by Hylton, PT
For now, he didn’t need to add.
When Edvard came aboard, he didn’t acknowledge any of the comments the crew had made, and he didn’t introduce his two colleagues. Benjamin played along, ignoring the other Stone Shapers. He took them belowdecks to see Dahlia, then brought them back up when they said they’d seen enough.
Back on the main deck, Edvard turned to Benjamin. “Chief Magnus has asked me to find out a little more about your fire magic.”
Benjamin grimaced. He’d expected as much. “There’s not much to know. You saw the extent of it yesterday. It’s more of a parlor trick than anything else.”
“Right. And does everyone aboard know this parlor trick?”
“Just me. That’s why the captain left me in charge.”
Edvard scratched his chin a moment. “I’d like my friends to see it. Make the fire like you did yesterday.”
Benjamin hesitated. “I’d rather not. The ship’s made of wood, and wood and fire don’t mix.”
Edvard smiled. “Just a small demonstration, then.”
Reluctantly, Benjamin created a fireball in his hand. He let it burn for a moment, then made it disappear.
Edvard exchanged a glance with his fellow Stone Shapers. The woman nodded.
“One more thing before we leave,” Edvard said. “We’ve seen you practicing with a sword on the deck. Drilling your crew in combat.”
“It helps sharpen the mind as well as the body,” Benjamin said. He was doing his best to keep this light, hoping they’d get off the ship quickly if he appeased them.
“I completely agree. In fact, I thought you might spar with me.” Edvard smiled. “In the interest of sharpening our minds and bodies.”
Benjamin hesitated. On the one hand, it would be nice to take the full measure of this Stone Shaper. On the other hand, the last thing he wanted was to escalate things further. “Perhaps another time.”
Every eye on the ship was watching Edvard and Benjamin now.
“I insist.” Edvard held up both hands, and for the first time Benjamin noticed he was holding a stone in each hand rather than just the usual stone in his right.
The blacksmith sighed. There would be no getting out of this without a fight. “All right, let’s spar. Would you like to borrow a sword?”
The Stone Shapers chuckled.
“I think not. We prefer to use other weapons.”
Benjamin drew his sword and widened his stance, preparing for combat.
Edvard’s eyes went black. “Let’s begin.”
Suddenly the stone in his left hand transformed, elongating into a spike that shot toward Benjamin’s face.
Benjamin dodged right, and the spike missed his face by mere inches. If he’d been just a little slower, he would have been impaled.
Just as quickly, the stone returned to its original form and rested in Edvard’s hand.
Benjamin grimaced. So that was how it was going to be. He’d hoped to get out of this without further embarrassing the Stone Shaper, but it looked like that wasn’t going to be possible. If it was a real fight Edvard wanted, Benjamin was willing to oblige.
“Kick his ass, blacksmith!” one of the crew called down from the quarterdeck.
Edvard smiled, his eyes dark. “Yes, blacksmith. Kick my ass.”
Now both stones transformed into spikes. Benjamin knocked the first aside with his sword even as he dodged the second.
The spikes retracted, then shot forward again. And again. Benjamin was on the defensive. It was everything he could do to avoid getting impaled.
Edvard was pushing him backward toward the starboard rail, never letting up on the attack.
This wasn’t working. Benjamin was going to have to go on the offensive or risk being impaled. He remembered what he’d taught his crew about fighting warriors with shields: it was all about sideways movement and getting behind your enemy’s defenses. This was no different.
Ducking around another assault by a stony spike, Benjamin lunged at the man’s shoulder and slapped it hard with the flat of his blade.
Edvard cried out in pain and staggered to the right.
Benjamin shuffled his feet, shifting his position so that Edvard had his back to the rail now.
Edvard let out a growl of anger, and two stone spikes shot at Benjamin’s face.
Instinctively, the blacksmith raised his hand and pushed with magic. Apparently he used more force than he’d intended.
The Stone Shaper reeled backward, hit the rail hard, and tumbled over the side.
As he splashed into the water below, a cheer went up from the crew of The Foggy Day.
The other two Stone Shapers ran to the rail and looked over. Benjamin did the same and saw Edvard flailing wildly in the water below.
“I thought he’d sink like a stone,” one of the crew-women yelled, and the other sailors roared with laughter.
“Things got a bit rocky there at the end, didn’t they?” called another.
The female Stone Shaper spun toward Benjamin. “It was supposed to be a friendly sparring match!”
“My friends don’t try to stab me in the brain with stone magic,” Benjamin said. But even as he spoke, he felt a twinge of worry. There were three more days until Abbey and the team were due back, and he’d just escalated things with the Stone Shapers.
He silently wondered what Edvard would bring with him when he returned tomorrow.
* * *
“You have to know a little about the geography of Gren to understand what I’m about to tell you,” Elliot began. “There have always been two types of people who live here: those who live on the coast, and those who live inland. The vast majority live on the coast, where they have access to the sea. Going back to the Mad Days—and probably before that—people on the coasts survived by fishing. Not all that different from Holdgate.”
“What about the inland people?” Abbey asked.
“The inland of Gren is almost unlivable. It’s mostly ice, and it’s bitterly cold most of the year. There were a few hearty tribes who managed to eke out an existence, and I’m told that’s where stoneshaping got its start.”
Sigmund nodded. “The people lived in caves, hiding underground most of the year. At some point a man named Tomas discovered he could change the shape of the stone walls of the cave. He taught his friends and family, and over the years they built a vast network of tunnels all over Gren. They lived underground and cultivated mushroom farms. They came up to hunt, but most of their lives were spent below the surface.”
“Fascinating,” Abbey said drily, “but if I wanted a history lesson, I would have invited my father and his friend Jarvi.”
Elliot held up a hand. “I promise this will all make sense soon. The main thing to understand is that for the people who live underground, the Way of Stone is a religion. It’s sacred. They believe it saved their lives, and the mere idea that it would be used for anything but good is abhorrent to them. However, there was one young boy among them who felt differently. He wanted to see the larger world, and he believed his stoneshaping could be a powerful weapon. He convinced a group of his friends to join him in his quest.”
“Let me guess,” Dustin said. “His name was Magnus.”
Elliot nodded. “Nice guess. Magnus convinced the Stone Shaper elders to let him and his friends leave, but the elders made him promise he would only use his powers to help the coastal people. And they vowed to check up on him. As powerful as Magnus and his friends were, they were only a small minority of the Stone Shapers. If the people who lived underground ever mobilized against him, he’d be crushed.”
Abbey thought about the city of Ammaas. Was it possible it had been crafted in only one generation, or was it an existing village Magnus and his friends had rebuilt in their own image?
“As a sign of good faith, Magnus invited the inland Stone Shapers to visit the most remote villages in Gren any time to prove that even they were prospering with the help of him and his friends.”
“I take it Magnus and
his friends defeated the coastal people?” Abbey asked.
“Yes,” Elliot replied. “Some of them fought on for years, but all were eventually brought to task with Dahlia’s help. Magnus and his friends called her the ‘Queen of Storms.’”
Dustin rolled his eyes. “Yeah, we heard.”
Syd touched her brother’s arm. “This is all interesting, Elliot, but it doesn’t explain why you’re raiding these villages.”
Elliot nodded to Hekla. “Let’s show them.”
Hekla walked across the room and grabbed a bag from under a table. She brought it over and dropped it in front of Syd. “Take a look for yourself. This is what we’ve been stealing from the villages.”
Syd opened the bag and peeked inside, and her eyes widened in surprise. Then she handed it to Abbey.
Abbey looked into the bag, and what she saw surprised her. “Um, is that fish?”
“Indeed it is,” Elliot said. “Dried and salted for preservation.”
“You’re stealing food from a hungry village?” Abbey asked. “How’s that noble, exactly? Are you going tell us how you kick puppies next?”
“Think about it this way. To inland Stone Shapers living underground, any meat is a valuable commodity. Fish is so exotic it’s almost unheard of. When the inland Stone Shapers come to check on Magnus, they visit the villages closest to them, so Magnus has these villages stocked with dried fish and the villages are forced to present them to the inland Stone Shapers as tribute. The Stone Shapers think that if even these remote villages have extra fish, Magnus must be helping the region prosper.”
“He also stations a few of his Stone Shaper guards in each village,” Hekla interjected. “The guards rule the villages with an iron fist.”
“Or a stone fist,” Dustin joked.
Hekla smiled. “That too. When the inland Stone Shapers come to check on them, the guards give them this dried fish as a gift. Thus, the inland Stone Shapers are convinced everything is good.”
“It’s sick, really,” Sigmund said. “We’ve seen so many villages starving, and these people are forced to hold onto this dried fish and pay it as tribute to the inland Stone Shapers rather than using it to feed their families.”
Abbey thought about that for a moment. When they’d visited the village, Gideon had talked about how the villagers were resentful they had to pay tribute. Abbey had assumed he’d meant it was tribute to Magnus.
“So let me get this straight,” she said. “You attack these villages and steal their tributes to the inland Stone Shapers…why?”
It was Elliot who answered her. “We hope that if we steal enough tributes, the inland Stone Shapers will realize everything is not going as well as they have been led to believe in Magnus’ realm. We hope it will cause them to investigate further.”
“Sounds like a longshot,” Dustin said.
“It is. We know that. But it’s the best one we have. For over a decade after Ragnar’s capture, we did nothing but hide. Eventually we decided we had to help.”
“When we attack the villages, we only hurt the Stone Shaper guards,” Sigmund pointed out. “We’re trying to help these people. After we steal the fish, we secretly distribute it to other hungry villages. Ones without Stone Shaper guards to steal it back.”
Syd looked at her brother. “Okay, I understand what you’ve been up to, and it’s noble. But you’ve done enough. Come with us back to The Foggy Day.”
Abbey’s eyebrows shot up at that. “Is that a good idea, Captain? If Magnus sees Elliot... Well, he doesn’t seem like the forgive-and-forget type.”
“More like the crush-and-dismember type,” Dustin said.
Syd frowned. “We’ll find a way. We always do.”
Elliot shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m not leaving Gren. Not while Magnus is in charge. If you’d seen the things I have, the way he’s starving these people, you’d feel the same way.” Suddenly his eyes lit up. “That’s it. You should come with us.”
Abbey was almost afraid to ask. “Come with you where?”
“On a raid!” There was excitement in his voice now. “You can see how we take the tribute, and you can see how we give it to a hungry village.”
Abbey opened her mouth to answer, but Captain Syd spoke before she could.
“We’re in.”
Chapter Eleven
Abbey waited behind a tree, watching for the signal.
“You sure you want to do this, Abbey?” Dustin asked quietly.
She shook her head. “It’s a bit late to ask that now, you damn idiot. We’re thirty seconds from raiding this village.”
“I know that. What I mean is, are you sure you believe their story?”
She looked to where Elliot was hidden thirty yards away. She couldn’t see him through the trees, but she knew he was there. “I believe them. To go through all this just to steal some dried fish? He has to be telling the truth.”
“Maybe.” The Storm Caller didn’t look convinced.
“Besides, this is our chance to make sure their raids are what he said. We’ll find out if they leave the civilians alone and only attack the Stone Shapers.”
Earlier that morning, Abbey had asked Elliot if he wanted to use Dustin in the raid. After all, fog and heavy rains were the classic tools of Storm Raiders.
He’d declined, saying, “I don’t want anything to limit my visibility.”
That had made her feel better. If Elliot had visibility, so would they. Syd, Dustin, and Abbey were there to observe. They wouldn’t be taking part in the raid. Syd was crouched near Elliot in the thick of the action.
Olaf, Fannar, Clemens, and Viktor had stayed behind in Baer Gigur, as had Gideon. The Stone Shaper could move freely around the camp, but his stone had been taken and he wasn’t allowed to leave. He’d been furious ever since they’d entered the camp, angry that Syd and her crew weren’t helping him capture the rebels even after Abbey had explained the reasons behind what they were doing. Ten of Elliot’s ekkja had stayed behind to guard him.
The village they were raiding was larger than the last one the Tall Grass Raiders had hit, but it was still quite small. This one had four guards stationed rather than two. There was no stone wall around this village, but massive boulders sat on either side of the road at the edges of town and more of them were placed throughout the village.
Abbey waited silently, her eyes fixed on the guards nearest the stand of trees where they hid.
Suddenly a bowstring twanged and a guard fell to his knees, an arrow sticking out of his chest.
That was the signal the runners and burners had been waiting for.
The burners lit their torches as a barrage of arrows flew at the guards, and the raid began in earnest.
The Tall Grass Raiders poured out of the trees and descended on the village. Abbey kept her eyes on the ones carrying torches, the burners. They ran into town, and set small fires, throwing their torches into wagons. She noticed they weren’t randomly burning everything they saw, but were starting their fires near the guard stations.
One group of burners ran past a wagon of hay outside a home. It would have been a perfect target for a torch, but the burners ignored it, heading for the guard station on the far side of town.
The runners were close behind. Elliot and his ekkja had identified the building they thought most likely to contain the tribute for the inland Stone Shapers. It was located near the center of town, and it was one of the few buildings built from wood rather than stone.
In a village where some of the residents could magic their way right through a stone wall, wood was a much safer building material. Apparently the Stone Shapers didn’t even trust all of their own people to leave the tribute alone.
Abbey had a view of the front of the building from her position, and she saw the runners try the door. It must have been locked, because one of them started hacking at it with an axe.
“They’re certainly efficient,” Dustin said. “It’s impressive the way they plan their rout
es to avoid friendly fire from the archers.”
“Yes. I was thinking the same—”
Suddenly the door to the storage building flew open and a dozen men ran out, all wearing black sashes.
“Stone Shapers!” Abbey muttered.
Elliot’s shout came from the trees to Abbey’s left. “Runners! It’s a trap. Get out of there!”
But it was too late. The Stone Shapers quickly flanked the runners. One of them ran to a nearby boulder and touched it. The stone seemed to melt, and then it reshaped itself into a giant blade. It rose into the air and then fell.
The runners managed to dodge out of the way, but just barely.
Elliot called out again. “Archers, hold. We’ll just kill our own people if we loose now.”
Abbey clutched the hilt of her sword. “There’s no way they’re going to make it out of there. Dustin, I need a strong wind at my back.”
“Are you crazy? We’re not even sure these are the good guys! You’re going to risk your life for raiders?”
“They’re the good guys. Besides, saving a life is saving a life. Now give me some wind, Storm Boy!”
“Storm Boy?” He planted the tip of his staff on the ground and closed his eyes. “You could have at least gone with ‘Storm Man.’”
A moment later, a strong wind pressed against her back.
“Aren’t you supposed to be the one who talks me out of dumb stuff like this?” Abbey asked.
He opened his eyes a sliver. “What? I just tried!”
Abbey smiled. She loved torturing him with mixed messages.
She drew her sword and channeled her magic, shifting her weight until she was no heavier than a leaf.
The wind carried her forward and she stretched her sword out in front of her, pointing it directly at the nearest Stone Shaper.
His eyes widened as he saw the woman flying toward him. To his credit he reacted quickly, touching the boulder next to him.
“Whoa!” Abbey shouted. The boulder had been transformed into a stone wall that now stood between her and the Stone Shapers, and she was speeding right at it.
Quickly, she increased her weight, and she landed face-first in the grass. Her forward momentum kept her moving, and she slid painfully to a stop.