“Katie,” her master said. “How quickly can you get me to the kraken corpse?” He paused. “And can someone get Gerald up here? I need to get something from him.”
* * *
Timmy couldn’t blame them for leaving a dead kraken in their harbour. At low tide, it would make for a suitably menacing welcome, a reminder of the power the Eternal Empire wielded. Kraken corpses were also notoriously difficult to dispose of. They might also have plans to reanimate it. True, necromancy was technically illegal in the Eternal Empire and only a Grand Necromancer should be able to pull off something like that, but it wouldn’t have been the first time that a nation had overlooked the law to gain more power. They could also have brought in someone from the outside, someone whom they could trust to reanimate the kraken and not turn against them. Off the top of his head, Timmy couldn’t think of any Grand Necromancers who fit that description. There weren’t many of them around, and none he knew of thought too kindly of the Eternal Empire. Then again, if the Eternal Empire had relaxed its stance toward necromancy and offered a pile of money and a castle, there was no telling what his fellow Grand Necromancers would do.
This was an opportunity that he could not afford to waste. He’d been keeping a close eye on the barrier since the battle had begun, and it had been reinforced. Although he was still reasonably confident Avraniel could crack it, especially if she had help, he didn’t want her to use so much of her magic before they even got to shore. Sure, they all had potions to help restore their magic which he’d gotten courtesy of a friend of his and Vicky’s, but Avraniel’s reserves were so enormous that not even a dozen of those potions, which were some of the best that could be found in all of Everton, would be enough to bring her back up to full capacity whereas a single one would have been enough for Timmy.
And speaking of power, he would have to gamble to pull this off. He’d expected something to go wrong during this mission, so he’d stuffed as much power from the things that lived underneath the castle as he could into one of the relics his master had left behind. It would give him access to far more power than he would have had on his own, and it should be enough to reanimate the kraken, albeit with several big limitations. It would have to be a rush job. There wasn’t time to reanimate the kraken properly. It would have taken days. Thankfully, it was on the small side for a kraken – perhaps only a mile wide – but it was still huge compared to almost any other creature. If he rushed, he might be able to get it mobile in fifteen minutes, and that was assuming the kraken’s soul was still bound to its body enough to help. He’d offer it a chance for revenge, which should speed up the process considerably. Reanimating the corpse through brute necromantic force would stuff it so full of magic that it wouldn’t last more than several hours, which was a shame since he would have really, really, really liked to have a zombie kraken on a more permanent basis. But, hey, given what they were up against, he’d take what he could get.
“Katie,” Timmy said. “I’m going to need at least fifteen minutes, maybe more. Try to keep me from getting killed, okay?”
Katie grabbed him and leapt into the air. She winged her way across the harbour toward the kraken. Fortunately, most of their enemies were more occupied with fighting off their ships and Roger, so they managed to make it to the kraken without coming under attack. Timmy reached out with his magic. Good. The kraken’s corpse was still reasonably fresh. It couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old, and its soul was still semi-attached. There was a chance this could work.
“Remember what I said, Katie. You need to keep me alive. They haven’t noticed us yet, but I guarantee you that they are going to notice us once I get started, and they are not going to like it.”
“Right.” Katie gulped. “I’d better get Roger over here then.”
“Yes, I think that would be for the best.” Timmy lifted the jagged shard of otherworldly material that he’d brought. He had no idea where his master had gotten it, but it was capable of holding large amounts of the otherworldly power possessed by the things that lived underneath the castle. All it needed was a chance to absorb their power and the blood of someone linked to those creatures to activate it. Timmy cut his palm and closed his eyes. “Let’s hope this works.”
Power surged through him, so much that he almost screamed. The power wielded by the things that lived underneath the castle was truly incredible, but it was not something that humans were meant to have. It burned through his veins like liquid fire, and he clenched his jaw so hard he was worried he might crack his teeth. If he did, not only would he have to complete the rest of the mission in pain but he would also have to worry about a hefty dental bill. Good dentists were not cheap, and there weren’t any close to the castle, which was something else he’d have to fix when he got the chance.
Reanimating a single creature was easier than reanimating a composite creature, but this creature was enormous. Timmy guided his magic into the kraken and let it race through the creature’s body. Like many animals, krakens were inherently magical in nature, so Timmy’s necromancy latched onto the pathways that would normally have carried magic through the kraken’s body to help spread more swiftly through it. The kraken’s soul roared into Timmy’s awareness as his magic took hold and began to reanimate the beast. Its soul was a seething mass of primal instincts and fury. Timmy did his best to explain the situation in terms the kraken would understand. The Eternal Empire had killed it. Timmy and the others were enemies of its killers. In exchange for helping them and listening to them, Timmy would give the kraken a chance to get revenge.
The kraken accepted immediately. But after reaching an agreement, there was still so much to do. Based on the damage the kraken had sustained, it had been slain by an onslaught of magical attacks supported by countless summoned creatures. A flash of memory from the kraken’s soul confirmed his suspicions, which meant there was a lot of damage to repair before the reanimated kraken could move again, and he needed to tether its soul to its body more securely if he wanted it to last long enough to be useful. Damn it. This was why he hated rushing things.
“Hurry up, master!” Katie yelped, and Timmy forced himself to keep his eyes closed, deep in concentration. But he could hear the spells thundering down on them. From the sound of it, Roger had taken up a defensive position in front of them. Katie had probably wrapped her shadows around her zombie to further enhance his durability, but there was only so much that even a zombie like Roger could take. They were running out of time. “Come on!”
“Patience is a virtue,” Timmy murmured.
“Not if we get melted!”
“Good point.”
Timmy redoubled his efforts. Come on. Come on. He was almost there. It had to have been at least twenty minutes – it was hard to tell when he lost himself in necromancy like this – but he needed to speed up. Katie gasped. A powerful surge of magic was headed right toward them. The attack was too powerful to have come from one of the remaining galleons. The people on the island must have brought some of their forces out of the barrier to attack, which couldn’t have been easy since a barrier like that was designed to stop anything from passing through it. He wondered if Katie would be able to protect them. She’d used up a lot of her magic already. He heard her fumble for a potion and swallow it as quickly as she could. He winced. She’d have a wretched headache tomorrow morning although it didn’t matter right now. It was more important to make it through this alive.
And then his eyes opened. He was done. A hail of arrows sheathed in explosive magic was headed their way.
“Master!” Katie shouted. “Are you done yet?”
“Just about.” Timmy grit his teeth and ordered the kraken to move. Please, he thought. Let this work.
One gigantic tentacle ripped out of the water and swatted the arrows out of the air like flies. The explosions that followed barely seemed to bother it at all. Katie’s eyes widened, and her jaw dropped as the kraken moved. It was like standing on a moving island, and the waters around them churned
as the kraken began to make its way toward the two remaining galleons.
* * *
Gerald had spent most of the battle doing his best to not get in the way and offering what help he could. At the moment, that meant running around and summoning copious amounts of water he’d stored away for their trip into the desert to help put out some of the fires that had broken out on deck, either from the enemy’s attacks or from damage that Avraniel had inadvertently caused. He’d also handed out countless bandages and other supplies to help the wounded.
He wasn’t the bravest man in the world – he wouldn’t even call himself brave – but he wasn’t going to stand by and do nothing while everyone else did something. And what else could he do? Hiding below decks wouldn’t have helped. If the ship sank, there would be nowhere for him to go. Either he’d drown, or the enemy would capture him and probably torture him horribly. As more attacks came in, Gerald summoned the magic potions he’d been given and tossed them to some nearby mages. They’d gone through a few of those already. Tomorrow, most of them would be passed out or struck down by migraines from the strain it put on their bodies.
“Good work, Gerald.” Travers clapped him over the shoulder, and Gerald almost tripped over. It was only thanks to some hasty footwork that he managed to keep his balance. “You’ve done well, but the battle is still far from over. I don’t know what Timmy and Katie are up to – he blurted something about a kraken before they flew off – but it better be…” The captain trailed off. “By the gods! What is that?”
Gerald turned and stared – and then he stared some more. A mountain was moving through the water. No, that wasn’t right. The part of his mind that was very much up to date with all the perils of the sea – he’d done a lot of research about things that were likely to try to kill him at some point before embarking on this mission – supplied the correct answer. That was a kraken, and it was moving toward them.
“What do we do?” Gerald wailed. “They have a kraken!”
“No!” Travers laughed and shook him by the shoulders. “Timmy and Katie are on top of it. The magic we felt before – it must have been Timmy using his magic. They don’t have a kraken…”
Gerald’s eyes widened, and he found himself laughing as well. This was crazy. As if the zombie shark… thing Katie had unleashed wasn’t enough, they now had a kraken. “We have a kraken!”
Cheers rang out across the galleon and from the battered dreadnought and the smaller vessel nearby as the kraken simply smashed right through one of the remaining enemy galleons before turning its attention to the other. It picked the ship up in its coils, great, ponderous tentacles that were thicker than a house, and hurled it at the island. The galleon struck the barrier, and it flared brilliantly before resuming its transparent status.
“Prepare to charge the island!” Timmy bellowed from atop the kraken. “We’re going to bring down the barrier!”
“You might want to get ready,” Travers warned Gerald. “Things are going to get interesting.”
Gerald gulped and used his magic to summon a handful of golems. He wasn’t sure if he’d need them, but their presence definitely made him feel better. Things getting interesting usually meant lots of explosions and people trying to kill him. He wasn’t much good in a fight, but the golems should be able to help. Plus, he had some rats with him too. They were perched on his shoulder and tucked into his pockets, ready to help if the need arose.
The kraken turned toward the island and surged forward. The waters of the harbour churned and washed over the barrier in a series of unnatural tidal waves. Gerald wasn’t sure, but he could almost swear he heard the people on the other side of the barrier screaming and yelling. He couldn’t blame them. He was screaming too, and the kraken was on his side. Gods, it was huge.
The kraken rammed into the barrier at full speed once, twice, and then a third time, and the sheer weight and power of its final charge cracked the barrier open like a dome of glass. The air split with a sound like thunder, and trails of magic spread out in all directions, backlash from the barrier’s demise.
“Full speed ahead!” Travers cried. “Mages, adopt defensive positions. Worry about keeping us afloat. Let the kraken do the work. Make sure we get to shore.”
The shore was lined with an army of soldiers, siege weapons, and mages, but they scarcely seemed to phase the kraken. The waves that heralded its advance washed away scores of people and swept aside catapults and ballistae. The gigantic beast rumbled forward, and chunks of its flesh sloughed off beneath a barrage of boulders, ballista bolts, and magic from the people who’d managed to keep their footing. But it never slowed. It kept right on coming. More water followed in its wake, and the surging waves broke over the shore and rushed inland, scattering even more of the island’s defenders. The kraken reared up and brought one tentacle down to smash a building near the docks. Stone and wood flew everywhere, and screams rang out as those who weren’t crushed underneath the tentacle fled in disarray. The kraken made a sound like an avalanche and dragged its tentacle back and forth, smashing everything in its path.
Gerald could only gape. Suddenly, there was a blast of heat – a magical weapon. It came from one of the taller towers in the complex, and it burned as brightly as the sun. The kraken reeled. One of its tentacles had been blown off by the attack. The severed tentacle flew through the air and crashed into the dock. Another building vanished in a haze of rubble and debris. But the kraken simply reached out with another tentacle, tearing a watchtower out of the ground and hurling it at the tower that housed the magical weapon. The watchtower hit just as the magical weapon was about to fire again, and the attack backfired. A plume of fire roared upward into the sky, and the tower dissolved in a cloud of flame. As their ships drew closer to shore, the kraken moved, sheltering them with its bulk as it turned its attention to the fortress that loomed over the docks.
Timmy and Katie leapt off the kraken and glided down onto the deck of the galleon as it drew up to the battered docks.
“Captain,” Timmy said. “You and Jake need to hold these docks and take the fortress. We need to secure our line of retreat.”
“And the Eye?” Travers asked.
“We’re going to go get it.” Timmy gestured. “Come on.” He called out to Avraniel, Spot, Amanda, and Old Man. “We’re going to borrow some of your people too, but Amanda should be able to lead us to the Eye. She can feel its power. I’ll leave the kraken with you. It’ll last several hours at the most. We need to make this quick.”
“Wait – what?” Travers blurted. “You’re going to leave the kraken with me?”
“Tell it what you want it to do. I’ve told it to listen to you, okay? Besides, I won’t be able to bring it with me.” Timmy pointed up past the fortress to the complex of buildings and the tower that stood above everything. “We’re going that way. I’ll leave the docks to you.”
Timmy and the others rushed off before the necromancer screeched to a stop. “Gerald, what are you doing?”
Gerald made a face. “I was… uh…” He glanced at the kraken. It had torn down another tower and was in the process of throwing catapults and ballistae at the fortress. “I was hoping to stay here with… the kraken.”
“Oh, no.” Gerald squawked as Timmy grabbed him by the arm and dragged him off the galleon. “You’re coming with us. Let’s go!”
Chapter Eighteen
Katie hurried after her master as he led the charge from the docks toward the complex of buildings that occupied the centre of the island. He had his regular shovel in his hand, and he gave the first soldiers to reach them a stout whack over their heads. More soldiers came, spilling in from an alley, and Katie batted them aside with a gigantic hand made out of shadows. There was another group ahead trying to form a defensive line with some mages, and her master flung up some dirt and stone to absorb the first wave of spells. Their reply came from Spot. The young dragon took to the air and spewed black fire. Their enemies scrambled to get clear, and Spot dove on one mage wh
o’d been about to fire a bolt of lightning. Katie grimaced and turned away as Spot made a big, big mess out of the mage. The dragon was so excited to finally be in the middle of another battle that he hadn’t bothered to hold back at all.
“Keep moving,” her master said. “We have to hurry. The kraken managed to force a gap in their defences. Don’t give them time to regroup.”
Katie nodded. The island’s defenders were in total disarray, but it wouldn’t last. Already the people in the fortress near the docks had begun to mount a coordinated defence against the kraken. It had lost another two of its tentacles, and large patches of its flesh were scorched and burnt. It shrieked and threw itself at the fortress. The outer wall of the fortress crumbled, and Travers and some of his troops rushed in.
“They’ve probably called for reinforcements too.” Her master pointed, and Spot brought down another mage. The dragon seemed to prefer going after them. Katie jerked back as an arrow shot past her head. Avraniel shoved her out of the way and replied with an arrow of her own that vaporised the rooftop of a nearby building. Katie yelped as bits of smoking stone and wood tumbled to the ground around them.
“We’ll get stuck if you bring a building down on the street,” Katie shouted. “Let the rats handle the ones up there.”
“Yeah, yeah, twerp.” Avraniel rolled her eyes as Spot ferried some of the rats up onto the roofs on either side of the street. “Concentrate on running. You’re so damn short. It’s a miracle you can keep up.”
Two Necromancers, a Dragon, and a Vampire (The Unconventional Heroes Series Book 3) Page 40