Ruva opened her arms to her twin as she sat in the saddle. The spectral form intensified even as Ruva weakened; then Ava’s form dimmed and Ruva drew strength in return. “We are connected, sweet sister.”
“We are being torn apart,” Ava said. “The Keeper wants us both, and the more I deny him, the harder he pulls.”
“The Keeper wants us all,” Ruva said.
The spirit separated again and hovered before Utros. She extended a slender arm and pointed back toward the endless lines of troops. “The Keeper calls them. He knows them. They can’t forget that their place is in the underworld.”
“Their place is with their general. And they will keep marching.”
Behind them the troops plodded onward in uneven ranks. Weak and exhausted, some of them collapsed, falling to the flattened road. The dazed comrades behind them trampled the bodies, while others, ravenous, fell upon them, tearing off the ancient leather armor and devouring the flesh down to the bones.
Ruva laughed with an irrational edge in her voice. “See, the Keeper claims his own!”
“The Keeper will have to be satisfied for now.” Utros lowered his voice. “He already has Emperor Kurgan, and he has Majel, but I have this world for now, and I swore to conquer it. I need my army. My place is here.” He raised a fist to the sky. “I will hold on until I have accomplished my task!”
Ava’s spirit let out a strained laugh that was eerily echoed by her twin sister. “The Keeper pulls us all closer to the veil. He will wait, but he will not be denied forever.” Her faint spirit stretched and pulled, and she reached a yearning arm toward Ruva. Her twin tried to grasp her, tried to hold on, but Ava wavered like an image imprinted on smoke. Her spirit vanished.
Utros and Ruva rode on alone. Under his breath, he promised the Keeper, “I will bring you many more souls, if you will just wait … wait.”
CHAPTER 69
True to his word, Captain Jared readied the Chaser for departure within the hour. In recent weeks, the ship had ferried many refugees up to Tanimura, rescuing survivors from ruined towns, and delivering emergency supplies. This time, Jared would sail south on a reconnaissance mission until they encountered the Norukai fleet, and then the Chaser would race back with a report.
While docked in Serrimundi Harbor, the captain had added armor plating to his ship. The krakener was dirty and stained, nothing much to look at, but the new copper plates made the ship look gaudy.
As they sailed out of the harbor and past the line of reefs, Nicci remained on deck, letting the evening breezes ruffle her hair. Even brisk winds didn’t entirely drive away the ever-present fishy smell. Nathan, Bannon, and Lila joined her, staring into the deepening darkness.
Nathan, always confident and pleased with himself, was even more so now that he was back with his companions. Even aboard the dingy ship, he wore a fine shirt, new vest, and embroidered cape. His long white hair drifted about as he faced the breeze. “Though the future is dire, I am glad to be with you again, Sorceress. Richard made me promise to take care of you, and I would hate to disappoint him.”
Nicci raised her eyebrows. “He sent me to keep you out of trouble, and now we’ve got an entire war on our hands.”
“It is not a war that we started, dear Sorceress, but it is a war we will finish.”
Bannon patted the scabbard at his hip. “And I’ll fight at your side. They will be no match for us.”
Nicci recognized the ornate blade that Nathan had carried from D’Hara. “You gave him your sword?”
“The boy needed a new weapon, so I accommodated him.”
Bannon’s expression sagged. “King Grieve threw Sturdy overboard. I loved that sword, and now it’s at the bottom of a river.” He drew his new blade and looked down at the gleaming steel. “But I love this one just as much! It is a wizard’s sword.”
“The boy has earned a decent weapon after all he’s done,” Nathan said. “Now that I have my gift back, I can make do with an ordinary sword.” He patted the standard military blade at his side.
Lila managed to place herself between Bannon and Nicci. “The blade is what kills the enemy, not its appearance.” She glanced at Nathan. “Nor its cost.”
When full darkness set in and the Chaser cruised through open water, Captain Jared rang the bell to get the attention of the crew. “We will serve dinner, fine kraken meat to impress our esteemed guests!”
One of the crew members joked, “I thought we were going to use that meat to kill the Norukai when we found them.”
Jared took mock offense, and the rest of the crew laughed. He presented platters of the meat in grayish puddles of “special” sauce, which he explained was a recipe that his mother had concocted to make the kraken meat taste delicious. “You mean palatable,” yelled another one of the crewmen. They laughed again.
Nathan tasted the dish with trepidation, while Lila and Nicci ate their meals without comment. “Better than fish guts,” Bannon observed, as if it were a compliment, and then he spoke at length about how his mother used to cook kraken meat with cabbage on Chiriya Island.
Jared sat on a crate on the open deck and grew serious as he leaned forward, meeting Nicci’s eyes. “My crew and I are glad to have this important mission. Krakeners put up with a lot of ribbing from other sailors. We know that our ship smells. We know that fancy cargo vessels are cleaner and more comfortable, and we even know that some people don’t like the taste of kraken meat. But we are loyal citizens, and we will fight to defend our land.”
Later that night, after the crew had quieted, Nicci took Nathan aside. “On my previous visit, I did dispatch a message up to the People’s Palace to inform Richard about this terrible war. I asked him to send help, but apparently he’s involved in some crisis of his own up in D’Hara. He didn’t explain.” Her expression darkened. “He is, however, confident that I can handle any problems here in the Old World.”
Nathan’s nostrils flared. “You mean that we can handle any problems.”
Nicci produced the small bone box and extended it to him. “Richard told me this is all I would need. I cast a verification web, poked and prodded with my gift, but I still don’t know what it is. Maybe you can help me figure it out.”
Curious, the wizard took the bone box and inspected each side. “These markings are the language of Creation. ‘Life to the living. Death to the dead.’” Cautiously, he pried open the lid and let out a whistle of amazement when he saw the glowing pearl of magic that twisted and rolled and rippled. “It is … hmmm, I believe it’s a constructed spell.”
Nicci nodded. “But I don’t know what it does or how to trigger it. I am missing the key. Richard thinks I will understand what I’m supposed to do.”
“Given time, I might be able to decipher it. I have some familiarity with constructed spells.”
“As do I, but so far this has baffled me.”
Nathan turned the bone box back and forth in his hand, then handed it back to her. “We can work on the puzzle together, but if Richard says this is all you need, then I’m sure you are up to the task. Meanwhile, we have other ways to fight the enemy.” He gazed ahead of them across the dark sea. “As soon as we find those serpent ships.”
* * *
For the next few days, Nicci and Nathan augmented the southerly winds, which doubled the speed of the Chaser. Jared’s crew kept a sharp lookout for the raider fleet, but the ocean remained quiet. Nicci and Nathan scrutinized Richard’s complex constructed spell, but came up empty-handed.
By the third day, the crew aboard the ship became anxious, and the captain’s aloof demeanor grew tense. To burn off their restlessness, Lila and Bannon sparred across the deck, while Nathan stared toward the watery horizon.
Nicci stepped up to him. “I’m anxious to find the Norukai, but every mile we go without encountering them means they are that much farther away. Serrimundi and Tanimura have extra time to build their defenses.”
“Sweet Sea Mother, we’re ready to fight!” Bannon said, resting his s
word tip on the deck. “Right now.”
The shirtless lookout dangled from high on the mainmast. He called out, “Smooth water ahead, Captain! Mirror water!” The crew suddenly became energized, and the captain grinned with anticipation.
Nicci followed the lookout’s urgently pointing hand, where an unusual and unnatural smooth patch of water looked like glass. “What does it mean, Captain?”
“That’s a sure sign a kraken is just below the surface!” He barked orders to the crew while he himself ran to the captain’s wheel, altering course. “We can’t miss an opportunity like this. It’s right in front of us.” His chest swelled as he inhaled a deep breath. “It’s time we remembered we’re krakeners!”
The crew gathered ropes, harpoons, and weighted nets, moving with the efficiency of long practice. Excited, they shifted their weapons from one hand to another and flexed their muscles.
As the Chaser approached the oddly smooth water, a smooth green tentacle broke the surface and curled upward, then sank again, cresting barely a ripple. The kraken hunters howled out a challenge. One overeager man hurled his harpoon, which fell far short, and he promptly reeled in the rope hand over hand to get his weapon back.
The tentacle was smooth and covered with slime, mottled with leopard spots. Another tentacle glided out of the water, and then four more tentacles arose, each one covered with suckers. Their movements were languid, as if the creature were merely stretching in the ocean air.
“Will it attack?” Nathan asked.
The crew laughed at the suggestion, and Jared rolled his eyes. “Krakens are docile beasts that graze on seaweed. They squirm a lot when you kill them, but they’re not the monsters people think they are.”
As the Chaser closed in, the crew gathered at the rail, cocking their arms and readying their harpoons. Other crew members held ropes and nets. It was a coordinated effort, as if they were soldiers about to go into battle.
“I count seven tentacles,” Bannon said. “How many does a kraken have?”
Jared waved his hand. “However many it likes, and the more tentacles they have, the more meat we can harvest.”
“We’re in range, Captain!” the lookout called.
The sailors needed no more encouragement. Like archers launching a volley of arrows, they hurled their harpoons into the glassy water. Seven of the jagged spears splashed uselessly in the sea, while four sank into tentacles.
The thing was like a spider startled in the center of its web. One of the laughing sailors wrapped his rope around his waist, and the kraken’s reflexive jerk nearly pulled him overboard, but two of the man’s friends grabbed him in time and pulled him back.
More harpoons struck as the Chaser closed the distance. The sailors pulled on the ropes, while the struggling kraken yanked back. The ship’s hull strained and creaked against the monster’s mighty tug. Two of the new armor sheets popped loose with a clang.
A forest of tentacles flailed upward, dripping slime. As it rose to the surface, Nicci could see that the kraken’s body core was a sphere with a hard shell like a crab’s, and the tentacles extended outward like the spokes of a wheel. Several harpoons struck the shell and bounced off.
One tentacle quested forward, trying to grasp the people on deck. Bannon ducked as the sucker-rimmed tip barely missed him. Nathan chuckled, but didn’t notice a second tentacle that slashed sideways. The rubbery arm caught him a resounding blow and sent him sprawling. He smashed against a large crate and cracked his head, leaving him stunned. The wizard’s long white hair was matted with kraken slime as well as a blossom of blood.
Bannon hurried over to help. Nathan groaned and picked himself up, pressing a palm to his head. “I assure you I’m all right. Just a little rattled.” He struggled to his hands and knees on the deck, barely conscious. “I think I’ll rest a bit.”
The tentacles writhed around the ship, and the hunters continued to disable their prey. They hacked off any appendages that came close, leaving the creature with several stumps.
Jared grinned at Nicci. “Feel free to use your gift, Sorceress. Couldn’t you stop its heart with a blast of magic?”
“I would not wish to deprive you of your amusement,” Nicci said in a dry voice. “I will save my magic for fighting the real enemy.”
The harpoon hooks embedded themselves in the rubbery hide. The sailors strained against the ropes, pulling the wounded beast closer to the Chaser. They lashed the ends around stanchions, holding the kraken in place. It struggled in its death throes, flailing amputated tentacles. The crew would soon haul the carcass aboard and spend hours butchering it and storing the meat.
Suddenly, the kraken jerked hard and vanished beneath the surface, straining the ropes and the hooks as it submerged.
“It’s getting away!” one of the sailors bellowed.
“That’s not possible,” Jared said. “Something is pulling it down!”
The men doubled up to haul harder on the ropes, but the kraken was dragged under as if caught in a tug of war. “There’s something deep underwater.”
Bannon held his sword, looking over the side, with Lila beside him ready to fight. Nathan huddled on deck, groaning as he held his bleeding head.
Jared ordered, “More harpoons! I don’t want to lose our prize!”
The hunters grabbed spears, but the kraken sank out of view with an even sharper jerk. Harpoon hooks tore free, ripping out chunks of the slimy hide. Ropes snapped and spun loose of the stanchions. A gush of blood blossomed around the submerged kraken, and the mirror water began to churn. The crew cried out in unison as the waves exploded.
The frilled head of an enormous sea serpent rose up, as large as a dinghy and as fearsome as a dragon. Its giant jaws clamped down on the squirming kraken, and tentacles flopped about like worms in its mouth. When the sea serpent crunched down on the armored body core, green fluid spurted out.
Bannon backed away, bumping into Lila. “It’s the serpent god!”
Lila drew her short sword and stood next to him, ready to fight. “Perhaps King Grieve sent it here.”
The monster opened its jaws, tossed the dying kraken up into the air, then gulped the morsel down before turning its slitted eyes down toward the Chaser.
The krakener crew scrambled about, but they had no place to hide.
The monster flared its spiked frills and let out a bellowing hiss. The spray drenched everyone on the ship, and the lookout tumbled from his perch on the mast, barely catching himself on a rigging rope.
“I’ve fought dragons before,” Nicci said, looking up at the enormous sea serpent. “This is no different.”
Nathan struggled to his feet, bleeding from the blow to his head. “I’ll offer what assistance I can, Sorceress.”
The serpent god wheezed out as it loomed over the Chaser. Nicci summoned a lightning bolt that scorched a smoking line down its sinuous body. With a roar, the serpent god lunged down and bit the side of the ship, splintering wood. The crew threw their harpoons, but their spears did little damage to the scaled hide.
Nicci recalled when she had fought the dragon Brom, using the Subtractive side of magic. Now she extended her gift and easily found the serpent god’s heart near the top of its long neck. The heart was as large as a barrel, beating hard. She unleashed her gift, caused the muscle to swell and darken … then burst. The serpent writhed backward, arching its jaws toward the sky in agony.
But even after Nicci had exploded its heart, the monster struck again, sweeping its great neck sideways to snatch a panicked crewman in its jaws. With one chomp, it bit the man in two and tossed the pieces into the water.
Nicci couldn’t believe the creature still lived. “I stopped its heart!” She reached out with her magic again, then realized to her surprise that this creature had more than one heart.
Once she concentrated, she discovered six hearts down the length of its body, each one independent, each beating to keep the underwater monster alive. “Then my work has just begun.” She lashed out with her de
structive magic, finding another heart and stopping it. She burned a third heart to a lump of internal charcoal.
Each time Nicci hurt it, the creature recoiled and smashed into the ship, causing even more damage. The Chaser would not last long.
Groaning and still dazed, Nathan managed to summon a ball of wizard’s fire and hurl it at the serpent god’s head. The searing magic flames burned between the creature’s jaws and roasted its tongue.
Nicci didn’t stop her attack. With methodical intensity, she destroyed all of the monster’s remaining hearts, one by one. At last, the giant serpent collapsed onto the water, causing waves that rocked the kraken-hunter ship. The dead serpent god floated in the sea, longer than two or three ships.
Jared and his crew stared in dismay. The captain dropped to his knees and touched the bloodstain on the deck where his crewman had been killed. Bannon and Lila stood shaken, holding their swords ready as if some other monster might emerge from the deep.
Unsteady on his feet, Nathan placed a hand on Nicci’s shoulder. She knew it was meant to be reassuring, but he seemed to be steadying himself. “Sorry I couldn’t be more assistance.”
“The serpent god is dead, Nathan. We killed it.”
High up on the mast, the bedraggled lookout squawked, “Ships! Norukai ships on the horizon!”
Far out on the water, Nicci saw more than a hundred ominous vessels sailing toward them. From afar, the raiders had seen Nicci kill their serpent god, and even at a distance she could hear their howls of outrage. All the oars were extended, churning the water, so the serpent ships approached at great speed.
Nicci crossed her arms over her chest. “We have found them at last.” She felt a deep chill upon seeing the size of the fleet. “Turn your ship about, Captain. Quickly! Back to Serrimundi with all possible speed.”
Still unsteady, Jared shouted for the crew to reset the sails as he spun the wheel to turn the rudder. Though exhausted from battling the sea serpent, Nicci called up her gift, and Nathan assisted her as best he could. Together, they created a wind as strong as a storm to help the ship flee. The Chaser raced away with the Norukai fleet in pursuit.
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