Echoes: City of Cobalt, page 6
The woman drew her knife and rushed at Echo. To Echo’s left, one of the men charged at Echo with a knife of his own. The woman reached Echo first. Echo grabbed the woman’s wrist and broke it, making her drop the knife. The woman cried out, but was silenced when Echo drove her knife into the woman’s heart.
The other Cobalt took a swing at her. She tried to dodge his stab, but the knife caught her shoulder and drew blood. His blade caught against the fabric of her vest, giving Echo enough time to put her knife through his eye.
She kicked him over, the knife sliding from his skull. “Three left,” Echo said, taking the discarded Cobalt knife into her hand. None of the three were armed, while Echo had two knives.
The first Cobalt went straight for her, while the other two circled around and went at Echo from the sides. Echo pivoted and slashed at the one on her right, missing him by a foot. She felt one of them grab her wrist and twist it around until she lost grip of the knife. She swung at him with her other blade, but he stepped back and readied himself with his stolen weapon.
To her left, a Cobalt tried the same tactic and reached for her wrist, but Echo slashed her knife across his neck. Two left. The one with the knife swung at her again, but Echo dodged it. She ran at the unarmed Cobalt and put the knife through his sternum and pulled upwards. In his last moment, he grabbed Echo by the hair and pulled her down with him. The final Cobalt lunged. Echo tried to roll out of the way, but the knife hit her shoulder.
Echo screamed. Her voice cracked and her eyes welled up. The knife went through her shoulder and hit the floor.
“You cunt!” he snarled and climbed on top of her, driving his knee against her leg until it snapped. Echo cried out once more. “Couldn’t just let us go to the ship with the girl.”
He twisted the knife and Echo’s voice broke. Blood pooled under her and soaked into her gray vest. Her arm was going numb and lines of pain shot up her broken leg. I’m going to die, she thought, closing her eyes tight.
Drifters didn’t have a high life expectancy. Echo had never met a drifter over the age of thirty in all of her years of traveling. Twenty-four isn’t a bad age. I could have done much worse than that.
The Cobalt screamed. A series of guttural noises left his mouth as he foamed blood and fell limp against Echo. She pushed him off with her good arm and wiggled from under. He had a knife in his back.
“Dylan?” Echo said. Her eyes were wide and her mouth curled to a smile.
“Can you get up?”
Echo struggled to her feet. She kept her weight off of her broken leg. “I’m sorry you had to do that.”
“I’ve done worse,” Dylan said and put the knife into her belt.
Echo nodded and tried to walk, but the pain in her leg was too great.
“Are you going to be okay?” Dylan asked, looking at the bleeding hole in her shoulder.
“If we can get to my ship,” Echo said.
Dylan grabbed Echo’s arm and hoisted her shoulder onto her back, lifting the weight off Echo’s leg. The angle of the ship made it difficult to walk. It took a long time to get to the cargo doors. Echo had to keep stopping to calm the pain in her shoulder.
Once they arrived, they saw the bright blue ocean and cloudless sky. The sun shinned bright and the air was crisp and clear. The water was only a few feet down and the front of the ship was high in the distance. Echo could see her ship. It was far, but they could swim there in only a few minutes.
“We need to jump,” Echo said.
“Can you swim?” Dylan asked, looking out at the water.
“I’ve been out there almost ten years, of course I can swim.”
Dylan sighed. “Can you swim with a hole in your shoulder and a broken leg?”
“I’m going to find out,” Echo said and jumped out of the Cobalt.
Chapter 10
The water felt like daggers. She expected the cold to hurt, but the salt hurt even more. It felt like claws digging into the wound on her shoulder. She kicked and fought against the pain until she broke the surface of the water. She was a few dozen feet from the ship and could see it in its entirety.
Most of the Cobalt was under already. The bow pointed towards the sky and bubbles foamed around the hull as air pushed out. The lights had flickered off and Echo doubted they would come back on. Dylan still stood at the doorway. She looked small compared to the size of the ship.
“Dylan, get down here!” Echo cried. She needed to get to her ship, but didn’t want to leave Dylan behind.
The little girl glanced at the ocean, then took a look at the inside of the Cobalt before she jumped.
They swam towards Echo’s ship. Echo fought against every bit of pain in her body. Only a few more feet and you can rest all you want, she thought with each stroke.
The ship was right in front of her. Echo felt a wave of relief wash over her. She was almost home.
Echo hoisted Dylan onto the deck of her ship. Dylan crawled up and grabbed onto the railing, pulling herself on deck. Echo needed to cut the anchor line. She reached for the knife on her belt, only to find it wasn’t there.
“Dylan?” Echo said, trying to speak above the waves. “Do you have the knife?”
Dylan scrambled and patted her belt until she found it. “Yes! Yes I do!”
“Cut the line!” Echo said. “The Cobalt’ll pull us down if you don’t!”
Dylan started sawing the anchor line. The Cobalt was sinking fast and pulling Echo’s ship with it. The water was already touching the deck. Dylan kept sawing, even after the line submerged.
Inch by inch, the Cobalt pulled the ship under. Dylan coughed up water as the waves splashed against her. Then, the line snapped.
The ship sprung out of the water as Dylan freed it from the Cobalt. Echo felt the kickback and lost her grip on the railing. She tried to catch onto anything, but only grabbed water.
The Cobalt was almost gone. Echo felt the suction of the city pulling her under. Her sight replaced with darkness. Water filled her mouth and ears and nose. She couldn’t see. She couldn’t think. There was nothing but water and pain.
The lights turned back on. The Cobalt was underwater, but the ship needed to have one last blaze of glory. Every light shined and made the water around her glow. Echo saw something in the moment the ship was shining. It was cloth. She didn’t know what it was. It could have been the anchor line, or a piece of debris, but she was able to grab it.
Her arm stretched and her body straightened. She wasn’t moving anymore. The suction was incredible, but Echo held on and kept her breath. It felt like hours before the Cobalt disappeared into the darkness of the ocean, leaving Echo free from its grasp.
She climbed up, breaking the surface of the water and crawling onto the deck with the last bit of energy she had. She was only able to get her chest out of the water, but that was enough. Her breath was heavy and her mouth was dry from the salt. Every muscle in her body screamed. Her arm stung and her leg was broken, but she was alive.
Her hand still clenched the fabric that saved her life. It was her scarf. On the day it was given to her, she was told that it was good luck. She still didn’t believe that it was.
Echo wasn’t sure how long she slept, but she woke up in her bed. Dylan had carried her there. There were rags on her shoulder to soak up the blood. Her leg was tied to a splint. Echo had a faded memory of Dylan snapping it into place, but she could barely picture it in her head.
“Are you awake?” Dylan said. She was sitting at Echo’s desk with a few drawings in front of her.
Echo would normally be livid that someone had gone through her art, but she didn’t mind that time.
“I’m awake,” Echo said. Her throat burned and her were lips blistered from salt.
Dylan handed Echo a cup of fresh water. Echo drank it fast enough to give her a stomach ache. “I used your water-converter. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
Echo shook her head. “It’s fine,” she said and sat up. Her leg hurt, but it was bearable. She slipped off her gray vest and threw it out the door. It landed in the ocean. “I never want to see that thing again. All the Gray Vests are gone.”
“What about me?” Dylan said.
“Your vest looks pretty blue to me,” Echo said and stood up. The splint kept the pain away, but made it hard to walk. She put on her proper clothes. A cotton undershirt with a leather jacket and scarf.
Echo stepped outside her cabin and looked out at the endless blue ocean. Little gray dots scattered across the horizon. Cobalt ships. I wonder where they’ll go.
“Miss Echo?” Dylan said.
“What is it?”
“Where do I go?” Dylan said. She was looking at the ocean as well. Her home was now at the bottom of it.
“I could find an Isle and drop you off. There’s work there,” Echo said. “If we are where I think we are, Isle Summer is close by. A small place that grows basil. Always in need of workers. Would you like that?”
Dylan nodded. “That sounds fine.”
Echo limped to the front of the ship. Dylan following close by. After the four cabins, there was a small booth with an entryway and a wheel for navigation. She opened a panel next to the window and took the battery from her belt. Echo laughed as she unscrewed the cap and connected one of the cords to the power supply.
The ship flickered to life. Lights turned on and motor started running. She set the battery inside the panel and closed it. “There we go,” she said with a smile. “That should last me the month. Unless I have to do a daring escape.”
Dylan laughed.
Echo smiled and thought a moment. “You could stay with me.”
Dylan looked at her. “Stay with you?”
“I have four cabins,” Echo said. “Plenty of room to spare. Besides, it’d be nice to have someone to keep me from talking to myself.”
“Do I have to work?” Dylan asked.
“I’m not asking you to be a servant,” Echo said. “I’m asking you to live here.”
Dylan looked at Echo. Moments passed with the two unable to exchange any words.
Finally, Dylan smiled. “Sure.”
Author’s Note
I’d like to thank you for buying my book. There’s a lot of stories out there, and it means a lot that you gave mine a read. Be sure to leave a review, and check out my website.
McLaughlin, S. J., Echoes: City of Cobalt
