A Dike Doomed

That’s tall. that was all Alwryn could think as she stared up at the towering wall known as the Elwar Rim. It pretty much marked the end of Elwar City. Beyond it was the wild sea. She hadn’t been here before. She lived on the other side of the city.

The dike kept the raging waves at bay. Elwar city was in a valley, between the un-climbable mountains on an island in the ocean. She didn’t know how her people had come here. Maybe they had always been there. She didn’t know who had built the dike, either. Perhaps it had always been there. No, it had to have been built by someone, a long, long time ago.

Alwryn had seen the ocean before, but she hadn’t seen the dike before. It was a dangerous place, her parents told her. If the dike broke she would be the first to die if she was there. Then why do you WORK there? She would ask her father. He would say it was to keep the city safe. “You want to go to the top?” asked her father, squeezing her shoulder. Alwryn nodded.

After months of begging, her father had finally let her come to the dike with him. Her mother had disagreed. But she ended up relenting as well. So, early in the morning, before the sun was even up, the two of them were off. 

Mandoryn, Alwryn’s father, led her to the base of the dike, to the stairway climbing up the side of it. There were no rails. The climb was long and strenuous. Alwryn was panting hard by the time she reached the top. Her father wasn’t out of breath.

Alwryn sucked in her breath sharply. The view from above was even more stunning than she could have ever imagined. The city lay stretched out far beneath them, glittering in the morning sun. Mandoryn gently turned his daughter around to face the sea. Alwryn’s jaw dropped. The sun was rising above the ocean, casting rays of glorious light over the sparkling waters. Waves shattered with a roar on the base of the dike below. A few seagulls laughed and flew over the ocean, veering in towards land, to the cliffs. Cliff sparrows flew in twirling arcs and circles around their nests, welcoming the rising sun with their bright songs. A grin broke out on Alwryn’s face.

“It’s beautiful!” She cried in sheer delight. She looked up at her father. “Came I come every day with you? oh please, Father!”

“I don’t think your mother would be very happy with that, Alwryn. You still have school to go to. But every weekend, if you like, you can come with me—as long as your school is done and you hurry back to do your chores,” replied Mandoryn. 

“Oh, thank you!” Alwryn hugged her father, then broke away to gaze at the sea again. After a few more minutes, Mandoryn said, “You should be heading back soon. Can you find the way yourself?”

“Yes, Father,” answered Alwryn. “Thank you for bringing me with you today.”

Mandoryn crouched down in front of Alwryn. “You’re welcome. Now, run along, and don’t be late to finish your chores!”

“I won’t!” Cried Alwryn as she sped down the steep staircase, trying not to trip and fall. The hard stone staircase would not be fun to fall. Once you start falling, you don’t stop. Once Alwryn’s father had told her one of the dike night guards had slipped on a stormy night and fallen all the way to the bottom of the stairs. He had broken his neck, and when he was found in the morning his body was stiff with the cold grip of death already. Alwryn shuddered and slowed her pace, careful not to fall. That would not be a good day, should she fall. Alwryn stayed next to the dike wall, as far from the long drop to the city below as possible. Alwryn reached the bottom safely, then took off running through the waking city back to her home, dreaming of sparkling waters and golden red suns.

Any time she could, Alwryn would go to the dike with her father, rushing home to do her chores. She started drawing the crashing waves and rising sun, sitting on the dike wall, laughing gulls flying through the sky, and the little cliff swallows diving and swooping around the cliffs. Before long Alwryn’s imagination was running away with her, and she added things that weren’t actually there. She would add huge fleets of ships the sun, mythical creatures she had heard stories about, flocks of sea creatures lurking beneath the waves.

One early morning, Alwryn was hurrying down the streets with her father to the dike. It seemed darker than usual. Mandoryn’s face was grim and hard set.

The darkness was oppressing, and it seemed as if the whole world was holding its breath, waiting for something. The calm before the storm. Alwryn didn’t know why her father seemed so worried. He had tried to get her to stay home today, but she had insisted she come.

The wind was starting to build, whistling over the roofs of the houses. Alwryn looked up at the black sky. Normally it would be gray, with some stars in sight, but now it was just black, and not a speck of light to be seen.

Disturbed, Alwryn turned her gaze back to the dark roads ahead. Suddenly, a flash of lightning bolted across the sky, followed a few seconds later by a roaring crash of thunder. Icy rain pelted them as they reached the base of the dike.

Alwryn covered her head in her cloak hood, although it didn’t help very much. 

The stairs up to the top of the dike were slippery, and Mandoryn and Alwryn clutched each other tightly for support. They both knew if one of them slipped they could both fall dot their deaths.

Panting, they both reached the top with only a few near-death experiences. The waves rolled and boomed against the dike, and Alwryn knew something was wrong.

“The dike’s going to break!” She hollered at her father, but the wind ripped her words away. Another one of the dike workers rushed up to them. 

“The dike isn’t stable!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. Alwryn could barely hear him. “She’s going to break!”

“We need to get everyone to the safe rooms!” Yelled Mandoryn. His brown hair was plastered to his grim, worried face. 

“Is there enough room?” Shouted the other worker.

“There better be!” Mandoryn ran along the wall to the alarm bell. He rang it and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Alwryn was doubtful anyone would hear it. Just a break in the rain, please, just a break in the rain, she thought. That’s all we need. As if the clouds heard her thoughts, the rain let up a little. But not enough.

The warning bell kept on clanging in the stormy morning. Meanwhile, Alwryn and the dike worker rushed down the stairs as fast as they could. When they reached the bottom, they started banging on people’s doors. When someone answered the loud knocks, Alwryn would tell them to go to the safe room and warn anyone they could on their way. Soon people were rushing out in the streets and slashing rain, yelling at each other to get to the safe room, and hauling all their most precious belongings with them.

A loud boom thundered through the sky after a flash of lightning. Alwryn looked behind her at the dike. A large crack was spreading through it with a creaking groan.

Other people looked as well. Some screamed. Everyone ran. The dike broke. Waves crashed through the dam, roaring like the thunder that shook the sky. Now everyone abandoned their things and ran. But it was impossible to outrun the raging waves.

The waves swooped the people off their feet. Alwryn was plunged under, spinning around and around. She couldn’t tell which way was up or down. Her head suddenly broke the surface, and Alwryn sucked at the salty air greedily. 

Striving to keep herself above the water—a difficult task—Alwryn tried to undo the clasp on her cloak. Finally, with a snap, the water-soaked cloak slipped off her shoulders. Alwryn kicked off her boots. She felt much lighter. The waves heaved and tossed.

Alwryn would catch glimpses of other people in the sea, but then she or they would get jerked under the surface again. Bits of debris were tossed around her. More than once a floating piece of wood would bump into her—often with a lot of force.

Meanwhile, the skies continued to brighten, the rain continued to poor, and the thunder continued to roll.

Finally, Alwryn was pitched near enough to grab a hold on the steep, jagged cliffs. She clung to them with all her might. Her finger bled as they dug into the rough stone. The water tugged and pulled at her, trying to pull her to her death. Alwryn persisted, then suddenly a voice shouted, “Here! Give me your hand!”

Alwryn looked up in surprise. Someone was leaning over the edge of something, probably one of the safe rooms, reaching out a hand. Well, thought Alwryn, any help is better than staying here.

Gripping even tighter on the rocks with her left hand, Alwryn reached out her hand towards the stranger. Their fingers met. A wave leaped higher. Their hands grasped each other’s. The wave pulled. The stranger heaved. Alwryn was nearly sucked under again. The stranger pulled and Alwryn felt herself being freed of the heavy restraints of the dragging water.

She lay on the hard stone for a few minutes, spitting out salty water and panting heavily.

Finally, Alwryn sat up and wiped her mouth, still breathing hard. She was in one of the safe rooms in the cliffs. They were higher than the waves, but at this rate Alwryn wasn’t sure they would be for much longer.

Debris floated everywhere, barrels, books, and random pieces of wood, littering the crashing waters. 

There were other people here as well, all soaked to the skin. A group of men were pulling others from the waves.

The rain started to lighten, and before Alwryn knew it, it had stopped completely. She stood up and looked around at all the people, looking for any familiar faces. She saw her mother, her younger brother, some friends, and other relatives. She made her way to her mother and they hugged for a minute. 

“Where’s Father?” Asked Alwryn. Her mother, Tarrin, said, “He isn’t here. Perhaps he’s in another safe room.”

Alwryn nodded, even though she doubted he had made it to one. How likely would it be for him to have reached one when he had stayed to ring the warning bell? He was the first to get hit by the sea. Alwryn shuddered. Her mother handed her a towel. Alwryn accepted it gratefully and wrapped it around her shivering shoulders. 

The men continued to pull other people into the safe room, and before long it was full. Alwryn felt squished.

The skies cleared, slowly but surely. When the skies were bright blue again and the seas relatively calm, Alwryn heard someone say, “I’m going to swim to the other safe rooms. Anyone is welcome to join.” A few other people volunteered, and Alwryn, buried in the crowds of people, strained to see who had chosen to go. No one she knew had gone. That she could see, anyway.

The group dove into the water and started off.

There were three more safe rooms, two on the other mountain and the other a little ways away from this one. There were boats in one of the safe rooms, but Alwryn wasn’t sure which.

The people settled down to wait. One person started handing out canteens of water and a little bread. It wasn’t much, for they needed to ration—no one knew how long they would be here—but it was still better than nothing. A few hours later, the group returned, this time in boats. The little rowboats had been in the other safe room on this mountain.

The group listed off the names of the people in the other safe room, and Alwryn’s heart sank when she didn’t hear her father’s name. 

“We’re going to go over to the other two safe rooms since we now have the boats,” announced one of the members of the group. It would have been too far to swim. They set off after getting a bite to eat. Alwryn watched the boats turn to specks on the water. She hoped Father would be in one of those. If not…

Alwryn looked up at her mother. “What are we going to do now? We have nowhere to go. Our city is gone. Everything is gone.” She looked out over the sea. The grand city, once so tall and proud, was buried far beneath the dark waves. Her mother sighed.

“We begin anew.”