There were also more practical considerations to take into account. Murdering the entire crew of a merchant ship would give the Eternal Empire the pretext it needed to go to war immediately, and Everton was not quite ready for open conflict. As piracy went, ordering the crew onto a longboat was considered wonderfully polite.
“Captain!” one of his crewmen cried as he bounded over with the sort of enthusiasm only a stomach full of good food and a cargo hold full of valuable loot could inspire. “Care to inspect our takings more closely? It’s a fine haul, I think, a very fine haul indeed.”
Jake was not an expert on magical artefacts. His career as a privateer and a pirate had focused more on using magic to sink other ships, but he was great at assessing the worth of more mundane goods. Whether it was spices, fabric, precious metals, or even alcohol, Jake only needed a quick glance to arrive at a decent estimate of something’s value. From what he’d seen earlier, his crewman was right.
The merchant ship’s cargo had consisted mostly of spices and rare herbs, many of which he vaguely recognised as being quite valuable to apothecaries and mages. Such herbs often did poorly when farmed, so they had to be painstakingly gathered from the remote forests, rugged mountains, and searing deserts they favoured. Naturally, those locations were home to all manner of fearsome beasts, such as hydras, dragons, and basilisks, all of which were more than happy to deal with any would-be herb gatherers. There had also been some precious gemstones and metals, but they were the easiest objects to value. Every privateer kept a close eye on the price of gold and silver, along with the value of gems like ruby, sapphire, emerald, and diamond.
“Take a full account of it all,” Jake said, clapping the other man over the shoulder. This fellow had been with him since the beginning of his life as a privateer. “And have Frederick and the other mages go through it all too. If there is anything magical amongst the loot, I want it properly catalogued and safely stored.” He lowered his voice. “And make sure to take an honest tally of our takings. We have a good arrangement here, and I’ve no intention of throwing it away over a few coins.”
The crewman nodded gravely and went off to carry his orders. Jake’s thoughts drifted back to Timmy. The necromancer was certainly eccentric – he fought with a shovel and had used a zombie kraken as a siege weapon – but he was friendly enough, and he’d proven himself both on the field of battle and outside it by leading the assault on the island and by securing Jake and his crew positions as privateers for Everton under his employ. Jake had learned the hard way that good, reliable allies were hard to come by, and Timmy was not the sort of person he wanted as an enemy.
At first glance, Timmy came off as laidback, perhaps even foolish. But any man who could lead a successful attack against one of the most fortified locations in the Eternal Empire was not someone to be taken lightly. If the rumours he’d heard were true, Timmy had defeated the Lord of Magic in charge of the island in single combat. Even without a zombie kraken at his command, Timmy was a dangerous man, no matter how amiable he seemed. Jake also had a healthy respect for anyone brave enough to stick his arm into a dragon’s mouth to brush the aforementioned dragon’s teeth. Oh, Spot was friendly enough, but those teeth of his were no joke. A careless movement, and Timmy could easily have found himself missing an arm. Despite Spot’s lack of size – he wasn’t exactly a winged behemoth of fiery doom just yet – Jake had seen firsthand how easily the dragon’s teeth had ripped through flesh and armour.
Roughly two hours later, one of the sentries bellowed a warning. Something was flying toward them. Dusk wasn’t far off and the sun was in his eyes, so he couldn’t get a good look at it. It could simply be a sea drake returning to its roost, which would be harmless enough since sea drakes rarely attacked anything bigger than they were, or it could be an imperial scout.
“Crow’s nest!” he shouted. “Any word? I want to know what that flier is.”
One of his mages cast a scrying spell, and the identity of the flier was soon revealed. It was a zombie wyvern, and Jake had a fair idea of whom it belonged to. If he had any doubts, they were dispelled the instant he managed to get a good look at it through a spyglass. The zombie wyvern had an incredibly pink scarf around its neck. He chuckled. Only Katie would put something so pink on a zombie wyvern. For someone who seemed to embrace many of the more traditional aspects of being a necromancer, the girl had a rather disturbing devotion to the colour pink. This zombie wyvern was smaller than some of the others he’d seen, so it was likely there to deliver a message, rather than to deliver cargo or transport people.
The zombie wyvern landed on the deck and waited patiently as Jake unrolled the scroll that had been secured to its harness. It was also carrying some lighter but useful bits and pieces, like additional spyglasses and a scrying sphere, but he let his crew handle those. They’d be put to good use, and a high-quality scrying sphere would make future communication much easier once he and his mages had grown accustomed to its use. The message itself was simple. Timmy and Katie wanted him to help a man named John Seaton V acquire something for them. What made things complicated was what they wanted him to acquire. His lips curled. They didn’t do things in halves, did they? They wanted him to acquire some fresh leviathan scales.
“Prepare to change course,” Jake ordered as he ran through everything he knew about leviathans in his head, almost all of which was hideously unpleasant. “We need to drop off our cargo before we start our next mission.” He smiled grimly. “And make sure all of our weapons are in prime condition. I doubt they’ll be much good if we have to fight, but it can’t hurt to be prepared.”
* * *
John Seaton V was a tall, lean man who seemed to have something against shirts and tunics. There were plenty of scars on his arms and upper body, which wasn’t surprising given that he made a living hunting sea monsters and other vicious quarry. Jake and his dreadnought had met with John’s ship not long after departing Everton’s waters, and the two vessels were now sailing alongside each other through calm waters. But the calm was deceptive. Leviathans were gigantic creatures capable of altering the sea and the weather with terrifying ease. An angry leviathan could turn even the calmest sea into a tempest-blasted maelstrom in a matter of moments.
“Enjoying the meal?” Jake asked. As was his custom, he had invited John and some of his crew aboard. He’d always found it easier to take the measure of a person over a good meal, and sharing a meal with someone was a fine display of trust.
“It’s good.” John chuckled heartily. Despite his rugged appearance, he was quick to smile and make conversation. “It’s much better than what I’ve been eating recently. I believe in eating what my crew eats, and we’ve been at sea for some time. We were about to head back to port, but this opportunity was not one we could afford to miss. Katherine may still be an apprentice, but her research is impeccable. If she says we’ll get a chance at a legendary leviathan’s scales, you can be sure we will.” He nodded at the food on the table. “Raid a ship lately?”
“I can’t say too much about it, but you might be right.” Jake rubbed his chin. His parrot had watched the dark-haired monster hunter from his perch like a hawk since the meal had begun, but he’d remained relatively quiet. It was a good sign. Dusty was a great judge of character, and if he didn’t like someone, he wouldn’t hesitate to make his opinion known. “What do you think about this mission? Have Timmy and Katie asked for leviathan scales before?”
John chewed on his food for a long moment. “This mission is more from Katherine than her master.” He grinned. “She’s going to be an absolute menace when she grows up. She’s only ten and look what she can do.”
“So this is for a project of hers?”
“Yes. When Katherine first hired my crew and I to get things for her, it didn’t take long before she asked us to get her some leviathan scales. Do you know what you can do with them?”
“Not really. I’m more interested in steering clear of leviathans than in using their scales fo
r anything.” Jake prided himself on being an excellent sailor and a skilled tactician, neither of which would matter against a leviathan. It was like trying to fight a dragon with a pillow. You could devise as cunning a scheme as you wanted, but you were still going to get eaten. Against a leviathan, ships were nothing more than kindling in the midst of an inferno. Even without the magic they wielded, their incredible size and strength made it easy for them to simply smash any ship in their path. Like krakens, leviathans were best avoided unless someone had an entire fleet at their disposal and some very, very powerful mages. “I imagine it’s what most sane people do.”
John’s lips twitched. “You’re probably right, but neither monster hunters nor necromancers qualify as being completely sane.”
Jake acknowledged the point with a nod and sipped on his juice. He hadn’t met many necromancers, but the ones he had met were all a bit odd. “So…?”
“Ah, right.” John reached for more fruit. Scurvy was an awful thing, so every sailor worth his salt took advantage of fresh fruit if it was on offer. “As you know, leviathans are gigantic creatures that bear a passing resemblance to sea serpents and eels in general shape although they are much, much larger. They are also probably the only creatures in the ocean that can pick a fight with a kraken and win. Like dragons, they are innately magical creatures, and their scales contain some of that magic.”
“Go on.”
“I can’t give you too many of the details. I don’t fully understand them myself. But they have magic linked to water. They’re not very subtle with it, but their power is incredible. You might have seen or heard about the huge waves that accompany them, along with the storms and rain. Some of that is due to their size, but some of it is also due to their magic. Their scales are also virtually impervious to water-related magic of any kind. I’ve seen water mages shoot blasts of water at leviathans that would have pierced through a dreadnought with full armour and a large complement of war mages. They didn’t even leave a scratch.”
Jake grimaced. “How much of that is magic and how much of that is the durability of the scales themselves?”
“Don’t get me wrong, leviathan scales are immensely durable, but they’re not as tough as dragon scales, at least, not when you take into account how large they are. Those blasts of water turned into a fine mist the moment they hit the scales.” John took another bite of his apple and frowned. “It makes sense when you think about it. They’re aquatic. If you could turn water against them, they would be much easier to deal with.” He smiled. “Knowing Katherine, she’s going use leviathan scales to make a special kind of alloy. I’ve heard of it. It’s supposed to be incredibly strong, and it will never rust. More importantly, it’s almost completely impervious to water magic too.”
“Do you know how make that alloy?” Jake asked. “It sounds useful.”
“No, I don’t. I do know that you have to grind the scales up and add them to the alloy while it’s still molten hot. Beyond that, I have no idea, and it’s a closely guarded secret.” John leaned back in his chair. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if Katherine has managed to dig up the formula, and this is exactly the sort of thing her master might know. He’s well informed about a lot of things, and Katherine wouldn’t have asked us to get her some scales if she didn’t know what to do with them.”
“You know, Timmy showed himself to be a fine sailor when I last worked with him.” Jake paused as a thought occurred to him. “But I think I know what Katie has in mind. I think she’s going to make Roger more armour.”
“Roger?” John raised one eyebrow. “Who or what is Roger?”
Jake grinned. “I’m glad you asked since she used the shark you got her to make him. Imagine this…”
By the time Jake had finished, John was barely able to string two words together. “She… she actually made something like that?”
“She had some help from Timmy, but Roger was her idea.” Jake shook his head. “I got to see him in action. Believe me, you don’t want to fight him. He took out a galleon in a single attack, and even a dreadnought didn’t do well against him once he managed to get onto the deck. I was only too glad to have him on my side.”
“Necromancers…” John smiled fondly. “But it makes sense now. The only way to deal with something like Roger is to immobilise him and hit him before he can close in. It would be far easier to do that when he’s underwater than when he takes to the air. With armour made out of the alloy I mentioned, that wouldn’t really be an option anymore.”
“Can’t they use the scales from a dead leviathan?” Jake asked. “It would be easier and safer, wouldn’t it?”
“Good question. You can buy leviathan scales on the black market or from a hunter or rare creature dealer, but certain breeds of leviathans have special properties. The scales can’t be too old either. If they’re not processed properly, the magic fades away over time. The processing has to be done while they’re still relatively fresh. Anything more than a couple of weeks is too late.” John smirked. “And the reason Katherine asked us to set course for the Broken Isles is because she wants the scales of a certain leviathan.”
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that the leviathan whose scales we’re after is no ordinary leviathan.”
John slapped one hand down on the table. “Hah! You do understand. Let me put it this way. In my line of work, this leviathan would have to be the most famous in the world.”
“That does not sound good.”
“It depends on how you look at it. We call him the Endless Blue because of how big he is. The last time anyone got a decent look at him, they say he was at least ten miles long. People say he can swallow an island whole.”
“Ten miles…” Jake reached for a drink – not juice this time, but wine. “They don’t seriously expect us to fight him, do they? I’m a privateer, but I enjoy living.”
“Fight him?” John threw his head back and laughed. “Not at all. Most krakens would turn tail and run if they saw him. No, we’ll be watching and waiting to claim the spoils. As big as he is, the Endless Blue isn’t without rivals. There is one kraken in the ocean big enough to give him a run for his money.”
* * *
There were two species that could, with some degree of honesty, claim to be the rulers of the ocean: krakens and leviathans. Age only made them more powerful and cunning, and hatchlings of either species were already monsters capable of devastating fleets and wiping out coastal cities.
The Endless Blue was the oldest and mightiest of leviathans, a colossus who dwarfed the others of his kind. To the mermen who dwelt in the depths, he was one step below a god. Indeed, they believed that he was the first leviathan created by the god of the ocean himself. Yet for all his might, the Endless Blue was not the unquestioned ruler of the ocean. He had an ancient foe, one he had first encountered when the world was young and the gods still walked upon it. The Island That Swims was the first of all krakens, a titan amongst titans. For countless years, they had fought whenever they met. They had sunk empires in their struggles, and dozens of civilisations had written epic poems, most of them awful, about the sheer devastation they had wrought in their battles.
Now, however, they were largely content to leave each other alone. Both had grown so powerful that nothing and no one else in the ocean could challenge them. Yet every now and then, when enough time had passed and conditions were right, they sought each other out to do battle. After all, what self-respecting leviathan would allow some overgrown octopus to claim dominion over the ocean?
Of course, predicting when and where they would fight was all but impossible – unless you happened to be a precocious ten-year-old necromancer with a voluminous library at your disposal and a master who had encountered both giants on more than one occasion.
* * *
“Let me be absolutely clear.” Jake swept his gaze over his crew. “We are not going to fight. If anyone here is stupid enough to attack either of the creatures we will be encountering today, I wi
ll personally throw them overboard.” He paused, and his crew gulped. It was rare for him to take such a strident approach. “I don’t know about you, but I like living. I also have a daughter who I would like to see all grown up one day. Do not do anything stupid. We are less than ants to these creatures, and like ants, our best bet for survival is to take what we can get without drawing their attention.”
Jake smiled. Thinking about his daughter always brought a surge of warmth to his heart. She was now attending one of the most prestigious academies in Everton under the patronage of one of Timmy’s best friends. Who knew that the Supreme Cleric of the Order of the Blessed Dawn and a Grand Necromancer could get along so well? He hadn’t expected it, but it let him rest easy while he was out on the open water. His daughter was receiving an excellent education, and no one would be stupid enough to mess with someone under the Supreme Cleric’s patronage, not when the Supreme Cleric was a force of nature capable of devastating entire armies on her own.
“We are about to encounter two monsters the likes of which we’ve never seen before. Savour it. I’d rather not do this again.” Jake grinned as his crew laughed, albeit a bit nervously. “They are going to be fighting each other, and we are going to stay out of it. Believe me, these are the monsters that other monsters tell their children about when they want to scare them.”
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