Page 16 - UnderEarth

on our cargo. The Inner Sea is no place for a green youngster on their own, not even a Weather-witch!”
Storm rubbed her nose in frustration, then went back to drawing in her journal, which she had brought on deck. She was trying to record the attack by the Drowned Ones so she could make it into a story one day, but her fingers were clumsy and stiff and the pictures made no sense. Finally she gave up and simply watched the pimple that was Boabar’s mountain grow taller. At last, a cheer rose from the deckhands.
“Foam, take the tiller!” shouted her uncle, and the second master bounded forward and took Lake’s place at the tiller. Foam, a short, round, nimble-footed man, gave Storm a knowing grin.
“Follow me, Niece,” ordered Lake. “Time to make an offering to the Dolphin!”
Heart thudding, Storm wove her away across the deck after her uncle. Cloud had told her there would be an initiation ceremony for those on their first voyage to the Inner Sea, and she only hoped it would not be too painful or embarrassing. Two boys, this season’s apprentices, waited anxiously in the bow of the ship.
“You three, line up in front of me,” the captain
shouted. “Whelk! Dip the bucket!” As one of the
crewmen ran to dip a wooden bucket tied to a rope
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