Immortal War

by Justin Somper

  Her eyes narrowed. What did he mean? Why did he always cloak his words in riddles, just when you most needed clarity from him? “Are you telling me that it will be Connor who is sacrificed?”

  Mosh Zu looked deeply pained. Grace had the feeling he was keeping vital information back from her. “Grace, I have shared with you all that I can. Please try not to worry about the prophecy.”

  “Don’t worry? How can you say that when the prophecy predicts a death sentence for either me or my brother?”

  Mosh Zu stepped closer toward her. “Please try to be calm. These things all happen for a good reason. This is the direction your life was meant to take, whatever the outcome. Everything is unfolding just as it should.” His words were like a key turning in a lock—cold and metallic. “And now, I must meditate. I need to be released of Olivier’s toxicity. Join me, if you wish.”

  Grace didn’t want to be anywhere near him. He was supposed to be her friend, her mentor. But she was starting to lose sight of him as both of these. “I’m going back to my own room,” she said in measured tones. “It’s been a long night and I could do with a rest before the next ambulance arrives.”

  “As you wish,” Mosh Zu said. He opened the door and they went their very separate ways.

  Outside, guards hurled Olivier out through the doors of Sanctuary, then closed the tall iron gates against him. They clanged shut with finality.

  Olivier took the path down the hill. He lifted his hands up to the moonlight and was gratified to note that they were already beginning to heal.

  His return to Sanctuary had been as eventful as he had anticipated. More so, in some respects. He had come with two missions. His first—to recover the book—had failed spectacularly. But his second had been rather more successful. Smiling to himself, he looked forward to bringing Sidorio and Lola fully up to speed with what he had learned.

  Back in her room, Grace felt suddenly dog-tired. Darcy was already fast asleep in the bunk beside her, and Grace kicked off her shoes and lay down, too exhausted even to contemplate stripping off her healer’s uniform. Before she lay down, she checked her pillowcase and was relieved to find the weight of the book still inside. She took it out and couldn’t resist flicking through it again.

  She turned to the first blank page and watched as the words began to emerge.

  You are an excellent custodian of the book.

  Thank you for hiding me from the patient.

  You did well to defeat him, but his threat is not yet over.

  He has business with the Warmonger and the Fury.

  Grace frowned. It was uncomfortable information but not a complete surprise. Yawning, she was about to close the page when fresh text began to appear.

  Regarding the prophecy, remember that

  Mosh Zu has lied to you before.

  No, she thought. He hadn’t actually lied. Kept things from her, but not lied. As she reflected on this, fresh lines scurried across the page.

  Keep me safe, Grace, and I will return the favor.

  Dark times are coming.

  Darker than you can ever imagine.

  I will guide you as best I can.

  Trust no one but me.

  Not even Lorcan? Grace waited for the book to answer this thought. But the page remained unchanged. Feeling absolutely shattered, despite everything spinning around her head, Grace slipped the book into a new hiding place under her mattress. Then she extinguished the candle in the glass by her bed and focused all her energy on summoning sleep.

  16

  SILENT ASSASSINS

  Three dinghies made their way stealthily across from The Tiger to The Diablo. An hour after dawn, the sea was rougher than the pirates had been hoping for. While the bulky Tiger was able to maintain a strong and steady course, the smaller, lighter dinghies were lifted high on each swell. The waves were burnished gold, reflecting the intensity of the new day’s sun and the halo of cirrus clouds surrounding it.

  Connor stood at the helm of his dinghy, fighting the waves’ determination to separate his craft from the two others on either side. The conditions were giving both his mind and body a workout and his face and arms were already coated in sweat. Connor’s six crewmates worked soundlessly at his side. The only sound was the thundering ocean beneath them and the cawing of gulls above.

  Having brought his dinghy back into line, Connor glanced across to check how Moonshine was faring in his neighboring vessel. Connor found it almost impossible to connect this athletic and focused youth to the acne-ridden kid who had hurled starfish shuriken at Connor and his buddies, for no apparent reason, the first time they’d met. Similarly, there was no trace here of the self-serving jerk who had endangered the success of the pirates’ heist on the Sunset Fort and incited Connor to make his first kill. Moonshine suddenly turned and looked over at him. Their eyes met now not as adversaries, nor thorns in each other’s sides, but as comrades and equals.

  If he was honest, Connor had been waiting for Moonshine’s restrained new persona to crack and the capricious, egomaniacal monster they were all too familiar with to emerge. But, to his surprise, this hadn’t happened. It truly seemed that war had worked some alchemy on Moonshine Wrathe, transforming base metal into gold. Raising his hand, Connor gave his comrade the thumbs-up.

  Cheng Li’s vessel was the first to reach The Diablo. As one of her crew secured the dinghy to the ship, the captain moved to the front of the vessel and swiftly calculated the distance to the deck of the galleon. Wasting no time, she took aim and hurled a weight up onto the deck. It met its target first time. Rather pleased with herself, Cheng Li adjusted what looked like two kite strings. As if miraculously, a discreet but strong wire ladder now connected Cheng Li’s dinghy to the main deck of The Diablo.

  Connor and Moonshine had each been supplied with the same equipment from Federation HQ. Simultaneously, the pirates assessed their target points and threw their own weights up onto the deck, a moderate distance to either side of Cheng Li’s. Now three ladders led the way up to the deck and the pirates lost no time in climbing them. Connor was the last to go up. The wire ladders were so thin it truly looked as if his comrades were scaling the ship with their hands and feet. As space opened up above him, Connor bid a silent farewell to the one pirate assigned to wait behind in the dinghy, then began his ascent. In all, it had taken less than three minutes for the eighteen pirates to make their way from the dinghies below to the deck of The Diablo. The first phase of Operation Scrimshaw was an unqualified success.

  Soundlessly, the pirates made their way across the deserted deck. This was new territory for Connor—usually the fight was under way the instant your boots made contact with the enemy ship. This was different. It was as if they were combating an invisible enemy.

  Connor glanced back briefly at The Tiger. Under the interim command of Jasmine, it was waiting until it was safe to make its approach. Connor imagined Jasmine standing on the bridge, shoulder to shoulder with Cate and Bo Yin. He could conjure every frown line on Jasmine’s face. He knew just how intently she would be watching and waiting. Turning back, he hastened to catch up with Cheng Li. She had reached the door leading into the interior, but now she hesitated. Connor was curious to know why, when Lorcan had emphasized time and again that speed was the essence of this mission’s success. As he drew nearer, he saw the problem.

  Though the deck was deserted while the Vampirate crew slumbered below, a trip wire had been placed across the entrance. The wire was even finer than the ladders by which the pirates had ascended—so fine, it would have been easy to miss, were it not for the sudden gift of a ray of sun. He and his comrades watched as, without uttering a word, Cheng Li pointed to where the wire led to an intricate system of pulleys and, ultimately, a bell. There was no doubting the unholy din that they had avoided by the narrowest of margins. Cheng Li carefully crossed the threshold, then tapped her finger above her eye. Her message was understood by one and all.

  Following the captain over the trip wire, the pirates made
their way toward the heart of the ship. They had rehearsed their maneuvers under Cate’s expert tutelage; now they lost no time putting them into action.

  Connor twisted open the cabin door to his right. Just as predicted, two Vampirates were fast asleep here. They didn’t even stir as Connor and Moonshine stepped inside. The pirates exchanged a glance, then reached simultaneously for their silver swords, which had been dipped in Master Yin’s toxic aconite potion.

  No words or sounds were exchanged. With a nod, both drew their weapons at the same time and plunged them straight into the hearts of their sleeping victims. It was the strangest attack in which Connor had ever participated. Their victims did not cry or scream. They did not put up a fight. They didn’t even open their eyes. Instead, their flesh began to splinter and crumble to dust. As they did so, Moonshine’s face contorted. Of course! Connor was regrettably familiar with the stench as the flesh of many centuries was at last destroyed, but this was new territory entirely for Moonshine. Reaching for his companion’s shoulder, Connor pulled him out into the corridor.

  Across the hall, Cheng Li stepped out of the opposite cabin. She and Connor exchanged the briefest of glances. It was, nonetheless, loaded with meaning. Cheng Li disappeared into the next cabin along, a member of her crew on either side. Connor checked that Moonshine was with him, then, nodding, opened the next door on their side of the corridor.

  Four Vampirates lay sprawled on their bunks in this cabin. Connor leaned out of the doorway to summon two more of his crew. They moved swiftly and, on Connor’s silent command, drew their weapons. The four swords plunged into four fresh victims. No cries. No fight back. Just the horrible sight and odor of dying flesh. It was, Connor reflected, somehow too easy. As he moved along the hallway, Connor felt less like a pirate than like a silent assassin. He knew that war had a knack for rewriting the rules of engagement, but, even so, this battle seemed unequal.

  At the end of the corridor was a long communal cabin, which had a particular history for Connor. This was where he had bunked on his first nights aboard The Diablo. This was where, on that very first night, Bart had given up his bunk for him. As he opened the door, beckoning his team to follow, Connor’s eyes swept the room. Like the previous cabins, it was full of Vampirates, deep in sleep on their bunks or suspended in hammocks.

  Connor could see the simple bunk that Bart had ceded to him on that first night. It had been the first generous act in a friendship marked by many more. Suddenly, Connor’s thoughts came into focus. This morning’s raid was no more unjust than Lola’s ruthless murder of Bart. The Vampirates slumped across these bunks and hammocks wouldn’t have a moment’s pause if the tables were turned. Connor ushered his comrades forward, waiting until Cheng Li and the rest joined them. This was a job for all eighteen of the first attack. It took only seconds for them to be in position, then Connor deferred to Cheng Li.

  This time, she gave the signal as the pirates raised aloft their silver swords and rammed them through the hearts of their dormant prey. Withdrawing his sword, Connor wiped it clean in preparation for his next kill. His eyes skimmed his old bunk as he left the room. War, he reflected, was no place for fairness. Cate and Lorcan had left the attack squad in no doubt as to what they had to do. You need to move as quickly as you can. In their weakened state, there’s a much higher ratio of kill to regeneration. It hadn’t taken long for the team of pirates to rid the upper deck of The Diablo of its erstwhile Vampirate crew. The recapture of Molucco’s legendary ship was well under way.

  Cheng Li’s almond eyes met Connor’s. He nodded. Everything was going according to plan, so now he would take the attack down to the next stretch of cabins while she journeyed on toward the captain’s cabin and an encounter with Johnny Desperado; captain to captain. She didn’t go alone, of course—that would have been foolhardy, even allowing for the pirates’ advantage. She proceeded with grim determination and two trusted escorts.

  Meanwhile Connor and Moonshine descended the stairs, side by side. Connor could sense that Moonshine was unsettled by what he’d experienced so far. He knew that as much as Wrathe junior wanted to take possession of his uncle’s ship, he hadn’t completely comprehended what it would involve. It wasn’t simply a matter of naivete. Nothing could inure you to the smell of a Vampirate hurtling toward oblivion.

  Connor strode along the lower deck, thinking how strange it was to be walking along these familiar corridors and finding strangers behind every door. It was rather like returning to your past and discovering that every trace of you had been eradicated—as if you had never been there in the first place.

  At his side, Moonshine pushed open the first cabin door on this level. Connor turned to follow suit but, hearing Moonshine curse, hesitated. There was a sudden deafening tolling of bells from the very belly of the ship. Moonshine had missed the trip wire strung across the officers’ cabin, and now the Vampirates’ alarm system had been activated. The pirates had been lulled into a false sense of victory and lured deeper into the ship by the sword-fodder above. Connor could see the raw horror in Moonshine’s eyes. Anyone could have made such a mistake, but Connor found himself wishing that it had been he, not his comrade, who had tripped the wire.

  In each of the open cabins, the crew was waking. And you could bet that the same was happening in each and every remaining cabin. Once again, Lorcan’s words sounded in Connor’s head. When you rouse them, they’ll be as weak as snakes who’ve just shed their skin. The pirates still had the advantage, but it would no longer be quite so clear-cut. From this point on, the battle would be more evenly balanced. And, no question, a hell of a lot nastier.

  17

  DEADLY EMBRACE

  Cheng Li ran toward the captain’s cabin, her escorts at her side, as the deafening alarm reverberated around them. As she pushed open the cabin door, she saw that darkness lay beyond. It was broken only by a flash of white, which Cheng Li realized was Johnny’s naked torso as he leaped out of bed. Talk about sleeping on the job!

  “Wakey, wakey!” Cheng Li cried, striding into the familiar cabin. “We’ve come to take back our ship.”

  Johnny barely had the chance to leap into his pants as Cheng Li and her two escorts entered the cabin. Cheng Li kicked the door shut behind them, her eyes now adjusting to the dim as she made out the silhouette of the Cowboy.

  “This is my ship now!” he asserted huskily.

  “Only if you believe in squatter’s rights,” said Cheng Li. Drawing her twin katanas, she strode purposefully toward the blackout blinds. “Time to let back in some light!”

  “No!” Johnny wailed as Cheng Li’s escorts closed in on either side to restrain him.

  Vampirates streamed out of their cabins. Some were disoriented at having been woken too soon from their sleep. These were swiftly dispatched by the silver swords brandished by Connor, Moonshine, and the rest of the pirate vanguard. The corridor soon became a minefield of putrid Vampirate dust—a hazard in more ways than one. And now other Vampirates entered the corridor, still sluggish but bearing weapons and able to fight. The battle had shifted. Finding himself in greater danger but on more familiar turf, Connor gripped his sword and hurled himself into the fray.

  As ever, Connor found the focus required for one-on-one conflict a relief. He was able to achieve zanshin—the legendary higher consciousness of the Samurai warrior, which Commodore Kuo had once lectured about. In this heightened state of awareness, he could fend off direct attacks while maintaining strong peripheral vision. This enabled him not only to protect himself from secondary assaults but also to look out for his comrades. Even as his sword clashed with his own adversary, he was aware of Moonshine, fighting with genuine flair and professionalism and claiming a fresh victory.

  The corridor became still more crowded as Vampirates from the lower decks, roused by the bell and the concerto of cries and footsteps above, came up to join the fray. The pirate vanguard was now locked in a confined area with no way to open up more space than through slaughter. This phase of Op
eration Scrimshaw had been predicted by Cate, and she had identified her strongest swordsmen and -women accordingly.

  Connor knew that the pirates’ key advantage—surprise—was now lost to them. The sense of jeopardy had roused the Vampirates like a hefty dose of caffeine, and the blood from the wounds inflicted on their pirate attackers had awakened their hunger, too. Connor could see the fires of hunger stoked in his enemies’ eyes. Thankfully, he himself was still sated from the blood he’d scored the night before—otherwise, this would have been an unwelcome distraction.

  He could see the change in his own adversary. With every clash of their swords, the Vampirate seemed to grow stronger. For the first time in the attack, Connor felt he was engaged in an equal fight. He found himself lifting his own sword skills. The duel was a close-fought one, but at last he outmaneuvered the Vampirate and claimed victory.

  To his side, one of his comrades had not proved so lucky. Goran fell to the floor with a crash, a dead weight. Goran had been a popular member of the crew, and Connor saw momentary hesitation in his ranks.

  “Come on!” he urged the others. “He played his part. Fight on! Clear this corridor!”

  At his words, the pirates took to their mission with fresh vigor. But they no longer had the advantage of numbers. Vampirates from belowdecks were surging toward them, pushing them back along the corridor.