Captain Jansa rose back up to his feet, as did many of those on board. He started back towards the prow when the ship shuddered violently.
Had they already run into the rocks? He ran to the starboard side of the ship and was in time to see a monstrous head crown out of the seawater.
A whale!
The blast from its spout sheeted cold sea water down onto the shuddering deck of the ship. Another splash of water onto the deck had him wheeling around to see another great head rise out of the sea on the other side of the ship.
Two whales!
Suddenly the ship went up into the air and then back down again and then up again and so on.
Men were thrown to the deck and some were almost thrown over the side by the force of the up and down motion. It was like riding a giant bucking horse.
The whales were carrying the ship!
"Cut the sails and let the rudder go! Quick, at it men, these sea beasts are taking us for a ride!"
Awe struck sailors stumbled to accomplish the tasks given to them. Captain Jansa looked out at the other ships along the line only to see the same unbelievable phenomenon happening.
The rocks loomed close, but the big beasts that bore the ship charged toward them heedless of their danger. The helmswheel began to turn freely as the two great whales turned to the right slightly as they swam in unison with each other. The hull of the ship was balanced between them.
The Fair Damson raced into the jagged rocks carried along by its two shepherds. The whales turned first one way and then the other way, as they steered the ship through the rocky obstructions in its path. Their great bodies slammed into the rocks, and the sea foamed red from their injuries, but the ship never touched a rock.
Sailors and soldiers alike clung to each other and the ship for dear life, as the ship rose and fell violently. Salt spray cascaded onto the decks drenching everyone.
Captain Jansa clutched the side of the ship's railing near the prow and looked across at the great eye of the whale so close to him that if he had leaned out he could have touched it. Ships everywhere were being ferried through the perilous rocks by the great beasts of the sea.
They were through the rocks suddenly and the beasts bearing them headed straight for the beach picking up speed with every moment that went by. What of the flagship?
The Tasa'Anna being bigger and slower had been at the back of the fleet. Captain Jansa strained to see what had become of her and his father. The Tasa'Anna was under full sale headed along the cliffside wall of the leeward rocky headland. It was the only place where the channel was wide enough to accommodate it, but it was also the most dangerous route to have taken.