'Where all the secrets began,' Ladislaya recited, 'a land of the unknown.'

She closed her book as well as her eyes and began humming.

Jake was staring at her. 'What's that mean?'

Ladislaya snapped her eyes open. 'It's a book of poetry,' she replied, before closing her eyes again.

'Should be there soon,' Elias said.

'You've been saying that for the past few days,' Wren called to him over the wind.

'Well, this time's for real now,' Elias said, dignified. He checked the compass. 'Storm's coming in, though.'

'What?'

'Hmph. We should expect a little pour, nothing else. At least, that's what my maps say...' He drew out a black marker and circled something on a map.

'There'll be a storm?' cried Wren, running over.

'Perhaps. They'll be coming at us from East,' Elias tutted, checking his compass and punching a few numbers in the calculator. 'Ah. Won't be just a drizzle - it might be a little more than a pour.'

It was three in the morning and the sun was rising up. They'd got up early to see the sunrise - the sky was a faint orangey red. Wind whistled and the sea churned beneath them. Moments later, Wren felt a drop of water trickle down her nose.

'Brace yourselves, folks!' cried Elias, steering the wheel to the left. 'It'll be a ride ... a wet one, too.'

Rain began to pour, coming down in sheets, drenching in within seconds. 'Tie down that barrel, someone!' Elias ordered over the whipping wind. Jake hurried over. 'Is the ship going to hold up?'

'She'll hold, but we'll have to stay alert!' Elias was practically shouting now. The sky was growing darker - Wren was soaked. 'We need to secure the rigging!'

'On it!' Wren shouted. 'Jake - get to the mainsail!'

'I've got it!' cried Ladislaya. 'Rope, pass me rope, someone!'

Wren threw one long one to her. The ship steered dangerously to the left. 'Oh god,' Elias muttered. He looked up at the sky, now a deep shining red. 'Uh, not good everyone, not good!'

'What?' yelled Wren over the howling wind.

'Red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky in the morning, sailor's warning,' Elias recited, seizing his calculator. 'It's a low pressure system - good weather's passed, and now storm's on its way! A mighty big one, I can tell you!'

'Weher's it coming from?' Jake yelled.

'East. It's coming from East,' shouted Elias, grabbing his maps and highlighting certain areas. 'Aaahh...somebody get the bloody railing!'

'What d'you think we're doing?' Jake bellowed, cursing through the wind. 'We can't hold up much longer, you know!'

Elias wasn't listening. He was busy crumpling up maps that wasn't of any use anymore - punching in numbers in the calculator and marking down places where the storm was coming at them from. Checking the compass every now and then, he highlighted something one of the maps.

'Bad weather on the way. Really, really bad. This is only the beginning.'

'What?' said Wren, tripping over a barrel as she rushed to Elias. 'What do you mean, only the beginning?'

'The worst of storms are coming at us in, say, two hours. Five times the size of the current weather right now - the weather right now's considered alright - good, even.'

'So it's not the worst of the storms yet?' said Wren incredulously.

'Definitely not. We have to pull to port.'

Wren seized the map from him, examined it then looked up at him. 'Pull into port?'

'Yes, pull into port!' shouted Elias angrily, snatching the map back from her. 'We have to put aside our ...'

His voice trailed off, the wind swallowing it up. His eyes trailed over the map. Wren nodded.

'You see it too, don't you?' she said. 'There aren't any ports for us to pull into. We're in the middle of the ocean. We can't go nowhere.'

Elias swallowed. 'The sky,' he said thickly. 'Red. The front's already generating gale force winds, with a forty foot swell.'

'I don't know what those words mean,' Wren told him.

Elias looked ragged. Wren had never seen him like this - he was a cheerful, jolly sport - he looked defeated now. Under his breath, he said, 'Go lower the sails and secure the cargo.'

'On it,' Wren said, hurrying to the back of the ship. Ladislaya was having a hard time cooperating with Jake - the both were yelling to each other over the howling wind.

'We can't afford to lose the cargo in the storm, Ladislaya!' Jake shouted.

'The anchor's a good idea!' Ladislaya was shouting back. 'It's not like we'll drown if you put it out -'

'No! You heard Elias - to the back, get the railing, pass the rope!'

'Guys!' Elias shouted, running to them. 'I've done the numbers and it looks like the worst of storms are gonna hit in 72 hours, but before that, we're going through a couple of challenges!'

'Three days?' Jake shouted, thunderstruck.

'Exactly,' shouted Elias as waves crashed against their ship. 'We'll be expecting sixty-foot waves tall enough to batter us down. We'll need to use the drogue by then.'

Wren knew what a drogue was. She'd sailed with her uncle multiple times - she wasn't an expert at the whole ship and sailing stuff but she knew enough to calculate and manuvere through the maps. 'When?' she shouted.

'Can't predict,' shouted Elias, looking at his calculator again. 'The weather's going husky - it'll be unstable every now and then - when I say use the drogue, use the drogue, got it?'

The three nodded emphatically.

'72 hours,' Wren said, slumping down on the deck of the ship. 'That's a really long time.'

Elias seemed to sense what was going on in her head. 'Wren, our problem is facing the storm now, so we can't focus on getting to Iridia right now, alright? If there's port, we're pulling into the nearest one - the main thing is to get us all out safely and alive.'

Alive.

'Isobars are getting closer,' Elias shouted from the helm.

'What does that mean?' Jake hollered.

Elias exhaled through clenched teeth. 'The storm cells have merged. Three storms have morphed into one giant one.'

Wren's jaw dropped.

'We're getting through this, crew,' Elias shouted. 'Make sure the drogue's ready so when I call out, it's getting into the water, alright?'

Wren's heart was hammering in her chest. She ran over to Elias and seized the calculator, staring at the chaotic mess of maps as she punched numbers into the device. 'No. No. No, this isn't right.'

'What isn't?' Elias shouted. 'What are you doing? Out with it, come on? Did the cargo fall?'

'No! No, it's - this is wrong. Getting the drogue out is wrong.'

Elias stared at her. Wren took a deep breath and examined the maps.

'Look at these. These dots you've marked?'

'Yeah, those are where the storm's worst at, and where they're coming at us from, so we're getting the drogue out -'

'No, these are the tallest waves you can find in 72 hours, tall enough they can knock our whole ship down. And - let me finish,' she growled as Elias opened his mouth to speak, '- we aren't going anywhere with the drogue. It'll slow us down.'

'Yeah, that's the whole point!' said Elias, outraged.

'That's the point of the drogue, it's not the point of the storm right now! So if -'

'Look, Wren - drogue's are meant to help us in storms. It's not an enemy, and slowing down is good!'

'Not it isn't!' wheezed Wren. 'Drogues keep the boat stable, but in Pacific storms, they slow us down like an anchor.'

'What - are - you - saying? These are not the kind of storms you can weather!'

'I'm saying we should go through them,' said Wren, speaking slowly but loudly. 'We navigate and course through the storm - we don't fight it. If we sail with them -'

'No, no, no,' Elias said, shaking his head vigorously. 'No!' It's not going to work! I'm a sailor, and I've done this countless times -'

'But have you gone through a storm as bad as this one's going to be?' demanded Wren.

'At least I've gone through storms, Wren, you haven't -'

'Hey, Wren's ability is water manipulation, she can weather the waves, currents!' cried Jake, his voice rising excitedly. Elias looked at him like he was an alien who announced he was invading Jupiter. 

'You're crazy,' Elias and Wren said unbelievably at the same time. Jake's face fell.

'First off, I can only make water forms, that's all I've learnt in Abilities class, as well as control bits of water,' Wren said. 'But controlling fifty-foot waves? That's out of the question.'

Jake was about to say something when Ladislaya popped up, red and sweaty.

'Guys!' Ladislaya appeared, pink-faced and excited. 'I've just had an idea and it involves us not using the drogue.'

Elias sucked in a breath.