Erica had lost her voice screaming for help. Something had struck the ship - a whale, she figured, though it hardly mattered now. Several of the cargo crates had been knocked loose and pinned her to the wall, just a few meters shy of the ladder out of the main hold. She had cried for help, but her voice was drowned by stomping boots and panicked voices abovedeck. She only caught a few words that made her blood turn to ice.

"Taking on water." "Sinking." "Abandon ship."

Her eyes burned with tears as she desperately tried to push herself free of the massive load holding her down. They were abandoning ship, and she was below! Already she could hear a different sound - water filling the brig and spilling into the hold. She could hear and smell it plainly, though she couldn't see it. Must becoming from behind. The yaw of the ship and slow lean backwards was evidence enough.

Tromping and shouting continued above. She tried screaming again, to get anyone's attention. Nobody came. Nobody could hear her. Most of the ship must have already fled to the lifeboats. She knew there weren't many; Captain Triglio was an unapologetic miser. Erica cursed his name to the Highfather - shortly after praying the Highfather would rescue her.

She heard footsteps. Looking up with teary eyes, she saw Wendel the bosun. Wendel! The one who always smiled at her and called her "Little Sister". Possibly the last one aboard. She shouted his name.

At first, he seemed confused, looking around as if he imagined hearing something. When she called to him again, he turned and found her.

"Little Sister!" he gasped.

He saw the crates pinning Erica to the wall. He never hesitated or looked back at the lifeboats. He slid down the ladder and rushed to her side. With a furious growl, Wendel tried to push the massive load away to allow her a way out. But these crates were filled with iron, bronze, grain, even stone. No man was going to move these. Erica couldn't hope to help him - she could feel a leg broken and her arms were utterly sapped.

The water was rising, filling around their legs. Each moment more water poured into the hold, the faster the ship was sinking, thus bringing even more water.

"Wendel..." Erica sobbed. "I... I don't..."

"Hush now, Little Sister," Wendel said with a smile. She could see the effort he was putting into it. "I'm not leaving you. Don't be afraid."

Tears streaked down her face. She recognized the resolution in his eyes. He would not leave.

The water filled the hold. They each took one massive breath that they knew would be their last. Together they tried pushing the crates again. They poured every ounce of strength their muscles could muster. Erica's arms felt like they would snap like twigs.

Finally, she exhaled, releasing a mass of bubbles into the dark, cold water. The light was fading - but she knew Wendel was still there. He was holding onto her. Then she heard gurgling and bubbling and his grip grew limp - but never released. With blood pounding in her ears, she could feel her heartbeat grow slow. The last thing she knew was the odd feeling of weightlessness. The crates slid away from her body like a curtain being lifted. The currents wrapped around her like a pair of powerful arms, pulling her soul away to be carried to whatever awaited in the afterlife. She saw vivid colors of purple, green, and white swirling around to welcome her to death's embrace. She closed her eyes to fall into the final sleep.

Then she opened them again.

Erica coughed and spurted water, feeling as though she had swallowed half the ocean. She writhed on the sandy beach, shivering and quivering. But the sun was warm and a soft hand grasped her shoulder.

"Easy, child," a voice said. She didn't recognize the speaker. It certainly wasn't Wendel. In fact, she saw Wendel nearby, coughing up water on the sand as well.

"Who...?" she managed a squeak.

Something slithered along her broken leg. It wrapped around tightly and squeezed. But instead of pain, Erica felt only a cool soothing - and it surged through her whole body. Then, suddenly, her leg felt good as new. She looked down to see a tentacle with violet stripes letting unwinding around her bare leg. Beyond some marks left from the strange cups along the snaky length, her leg was whole. Erica gasped and looked up to see a face, almost human in appearance, give her a kind smile and a wink.

This fantastical mixture of man and octopus gave her a friendly pat on the cheek as it slipped away and vanished into the surf. Erica sat up to catch one last glimpse of the tentacles before they were swallowed by the sea. Then she crawled over to Wendel, her head swimming. Should she tell him what she saw? Would it sound like a child's wild imagination or the raving of a near death experience?

Wendel's eyes were open. He smiled at Erica and gave her a weak but passionate hug of relief. In his countenance, Erica could tell he saw the same thing, but understood just as little as she. Right now, the only thing that mattered was they were alive.