Sinking Island

The air was too moist. My back was chilly, and my clothing sticky against my skin.

Even asleep, I could recognize the discomfort. Then—

"Your Highness! Wake up!"

I startled awake, and my eyes winced at the offering of light from the vigorous flame above my face. The man looking down at me looked grieved, and I quickly picked myself up.

Water. I was sitting in it. I had been sleeping in it. Although it was only a few inches, it had already begun its scheme to drown this cliff containing my home, even going so far as to accumulate volume to soon accomplish the first step of the palace.

I grimaced at the wails of terror coming from my people, their fearful screams dividing the wind and silencing whatever sounds the world might make. With my lyre—I had slept with it clutched to my chest—I jumped to my feet and observed all the frightened eyes looking to their prince for help. The cliff was swollen with people, so many that I could not stretch my arms out now that I was standing.

Pressure came from all sides as my people crowded me. I could only search above the rows of heads, grateful that I was at least taller than most.

"My sister," I rasped, then shouted, "Where is my sister?"

Thunder cracked against the night sky, and we all flinched from the intensity of it. 

No. We had suffered invasions, wars, and plagues. But of all the tragedies that had struck this island, there had never been one with such a potential for demise.

Because the island was sinking.

And the people of Salyras could not swim. 

"Everyone, please listen!" My sister's voice came barely above the next shout of thunder that rattled the stars. 

I noticed her far from me, in a clearing our people had made for her.

"There are boats prepared. We must evacuate now! Please follow the military's command!"

Protest. It argued louder than the impending storm. No one wanted to trust the very water terrorizing us now. Their fear was too great, but they would all drown anyway if they stayed here. I pushed through the crowd and found my sister beside what used to be a steep level of steps that would descend to the communities below.

They were sunken. All of them. I looked upon the island and searched for the sand, but my eyes only came level with water. Everything I had ever known was drowning beneath it. Homes anchored to the sea floor. Animals that had been tied to fences leashed to demise.

For the first time, I feared the ocean.

My lyre was sticky in my hands, sweat accumulating like honey in my palms. The ocean was past my ankles now. Water rising rapidly. My heart struggling to swim.

"Nevian!" Nelera shouted, and when I faced her, the panic across my expression caused her eyes to soften. She cupped my face in her hands to ground me. "We are prepared for this, remember? I need to rely on you now. Our people are afraid, and that fear will kill them. Help me, little brother. It is your hopeful words they need."

My sister was right. I was the symbol of hope in my community. I had a duty to fulfill. My eyes met the bodies of shivering parents and children, crying siblings and infants. The ocean rose rapidly. It would not be long before the youngest ones struggled to keep their heads above water.

I cupped my mouth. "Everyone! Carry your children if you can. Do not let the youngest touch the water!"

I waited as children were placed on solid shoulders and backs before continuing calmly. "I know you are all afraid, and I know most of you cannot swim, but we need to evacuate this island now. Depend on me. Put your trust in me, and I promise none of you will drown. My sister and I will guide every one of you to safety, but only if you trust us."

Heads swiveled. Too anxious to trust, but it was not long before everyone realized they had no choice but to flee if they wished to live. With the third roar of thunder came a pummeling of rain that provoked new wails. The weather was painful across our skin, like small blades slicing at our flesh. Impossible to see in. Impossible to breathe in as cool mist rose from the water.

With the help of the military, my sister and I led the boarding of small boats. There were barely enough, and everyone needed to cram in them with military officials. A few hours from here, there was an island that we had all trained to evacuate to. We would go there and return home only once it resurfaced.

If it ever did.

Boats were being rowed through the storm, and the water had already risen past my waist. I clutched my instrument above my head, although the rain ensured that it would be ruined by water anyway.

"Prince Nevian!" an official shouted from a boat with my sister. He extended a hand and helped me onboard. 

My sister stood as we rode over currents and strained her delicate voice above the chaos to reach the rows of boats moving ahead of ours.

"Remain calm! We need only to endure the storm a few more hours before we reach safety! We will survive this!"

Shivering, she collapsed on the bench beside me. I pulled her against me, caging her in my arms. My sister had always been weak to the cold, and even in this summer season, the air felt icy from the rain.

She huffed a cold breath, and I gritted frustrated teeth. These boats had been stored with provisions, but each blanket and item of clothing was soaked in rain. I had nothing but myself to keep my sister warm, and even my body trembled from the chill in the air.

I worried for the children, but I had to trust their developing bodies could endure the harsh elements. Hope I could follow through on my promise to guide them. If the rain had not been so violent, I would have already been producing melodies to console them.

My music was useless tonight. For the first time in my life.

Hope did not exist among the devastated spirits of my people. We were all too affected by fear and not enough by belief. It made me wonder if we would survive this or if the generations of the Salyras people would end with us.

The weather only worsened the further we traveled, and I dared to look back at the palace that was now beneath water. And us above it.

"Nevian." My sister tugged on me, her shivers worsening. "Sing to me."

I held her tighter. And I tried to squeeze out a voice that would soothe her, but the tear of violent screams ahead pushed my gaze forward. What I saw removed my voice from me entirely.

A wave. As tall as the palace had been. A bolt of chills struck me as I jumped to my feet. I cupped my mouth. "Don't stop! Go around—!"

The wave crashed, and in its belly a long line of boats. Women. Children. Families and friends all sank beneath a blanket of water.

Another impossible wave crested and approached with the quickness of lions. Hungry for the demise of helpless people.

"Your Highness?" An official ahead of me looked back, terror claiming his gaze as he called out to me. "Your Highness—!"

Another catastrophic wave. Another line of boats stolen. I could not breathe. Could not hear my heart above the roar of screams. Only my fingers moved, twitching in short pulses. My eyes stretched to the point of pain. My sister stumbled onto her feet, our boat unsteady, and I felt her fear like it was an arm or leg of mine.

The official moving our boat rowed hastily, his limbs sure to pull from their sockets soon. Panic swelled in my throat and made it impossible to swallow.

Nelera's hand touched mine. "Nevian." Her lips moved, and I struggled to hear what she might have said.

But it was our turn, and the next wave spilled over our boat. I flailed under the agreement of water and night. Complete darkness. The water was so heavy. So thick. I had not taken a breath before being stolen under. I could not breathe. I strained my eyes, hoping I might gain the ability to see through the endless depth encasing me. I could not see my sister. Where is she?

My heart squeezed in my chest, my ribcage crushing under the ocean's pressure and my own fear. I nearly drowned before it had mercy on me, and my head broke the surface. I inhaled a painful swallow of air. It escaped me just as quickly when I noticed the tragedy across the flexible waves. 

Boats. So many of them. Overturned. Broken. In pieces, like my heart was. The disaster seemed to stretch for miles, yet not a single body drifted along the sea. I panted, my eyes manically searching across the world of water for someone, anyone.

Where is my sister!

Salt scraped my eyes raw as tears slipped, and I discovered no one. I swam to the nearest overturned boat and flipped it over with strength I did not have. I climbed into it and stole a paddle from the water. Rowing from tragedy, I searched for Nelera. Her form was undiscoverable. I shivered at the possibility—my body rejecting it. I did not even want to fathom it.

I wouldn't.

Because my sister could not die. A soul as pure as hers deserved to live. I believed in unconditional love because of her. She was the definition of it for me. My inspiration. My music.

I could not lose her.

But fate was cruel. It cared not for the tears in my eyes nor the water in my ears. And to mock me, it sent me my useless lyre. The soggy instrument drifted along the water only to remind me that my music, all I was capable of, had not been able to save anyone. I had wanted to be more once, but such a destiny did not exist.

Because here was where my life would end.

My grief coiled into anger, and I snatched my instrument from the sea. In enraged hands, I held it. Lifted it unto the air. But too many memories had been strummed across these aged strings, and I could not bring myself to break it. I let it fall from my fingers, and I collapsed onto the soaked floor.

I had not bothered reaching for provisions. I did not have the strength to.

I drifted aimlessly across the ocean for two days.

And during them, my crying did not cease.