Lightning struck out across the sky, branching out along the clouds like the roots of a tree followed by a peeling roar of thunder. Kirsten stumbled up the wet stairs and gripped at the railing. Looking about she could see the waves rolling high alongside of the ship. A flash stretched down from the sky and slammed into the water alongside of the ship, Kirsten rose a hand up to shield her eyes from the sudden flush of light.
"I think you'd be better served below decks!" the First Mate shouted loudly.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You can stay out of the way. You're no sailor and we need someone who at least has their sea legs."
Kirsten's response was interrupted as she noticed a looming shadow passing close alongside the ship. She pulled herself up to the deck and struggled over to the opposite railing confirming the vague shape of the shoreline in that direction. She turned back about to reach the stairs up to the forecastle.
"There are rocks alongside the ship. Both sides of the ship."
"What? We should still be a mile off the shoreline."
A flash of lightning highlighted the numerous spires of rocks the ship found itself in threading through.
"Theus preserve us."
The whispered voice somehow carried through to Kirsten's ears as she saw the ship unavoidably lurching toward one of the spires. She wrapped her arm around the stair railings and braced herself moments before the collision that sent men and women caught unprepared sprawling across the deck. One of the sailors slammed back first into the side railing almost cartwheeled out into the churning sea.
Kirsten released the railing as the ship dipped and let herself fall toward the railing, catching it and reaching out to grab the sailor's hand and try to pull the unfortunate back up onto the deck. She gritted her teeth and leveraged her legs into position.
"Don't let me fall!"
Her eyes closed, the Eisen woman could feel the other's hand slipping from her gloves as her body refused to lift the sailor. Then another pair of hands joined hers and pulled gripped the arm alongside Kirsten and then heaved back so that the three tumbled over onto the shifting deck, and immediately they sought places to hold tight. Looking across in a flash of lightning, Kirsten's eyes met Seona's confident grin as the highlander winked at her and nodded.
"Brace for landing!"
The mates voice carried hard out over the the cacophony of the storm and Kirsten gripped hard to a coil of rope and grimaced as she watched the ship twist slowly to the right and the high shape of a cliff loom closer. Looking up to the forecastle, she watched the First Mate heaving hard at the wheel. Then the entire vessel shuddered amidst a sound of thunder and splintering wood.
It was several seconds before she became certain that the motion of the ship had stopped. Releasing her grip she slid across the slanted deck until she could right herself and look out over the narrow beach that they hand grounded themselves onto. Another lightning flashed and revealed movement about them, the familiar forms of shambling bodies limping their way toward the smell of the living.
Or perhaps it was her that had drawn them, she couldn't be sure.
"Horrors on the beach. Seek arms before you step off!"
Kirsten firmed her face tightly and stepped up onto the deck railing.
"Kirsten, lass, don't be rash....bloody."
Seona's call for caution was bitten off as Kirsten leaped down into the shallow water. She could feel the eyes of the dead turn toward her and danced aside as further hands reached out of the wet sands trying to clutch hungrily. Her rapier was drawn and flashed through the creatures skull as she stepped forward resolutely to cut a swath through the undead throng.
Every motion seemed to fell one of the creatures but she was aware that it might not stick. The creatures she had faced on the shores of Avalon coming out of an Eisen ship had stood up again after many a fatal wound. Even now she could see as the creatures started to rise up again...and then they were crushed under the weight of a falling mast. Kirsten risked a look up toward the ship and saw Seona stepping up on to fallen beam of wood hefting a musket.
"You fucking hag, are you insane? That's our mast!"
"The only thing holding it up was the rope anyway, and would you rather face the walking corpses?"
Kirsten shook her head and dodged aside, dead rotting fingers clawing at her cheek but failing to find a firmer grasp. Stepping back, she moved to limit the mindless horde's lines of approach and heard the sound of an artificial thunder as fire from Seona's musket cut down a couple of the creatures at least temporarily. The corpses were still struggling up to their feat when several sailors came down to the beach and joined into the fight, moving to dismember the corpses before they could rise again.
The first mate trudged through the cloying sand up to Kirsten's side taking in the scene of the fight. A flash of lightning struck down, illuminating the scattered rotting limbs and sailors darting their gazes at every shadow looking for more beasts.
"Well, at least one thing's for certain."
"What's that?" Kirsten asked.
The mate raised his foot and crushed a skull that was still gnashing its teeth viciously.
"We've landed in Eisen."
The blonde duelist nodded solemnly. She cleaned and sheathed her blades and walked up the beach, back to a cliff to keep as much of the rain off as possible. She paused as she felt solid rock under her feat and looked out over the land and the forest beyond. The dirt all around was churned with the steps of the dead.
A crunch of sand behind her sent a hand back to her rapier, but her eyes found Seona quickly.
"Looks like we've landed south and west of Wirsche."
"Is it all like this?" she asked, daunted.
"No, but more than a fair share of it is."
Daughter of Eisen - Table of Contents
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