Jericho nodded gravely. He knew what Coinin was planning to do.
Coinin closed his eyes in concentration, battling against powerful emotions in his attempt to focus on the troll. His anger at Reena’s death seemed to fuel his desire for revenge. He knew that vengeance was beneath him, and he would be exacting it against a creature of little intelligence— the object of his affection had been brutally dispatched, and more of his friends could die at this creature’s hands if he did nothing. Jericho’s attempts to defeat it were proving fruitless, and he knew he must act sooner rather than later.
Coinin’s mind left his body and passed through a swirling tunnel of multicoloured lights, then, with a sudden jolt, he was inhabiting the mind of the troll. This was a familiar sensation to him, having used this gift many times before.
Coinin heard Jericho shout for his men to cease their attack, and he turned to see his own body being restrained by Jericho and Aniol. The troll found himself much smaller and defenceless in the body of Coinin.
With a lumbering gait, Coinin, now the troll, turned towards the tunnel leading to the portal and set off to find a way to kill the creature.
He wanted to do it alone; he needed to do it in private. He hated himself and the prospect of taking a life, yet a clear desire for retribution burnt inside him. He had to repay the beast for the death of the woman he had longed for, and make sure that Lordich could not use this creature to harm another living soul.
He hurried through the damaged tunnel, passed through the portal and emerged into the sunshine. Ahead of him, Hur’al and his men were busily searching the debris of the tower and did not notice him.
He veered left and out of sight of Hur’al’s team, towards a rising grass bank that overlooked the sea. He stood and stared across the waves for several lonely minutes, mourning the loss of Reena, and then decided it was time to act. Without hesitation and only a little remorse tinged with guilt, he leapt from the cliff. Sharp rocks below would dash the body to pieces, and he would wake back in his own body, the mind of the troll forever erased. It was the least cruel way he knew since the troll would know nothing as its life was snuffed out.
Seconds later, he opened his eyes to the gloom of the tunnel. ‘You can let go now; it’s me,’ he said.
Jericho and Aniol released Coinin’s arms, and he stood. Now that his deed was done, shock hit him, and he fell to his knees and retched. Having deposited his last meal on the ground, he again stood, wiped his mouth and stared quietly at the body of Reena. Aniol approached, and he permitted a comforting hug from her, though his eyes never left the dead woman’s body until two of Jericho’s men picked her up and carried her away. Other soldiers did likewise to the other bodies, and he had no choice but to follow.
Aniol supported Coinin along the tunnel, and as they reached the portal, he broke free and held back, urging the others to make their exit. Once alone, he bent to gather the bones of Nestis.
Reena and the others had been laid side by side on the grass, recovering from their portal trip, and when Coinin emerged, he carefully deposited Nestis’ remains beside the other lifeless bodies.
Jericho looked at Coinin quizzically, but the latter merely turned away. His guilt at killing the troll was eating at him, and he had hoped that the decent act of retrieving and burying Nestis would absolve him.
‘She’s dead. I’ve lost her. I murdered her,’ he cried, almost in tears.
Aniol looked shocked. ‘You didn’t murder her; the troll did that.’
‘I sent her here. If she hadn’t come, she’d be alive right now.’
Aniol gently grasped Coinin by the arm. ‘She chose this life and died doing what she loved best. You cannot, no, you must not blame yourself.’
Coinin sighed regretfully and wandered away, with Aniol following at a discreet distance. She knew he needed to grieve and to be alone with his thoughts.
❖
Jericho had searched out the body of his wife and found a grave mound overlooking the sea on the other side of the island from where the tower had been. A basic wooden stake had been driven into the head of the grave and a name scratched into the wood. It read, Eraywen Jericho. Here lay his beloved wife, murdered at the hands of Lordich’s men.
He silently thanked the female guard he had met during his last visit to the island for honouring her word to bury Eraywen with dignity. It did make him wonder why they had left Nestis in the tunnel, and pondered where the body of the poor wretch Silentus Madook could be found, murdered for helping him.
He sat cross-legged at the foot of Eraywen’s grave and unashamedly talked to her. ‘My darling, I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there for you when you needed me most. I blame myself for your death.’ He paused to wipe away a tear. ‘If my stubbornness to stay hadn’t got in the way, you wouldn’t be here now. I hope you can forgive me and know that I’ll do all that I can to bring your murderers to justice.’
The crunch of grass behind him gave away the presence of someone. He turned his head and saw Coinin loitering several feet away. Jericho inclined his head and invited the Curator to join him.
Coinin sat down and looked gravely at Jericho. ‘I’m sorry to disturb you, General.’
‘We’re both sorry for something.’
Coinin nodded to the grave. ‘Your wife?’
‘Yes,’ he nodded, lowering his eyes.
Coinin knew whatever was said would hold no comfort for the General, though he had to say something. ‘When I lost my parents, I was very young and really didn’t understand what death meant until recently. It’s a sad business, and now with Reena gone too—’
‘She meant something to you?’ Jericho quizzed.
‘I know it’s against protocol, but yes, and I know that I meant nothing to her.’
‘I’m sure you made an impression.’
‘She never showed any interest.’
‘That is … was her way,’ Jericho corrected himself. He took a breath. ‘You are correct. I still miss your parents; they were good friends.’
Both men sat in silence digesting their recent losses and trying to find ways to come to terms with their personal pain.
‘So what now?’ Jericho said after a few minutes.
‘We bury the dead, find Lordich, defeat him and return to the island to bring our loved ones home for a proper burial,’ Coinin replied simply.
Jericho stood, dusted himself off and assisted Coinin to his feet. ‘Then let’s get to it; there is much to do.’
‘Are you certain? I could leave you here for a while longer.’
Jericho shook his head. ‘There will be plenty of time for mourning once Lordich has been defeated.’
They turned back inland and headed down the gentle slope to the centre of the island. Hur’al and his men had cleared as much debris as they could; thankfully most of it had crashed into the sea below the island. Two new bodies had been laid beside the others, and a handful of graves had already been prepared.
Coinin and Jericho approached the workers and assisted them to layer rocks and stones over the bodies. The newly laid mounds would protect the remains until they could return to the island and retrieve their comrades.
Once completed, Aniol approached Coinin. ‘Curator, I think that you should say a few words in remembrance.’
Coinin had become quite accustomed to speaking in public over the past few months, regularly updating the temple Brotherhood on matters of security. Now it fell to him to remember those they had lost. He cleared his throat and stood among the grave mounds surrounded by a dishevelled and disheartened crew and soldiers. He raised his hand to show he wished to speak, and everyone present paid attention.
‘It has been a sad day for us all. We have lost friends and loved ones.’ He shot a deliberate look at Jericho. ‘We must be resolved to do what we can to honour their memory and bring to justice those that conspire to destroy our lives, our beliefs, and those we love dearly. Pray with me so that we may find the strength to continue in our quest, and that we m
ay remember our beloved for their sacrifice.’
Each of the gathered lowered their heads in silent individual prayer. A minute later, Coinin again spoke. ‘I think that we should make preparations to return to the ship. We shall need to rethink our strategies now that we are fewer in number.’
‘That’s a great idea,’ Hur’al agreed. ‘I’m sure we could all do with some food and a good rest. Let’s head for the boats.’
A contemplative raiding party left the island, solemn and reflective. They rejoined The Peregrine and struggled up the netting cast over the side of the ship. A few of the returning shore party ate silently in the dining room while others took food with them and lay on their bunks to eat. Coinin was one of them, preferring the solitude of his own company. It was not too long before the rocking motion of the sea saw him sleeping.
❖
Reena ran towards him, ghostlike, her face bloodied and her hair matted. Her breastplate had a tear across it from some attack or another. He stretched out his hand, though no matter how much she ran she was unable to reach him.
Behind her, a great black dragon roared and sent fiery breath his way. In an instant, Reena was consumed horrifically by the fire, and the dragon morphed into the hooded figure of a wizard.
The wizard moved swiftly towards him and gripped his throat tightly and raised him to eye level. Coinin saw only darkness under the wizard’s hood. He wriggled and tried to break free, yet found he was unable to do so.
A hideous voice erupted from the hood. ‘Die!’ it said.
Coinin croaked back. ‘No!’
The hood dropped to reveal an eyeless face. The head was aflame, and the seared flesh was reddened and blistered horribly. The mouth of the creature widened to unimaginable proportions and displayed a series of sharp teeth ready to devour him.
The mouth closed upon him and he was sucked into a black vortex. He closed his eyes to a prolonged scream.
❖
Coinin awoke in a cold sweat and sat up with his heart racing. He had no doubt as to the identity of the eyeless stranger. It had to be Lordich, a manifestation of the wizard his dreams had inspired.
Axl sat on a wooden stool several feet away, looking at Coinin curiously. He stood and hopped onto Coinin’s hammock with ease. ‘Bad dream?’ he asked.
‘I’ve had worse,’ Coinin lied.
Axl nodded noncommittally. ‘I’ve been thinking about our predicament.’
Coinin sat up with interest. ‘Go on.’
‘The way I see it, Lordich has a head start on us, and we have to catch up. That will be impossible with this ship.’
Coinin frowned. ‘I suppose you want us to grow wings and fly?’ he said mockingly.
Axl ignored him. ‘Actually, yes, that’s exactly what I want. Well, not the grow wings part,’ he replied happily.
‘If it hadn’t escaped your notice, we are fresh out of dragons,’ Coinin dismissed.
Axl leapt from the hammock. ‘Curator, please follow me, I have something to show you.’
Coinin sighed and followed Axl through the bowels of the ship. On deck, the sun cast long shadows across the planks. Axl made his way quickly to the forecastle and clambered the steps. There he faced the island and pointed at a dark mass lying next to the remains of the tower.
Coinin squinted and shrugged his shoulders. ‘What am I supposed to be looking at?’
‘There’s our wings. The abandoned pirate airship.’
Coinin looked at Axl sceptically. ‘That thing is damaged, it won’t fly.’
‘No, it won’t fly, but this ship will.’
Coinin saw a gleam of mad excitement in Axl’s eyes. ‘Are you telling me you can you make it fly?’
Axl nodded heartily. ‘I’ve been up all night doing the calculations. We will have to make a few adjustments here and there, lighten our load—I guarantee that The Peregrine will fly.’
Coinin smiled broadly at some good news at last. He gripped Axl by the shoulder. ‘You, Sir, are a genius.’
‘So they keep telling me.’
‘How long will you need to complete the work?’
‘Almost twenty-one solar cycles, though we will need to work through the night too.’
Coinin pulled at his lip with thumb and finger. ‘I shall have to call a meeting with Captain Hur’al and General Jericho.’
‘What for?’ said a familiar voice behind them.
Coinin and Axl turned to see Hur’al looking at them quizzically.
‘Impeccable timing, as usual,’ Coinin smiled. ‘It seems Axl here has an excellent idea, but we need to hold a council to gauge opinion and consent.’
‘I’m not going to like this, am I?’ Hur’al pursed his lips.
‘Probably not. Let’s find the General and discuss this in private,’ Coinin said, heading across the deck.
Searching out Jericho took five full minutes. He was stowed away in a dark section of the hold and gazing thoughtfully out to sea through a tiny porthole, unaware that they had approached.
Coinin coughed to draw his attention. At first, Jericho remained lost to his thoughts, and a second louder cough was needed to bring him back to reality.
He swung to greet them. ‘Sorry gentlemen, I was contemplating our next move.’ Secretly, though, he was mourning the loss of Reena. He had nurtured her and trained her personally from the age of sixteen. He was preparing her to replace him when the time came. Now, all that work was lost, alongside someone he cared for like a daughter.
‘That’s quite fortuitous since we also need to discuss our next course of action,’ Hur’al said. He sat down on a barrel next to the tired looking General. Coinin and Axl followed suit.
Axl gently nudged Coinin and nodded that he should begin.
‘Ah, yes. It seems we are at a disadvantage. Lordich is clearly not on the island as we had hoped and made his escape elsewhere. In order for us to catch up with him—’
‘How do you intend to catch up with him if you don’t know where he’s headed?’ Jericho interrupted.
Coinin was at a loss for an answer and frowned heavily.
Hur’al clicked his fingers and pointed into the air. ‘If I were Lordich, I’d go to the one place I know I’d be safe.’
‘Where’s that?’ Coinin asked.
‘Well, it’s reasonable to assume since he’s in league with pirates, that he’s heading for their stronghold off the coasts of Lower Rodine and the Kar Province.’
‘How exactly do we know that he’s in league with pirates?’ Jericho asked.
‘Two reasons. Pirates abducted Marrok, and there is a damaged pirate ship on the island. It’s, therefore, possible that he has fled with them. Using dragons for all his men and equipment or supplies is not very practical.’
‘Which brings us to what I wanted to discuss with you,’ Coinin said.
Jericho looked at the Curator expectantly, and Hur’al faced him with crossed arms.
‘Axl, we know, is a keen inventor and has proven his worth on more than one occasion on this trip. Therefore I have great faith in him that he can accomplish what I consider to be the impossible.’ Coinin looked to Axl. ‘Tell them what you have said to me.’
Axl went pink about the cheeks and looked down shyly. He began to mumble a response.
‘We can’t hear you Axl; please speak up.’
Axl raised his head. ‘I said I would like to turn this vessel into an airship.’
Hur’al snorted. ‘I’m sorry, I thought you told me you wanted to turn The Peregrine into an airship.’
‘I did.’
‘Oh. And why would you want to do that?’
‘Simple. It will take a dozen months to traverse these seas if we travel on water. Although if we were up there, floating above the inclement weather, we could potentially turn that trip into a few months.’
Hur’al stood and paced the hold, weighing the pros and cons. Now and then he would stop and ask a question, receive a satisfactory answer and continue walking. Eventually, he stopped and
resumed sitting.
‘I’m all for it if you can do it, Axl. I will just have to convince my men. They are seagoing folk, not accustomed to travelling among the clouds, and they are a mighty superstitious bunch. I’m an old pirate—I left that life behind long ago.’
‘If you can get your men onside, we should do this, and then return to the temple for reinforcements,’ Coinin said.
Jericho stood up. ‘There is no need, Curator. There is a garrison of Order soldiers on the island of Pin’r. We should make that our first stop, resupply and take on more men.’
‘Then its settled. Hur’al will rally the men, Axl will lead the construction of our new ship, and the General and I, well, we’ll just follow orders,’ Coinin said with a wry smile.
❖
On deck, Hur’al had gathered his men and stood in their midst. He had spent the past hour debating with them about the plan. Several sailors refused to listen to reason, and even when Hur’al told them of the scheme to build a new ship with funds from the temple, they stubbornly refused to budge.
‘I can see we are getting nowhere with this, so here’s the deal. Anyone who wishes to stay behind is welcome to. We will leave them on the island with rations to last. I just hope we can return before they run out, because I’d hate to think what would happen if we couldn’t return for some reason.’
A fresh murmur went around the men, and half a minute later each of the sailors agreed to the plan.
Hur’al hid a smirk. He was quite persuasive when he needed to be. ‘Thank you, gentlemen. Axl here will be leading the rebuild of this ship. Do as he says without question. Understood?’
Each of the crew nodded in agreement and turned to the young Axl, who looked pale at taking the lead in a project so large.
Lacretia stepped forward and stood with her hands on her hips in front of Axl. ‘What do you need?’
The Aduramis Chronicles: Volumes 1-3: The Definitive Collection Page 56