintered wood.
    “Is it hers?” asked Tyson.
    It was, but he didn’t answer, dreading what he might find.
    They crept along the rocks, which reached up from the broken shale like ancient monoliths. Talon suddenly lost his nerve and turned back. “I can’t...I don’t want to find…”
    Tyson patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll look.”
    Talon nodded gratefully and waited for Tyson to declare whether he’d found a body. It was torture. He seldom prayed, but now called to all the gods he could remember.
    “I found a piece of cloth, maybe from a shirt or blouse. It’s alright, Talon. You can come look. There’s no…there’s nothing else here.”
    Talon carefully maneuvered along the rocks and joined Tyson by the wreckage. The sail had caught on one of the jagged rocks and now moved with the ebb and flow of the waves.
    “She must have come in on a high tide if the boat cleared those rocks farther out,” said Tyson, inspecting the wreckage. “You think she would’ve left a sign?”
    Talon lit up. “Perhaps.” He began searching the stones for a carving of some sort. Chief sniffed around with him, but they found nothing. Talon looked up at the