Page 63 of Starside

Nothing happens.

“Stop!” Kira shrieks.

The boat obeys. We all go flying as it suddenly halts. I land in the middle with a thud, bones screaming. It immediately jerks to the side, fighting the current.

“What are you doing?” Zane yells from the front.

Kira doesn’t answer. She makes to throw herself off the side, before I pull her back. “We don’t know what’s in there,” I bellow over the onslaught. “And the weather … you’ll drown.”

She looks back at me, tears streaming down her face, mixing with the rain. Her voice trembles. “I’ve—I’ve never been chosen by anyone. Or anything. This—this blade chose me. I can’t leave it behind.”

“What about your sister?” I say, my voice breaking on the last word.

She shakes her head. “I’ll never get her the magic she needs without a weapon like this.” She slips from my hold—and before I can say anything else, she’s jumping over the side.

I gasp, gripping the wood, peering into the sloshing water, watching as her figure disappears.

It doesn’t surface again.

A minute passes. I throw a look over my shoulder at Zane, who is clutching the sides of the boat, being tossed about wildly by the surging streams, waves crashing into the prow, and sputtering foam all around him. The boat is filling with water. We have to keep going.

She’s gone. Trying to save her would be a death wish. Even if I could. Even if I could—

Metal clangs at my feet, glimmering through the deluge. Her sword. I rush to the side and see her hand reaching out. I take it—

But a rush of current pulls her away, past the boat. She disappears beneath the waves again.

“Follow her!” I scream, and the boat is released from its hold. I’m knocked onto my back. The wall of rain blurs my vision. I lose sight of Kira in the whitecaps.

Then I see her hand again.

I reach over the side, grazing her fingers, before she’s pulled under. No. I strain, curling toward the water—and the boat lurches again. I fall forward.

Zane pulls me back, arm around my middle.

“Look. There she is.”

Up ahead, she’s clinging to a massive rock. The boat bounces back and forth before reaching it.

Zane pulls her into the boat. She gasps, retching water, her legs folded beneath her.

I crawl to her as the wood groans and rocks, fighting to stay upright. “Are you okay?”

Kira nods weakly. She grabs the hilt of her recovered sword, knuckles pale. She’s freezing. There’s no time to speak, no time to do anything at all but hold on as the boat races forward.

The river churns into a series of whirlpools. The rain turns into relentless throwing daggers, aimed right at us. The wind becomes a rampart. All conspire to flip the boat. Only its magic saves us. We cling to the sides. My hands grow cold and sore, but I don’t let go.

Once dusk falls, the weather only worsens.

My eyes close against the storm; I curl my body to preserve as much heat as possible. I think about hot meals and warm socks and soft bedding. The magic my mother once told me about. All things that I might never have again, but I imagine them, until the river finally smooths. Until the rain thins.

I finally look over at Kira. Without the constant rain and water splashing into the boat, I now see it.

Red, puddling beneath her.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” I demand, rushing forward, searching for where she’s bleeding.

Her legs. One of them was shredded by a rock.