Macha's Journey

As she did this, the mysterious woman sang an enchanting melody in a foreign language. It had a hollow otherworldly sound to it that caused a great feeling of loneliness to wash over Macha.

Aži got up from the floor and stepped towards the window. His body moved heavily, and he b.u.mped into the table, unaware of his surroundings. The voice called to him and he could not tear his eyes away from the woman.

To Macha, the situation crackled with danger and she got up from the floor to grab her daggers. "Aži, no," she commanded as she quickly dug through her bag.

The wyvern hopped up on the bed and wrapped his tail around so he could open the latch that kept the window shut.

Macha lunged to grab his tail before he lifted the latch all the way up. She remembered the First Mate"s warning and knew she would be safe as long as they did not let the creature in.

The adamantine latch slid back down and the woman dressed in white stared into the wyvern"s eyes, continuing her song.

While holding Aži"s tail, Macha searched around for something to restrain him with.

Aži craned his neck forward and used his nose to lift the latch. The woman floating outside gave him a beautiful smile and nodded to him with approval.

Luckily he did not seem to fight her, so Macha lifted the blanket and rolled him in it. His head and tail peeked out from the ends and he reminded her of an enchilada.

As she did this, she scolded him, "Aži, cut it out!" She wrapped her arms around him while his little body was rolled up in the blanket and looked around for something she could use as a tie.

While holding him, she rolled off the bed and made her way to the door. She grabbed some rope that Tyr had used to tie their luggage down and used that to secure the blanket around the onyx wyvern.

The szépa.s.szony watched as the small woman stopped the wyvern from joining her. The woman"s long white strands of hair snaked its way through the crack in the window, silently pushing the gla.s.s doors open.

The temperature in the room dropped suddenly, and the walls began to form a light layer of frost on them. When the window was opened all the way, a frigid gust of air blew into the room.

Macha looked up at the window and saw the white-haired woman hovering above the bed. Letting go of Aži, she stood up in front of him, drawing her daggers.

The szépa.s.szony glided off of the bed, never stopping her song. The lyrics changed to a slow, ghastly tune that caused Macha"s heart to shudder with fear. As the woman sang, fist-sized b.a.l.l.s of hail formed in the surrounding air. Suddenly, the large b.a.l.l.s of ice flew at Macha without warning.

Macha"s eyes grew wide, and she dodged the attack. The hail hit the walls and shattered the mirror that hung above the fireplace. In an effort to close the gap between her and the woman, she rushed forward, pulling back her dagger for an attack.

Before she could make contact, a ball of ice hit her on her shoulder. The force caused her body to spin back and fall to the floor.

Despite the pain, she remembered Tyr"s warning during their training sessions. She leaned into a roll, not stopping because she did not want to allow herself to be attacked while on the ground. Sure enough, as she rolled along the floor, the places her body had been were attacked with a flurry of hail.

Macha tried to flip a table to take cover but realized someone bolted it down.

"c.r.a.p," she muttered.

Unsure how to approach this monster, Macha tried to stall, zigzagging around the room while she a.s.sessed the situation. While moving, her eyes scanned the room, searching for something that might be of use. She realized she could run, but she did not want to leave Aži in the room with the mysterious woman.

As the fight drew out, Macha realized there was a small pause in the woman"s attacks. It was always during a pause in the song when the hail did not attack her.

In order to test this theory, Macha waited and dodged until what she recognized would be a pause. As soon as the break happened, she ran up to the white-haired woman. The long black blade of her dagger stabbed the woman through her nebulous figure.

The szépa.s.szony"s lack of solidity surprised Macha. During their fight, the woman did not appear to be ghostly at all. After this realization, Macha"s wide eyes looked up, realizing her mistake.

The woman"s face twisted and her long hairs lashed out around Macha"s neck. With a quick jerk, they both flew towards the open window.

Before they left the room, Macha dropped her daggers and reached out her hands to grasp at anything she could. The mattress lifted as she was pulled out the window.

Her fingers dug into the side of the mattress, and she shrieked, "Tyr! Tyr!"

The bed continued to lift from the weight of her body, which now hung halfway out of the window. It began to bend, and she realized that it would not keep her from falling, so she let go and grabbed onto the windowsill.

"Tyr!" Her voice screamed at the top of her lungs as she tried calling out again.

The air whipped around her and her cries for help were drowned out from the singing, the sound of hail, and the wind.

As her knuckles became white, Macha thought, "G.o.dd.a.m.nit, I"m gonna f.u.c.king die like this?"

After all that she had been through, she always imagined that she would have a more heroic death.

The szépa.s.szony dug her nails into Macha"s calves, trying to pull her down. The woman"s white hair began to squeeze tightly around her neck and blood dripped down from the thin strands.

Macha looked down and kicked her foot into the creature"s face. Nothing happened. Like before with her daggers, her attack went right through the woman"s body.

Her hands were getting tired, and she felt her blood pulsating against her skull. It was only a matter of time before she fainted or lost her grip.

The options were becoming very limited and Macha desperately looked around for anything that could save her life. Below, she saw another window. She furiously kicked her feet against it, desperately trying to break it open.

The men below heard a window shatter in one of the rooms.

The Captain"s eyes narrowed as he ordered, "Secure that door. Don"t let the d.a.m.n thing in. When the women stop the creatures above, we"ll have them deal with that one."

Macha"s heart raced. If she messed up this move, she would definitely fall to her death. There was a slim chance that if she hung on, someone might come to help, but she was quickly losing strength.

She closed her eyes and readied herself.

Bringing her legs up against the hull, Macha pushed off to help her body gain the momentum needed to fall through the broken window. Her body swung in an arch as she went through the opening below. As she swung into the ship, the broken gla.s.s sc.r.a.ped her backside.

The land had not been so bad, but the shards on the floor cut her arms and hands.

The szépa.s.szony had lost her hold on Macha when they entered the window.

Macha turned her head and found the white-haired woman standing there. The creature raised her hands towards Macha and began to sing the song that would restart the attack of hail.

Macha moved to the door to try to open it, but it firmly locked.

"Why?" she hit her hand against the door in frustration. The blood from her hand stained the wood.

As the battle progressed, the drawn-out fight was leaving her feeling tired and b.l.o.o.d.y. The rapid attack forced her to dodge continually, and she knew her movements were slower. With each chorus, she was. .h.i.t a few times.

Tyr turned to the Captain, "What if someone is in there with the szépa.s.szony?"

The Captain shook his head, "If that"s the case, opening that door would mean endangering us all. She will just have to wait for the women to finish up above. Whoever is in there knew the risks when she took the job."

After a little while, the female crew members finished clearing the deck.

The First Mate ran the stairs and called, "Clear."

The Captain shook his head. "There"s still one in that room." As he said that, a flurry of hail knocked against the heavy wooden door.

The First Mate nodded and moved to open the door. She drew her sword, and the men cleared out of the hallway except for Tyr. He wanted to see what a szépa.s.szony looked like.

The door flung open and Macha came into view. Her legs were being dragged towards the window by the long-haired woman. Streaks blood trailed on the floor behind her and her body was battered and beaten.

Upon seeing this, the First Mate pointed her sword at the creature and a ball of fire shot out from the tip of her blade, decapitating the szépa.s.szony. The creature"s figure evaporated without a trace, dropping Macha"s leg.

"Dammit!" Tyr cried as he pushed the First Mate to the side so he could gather Macha in his arms.

He ran to the deck where everyone was still straightening up.

"Medic!"