**Chapter 21 - Stand and Deliver**
214 Words
A fortnight after departing Pyra by secret pre-dawn flight, Eira guided their swift sloop northwest towards the next crucial island. But concerns gnawed at her...they had not glimpsed Lord Xanthos’ forces since the shard columns, yet she knew he pursued them relentlessly, seeking the map and cores for his own dark ends.
Lost in thought at the bow, she nearly leapt out of her skin when Arlo asked from behind “Copper for your thoughts?”
Catching her breath, Eira smiled ruefully and confided her unease.
Arlo glanced back across the rolling waves thoughtfully. “It does seem fortune favors us overly so far. But tides ever turn. For now, let us enjoy this victorious voyage.”
Comforted by his words, Eira turned also westward. Far off, flashes of light revealed their destination – Fulmen Isle, a land eternally wracked by storms. Its turbulent skies held Fulmen’s emerald core aloft according to legends. A stormy trial awaited, but one she would meet on the wind’s wings with pride.
Swelling waves and roiling dark clouds grew ever nearer until a piercing bolt of lightning cleaved the gloom suddenly, illuminating Fulmen dead ahead. They had arrived, but a galleon three times their size awaited ominously...emblazoned with Xanthos’ fiery crest. Their enemy had found them at last!
- Writer
