by Mel Odom
Several of the sailors worked together to hoist the bodies of kuo-toa from the deck. Only a few of the creatures had reached the ship. None of them had survived. All of them got thrown back into the sea.
Captain Chiang joined them. Gray touched the temples of his long hair, which he wore pulled back in a queue. He was somewhere in his middle years, between Shang-Li and his father. The right side of his face held two long scars. He was fit and trim, and had a reputation for being a man who lived by his honor. Both the blades he wore dripped crimson.
“Where did the kuo-toa come from?” Chiang asked quietly. Though his ship had suffered and several of his men were dead, he acted calm and focused.
“I didn’t see,” Shang-Li said. “The sound of the attack drew me.”
“They came out of the water, captain,” one of the survivors from the shore patrol replied.
“You didn’t disturb them?”
“No. We were just loading the water barrels and they attacked us.”
Chiang leaned on the railing and surveyed the harbor. “I’ve stopped here several times. Other than the occasional pirate ship, these waters have always been safe. I’ve never before encountered kuo-toa.”
“Maybe it was aboleths,” one of the crewmen suggested.
The man’s words instantly reminded Shang-Li of Bayel Droust’s fate aboard Grayling. But there had been no talk of aboleths during that attack, no hint that these kuo-toa served the psionic behemoths that ranged over the Sea of Fallen Stars.
“If it was aboleths that put the kuo-toa onto us,” another crewman said, “they would have turned us to servitors.”
Several of the men shuddered at that. When a human succumbed to the power of an aboleth, he was changed. His outer skin turned into a slimy membrane that allowed him to live better beneath the sea and serve the aboleths. The monsters’ appearance was frightening because of their great size and rounded bulk, but few things were as gruesome as the servitors.
“Aboleths didn’t have anything to do with it,” Shang-Li said confidently.
The captain and crew looked at him. Even his father studied him and waited for him to continue.
“They knew we were there.” Shang-Li took the blue stone device from his pouch and held it for all to see in his palm. Even resting there, he felt the magic vibrating within. “One of the kuo-toa monitors wore this.”
“What’s that?” Chiang made no move to touch the stone.
Several of the crewmen drew back.
“I believe this belongs to the Blue Lady.” Shang-Li indicated the device carved onto the stone. At one time, the stone had held the forked wave that was Umberlee’s symbol. But that symbol had been carved over, replaced by the image of rain falling from a cloud. “This is her symbol.”
“You think they took this from her?” Chiang asked.
“No. I think they’re in league with her.”
“Why?” his father asked.
The stone grew colder in Shang-Li’s hand. A wave of fatigue rolled over him.
“Because I talked to her,” he answered. “She’s not a myth. And she’s not gone. She’s still down there.”
That announcement started tongues wagging immediately. Chiang silenced most of the men around him with his stern gaze, but they only retreated to talk among themselves farther away. Most of the men didn’t believe him. They hadn’t heard of the Blue Lady previously, and they hadn’t been privy to the conversation Shang-Li had had with his father. Nor had any of them suffered through the dreams she’d woven for him.
“It’s unfortunate that you stated that where everyone could hear,” the captain said softly. “Some of them may believe you.”
“Perhaps,” Shang-Li acknowledged. “But they deserved to know. This isn’t going to get any less dangerous.”
“As you say,” Chiang replied. “But such candor-even if well-intentioned-is going to make recruitment hard in Westgate. Even if they don’t believe you, most of them will not be willing to follow a madman around. Or someone chasing ghosts. Some of the men aboard this ship now might not come back.” He walked away and began attending to his crew and ship.
Without a word, Shang-Li’s father took the stone from his hand, wrapped it in a cloth that was woven as much from magic as it was from material, and put it in his pouch.
Shang-Li knew that was wasted effort. Even though the stone was out of sight, it remained malignant and evil. It waited. Just like the Blue Lady.
CHAPTER NINE
Shang-Li stood in the ship’s prow and watched Westgate, Old Town and Tidetown, grow steadily closer. When the Sea of Fallen Stars had been full, Westgate had enjoyed a natural deep water port. With the shrinking of the sea, the harbor had fallen away, and the city had needed to rebuild its docks and warehouses closer to the new shore. The new area of the city, the “Tidetown,” had ended up squatting in the shadows of the old city.
Because there was no longer much of a natural shoreline, one had to be created. Or rather, the original had needed to be expanded. Those who had built Tidetown worked at their craft. Docks stabbed out into the water and allowed for the transfer of goods. Businesses-taverns, and inns, and warehouses-lay along the abbreviated shore, part along a network of wooden walkways, and part inside caves.
Shang-Li wondered what it would have been like to have seen old Westgate in all its grandeur.
“You’ve been here before, haven’t you?” Yugi stood attentive and ready beside Shang-Li. “Just to Tidetown? Or have you been all the way to old Westgate?”
“I’ve been to the old city as well. You?”
Yugi shook his head. “Not me. I never got up from Tidetown. The watch doesn’t allow rabble or visitors into old town. Especially lowly sailors. So who invited you?”
“No one. And I left old Westgate faster than I went in.”
Despite the losses of friends and shipmates only a few days ago, the young man smiled at that. “Sounds like a tale begging to be told.”
“For another time.”
“I’ll hold you to that when we put this place behind us.”
“You’re planning on shipping out with us?”
“Of course!”
Shang-Li didn’t know how he felt about that. After seeing the Blue Lady, after the attack by the kuo-toa, he knew they would be heading into danger. It didn’t seem right to bring Yugi along.
As if sensing what the young monk had on his mind, Yugi said, “I don’t have anywhere else to go.” He nodded at the city. “You think it would be any safer for me there?”
Thinking of the rough trade that went on in Tidetown, as well as the degenerate tastes that were too often entertained in old Westgate, Shang-Li knew Yugi would be no safer there.
Yugi cleared his throat. “So who are we here to see?”
In spite of the danger that waited ahead of him, Shang-Li smiled at the thought of who he was there to see. “Good friends. True friends. Some of the best friends I’ve ever made.”
And he was going to lead them into a blue hell waiting at the bottom of the Sea of Fallen Stars. The realization didn’t set well with him.
That night, while the ship lay in harbor, Shang-Li dreamed of the Blue Lady again. He returned to that blue world beneath the sea. For a time he wandered through the forest and horrible things darted out to challenge him. He held a sword in his fists, ready to do battle, but none of the creatures closed on him.
“They won’t attack you, manling.”
Shifting smoothly, Shang-Li turned to face the Blue Lady across naked steel. She didn’t appear to be impressed.
“For the moment, you are under my protection.”
“Why?”
“Because I want you to come see me.”
“Why would I do that?”
The Blue Lady smiled. “I have that which you seek: The books of Liou Chang.”
Unease swept over Shang-Li as he considered the possibilities that declaration brought with it. He wondered how much she knew about the books and what they containe
d.
“Enough.” The Blue Lady’s eyes flashed. “And I’m learning more each day.”
“What do you want?”
She arched a brow. “From you?”
He waited, unwilling to play into her game.
Uncaring of the weapon he held, she walked around him, occasionally touching the monstrosities that lounged within the strange, underwater forest. “I want to see you, manling, and get to know you better.”
Shang-Li knew she was lying. She wanted something from him, but he couldn’t imagine what it was. “You won’t get me.”
“Won’t I?” She chuckled. “Your duty requires that you find Liou Chang’s lost books, does it not? Would your father walk away from this task when it is so near to completion?”
“We don’t know that.”
“I have the books you seek.”
“Show them to me.”
“You disbelieve me?”
“I have no reason to trust you, and every reason not to.” Shang-Li moved in tandem with her, shifting constantly to face her without crossing his feet.
“Besides your duty, your curiosity will bring you to me, manling. It is your nature to explore places where no one has gone before.”
Shang-Li’s eyes cut to the skeletons and corpses scattered across the ground. Some of the bodies looked fresh and sea scavengers worked at the soft flesh. “Plenty have gone on before me.”
She smiled sweetly. “But none have returned to carry the true tale, manling.” She paused. “You do not even know who or what I truly am.” She showed him her shield and pointed to the symbol of the falling rain. “Do you know why I chose this as my standard?”
“No.”
“Because the rain is water in transition. It rests in the sea, rises to form clouds that can go anywhere they want to, then falls to earth again to find its way once more to the sea. That will be me, manling. I will rise from this place and create a new empire in this world.” The Blue Lady regarded him. “You get to choose whether we work together-or you die.”
Shang-Li feared her, but he kept quiet.
“Don’t worry, manling. You don’t have to choose now. There is still time.” Then she pushed a hand out at him-
– and Shang-Li woke in the hammock on Swallow. Sweat covered his body and his head felt feverish. He got up and stretched, and wondered how many more of the dreams he would have to endure.
Droust walked through the debris of the latest ship the Blue Lady had pulled from the surface. She had kept some of the crewmen alive this time, given them the ability to breathe underwater as he did, and some of them hid within the broken hull, watching him with fearful eyes.
The burly captain stepped out of hiding and challenged Droust. “Who are you?”
“A cursed man, captain, not your captor. A prisoner just as you are.”
“What is this place?”
“You saw the Blue Lady?”
The captain gave a tight nod. “Aye, before she dragged us under I saw her. I’d heard tales of her, but I’d never believed them.”
A mistake. Droust didn’t allow himself to feel sorry for the man. The captain and the rest of his crew would be hunted and killed by the monsters in the forest. The Blue Lady allowed her pets to play from time to time.
“What are you doing here then?” The captain’s anger fixed on Droust.
“I came to see what goods your ship carried.”
“Like a thief doing inventory?”
Droust shook his head. “Like a prisoner doing what his jailer has ordered.”
Several of the other sailors cursed and stepped forward. All of them were brave now when they faced one man. Droust was certain that hadn’t been the case when the Blue Lady had confronted them.
“I says you’re a thief, no better’n pirates we’ve faced over our journey.” A large man joined the captain and brandished his cutlass. “What’s to stop us from capturing you and using you to gain our own freedom?”
“The Blue Lady doesn’t care if I live or die. You would be wasting your time.”
Before the big man or the captain could speak again, the monsters lurking within the forest attacked. The awful creatures swam, scurried, and slithered toward the doomed crew. Bravely, the men tried to stand their ground, but none of them could face the sheer onslaught of carnivores. The line broke and they tried to flee more deeply back into the sunken ship. In a moment, blood spread throughout the water and drew the attention of the sharks swimming overhead. Like enormous arrows, the sharks sped down and plucked victims from the ranks of the ship’s crew.
Familiar with the carnage and its eventual outcome, Droust sat down to wait until the blood film over the area thinned. He didn’t think he breathed it in, but the possibility appalled him. He hardened his heart against the anguished shouts and cries for help.
“Does their death amuse you?”
Recognizing the voice as belonging to the strangest thing he’d ever seen, Droust turned to face it. Only a short distance away in a canyon that had become a graveyard of ships, a vessel peered at him from the eyes of the figurehead of a beautiful woman on the prow.
“No, Red Orchid. Their deaths only sadden me. They remind me of how trapped I am in this place.”
“Yet you sit there unmoved as they die.”
Droust stared at the figurehead. As near as he’d figured from the coins and other artifact aboard Red Orchid, she had gone down roughly at the same time as the Spellplague had been unleashed upon the world. From his conversations with her, he knew that she hadn’t been sentient until that time. She had no memories of her journeys above the sea, only of her isolation and imprisonment here.
The Blue Lady knew about Red Orchid, and would sometimes go there to taunt the figurehead. Or the ship, Droust wasn’t certain exactly what Red Orchid had become since being exposed to the Spellplague and whatever magic resided in the land that held Caelynna prisoner. The only reason Droust could suppose the Blue Lady hadn’t destroyed the ship was because she regarded her as a curiosity.
Or perhaps the Blue Lady wanted one more thing to hurt and subjugate.
“What about you, Red Orchid? Do their deaths make you feel remorse because you can’t do anything?”
Red Orchid looked at him with cold disdain. “If I were able to move, I would fight the Blue Lady.”
“You can move.”
“Not enough to climb from this cursed hole. And if I could, I would fight.”
“Then you would die.”
The figurehead was quiet for a time and both of them watched the last moments of the rampant slaughter taking place before them. “This is a death too.” Red Orchid’s voice was somber. “Watching her take these ships, we die again and again. Only there is no release.”
Droust said nothing, watching as a leg floated up from the ship. A shark glided down and took the limb in the blink of an eye.
“She lures another here.”
Droust looked at the ship. “How do you know that?”
“I have seen him when she brings him here through his dreams. She taunts him and lures him.”
“You have seen into his dreams?” The wonder of that filled Droust for just a moment and chased all the fear and guilt from him.
“I have.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps because I am tied so closely to her land and to the power she wields. Perhaps that links us.”
“What do you know of him?” Red Orchid fixed Droust with her beautiful eyes.
“He is clever and resourceful. He’s been very successful recovering other lost antiquities.”
“How do you know this?”
“I am in contact with men that work for the Blue Lady on land. They have learned these things and told me.”
“And you have told the Blue Lady.”
Droust dropped his gaze. “It is what I must do if I am to survive.”
The ship growled to show her disrespect. “You only exist, Droust. You don’t live.”
Droust co
uld say nothing in his defense that she hadn’t already heard and discounted.
“Perhaps this one will escape the Blue Lady’s clutches.” Red Orchid shifted slightly on the front of the ship. Veins of blue lightning underscored the figurehead, showing the remnants of the Spellplague’s effects.
“Don’t get your hopes up.”
“He isn’t afraid the way you were. I saw her efforts to claim you in your dreams. You were always frightened. This man isn’t.”
Embarrassed, face burning despite the chill of the sea around him, Droust drew himself up straight. “This man will bend to the Blue Lady or he will die.”
“Can you be so sure?”
“Yes. Already Nine Golden Swords warriors are tracking him in Westgate. They will catch him there and bring him to the Blue Lady to use as she will.”
Red Orchid shook her head. “Go root among the dead like the ghoul that you are, Droust. I pity you.”
“I have no need of your pity.”
“But you do. It must be hard to live so hopelessly.”
Droust turned from her and walked toward the ship while the monsters feasted on the bounty that their mistress had delivered to them. He tried not to think about Red Orchid’s words, but it was hard because he knew they were true.
“Are you sure you need the sword?”
Shang-Li sighed as he walked down the gangplank from Swallow to the docks. Truthfully, he felt a little overdressed with the long sword resting in a sheath over his right shoulder. He also felt tired and irritable from the lack of sleep.
“Yes, I need the sword.”
His father walked beside him and drank in the sights. He was dressed as a proper monk but without the temple insignia. Shang-Li knew most people in Tidetown and old Westgate would assume his father was a beggar. That fact, especially since they weren’t there in disguise, was a little embarrassing. He hadn’t expected that.
He wished more fervently that his father had stayed aboard the ship. But that would have been too easy.
Several sailors and dockworkers watched as he passed. Most of the glances were unfriendly. A few were speculative and he knew the owners of those wondered how much gold he carried with him. And the Nine Golden Swords walked almost with impunity through Westgate’s streets and almost owned the alleys and shadows. The city wasn’t a safe place.