Page 3 - UnderEarth

over both Air and Water. Now she stood up and began to look for any threat lurking in the watery hills of the Second Sea. Storm counted eleven ships riding the waves in diamond formation behind them – all that was left of Yanlin’s once mighty fleet.
The enormous white and grey wingspan of the Albatross suddenly appeared, tracking its shadow, circling over the following ships like the bird of prey it was. Storm’s stomach began to squirm the way it did whenever she saw any of the Elemental spirits. There was no sign of the Dolphin, but the Water spirit was seldom to be counted upon.
“Hey, Storm! You spotted something?”
It was Cloud, a childhood friend who had sailed with the fleet the previous year, the year of the Drowned Ones’ attack on Yanlin Island. Cloud had been lucky: he had survived. Many had not.
“Back to work, boy!” Uncle Lake’s larger-than- average nose turned at once in their direction; his nickname with the crew, she knew, was “Trouble- sniffer”. “You’re supposed to be in the galley, gutting fish.”
“I’ve finished, Master. Can I climb up to the crow’s nest and spell the lookout?”
“How many times do I have to tell you that junior
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