The Vastness

by Hausladen, Blake;

  “Don’t allow it,” Tayler said and took hold of his arm. “The men will line up to cut their throats for you if you allow it.”

  “We have little choice left,” Rindsfar countered as the deck pitched and the wind howled.

  I lost the moment to indecision. The ragged soldier knocked Tayler aside and plunged his dagger into the side of his neck. As his blood spraying across me he snatched the cup from my hands and dumped it and his body into the box. The frozen earth trembled as the White Lady’s good soil caught the wild magic of the Shadow burning free of the Vesteal blood. The man’s soul poured out and the magic erupted hotter than ever before. The black earth glowed red.

  The mean wind settled back and blasts of sleet became a warm rain.

  We needed so little of a reprieve. The long entrance to the bay was not far off. His sacrifice would be enough. I leaned in over the blazing black soil, and pressed the warring magic as far out as I was able.

  A globe of light rose about the ship, and the men growled as the warm penetrated their bones.

  The helmsmen at the tillers hollered with joy as the ship dove around at last. The crew poured up on deck before I could fill my lungs to call all hands. They knew the order before I gave it.

  “Straight in, boys,” I said as the glowing earth warmed my face and arms. “Fresh soundings and be ready with the drags and longboats as soon as we reach the shallows.”

  The sails came around, the helmsmen found a line south along the calm winds, and we dove in toward the bay. If our foes could see us from the peaks above, we must seem a ball of blue flames and death.

  I pressed the hot magic forward and the view ahead cleared. For a moment my heart rose as I searched for the entrance to the bay and the beach Sikhek had described. It looked blocked by ice.

  “Watch, what do you see forward?” I called up.

  “A shore, ma’am, and two peaks, but the way in is blocked by ice.”

  “Could we put in along the western edge?” Rindsfar asked, “Anchor against the ice escape before we get locked in?”

  The globe of light wavered before I could answer.

  Two more Chaukai appeared upon the aft deck, knives in hand. Tayler intercepted them as they came.

  “No,” she said to me, but the determined Chaukai opened their veins as they had the day Geart was made Hessier. Their souls poured out and the black earth blazed anew.

  But the magic rose but for only a moment. Thiers was not Vesteal blood. The yellow glow faded to a bluish halo of patchy light that could not keep the storm away.

  We lost speed and Rindsfar swore as the tiller post pushed the helmsmen across the deck. He ran to help and yelled through the growing wind, “Soma, let me go down and get another of the envelopes.”

  “There is no more,” I said. “It is spent.”

  Tayler leaned forward into the warm red mud and wept, while the line of men she’d predicted formed to her left and to her right. Their lives were given, one after another, guardsmen, sergeants, and a pair of lieutenants. I lost count of the bodies collected around us, while our good ship limped south against the spiteful wind.

  I called for fresh soundings and measures but already knew our pace and the math of the distance to the edge of the ice. A voice shouted back our speed, and the countenance of the crew changed. The magic was not enough to get us inside the bay. Every man and woman left alive was on deck looking at the lad who threw the drop weight over the side. Down, down it went.

  “No bottom,” he cried, and I nearly lost control of the magic. We could not even put a drag over the side and try to ride out the storm. When the blood stopped flowing, we were finished.

  “Admiral, no more,” Tayler said, and pushed back the next man. It was Colonel Graves. “Do not allow this.”

  The colonel was ready to knock her down and add himself to the pile. She was right. We were being tricked into this end. Something had hold of us. Sikhek, Geart, or Aden. We were in the clutches of someone’s power and we could not spend our way out of it with blood.

  I’d spent Barok’s gift too fast and was powerless. The mistake was mine and we could not succeed.

  “No more,” I said to Graves, and Tayler pulled the dagger from his hands. Like all those before him and all those waiting still for their chance, he wished his soul could be the one that bought us victory. He stood instead surrounded by men who had died for nothing.

  I’d led them to this end. I looked at the rocks and almost wished they would hurry up and end me.

  “Ma’am,” Tayler shouted. “Orders, ma’am?”

  “Prepare to come about,” I said. The crew did not respond. Rindsfar was slow, too, but Tayler struck him on the arm and they ran forward to call men to tasks.

  I gather up the last of the gray and tattered threads of the disintegrating souls of the dead and the last few splashes of color that rose from the red mud and keep the wind at bay as long as I could. The bodies began to freeze, the blood cooked away, and the cold stab of the sleet struck my face.

  Slowly the Kingfisher turned, though she did not want to. We bobbed in the rolling sea like a bit of debris.

  The crew fought on despite me through the renewed teeth of the storm, and the Kingfisher labored around to the north.

  But this was somehow not enough for the magic that gripped us to let go, and a milky sleet began to fall heavy and fast. It froze as soon as it landed upon deck or sails, and I called all hands again to clear it away. They’d become masters at the business, but the downpour was like none we’d seen. It would get ahead of them.

  “Lower sails,” I called.

  “We can clear the ice, ma’am,” Rindsfar shouted through the wind. The crew growled in agreement. “We’ll clear it and make another attempt.”

  Somewhere close, darkness stalked me as though it had learned to hide in the corner of my vision and the edge of my thoughts. It whispered of the rocks and of a peaceful sleep. Upon my deck the men had slowed. Something had gotten hold of us.

  “There will be no more attempts. Lower sail and be ready to search for the best wind north. This storm is unnatural and it will end us if we do not escape it.”

  The crew hated the order but did their duty. I took Rindfar’s place assisting the helmsmen at the tiller, our good ship lumbered north under the weight of so much ice, and I lost sight of masts and sails through the thick falling sleet. We got aimed downwind and picked up more speed than we should.

  “Tayler, go see why the sails haven’t come down.”

  She had not moved from the side of the box. Bodies stacked around her like the roll of a frozen wave. Her eyes were closed tight.

  “The dead are dead. Step over them now girl and go learn what is happening with the sails before you join them.”

  “Ma’am, they watch me still.”

  “Let them watch. You were the one voice of reason upon this deck. You stood against the slaughter and you are the only reason it came to an end. Do not fear the ghosts of the dead. Rejoice that you have kept us alive and get back to it. Go now, girl. Go!”

  She punched the side of the frozen box and threw Graves’s dagger over the side as though she meant to strike the very heart of the wind.

  I worried she’d gone mad and would fling herself overboard after it, but she turned and hurried forward instead. I heard her call up the mast but did not hear a reply.

  She hurried back as the wind howled as though it meant to eat us. I had to lean in to hear her. “The foresail came down, but the mainsail head is frozen solid. They can’t get the yard to move. Rindsfar has gone aloft to help.”

  “Tell them to cut the sail down, quick as you can.”

  She went and there were many voices shouting above when I heard the first crack of the mainmast. The sound stabbed my heart.

  “Clear away,” a voice screamed. I caught one glimpse of the man before a length of the yard and ice sail crashed down upon him. Frozen ropes and hunks of ice pelted the deck. Some of the sail went over the side, and ropes lash
ed the air. A frozen length struck me across the hip like a tree branch and knocked me on my back. The deck pitched as the broken yard and sail went over the side and began to drag us around toward the rocks like an anchor.

  “All hands, all hand,” I called. “Clear the deck! All hands!”

  I heard no return, nor saw any movement beside the two helmsmen struggling to keep us from diving around. One of them looked ready to abandon the tiller he leaned into to go forward to help.

  “Stay at your station. We cannot flounder,” I said, got to my feet, and ran down onto the main deck. “Anyone left aloft?”

  “Eyy, ma’am,” someone shouted from somewhere above. “Mast is cracked halfway up.”

  “Will she hold her weight in ice?”

  “No. We must chop her down. I am sorry, ma’am.”

  “Do it.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  The ship groaned as the debris continued to haul us around. A wave caught our back quarter and sent a white wall across the deck. I got hold of the wounded mast as it struck me. One man went overboard and the rest were thrown about like drowned rats. I helped one man up and found a hatchet. My hip screamed at me as loud as the wind in my ears.

  “Get this mess off my deck,” I yelled at them, and struck at one of the taut ropes over the side. The ice upon it was like armor. Every surface was a mash of sticky slush and ice. The men moved around me but too slow, as if held by whatever being had conjured the storm.

  I tried to reach out with my magic—yank away the Shadow and shake them alive. I could not. Something prevented me, and I looked forward toward Geart.

  “This is his doing,” I said and beat at the ropes again and again. One shattered and the weight of the debris snapped the rest in quick succession. I was knocked over again and was lucky to be down when the mess was carried over the side. Part of the rail smashed away as it went and I post my balance.

  A flash of yellow leapt at me, and snatched me by the arm. It was Tayler, and like a flexed rod of steel, she heaved me away from the frothing cauldron of waves. She had a battered collection of the crew with her.

  I had no reward for them but the more terrible work. “Get forward. The foresail is all we have left. Keep a sheet aloft or we’re turn and roll.”

  They went and I was left to return to curse the unnatural weather and searched the sky and sea for the source of our ills. I found nothing except for the lump of ice upon the foredeck that contained Sikhek’s best Hessier.

  “You did this,” I said toward Geart.

  Rindsfar stepped close, hiding his hurts. “Orders, ma’am?”

  “Get this ice cleared and get the wounded and the dead sorted.”

  “Will do. You going below, ma’am?”

  “To find a spear. It’s time to be rid of our dead weight.”

  He went, and I hurried below to find our beleaguered colonel huddle together with forty men as though the ship was to be their tomb.

  “I need fit men with spears and war hammers,” I said.

  The colonel would not move. Three men stood and the rest looked on them with shame. I waved the trio on and started toward the foredeck. Geart was there, locked in a block of ice like a statue. I worked down the rail around him to get a look at his face. It was covered over as well. I wiped the fresh slush of sleet away and found his eyes open behind the milky layer of ice.

  “Stop this,” I shouted at him. “The ship cannot take any more.”

  He lifted his head up, shattering the ice that encased his neck and face. His voice was unchanged. “We have no power here.”

  “Liar. This storm is born of magic. I can feel it. If it is not Sikhek, it must be you.”

  “Your vile god is as useless here as the one who clings to me,” he said and flexed his torso. I had to dodge the hunks of ice he shed and waved the Chaukai closer. Geart made fists as his arms came free and punched down at the column that bound his legs.

  “Stop,” I said, and he came to a halt with one fist high above his head.

  I waved the Chaukai on and told them to remove his armor. They hurried with knives to cut the straps of his helmet, breastplate, and back plate. The armor fell to the deck, and they readied their spears and hammers.

  “Tell me how you made the wind turn against us.”

  His shook my grip then and his metal fist came down. The column of ice exploded away from his legs and he started toward me.

  The Chaukai leapt after him and their spears stabbed through his chest. They flexed them left and right, with war hammers at the ready. Geart growled and tried to sing.

  “Stop or we will end you,” I said and tugged off a glove.

  He looked down at my bare hand and stepped away into the tremendous flex of the spears. Ribs snapped in his chest as he struggled back. I pursued him.

  “Turn the wind south or I will yank your soul from your body.”

  “You are lost,” he said and brought his fists down. The spears broke and he fell sideways into the rail. Before we could cross, he pulled himself over and leapt into the sea.

  I made it to the rail in time to see him struggling to swim, but no fury of arms and legs could keep such a weight above water.

  “Geart, hold on. I’ll throw you a line.” I turned to search for one, but when I turned back, he was gone.

  “You fool,” I shouted after him. The Chaukai got hold of me by the collar and belt and pulled me away from the rail. We tumbled to the deck.

  The Kingfisher groaned beneath us.

  I waited for the storm to ease as Geart sank to the bottom and was crushed by the deep, but the wind continued to howl.

  I would have cursed Geart further, but the bite of the icy air was already in my lungs. I found my glove and met Rindsfar between the tillers.

  “We are quitting this coast,” I said. “I want a replacement yard up and sheeted before we lose what miserable light we have left.”

  The sleet dissipated as I said it, as though my admission of defeat was all it took for the foul magic to let go of us. The wind slowed and the crew stood straighter, though they did not cheer. We had failed Dia and now all we could do was flee north and survive.

  I found the traverse board coated with ice, but did not need it. I judged the rhythm of the waves, and aimed the Kingfisher northwest.

  “I’ve all but killed you, girl, forgive me. We’re headed to calm waters now.”

  Rindsfar brought word of more water in the hold. Thirteen men were missing and presumed to have gone overboard. The mainmast crew chief was amongst them. The number of Chaukai who’d sacrificed themselves felt like a nightmare. I asked him to reconfirm the count and ordered the sick and injured to the pumps.

  The one Chaukai healer with a verse left to give whispered his song at my hands and my hips. The warmth was small and failed to warm me, thankfully it took away my hurt and kept me standing. The healer collapsed and was taken below.

  “Nothing left now but our guts and grizzle,” I said across the frozen deck. “Who has a song for this wretched sea? We need to bid it farewell.”

  I man aloft punched his beard, coughed, and began to whistle. The notes were sharp and off key, but we all knew the words. They sang as they could the dirge of broken rope, lost limbs, and putrefied wine. The crew began to work in time to the song. The broken top of the mainmast was cut away, our last good stretch of canvas went aloft upon a jury-rigged yard, and our struggling lady began to pick up speed.

  We caught the racing wind coming up the next wave, and the great ship’s hard keel smashed through a second as the chorus beat at the wind.

  * * *

  you may kill us

  great green lady

  but we love you still

  * * *

  I almost looked back at that cursed sea and the jagged coastline but could not. Geart was lost and Dia would have to survive until our return. I had a ship to save.

  Rindsfar, Tayler, and much of the crew crossed the desk as a group as the Eastern Reaches fell away upon the ho
rizon. With a bowed head he said, “We’ll get you back here, ma’am. We swear it. We’ll get the ship fit and back here. We swear it. Forgive us the chance.”

  I found words for them I hoped they believed. “We’ve shed our cursed weight, sirs. It was not your failing that prevented us. Now, get yourselves below. In the morning we will bid farewell to our dead, and I will be calling on you to make good your promise soon enough.”

  They kept true to me through the pegs of that endless night, and as the sun broke through the clouds on the morning of the 90th of Autumn, the endless drizzling of sleet can to a merciful end.

  We were away, and while we committed our dead to the vastness I was left to regard my failure.

  26

  Dia Vesteal

  Midwives

  Burhn sleep for a full day and had not said a word to anyone when the rectory door opened.

  Everyone rose as an Ashmari stumbled out. It cast about for a time before asking for tools.

  Tools.

  I liked the sound of that. What damage has been done to Aden that his Ashmari needed tools?

  It withdrew with what it needed and the door closed once again. Burhn’s mood improved as some of his guilt fell away, and life inside the cavern began to return to normal.

  I was still chuckling at the success of my sabotage when I fell asleep and woke the next day to a decision. It was time for me to make the trip down to the bay. Burhn paid me little attention while he sat upon his furs, meditating and scratching at himself. I was layered in sealskin and on my way out of the yurt when he sat up.

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “To get wood from the shore. As I said I would.”

  “You’ll not take the child with you.”

  “She is there behind you and in your care until I return.”

  His thick eyebrows seemed to be dancing. “But I just came up the glacier. It is as cold as it has ever been out there. The 1st of Winter is just a few days away, I would have you know. It is not a date to be trifled with.”

  “I’m not a daughter who needs to be warned of the dangers of the world. I’m a queen. The storm you climbed through broke two days ago, and I am out of wood. Today I am going down.”