by William King
The amulet on Kormak’s breast warmed. There was magic at work here.
Rhiana dropped into place beside him, spear taking a pirate through the chest. Bubbles of bloody froth emerged from the man’s lungs as he fell over, still trying to claw at her.
“There is a Quan here,” she said. “Its magic is goading on our foes and undermining the morale of our allies.”
Her face looked strained, as she struggled to resist the spell.
“We’d best do something about that then,” Kormak said. “Where is it?”
“On the enemy ship,” Rhiana said.
“Then let’s kill it.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
KORMAK RACED UP the stairs to the command deck. Zamara fought there side by side with Frater Jonas. The captain’s face was pale but not panicked. The Elder Signs he and Jonas wore shielded them from the enemy magic, but not from the madmen throwing themselves across the gap between the two ships.
Jonas had a knife in each hand. The hilts bulged and something that looked like black ink dripped from the tip. A number of dead men lay near the priest. They showed no fatal wounds.
Poison in the blades, Kormak thought. Bulbs in the hilts to inject it. A scratch would be fatal. The priest was a more dangerous man than Kormak had at first believed.
A pirate on a swinging line barrelled into Zamara, knocking him over. Kormak chopped down the corsair and stood over the captain as he pulled himself to his feet.
Kormak made sure that the captain was all right—without Zamara to guide the fight the crew would be overcome—then leapt across the gap onto the pirate ship. He tore through a group of reavers like a whirlwind of death.
Rhiana landed beside him and stabbed a man through the eye. Her prey fell back, still slashing. She hit him with the butt of the staff, breaking his nose and sending him reeling to the ground.
“Where?” Kormak asked.
A flicker of concentration passed across her face. “Above.”
A long way above them black robes fluttered among the sails. He chopped down every man in his way until he reached the mast.
He sheathed his sword and pulled himself hand over hand up the rigging. It flexed under his weight, sending him swaying. The pirates in the crowsnests but were too busy sniping at the decks of the Sea Dragon with their crossbows to pay much attention to him.
Kormak kept moving, wondering how long it would be before someone spotted him. All it would take would be one arrow. It would not even have to kill him, just make him lose his grip for a second. The deck lay a long way below.
Looking down he saw scores of pirates still swarming on the deck. The powerful sorcery of the Quan drove them to rage. The Siderean sailors faltered under its baleful mental influence. The protective amulet blazed against Kormak’s chest.
His arms burned with the strain of climbing. The effort of hacking his way across the deck had cost him an enormous amount of energy. His lungs felt empty. No matter how hard he breathed it was difficult to get enough air into them.
The Quan floated above the mast, anchored there by two of its tentacles. He remembered the Kraken’s long slow descent from the balconies back in Triturek. The Quan had similar magic, allowing it to float in air as easily as it floated in water.
He pulled himself up to where the cross-spar joined the mast. The monster did not appear to have spotted him but who knew what senses the creature possessed? He glanced down. Rhiana clambered up below him, slowed by the spear she held in one hand.
He drew his sword and ran out along the spar. About halfway to his target, the Quan’s robes flowed and swirled. Its tentacles changed their grip and the squid-like head swung towards him. A strange glow blazed in the Quan’s eyes. The Elder Sign grew even warmer against his chest as the creature concentrated its malevolent energies on him.
A moment before he reached it, the Quan’s tentacles unwound from around the spar and it floated free in the air. Long sucker covered limbs lashed out at Kormak, attempting to push him into space.
He lashed out with his dwarf-forged blade, separating one tentacle from the Quan’s torso. He struck again. The squid-like creature writhed bonelessly and eluded him. Something long and moist wrapped itself around Kormak’s leg and tugged.
On the narrow piece of wood fifty strides above the deck, he could not keep his balance. He started to fall. He grabbed the creature with his left hand and stabbed upwards into the cowl of the robe with the blade in his right. If he fell to his doom on the deck below he was damn well taking the creature with him.
Rhiana’s spear drove through the Quan’s body. A hissing scream filled the air. The black robes bulged and shrank as the monster writhed like a serpent in its death throes.
He struggled to hold on to the squirming mass of rubbery flesh as it fell.
He dropped slowly—the same magic that kept the Quan in the air helped slow his descent too. Faces looked up.
The sailors pointed up at the apparition descending upon them. The Quan’s evil spell was broken. The combatants looked like men woken from a strange nightmare. The berserk madness had vanished from the pirate’s faces. The Siderean marines no longer looked riven by self-doubt and fear.
Many wore a puzzled expression. For a moment it looked as if they would stop fighting altogether but then Zamara bellowed an order and the marines returned to the fray. Attacking their still confused opponents, they drove the pirate’s back towards the railings on the edge of the deck.
A crossbowman took aim at Kormak. Before the pirate pulled the trigger, Kormak let go. A sickening sensation of free-fall hit his stomach. He gripped the hilt of his dwarf-forged sword with both hands and lashed out, piercing the sail. The razor edge ripped the fabric. He twisted the blade to create drag, slowing his descent.
The crossbow bolt flickered overhead and buried itself in the body of the Quan. The monster still thrashed, its unnatural vitality animating it long after a man would have sunk into death.
The wooden deck rose to meet Kormak. The last part of the sail gave way and he fell. He hit the deck rolling. As he came to his feet, he chopped down the nearest pirate.
He stood behind the mass of the sea-reavers. He stabbed the nearest one in the back and then hacked his way through the rest. Disoriented by the removal of the Quan’s spell, assaulted from behind, and seeing their comrades fall, the pirates panicked.
It was a turning point.
Soon the pirates were dead or driven into the sea and the marines vaulted between the two ships to claim the pirate vessel. The corpse of the Quan lay quiescent on the deck. The marines stood guard over the captured pirates and Zamara strode the command deck of his prize smiling in triumph.
Rhiana dropped down from the rigging. She pulled her harpoon from the Quan’s corpse then drove it home again and again. She kept stabbing until green ichor flowed and the Quan lost all shape.
The Kraken was nowhere to be found among his crew. Questioning revealed that he had disappeared into the water earlier along with two of the Quan. None of the pirates believed him drowned. They had seen him do such things before.
Rhiana nodded her head as if this confirmed something that she already knew. Zamara lost his earlier jubilation and became pensive. Frater Jonas frowned and offered up prayers to the Holy Sun for their protection. Kormak suspected that in his mind’s eye, the priest saw another gigantic squid rising from the deep to smash their ships to smithereens.
Or something even worse—Leviathan.
“What shall we do now?” Zamara asked. “Wait here for the sorcerer to return to the surface?”
“If he returns,” Kormak said. “There is no guarantee he’s going to do that any time soon. And if he does he may be in the sort of company we cannot defeat.”
“If he finds what he looking for down there,” Rhiana said, “he will come back with the power to destroy us all.”
Zamara said, “Since none of us have mastered the difficult art of water breathing—except, of course, you, my lady—we don’t
have many options. We either wait here for him to return to the surface or we depart and hope that he does not manage to waken the beast.”
As he spoke his eyes never left the recumbent form of the Quan.
“You mean run away?” Jonas said. There was no mockery in his tone. He sounded like he thought flight might be a good idea.
“Not while there is still a chance of stopping him,” Kormak said.
Rhiana looked at Kormak. Before she opened her mouth he knew what she was going to say. “We have the ancient armour. Someone could come down with me and find out exactly what the Kraken is up to.”
Her tone of voice made it obvious that no matter whether anyone accompanied her or not she was going to go.
“If there are more Quan down there the two of you will be going to your death,” Jonas said. His tone made it quite clear he was not volunteering himself.
Kormak considered his options. Rhiana wanted him to go with her. It was an act almost foolhardy bravery to seek the Kraken and his allies in their own element. Memories of being trapped in the tunnel into the pirate’s mansion flooded back. His heart started to pound. He did not want to go but he knew that if he did not, it would be the beginning of the end for him. He could not shirk his duties simply because he was afraid.
“I will go down with you,” he said.
“You will need to leave your amulets behind,” she said. “You might have been able to survive for a short time with them impairing the armour’s functions but there is no way you can reach the ocean’s bottom with that happening. Your life will be entirely dependent on the armour working perfectly.”
“Very well,” Kormak said. “You’re the expert in these matters and I will take your word for it.”
“Then let us get ready,” Rhiana said. “We have wasted enough time as it is.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE ANCIENT ARMOUR encased Kormak’s chest. Energy tingled on his skin.
Rhiana walked around him, making adjustments, checking all the seals were in place. Frater Jonas stood nearby watching everything. The deadly fighting man so briefly revealed had disappeared back into the priest’s nervous looking form.
Kormak slid the scabbard of the dwarf-forged blade over his shoulder. Rhiana believed that so long as the weapon did not touch the armour, it would cause no problems.
The metal and crystal helmet weighed heavy in his hands. He was counting on it to let him breathe in the deepest water. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind of fear. The effect only lasted a moment before nervousness started to niggle away at the edges of his consciousness.
He was going into the depths of the ocean, a place he knew nothing about, to face foes adapted to thrive there. According to the sailors on the Kraken’s Reach, two Quan still accompanied the sorcerer.
“Ready?” Rhiana asked. Kormak considered making a joke. Instead he took another deep breath and nodded and said, “Yes. I am.”
“I’m glad somebody is,” Rhiana said. “It troubles me that a surface dweller should be more prepared to go beneath the waves than I am.”
Captain Zamara and his crew looked on. They were all glad they did not have to do what he was doing. Looking at the water’s glittering surface, it came to him that he wastrusting his life to an ancient artefact that had almost killed him on the only previous occasion he had worn it.
Kormak placed the helmet upon his head. He could still hear the crew’s speech but it sounded distant. His realised he was holding his breath.
He forced himself to relax and exhale. He could no longer catch the scent of the sea or the odour of his companions. He could not smell blood or excrement or any of the other aromas that filled the air over the ship after the battle. There was a smell almost like mint.
Rhiana looked at him and said, “We’d best get going.”
She stepped up onto the guard-rail and dropped into the water. The waves closed above her head with a splash.
Kormak shrugged and vaulted over the barrier, bringing his feet together so that he entered the water cleanly. A moment of panic hit him as he sank. Murk replaced brilliant oceanic sunlight. The Holy Sun’s rays penetrated the water as if breaking through the canopy of a forest.
The barnacle-encrusted keel of the ship receded above him. The bubbling sound caused by his descent filled his ears.
Rhiana swung around him with an eerie grace, much more at home in the water than on land. She moved like a seal, circling around him and smiling.
The gills in her throat opened and closed as they processed the ocean water. Faint white trails emerged from them and bubbled towards the surface.
He raised his hand and waved to her. He felt slow and clumsy, his movements impeded by the thickness of the water. Once again he held his breath and once again he had to force himself to exhale and inhale. His heart beat against his ribs like a drum. He offered up a prayer to the Holy Sun that this ancient armour would continue to work.
We need to get going downwards, said a faint voice inside his head. It took him a moment to realise that it was not his own thoughts and he felt a surge of panic. He concentrated on visualising an Elder Sign to repel the intrusion.
Rhiana shook her head. I am speaking to you with my mind. Her voice sounded much more distant and the words were much harder to comprehend. I can only do that with your cooperation. And I am going to need that once we reach our destination.
Kormak wondered whether she could read his thoughts or riffle through his memories and ferret out his secrets. Such a thing had happened in the past when he had faced the Stealer of Flesh.
Can you understand my thoughts? He felt strange and self-conscious concentrating on the words. When he got no response, he made a gesture to his own head and then mouthed the words. She smiled as if she understood.
I can only broadcast to you. I cannot read your mind. However if you speak normally, I will be able to make out your words. You have air in your lungs and you can use your vocal chords.
For how much longer, Kormak wondered.
The open sky seemed very distant and waters dark and chill swirled all around him.
He dropped towards the ocean floor. Rhiana continued to circle. The ships above them receded, becoming shadowy outlines against the light of the Sun. A finned shape moved closer. Kormak saw a dolphin, most likely the one that had followed them all this way out into the ocean, Rhiana’s familiar.
He flailed his limbs and stopped for a moment, kicking his legs and moving his arms to maintain his position and orientate himself. He did not want simply to drop into the darkness. He needed control over what was happening to him.
Rhiana swam closer to him and placed her hand against the runes on the armour’s chestplate. A look of concentration passed across her face. A faint vibration shivered the armour and then he began to move without any effort on his part. The sea behind him had become a white mass of bubbles.
When he stretched his arms he met some resistance, as if the drag of his own limbs impeded his movement. He placed them over his head, pointing them like a diver about to enter the water and his speed increased. He discovered that he could guide his direction by altering the angle at which he held his arms and by twisting his legs. It was as if a great hand pushed him along and all he had to do was show it which way to go. Rhiana swam alongside him, no longer keeping up quite so easily.
There is a spell-engine within the armour that enables it to move as well as to provide you with air.
“Does it have any other tricks?” Kormak asked. She reached out and touched the side of the helmet. A beam of light scythed out into the gathering darkness, illuminating a tunnel through the gloomy water.
He touched the side of the helmet where she had and the light winked out. He touched it again and the light came back. He resisted smiling like a child given a new toy. He made the light vanish once more.
He touched the breastplate of the armour and ran his fingers along the pattern in the reverse of the way that she had. The vibration ceased and he stopp
ed moving. He repeated her action and he once more began to move. This time he did smile. Powerful ancient magic was at work here.
I see that you’re getting the hang of it. That is good.
“I can see why you were so keen to get this armour back,” Kormak said. “It is worth a fortune to the right man.”
The dolphin swam alongside them. It opened its snout and a high-pitched clicking noise came out. Rhiana nodded. We need to be on our way.
Kormak followed her down towards the ocean’s bed.
Rhiana produced her green glowing pearl for the waters became darker and darker as they made their way down. It was dim as twilight and became more shadowy the deeper they went. Kormak summoned the light from the armour’s helmet once again.
It became more and more difficult to move his limbs. The armour creaked and groaned as if under pressure from an enormous vice. Rhiana gestured for him to stop and moved closer to him. She inspected the breastplate with an anxious look on her face. She then made a similar inspection on the helmet.
“Is something wrong?” Kormak asked.
She did not respond. She ran her fingers along the crystal of the visor, perhaps seeking out for tiny cracks. Kormak kept quiet. If something went wrong with the armour at this depth, there was no way he could make it to the surface again. He would run out of air long before he could do so.
I think it’s all right. The pressure has not damaged the armour.
“You think it’s all right,” Kormak said. “I am reassured.”
If it fails, you’ll be dead before you know it so there’s no point in worrying.
“I think I could somehow manage to worry about that,” Kormak said.
I just wanted to check. I thought I saw something but it seems I was just imagining it.
Kormak wished that he could really hear her voice. It would have been much easier to judge whether she was lying on not. Her projections into his mind all came in a flat neutral tone.
She gestured downwards. The dolphin had stopped frolicking and seemed to be saving its energy. It pushed itself onwards with a lazy flick of its tail.