Halfway (Wizards and Faeries) Read Online Free

him.
    “What was that?” cried Temet.
    “We’ve struck the rocks!” cried Aylward.   “Hard! The ship won’t make it to land.   Come with me!”   Grabbing Temet’s arm, he pulled him along as he raced across the slippery deck.
    Lightning struck again—illuminating a row of jagged rocks jutting all around the ship like knives wanting to stab him. Temet screamed, shrinking back.
    “You’ll be dead if you don’t follow me!” screamed Aylward, pointing to a covered lifeboat.
    Beginning to shiver, Temet followed the man. Though the ship was no longer heaving, it sat on the rocks, being pummeled to death by the storm.  
         Aylward threw back the cloth covering the lifeboat.   “Get in.”
    Temet climbed into the lifeboat and Aylward threw the cloth back into place.   Temet felt the lifeboat move.   Rain pounded on the canvas covering it.   Scared, Temet curled up at the bottom of the boat.
    The boat heaved beneath him and he felt himself falling.   He screamed again.   “Nessy!”   His head banged into the wood of the boat and all went black.
    #
         Temet awoke slowly, first noticing the cold wooden boards under him, then the gentle swaying he felt.   He opened his eyes and saw gray canvas stretched above him.   Memory came flooding back.
    There was a storm!   Where’s Aylward?
    Frantically, he sat up, the boat rocking even more.   He pushed the canvas aside and blinked.
    The boat was adrift in a sea of fog.   Dimly he could make out dark shapes of the rocks the moon-eye ship had died on.  
    Different shapes lay in the water—wooden shards of what had been the ship. But nothing else moved.
    “Hello?” he called out, timidly.   “Hello?”
    #
    Several hours later—maybe; he wasn’t sure, drifting in and out of sleep on the rough boards of the boat, he was still alone.   The boat still drifted in the steel-gray water, with Temet curled up at the bottom, trying not to cry and shivering.
    He heard voices and bounded up.   Through a thick fog, he could make out the huge bulk of—was it a ship?
    “Hello!” he cried, his voice cracked from thirst.   “Help me!   Do you see me?”
    The ship was still far off in the fog.
    Leaning forward against the tiller of the lifeboat, Temet pondered.   If he could do with the fog what he’d done with the water…  
    Pressing his lips together, he concentrated.   The fog began to move… and so did the water below it.   The ship was now clearly visible to him.   He moved the water under it to bring it closer to him… closer… closer… they could see him now.   Shouts issued from the deck.
    Releasing his hold on the water and the fog, Temet sagged forward, exhausted, his wet hair plastered to his forehead.   “Help me,” he whispered.   “All the others are dead.”
    #
    Even though he was under several layers of wool blankets, the deck under him, a maze of yardarms and other ship’s rigging above his head, Temet shivered.   The sky was still gray, filled with clouds.   He heard the men on the ship talking in low voices. One of them pointed to the moon-eye on Temet’s lifeboat.
    “How do you feel?”
    A man was at his elbow, holding a steaming mug of broth out to him.   “Drink this—it will warm you up fast enough.   My name is Erril. You’re on the Golden Lily .” He smiled broadly, showing perfect white teeth.   “I was the one who spotted your little boat out there.”
    “Thanks,” said Temet, trying to smile through cracked lips.   “How did you know I’m cold?”
    “You’re shivering hard enough to throw us off course,” Erril said with a small laugh.   A few other members of the ship’s crew had gathered to gawk at Temet.
    Temet lifted the mug to his lips and drank—the warmth that ran down his throat was like liquid comfort.   He closed his eyes, drinking deeper—and the mug was empty.
    “You know, they are wondering what to do with you,” said Erril.   “Where do you come from?”
    “I have a