fromthevalley | Time and Tide -- for thelionofstormwind

It was going to be a long night in Dustwallow Marsh.

A hard rain fell across the morass. It had been falling steady and hard for two days and nights. The rain had been blown in from the north and with it, a slight chill permeated the drops. It soaked the already wet land. Streams and pools overfilled their banks. Plants and trees drooped from the weight of it. Animals and the various creatures that inhabited the swamp stayed mostly confined to their warrens and dens.

Helga Huff, should have been warm and dry inside her Mistresses' cozy house. She should have been brewing tea and potions to ward away the damp and chill. However, she was not. She had been sent away to harvest items from the coast. The list that Tabetha had given Helga was plentiful and could not be performed in a day or even two. The items were much needed, she was assured. Knowing better than to argue, Helga had prepped for the journey with supplies.

Her camp was located in a small cavern in the rocky hills above the shore. Though easily reached, it was on high ground and easily a defensible position. A ward kept creatures from sneaky in while she was away. She had tried to make it as comfortable as she could. Helga had a fire with a cauldron above it. She had supplies to tide her over but the dampness from the rain was persistent. Only half of the items had been collected. The seaweed was not kept inside the cave. It hung in long strips down the hill. Shells, flowers and various other brick-a-brak was piled thoughtfully in the back.

She stood at the mouth of her cavern and watched the rain fall on the beach below. The moon was full. Every so often the clouds would break and moonlight would fall through. Helga liked to work and she knew her Mistress would be understanding of the delay or so she hoped. Mages could be fickle in their teaching. Tabetha seemed to be different.

Helga let out a breath and was about to turn and try to retire for the evening when a tremor shook the land. She reached out and braced herself against the cavern wall. The ground shook for several seconds before ceasing. Helga then moved out of the cave.

Below her, water receding from the shore at a rapid pace. She knew the telltale sign of a tidal wave. Helga watched the water withdraw until her eyes met the horizon. The rain had stopped falling during the quake and the sky had opened a little, enough that the full moon could illuminate some of the ocean. Her eyes were continuously drawn up until she spied something she had not seen in more than a decade. Was that ship?

Not much time was given to Helga to ponder that question. The water had been withdrawn from the shore and now it raced quickly forward to return. The wave was tall and had Helga not thrown up a wall of ice it would have obliterated her and everything else in her cavern. The ice shielded her. The tidal wave smashed against it before crashing up and over the rocky hills. Those hills would protect much of the marsh, they surrounded the shoreline and a few rocky outcrops extended all the way into the sea.

When the wave had passed, Helga waited several long minutes before lowing her ice wall. She let out and inhaled a deep breath the steady her nerves. Where one earthquake happened another or three might not be far behind it. Helga didn't think about that. She had only one question.

Where was the ship?