by C S Vass
But Logun’s eyes betrayed him. There was murderous rage in those eyes.
“You don’t have a damn idea what you’re talking about. You don’t know what those monks will do.” The Shigata turned to leave.
“I know you’re not so foolish, Logun. The magic of the gods of ice and shadow is all too real. The magic of the old way is cruel, merciless magic. Your brother will fall into its gaping jaws, and nobody will hear his screams.”
Logun’s teeth were grinding so hard that even with the Shigata’s back turned, Brett could hear their scraping from across the room.
“What exactly are you going to do about that?”
“It’s strict royal policy not to interfere with the temples,” Brett replied. “But I love Benjiko as you love Paetrick. Enough so that royal policy will not stop me from protecting him. Neither one of us can guard the one we care about. We shall trade places. I will guard Paetrick, and you will guard Benjiko.”
Brett knew it was not lost on Logun that he was no longer asking. “Why exactly are you incapable of guarding your Prince?” Logun spat, his voice sizzling with anger.
“Because there is still the matter of the missing Dragons in this city which I will need to see to. Guarding Benjiko is a full-time job. Guarding Paetrick will be far easier once I pluck him from the Temple.”
“I find it hard to believe that you have the power to do that.”
“I assure you that I do.”
“You lowly bastard,” Logun’s clenched fist trembled at his side. “You’d use my stubborn little brother as a way to manipulate me.”
Brett stood, his eyes brimming with determination. “Logun, let us understand each other perfectly clear. There is no crime I would flinch from, no deed too lowly, that would prevent me from protecting the life of Benjiko Boldfrost with everything that I am. He is the best hope for Gaellos.”
“I’ll kill you for this.”
“You’ll try, I know. Whether or not you succeed is irrelevant. But first you’ll help me find the Dragons. Benjiko will involve himself in that affair. It’s only fitting that you do too.”
Logun hawked and spat on the floor. “You get off on doing this to people? You one of those power-hungry lunatics that enjoys moving the chess pieces around?”
“Logun?”
“Hm?”
“Remember. No crime. No deed. We will speak again soon.”
Chapter 9
Seawater thrashed Divinity back and forth like an angry father shoving his crying babe’s cradle. Godwin racked his brains, searched desperately for some kind of solution, but nothing in his time as a Shigata had remotely prepared him for something like this. A fight where the odds were so ridiculously stacked against him.
The crew watched transfixed as half a dozen vodyanoi climbed onboard the ship, their slippery subhuman bodies oozing as they moved. Raijen, seemingly not understanding the severity of the situation, was screeching from the upper-deck like a drunken general. “I’ll not have these whoresons onboard a sacred vessel. To arms! Slaughter the demons! Give their blood to the sea!”
Despite the commands of their leader, Divinity’s crew was in no rush to end up like their headless comrade. Godwin scanned the deck searching for anything that could help them. To his surprise he saw that of the dozens of demons that surrounded them in the water, only a handful had actually climbed onboard the ship. The others floated like buoys and kept a cautious distance.
“What’s it doing?” Robert asked from his knees, his usually perfectly oiled mustache soiled with vomit. “Is it…speaking?”
It was difficult to tell. The vodyanoi’s throat swelled and shuddered with gurgling burps making it unclear if it was attempting to speak or simply trying to barf up what it had eaten just moments before.
“Tr…tra…tra,” the creature said in huge croaking groans. Godwin felt Lyra tighten her grip on his arm, and he shielded her from the creature, his hand on the hilt of his sword.
“Tra-tu…trature…”
“Traitor?” Godwin guessed.
“What? I’ll have no creature of hot nor cold blood slur me with such accusations!” Raijen shouted. “Gut this toad you cowards!”
Raijen’s men ignored him, and the creature burped angrily.
“I don’t think you’ve got it,” Robert said, rising to his feet and wiping his besmeared face with the sleeve of his tunic.
“Tra-zure! Trayzure!” the creature shrieked angrily.
“Treasure!” Lyra shouted. “It’s saying treasure.”
“You want treasure?” Raijen shouted. “If you treasure your blubbery skin, you’ll hop off my deck before I lose my temper.”
Godwin wasn’t fooled by the bluster. Raijen’s face was ghost-white. Suddenly it made sense. “What did you take from them?” Godwin demanded.
“You dare accuse me of thievery?” Raijen shouted.
Godwin strode across the deck, and not a man stepped in his way. Tzuri-ren, however, was made of stronger stuff than the men onboard Divinity. “What do you say, Shigata?” the dwarf asked gravely. “You call my Captain a thief?”
Godwin exercised patience with the dwarf. “Vodyanoi don’t like to be out of the water, and they’re certainly not known for attacking even smaller vessels like a rusalka will. What’s more, the fact that they’ve arrived in such numbers is astonishing. This is no trivial matter.”
The dwarf raised an eyebrow, but stood his ground. Godwin couldn’t help but notice the glint of moonlight shining off of the razor-thin blade of Tzuri-ren’s ax. “What say you Captain? How do you answer the Shigata’s charge?”
“Answer the Shigata’s charge?” Raijen shouted, his face blazing with anger. “You dare speak to me like that, you miserable humanoid. I’ll have you tossed overboard with the rest of the filth!”
Godwin grimaced at the slur, but Tzuri-ren merely smiled.
“Trayzure! Tayzure!” the vodyanoi shouted, its bizarre toadish eyeballs rolling in its head.
“What did they take from you?” Godwin asked the demon calmly while the crew watched in shock. “I can help you get it back, but you have to tell me.”
“Trayzure!” the vodyanoi shouted with frustration.
Godwin sighed. “Raijen, if you don’t return whatever it is that you’ve taken, then we’re all dead. We can’t hope to fight them.” The vodyanoi croaked in agreement and scratched at the strange wisps of facial hair that decorated its toad-like face.
“It is not for you to speak to our captain like that,” Jon said, his hollow eyes glowing. “You, Godwin, are a guest onboard this ship. Besides, are Shigata demon-hunters or merely cowards? I should not have thought you would have a dilemma regarding your loyalty in a choice between humans and demons.”
“I’m onboard this ship escorting a girl whose father you hold in very high-esteem,” Godwin answered coldly. “I’d have not thought you all stupid enough to put her in unnecessary danger.”
“Captain!” One of the crew, a boy with only the first shadow of a mustache on his upper lip, shouted as he fell on his backside. One of the demons had approached him, sniffing with its slitted nostrils and prodding with webbed fingers.
“Raijen!” Godwin shouted.
“What did you steal, Raijen?” Tzuri-ren demanded.
Lightning streaked the sky in a hellish blast as thunder boomed across the clouds. The vodyanoi, perhaps unused to such events above the water, shrieked with anger.
“It’s not your place to question our captain, dwarf,” Jon growled.
“Godwin,” Lyra howled, clutching his arm harder than ever. “I’m scared.”
“The sea crown!” a pirate suddenly shouted. Godwin turned and saw one of the crew backed into a corner by two of the demons. “We stole the sea crown. For the sake of the gods, give it back, Captain! We’re sorry. I don’t want to die.”
“You miserable coward!” Raijen shouted. “Your eyes will be picked clean by crabs by the time I’m done with you.” The threat was lost on the pirate though, who in h
is fear had tried to run from the encroaching demons. Half of his body did manage to get away, as it was flung into the Dark Sea leaving a rainbow of blood behind it.
Everything happened at once.
The rest of the vodyanoi, provoked by the killing, immediately attacked the crew. Godwin, in an attempt to stop the bloodshed, charged Raijen with a wild hope that he would be able to retrieve the sea crown, but he was interrupted by the whirl of a broadsword aimed at his head. Another blast of lightning set the sky on fire before crashing into the mast of the ship and setting that ablaze as well. Screams filled the air as Divinity’s deck slickened with blood.
Godwin just barely managed to catch a glimpse of Robert grabbing Lyra and rushing off before the sword came for him again. Leaping backwards he avoided the blade by a hair’s width and growled angrily at the smug pirate holding the other end of it. The pirate expected him to retreat and draw his blade, but Godwin took the opportunity to shoot forward and punch the scoundrel hard on the face—hard enough to break his nose and send him stumbling backwards over the deck and into the demon-infested waters.
Without wasting a moment, Godwin ran through the chaos of the ship. It was clear now that the pirates were his enemies. About half of the crew had rushed to put out the fire while the other half was engaged in battle with the vodyanoi. Raijen was shouting like a madman as if orchestrating the devastation that racked his ship, but nobody seemed to pay him much mind except for Tzuri-ren who had flown into a berserker rage.
“This one’s for the halfling jokes!” the dwarf shouted as his ax smashed into the chest of one of the pirates leaving a gruesome crater in its wake. “This one’s for the she-dwarf beard jokes!” Another pirate groaned and fell dead. One after another the crew fell to Tzuri-ren’s ax as he marched his way across the deck towards the screaming Raijen.
Godwin couldn’t help but smile darkly as he watched the furious dwarf fell one pirate after another on his rage-filled death march. “Amused?” a cold voice asked him.
Turning, Godwin saw Jon standing before him, a sword glowing with light from the fire in his hands. “You and I aren’t done,” Godwin said. “We have more business to discuss.”
“I think not, Godwin. Your master told me more than once that he wasn’t sure if what he saw in you was something real or merely a reflection of his own power staring back at him. The more he discussed it, the more certain he seemed it was the latter. I’ll be sure to confirm that with him after you’re dead.”
Godwin sighed. “Don’t fight me, Jon. Our swords are better used to make sure this crew sees shore again after the demons rip your captain limb from limb.”
“You sound like an imbecile. However, I will admit that I can see your master’s dilemma. There is something about you, Godwin. Something that makes one pause and wonder. But I think you’re not so special. Just another wandering Shigata with a chip on his shoulder.”
“Godwin!” Robert shouted. Godwin turned and saw the wide-eyed easterner staring at the man he had just impaled with his short sword in horror. Behind him Lyra trembled like a leaf in a hurricane.
“Look at me!” Jon shouted. “I’m not done talking to you.”
Godwin trembled with anticipation. He felt a wave of hatred bubble up from deep within him, and he let it wash over his body. “I suppose we really are done.”
Their blades met in midair. Godwin held his position as Jon’s sword swept downward and crashed into his own blade. Grunting, the Shigata thrust his weight up causing Jon to stumble back with his hands in the air. Shooting forward Godwin tried to skewer him, but Jon was able to flail backwards to his left and counter with a sweeping blow meant to hack Godwin in half at the waist. Godwin rolled and lost nothing more than a few jet black hairs and his opportunity to finish the fight quickly.
They danced with hatred in their hearts, oblivious to the chaos that surrounded them. Fire and blood washed over the deck of Divinity while demons mercilessly hunted down the fleeing pirates. The ship’s lower levels had taken on water, and the cog was now tilted at an angle perilously unparalleled with the water.
Godwin noticed none of it as his sword hissed and groaned against that of his opponent. Jon fought gracefully for a man of his size, preferring a quick jab and repeat pattern to the crushing blows Godwin would have expected to rain down upon him. He was surprisingly fast, but Godwin’s footwork and blade control were superior. If he could endure the fight longer, then he would win. He was sure of it.
Something black and wet slammed into his face. Shouting, Godwin retreated in surprise and pain. It felt like someone had tossed burning hot clay into his eyes. Cursing, he lifted his sword defensively while desperately trying to clear out whatever the gunk was with his free hand. He expected Jon to fall on him in his moment of blindness, but the pirate hadn’t struck a blow.
Clearing his eyes enough to see what was happening, Godwin saw his opponent wrestling with one of the demons. Jon’s sword had been knocked from his hands and slid across the tilted deck and into the sea while his massive arms struggled to keep the snapping mouth of the vodyanoi away from him.
Shouting, the Shigata sprinted forward in an attempt to shove the demon off of the struggling pirate, but not fast enough. An explosion of heat and color erupted through the floor of the deck not ten paces from Godwin as a flash of fireworks blazed into the ship’s sail. The force of the blast sent Godwin careening backwards and over the edge of Divinity.
Gripping a loose piece of railing so forcefully that he was unsure if his arm had been ripped right out of its socket, Godwin prevented himself from flailing overboard. Groaning, he started to lift himself onboard the ship where he could survey the full carnage. The first thing he noticed was Raijen’s bloody body, whose skull had been mutilated by the angry thrust of an ax. Forcing through the pain, the Shigata regained his footing.
Head-spinning, Godwin moved through the destruction and searched for Robert and Lyra. Throbbing pain scorched his shoulder. They had to stay together. If he could do that, maybe there was a way to get out of the danger. Without even realizing he had lost it, Godwin picked up his sword as he happened across it and sheathed it.
A rumbling noise below deck drew his attention, but he ignored it, deciding instead to search for Robert and Lyra. He saw them, huddled into a corner with Robert holding two bloody shortswords in his hands looking terrified. A chorus of screaming filled Godwin’s ears like white noise. Stumbling his way through the carnage, he fought to reach them.
“Godwin!” Robert shouted.
A blast of heat washed over them all as burning white light filled Godwin’s eyes, and he felt his body thrust into the sea with the force of a missile. Burning heat transformed into shocking cold as water filled his lungs. He felt someone’s hand in his own, gripping fiercely against the pressure that tried to rip him apart.
When he came to, he was alone.
He awoke to a thrashing headache and a sharp hellish pain in, of all places, his toe. Groaning, Godwin tried to breathe and realized immediately that it was more than likely that he had several broken ribs. Without rushing himself, he slowly moved each of his fingers, then his limbs. Everything seemed to be working, albeit only with great effort.
Forcing his bruised and battered body against the ground, he managed to roll onto his back. Hot light stung his closed eyes. It was day, and he found himself both freezing and uncomfortably hot. Silently cursing, he understood that he likely suffered burns onboard the ship.
Memories of the recent events flooded his mind, and Godwin’s eyes shot open. Coughing, he tried to rise but found himself unable to do so. He was on the cold sand of a beach in winter, but exactly where he washed up was anyone’s guess. Slowly working his way up, he managed to lean against a rock. Somehow half of his clothes had been ripped from his body and both of his boots were gone. Miraculously his sword was still with him. A large blue crab had his big toe gripped firmly in a bulbous claw.
“Fucking hell,” Godwin muttered. His bare leg was brui
sed and bloodstained. He moved to prod the creature off him, which of course caused it to double down on him even harder. Godwin cried out in pain and fell back defeated.
He let some time pass while he went over the events of the ship in his head. Pure pandemonium had broken out, but somehow he was alive. That meant that Robert and Lyra might also be alive. That meant he had to find them, or their remains. No, he wouldn’t think about that. Especially Lyra. He wouldn’t allow himself to believe he had led that poor girl to such a horrific death. He would find both her and Robert, and they would make a plan.
But first he had to get the crab off of his foot.
A fit of rage came over him, and Godwin thrashed his leg up and down like a child in the midst of a tantrum. The large crustacean mocked him with its tiny eyes, unconcerned by the Shigata’s desperate attempts to rid himself of the nuisance.
Panting and out of breath, Godwin threw himself back on the ground and tried to calm down. His body felt like it had been put through a meat grinder and was now being preserved in an ice box. He would have to be smarter and conserve his energy. There was no telling how far from civilization he was or where his next meal would come from. He might need to fight real enemies, especially if some of those pirates had washed up near him. This was no time to be battling crabs.
Taking stock of himself once more, he squeezed the hilt of his sword and found some relief in that. Then a fresh sense of dread washed over him. Two things that could help him the most were both gone. He had lost his coin pouch and the dozen vials of potion ingredients he kept carefully strapped to the inside of his tunic. Even the emergency funds he kept tucked away in his boots were gone.
If he were to get any help, he wouldn’t be able to purchase it.
“Listen, please just leave me alone,” Godwin moaned at the crab. “I promise I don’t taste good. There’s lots of nice worms over there. You look big enough that you could even get a shrimp or a crawfish.”