War of the Princes 03: Monarch

by A. R. Ivanovich

  Sadie had been washed down the deck with me, and–

  “Rune!” I shouted.

  He was hanging on to the outside of our ship's railing beside the last harpoon-chain, likely the main target of the elemental attack. The ships bobbed at staggered intervals. If we collided now, Rune would be smashed between us.

  The white-bearded man began to laugh. “The Sear and the Lift. Still, it will not be enough to save you.”

  Rune's face screwed up and he grunted, using his upper body strength to pull himself up and over the railing. My shoes sliding across the drenched deck, I hurried to his side. He didn't need my help. Just as soon as both feet were firmly planted on the Flying Fish, he reached a hand out.

  Blue flames exploded from the salvagemen's hull. The shockwave burst outward, tearing bits of wood and metal and blasting them out of the belly of the ship. Hot wind hit my face and I blinked furiously, clapping my hands onto the rail for stability. Tendrils of fire whipped up onto the main deck, racing to burn crate and net alike. I could hear screaming and saw one figure, swathed in blue fire, leap into the ocean.

  The captain was furiously shouting orders, but I wondered whether he really was the man in charge. Whitebeard barely spared a glance behind him at the damage dealt to them. His exact copy, a twin, emerged from the rear of the ship to join him. This one was tired. I could see it by the way he moved. He looked like he might buckle over at any moment. He must have been the one pushing the ship through the water.

  Whitebeard began to laugh. Like Rune, he held his own hand out, summoning arms of water to rise up from the sea around their ship. With impressive control, he let the water stream over their deck without flooding it. Rune's flames were easily doused.

  “You see? Your cause is lost,” he said. “No Ability beats the Stream on the sea.” He held his arms out in triumph, raining water over his ship. “We are gods here! This entire vessel is covered in a coating of water, your flashy fires won't catch again.”

  Now it was Rune's turn to smile. “I was hoping you'd say that.”

  My heart skipped a beat. He'd planned the entire thing. I knew exactly what to do.

  Pouncing, I reached my torso over the railing, grabbing onto the final chain. “Gotcha!” I cheered, and funneled the Spark down my arms. My excitement fed the power of my attack. As the electricity pooled in my hands, I felt the keen awareness that I could reshape my creation the way I worked clay. The thousands of tiny strands of lightning that burst forth pressed closely together to form a cormorant bird, with a long tail that connected to my hands. It flew in tight circles around the chain in a corkscrew motion, threads of electricity connecting it to the metal links. When it reached the turret, I made the lightning bird tuck its wings the way cormorants do, and dive into the water-coated deck.

  It was over in four seconds.

  Hurried by the conducting elements of metal and water, the Spark attacked, and none were safe from it. Light flashed, a puff of thunder followed the impact, and everyone onboard fell to ground or sea. My pulse should have been enough to stun, but not kill them.

  I made certain that no electricity returned to the chain, or slipped aboard our own ship, and when I was sure it was safe, I released the chain. Though a little lightheaded from the effort of molding the Spark, I was ready to throw my hands up and cheer. We freed ourselves, but most impressively, we'd worked as a team. And somehow I managed to consciously mold my lightning into a complex form. That was something that I'd only seen Prince Raserion do.

  Before I could celebrate, I frowned. As though merely thinking about him could summon him, I thought I saw a shadow figure climbing along the chain. Stretching, it reached out from below me and peeled the links apart. The final chain snapped free, I blinked, and the shadow was gone.

  The strong sound of our hover engines roaring into action should have been a comfort to me. The way the ship vibrated as we lifted off away from the water's surface should have made me smile. It didn't.

  A freezing chill, colder than open water, stabbed through my flesh.

  It's onboard. It protected us, and it's onboard.

  Spinning around to face the others, I was met with relief and surprisingly high spirits. They hadn't seen it at all.

  “Thank you, Katelyn,” Dylan said in a sour tone. “There. See how easy that was?”

  The hatch below deck whipped open and Kyle popped out. “Finally! We couldn't risk flight until that connection had been cut.”

  “I wished we had,” Dylan said, propping his elbow on the rail. “I would have loved to see the look on that captain's face when we'd begun to drag him skyward.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Kyle's response was dry. “That would have been hilarious, right up until we ripped apart, stalled, and landed right on top of them!”

  “Well done,” Rune said to us all. “I mean that.”

  “Do you?” Dylan chimed. “Does this make us brothers-in-arms?”

  Rune looked as though he almost might laugh. “Not quite.”

  Only Sadie noticed my perturbation and sat beside my leg. She looked up at me with round, silver eyes. Her sharply pointed teeth shone as she breathed in and out of her mouth. I hoped I could rely on her loyalty. The last thing I needed were two powerful enemies lurking aboard our ship.

  He's following me. He knows what we're doing.

  Chapter 15: Chasing Shadows

  Over the next two days, I didn't see much of anyone. I know that may seem kind of strange, considering we were all on the same boat with nowhere in particular to go. Carmine had been furious about the attack, blaming us for all of it. If we hadn't been playing hide-and-seek with our Lurcher, spitting fire and smoke into the sky, we might not have been discovered. I just chalked it up to bad luck.

  She began drinking after that– said it was to soothe her nerves. We didn't set the Flying Fish down again, and Carmine quit sleeping altogether.

  As for the rest of us, we'd been divided and given a schedule. Kyle was busy keeping things moving in the engine room, while Rune and Dylan were split up to help with repairs and stand watch. We wouldn't fall victim to salvagemen again, or anything else, if Carmine had her way.

  Part of me was glad that we'd all been separated. After I saw the shadow figure break the chain that held our ship to the salvageman’s vessel, I was a nervous wreck, starting at the slightest sound. I knew that I was probably being paranoid, that it could have just been a play of the light through the clouds. But if it wasn't a trick of the eye, it meant that Raserion had sent something to watch me, to make sure that I followed through with our agreement. Much as I wished a concussion was to blame, our meeting had been as real as the medallion in my pocket. I'd made a pact with him and wagered the lives of all of my friends and family. If Rune or Kyle asked me why I wasn't sleeping, what would I tell them? I didn't want to lie. I didn't want to worry them with a simple nightmare either. Kyle was having enough of those for the both of us. Shadows within Shadows... would anyone believe me if I told them that such a place existed? No, it was better if I didn't say anything. I'd calm down, eventually, and then all I'd need to worry about would be our potentially one-way trip to beg for protection from Raserion's psychotic brother.

  My waking hours were divvied between helping our pilot navigate and keeping a lookout on the aft deck. How I wound up with the night shift, I'd never know. The upside of my backward hours was that I could only manage to sleep if I was on the mid or upper decks in blindingly bright sunlight. The downside was that I was awake… all night.

  The dark was endless. I couldn't see moon or star or any lights but our own, and they seemed a feeble ally. The sky must have been thick with clouds, but I couldn't see them. It was quiet and cold. I barely noticed the sound of our engines anymore. I couldn't even hear the sea. I didn't spot any other ships. From my perch on the aft deck, buried in coats and cloaks and scarves, my only worries were the shadows.

  I'd catch movement in the corner of my eye and find nothing but darkness, again and again. If it
weren't for Sadie sitting with me, I might have lost my mind. Her responses tended to be accurate, and most of the time, I was the one to jump without cause.

  Occasionally, though, her head would swing to follow my own, and she'd stare into the void with predatory focus. It had only happened twice.

  At the very end of my shift on that second night, it happened again. I was walking carefully down the steps, heading for the cabins and the helm when I saw something flash ahead of me. Sadie was after it in an instant, and I trailed after her with less enthusiasm.

  I need to know if it’s really here, that I'm not imagining it.

  The shadow retreated into the corner of the outer cabin. Putting a little electricity in my hand, I flooded the area with light. Sadie stood face to face with the wall, my white light illuminating the dull green marbling of her coat. Her paw scraped at the corner. There was no shadow to be seen. Was it enough proof to stop blaming my overly active imagination?

  “Come out,” I said, quietly at first. “Come out! You coward. If you're here, show yourself.” I squeezed my hands into fists.

  I felt a breeze of movement behind me. My heartbeat raced in my ears. Sadie whipped around to chase after it, and I turned. She stood, splay-legged, head twitching in all directions as she searched for it.

  Icy rain began to trickle down from the sky, pattering onto my head.

  It was gone.

  Of course it was. How many times would I let myself get carried away? A lack of sleep could easily cause hallucinations, and I sure didn't need any help in the creative delusions department. Maybe Sadie was playing. Chasing a bug.

  Fed up, I tightened my coats around me and turned to march toward the cabin door.

  A lumbering black shape, vaguely humanoid, stood in the doorframe, and its empty white eyes stared out at me.

  I screamed, stumbling backwards. The light on my swinging hand cast eerie, fractured patterns on the ship. Instead of using its eyes to connect me to the Prince, or wrapping around me to bring me to Shadows within Shadows, it melted half into the wall, half into the floor, and vanished.

  Sadie screeched and attacked the place where it had stood, scratching the floor with her claws.

  The rainstorm announced its intentions by pelting mercilessly down on us, and I fled through the place it had stood and into the cabin, with hands that were shaking in an all too familiar way.

  Chapter 16: One Enemy Too Many

  I'd seen it. Sadie saw it. It was real and it was with us on the Flying Fish. I stormed down the hall, letting the Pull take me. Sadie was at my heels, and I didn't care in the least that I was breaking one of Carmine's rules by letting her in. One by one, I shrugged off my layered coats, letting them each fall to the floor like a trail of breadcrumbs. I wasn't concerned about tidiness either. I needed my arms free. When I was down to my white linen shirt, I pushed up the sleeves and formed a pair of electrical rings around each of my forearms. If it followed me, I wouldn't be helpless.

  I passed Kyle's bunkroom first. Pushing the door, I let my light in. He was asleep, his eyes moving behind closed lids. His arms twitched, and his brows were low on his face. He wasn't screaming. That was an improvement. I decided to let him rest. We were a boat full of insomniacs and if anyone was getting sleep, I should let them.

  Light seeped from beneath the doors to the galley. Upon entering, I was greeted by warmth and enticing savory scents. Sadie snaked in with me before the doors could close. The room was nothing but four small square tables with two chairs each, and a bar with stools that separated the counters, burners and pantries. It was all warm wood and copper, brightened by a wagon-wheel chandelier. There were no other decorations, but Carmine was clean-and-simple like that.

  It was a comforting place that didn't welcome dark thoughts like mine.

  Rune was behind the counter, surrounded by wafting tendrils of steam. The aroma was exquisite. He looked up, and seeing me, delivered a boyish grin. “Good timing! I just made–” Blue eyes training on the electric rings on my arms, his rare cheer broke away, replaced by severity. The former Dragoon flashed around the counter with a cleaver in his hand. “What's wrong? What happened?” He looked untrustingly down at Sadie, squeezing his fingers around the handle.

  I held a hand out to block her. It was still shaking, so I retracted it. “It's not her.”

  My words caught in my throat. I was so moved that he could read me well enough to know I wasn't playing around. Something really was wrong, and he trusted me, knew me well enough to take me seriously. He probably had his own instincts too. The kind that come with surviving near-death experiences in battle.

  I looked around us into each and every corner of the brightly lit room. Could it be lurking here with us? There was no evidence to support that fear. Sadie prowled toward the bar and sniffed at the rolling scent of freshly cooked food.

  “Tell me,” he implored.

  I was afraid to give him the truth. I could keep it to myself and spare my friends the worry of knowing what I did. Ignorance is bliss, right? I could handle it on my own.

  Squeezing my eyes closed, I blurted, “One of the Prince's shadows is here, on the Flying Fish.”

  Rune blinked. “What?”

  “I just saw it again. I-I mean I think I've been seeing it. It's sort of like the Voice of the Prince, but... different. It has long claws and pointy ears sometimes, its body shape changes.”

  “That's impossible.” He looked like the wind had been knocked from his lungs.

  His reaction made me quake even more than I had been. I gripped my hands together the way I usually did to stop them from shaking. Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself for the worst. “No, it's not. The night before we left Breakwater, it attacked me.”

  “But how? You were with me.”

  “After that. I went to get some water and it jumped on me. It changed shape and covered me up until I couldn't see. It was so dark. When I got up, I was somewhere else. Somewhere wrong. The sky was moving. The trees, grass, mountains, everything was a silhouette. I tried to use the Spark, but there were Shadow Chasers everywhere and they stole my energy.” I dug my nails into my wrists. “I was helpless, and I hated it.”

  Rune's eyes grew wider and wider as I described the place.

  “There were warhorses, and at certain angles, I could see through them to their bones. The three-headed ones were there too, and other things I've never seen before.”

  He interrupted me with a whisper. “Shadows within Shadows. You were there.” His eyes narrowed at the edges. “You met him. You met Prince Raserion in the heart of his realm.”

  Damn. So Shadows within Shadows was a real place, after all.

  “I met him,” I admitted.

  Rune cursed, hacking his knife down into the table. More than an inch of the blade sunk into the wooden surface, and the handle wobbled where he left it.

  I was not the target of his rage. “What did he do?”

  “Nothing, I mean– he didn't hurt me or anything. He used the shadows to show me his life. Prince Varion murdered their father to steal his Abilities and take the kingdom. Raserion has been set on revenge ever since. He knew who I was and he asked for my help. If I help him find and kill Prince Varion, he'll leave Haven alone and the war will finally be over.”

  “So that's it.” Rune sank into a chair. “First the Gateling appears in Breakwater and now here, on this very ship. He already knows what we’re doing. He knows about Lord Axton and the freed children.”

  “No,” I shook my head, taking the seat across from him. “He never once mentioned Breakwater or the kids. He would have used them as leverage too. He– he even told me that he'd leave you alone if I helped him.”

  Rune snorted, staring darkly down at the table. “I won't be free of him until he takes his final breath. No, Kat. We go north and he commands you to find Prince Varion? He knows exactly what we're doing. He didn't bring up Breakwater because he wants to lure you into a false sense of security. Haven’s safety is leverage e
nough.”

  And yours.

  My chest tightened at the thought of losing him after everything that we'd survived together. I was rattled. “Do you think he knows that I have the Pull?”

  His look was apologetic. “It's safe to assume he knows everything at this point. He's probably given his navy the order to occupy Breakwater. It's just a matter of priority and timing, two of his strengths. By sending you out, he gains another soldier to work for him, and loses nothing. From this distance, and especially once in enemy territory, we can't hope to know what has befallen Breakwater.”

  I rested my arms on the table, letting the Spark filter away. A crushing weight settled on me, and heat, the precursor to tears, burned my face. “I didn't trust him, you know. I thought I was being careful. When I agreed to help him, I knew it might be a lie. I thought I'd changed, but I'm still a naive girl from Rivermarch.”

  “Don't do that.” He had the same rich accent as every Outside Worlder, but the way it was infused with strength and calm comforted me. “Being different doesn't make you weak. You see the world from an angle that we cannot. It just might be that difference that saves us all.”

  I allowed myself to smile. “Thanks for the confidence.”

  He smiled back as though the gesture was becoming easier. “I'll be here five days a week, tips are appreciated.”

  A breathy chuckle slipped free and I felt myself relax, ever so slightly. “Do you remember when the last chain that tethered us to the salvagemen snapped? It was the shadow-thing–”

  “Gateling.”

  “It was the Gateling that broke the link. It helped us.”

  “As it should. Raserion gains nothing from our deaths at sea.” He tapped the table pensively. “What bothers me is that the Gateling has been wandering free all this time.”

  “Is that not normal?”

  “No, it isn't. All of Raserion's creations live in Shadows within Shadows. It's the realm he created for them. We learned about it in training, since the same rule applies to the Mimics, our warhorses.”