by Ben Hale
The prince appeared in the forecastle doorway, his eyes widening when he spotted the thieves. Then his gaze lit with anticipation and he drew his weapon, charging Roarthin. Abruptly the ship shuddered and groaned, causing everyone still aboard to stagger. All eyes turned to the stern, where a great rush of water could be heard.
And the godship began to move.
Chapter 15: The Godship
Beauty stumbled to a railing and held on, her eyes flying to Jack. “What did you do?”
“Water oars,” Jack said. “Lorelia and I saw them in a shop a few days ago. Just one has enough water magic to propel a warship.”
Lorelia “How many did you put on?”
Jack grinned. “A dozen.”
Wood groaned and ropes stretched, and then the last of the supports holding the godship snapped in two. Weakened by dwarven fire they cracked and twisted before coming apart. Ropes snapped like whips, sending bits of sizzling fire into the crowd. Those lining the neighboring ships stood in shocked silence as the massive ship began to advance.
The prince, his guards, and spectators unfortunate enough to get caught on the ship looked up at the final bridge connected to the city. Unable to withstand the stress of the ship’s movement, it crumbled and splashed into the sea below. Then Jack spotted Gallow push his way to the rail of a neighboring ship. He came to a halt as he watched the godship slide past him, his eyes bulging. Jack reached up and offered a mock salute, laughing at the rage on the assassin’s features.
“Jack?” Ursana asked in a rising tone. He turned to find thirty islanders standing with a handful of confused Griffin merchants.
“Kill them,” the prince said coldly, and strode toward Beauty with a sneer on his face.
Beauty drew her dagger and attacked first. Her motions blurred impossibly fast, her speed charm causing her to overwhelm the prince in seconds. He cried out in dismay as his weapon tumbled from his fingers. Before Beauty could snatch the key from his neck his guards rushed her, and it was all she could do to hold them off.
The thieves leapt into the fray and the scene dissolved into chaos. Jack engaged a burly islander wielding a wooden shield and a spiked staff. Ducking a hasty blow, Jack stepped in and grabbed the man’s neck. He yanked him down and brought his knee up, smashing the man’s skull on his kneecap. As the man slumped Jack leapt for another but Lorelia got to him first, or at least an image of her did.
The man slashed his weapon through her form, only to stumble as his blade passed through the illusion. Jack laughed and struck him in the throat, dropping him like a stone. Although the islanders had been trained for battle, the thieves fought dirty, turning the tide in spite of their fewer numbers.
As the thieves fought to subdue the prince the ship continued to accelerate, the water oars churning water to propel the ship forward. The bow plunged into a trough and plowed through a crest. It continued to accelerate until the wood of the deck thrummed with power. As the thieves battled on the deck it began to hurtle down the canal at speeds unattainable with conventional sails.
Gordon leapt to the helm and struggled to hold the ship in the center of the canal, but a sudden swell caused them to veer to the side. The massive ship smashed into the city, crumpling another ship like a paper toy.
Everyone on the godship was knocked sprawling, with two of the Griffin merchants being launched overboard. Islanders and thieves slid to the rail as the enormous ship tilted to the side, the wood shrieking as it scraped against the city boats. The mast of the godship crashed into the neighbors’ masts, snapping them in half and sending the beams tumbling onto the city.
Islanders screamed and fled from the carnage, barely escaping as whole ships were shattered. Those too slow were knocked into the water and grasped flotsam that littered the godship’s wake. Blasting through city boats, the godship continued to accelerate until it barreled down the canal. They reached a walkway that bridged the two sides of the canal and exploded through it, sending a shudder into the godship’s deck.
“Beauty!” Jack shouted.
“On it!” she cried, and used a strength spell to ascend the steep deck to reach the wheel. Growling from the effort, she helped Gordon turn the helm, gradually righting them and bringing them back to the center of the canal.
As the ship began to level Jack lunged forward and struck an islander clinging to the rail. He cried out as he plummeted into the sea. Sprinting forward, Jack caught a swing from another and spun, hurling him overboard as well. Maintaining his momentum, he rushed down the leveling rail with the balance of a charging panther, casting the islanders into the frothing sea below. Then abruptly he reached the prince.
“You think to discard me so easily?”
The man wrapped a rope around his free hand and held on, but Jack’s vision went beyond him.
“I do,” Jack said, and darted to his flank.
Beauty cursed as she realized she’d overcorrected, and the ship crashed brutally into the other side of the canal. Everyone on board was flung across the deck, and Jack’s position put him directly behind Prince Emeka. They slid across the deck as the godship shattered smaller boats and barreled through ropes and high bridges. Emeka struck the railing and the impact sent his weapon tumbling into a boat below. Then Jack smashed into his chest, driving the air from his lungs.
“I’ll take that,” Jack said, and grabbed the spiked dagger from his neck.
“That’s mine,” the prince snarled, but it came out in a gasp as he fought to breathe.
“Not anymore,” Jack said. Then he grabbed Emeka’s foot and rolled him over the rail. The man caught the railing, so Jack leaned over and held up his dagger. “Lose a hand or lose your pride. I don’t care which.”
The man growled and released, and a moment later he splashed into the sea. Just then Beauty managed to right the ship and it careened back to center. Jack rotated to face the remaining islanders and merchants still aboard. They righted themselves and stared about in confusion, swinging their weapons between the thieves.
Seizing the moment, Jack strode to the stairs and ascended several steps. Then he turned and faced the islanders, reaching into his pocket to retrieve his enormous captain’s hat. With great care he unfolded it and placed it on his head.
“I proclaim this ship the Woman’s Might, and name myself captain. You can depart in peace or by force.”
His cheerful offer was met by surly growls and the raising of weapons, until Thalidon filled his hands with fire and Lorelia cast an illusion of a dozen swordsmen in their midst. Recognizing that to stay would be foolhardy, they reluctantly moved to the side of the ship and leapt into the canal. Last to go, the two Griffin merchants cast him dirty looks before they too dropped from view.
“Captain Myst?” Beauty shouted, her voice mocking. “You’re needed on the bridge.”
Jack ascended to her side to find her grimly holding onto the helm of the massive ship. “Report.”
She gestured with her chin behind them, where no less than a dozen ships were filling the canal. “Did your plan extend beyond this point?”
“Of course,” Jack said, mimicking her sarcasm. “We just need the storm to break.”
As if hearing his words, the dark clouds cracked open and dumped a veritable ocean of rain. The rain washed across the godship with thundering force, so thick Jack could barely discern the ship’s bow. Several of the thieves cried out in dismay but the sound was all but lost in the storm.
“This was your plan?” Beauty shouted.
“You don’t like it?”
“I love it,” she snapped. “Taking a massive, decrepit ship—with just seven people to man it—is exactly how I want to get killed!”
They reached the edge of the city and the godship sailed into open water. Without the calming effect of the floating city the water heaved and dropped, and the massive ship went with it. Ancient wood groaned at the titanic forces pressing on its hull. The bow dropped into a trough and then crashed through a wave. Water blasted across
the deck, nearly taking them with it.
“STOP LAUGHING!” Beauty roared, but Jack would not be stopped.
With the enraged sea to their front and the enraged islanders at their back, he reached out and helped Beauty and Gordon stabilize the wheel, which shuddered in their grip. He shook his hat, sending water splashing over them.
“Turn us south!” he shouted.
She cast him a scathing glare but did as requested, and the three of them struggled to turn the wheel. It trembled at the strain and Jack wondered if it would break. Gradually the vast ship turned, the enormous masts leaning at an impossible angle.
“This is madness, Jack!” Gordon shouted.
“I know!” he replied, and the glee in his voice caused Beauty to release a string of profanities that ended in his name.
“She’s right!” Lorelia shouted, stumbling onto the bridge to join them. The dwarves appeared as well and the thieves gathered about the helm.
“Just hang on!” Jack replied, and shook his hat again to clear the water pouring from the brim.
Beauty snarled as water splashed across her. “If we survive, I swear I’m burning that hat while it’s still on your head.”
“Is everyone ready?” Jack shouted.
“FOR WHAT?” they cried in unison.
Jack spotted a looming cliff of stone in the distance and yanked on the ship’s wheel, turning them toward it. Seeing his goal, Lorelia gasped.
“Do you mean to crash us?”
Jack laughed as he wrapped a rope around the helm, fastening it in place. Ursana cursed and Gordon growled. Then Jack picked up a coil of rope and sprinted toward the back of the ship. With a wild grin he leapt up and balanced on the heaving rail.
“Stay with the ship or stay with me!” he shouted, and flipped into the sea.
He plummeted toward the white capped water and knifed into the depths. He’d expected it to be warm but the water carried a chill that tightened every muscle in his body. Shivering, he swam upward and breached the surface, drawing a great breath as he looked toward the receding ship. Small figures leapt off the back of the godship, scrambling to escape as it barreled toward a towering island of stone. Jack wiped the water from his face and tensed, waiting for the impact. Then the godship struck the island.
Overpowering the very thunder, the crash roared across the sea. The bow crumpled on itself, the ancient wood snapping like kindling. The six masts folded in half, clattering off the tiny island before collapsing into the water. The sea gushed into the gaping wounds, flooding the interior of the godship. Even as the water oars drove it forward the godship began to sink.
Jack watched with a wide grin on his face. Then he withdrew the last of the water oars from the pouch at his side. Activating it with a touch, he slapped it onto his boots and pointed his body toward the others. Intended to push boats, the magic accelerated him too fast, but he managed to uncoil the rope behind him and tighten it about his waist.
The force of the push made his chest act like the prow of a boat, and he bounced over the water toward them. Beauty spotted him first, and the fury on her face exploded into laughter when she saw Jack speeding toward her, his hat flopping about his head.
“Care for a ride?” he shouted as he turned a wide circle.
The circle allowed her to grab the rope, and once she was on he turned toward the others. Then he pointed his body at the Boneyard. Beauty continued to laugh and it spread to the others. With water splashing over them and islander warships appearing in the gloom, the thieves roared their laughter as they escaped into the sheets of rain and churning sea.
The pursuing ships arrived at the broken godship and sought to salvage it, but their efforts were in vain. They watched in horror as the ship they had worshiped for a century slipped beneath the surface. As the storm turned increasingly harsh, they were forced to return to the Boneyard.
In the subsequent days the city huddled through the storm, but rumors spread like wildfire. Emeka insisted it was a group of thieves attempting to steal a treasured keepsake, but the truth was lost amid claims that a demon had taken the godship. Sailors swore on Ero’s staff they had heard his laughter wafting through the storm as the ship sank.
Chapter 16: Cliffwatch
Five days after the godship sank the storm began to fade. Its anger spent, the raging wind quieted and the rain slowed to a drizzle, allowing the captain of the Deep Blue to embark toward the dwarven kingdom with a shipment of fish. As he untied from the Boneyard, seven passengers arrived with coin in hand. He counted his good fortune for the extra coin and didn’t look past their appearances. A week later he deposited them on the dwarven coastline and sailed away, still wondering who had destroyed the godship.
Jack watched the ship disappear on the horizon and then turned toward the others. “Does anyone pay attention to their passengers?”
“Fortunately for us, no,” Lorelia said with a grunt of humor. “But I suspect retrieving the next key will not be so easy.”
“You think that was easy?” Gordon asked, stabbing a finger toward the receding ship. “Most assignments involve avoiding a few guards, or maybe a curse or two. Every time we go with Jack we end up on rampaging boats or diving off cliffs.”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it,” Jack said.
“I’m not going to admit that,” he replied, and his lips tugged in a smile.
“We should get moving,” Beauty said. “Now that Gallow knows we seek the keys he will hasten his steps. We cannot let him reach the dark elves first.”
Thalidon grunted. “Then it is well you have us,” he used his chin to point at his brother. “The fastest route to Elsurund is through Torridin.”
Roarthin grunted in agreement. “The assassin will likely take the longer path through the tunnels in Griffin.”
“Lead the way,” Lorelia said.
Thalidon shouldered his pack and strode off the beach into the trees. The ribbon of forest grew sparse as they ascended into the towering mountains that abutted Blue Lake. Boulders and broken stones littered the earth around the pine trees, fallen remnants of a shattered mountain. Some of the stones towered over the trees, their surfaces covered with moss and dry leaves.
Thalidon led them up a winding trail that followed a gurgling stream. The air quickly turned frigid the higher they climbed, and the group wrapped their cloaks about them to ward off the chill. Sweeps of snow filled the gulleys and dotted the northern side of the peaks, growing deeper as they approached the summit. Several days after departing the beach they reached a dwarven outpost.
The small fortress clung to the side of a cliff and overlooked the lake in the distance. Its position provided an unbroken view of the crisscrossing paths ascending from the water, and the dwarf that greeted them made it clear they had been spotted hours ago.
“Can you speak for your companions?” the dwarf asked, obviously bored.
“I can,” Thalidon said.
The dwarf didn’t seem to notice Roarthin’s scowl and gestured them inside. “Welcome to Cliffwatch.”
Jack advanced through the portcullis and ascended the steps to the outpost. Massive arches jutted out from the cliff to support it, but the entire outpost felt fragile. Barely thirty feet thick, the outpost clung to the cliff thousands of feet off the ground. Situated close to the peak, the structure boasted four levels, while the top of the outpost contained a pile of wood for a signal fire.
The thieves stepped through the oak door and entered a small tavern, the bar of which sat against the cliff. The entire floor carried a distinct tilt, giving the impression the outpost could fall at any moment. Jack instinctively leaned away from it until he realized the angle of the floor was likely a tactical advantage. It implied the dwarves could release the outpost from its moorings in an instant—which they probably could.
Great beams supported the ceiling, the supports mounted to the stone by steel rods. Metal bound the stone and wood in typical dwarven precision. In spite of the precarious position, th
e crackling fire within the hearth lent a comfortable feel to the outpost.
Unperturbed by the strange floor, Thalidon walked to the lowest point of the slope and looked out through the window. Then he slid into a seat and motioned the others to join him at the table. When they took seats around him he signaled the bartender.
“Wild ale for the table,” he said.
The female dwarf stepped to the large barrels mounted against the wall by bands of iron. She deftly filled seven mugs and carried them to the table without spilling a drop of foam. Then she slid them to the group.
“What brings you to Cliffwatch?”
“We’re going to—”
“Traveling to Torridin,” Roarthin interrupted, casting Jack a warning glance.
“This late in the season it will be rough going,” she said. “Snow already falls in the passes.”
“And the tunnels?”
She shrugged and pointed north. “A mine lies two days north. If you can reach it, you can travel underground to Torridin.” She looked them up and down with an expression that implied disdain. “That is if your companions can handle the deep paths.”
Jack grinned but held his tongue while Lorelia assured her they were prepared to journey beneath the mountains. The dwarf shrugged and departed, returning a moment later with grilled meat and stiff bread.
Jack and the dwarves cracked the bread open and dipped it into the ale. Jack chewed the now soft bread, savoring the sweetness. Then he noticed the entire table was staring at him. He dipped the bread again and took a bite, speaking through the mouthful.