The Blue Woman and the High Wood

Book Two in the Nyla Series

Adam Cole

Chapter Three

(C) 2013, 2016 Adam Cole

Published by Nuncici Press, an imprint of Adam Cole Works LLC

Had she not been holding on so tightly with her arms, she would have gone straight into the next wave which rose like a wall.  As the ship plummeted towards the bottom of the valley of water, she let loose a ragged wail which was already lost to the noise of the sea even as it left her mouth.  With a desperate kick, she tried to get her legs around the rail too.

But they were slippery and sopping wet.  The ship’s deck flew up and her legs went flailing.  She had to hold on so tight with her arms that they felt like they were being torn off.

Again and again she kicked, feeling like a trapped frog.  Now the rising and falling of the ship had completely disoriented her and her eyes spun every which way.  Where was the deck?

Her eyes flailed as she tried to find the horizon, anything that would steady her.  Something caught her imagination in the water, a face, the face of a woman.  Relaxing to try to get a better look, she was wrenched from the railing and lost her grip completely.

She felt herself falling, but it was only because the deck continued to pitch.  She was, in fact, in Vival’s powerful arms.  He was adroitly balanced on the deck, a hip against the rail, looking around as if calculating the best path in.

“Wait!” she said, looking out to see for the face.  “Wait!”

“Are you crazy?” Vival cried out, his voice barely audible over the roar of the surf and the piling of the rain.

“There’s a woman out there!”

“Is it Chere?”

“No, some other woman.”

“Well I can’t rescue everybody!” Vival protested.

The woman didn’t need rescuing, though.  The back of her head was pointed into the surf so that all her hair was completely covered.  The waves did not strike against her but moved through her like she was a blue ghost.  Her eyes were closed and her face seemed either ecstatic or anguished.

Now what appeared to be waves turned out to be her knees, her shoulders.  Now the water did pour off her as though she had gained solidity.  And as she appeared, Nyla began to fade.

She was still looking at the woman, still saw her, but she saw nothing else, no longer felt herself in Vival’s arms.  Vival felt Nyla get lighter, as though she was floating.  He looked down in alarm, but nothing had changed.  His arms were still wrapped around her.

Her apparent change in weight unbalanced him and he toppled forward.  With Nyla in his arms he found he could either hold her or hold on.  Making a valiant effort, he scissored his legs along the rail.

His body swung out over the water.  His arm muscles bulged as he hold on to Nyla who, while lighter, was also harder to grasp somehow, and the strange position he was in proved incredibly awkward.  The rain, which kept pouring down, had made her slippery and as he scrambled, hanging half over, he felt her moving towards the water.  He cried out in alarm, but his voice too was drowned out by the sea.

More about The Blue Woman and the High Wood

Now that Veer Isle was secure, it was time for the hero Vival to take Nyla to see the Sand Witch.  Accompanied by Chere/Sherluck and Tom the Incredibly Helpful Sword, Nyla and Vival board a ship bound for Zen.  

But trouble begins as soon as the ship leaves the harbor.  A terrible storm comes up.  The sailors want to throw Nyla from the ship.  And rising out of the ocean is the mysterious Blue Woman. 

Adam Cole is an author and music educator in Atlanta, GA.  He has written numerous books and stories for children, as well as a number of adult and non-fiction titles including Motherless Child and Seven Ways the World Can End.  

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