"Try this on," Vinston-Fret said to him from inside the elves draped in area. Braxton took the heavy woolen cloak and did as he was asked. It fit almost perfectly.
"Why the heavy stuff?" Braxton asked.
"In case we get trapped by the weather," Vinston-Fret said matter-of-factly. "As it is we will only have half a turn of the moon to search for the Sapphire and still be able to sail away from New Scarlee. If it takes us longer to find it, we will either be forced to wait out the winter storms or attempt to return by land." He paused as he pulled out another heavy cloak from the bundle.
"Which means we would have to cross the Denizen Swamp," Cryelos finished for him.
Vinston-Fret threw the other cloak to Braxton. "This one is for Nixy. Would you have her try it and see if it fits?"
"She's mad at me right now, I think," Braxton said dejectedly.
He saw that Sorrell and Cryelos were waving their arms around, trying to get his attention. They were pointing at the blanket that divided the elves area from Suclair's. Apparently, Nixy and Suclair were just on the other side and able to hear his every word.
"Though I probably deserved it," Braxton added with a grin. "I played like I was still meditating and listened to them. It is wrong to eavesdrop on people's conversations. I suppose I will apologize later when she's not so mad. I should probably be ashamed of myself."
He had to fight to contain his laughter because he knew the two of them were eavesdropping on him that very moment.
"Debain had plenty of news," Vinston-Fret said loud enough for everyone to hear. "He is going to Camberly to hold audience with King Barden. He is going to report the dwarves’ findings on the strange movements of the gothicans and also tell him about the gathering trolls and kobls. Hopefully King Barden will be able to react in time to prevent disaster. According to Debain, most of King Barden's men were pulled from the border and sent north to battle the raiding tribes of gothicans there."
"Darblin seems to think Pharark is behind all of it." Braxton shrugged. "I'm hoping, if we can find and destroy the Sapphire, we can prevent a lot of what you're talking about from ever happening."
"If Pharark is behind this, then so far he has done it all without the aid of the Sapphire of Souls." Vinston-Fret said, his tone dire. "Even if we stop him from gaining the stone, he will still succeed in starting a long and bloody war with the kingdom. Sooner or later, we must destroy Pharark himself, or at least send him back to where he came from."
"Finding and destroying the Sapphire of Souls is the first step," Braxton quoted the passage from Taerak's journal. He spent the rest of the evening wondering what the second step could possibly be, and he wondered how Taerak had gotten Pharark into the prison he'd broken out of in the first place. After a while, he gave up worrying about any of it, and went back to Prism's old stall and tried his meditation exercise again.
"What of Reaton-Stav?" Nixy asked Suclair after she heard Braxton leave the elves. "The next time I set foot on kingdom soil, I will not hide like a common thief. Not for a moment."
"Well," Suclair started nervously, "the news isn't very good, I'm afraid."
"But you said he would be found easily by the Old Ones of the Sorcerious."
"Rumor has it, he has obtained a large dwelling somewhere in the mountains north of Halden and is doing things there with the dead that shouldn't be done."
"Like what?" Nixy grew angry.
"I can only imagine, but my father said he supposedly found a way to animate the dead, but he doesn't think those rumors hold much water. To animate the dead takes far more power than Reaton-Stav has ever had. To animate one corpse, maybe, but hundreds of them, there is no way. He's probably just trying to build a following. He has always seemed like such a self-glorifying boy. A cult of followers would suit his ego perfectly."
"What's being done to find him?" Nixy asked. "What's being done to stop him from spreading lies about me and Braxton?"
"Vinston-Fret was correct, my father is going to speak to King Barden about the gothicans, and while he is there, he plans on bringing the grave robbing problem and its cause to the king's attention. At the Sorcerious they are making a fake medallion to try and trick him with. Even if that doesn’t work, once father tells the king about Reaton-Stav and his attempts at necromancy, he will be hunted down like a rabid wolf."
"I hope they feed him to a pack of rabid wolves." Nixy growled as she crossed her arms across her chest. "But that would still be too good of a death for him."
"Come on, Nix, let's go up on the deck," Suclair suggested. "Maybe the cool breeze will help you think about something more pleasant."
After the women left, Sorrell checked to make sure he and the other two elves were alone. "Will you let Lord Braxton destroy the Sapphire of Souls?" he asked after he was sure no one else could hear.
"I haven't thought about it yet," Vinston-Fret answered with a grimace. He had purposely avoided thinking about what would happen when, or if, the Sapphire was found. Just finding it seemed like enough for him to worry about for the moment.
"How can it be used to lead us to our promised land if he does destroy it?" Sorrell asked persistently. It was clear he wasn't just going to let it go.
Vinston-Fret was about to warn him off the subject when Cryelos saved him from it.
"The Sapphire is leading us even now, is it not?" Cryelos asked. "Perhaps in the finding of the stone, we will also find the land promised to us by Taerak. Do not forget Lord Braxton is trying only to do what he thinks is right, what Taerak sent him to do. And no matter what, the stone would be better destroyed than to find its way into Pharark's evil hands."
"You speak wisely, Cryelos," Vinston-Fret complimented. "You have much of your father's wisdom in you. Sorrell, your questions are good ones, but until we find the stone, all the speculation is meaningless. We should focus on finding it before we even begin to think about what will happen after."
"You are correct." Sorrell quickly bowed his head. "Please, forgive me."
"Forgiveness isn't necessary," Vinston-Fret said. "Preparation is what is necessary." And with that, he began to go through the other bundles of gear they purchased in Ardis.
Braxton had the coin perfectly envisioned in his mind. He could feel it's texture and every rise and fall of the marks on its surface. The shallow scratches across the symbols on the face were clear to him. Even the smudged thumb mark on the back was present in his mind. He wanted to turn it over and over. He wanted to make it spin. In the days since they had left Ardis, he had practiced every morning and every night. Some of the sessions lasted for hours, some only moments.
In all that time, only once had he gotten the coin to reach the point of fluctuation and, even then, he lost it before he could do anything more. That minor breakthrough had given him hope, though. Since then, he had practiced the lesson with intense fervor. So much so that Nixy started to get a little jealous over his sudden lack of interest in her.
A single shout followed by more commotion on deck brought Braxton from his thoughts. He and Nixy ran into each other as they both tried to go up above to see what was going on. As they walked toward the back of the boat to see what was the matter, Braxton took her hand and noticed her smile broaden, but her joy disappeared as quickly as it showed itself.
It looked to Braxton like a wavering line of sharp pointed fins followed the boat from some distance. It looked as if several large fish were weaving in and out of each other in the boat's wake. He quickly found Captian Pickerell and made his way over to him.
"What are those things, Captain?"
"Those things?" The captain looked at him as if he had gone mad. The expression on his face was one of deep concern. "Those are not things, Lord Braxton. That is one great big thing, and it seems to think our ship is its dinner."
Chapter Twenty Five
Sorrell shoved Braxton's bow into his hands. "Hope you don’t mind, I took the liberty of retrieving this from your things for you."
"Thanks." Braxton n
odded. All three of the elves had bows and were taking up position at the rear of the ship, save for Cryelos, who climbed to the crow's nest.
"Well, I guess we will find out how good of a marksman you really are," Sorrell said almost playfully. His lack of fear disturbed Braxton. "Nixy seems to think you are pretty good."
It became obvious that Sorrell tried to calm his nervousness with the banter so Braxton joined in. "How about we call our targets so we can't claim a lucky shot as if it were intended."
Sorrell nodded his agreement, but this time his grin seemed forced.
"Where is Suclair?" Vinston-Fret asked. "That thing she did the other day with the ball of yellow light might just be —"
"I'm right here," she said, cutting him off. "Just don't get in front of me after I begin chanting."
"Is it really going to attack us?" Braxton asked as he tried to gauge the size of the thing. By the distance from the front fin to the last one he could see, he figured it was twice as long as the ship, but he knew he hadn't seen its head or the bulk of its body yet, only the fins. "What is it?" He called out toward Captain Pickerell.
"How by the bloody two moons would I know?" he shouted back from the ship's wheel. "I've never seen the likes of it."
"It looks to be some sort of serpent," Vinston-Fret said calmly. "If it attacks, take your time and choose your shots wisely."
"It's huge," Cryelos called from above them. "I can see it through the water. It looks like it's part snake, part fish or something?"
Braxton and Sorrell looked at each other and silently mouthed, part snake, part fish or something?
"It's closing on us," Cryelos added. "It's closing fast."
Braxton turned to tell Nixy to go below but was relieved to find she had already gone.
"Describe it to us, Cryelos," Vinston-Fret said without taking his eyes off the fins.
"It's long like a snake, but fat in the middle. It looks to have tentacles down its side that it is using to swim with and— and —"
"And what?" Vinston-Fret asked.
"I think it's gone," Cryelos answered. He put his hand across his brow to visor the sun from his eyes and search the water behind them. "It disappeared. I think it's gone." The amount of relief in his voice was noticeable.
Sorrell turned to Braxton with a playful grin. "The first target I was going to call was going to be Cryelos. What is a part snake, part fish or something?"
"I don't know.” Braxton grinned back. "But I'm glad it's gone."
"Don't be so sure," Vinston-Fret said, sternly looking over the side into the churning wake.
"Can you see it?" Suclair asked.
"No." The elf pulled himself back from the rail and looked at her. "I mean, if it is after us, it won't have given up so easily." He spoke matter-of-factly, and just as he finished his words, the ship lurched sideways and lifted before slamming back down into the water with a hard smack. The creaking groan of protesting wood resounded, and all of them were thrown flat to the deck.
Braxton immediately looked up to see Cryelos hanging on to the edge of the crow's nest.
A long, greenish-yellow tentacle came up over the rail about mid-ship. It latched on to a screaming deck hand and swiftly pulled him back over the side. His terrified scream ended in a gurgle.
Another tentacle came over the rail, then another on the opposite side of the ship, both toward the middle of the craft. One of the grasping appendages found its way to the mast and wrapped around its base. The other latched onto the railing and ripped a large section of it loose, flinging it seaward effortlessly.
Cryelos must have found his way back into the crow's nest for an arrow streaked down and sank deeply into the tentacle that had pulled apart the rail. The creature didn't seem to notice. Near the transom, a massive snake-ish head rose above the surface. It had huge slits along either side of its long neck, and they opened and closed rhythmically, revealing rows of stark crimson gills.
When Braxton finally had a good look, he realized that Cryelos' description was dead on accurate.
"Left eye," Sorrell called out his target, then loosed an arrow. It hit just above a huge, lifeless black orb and bounced off the bony brow.
"Throat," Braxton said, and let his arrow fly. His shaft flew right into the creature's toothy maw and seemed to stick well into the roof of its mouth. This caused it to roar out a blast of fetid fishy breath that was so foul Braxton almost lost the contents of his stomach.
Below deck, Nixy pulled on her studded leather armor and started kicking the dwarves awake. This was just before the ship lifted and fell weightlessly back into the sea. The dwarves responded unbelievably well for having drank as much as any ten people could the night before. They tore through their travel trunk, throwing out cloaks, skins of wine, blankets, and even ropes until, finally, Darblin produced a large double-edged battle axe. It was brilliantly polished and encrusted with jewels. Big H came up with a hammer that had an iron handle that was longer than he was tall. It looked like it would be impossible to handle, but the dwarf shouldered it easily. He quickly followed the others to the ladder, trailing a long coil of rope that had gotten wrapped around his shoulder and neck. Nixy let Darblin go up first and untangled the rope from the other dwarf before he accidentally hung himself. When she finally pushed her head up into the salty air, she saw a tentacle reach across the ship. It caught in the upper sails, and with a series of loud cracks, snapped through the ropes like they were made of twine.
The forward momentum of the ship slowed immediately now that there was little canvas left to catch the wind. Some of the upper sails flapped wildly in the breeze, and another flew off and out of sight completely.
Nixy saw Suclair's bald head, mainly because of the bright yellow glow building before her. The girl let loose her crackling pulse of light, and it flew directly at the creature's head. Two other pulses followed. Of the three, two flew past it, but one blast of magical energy struck the thing below its black eye. There was a thud, and a moment of loud sizzling. The creature seemed to recoil, but it was only for a moment. It came back at the ship with more furious intent.
A tentacle larger than the rest, or maybe it was the thing's tail, came out of the water and flew just above Nixy's head until it hit the great mainmast with a loud, splintering crunch. The mast fell into the ship, but got hung in the remaining ropes and sails before it could strike the deck.
Nixy saw the elves and Braxton. They were all loosing arrows. Vinston-Fret sank his into one of the creature's eyes. This caused a horrible screeching roar, and the sea beast lifted the whole ship clear of the water again. This time, instead of letting it drop, the boat was slammed down with a force. The sound the ship made when it hit sent a shock of fear through Nixy and everyone she could see. It sounded like the boat had been broken in two.
Big H went sailing out over the ship's deck when the boat fell out from under him. He somehow used his long hammer's head to hook one of the lines and careened around only to land on his feet on the other side of the ship right in front of one of the tentacles that had a hold of it. Without hesitation, he pounded the slimy thing over and over, each hit making a wet, bloody smack that sent a grizzly red spray across that immediate area.
Darblin and Nixy wound up stumbling toward the side where the rail had been pulled from the ship, but Darblin sank his axe into the deck and she managed to catch her hand into his belt at the seat of his pants. She held on as best as she could, and when the boat shifted again, she was able to get her feet back under her and let go.
Darblin's belt buckle had come undone, or broken. He ran with his trousers around his knees, and then his ankles, toward the nearest tentacle. Once he was there, he chopped viciously at it with his axe.
Nixy also found a tentacle and stabbed it with her sword. After seeing the more destructive results of Darblin's chopping blows, she imitated his motion, using her blade to hack instead of poke.
Rearing back to take another swing, Nixy saw Cryelos tangled in one of the loos
e sails a dozen feet above her. He was being slung to and fro and was trying desperately to get loose before he was thrown out to sea.
Many of the crew weren't so lucky. Nixy counted three men in the water and another sailor who must've been thrown through the air before smacking into the corner of the wheelhouse. Captain Pickerell had abandoned the ship's wheel and called out orders for men to get lines out to those who were overboard.
Braxton had loosed two more arrows into the creature's mouth, and Sorrell hit the same oozing eye that Vinston-Fret had earlier. The orb leaked a bloody gray fluid, but the beast persisted in its attack. A tentacle plucked one of the men from the water and tossed him into its mouth. Two crunching chomps later, the poor sailor's pulped remains were swallowed with a gulp.
Braxton saw that Big H had battered the tentacle before him so badly that it finally let go of the main mast and slid back over the side. As the dwarf turned triumphantly, looking for his prince in the fray, another tentacle came over the rail and nearly got him. Instead, it gripped onto the boxy wheelhouse structure. Big H saw it and went right back to pounding. Braxton found Darblin and saw he was fighting two battles, one with the tentacle before him, and the other with his pants. The dwarf pulled them up to his waist, then gave a damaging hack into the creature. Then he squatted down, pulled his britches up again, and started over. Finally, he separated the appendage before him, pulled his pants up to his waist, and jogged with them in one hand and his axe held high in the other toward another tentacle. Suclair whirled her hands about and called out her strange incantations. Instead of a glowing energy, this time, a huge ball of fire erupted from her hands. The flames streaked right into the creature's gills and, as if the stuff was made of sticky oil or pitch, it clung there sizzling and popping, blistering the creature's slimy hide.
Taerak's Void (Fantastica Book 1) Page 17