Cont. from Part Thirteen or Story Start/Part One if your just joining
A new chapter - Meanwhile, on the oceans
The storm was horrific the ferocity of the storm caught them all by surprise. It went on and on all day, until the sun started to go down.
The ship was beaten by the waves the crew and passengers punished by the unrelenting waves. A huge wave turned the ship on the side momentarily and the crew were unable to hold on, plunging into the depths with screams.
Struggling to keep a float the ship up righted itself as quickly as the wave moved on, the sudden jar flinging several soldiers in full battle Armour into the deep following the crew to their doom.
Valar like many others ignored his training, released his shield to the ocean and instead hung on to the wooden seat to preserve his life.
The pounding went on for hours, the ship must have been miles off course, eventually the captain being the last crew member remaining called out “rocks ahead... brace yourself lads”
The ship was smashed splintering wood, cracking and snapping of sail, she was going down.
Valar was in the cold of the ocean, the waves were no longer high, the storm nearly passed. He swallowed water, it was near impossible to swim especially with his breast plate Armour still on. He released his belt and swords and as luck would have it clung to part of the ship wreck nearby, the screams of terror surrounded him...all he could do was hang on and listen to his fellow soldiers drown.
Many hours passed and he felt like he would almost pass out, but he kept hanging to consciousness. Suddenly he felt the wreck stop rocking with the waves... the sound of slipping wood on sand, he could hold on no more, either they had made it to land or he would drown..
His feet touched sand, he looked about peering into the dark, his vision blurry, his eyes sore with salt and grit. The wind was bitter and stung his face…was that a tree? It looked like trees beyond a sandy beach.
He abandoned the wreckage and made for the beach in final desperation to reach land, wading through the water.
Now ankle deep and exhausted beyond belief he dropped to his knees and fell face first in the sand, the amour meant to save them in battle taking, its toll and nearly downing him instead.
He lied for a moment kissing the sand and catching his breath..He lacked the strength to stand all he could do was lie and hope to catch his breath…he thought he heard voices and what looked like torches down the far end of the beach...they were heading his way and fast, he could make out distant voices.
“Come on men, it looks like a Arkassor ship, if were lucky there might be some loot!”
His training and instinct to survive kicked in, he was too weak to stand let alone fight..he would do what was needed to ensure survival.. he would crawl.
He crawled forward completely exhausted looking for a place to hide. The tide was high on the beach and not far the trees and plant life had taken hold...could it be a place to hide?
..the world began to spin again, but he couldn't rest yet, with one last effort he scrambled across the sand and into the plants under the trees on the forest edge.
To be sure of his camouflage he hid in the thickest nearby bush and dug into the sand, like a turtle wanting to lay eggs, he used all he had to dig in and cover himself.
..the world went dark around him, he hoped his make shift cover would be enough.