by Apryl Baker
“Yes.”
Lukas let out a curse. “Why would you do that?”
“Yes, Prince of Atlantis, tell them why you let such a foul creature as myself on board this vessel.”
“Prince of Atlantis?” Valeria whispered. He was a prince?
“Not anymore.” His shoulders slumped, defeated.
“But you were?” Stephen asked, curiosity plain in his voice.
“Once upon a time.” He shot a hateful glare toward the creature, who lay chuckling. “Must we discuss this in front of this thing?”
“I think this is a perfect place to discuss it.” Valeria suspected the creature would keep them on the straight and narrow when it came to the truth because it wanted Tobias to suffer. “Why did you bring the changeling on board?”
“I knew there might come a time when I needed to escape. I offered it passage as long as it would take my place in Atlantis.”
Shock rocked through her. He had planned on abandoning them? “Why would you need to escape, Tobias? What aren’t you telling me?”
A loud crack of thunder shook the entire ship, and they all scrambled to keep their balance at the accompanying wind that threatened to tear the ship’s sails to shreds. It was something she’d been fretting about since they’d entered this last stage of the trials.
“It is a long story, girl, one that needs to be discussed in private.”
“Will you tell me the complete truth?” Valeria asked, her tone broking no room for dispute.
“Yes, girl, I will tell you all of it. Just not here. Not in front of this creature whose sole purpose is subterfuge. What I say could be used against us all later, should it escape.”
“You trusted it enough to bring it on board,” Stephen reminded him. “What’s changed now?”
“He was found out,” Lukas said, voice grim. “Had we not figured it out, he would have let it go, all the while knowing it was responsible for brutally murdering three of our crew. If you ask me, I think he’s as responsible as it is.”
Stephen nodded. “Aye, Lukas, he is, but I don’t think that is the most important thing here.”
Lukas let out a growl and turned on him, but Valeria stopped him. “He’s right, Lukas. I’m as angry as you are about what happened to our people, but there’s more going on here than we know. We have to know what we are walking into.”
“I don’t like it.” Lukas’s entire demeanor threatened violence. “Our crew…they won’t let this slide, Valeria. You know it as well as I do.”
He was right about that. They’d demand justice, especially since the guilty parties had been identified. She needed to understand everything before she made any kind of decisions.
“You two take this thing to the brig and make sure the crew sees you take him down there. Stop along the way and let the men see what really killed their mates. Escort Ryder back to her quarters then meet me in my cabin.”
They both looked ready to disagree with leaving her alone with Tobias, but she shook her head. “Do I have to repeat myself?” She was still the captain of this ship, and she would be obeyed. She hadn’t forgotten they’d been keeping secrets from her, and the sting of that went into the harsh command.
“Fine, but be careful.” Lukas took an extra second to lean in and whisper the warning. “Please.”
“I will,” she promised him and watched them haul the changeling out of the supply room. Then she turned to Tobias. “Let’s go.”
***
Her cabin was dark, and she took a moment to light the lamps along the walls. She really should get those new gas lamps installed, but she hadn’t had time to refit the ship with luxuries. The place was a mess, she decided once it was well-lit. Her cabin boy was not doing his job.
Tobias sank down into one of the chairs opposite her desk. He looked exhausted. Perhaps he was. Keeping up with lies always wore you out eventually. It was one of the reasons she did her best to keep to the truth.
It wasn’t long before Lukas and Stephen joined them. Stephen sat in the chair beside Tobias while Lukas came to stand behind the chair she sat in, one hand on her shoulder. A fact not lost on Stephen. She met his gaze, unflinching. They needed to finish their earlier conversation, but it wouldn’t be any time soon.
“Now, start at the beginning, old man.” She kept her tone hard, sharp. He wasn’t going to be allowed half-truths this time.
Tobias nodded, his eyes downcast. “You already know most of the beginning of my story. I went to Atlantis as a young man, looking for adventure, destiny, whatever you want to call it. Once there, I discovered I had family, something I’d given up on long ago. Not only family, but the birthmark on my back marked me as a child of the royal family. Only those with the tattoo-like map like the one I carry can claim that.”
Valeria frowned. She and Tobias had an identical birthmark.
“Aye,” he nodded, reading her facial expression. “You too are of the royal bloodline, Valeria.”
“I have family there?” she whispered.
“No.” He slouched back in his seat. “Not anymore. I am all the family you have now.”
Her head shot up and she stared at him wide-eyed. “What?”
“I knew who you were the moment you told me about the birthmark. You are my granddaughter.”
Silence surrounded that bald statement. She couldn’t grasp it. Her mind refused to hear it. She stared, eyes narrowed. “What game are you trying to play, old man?”
“No games.” He held up his hands in defeat. “You wanted the truth; I am giving you the whole truth.”
“How can you know she’s your granddaughter?” Stephen asked. “I am sure you aren’t the only one who left Atlantis, not even the only one of royal blood.”
“First, she looks like my brother, the old king of Atlantis. Second, I was the only one to escape Atlantis after my brother was overthrown and Kronos took over. He killed every member of the royal family that day, even the babes in their cradles. It was a massacre.”
“Then how did you survive?” Lukas asked, suspicious.
“Because I helped Kronos.” Tobias closed his eyes, his expression full of pain. “I didn’t know he’d planned on killing anyone. I got seduced by power, and I helped him overthrow the king. I was accused of the murder, and my family and exiled from Atlantis.”
“Exiled? So you didn’t escape, then?” Lukas asked, anger vibrating off him.
“No, we escaped. I knew they meant to kill us. How could Kronos not? My wife, our son, and I were the last of the Dendali family. As long as we were alive, his power could never be absolute. We snuck away in the middle of the night. I took my wife and son to an old friend and asked him to get them to safety, somewhere they’d never be found. It was the last I saw of them.”
“So the map on my back? It means I am your blood kin?”
“Not just that, girl, you are the one the oracle spoke of the night I fled. Kronos had the old crone look to the future. She saw another born with the Dendali birthmark, the next true leader of the Atlantian people. She saw the girl come home, retake her throne, and return the lands to the way they once were.”
“I don’t understand.” Valeria leaned forward, trying to figure out what he was saying. “You just said our family had this mark on our backs. How can you know it’s me she was talking about?”
He sighed. “Not everyone is born with that mark, Valeria. Only those meant to rule. My son did not have the birthmark. I felt your presence when you came into the world. Had I not been such a coward, so afraid of my own death, I would have come to find you. Perhaps I could have spared you from the hand dealt to you, but I was too selfish. I did not want to die.”
“Die? Now what are you talking about?”
“The old crone, she also said the only way for the rightful leader of Atlantis to retake the city meant the death of the one who brought about the downfall of Atlantis. Me. To retake the city, it requires my death. I don’t want to die, girl.”
Stephen let out a whistle. “We
ll, that explains all the secrets you’ve been keeping.”
Valeria stared nonplussed at the man claiming to be her grandfather. She was supposed to kill him in order to take back the throne? She didn’t want to rule a city. She’d only wanted to find her family, a home to call hers.
“I’m not going to kill you, Tobias. You can stop worrying about that.” She pulled out her trusty whisky and glasses, pouring them all a drink.
He accepted the glass and downed it in one swallow. “Prophecies don’t really give us choices, girl. They have a way of coming to be whether we want them to or not. Your returning to Atlantis means my death. By your hand.”
“Not happening, Tobias.” Val shook her head. “Let’s talk about returning to Atlantis for a moment. You planned to use the changeling to escape should anyone recognize you? I’m assuming if you return after being exiled, it means death for you?”
“Aye, girl, it does.”
“And yet you were going to take me there?” She cocked her head, studying him.
“I promised my brother I would make this right. He asked it of me in his dying breath. I cannot keep hiding from that promise. The afterlife terrifies me, but I can’t run from a pledge forged in death. I have to honor him. It may mean my own demise, but I will get you there so you can right an old wrong that has haunted me for the last one hundred and fifty years.”
“And if I don’t want any part of this?” she asked softly. “What then?”
“You made the choice the moment you entered the Crucible.” He raised his eyes to meet hers. “That choice is long gone.”
A pounding at the door interrupted them. At her command to enter, Jacoby stuck his head in, eyes wild. “Captain, best you come up. Something’s coming, and it don’t look like the welcome wagon.”
“Something?” she asked, standing.
“A monster, Cap’n. A monster.”
Chapter Sixteen
Fear would be her greatest asset. To a crew that was bone weary from already passing two of the three Crucible tests, inspiring terror would not be a problem.
Deep red magic pulsed from Hera’s core as she covered her ship, The Juggernaut, in its strong glow. The vessel was one of the many Atlantian warships Kronos had ordered built in preparation for his invasion of DeCadia. Quick and sturdy, it could stand toe to toe with the best DeCadia had to offer.
But on all-out assault was not Hera’s goal this night. As the thunder boomed and the lightning flashed overhead, her thoughts were twofold. How to get her Titan on board the enemy vessel, and in the process, find out who was manning the ship.
To get her Titan close enough to board, she would have to distract the opposing crew long enough to gain distance. There was no better way to do this than play on the primal fear of the unknown all mankind was inherently born with.
Hera stood in the middle of the deck, her crew looking on in awe, as she pulled magic from deep within her being. Soon, the crimson appendages emanating from her body began to take shape. The tentacles spread out until The Juggernaut was blanketed by the dark magic.
Form began slowly but gained speed with each passing second. Bound only by the strength of her own imagination, Hera summoned an image of the most horrifying creature she could envision.
A fierce maw with teeth the size of grown men sprouted from a neck that began at the stern of the ship. Translucent wings appeared on either side of the deck. A tail so believable it appeared physical whipped back and forth against the rain that came down in heavy sheets.
The power this cost Hera would have crippled anyone else. For her, it was a strain but nothing more. Hera held her focus, her muscles tight under the long black robe indicative of her order.
Mouths from the ship’s crew as well as magicians under her command dropped. Looks of respect, admiration, even fear pressed her from every face. Hera ignored it all as she blinked against the rain that sought to blur her vision.
With a grunt, her spell was complete. The image of a giant red Dragon covered The Juggernaut like a suit of armor. To any they approached through the flashes of lightning, it would appear as though a winged serpent had come to devour their souls.
For the first time, Hera broke her concentration over her spell and allowed herself a brief respite. The illusion wouldn’t hold long, but she didn’t need it to.
“Kat, Tara,” Hera shouted through the howling wind.
Even as the names left her lips, two black-robed magicians appeared at her side. Both were drenched to the bone. Where others would be complaining, the two women held fire in their eyes, the kind of fire only the promise of battle brought.
“Kat, as soon as we’re in range, your only task it to gain intel on the crew,” Hera said, confident she didn’t need to tell her number two how to accomplish this. “Tara, the Titan, is he ready?”
“Ready. The last step in his awakening is the elixir.” The muscular woman reached into the folds of her robe and revealed a thick needle attached to a cylinder holding ebony liquid. “Give me the command, and it will be done.”
“Ship ahead!”
The warning came from the lookout stationed in the crow’s nest. Hera had no doubt the words were shouted when they left the lungs of the poor soul stationed above. However, when they reached her ears, it was more of a faint echo barely audible above the torrent.
Hera’s gaze traveled the deck of The Juggernaut to rest on an intricately designed sarcophagus. The lid was open, the contents the result of years of trial and error.
This was it, the first real field test the Titan Project had undergone. Countless hours had been poured into attaining the secrets of not only the reanimation of a warrior’s corpse but the enhancement of their strength, nullifying their pain receptors, and inserting deep within them the desire to destroy.
So many soldiers had volunteered for the procedure, and so many had been taken against their will, the events surrounding their deaths falsified to placate relatives and friends. But like in any work of art, sacrifices had to be made.
“Give him the elixir.” Hera nodded her words to Tara. “Then hurry. We’ll have only seconds to spare.”
Tara moved toward the sarcophagus without question, the needle held in her hands with all the care a newborn infant would demand. All eyes moved from the magnificent ethereal form of the serpent that had taken over their ship to the inhuman act about to take place.
The fatigue of holding a spell this intricate was finally beginning to wear on Hera. Blinking furiously, she looked out into the night for any sign of the enemy. She didn’t have to search long. Even through the falling rain, Hera was able to decipher the shape of an approaching ship. They would be upon it sooner than any of them expected.
“Tara, do it now!” Hera yelled over the storm.
Her scream would be unwarranted. Tara was already standing over the limp form in the sarcophagus. A jagged bolt of lightning ripped the sky apart, adding illumination to the ghastly sight. Tara lifted the needle above her head and screamed something lost in the boom of thunder as the syringe lowered and made contact with the exposed neck of the Titan.
Like a magic trick, the steel needle was lost in the pale flesh of its victim. Tara pushed down on the plunger with her thumb, a look of psychotic glee across her face as she finished the deed.
Booms of cannon fire joined the thunder overhead. Apparently, the enemy was not as impressed with Hera’s magic as she would have liked.
“Close the coffin!” Hera roared at her crew. “Over the side with it!”
“I’m going,” Kat said, looking to her superior for confirmation.
“Go,” Hera said, witnessing her second disappear in a cloaking spell of faint red.
The Juggernaut shuddered with the impact of the first volley of cannon fire. They were directly over the enemy ship now.
A huge gasp of effort escaped from the group led by Tara, who lifted the sarcophagus and threw it over the side. The Titan fell.
***
Tobias craned his neck f
orward over the railing with what seemed the entire crew. At the shouts of “monster,” everyone had come running.
Apparently, the cry was not unwarranted. Out in the darkness, a red glow was taking form. With each second, the mass grew brighter and larger. Tobias ignored the cold droplets of water that mingled and mixed with his own sweat.
His mouth went dry at the approach of what his eyes were telling them was there, but his brain refused to believe. A Dragon, much larger than Ryder, was bearing down on them through the storm. Each whip of lightning gave him a better view. The beast was the size of a ship and moving quickly. They had minutes, perhaps a single minute to prepare.
All around him shouts and warnings were joining the cacophony of sound inspired by the oncoming nightmare. One voice rose above the rest.
“Lukas, cannon crews ready. Marm, prepare for a broadside. Stephen, stop bleeding all over my ship.” Val’s voice was a beacon of stability in a scene of madness. Fear was lost in her tone; rather, an unexpected hint of joy illuminated every word. “This is the last test. The end of the Crucible is near. Move, you rotten excuses for a crew. Move!”
As the deck erupted with the echo of running feet, Tobias felt something he had not experienced in a very long time—the presence of foreign magic. Magic in DeCadia was unheard of. He had been prepared when Val exercised her own, but this was something very different. Pinpricks, not from the storm’s icy droplets, raced down Tobias’ spine.
“No,” Tobias said to himself as he hurried to find Valeria. “It’s too soon. She’s not ready.”
Tobias nearly fell as he raced across the slick deck. He had to warn Valeria before it was too late. Just as he expected, he found her in the center of the chaos.
Doling out orders to her crew, it was hard not to feel a sense of pride in his granddaughter. Still, this was not the time for sentiment. Their lives were inching closer and closer to the abyss of death.