The Shadow Realm

by James Galloway

  He waited a while longer, keeping his attention on the sensation. He was so focused on it that he didn't feel Kimmie roll over on her back and look up at him in irritation, reaching up and shaking his shoulder to get his attention. It was getting closer and closer, and as it approached, the sense of it seemed to divide. There wasn't one of those things, there were several of them. As they got nearer, he managed to separate them enough to count them, and realized that there were nine. Nine, but they were so close to one another that they'd felt like a single magical force from a distance. They were close enough now to make out the kind of magic it was, too.

  It was Wizard magic. Powerful Wizard magic. Nine separate Wizard spells, moving towards him, spells so strong that they had had an affect on the magical currents in the strands. What kind of spells were they? As strong as they were, they had to be really big ones, high-order magic, the kind of magic a Wizard would cast to move a mountain.

  Or move a ship!

  Gasping, his eyes snapping open so fast it made Kimmie flinch, Tarrin realized what he was feeling. There was only one explanation for what he was feeling. Nine powerful spells moving towards him on the open ocean? Those were the magical spells that powered Zakkite Skyships! That was why they felt familiar, because he'd seen them and felt them before!

  Tarrin swore sulfurously as he literally jumped over Kimmie and out of bed. "Tarrin, what's wrong?" she asked in concern, sitting up.

  "Kimmie, stay here!" he said as he moved towards the door. "There are Zakkites Skyships moving towards us!"

  "Like bloody hell I'm going to stay here!" she snapped, quickly rolling out of bed and rushing after him as he opened the door. She paused just long enough to snatch up the belt she wore with her dresses, that had small pouches holding the material components for her Wizard spells. She whipped it around her waist, and Tarrin paused to think that she looked a bit silly wearing nothing but a leather belt. Then again, Tarrin wasn't wearing anything at all, and neither of them really felt like they had the time to get dressed.

  Tarrin ran to the end of the companionway and banged loudly on Keritanima's door. "Get up!" he shouted through the door. "Get up right now!"

  "Tarrin, I'm going to kill you!" Keritanima's voice blasted through the door.

  "Get up!" he shouted. "There are Zakkites moving this way!"

  That made every door in the companionway open, almost all at once. All his friends were in various states of undress, from Camara Tal standing in her doorway completely nude to Dolanna's frilly nightdress, but none of them looked very sleepy. Keritanima flung her door open, wearing a silk robe, and her expression was one of grim sobriety. "Are you sure?" she asked.

  "I haven't seen them, but I can feel them coming. Can't you feel the pull in the Weave?"

  "I can," Dolanna said after a moment. "It is very strong. Given we are on the open sea, it is only logical to assume that that could only be Zakkites."

  "You're, you're right," Keritanima agreed, her eyes going distant for a moment. "That has to be a trio of Zakkite Triads. I count nine. Am I right?"

  "Nine," Dolanna agreed.

  "Nine," Tarrin nodded.

  "Bloody hells," Camara Tal growled. "Let me get my sword."

  "Quickly, all of you," Dolanna ordered down the companionway in a strong voice. "We do not have much time. Come above with whatever you can find, quickly!"

  "A pitched battle with Zakkites. Not my idea of a good way to start the day," Dar grumbled as he hurried back into his room.

  "If we do this right, it won't be as much a fight as the Zakkites think it will," Tarrin said, getting an idea. "How high up do Zakkites usually fly their ships, Kerri?"

  "About a hundred feet--er, about a hundred and thirty spans or so," she replied.

  "What would happen to one of those ships if it fell back to the ocean from that height?"

  "It would crack like an egg," she told him immediately. She looked at him, then laughed. "Tarrin, can we do that?"

  "It won't be easy, and it's going to take all three of us," he replied, "but we can."

  "Do what?" Kimmie asked.

  "Disrupt magic," Dolanna told her with a nod. "Yes, we could do that, but you are talking about disrupting an area of nearly a square span, dear one, and maintaining it for quite some time."

  "Like I said, it won't be easy," he grunted. "I couldn't do it by myself, but we'll save ourselves a whole lot of headaches and save quite a few of Kerri's sailors if we do."

  "Explain this to me, Tarrin," Kimmie commanded as Tarrin rushed away from Keritanima's door with Keritanima following behind, rushing towards the stairs that led to the deck above.

  "Sorcerers can disrupt Wizard magic," he told her. "You know that."

  "You're going to try to disrupt the magic that makes the skyships fly?" Kimmie asked, seeing the point of the matter.

  "Not just that magic, but all Wizard magic," Keritanima told her. "The Zakkite Wizards won't be able to throw spells at my ships as long as we block them."

  "With luck, the drop is going to do all the damage for us," Dolanna added. "So it is important that we ensure that their ships are airborne when we do this."

  They burst out on deck, which was sheeted with water, and rain fell heavily from the sky driven by a rather stiff wind. The thick clouds concealed the moons and the Skybands, and made the night black as pitch. The rain reduced that already poor visibility even more. Tarrin could barely make out the lanterns on the clippers that were tied up with the steamship, ropes holding them together to ensure the ships didn't drift apart during the night. They would need light, and alot of it, if they were going to make sure that the Zakkite ships were indeed damaged or destroyed by the fall. "Kerri, go tell your men to signal the other ships to ready their cannons, but do it quietly," Dolanna told the Wikuni queen quickly. "We must be ready for them, but we do not want to know we are ready."

  "We'll make it a big surprise," Keritanima grinned, and then she ran through the rain to the steep staircase that led up to the steering deck, and climbed up as the officer in charge of the dog watch saluted her sharply before she even got up to the deck. The others reached the deck looking as unprepared as Tarrin was. Dar wore nothing but smallclothes, doing his best not to look at Kimmie, Allia, or Camara Tal too much. Allia had grabbed her shirt and her short swords, the linen shirt she wore under her very long desert top not quite long enough to conceal the fact that she hadn't managed to put on anything else. Camara Tal had grabbed her swordbelt, and that meant that she also had her tripa, for the garment was actually attached to the swordbelt. So Allia had nothing on from the waist down, and Camara Tal had nothing on from the waist up. They were both armed, however, as Allia and Dar moved towards Dolanna, who was wearing her sheer silk nightgown and a frown, moving towards her so they could Circle with her if she needed them. Phandebrass was wearing a long nightshirt that left his skinny, knobby knees bare, but had managed to find the time to put on that ridiculous conical hat. He also had his belt around his waist, for like Kimmie, Phandebrass kept his spell components in the many small pouches tied to his leather belt. Binter and Sisska stood near Miranda, the two Vendari wearing nothing at all-ithough it didn't matter all that much, given that the reptillian nature of Vendari physiology made them both appear genderless, protecting the little mink Wikuni, wearing a robe that was tied so loosely that it threatened to compromise her modesty at any moment. She had a dagger in her hand, just as Binter had his hammer and Sisska had her axe, knowing that she could do little to help but ready to do whatever was needed of her. Azakar was by far the most prepared-looking of them all, for he had managed to get on his breeches and his breastplate both, but his feet were bare as he moved up behind Kimmie and took a defensive position nearby, sword in hand and eyes scanning the black, rainy skies.

  "How far are they away?" Kimmie asked Tarrin seriously.

  Tarrin closed his eyes and bridged into the Weave, so the energy of their magic would be more clear to him. He could sense their coming clearly, so clear
ly that he could discern both a direction and a distance. "They're about two longspans away, moving towards us from over here," he said, pointing off the port side of the ship. "They're all gathered together, but their ships are starting to spread out."

  "They are preparing to surround us," Dolanna realized. "How do they know we are here?"

  "Magic, since they're Zakkites," Camara Tal grunted. "They don't do anything without using a damned spell." She spat. "That's why they can't beat us. Can't do for themselves, and it shows. As soon as they lose their magic, they're helpess weaklings."

  "Let us hope that remains true," Dolanna told her. "How fast are they moving, Tarrin?"

  Tarrin was silent a moment as he gauged the nearing of the sensation. "They'll be here in a few minutes."

  "Long enough for us to put on some clothes?" Dar asked.

  "Dar, you were never this shy in the baths," Allia told him with a slight smile.

  "That was the baths," he said with a slight blush.

  "Put your moral outrage back in its box until this is over, boy," Camara Tal ordered him blunty, raising her sword. "I seriously doubt the Zakkites are going to be kind enough to stop and give us a chance to get dressed so we can meet them."

  Tarrin tuned them out, gauging their distance more and more accurately. It was important for him to do so, for what he was about to do was going to be very exhausting, and that meant that it was going to have a limited range. What was most important was that they had to let the Zakkites get as close as possible, let them begin fanning out to silenty encircle the Wikuni ships and let them think that they had the element of surprise. If they thought they'd been detected, they would attack with their magical spells, and that may start before all their ships were close enough for Tarrin to affect them. So they had to be close, very close, just one step away from initiating their attack.

  Tarrin explained that to the others as he monitored the approach of the Zakkites, and Dolanna nodded. "Then let us move off the open deck," she said. "Move among the lashed crates, so we are not so obvious. If they see us dressed as we are now, they will be certain they have been detected," she said with a slight smile.

  Tarrin felt that a wise move, so they all scattered among the crates and barrels that were lashed into groups on the top of the deck supplies they needed but had no room to store anywhere else. Tarrin knelt between a line of barrels and a line of stacked wooden crates. Kimmie was just behind him and Azakar just behind her, looming over her bare back with his imposing size.

  "Tarrin, the other ships are getting ready," Keritanima's voice came over his amulet. "What do you want us to do now?"

  "Wait," he said, putting a paw to his amulet. "Let them come in, let them think they have surprise on their side. I need them to be close enough so only one of us can disable them all in one blow, and since I'm the strongest, I'll take care of that. So let me strike first. What I want you and Dolanna to do is light up the sea, bright enough for us to see several longspans in any direction, so your ships can see what they're shooting at. It's going to take both of you to make that much light, so get down here and Circle with Dolanna, Allia, and Dar."

  "I need to be up here so I can relay orders."

  "Tell Donovan to tell the others ships to hold their fire until you light up the sky, then fire at anything that looks like it's still a threat."

  "I'll tell the other ships. Give me a minute, and I'll be ready. When do you want us to light up the sky?"

  "After I disrupt their magic."

  "I thought that would be the best time," she said with a chuckle. "So, we're going to pull their pants down, then yell and get everyone around to stare at their bare butts."

  "Something like that," he agreed, unable to supress a slight smile at the image that conjured in his mind.

  They waited in tense silence for long moments, hearing the feverish preparations taking place on the other ships, even as they tried to keep things quiet. The other clippers put out most of their lanterns, making it look like they were sleeping the rainy night away. Tarrin's attention was focused on the Zakkite ships, however, sensing them as they approached, and sensing also that they were both spreading out and slowing down. They were moving to surround the Wikuni ships, and they were aware that even in the pounding rain and the blinding darkness, the movements of their ships may give them away before they were ready to strike. Motion was much easier to see than shapes, and though their ships were painted black, there would still be some visible shifting in the background as they moved that a sharp-eyed lookout would be able to detect. All in all, Tarrin had to respect their tactics. They had obviously done this before, and they knew what they were doing. As long as they caught their prey off guard, victory for them was all but assured.

  But this time they were not dealing with the average ship's crew. They were dealing with magic-users just as experienced and capable as they were. The Zakkites were going to be in for a very, very nasty shock.

  They waited quietly for another couple of minutes, as the Zakkite ships moved closer and closer. He could sense their magic distinctly now, could feel the flow of magic from that other place from where Wizard magic came, through the Weave, and into each of the ships. He could even sense a precise location, and realized that what he was feeling wasn't a magical spell, it was a magical device. The devices that powered the ships' magical flight. Closer and closer they came, the furthest away only about half a longspan out, but that was still too far. He wanted them all within three hundred spans; that would be just outside the extreme range of their attack spells, but close enough for him to do something about them. He had the feeling that they wouldn't begin their assault until all their ships were within striking distance, to attempt to cripple and eliminate the four very formidable Wikuni clippers as quickly as possible. Even Zakkites tread very lightly around the Wikuni, as five hundred years of consistent losses on the sea against the seafaring empire had proved. They would treat the Wikuni with very high respect, respect for their very real chance of turning the tables on their attackers if they could get their cannons firing against the Zakkites, and that respect would demand that their ambush be as damaging as possible when they made the initial assault. Tarrin intended to use that against them, let them set up, which also put them right where Tarrin could get at them.

  "Tarrin, I think I can see them," Kimmie whispered in his ear as she looked over the water barrels. "I see something moving out there, something in the air, and it's big."

  "Just another couple of moments," he said to her. "The lead ship is only a few hundred spans away from us."

  "Tarrin, Allia can see them," Dolanna told him through the amulet. "Are you ready?"

  "Just another moment," he replied, putting his paw on his amulet. He ignored the leading ships, concentrating instead on the last three. They were about five hundred spans out, and that was too far. Tarrin waited in tense silence as his heartbeat ticked away the time, as the three ships he was watching crept closer and closer, seeming to take forever. He cast his senses about and realized that the other six ships had turned, were moving to surround the cluster of five stationary targets, leaving the three at the end to fill the hole they vacated and complete the trap.

  That was when he would strike, just as they were about to enter the ring. The others wouldn't attack until they were in position, so he had to strike before they got into position and attacked. He started tamping his feet on the deck, an instinctual signal to Kimmie that the hunter was about to pounce, and she raised her paw over the crates and hissed audibly for everyone to get ready. Azakar thumped the hilt of his sword on the deck quickly, and that seemed to have the effect that Kimmie's barely audible and undecipherable voice did not. Everyone got very quiet, and Tarrin felt Keritanima, Dar, Allia, and Dolanna join in a Circle several rows of crates behind them.

  Tarrin reached out and made a deeper connection to the Weave, beginning to get it ready. He would have to use High Sorcery to affect such a large area, and the glow would give him away. So he primed
the Weave by saturating the two strands close enough for him to use, pooling up the power and making sure that it would only be a split second between him touching High Sorcery and being able to immediately draw in that prepared energy and use it. He already had the weave he was going to use in his mind, going over the weaving of it again and again until he was sure he could get it woven and released before the Zakkites could react to his magical light, which would give away the fact that the Zakkites were the ones that had fallen into the trap.

  The three ships began to separate from one another, moving to fill in the empty side of the ring. Almost. Almost....

  Now!

  Tarrin stood up and opened himself to the power of the Weave, drew in the power of High Sorcery, and the Weave responded to him. His paws exploded in Magelight, a light that seemed brilliant in the murky, rainy darkness, a light that immediately drew every eye to his position. Tarrin sucked up that energy he had prepared like water pouring into a glass, and he began using it even before it was finished flowing into him. The weave necessary to disrupt Wizard magic swept out of him in a blisteringly fast wave, the flows wrapping and weaving and twisting into the proper spell so quickly that any who could perceive them would have trouble keeping up with what he was doing. He did his teacher proud by weaving a spell designed to affect a massive area in a shockingly short amount of time, so attuned and in touch with the power of the Weave was he, so attuned to his Goddess. Her power flowed through him effortlessly, and it obeyed his every command as the six flows of the power of Interdiction, the power to disrupt Wizard magic, formed in a huge globe nearly a thousand spans across with the steamship forming its center. Tarrin didn't have the time to look over the huge spell before releasing it, for every second counted. He could only release it and hope that he had woven it right. If he did not, it would either fizzle or explode in a Wildstrike, which itself would be just as dangerous to the steamship as the Zakkites were. The bigger the spell, the more unpredictable and potentially destructive a Wildstrike it could create would be.