by Heath Pfaff
"What is it?" I asked, unhappy to be disturbed in the middle of the night, whether I was asleep or not, and even less happy to see Snow.
"One of the Black Patch Brigade on deck is refusing to obey an order from Ethaniel." She said urgently,
"They can't refuse. . ." I began to say they couldn't refuse an order, but the look of concern on Snow's face silenced my words. If a black cloak was refusing an order, then it was certainly a matter I needed to look into. The ramifications of such an occurrence were profound, and quite possibly dangerous to the entire ship.
I took only enough time to grab my sword and cloak from my room.
"Stay here, keep the door locked, and don't open it unless I tell you to." I told Malice as I left the room. There was fear in her eyes, though she seemed outwardly calm. She nodded at my words. I pulled the door shut and waited until I heard the bolt latch. I fell in behind Snow who led the way through the halls. There were no guards posted at my doors, for I had deemed them unnecessary so far out to sea. For some reason, their absence, despite the fact that it had been that way for over a month, sent a chill of foreboding through me.
Above me waited trouble. I could only hope it wasn't as bad as I feared it might be.
The deck was quiet as I came up from my quarters below, as it always was, but there was a notable tension in the air. The active crew for the night had all come to a stop, eyes fixed on one location. I didn't need to follow Snow any longer, for it was obvious where events were taking place. I needed only follow the onlookers. Black cloaks, Knights, and human crew alike had stopped to witness events as they unfolded. Most troubling, I noted, was that the Black Patch Brigade had stopped in their work. Under normal circumstances, if the magic governing their behavior was working as it should, they would have continued their tasks oblivious to the events around them.
There was electricity in the air, the crackling sensation of a fight about to erupt. The crowd cleared way for me as I approached, and then all eyes settled upon my back. I could feel the burning gaze of the black cloaks like hot coals on my flesh, but I ignored them and trudged on. I found Ethaniel and the uncooperative member of the Brigade at the base of the main mast. They were standing only a few feet apart.
"Noble." Ethaniel greeted me, his right hand rested on his sword hilt. His posture was aggressive.
"Ethaniel," I returned the greeting. "there is a problem?" I tried to keep my own posture relaxed, but every muscle in my body was ready to spring.
"Fener refuses to climb to the lookout tower for his shift." Ethaniel said. I looked at Fener, Ten, in the ancient numbering system used to assign the black cloaks their identities. His facial expression was set, and his stance was hostile, hand on sword hilt. He looked like a wild animal that had been backed into a corner and was just moments from lashing out.
"Fener, is there a reason you're not willing to do your duty?" I asked the fearsome creature we had just, perhaps foolishly, pressed up against a wall. He had nowhere to run, and if the situation didn't find a peaceful resolution, Fener would have to fight. I did not expect much of an answer. My verbal cue should have been enough to make him jump to his task, even though I had not directly ordered it.
"It is too high." He answered, in a voice both human and animal. It was a clear and well spoken answer for all that it came out a near growl.
"I do not like climbing to the lookout." Fener added before I could offer anything further.
Using his proper black cloak calling, and with the authority of the king, he should have immediately sprung to his task, but instead he had given a clear reason why he did not wish to do what he was ordered. That was an unprecedented behavior for one of the Brigade.
"If you don't wish to do one of your assigned duties, then you should find someone who is willing to take your shift in exchange for another task that they do not wish to complete." I offered, looking for a compromise. I wasn't yet sure how to deal with a black cloak that was unwilling to do what he'd been told to. I knew well the aggression of the Fell Beast that burned within them, and I wondered just how far the magical restraints must be slipping.
"Wait," Ethaniel stopped me. "this is his task. He has been assigned it, and he should be the one to complete it. Order him, as his ruler, to complete his assigned work." There was anger in Ethaniel's voice. His control of the Knight's "voice" slipped a little as he spoke.
I wasn't sure whether Ethaniel was testing my range of authority over the black cloaks, or was being spiteful, but I did not want to give that order. I wasn't sure what was happening with the magically bound warriors, but I did not believe that taking a stand on that point was a good idea. If the Brigade was slipping its leash, I would only be giving it more reason to see myself and the rest of the Knights as enemies when the last of the restraints finally broke down entirely. On the other hand, directly countering Ethaniel's order in front of the crew demeaned his authority. I was angry that he had pushed me into such a place.
I looked at Fener, meeting his eyes. There was a burning hostility there, but it was tempered by intelligence, and something that might have been humanity. His eyes were not like those I was use to seeing when looking at one of the Black Patch Brigade. Something almost imperceptible had changed within him. Had it changed in all of them? If so, what did that mean for the rest of us on our long journey?
"Fener, if I ordered you to do this task, with my authority as your king, would you do it?" I asked him. I felt the tension around me rise. The hostile eyes of the black cloaks seemed to intensify their gaze. For a moment I was certain, beyond a doubt, that violence was unavoidable.
"I would, my King." Fener said, though his teeth were clenched and I could almost feel the animosity pouring from him. The magic bonds apparently had not crumpled entirely. I did not intend to stress them any further, however.
"I will not give that order. As your king, I recommend you find someone to switch duties with. As long as the watch is maintained, there is no foul done, and no one will be punished. Make sure you tell the officer in charge of scheduling who is to take your duty on the high watch, and what task you will be taking in return. Is this understood, Fener?" At my words, violence fled the air, though I heard Ethaniel swing about and walk away, his heavy steps letting me know that he was obviously dissatisfied with the way I'd handled the situation. I would need to speak with him later.
"I understand, Drake Slayer." Fener said. I nodded, and turned to return below decks. "Drake Slayer," the black cloaks never called me that.
"My name is Yuen." I heard, and I looked over my shoulder, trying to stifle my surprise. The Fell-joined warrior had just given me his real name. It was a name he shouldn't have remembered at all. I knew that from working ceaselessly with Liet.
"Yuen, return to work." I bowed my head slightly and turned to depart. Yuen. The black cloaks were changing.
It was obvious that my hold was not lost entirely, but it was slipping. What would happen when the magic binding the black cloaks faded entirely? Why was it happening to begin with? I had been assured by several different authorities on the matter that the magic binding the black cloaks would never fade, but if the magic wasn't fading, then the black cloaks were becoming resistant to its effects.
Either way, the ocean still stretched out far before us, and we were trapped aboard the ship with what could soon become a hostile force. If the Brigade slipped their restraints, there was no telling what kind of troubles we could have. Worse, they were all well armed and provisioned. If they decided to fight, we would be outnumbered by well equipped warriors, and they would have the initiative. Life aboard ship had just become more difficult.
Daily events settled into a strange rhythm. The weeks drifted by slowly. The black cloaks had settled into their own pacing, doing their work with as much vigor as ever, but there was no denying the changes happening amidst them. They held conversations amongst themselves, enough so that no member of the crew could miss it. They rarely spoke to anyone outside of their own, but they did o
ccasionally. They had gone to the Captain of their own volition and requested the watch be increased. The Captain had come to me with the request, and I had allowed it. They were watching for something, and I was not inclined to stir their hostilities by standing in their way. Telistera had suggested an increased watch as well, and it seemed wise to fulfill both requests at once.
Ethaniel had been livid when I told him what I'd done.
"You will allow more of them to walk armed around the ship at one time?" He had almost yelled. "They are the greatest threat that this voyage faces!"
"They have not been outwardly hostile or violent to any member of the crew yet, and I will not treat them differently from any other member of the crew until they give me reason to do so." I'd told him.
"You are a fool, Noble. A damned fool." He'd slammed the door to my room as he left, and I had seen little of him since.
He might have been right. I didn't know what was happening to the black cloaks, and I was perhaps not being as cautious as I should have been. I couldn't bring myself to treat them as lesser members of the crew, not when they were doing their part of the work and asking for almost nothing in return. My weakness there, I knew, might come back to haunt me in the future.
I had kept up my conversations with Liet, though they had actually turned into conversations, and not one sided questioning as was the usual result of our time together. Liet responded in rational, if not brief, sentences, and there was a spark of humanity in his eyes when he looked at me. He had even preempted me once, and asked how I had been without me initiating the dialogue. He had delivered the question in a cold and indifferent manner, but it was a change of pace I had not expected. It was those conversations with Liet that made me put a, perhaps unreasonable, amount of faith in the black cloaks.
When I looked into Liet's eyes, I could see the humanity shining out from inside of them. The Fell Beast was still there, and it was powerful and deadly, but Liet was there as well. The magic was failing, but as it left, it seemed that the part of the black cloaks that was human was growing stronger. It made me wonder, when they had been created, which part of their being had been the most strongly repressed?
I had always assumed that it was the Fell Beast that had been locked furthest away, but perhaps it was the human free will that had been bolted most firmly beneath the trappings of magic. The Fell Beast was all fury and power, valuable characteristics to a man with no other purpose than war, but a human could think, and would always try to find a way out of the shackles of slavery. I was certain the Fell Beast part of them yearned for freedom as well, but which part of them would it have been most distressing to see begging for freedom? The Beast? The Man? It was the man. If we had seen a man imprisoned every time we looked at the black cloaks, could we have so easily sent them to die in our wars? Could we have so easily ordered them to serve menial positions with no personal benefit?
Of course, this was all just speculation on my part. I didn't know for certain, and Liet had never indicated such. For me, it became a matter of refusing to treat the black cloaks like lesser men because of what they were. They had fought beside me through perilous situations, and seen countless numbers of their brethren fall to the fires of battle. I would not treat them as an enemy, until they gave me some indication that they were, in fact, an enemy. It might not be the most reasonable course of action, but it was the right course of action in my eyes.
I was sitting in my cabin, contemplating the issue of the Brigade, when I felt a strange swaying in my body, and my stomach lurched ever-so-slightly. I stood up immediately and turned to Malice who was lounging on her bed.
"Did you feel that?" I asked, making sure it hadn't just been me.
"It feels like we've stopped." She answered.
"Yes . . . like we stopped." I hadn't realized what that feeling had been until she'd put into words. Our ship had just stopped. Not suddenly, but gradually as thought it had just slowly drifted to a halt. I'd been in motion so long, that it was disconcerting to not be moving. I grabbed my sword and cloak and headed for the door. Malice was immediately behind me, her own cloak and sword in hand. I stopped.
"You should stay below decks." I told her.
"I want to see what's happening." She replied, and I could tell by the tone of her voice that attempting to force her to stay below decks might not be effective, and would waste a good deal of time either way. I decided not to argue.
The floor of the ship, on which Malice and I shared a room, was only was only occupied with the other Knights of Ethan, so the halls were quiet as we made our way to the upper deck. When we got there, a good deal of the crew had already amassed. There were at least fifty percent of the black cloaks on board the ship, as well as all the Knights and human crew. I looked up to the ships sails, expecting to see some kind of damage, but all the sails were still there. However, they hung limply on the masts.
It was then that I realized that there was no breeze touching my face. I made my way to the railing and looked out over the sea. It was as still as I'd ever seen it, for as far as the eye could see. The sky was clear and bright, and the sun beat down, making what should have been a cold day, almost seem warm.
All thoughts and worries concerning the black cloaks fled in that moment. We had a much more urgent problem at hand. Telistera had warned that the winds might stop. She'd also warned of what would happen when they did. No ship, no matter how well designed, could sail without wind. For the first time since leaving Risthis, our ship had come to a stop.
"They'll be coming." I turned from the railing to face the speaker. It was Telistera. She was looking out over the ocean. "They'll keep coming until the ship can sail again, or until we're sunk."
"What do you think we should do?" I asked the silver-eyed woman, stifling the sudden feeling of despair that threatened to overtake me.
"We need to prepare ourselves for attack, get the weapons ready to fire. I built these ships specifically to fend off the monsters of the deep, and unfortunately we'll have to see if I've done a good enough job. I'd planned for three ships working in unison, but we won't have that now." Telistera said.
"Our ship is so huge. Whatever is down there can't be big enough to fight a vessel of this size." Malice said from where she stood at my side.
Telistera smiled wanly. "The largest of them bit one of our ships in half in a single pass."
Malice went pale. I had already heard that story, and though I believed Telistera, I could not imagine any creature so large actually existed. While my trust for Telistera told me it must be so, my mind failed to fathom the reality of the situation. I had seen the black drakes, and they were massive, but these creatures of the deep, if Telistera described them accurately, were far larger than those. That such creatures could survive anywhere in our world seemed unbelievable.
"They move very slowly, and we will see them coming from a long ways off. That is the only advantage we have. If we can get the ship underway, we can outrun them. If we can't get underway, we can use our weapons before they get dangerously close. If we can hurt them enough, they might leave us be." Telistera's words were meant as encouragement, but it was hard to think positively in the face of such a monstrous opponent.
"Maybe they won't come." Malice said, echoing a thought that had just been teasing through my own head. "The sea is massive. Maybe they won't find us before the wind picks up again."
I held that hope as well, but the look on Telistera's face dashed much of my confidence. I could tell before she even spoke that such luck was unlikely, at least in her eyes.
"That is a possibility." She said, but her eyes said that it was a remote possibility. It was time for us to wait and watch.
We waited, time passing in an exquisite parity of its usual fleeting self. A day passed, and then another, and still no wind came to fill our sails. The crew, even the normally stoic black cloaks, were growing agitated. There was an unpleasant tension in the air, colored by a fear of the unknown, and Telistera's even more potent
fear of the known. She carried herself well, but those who had spent any time with her could see the unease resting upon her shoulders. Her silver eyes, which were so difficult to read, held a strange, paranoid edge.
Our ship, though driven by those most would consider monsters, was crewed by those who'd started their lives as human men and women, and even the Black Patch Brigade, those of us least tied to what we once were, still held some semblance of humanity. No man, woman or child could have faced that situation without some sense of fear. We sat waiting to be consumed by a beast of legend come to life. We were forced to accept that not only were sea monsters real, but that they might very well be creeping towards us from the endless depths in which we were trapped.
The third day dawned, the horizon blistered red and purple, the light casting ominous shadows across the surface of the deck. The voice of the lookout in the high-watch called loud and piercing, shattering the quiet that had settled on the ship over the previous two days.