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.“He’s alive and he’s fine.Now let’s get the hells away from this cursed thing.”“Yes,” she said.She cradled her baby and held him close.She looked into those eyes and knew instantly what his name would be.“Let’s.”Feldrin stood and helped her to her feet.She was still dreadfully weak, and she accepted his aid as they walked back to the cuddy cabin.He settled her onto the bench there, then went forward to give Horace his orders.Cynthia raised the baby to her breast to feed, leaned her head back against the cabin, and let the sun warm her face.She listened to the bustle of the crew as they trimmed the remaining sails, replaced the broken cordage, and cut away the shattered spars so they could install the replacements hauled up from the hold.For the first time in a long, long while, she was content.Too many had died, too much sacrificed for her to be happy, but, for the moment, she was content.Cynthia summoned a gentle wind, and Orin’s Pride sailed north while Akrotia burned behind them.≈“We stay!” Uag insisted, waving his bloodied cutlass in a crimson arc.“We wait for Capt’n Sam!”He kicked Glaf’s body into the water without turning his back on the remaining crew.Braf and Fak were against him, but Sepa was still unsure.She stood back from the others, her face etched with lines of worry.There was plenty to worry about; the floating island was shaking and shuddering like the convulsions of a dying man, and the very stone was coming alive with magic.“We will die if we stay here, Uag!” Braf shouted, pointing his own cutlass at Uag.“Capt’n Sam has failed.We are alone.”“We will die if we leave without her,” Uag countered.“We cannot find our way home without her.”“She said we could not, but I think this was a lie to keep us from killing her,” Fak said.“If we sail north, we can—”A stronger tremor shook the island, and the water of the harbor danced with the deep vibration.Then the screech of metal on stone shook the air.The arch above them flared with light, and massive bronze plates began to emerge from the inside edge, then ground to an abrupt halt.“It is a trap!” Braf shouted, his tone now panicked.“Uag, the jaws of a trap are closing on us.We must leave while we can!”Uag glared at them, at the glowing stone city, at the huge blades of the gate over their heads.Heat radiated from the stone, and the water lapping against it had begun to steam.He looked along the broad avenue that ringed the city, but there was no sign of Captain Sam.She had said that she would not take long in the city, and that he should wait until sunset.The metallic grating shrilled again, and the bronze blades descended another foot before halting.Looking closely, Uag saw that they were not just coming down from above, but from all sides, and maybe even from under the water.They were moored at the edge of the reef; if those huge plates closed, they would miss Manta’s bows by only a man’s height, and the shattered coral could capsize them.Uag made a decision.“We go! Cut the mooring line and man oars!”“Good!” Braf and Fak grasped their oars while Sepa ran forward and slashed the mooring line.She returned and grabbed her own oar, and Uag took the other.The four oars dipped, and Manta backed sluggishly away from the arch.Metal shrieked against stone, and the water beneath the arch shuddered in wavelets.The gate was closing.“Quickly!” Uag pulled on his oar until it threatened to snap at the lock, willing the craft to move faster.Manta eased away from the coral.Yellow-white light flared from the arch, and the great bronze blades scythed down.Metal screeched against thousand-year-old coral, and the sea heaved up under the arch.The coral split, and a huge section lurched up and flipped, nearly hitting Manta’s bows when it splashed down.The resulting wave pitched the twin hulls up, and the ship lurched backward.Spray and splinters of flying stone showered the deck, but they were clear, and their cries of shock and surprise changed to howls of laughter
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