I was awakened by the shouts and cries of men. At first, I thought it was only a dream. I was still tangled in the blue blanket, and the room looked unchanged. But when I stood and went to the door, something told me this was very real.

When I stepped off the bed, my feet instantly felt cold and wet. I looked down, and in the faint candlelight, I saw that about three inches of water was blanketing the floor of my room. In a panic, I raced to the door, shoving it open and running out to the corridor. Men were rushing past, and I could not get out. Finally, I worked my way through to the stairs, and as I came up on the deck, I caught sight of Anthos.

"Anthos!" I cried, "What's going on?"

He turned to look at me, the light of fear in his eyes. "My lady, the ship's bottom has been breached by rocks. The dawnlight was reflecting off the water and the boatswain did not see the rocks. We're sinking."

My stomach dropped. It felt as though my heart were in my throat. I could not think except the words I am going to die. I then noticed, my brain becoming clear, that it was early morning. The sun was still pink in the sky, and the morning fog had not yet cleared. I felt tears prick my eyes as I thought that this might be my last sunrise. And my parents would not know. As the men scurried around, hastening to salvage what they could in hopes of survival, I simply stood on the deck, clutching my blanket around me. I felt a light rain splatter on my face, mingling with my hopeless tears. The distant roll of thunder passed overhead, but I took no notice of it. I thought of my parents, of my home. I thought of how I would miss them and how they would miss me. My little brother would grow up not knowing me - he was only a year old and would probably not remember.

After several minutes of staring into space, my mind clouded with thoughts of the fortress and the life I was going to miss so terribly, a harsh, loud tearing sound seared through my consciousness. I blinked and a brilliant white light temporarily blinded me. I threw my hands over my eyes. It took a moment for my ears to adjust to the sudden noise, and then to the comparative quiet afterwards. I lowered my hands and saw that the port side of the ship was mostly shorn off, and what was left was burning. Thunder still rolled in the skies above, and the sails were catching fire. The rain did little to help. Most of the men had jumped overboard. Anthos stood nearby. I heard a rumbling sound, and at first thought it was just more thunder. But then I turned and saw Anthos rushing towards me as the mast of the ship creaked and fell in my direction. The mast crashed down, pinning my arm underneath it, but what was worse was that Anthos, too, had gotten stuck beneath the massive beam. I sobbed. My arm was broken and my guardian dead. Surely I was going to die next.

In my moment of intense despair, I did not know that a crossbeam of the smaller mast was falling as well. I was just in the right position that the end of it hit my head, and everything went black.