by C S Vass
“When will we get to Saebyl?” Lyra asked, grinning. Her green eyes shone in the morning sun, and her smile radiated warmth. Godwin realized uncomfortably that she was far too pretty to be onboard a ship full of scoundrels and drunken pirates. He was the one who brought her here, and he would have to accept responsibility for her well-being.
“In time,” he replied, not unkindly. “But the Dark Sea is treach—”
“What are we going to do when we get there?” the eager girl interrupted.
Godwin sighed. “We will do nothing. I will find you lodging at an inn and give you enough gold to stay there comfortably until you can find work for yourself.”
“That won’t be hard,” Lyra replied. “I can cook really good, and I know how to clean all the different kinds of pans proper. But what of you? Will you stay with me?”
The question caught Godwin off-guard.
“Ye—no. For a time. Perhaps. We have our own business in Saebyl, but we shan’t stay long.”
“And what exactly is our business?” Robert asked.
Godwin sighed. It was at least the third time Robert had asked. “If possible, I will seek an audience with Lord Rockhelm. We need him to issue an official proclamation that all Shigata are to return to Black Wolf.”
“I see,” Robert said. “Saebyl isn’t exactly like Meno. I mean, Meno is practically a town. Saebyl is a sprawling metropolis. Do you think Lord Rockhelm would really be willing to see Godwin of Brentos upon request?”
Godwin of Brentos? No, Robert. Godwin of Brentos does not have the ability to gain access to Denver Rockhelm, Lord of Saebyl. But the Odruri, the Darksword, hero of the Second Bloodwater War…he might just have such power.
“Godwin?”
“I’ll handle it,” Godwin snapped, turning from both of them. “Why don’t you go back to your flask and let me worry about such things?”
Without waiting for them to respond, Godwin strut across the deck to the other side of the ship. That was one annoying thing about traveling at sea. You could never get a moment alone when you needed it most.
In truth the journey to Saebyl would be just a small part of their greater mission. While it was critically important that all Shigata return to Black Wolf and begin the reconstruction of Unduyo as quickly as possible, there was a greater purpose to their journey.
The time of prophecy draws nigh. A time of flames and terror. Of cold biting ice. The stars will not tell you until it is too late. You will know…when enemies become lovers. When brother slaughters brother. When kings kneel to wash the feet of peasants. When the stars are swallowed by the void and vanish from the sky. This is the time of doom. Of the end of all things, when the Gaellean Prophecy will rip the bowels of destiny from eternity. The time of nightmares draws nigh.
That had been no parlor trick. Whatever this prophecy was, it had driven Torin to madness. There was every reason to take it seriously, especially given the turbulence in the Southlands that had erupted in the past year.
That was why Saebyl would not be their ultimate goal. No, Godwin would travel to Saebyl and speak with Lord Rockhelm if he could. But then he would continue on to the far North and the Frost Forest. There the legendary mystics among the Frost Elves may just be able to tell him something.
He had to try.
“Shigata.”
Godwin turned. One of the crewmen, a dwarf with a gold-plaited beard, approached him.
“Can you use that thing?”
“What?” Godwin replied.
“You dumb?” the dwarf spat.
“No, just not a psychic.”
“Your sword. Can you use it?”
“Who wants to know?”
“Tzuri-ren of Valencia,” the dwarf said, extending a large hairy palm. He smelled of sour ale.
Godwin hesitantly accepted it. “Godwin of Brentos. And yes, I can use it. Though I’m here as a passenger, not a crewman.”
The dwarf laughed harshly at that, shaking his whole barrel-chested torso. “I didn’t realize a vodyanoi differentiated between passengers and crew.”
“I didn’t realize a vodyanoi could be harmed by a mere sword,” Godwin returned.
Tzuri-ren laughed again. The sound reminded Godwin of a log breaking into splinters. “Very well, Shigata, play the expert if you want. After all, that’s what you are. My point stands all the same. Will you be of any use in a fight, or will you scurry below deck with the wenches?”
“Depends on the enemy,” Godwin said.
“Well-spoken. I take your meaning. You’re not here to get involved in any scuttles we may have with our own foes. That’s not what I ask you about. The Dark Sea is rough in winter. Less travel means less food for the fiends that prefer human flesh. Less food means those fiends will be a good bit bolder if they get the chance. I’d be surprised if we made it through the journey without seeing an ice-apparition, rusalka, or some water demon that will try to pull us under.”
“Then we would be wise to be on our guard,” Godwin said. “Which in my experience means not partaking before the sun has even reached high noon.”
Tzuri-ren burst out in another fit of laughter. “I see. You’re the purity judge are you? So I’ve had a few sips with my morning oats. Big deal.” Suddenly, the dwarf took a hatchet from his side. Godwin’s eyes widened. Tzuri-ren heaved his arm and shouted, “Oi, Larry!”
Larry, a human pirate, turned around just in time to see the horizontally spinning hatchet knock his hat from his head and nail it to the mast behind him. Larry’s face turned from white to red as Tzuri-ren laughed.
“You scum-sucking piece of rabble!” Larry shouted.
“I assure you, Shigata,” Tzuri-ren smiled. “I’m in perfect fighting condition, should the need arise. Here, have a nip on me.”
Wrinkling his nose Godwin accepted the bottle that was offered to him and took a small sip. It was sickeningly sweet and tasted like honey.
“I think I still prefer coffee at this hour,” Godwin said, handing the bottle back.
“My apologies, your lordship,” Tzuri-ren laughed. “I didn’t realize I was in the company of one with such a sophisticated pallet.” The dwarf spat obnoxiously as he jested. Godwin’s fingers twitched.
“It might just so happen,” the dwarf continued, “that you will need your wits about you after all.”
“What are you talking about?” Godwin asked.
“The girl, she’s yours, is she not?” the dwarf said wryly. “Seems some of the hounds have caught a scent they fancy.”
Turning, Godwin saw several of the crew gathered around Lyra. Robert was slowly being boxed out of the circle, leaving the girl surrounded.
“Heh, I know what that look means,” Tzuri-ren said. Then glancing at Godwin, “I know what that one means too.”
“Never seen such a pretty flower out at sea before,” a man with braided hair and teeth that looked as though he tried to eat a morning star said. He touched Lyra on the arm, and she backed away nervously.
“Come now, gentlemen,” Robert said to the crowd. “There’s really no need to act like boors around a woman. Plenty of willing dockside whores to be had when we stop for supplies along the coast.”
Lyra stepped back again, clearly uncertain whether she should be more disgusted by the crew or by Robert.
“Why wait for dockside when we can go port side?” another pirate laughed. “There’s a nice tarp just yonder. We could go and have a glass of wine, spend some time underneath it. Or on top. My lady doesn’t look like one to blush for shame.”
“Stay away from me,” Lyra said.
The pirate laughed and moved to grab her by the arm. The silver chain cracked like a whip. Godwin smiled as he heard the trapezium, scaphoid, lunate, and so many other of those most delicate bones of the hand shatter like glass.
“Agh!” the pirate screamed, stumbling like a drunk. “The devil’s gone and smashed my digits!”
“Easy now,” Robert said as he stepped back. Lyra watched, wide-eyed and unable t
o move.
Godwin held his silence while the pirates took stock of him.
“Look at them silver eyes,” one of them said.
“What do you want?” barked another.
“What do you think he wants, you oaf?” a third put in. “He’s clearly marking his maid.”
“Those silver eyes,” the first one said. “He looks like a demon. I’ve never seen Star-blessed eyes like that before.”
“I’ll never hold a sword again!” the man with the shattered hand cried out.
“ENOUGH!”
Captain Raijen stepped forward, a storm of rage. “What’s the meaning of this disturbance? You’re spoiling my mid-morning snooze.” With every word Captain Raijen’s great belly shook like a vat of jelly.
“This whoreson shattered my hand, Captain,” the pirate exclaimed. “I won’t be able to so much as lift a dagger.”
Captain Raijen stepped forward to examine it. “So he did,” he exclaimed gruffly, scratching at his thick black beard. “Then what fucking use are you now?”
The pirates screamed in protest as Raijen grabbed him roughly by his neck and crotch and heaving like a shot-putter threw the man headfirst overboard into the icy waters.
“You’re acting like a bunch of school boys with itchy pricks,” Captain Raijen chided. “We have business to be about. The Shigata’s laid claim to the woman. Fair enough. Anyone want to challenge him, then fine, do it like a man. But I’ll not have this drawn on for hours, or worse, days, while the deck goes unscrubbed and the sails unattended. Am I clear?”
The pirates nodded. Robert’s mouth was open throughout the entire ordeal, and Lyra was stretched out so far over the rail looking down at the water that Godwin had to approach and pull her back for fear that she might fall over.
The other pirates, either out of respect, fear, or a mixture of the two, drifted away.
“As for you,” Captain Raijen spat at Godwin. “Protect what’s yours, but don’t you go looking for trouble. No man in the world has ever set foot aboard Divinity that I wouldn’t be scared to throw off. That goes for Shigata.” Without so much as another word, the Captain peeled back towards his own quarters.
“Not bad,” the only remaining pirate, the one with chiseled teeth who first touched Lyra, said. “I have to respect a man who protects what’s his.”
Godwin’s eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you respect me from the other side of the ship?”
The pirate laughed. “Quite a mean look you got there. And I see you have a bite to back it up too. I have to confess. It makes me curious.”
Godwin grinned. It was a monstrous sight. “You know what curiosity killed, don’t you?”
“Lucky for me I don’t see any cats,” the pirate said. “Just men. This isn’t about the girl anymore. I’ll respect that you don’t want me to mess with her. But what’s say you and me have a go of it?”
“Come now, is that really necessary?” Robert interjected.
“Please, no more violence,” Lyra pleaded. “I’m already responsible for one man’s death.” Godwin saw there were tears in her eyes, and he felt ashamed.
“Don’t speak such nonsense, sweetling,” Robert said gently. “You’re responsible for nothing.”
The pirate unbuckled the massive broadsword that was strapped to his waist and flung it on the ground. “We don’t have to go killing each other. I just want to see who has the harder punch. A friendly contest of fists. Come on, what do you say? You’re Star-blessed and a Shigata. How much more of an advantage could you want?”
“You looking to lose the last of your teeth?” Godwin asked.
This time the pirate didn’t laugh. “A good bark is effective now and again. Use it too much and people might start to think that you’re overcompensating.”
A blast of wind washed over them, piercing through Godwin’s furs. Robert and Lyra instantly huddled into each other, shaking. Godwin involuntarily pulled his furs a little closer to his neck.
“What’s the matter, chilly?” the pirate mocked. He removed his overcoat and threw it on the ground at Godwin’s feet to reveal a boulder-shaped back with massive muscular arms exposed bare against the frost. “You can wear that if you want.”
“I’m no child to be goaded into a fight,” Godwin said. “Why don’t you put those meaty paws of yours to better use? Go clean the shitter or something.”
“Gentlemen, please,” Robert urged through his chattering teeth. “There’s no need for this. We have a long journey together.”
Godwin gave the pirate one last baleful look. “Stay out of my sight. If we get too much blood in the water around the ship, we’re bound to attract something foul.”
Without another word he took Lyra by the arm and gently guided her away, with Robert in tow.
“That was terrible,” Lyra half-whispered. “How long are we going to be on the ship with these men?”
“Long enough that it will be thoroughly unpleasant,” Godwin said. “Come on, let’s not give them more reason to hassle us. We’ll go down into the cabin and play a hand of Tanzen.”
Their cabin below was surprisingly comfortable. Godwin was certain that some sort of magic went into the crafting of the ship, because there was far more space than there should have been. They even had a large glass window which looked out above the water to expose the open sky and the hint of coastline off in the western distance.
They spent the afternoon playing cards and drinking hot tea made from boiled water from the ship’s kitchen. “I can’t believe these pirates travel like this,” Robert said after a while. “I always thought of pirates as the marauders of the sea. You know, dirty, rolling in filth, freezing or burning depending on the season, lucky to have a blanket.”
“They must be good at what they do,” Godwin said.
“They’re more than just pirates,” Lyra put in. She placed a storm card down that swept away Robert’s advancing calvary after she rolled the icosahedron and it landed on 17.
“Oh?” Godwin inquired. “What else are they?”
“Well, they really used to be pirates. They’ll still resort to some black market activity or kidnapping if they feel they must, but mostly they’re honest traders. They have access to friends in the East and in the West, and as a result they have quite a network of communication most merchants would find impossible. Really, the most criminal activity they get up to these days is dodging trade taxes.”
“I see,” Godwin scratched at his chin. “The aristocratic pirates. Do you know any of the men well?”
“No,” Lyra said, looking down. “They always come and go quickly when they visit my father. I never spoke with any of them, which is a good thing. If they knew who I was and that my father wouldn’t approve of my being here…I have no doubt they’d turn the ship around straightaway.”
Godwin placed a hand on her shoulder. “Well they don’t know, and they won’t find out. Let us speak of it no more. As an extra precaution, we’ll make sure to tell them that Saebyl is where we land but not our final destination.”
“You won’t have to worry,” Robert said as he played a sorcerer card to try to dispel the storm. “I heard them speaking. They sail back to the Empire after this. They won’t be visiting your father for quite a long time.”
Lyra smiled when Robert said that.
That evening, tucked away in his comfortable cabin bed, Godwin had a terrible dream. A great storm was coming for him, the winds of which scooped him up and hurled him into the abyss. All around him friends and allies tried to grip his hands and pull him to safety. He almost grabbed Robert’s, then Yaura’s, but both slipped away. Lightening flashed all around him as demons emerged from the storm clouds.
Swirling evermore hopelessly into the chaos, Godwin saw the helping hands of Tzuri-ren, and oddly enough the large pirate who tried to goad him into a fight. All of them missed him. Spiraling helplessly upwards into the heart of chaos, Godwin flailed for anything he could. Shockingly, he felt something hard slap against his arm, and
he realized he and someone else were holding each other by the wrist.
“Torin!” Godwin shouted, looking into the face of his friend. Desperation surged through his body as dark figures streaked with lightning emerged from the storm clouds.
“Come on!” Torin shouted. “The Prophecy is upon us! Come with me!” An unsettling feeling washed over Godwin as Torin pulled him out of the center of the storm. Torin’s face transformed. His eyes were no longer silver, but molten gold, and two horns had sprouted from his now red forehead.
“Come on, brother!” the disfigured Torin laughed. “Come with me if you want to live!” Godwin tried to let go, but Torin’s grip was too strong. He pulled Godwin out of the storm while all his friends below were sucked into the chaos. He heard laughing. The voice of his old master, Reinko Assini, snapped through his mind.
“You weakling!” Reinko taunted. “Have I taught you nothing. I should have left you for the wolves.”
Torin pulled Godwin completely away from the chaos. “Here we are, brother,” Torin smiled. Behind him was some kind of expansive metallic building. It looked as though huge veins of silver ran through the entirety of it. Godwin felt a deep, sickening fear.
“What is that?” he asked, shocked.
Torin smiled malevolently and opened his mouth to answer. Before he could the building exploded, engulfing them all in flames.
Chapter 3
The wound ripped open once more leaking scarlet blood over Faela’s fingers. Even the slightest motion caused the tight iron chains to chaff her wrists. Her belly roared with hunger, while the crisp winter air pained her lungs with each breath.
“How much farther, you animals?” Yaura demanded. Faela shook her head, wondering how the woman still had energy to fight. The Shigata had not taken to captivity well. Her once beautiful rings of black hair were matted with blood, and a black eye swallowed half of her head—a gift their captors bestowed upon her the last time Yaura had spoken out of turn.