The Blue Woman and the High Wood

Book Two in the Nyla Series

Adam Cole

Chapter Four

(C) 2013, 2016 Adam Cole

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

Nyla jerked up, as though a rope had seized her under the arms.  Vival looked and saw that, in fact, there was a rope under her arms!  Someone had made a loop and lassoed her over her head.  Following the trail of the rope back over his shoulder, he spied a tall, thin man that he recognized at the other end.  The man had woven himself into the rigging about ten feet up and he grinned a bucktoothed grin as he pulled the rope tight.

Making a deft turn, Vival got himself back on deck and pulled the rope to haul Nyla back with him.  His feet failed him and they sprawled on the planks.  Vival realized that Nyla had not screamed throughout the entire episode.  She seemed to have been unaware that she had nearly fallen into the ocean.  Her eyes were glazed and distant.

“Get her into the hold!” the boatswain was crying, staggering through the rain up to Vival.  “We’ve got to turn back!  We’ll never get through this storm.  The ship will be torn to pieces!  We need all able hands to help us get back to shore.”

Vival tried to comply, removing the rope and moving Nyla towards the cover of the forecastle. 

  “No,” said Nyla, and her voice was so much louder than the storm that Vival heard it clearly.  “No,” she said again, and it was so clear it could have been coming from his own head.  Even the boatswain heard it and looked around, puzzled.

“Nyla!” cried Vival.  “What do you mean?  You don’t want us to leave?”

“No!” Nyla uttered a low cry, her eyes shut tight, and her voice was, might have been, could not be told apart from the thunderclap that struck.  The sound woke something in the water, a woman whose eyes now opened.

She was enormous, many times the size of the galleon.  Her knees rose up out of the water like mountains.  She looked startled at first, as if she had been woken in the bath.  She looked all around at the wide expanse of sea, saw Veer Isle still in sight in the distance, and then noticed the ship.

She rose to a height of several hundred feet while the waves pounded uselessly against her legs.  The water poured from her hips in massive waterfalls onto the swelling waves.  The ship hung quite helpless as the crew struggled to make headway against the gusting wind that blew them back to land.

The crew had seen the woman now and were screaming in fright.  The Captain was trying to instruct his men to turn the bow back towards the island, but the men were not coordinating their work, some having already striven to do their part to turn the ship single handed.

The woman now stood calf deep in waters so choppy they appeared to be arguing angrily amongst themselves.  The wind had changed round and blew against her.  Finding her impervious, though, it turned to wreak its vengeance solely on the ship.

As the waves and the wind pounded against the deck, threatening to wash Vival and Nyla out to sea, the woman peered down at them.  Vival was too terrified to move.  He had a talent for survival, and from what he knew about it, staying still was the only real option here.

But what astonishment in the eyes of the blue woman!  She seemed to be looking at Nyla with fond familiarity.  Her long, intricate braids hung behind her and swayed as the woman turned her head a little to get a closer look.  She did not speak to them, and she paid no attention to Vival, but only to Nyla who held herself frozen stiff, her eyes shut tight.

The woman scooped her hand down and brought it under the ship, which came up easily in her palm.  The fury of the storm seemed quite futile as the ship itself suddenly rose free of the waves.  Only the howling of the wind remained now and it seemed more frustrated than dangerous, though it tried to mount a stronger attack.

But the woman was quite impervious to the storm as she brought the boat near to her face.  Still gazing at the frozen Nyla, she smiled once.  Vival stared at her, seeing something in her face that reminded him of someone he knew, or had known.  Or perhaps he would know her someday, as ludicrous as that sounded.  Not so ludicrous, the Sand Witch might have said, as time had a funny way of playing tricks.

Ignoring the indignant storm, the woman took her hand and brought it down to the ocean, farther away from the island than it had been before.  The wind screamed its protest, but before the waves could rip the boat away, the woman lowered her head to the boat and she blew.

Her breath was warm and perfumed, and more powerful than any of the winds that had buffeted them, and Vival fell to the deck with Nyla, propelled backwards against the side of the forecastle, trying to hold onto her as he slammed into the siding.  The sailors, at various places in the rigging, held on as their legs sailed out behind them.

When the ship finally slowed, no one had been lost, although many had been scattered about the deck.  The single-minded wind that had blown them out of sight of the isle was now a strong but manageable gale that blew at their back.  The boatswain being the first to shake himself off, leaped to his feet and ordered the crew to make the most of it.

The rain was gone and the breeze kept to their back.  They were now sailing full speed in the best direction they could go.  Still in Vival’s arms, Nyla opened her eyes and blinked once.

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.  

You can find the next, or previous chapter of this book at https://www.authorsden.com/visit/author.asp?id=1108

Want to read the previous book?  You can get it at  https://adamcole.selz.com/editor?url=/categories/all .

You can ensure the chapters continue to arrive on time by visiting https://www.patreon.com/adamcole and joining our growing fanbase.

What do you like?  What do you wish was in the book?  Post a comment at www.acole.net  , or leave a post on Patreon and tell us what you think!