by Simon Archer
“I don’t think any of us want a repeat of the Commodore’s return,” Mary said. She finished bandaging my hand. It didn’t really hurt, only stung a bit.
“Right, then. Tabitha, take Caldern and Daka back t’ The Hullbreaker and send Ember our way,” I said with a roll of my neck and a quick flex of my shoulders. The blow to my back ached as well, but it would fade.
Pain always faded, even if seemed to not go away as quickly anymore.
“Aye, Cap’n,” Tabitha beamed and saluted, then gathered the two and set off while Mary, Dogar, and I fell on Lack’s corpse and began preparing it for burning.
The first thing to go, by my own hand, was the bastard’s head.
20
I carried Lack’s remains up to the shore and laid him out on the icy stone. Then, when Ember returned, accompanied by Tabitha and Rhianne, the three witches set to searching his corpse for other magical devices. Aside from the broken wand, he wore a simple amulet with a silver plate inscribed with what looked to be a series of names, but in a language that none of us knew. In a sheath at his belt, he carried a ritual knife, an athame that burned Mary’s fingers when she went to retrieve it.
Cursing, she turned to Ember and Rhianne, “Can either of you get that?”
Ember tried, after wrapping her hand in her cloak, but got the same burn. It was Rhianne, who, being undead, apparently bypassed the safeguards on the thing, and tucked it away in a coffer that the women had brought.
I stood by and watched with Tabitha while she reported. “Jimmy be workin’ with Adra and Ligeia to move The Hullbreaker closer. Seems the ice ain’t too hard for the King Narwhal to break through, an’ Ligeia says the pair o’ them can keep a space open for us, so we don’t get frozen in.”
“Good,” I said. “Maybe they can find out how deep the ice goes in here, too.” I had a fear that the cavern might be shallow enough to have frozen solid, and without the narwhal, we’d have to resort to Ember’s fire, unless the dwarven ship had some clever device to help. I suspected it did as I had no reason to think that this island had ever been free of its icy prison.
“We’re done,” Mary called. “He had a bit less than we expected, but it might have been lost with his boat.”
“I’m not too broken up about that,” Ember commented. She’d been sucking on her fingers ever since they’d been burned by the athame. Apparently, fire witches weren’t used to being burned. Perhaps it was mostly from surprise since I’d seen her carry white-hot coals without so much as flinching.
Tabitha and I came over then. Rhianne looked to me and smiled faintly. “You did well, Captain. I am much impressed.”
“I told you so,” Mary asserted. “There’s not much that can stop our Captain.”
“He has become even more impressive than he was when he fought the Commodore,” the undead witch admitted. Then she bowed her head to me and took a step back from the corpse and the head.
“Ember, if ye will,” I said and indicated the head. “Start there.”
We all stood back from the red-haired witch as she made a few hand-passes over Lack’s decapitated skull. Her own evil eye burned with orange fire and the head combusted, snapping and crackling as the flesh blackened and curled quickly. The eyes hissed and collapsed as they boiled in their sockets. Quicker than I expected, the head of the sorcerer was reduced to ash, and then the fire witch turned her attention to the rest of the body.
While it burned, Rhianne stared at the ash that remained of Lack’s head. I hadn’t wanted the accursed thing as a trophy even, knowing what I now knew about the Ailur and their ability to trap a being’s soul in a scrimshawed skull.
“What is that?” the undead witch wondered. Without waiting for an answer, she knelt down and retrieved a gemstone from the ash, a black opal with a star sparkling beneath its glossy surface. Everyone but Ember turned their gaze to the gem. It was a perfect sphere with a six-pointed star and seemed to shine where it rested in Rhianne’s pale palm.
“Something else to investigate, I reckon,” Mary said. “Mayhap it could be his soul or just something he kept inside his head.”
Rhianne gave the young witch a sharp look, then shook her head at Mary’s smirk. “You may not be far off.” She lifted the gem up between her thumb and forefinger, then studying it. “It seems to have something of a life of its own.”
I gave her a sidelong look as she continued to bicker with Mary. The odd pair certainly seemed to be getting along much better now than before. Hopefully, this would only continue.
A distant grinding and cracking of ice heralded the approach of The Hullbreaker this time preceded by Ligeia and the King Narwhal. Apparently, the ice in the cavern was still bottomed by water and large enough for the immense whale and my ship to enter and break up the ice.
Bord had his team in the longboat dinghy almost as soon as there was a relatively clear path to the Sea Hammer and barely acknowledged me as they rushed to ancient ship. Jimmy and Adra put The Hullbreaker up to the pier beside the dwarven craft, and the men threw down lines to Tabitha and me. We secured them, a gangplank was dropped, and the long wait was over.
“So,” Jimmy said as I stepped off the plank onto the main deck. “Sounds like ye had as excitin’ a day as we did.”
I clapped him heavily on the shoulder and almost sent the thin man to his knees. “At least ye kept my ship in one piece, ye pirate.”
He straightened and winced, rubbing his shoulder. “I take my responsibilities seriously, Cap’n,” he protested, then grinned broadly. “We had the critters all tied up, but they kept our heads down unfortunately. Still, Adra an’ Ember helped keep ‘em at bay, plus Bord an’ his boys overcharged some o’ their muskets and were able to knock a few of the bastards out o’ the sky. Damn dwarves even managed to get the deck guns going, including that four-barreled abomination.”
“Right glad I am that ye all came through,” I said honestly. It really did make me happy that my crew had not only survived but had done well.
Rhianne and Mary collected Adra and Ember and vanished belowdecks, headed to the lab, I suspected. I stretched and suddenly felt aching spots across my torso where Lack’s wand had struck me. While it hadn’t broken my mail, it had certainly bruised the skin and muscle beneath.
“Set a port watch, first mate,” I said to Jimmy. “We all need to get some rest, then I’ll see about gettin’ a report out o’ Bord.”
“Aye, Cap’n,” he answered. “Hopefully, that hulk’ll be the answer to our dilemma.”
“I hope so, too,” I said. “Else I’m sailin’ to Jetsam and plantin’ a boot in Sturmgar’s ass.”
Jimmy laughed and slapped his leg. “I’ll pay to see that, Cap’n.”
“An’ I’ll pay for doin’ it,” I threw in with a guffaw of my own.
As I turned to head belowdecks myself, a freezing cold, wet body crashed into me, and I was suddenly wrapped in the arms and legs of a siren as she kissed me. I caught and held her, returning the kiss until she finally broke it.
“I wanted to join thy fray, Captain, but the ship was sorely beset,” Ligeia said breathlessly.
I looked sidelong at Mocker, where he’d walked away to assemble the watch. “Did my first mate understate the attackers?”
“A bit,” she replied. “I kept much of the waterborne force at bay with King’s help but couldn’t make our way to the cave.”
“It’s alright, lass,” I told her. “And damn me if you ain’t freezin’. Care to join me for a hot bath?”
“I think I would like that, my Captain,” she answered. “The chill bothers me not, but the warmth is comforting and pleasant and the company more so.”
“I can certainly agree with that,” I told her.
Not long after, the pair of us were up to our chins in hot water tempered by salts meant to soothe the aches and pains of battle. Ligeia had told me that they’d not harm her gills, so I had added a liberal dose to the steaming water. The elemental stones were one of the greatest boons I had abo
ut The Hullbreaker, all else notwithstanding.
“So the whale’s name is King, aye?” I broke the comfortable silence.
“Of course,” she replied. “It is what he is, a king of his kind.”
“Just as Tiny was tiny when ye found him?”
She laughed softly. “True, he was. Little and fierce. He almost took one of my fingers off.”
I just shook my head. “So, what is the water like beneath the ice?”
“The ice extends perhaps three fathoms and the thickest,” Ligeia said, staring off into the distance. “King can break it, but he’ll need to go before The Hullbreaker, else she might run aground on some of the stronger, thicker sections.”
That made sense. I didn’t like it, but if the ice were too thick when the ram hit it, the whole ship would just ride up and get stuck, unable to generate enough force to break through, the Gale’s efforts notwithstanding.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the edge of the tub, opening my senses. The great elemental still roamed the sky nearby, waiting for either my call or Adra’s. The air and the island itself swarmed with spirits, with elementals dancing on the cold winds, and the land crowded with the dead. I’d investigate that further once Adra was free.
“Ye busy?” Tabitha called through the cracked-open door.
“We are just getting warm,” Ligeia answered first. “We have not gone beyond that yet.”
“I ain’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed, but I certainly mean to join ye,” the feline said as she slipped in and started shucking her clothes.
The bath got a little more crowded after that but pleasantly so. We all were tired, and the water and salts did as they were meant to. The pain I felt from the bruises and from overexertion faded, and so too did the pain in my hands. That was a bit unexpected, but I wasn’t about to complain.
“So, what be the plan?” Tabitha asked finally. “Any guess at how long we’ll be in this strange port?”
“I’ll be speakin’ to Bord tomorrow,” I answered. “He’s the one best to tell if the ironclad can even be made shipshape.”
“Aye,” she muttered. “Be a right shame if this were a wild goose chase.”
“I do not believe it was,” Ligeia spoke up. “There is something about this place that makes it feel important. Great works began and ended here.”
“There be lots of spirits,” I added. “I ain’t looked too closely at them, but they practically crowd the land above.”
“Makes ye wonder, don’t it?” Tabitha purred. “How some island in the middle of bloody nowhere, surrounded by ice, could play host to so many lost souls.”
“Maybe ye need to ask yer grandpa,” I teased. “He’s like to have an answer.”
“Same with yer shaman,” she retorted, “or the undead witch.”
“An’ I mean to question them in considerable depth,” I said.
Tabitha giggled, and Ligeia sighed.
“Considerable depth,” the feline continued. “Ye mean to pump them for information, then? Maybe twist arms or pull hair?”
“Rope,” Ligeia offered, “and lots of it.”
“Ye too, siren?” I demanded.
She shrugged and put on a demure smile. I wasn’t buying it.
“All o’ ye have been puttin’ yer heads together when I ain’t about, have ye not?”
“That would be telling, dear Captain,” Tabitha said with a smile. “Ye’d be better off just lying back and enjoying whatever happens next.”
“An’ what might that be?” I grumbled. “I ain’t a man for surprises, ye know.”
“And yet,” Ligeia said, “you continue to surprise us at every turn.”
“Ye’ve considerable depth, Bardak,” Tabitha mewed. “An’ length, an’ girth…” Then she trailed off into giggles. “I’m sorry, ye two. I just cannot be serious now. We’ve won a major victory, aye?”
“Aye,” I said, somewhat glad of the change of subject, but still curious about what could and still might happen.
“The greatest fight is still to come,” Ligeia mused. She was never one to shy away from mood-killing statements, yet it was part of who she was, and she made them in all innocence. “I believe that we will win.”
That was new. “I’m glad ye have faith, lass,” I said.
“Faith,” she said softly. “Yes. I have that. I believe in you, Captain. I believe in Tabitha and Mary and Adra, and all the crew surrounding you. Strangely, I also believe in William Markland. He is a different man, I think.”
“I hope ye be right,” I said. “We are putting a lot o’ faith in that man and his word.”
“‘Twill be fine,” Tabitha said, then reached over and gently caught one of Ligeia’s hands before leaning in and kissing each of its fingers, right in front of my face. Then the black-furred woman squirmed over and straddled my thighs, her arms on my shoulders and her rather ample breasts in my face. “But I’m thinkin’ there be somethin’ we can do right now to lay this day to rest.”
“The others will be here soon,” Ligeia commented as she leaned in against my side, stretching her long body out. “So, we may wish to prepare for them, or at least, take our turns.”
I liked where this was going.
21
“She ain’t rusted through,” Bord reported as I stepped onto the narrow exterior deck of the ironclad. It was more of a walkway surrounding the armored shell protecting the cannons and crew. Now that I got a closer look at her, I took note that she was smaller than I first thought, maybe the size of The Wasp, about two-thirds the length of my own Hullbreaker, but wider and with a squatly intimidating presence.
“That’s good, aye?” I asked.
“Aye,” he said with a nod. “She ain’t even got thin spots in her hull that we can tell. Yer siren’s been right helpful in doin’ the underwater inspections for us, too.” Bord sighed and hooked his leather-gauntleted thumbs into his broad belt. “In fact, we be thinkin’ she’ll be good to test out in about three days. If she holds pressure, then we’ll be able to sail the day after. Gettin’ back to the Archipelago will be the real test, but if she doesn’t explode runnin’ flat out, she won’t ever.”
“Can ye speed up that timetable?” I looked past the dwarf and into the armored shell. Hammers rang on metal, and distant voices chattered and cursed.
“I’ve already trimmed the fat, Cap’n,” Bord replied. “We be havin’ to replace bits that did rust, an’ none o’ the flexible lines survived the cold, so we have to replace them too. Each o’ these ships was one of a kind, and the helpful bastards that locked her away here decided ‘twould be best if they burned the engineerin’ manuals for her.”
“She have a name?” I asked, suddenly curious.
“Aye,” Bord replied. “Ye’ll likely think it a bit uninspirin’, but I like it: The Echo.”
“The Echo,” I tried the name and nodded. “Ain’t bad. Could mean lots o’ things, too.”
“It could, aye.” The cannonmaster shifted his feet and glanced back through the hatch at a sudden, surprised yell and more cursing.
“Ye have all the supplies ye need?” I asked. Bord had taken charge of the shopping for whatever we might need to get this ship going again, and he’d loaded The Hullbreaker down with parts, oils, and other things.
He nodded. “So far, so good. Once we get everything checked, ready, an’ oiled up, if ye can get the witches to bring over and rig in the elemental stones, that’d be good.”
“They’ll be enough?” I asked.
“Should be,” Bord replied. “If they ain’t, then we need to find another way to feed the furnace an’ the boilers, else The Echo stays right bloody here.”
There might be other ways, I thought, but I’d want to speak with Adra and Ember specifically about them. Could we bind elementals to the ship? Fire would power the furnace, and water would keep the boilers filled. It might work if the stones did not or if they were too slow.
“Let me know soon as ye be ready to test it,”
I told the dwarf. “I’ll be takin’ a small crew to check out the rest o’ the island over the next few days.”
“Unless they had a plan for escape,” Bord said, “like as not ye’ll find what’s left o’ the crew.”
“How many does she need?” I asked.
“She’s fifteen traps per side, with two crew for each gun, plus four to six engineers, an’ a helm crew o’ four that rotates through six-hour watches. Add a captain an’ first mate to that, and ye have forty-two at a minimum. She’ll berth sixty, though.”
I nodded slowly. That was less than half the crew I had on The Hullbreaker. “How cramped is she?”
Bord cackled and gestured to me. “Ye’d have to duck yer head goin’ in,” he said, “but didn’t ye know dwarves like our space if we can manage it? Orcs, humans, or dwarves could work the cannons an’ sleep in the berths with no trouble, the helm, too. Ye’d want a dwarven crew on the engines, though. They be more than a little tight, even for us.”
With that, the old dwarf turned and stomped inside. I knew he expected me to follow, so I did, and he took me on a quick tour of The Echo. In some ways, she was elegant in her simplicity. The armored shell was reinforced and slightly flexible to easily distribute the force of impacts and explosions. As I expected, her guns were complicated. I suspected they topped out around eight pounds, but they used shot like Bord had cast for his experimental cannon and were breech-loaders.
“Seems ye didn’t come up with a wholly original idea, did ye?” I teased.
Bord snorted and glared up at me, though his eyes twinkled brightly. “The four-barreled design be mine, but the breech-loading an’ pointed shot be an old dwarven secret, aye. These should even make holes in witch-wood if ye charge ‘em enough.”
I knew that enough force could overcome magical protections, which was how we’d managed to win a few fights. “Ye have enough powder, then?”