“Show me.”
“Are you kidding?” Cobb asked. “How are we supposed to kill two forty-foot-long lizards?”
“We have mithril swords. We’ll cut their heads off. Now come on.”
They followed Colten through the jungle to the edge of a large dirt clearing. Just as he said, a pair of huge lizards were brawling in the dirt. As he watched, they hissed at each other from about fifteen feet away, rose up on their back legs, and slammed into each other chest first. They grappled back and forth for a few seconds before breaking apart again and roaring.
“They just keep doing the same thing over and over again,” Colten said. “No idea why.”
Axel didn’t know why either and he didn’t care. All that mattered was they were exhausting themselves which would make them easier to kill. The trick would be to attack while the lizards were in the clinch. They should have enough time to close before they separated.
“Okay, here’s the plan.” He laid it out and Cobb wasn’t the only one that looked less than thrilled. “It’s called the Island of Giant Beasts for a reason. What did you think we were going to find?”
“Slightly less giant beasts,” Cobb said. “But we’re here now. If we’re going to do this, let’s do it.”
Axel grinned. Cobb might like to bitch, but when the time came there was no one Axel would rather have at his back.
The scouts drew their swords or nocked arrows.
Out in the clearing, the lizards bellowed and flicked their tongues.
They reared up and charged each other.
“Now!” Axel led their own charge.
Arrows arced over his head and clattered uselessly against the lizards’ thick hide.
Damn it! Maybe they should have brought the mithril arrows.
One of the lizards spotted them and opened its mouth.
Axel hurled his sword with all his might.
The tip pierced the roof of the lizard’s mouth and came out the top of its skull.
It collapsed, killed instantly.
Axel slowed and let his men charge past. With no sword, he’d be a liability.
They hit the second lizard from the side, their weapons slicing through its hide like butter.
The beast roared and thrashed. Its tail caught a scout and sent him flying fifteen feet across the clearing.
It was a final act of defiance. Cobb slashed its head half off and took a blood shower in the process. He staggered away, a crimson mess. The lizard collapsed to the dirt, unmoving.
Axel hurried over to the injured scout and sighed with relief when he saw the man still moving. “Stay still. Where are you hurt?”
“My ribs and back. Don’t think anything’s broken though. Remind me to thank Lord Shenk for this armor.”
Axel grinned and offered his hand. Once he was on his feet, Axel walked over to the dead lizards. Even dead they were an impressive sight.
Cobb glared at them, hands on hips. “I need a bath.”
“Yes, you do, but first why don’t you crawl in that other one’s mouth and retrieve my sword.”
Cobb shot him a rude gesture which broadened Axel’s grin into a full-fledged smile. “Let’s cut them up. I want to be back on the ship before dark.”
The scouts needed their mithril blades to slice the thick hide, but the meat underneath seemed tender enough. The light, tight-grained flesh did indeed remind Axel of chicken, or maybe pork. Either way it looked very tasty. The trick would be getting it smoked before it spoiled
They had the first lizard processed and were working on the second when the ground shook.
“What was that?” Cobb asked.
Axel had no answer. An earthquake maybe? “I don’t know, but it’s another reason to hurry up the hell out of here.”
There was another tremor moments later, then another and another. Axel left the men to their work and walked a few yards away from them. Those felt less like earthquakes than the footsteps of something really big.
He turned his gaze from the ground to the treetops. Sure enough they were shaking and the shaking was getting closer all the time.
“Wrap it up,” Axel said. “Gather what we have and let’s go.”
“Sir?” Colten asked.
“Something’s coming, something big. Whether scavenger or something worse I don’t know and I don’t want to be here when it arrives.”
“No argument here.” Cobb started wrapping the meat nearest him in the canvas they’d brought for exactly that purpose.
The others followed suit, spurred on by the increasing power of the tremors.
Seconds later trees crashed into the clearing, toppled by a lizard easily ten times as big as the ones they’d killed. Its tongue flicked out and its head swung toward the partially butchered corpses.
Axel didn’t wait for it to think. “Move!”
The scouts ran for the trail pursued by a roar that shook the air and made Axel’s ears hurt.
As they sprinted down the trail Cobb asked, “Think that’s their mother?”
“Less talking, more running.”
Axel gasped for breath, ducked vines, and leapt roots. Instinct as much as vision kept him on his feet. His men staggered beside him, stumbling over rocks and generally struggling to make time on a trail that had been hard without a giant lizard chasing them.
Speaking of the lizard…
He risked a glance back. The beast was only ten yards behind them and gaining. It didn’t have to worry about tripping. Instead it simply stomped flat anything that got in the way. Trees shattered as its tail whipped from side to side.
“How much further?” Axel demanded of anyone that might answer. From his position at the rear of the column, only the heads of his men and the mass of trees behind them were visible.
“I can see the beach!” Colten shouted back.
Thank heaven. Now they just needed to reach the boat and make it out to sea before the lizard caught up to them. He shook his head. How, exactly, they were going to do that was another matter altogether.
They raced out of the jungle but didn’t slow. Otto and his group were loading the casks into their dinghy.
“Get out of here!” Axel shouted and waved his hands.
Otto looked his way just as the lizard smashed through the tree line and onto the beach.
No way were they going to make it to the boat. That thing was going to eat them before they got off the beach.
Otto ignored Axel’s frantic gesture and strode toward them, raising his hands as he went.
A moment later lightning arced out over the scouts’ heads.
The lizard roared again, this time in pain.
Another burst of lightning was followed by a huge crash.
Axel skidded to a stop beside his brother.
“It’s dead,” Otto said. “You can relax now.”
“Dead. How?” Axel forced the words out between gulps of air.
“It’s just a beast. A big one to be sure, but still an animal. My lightning exploded its heart as easily as it would a human’s. Besides, no way was I losing another man.”
Axel straightened, his heartrate back to a normal, and studied Otto’s team, now one short. “What happened?”
“Even I can’t kill something if I don’t see it coming. We were taken by surprise. Another lizard, smaller than yours, but still big, came out of the water and snatched Cord. I was focused on the jungle and missed it. Not a mistake I’ll make again.”
“Well, it looks like you found the water and we’ve got the meat. Shall we head back?”
Otto nodded. “The sooner we’re off this wretched island, the happier I’ll be.”
“Lord Shenk!” Cobb said. “The ship.”
Axel and Otto both whipped around. Five winged creatures circled the Sea Star. Axel guessed their wingspan measured fifty feet minimum.
A bolt of lightning shot out, singeing one of the giant birds and sending it flying off.
“Corina can’t hold that many off by herself for l
ong,” Otto said. “We need to hurry.”
Chapter 33
Corina paced on deck and watched the beach. How could he have left her behind again? She was supposed to be his apprentice. She couldn’t learn anything if her master left her on the ship every time they arrived somewhere. She swallowed a curse, not that Corina imagined the sailors would be offended, not after she heard them in the galley when they thought she wasn’t around.
The pounding stopped and she turned to look at the side of the ship. They’d put the final plank in place and were smearing tar all over it. A single whiff of the stuff when they first brought it on deck had sent her as far from the job as the ship allowed. Whoever had to make that stuff surely earned their coin.
A gust of wind blew her hair across her eyes. She brushed it aside and looked up.
The biggest damn bird she’d ever seen flew across the ship, its shadow blocking out the sun as it passed. The beast flew low enough that she could count individual gray feathers. It opened its beak and let out a squawk that hurt her ears.
Another cry prompted her to turn around. Two more birds of the same sort were winging their way toward the ship. More squawks from the opposite direction made a total of five giant birds.
Panicked shouts from the crew mingled with the birds’ calls. The combination of noise and fear made her pulse pound in her ears.
Why was it every time she complained about her master leaving her behind, something horrible happened? First bandits in Colt’s Land and now giant birds. Assuming she lived through this, Corina swore she’d never complain again.
Captain Wainwright ran over beside her. “You can stop them, right?”
“I can try. Have everyone go below deck. We don’t want one of the sailors getting turned into bird food.”
“Right.” The captain hurried away, shooing his men ahead of him like a shepherd with his flock.
Now Corina needed to avoid becoming bird food herself while figuring out how to drive off the beasts. Lightning would probably be best, but she didn’t know if she had power enough to kill them. Another shadow passed over the ship. Not to mention what might happen if one of them crashed into the ship. Visions of broken masts, shredded canvas, and snapped rigging filled her imagination with her furious master laid over it all.
No, caution would definitely be the order of the day.
Corina put her back to the main mast and sent out a targeting thread. It passed through the bird easily enough. When she felt its heart, she loosed a bolt of lightning.
It took only moments, but by the time she released her spell, the target had moved and she ended up only singeing its tail feathers. The bird squawked and banked away from the ship, soaring back to the island.
Not what she had in mind, but it was gone, so she’d take it.
The ship lurched about thirty degrees toward the front. Corina staggered, caught herself on the mast, and peeked around it.
One of the birds had landed in the forecastle. It cocked its head and met her gaze before letting out a weird squawking growl.
Corina ducked back out of sight. She needed to deal with that one before it—
The ship shuddered and thrashed.
Corina looked again. The bird was trying to force its way around the front mast.
Something cracked.
So not good.
Her targeting thread shot out. As soon as it passed through the bird’s flesh, she fired a second lightning bolt.
This one hammered home and the smell of burnt feathers mingled with pained squawking. The bird staggered back and splashed into the ocean.
That was two down.
There was a rush of air. The remaining three birds dove out of the sky and splashed down beside the one she killed. The sound of tearing flesh filled the air as they fed on their former companion.
Corina shuddered, but better they eat their friend than attack the ship. All at once the feeding frenzy went silent. She should really take a look and find out what was happening. Corina told herself that three times before the message reached her feet.
She had barely taken a step when the sound of boots on the deck prompted her to turn back. Her master stood beside the rail. Hans was busy climbing up behind him. Relief such as she had never known flooded through her. She ran over and hugged him.
A gentle hand on her head wiped away the rest of the fear. “You did well.”
Corina smiled and stepped back. That was the best praise possible. “Thank you, Master. When those birds showed up, I feared for our safety, but my magic worked on them fine.”
He nodded. “They’re just beasts. Oversized ones to be sure, but beasts nonetheless. Where’s the crew? We need to load our supplies and get out of here before anything else shows up.”
“I second that plan,” Hans said.
The rest of the squad had made it up on deck, but someone was missing.
“Where’s Cord?” Corina asked.
Hans shook his head. “Didn’t make it. Some damn lizard-looking thing came out of nowhere and ate him. Bloody miracle we didn’t lose anyone else.”
Corina could hardly believe what he just said. One of the guys had been killed, when her master was with them? It seemed impossible, yet the truth was undeniable. Cord was gone.
“The crew,” her master said. “Quickly.”
“Right, sorry.” Corina hurried for the door to the lower decks and shouted the all clear.
Sailors came boiling up from below. While the men started pulling casks of water over the side, Captain Wainwright joined her master and Hans near the main mast.
“I heard a crack when I was below,” the captain said.
“One of the birds landed in the forecastle,” Corina said. “I think it damaged the front mast trying to reach me.”
Captain Wainwright hurried toward the front of the ship and examined the mast. He ran his hands along it, muttering and shaking his head. “This is no good. If we put up so much as a single sheet, she’ll snap right off. It needs replacing.”
“Can we sail without it?” her master asked.
“Yes, but you’ll lose a third of our speed and if we need to make a getaway, not having that mast will be a serious problem.”
“What about the Land of the Demon Binders?” her master asked. “Can we make it there?”
Captain Wainwright grimaced. “Yeah, it’s only two weeks or so northeast, but we might be better off taking our chances without the mast.”
“No. As you said, if we need to flee in a hurry, a distinct possibility if things go wrong in the Celestial Empire, I want to have every bit of speed we can muster. Take us to the demon binders as soon as the supplies are loaded. I’ll be in my cabin trying to figure out what we can trade for a new mast.”
Corina debated following him, but from his stony expression decided to wait on deck for a while.
“He’ll be alright,” Hans said. “I think losing Cord bothered him.”
Corina watched her master’s retreating back. Hans was probably right, but not in the way he thought. Lord Shenk no doubt considered losing Cord a personal failure. That would certainly bother him more than the death of a single soldier.
She tried to think of something that would cheer him up, but nothing came to mind. Her master wasn’t the sort of person that a joke or kind word would affect. Corina would just have to be patient and be ready if he needed anything. That was part of an apprentice’s job after all.
Chapter 34
The chill that ran down Otto’s spine had nothing to do with the temperature. They were still in the tropics and sweat plastered his tunic to his back. No, this chill was entirely magical in nature. The ship eased its way through a thick fog that rose off the water as they moved toward the Land of the Demon Binders. At least, according to the charts Otto had found in his master’s library, they were headed toward that fabled land. He seriously doubted anyone living had ever visited the place.
“Master, why do I feel like I want to throw up even though my stomach is fine
?” Corina had come to join him on deck the moment the strange fog appeared and with it the magical dread.
“Look closely at the ether. You can see the tiny threads of darkness running through it. That’s corruption, a sign that demons, undead, or something equally nasty is nearby. I’ve never seen it diffused like this. It must be some sort of barrier to dissuade those less determined than us. Wrap yourself in an ethereal barrier. That will block most of the effect.”
One of the sailors vomited noisily over the side. For those with no magic to protect them, the effect of the fog must have been far worse.
“My lord, should we turn back?” Captain Wainwright asked from the helm. The good captain, as stalwart a fellow as Otto had ever met, trembled when he spoke.
“Have you thought of another way to fix our forward mast?”
“No.”
“Then sail on. It can’t be much further.”
Less than a minute later, a rhythmic splashing sounded deeper in the fog. He couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from. The sound was muffled and indistinct.
Corina clutched his arm. “What is that?”
“Sounds like paddles. If there’s trouble, I’m going to need that arm. Why don’t you go fetch Hans and the guys? Tell Axel to stay below but to keep his ears open for sounds of trouble.”
“Yes, Master.” She hurried belowdecks.
Once he was alone, Otto allowed himself a single, deep, steadying breath. Looking terrified would do nothing to improve morale, but if he was honest, this whole situation scared the hell out of him. They had no idea what they were sailing into, no idea how the locals viewed uninvited visitors, no idea about anything really beyond the fact that they needed a port to do repairs.
“My lord?” Hans and the remaining four members of his squad emerged from below deck, swords drawn.
“Put those away,” Otto said. “I think we’re about to have visitors and we don’t want them thinking we’re spoiling for a fight.”
Hans hesitated, one of the few times he’d failed to obey an order instantly. “Having the blades out helps with the sickness.”
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