by Carrie Ryan
Above and around and beside them, Ardent and the Sheshefesh were locked in vicious battle. The massive creature struck at the wizard with ropes and tendrils; Ardent burned them back with fire and lightning. It was all Marrill could do to hold on and avoid the swirling tattoos. With Ardent occupied, there was nothing to keep the living ink at bay.
“Jump again!” Coll commanded. “Here!”
They leapt to another passing tentacle, then another, running from the oncoming tattoos, dodging the deadly Stream water twining through the air around them. Sailors sang as they whipped by, still tethered to the tentacles that held them.
Wouldn’t you like to sail with us forever?
Join the chorus, tell the tales of the sea!
Wouldn’t you like to taste the salt wind forever?
You’ll say you’re free, but you’ll never be free!
Marrill rolled out of the way as they passed mere feet beneath a spiraling loop of raw magic. Their tentacle swooped, turning as it went, forcing them to run in place. They leapt and rolled, struggling through the maze of tendrils and water. Around them, the bound mariners continued their song.
Wouldn’t you like to sail with us forever?
“What did she leave?” Ardent yelled, his voice a high counterpoint to the sailors’ refrain.
Join the chorus, tell the tales of the sea!
“Tell me!”
Wouldn’t you like to taste the salt wind forever?
“Tell me or I will burn you down to stumps!”
You’ll say you’re free, but you’ll never be free!
Marrill threw up her hands as they rose once again, away from the ship. Every time they jumped to a lower tentacle, it lifted them higher. “We can’t get down there,” she realized. “We have to get the Kraken up here!”
It was Remy who nodded. “That would do it! She’s fast enough to keep up with the Sheshefesh, for sure!”
Coll grinned wide, the first smile Marrill had seen from him since they’d set sail for the Knot of the Coiled Rope. “That’s good,” he said. “You know your ship like you know yourself. You’ll be a great captain before you know it.”
Marrill rolled her eyes. “Someone has to actually get to the ship,” she reminded them.
Just then, she saw Fin swooping past them. She let out a sigh of relief to know he was safe. His skysails cut through the air as he banked toward the ship, landing on the deck a moment later with a stutter. His eyes swept the tangle of tentacles, and when he found Marrill he held up the jar of ink so she could see that he still had his prize.
“Fin’s already on the ship, and he’s got the ink,” she announced excitedly. “He can help…” She trailed off. She could just make out Fin racing frantically around the deck, struggling to free the mooring lines. The Kraken wouldn’t respond to him. Of course it wouldn’t, she realized; like everyone else, the ship itself didn’t remember him.
“Never mind,” she finished. “One of us has to get the ship!”
A girl, maybe one of the sailors, piped up beside her. “What about the Naysayer?”
Marrill, Coll, and Remy looked at one another for a long moment.
“One of us has to get the ship,” Remy repeated. They all nodded in agreement.
Coll stood tall. The inky cords of his tattoo threatened to burst along his arms. “Well, she’s my ship,” he said. “Leave getting her to me.”
And then he jumped.
Marrill couldn’t believe what she saw next. As the battle between wizard and sea monster raged all around, as sailors sang their chorus and living designs inched toward them, Coll fell, reaching out his arms, and screamed in pain.
Wouldn’t you like to sail with us forever?
Ropes uncoiled from Coll’s skin, snaking out to anchor on nearby tentacles. One yanked him one way, the other another. He swung between them, pivoted, and pulled with all his might, wrenching one rope loose from its anchor, then the other.
Join the chorus, tell the tales of the sea!
They immediately shot for other swaying tentacles, clearly seeking to pull him in tight to the Sheshefesh’s embrace. But even as they did, he fell farther, swung, arrested his fall, controlled it. It was great and it was terrible; he was like a superhero and a captive prisoner, all at the same time.
Wouldn’t you like to taste the salt wind forever?
At last, with a final shout, Coll dropped to the deck of the Kraken. Instantly, the ship’s sails jumped to life.
Marrill was so focused on watching his descent that she didn’t even notice the tattoo coiling beside her. Not until a spine stabbed straight out. Time slowed, crawling toward a stop. In a heartbeat, she would be stuck at age twelve forever, doomed to one day spend eternity as the Sheshefesh’s living, breathing wall decoration.
She felt Remy grabbing her from behind, tossing her off the tentacle. Marrill landed on another with a thump that forced the air from her lungs. A second later, her babysitter dropped next to her, letting out a sharp cry as she hit the ground.
Marrill caught the older girl’s eye. “Too close,” she whispered. Remy nodded solemnly. “Thanks,” Marrill whispered again.
“I’m northern Arizona’s best babysitter,” Remy replied. “You think I’m going to let one of my kids spend all eternity stuck to a giant squid?”
“You dare taunt me?!?!?” Ardent shouted from somewhere above. Marrill looked up to see him spinning through the air, waves of bright lightning darting from his fingertips. Just out of his reach, a tendril no thicker than an arm waved a scrap of paper.
“This is what you’re looking for, wizard,” the creature chided. “The words of a love lost, and they can be yours. Just follow my rules. Leave something behind. Tell me who will bear my mark, and this letter will be yours.”
“Ardent, come on!” Marrill yelled. Her legs ached. Her ribs and back were sore from close calls and rough landings. It wouldn’t matter if she ever made it to the deck of the Enterprising Kraken if Ardent refused to join them. They couldn’t very well leave him behind.
Ardent lifted his arms wide. Arcs of lightning leapt from his body, searing against the flesh of the sea creature. The Sheshefesh roared and squirmed, writhing as Ardent pelted it with the full force of his rage. Marrill cringed; she couldn’t bear to see any creature in pain, not even a stubborn, greedy, angry one.
But just then, as the Kraken dodged through the tangle of tentacles beneath them, she saw it. The tentacle bearing Annalessa’s letter swooped between her and the deck of the ship still several stories below.
Marrill didn’t stop to think or second-guess or even plan. She simply jumped.
“Marrill, no!” Remy cried behind her.
She barely had time to realize her stomach was twisting. Barely had room to register the barbs of coiled ink lashing out as she tumbled past. Her whole being focused on the slip of paper, the whipping tentacle that held it.
Wind stung her eyes, bringing fresh tears that made everything blurry. Her fingers brushed against the letter and she grabbed it, hoping against hope it wouldn’t tear as she crushed the paper in her fist.
Something snagged around her ankle, whipping her out of the way. “Nooo!” she shrieked, sure a tentacle had her. But then, before she knew it, she found herself on the pitching deck of the Kraken, a length of familiar rope unwinding from her leg. Remy landed next to her, a young girl clinging to her back. Fin raced over to help untangle them.
“Thanks, Ropebone,” Marrill panted. She opened her hand and glanced down. The letter hadn’t ripped! She thrust it in the air. “Ardent! I’ve got it!”
The Sheshefesh roared with fury. Its vile breath washed over her.
“Thieves, thieves, and thieves again! You will never escape!”
Coll let out a growl and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Ardent, come! Now!”
A second later, Ardent’s disk spun to the deck. The wizard stepped off it, and the disk twirled, shrank, and became a single golden coin that he tucked into his robe. Blue lightnin
g and green fire continued to crackle over his knuckles, and his face was still folded with fury.
“Full sails,” Coll cried at the top of his lungs. The knotted tattoo practically consumed him now, crossing his cheekbones, tangling down over his jaw and chin.
The Kraken gained speed, looping-the-loop down a Stream branch, in and out through the maze of tentacles. The Sheshefesh watched them. Its great eye was bloodshot, its surface scratched, tentacles drooping. It lashed out once, twice, but halfheartedly.
The monster had been beaten.
The sailors’ song faded as the great monster retreated back through the heart of the stream-tangle. The Knot of the Coiled Rope fell into the distance.
Ardent let out a deep sigh. He plucked the letter from Marrill’s fingers without a word and stared at it a moment before slipping it up his sleeve. “Well, then,” he said. “That was an adventure. And nothing left behind after all.” He brushed at his robes, tugged at his beard. “I suppose we now have everything we need. It’s time to put an end to the Lost Sun.”
The crew just stared at their wizard. Marrill wanted to say something to him, anything. About the Sheshefesh. About Annalessa. About how he had acted, how it had scared her. But she wasn’t sure what.
“Coll,” the wizard announced. “Set course for Meres.”
Coll looked down from the quarterdeck for a long moment. The inky ropes still swirled furiously across his skin. “I…” he started.
And then he flew backward, over the railing and out of sight.
Remy screamed. A young deckhand threw herself against the bulkhead as though she could still catch him. Marrill raced to the side of the Kraken, just in time to see a tentacle withdrawing, dragging Coll deep into the darkness below. The laughing voice of the Sheshefesh boomed up from the abyss.
“None leave but leave something precious entangled!”
Marrill’s mouth hung open. She looked to Fin, then Remy, then Ardent. All three wore the same expression she did.
Coll was gone.
You’ll say you’re free, but you’ll never be free!
CHAPTER 21
What Was Left Entangled
Fin stared at the spot where Coll had been standing only moments before. He was stunned. Numb. Speechless.
Remy, on the other hand, was not.
“What just happened?” she demanded. When Ardent didn’t immediately answer, she stomped her foot and shouted, her voice even more panicked than before. “Where did Coll just go?”
Ardent shook his head. “It would appear the Sheshefesh reclaimed him.”
Remy blinked at him. “I’m turning this ship around.” Fin could tell it was as much a statement to herself as to the rest of them. “We have to go back.” She spun on her heel, headed for the quarterdeck.
“We can’t go back,” Ardent said softly.
Remy froze. “What?”
“Yeah, what?” Fin echoed. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Coll was part of the crew. They didn’t leave crew behind. They didn’t even leave the Naysayer behind, and he was a useless, greedy curmudgeon who spent all his time stealing food and insulting everyone. This was Coll. This was their captain. How could Ardent even think about not going back for him?
“We can’t,” Ardent repeated. “I understand now. We can never face the Sheshefesh and win. Not really.”
Remy didn’t give anyone a chance to jump in. “Are you kidding? You were beating the ink out of that thing. It gave up. Go take him back.”
Ardent sighed and shook his head sadly. “I fooled myself into believing those rules did not apply to me. That I alone could take from the creature without being caught in its tangles. I was wrong.”
Deep wrinkles hung from the corners of the old man’s eyes. He looked old and sad and tired. “The creature let me take Coll long ago because it knew I would have to return, or else give up the chance of ever finding the Map to Everywhere. One way or another, I left feeling victorious, when in truth my greatest ambition stayed behind, entangled with the Sheshefesh.
“Now,” he continued, “it has taken Coll in exchange for the ink and Annalessa’s letter. If we return for him, it will extract something even more valuable. And if we return for that, it will take something more. And in the meantime, the Stream is dying.”
From within his robes, he produced the Map to Everywhere. The tear-shaped hole in its center was as big around as Fin’s wrist. Even as they watched, more worlds vanished into it.
Ardent pointed to the very tip, the sharp point the tear hung from as though ready to fall. Just above it, marked with the sketch of a fountain, lay Meres.
“He’s nearly there,” Marrill said, her voice hushed. Ardent nodded. Fin felt acid churning in his stomach. They didn’t have much time left.
As one, they looked to Remy. Her lip curled, showing the end of one canine tooth. “We need Coll. He sails the ship, remember?”
Ardent gave her an encouraging smile. “I have faith in you. You seem a capable captain.”
Remy’s eyes narrowed into slits. “I’m an awesome captain, actually.” She turned away. “But I’m not the best. Coll is. And only the best captain is going to be able to get us out of this mess.”
Fin’s heart broke as he saw the wrinkles around Ardent’s eyes fold in sympathy. The old wizard’s voice was gentle as he approached her and said, “Coll was my friend as well. I shall feel his absence more than you know.”
Remy’s bottom lip trembled. She rubbed at her side, as though gripping at the pain Fin knew she must be feeling inside. “Then why did you make him go to that awful place? We could have found a way to do it without him. We—you—could have kept him safe. He only went because you asked.”
Fin could hear the frustration and pain in her voice. He felt it himself.
Ardent let out a weary sigh and reached out to reassure her. “Because he is a great and loyal companion and friend.”
Remy thought about this for a moment, then said, “Well that makes you a pretty terrible friend for asking,” she bit out. “And maybe if you hadn’t been so obsessed with getting that letter…” she sputtered, too angry to even finish the statement.
She shrugged away from Ardent’s touch and stormed across the deck, headed for the ship’s wheel. Fin scrambled to get out of her way.
Marrill’s head dropped to one side in concern. Fin was glad she was there; he had no idea what to say in this type of situation. Marrill always knew what to do. She stepped forward, to follow. “Remy…”
The older girl whirled around, one finger held up sharply. “No,” she snapped. Marrill stumbled backward, clearly stunned by the force of the command. Fin gulped. He’d never seen Remy this mad. And he had seen her pretty mad before.
Remy’s eyes jumped between each of them; they even locked on Fig. Apparently this level of wrath made everyone noticeable. Not even Ardent had the nerve to challenge her.
“The Lost Sun is approaching Meres from the south,” she said at last. “We’ll come in from the north. That’ll give us time to reach the Font without worrying about him smashing up the Kraken.”
She turned and bounded up the stairs two at a time. Her expression was stony when she wrapped her hands around the wheel. “Full sails,” she called.
Nothing happened. Without Coll there to give permission, the ship wouldn’t listen to her. “Full sails!” she repeated, louder.
“Ropebone,” Ardent said weakly. “Pirats… you have a new captain. Abide by her.” The ship surged to life, pirats scampering across yards and the Ropebone Man hauling lines.
Just then, the Naysayer burst from the main hatch. “Hey, barnacle brains, know what might be nice when your ship has a deck that up and wanders to different locations? A sign. Spent the last day and a half negotiatin’ my freedom from a crew of jam-worshippin’…” He paused. They all stared at him. He looked up at Remy. “Wait, the cheerleader’s captain now?”
Ardent sighed and headed for his cabin. Remy, for her part, glared at the lumpy creatu
re. “Call me a cheerleader again and I’ll toss you in the brig.”
The Naysayer picked at his teeth with the claw tip of a prollycrab. “Eh,” he said, shrugging all four of his shoulders as he ambled off. “Unless it’s fulla brutal savages with an unhealthy respect for preserves, I been worse places.”
Remy said nothing. Merely gripped the wheel tighter and scowled at the horizon.
“Someone should talk to her,” Fig said, nodding to Remy.
Marrill looked at Fin. “You’re right,” she said, as if the words had come from him and not the Fade girl. “But I already tried. Your turn. I’m going to talk to Ardent.”
“But—” Before he could finish the protest, Marrill nudged him toward the quarterdeck and spun, knocking on the door to Ardent’s cabin. A sharp voice called for her to enter, and she slipped inside, leaving Fin and Fig standing in the middle of the deck, staring at each other.
“Well, it can’t be me,” Fig said. “She won’t remember me.”
“She doesn’t remember me, either,” Fin said. “To her I’m just another kid she has to keep up with. Marrill, plus one.”
Fig crossed her arms. “That sounds like being remembered to me.”
Fin sighed. She was right. Besides, every time Remy called him Plus One, it sent a little thrill down his spine. He nodded grudgingly to Fig, took a deep breath, and headed up the stairs to the quarterdeck.
At the ship’s wheel, Remy stared straight ahead, looking angry. But he could see her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. Fin had no idea what to say. So he went with the first thing that came to mind.
“So… do you know where you’re going?”
The moment she heard him, she squared her shoulders and raised her chin. Her answer was quick and curt. “Yes.”
Fin waited. She said nothing more.
He cleared his throat. “How do you know where you’re going?”
Remy didn’t even look at him. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather be alone.”