“Sergeant, we request permission to enter the bridge,” said Carym with firm military formality. With his left arm, the sergeant drew a dagger from his left side and rapped the hilt on the hatch three times, then with perfect military precision he snapped his dagger into its scabbard and dropped his hands back to his sides.
Within moments, the hatch opened and the sergeant said, “Permission granted, sir!”
The men stepped over the lip at the bottom of the hatch and entered the bridge. It was an amazing but somewhat surprising sight. Carym expected all manner of officers and men to be scurrying about, pouring over charts, lifting levers and shouting orders into metal tubes. But this bridge was nothing of the sort. In fact it was much like what he expected the throne room of a lord who ruled a sea-faring people might look like. Shiny brass telescopes were mounted on one wall along with a sextant, a compass, and other navigational instruments; for decoration only. The floor was covered with red and gold Karbander rugs depicting images of ships and great sea monsters. An artistic rendition of a map of the Brythyn Sea and its surrounding lands adorned the back wall to their right. And to the left, the front of the bridge was a large rectangular window. Seated before that window in a great throne-like chair was Visare, each hand gripping a lever topped by a large crystal ball. And to his side stood the captain.
“What can I do for you two?” said the captain, eying them suspiciously for a moment, chewing on a wad of tobacco. Carym flinched in disgust as he realized that Yag did not use a spittoon.
“Three,” muttered the wizard dully as footsteps sounded in the passageway outside the hatch. Carym turned and looking through the open hatch, saw Gennevera gliding down the passageway where she stopped before the sentries. Then, she stepped onto the bridge and stood next to the two men. Zach moved away and walked up to the large window, staring at the floating debris in the water, ignoring the new arrival. Carym fought down a sudden urge to go to her, his heart skipping a beat. Then, he looked away hoping to hide his excitement from her knowing stare.
“Aye, three it is. And the question stands.”
“How does all this work?” asked Carym as Gennevera glided up to his side, holding his arm, smiling warmly and sending a thrill through him. The captain chewed his tobacco noisily for a moment, gulped down a mouthful a tobacco juice, then walked to the large window beside Zach.
Finally he said, “There is a vast network of tunnels and caverns that connect the oceans and all the great lakes of Llars far below the surface of the world. They are ancient and dark, but they are as well marked as any Arnathian Imperial Highway on the surface, if you know how to look. The ancient Uta Millans possessed great magic, great technology, and great wealth. But their vast empire became fragmented, as all empires must eventually do, and it fell. Many of the most civilized and learned surface men know very little of the great Uta Millan society, and even less about how they travelled.”
“The Uta Millan merchants were able to bring their wares anywhere in the world with great speed. Much greater than the primitive surface dwellers could ever hope to achieve. They mapped the entire tunnel network with amazing accuracy and created a system of tunnel markings. If you learn their system you can tell which tunnel you are in, where the tunnel begins and ends, how far it is to the next destination, and how far behind the previous destination. The ancient wizards devised a spell which creates a layer of gel over a hull, protecting it from the incredible weight of the deep waters, making any ship airtight. The gel gives a wizard a special sense of the ship. A piloting wizard is in tune with every plank, every beam, every screw and bolt holding this ship together and it will instantly alert him to any problems. The wizard must also guard the ship and defend it against attacks from sea beasts. Only the most powerful wizards, like our Visare, can manage the great stress of piloting a ship thusly.”
“So what have you learned of their downfall? What caused it?” asked Zach, his curiosity piqued.
“Greed, avarice....who knows?” muttered the old captain, apparently not interested in that subject. “What does that matter, anyway?”
“I supposed it doesn’t,” agreed Zach. “Have the other dwellers of the Underllars managed to find these ancient cities and steal all of their glorious wealth?” asked Zach. Yag eyed him carefully before he responded.
“Some have, indeed. But the lands of Uta Milla are far from the lands of the other civilizations of the Underllars, farther still when traveling by foot.” He paused, and appeared to be considering what to say next. Finally, he just stared out the main viewing window and said nothing more.
“This is a closely guarded secret!” the wizard said sternly, not bothering to hide his ire. “It is crucial that the Arnathian Empire does not discover these tunnels or how to use them. Our numbers are small, less than a dozen pilots exist who can navigate these tunnels, we are still exploring them and measuring the accuracy of our charts. Many of these tunnels are dangerously unstable and some have collapsed, sealing off entire areas of the empire.”
“And yet, we have found a few ways around the collapsed tunnels. We have even found the legendary city of Dalcasia!”
“Captain! Why must you-”
“Stow it wizard! They are oath-sworn to keep their secret. Besides, I’m sure they understand that breaking their oath will result in the infliction of a very nasty curse...” Yag cast the group a knowing look and returned to staring out at the green tunnel before him. Carym wasn’t fooled, threatening curses may have worked on uneducated crewmen, but Carym had been an officer before and knew the games. Carym had heard stories of Dalcasia, the legendary capital city of Uta Milla, but never believed them. He wasn’t sure he believed them now. But, he reminded himself, he was on a ship sailing under the sea on a journey to seek a pool of enchanted water hidden in the tomb of a dead, and very evil, knight. He smiled wryly.
“You may be certain of our trust, Captain. After the Arnathians razed our village, I will not rest until I have visited the same fate upon an Arnathian Encampment!” Zach surprised Carym with that outburst. His old friend had become so unpredictable, so unlike his old self, that Carym simply didn’t know what to make of him anymore. Gennevera lowered her hood and gazed at Carym for a moment, before casting a distrustful glance at Zach.
“This is all so fascinating,” she said to Carym, her gaze excited. It occurred to him then that he hadn’t asked her where she was going. He thought on that a moment, then put it to rest. He would not pry.
“These Uta Millans were skilled miners and stonemasons, I understand,” replied Carym.
“And wealthy beyond reckoning!” Zach added, a disturbing glint in his eye.
“Captain, I remind you these passengers should not be privy to the secret operations of this ship. I think they should leave the bridge,” the mage said tersely, eyes still closed in concentration.
“Bah, wizard. You underestimate our friends,” the captain said with a sudden pleasantness in his tone. “I expect Eriagabbyn and his kind are a fair bit better about secrecy than we are.” The wizard neither replied nor showed any signs of even having heard the captain. Yag swiveled his chair around to face Carym as a strange force violently struck the ship causing it to list to one side. The captain shot a look at the warlock as he grunted and the ship slowly righted.
“What was that Visare?” he demanded.
The warlock shook his head in response and closed his eyes, concentrating. His skin paled visibly as he opened his eyes and spoke.
“It is a sea beast, sir. We must escape it before we take another hit, we are taking on water in the crew’s berthing spaces.” he said earnestly. Then he whispered, “It knows it can find a meal there!”
“Quickly then, warlock! Get the ship up to speed!” Yag shouted as he sat down in the captain’s chair, he pulled a metal tube from armrest and began shouting into it. Carym could hear muffled shouting through the tube on the other end, then he returned the tube to its slot; the alarm had been sounded.
“Get the char
ts, we have got to find another route-” Yag began but was interrupted by another violent impact that almost knocked him from his chair.
Carym pulled himself up off the deck and was about to ask what kind of beast this was, when he saw it through the glass before him. The sight of it sickened him. It was an evil looking creature with pale mottled skin and several huge black lidless eyes. It was oval shaped with long trailing tentacles, each wickedly hooked. As the beast swam by the front of the ship it lashed out with a hooked tentacle, sinking one of its wicked talons into the bulkhead of the bridge only a few feet from where Carym stood. Water began to trickle in, but stopped in a moment as green gel oozed in around the hook.
“There, take the blue rune path!” barked Yag, as they approached an intersection of tunnels marked with various colored runes.
“It has hold of the ship! We must break it loose!” declared the warlock.
Carym ran to the wall where he saw the creature’s talon sticking through the hull. It seemed to Carym as though the gel had a mind of its own. Carym grabbed a sword mounted on the bulkhead and swung with all his might at the protruding talon. His blow severed the upper portion of the hook and sent it sliding across the floor. The creature snatched its tentacle back and water began to flood the cabin through the hole until green gen filled it in and contained the leak. Yag glanced briefly, thankfully, at Carym then grabbed his charts from the floor.
“Get us away from here quickly!” the captain was sweating now, and his hair stuck to his face despite the cold air.
The ship accelerated rapidly through the passage, careening off the cavern walls, savagely rocking the passengers and crew.
“Did we lose it?” asked Carym anxiously after a few moments. The trio had braced themselves against the turbulent ride and were desperately holding onto the beams against the bulkheads.
“I doubt we lost it,” Visare growled. “Those beasts are very sore losers and we could not possibly outrun one if it was determined enough to catch us. That is one of the drawbacks to traveling these tunnels. We never really know what we will find and we haven’t the benefit of the defenses the ancients used to protect themselves.” The wizard was clearly strained and sweat beaded on his forehead. “Tis only a matter of time.”
After a few moments, when it appeared things had settled down again, Yag rose from his seat. “Good work, wizard! You have the bridge, I’m-” the captain was interrupted as another powerful force rocked the ship; everyone on the bridge fell. Carym saw through the viewing glass that there were tentacles wrapped around the ship and he could clearly hear the sound of beams creaking under the strain of the sea beast as it tried to squeeze the life from its prey. He looked frantically to Yag and saw that the captain had a large slimy hook protruding from his thigh, a writhing tentacle jerked and tugged at the hook dragging the captain towards a leaky hole in the bulkhead. The wizard appeared to be dead; his neck bent at an odd angle as he lay motionless on the floor. Gennevera and Zach were still trying to hold onto the wildly rocking craft.
Yag shouted a string of curses as he severed the writhing tentacle that gripped his leg. He dragged himself to the helm and waved his hand across a glass ball in the center. The scene in the viewing glass shifted; images of the exterior of the ship flashed into view followed by images of the interior passageways and crew areas. Carym saw that there were several sea beasts now, all of them had tentacles wrapped around various parts of the ship; constricting, crushing, and sensing their prey within. The snapping planks and creaking boards of the dying ship grew louder. An image of the crew’s berthing space appeared.
Carym remembered the words of the old druid and knew them to be true. There could be no doubt now, the Dark Lord was hunting them. And with that confirmation came the powerful onslaught of emotions: guilt, responsibility, fear.
“The ship is lost. My crew is lost.” The captain was stunned, his voice barely heard above the noise of the dying ship. Carym panicked and wondered if they were all doomed. A tear ran down Yag’s cheek, disappearing into his beard as he viewed the gory scenes of the ship on the viewing glass. Carym saw that some of the beasts’ tentacles had entered the ship and were seeking out their prey; the screams of dying crewmen could be heard above the creaking beams as sharp hooks bore the men into the deep.
“Open the damn hatch!” Yag cried to the passengers. “Bring in my guards a’fore they’re lost too!”
Carym quickly opened the hatch and saw the two Roughnecks lying on the deck. The creaking of beams was deafening in the passageway and Carym saw that the bulkheads were drenched from seeping seawater. Carym and Zach helped the men onto the bridge, shutting the hatch behind them and dropping the cross bar down.
With a sob, Yag spoke a word of the mystical language of magic and the ship lurched, suddenly listing to one side, then righted itself once more. The viewing glass went dark and the bridge went dark too, the ship now seemed to be accelerating rapidly upwards. The sudden velocity was followed by impact after impact, as Carym and his companions slid around the deck.
After a few moments that felt like hours, soft lights began to glow and the bridge was filled with an eerie luminescence. The viewing glass was still dark, and Carym had the impression that the ship’s velocity had slowed to an almost imperceptible upward drift. The warlock was clearly dead, Gennevera and Zach were bumped and bruised, and Yag seemed to be alive but his breathing was labored and he had lost blood.
“Yag!” shouted Carym. “Yag!”
The captain groaned and lazily opened his eyes.
“What happened, Carym?” asked Gennevera groggily.
“I’m not sure,” he whispered, thankful that she was unharmed. Zach appeared to be unharmed as well and he nodded to his friend as he stood. Yag staggered back to the glowing sphere, clutching it in his hands. Judging by the empty socket he gathered that Yag removed it from the center of the helm, staring dejectedly. “We left them behind to die,” Carym stated in sudden understanding.
“We did what we had to,” said Zach coldly. “Anything less would have doomed us all.”
Carym cast his old friend a resigned glance; the man’s turnabout was remarkable and inexplicable.
“Their souls have gone to the afterworld, my master’s minions have seen to that,” Gennevera said after opening her eyes and looking at Carym with anguish on her face. She put her hands on Yag’s head and whispered softly. After a few moments color returned to his face and the pain had eased. The captain looked at the woman with thanks and nodded to her; Carym wondered at her powers. How had she done that? Could all of Grymm’s faithful heal people? The captain would survive, though Carym wondered how well the man’s soul would survive the guilt he would forever bear.
“I am sorry, lads. I had to do it,” Yag said with sadness. To Carym it seemed the captain lost part of himself. “They were my men, and I know I will surely drown in Sarlyn’s eternal waters for doing it; a captain should go down with his ship. But I had no choice, I have to reach the surface! I did not mention this before, because it’s bad luck to snoop into a passenger’s business. But, I know of your quest.”
Carym shot an alarmed look at Zach who was staring daggers back at the captain.
“There is another who seeks your Everpool,” he whispered. “And he commands an entire army! Already, he has subjugated the Vaard, the city-states of the North, and Caelambra. Soon, all the north will be under his heel. And he plans to destroy the Everpool!”
“Caelambra! You didn’t tell us this before!”
“I’m sorry lads, the Shugu’s actions dictated a different course of action. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway.”
“You were paid handsomely to bring us to Caelambra, under the noses of the authorities if necessary. Do you remember?” growled Zach.
“Aye, that turn of events came about while we were at sea dodging the Shugu before I picked you up. The Spiders made it very clear to me, Zach, that you must be carried north at all costs. No matter the port.”
“
Why?” demanded Carym. “Why would this new army want the Everpool destroyed? Why not control it, use its powers?” He wondered how on Llars anyone could subjugate the Vaard.
“It is rumored that person is called the ‘Prophet-General’ and he is a Sigilist who commands the Tides of the Shadow. If the Everpool holds the key to unlocking the other Sigils, lost these five centuries, then he can destroy those who would oppose him by destroying the Everpool.”
“I understand” Carym replied, it was now a race to reach the Everpool. But did this newcomer already know of its location? Or was he searching for it even now? Another pawn of the Dark Lord sent to thwart him. And now Gennevera understands too. He wasn’t sure he wanted to involve her in this, but there seemed little choice now. He looked at Gennevera to gauge her responsiveness.
“I will help you find your Everpool, Carym.” He marveled at the passion in her voice and was pleased that she would join him. Zach just looked at her and shook her head. Carym knew the man was biting back his words.
The survivors were silent now, contemplating. The situation appeared hopeless. They were in a small boat in an underground tunnel, floating ever so slowly upward. Toward what? How long will it take to get there? Do we have enough food? What about air? With no wizard to magically control the climate, the air temperature in the small craft was dropping as it acclimated to the water temperature outside. Carym and Gennevera huddled together for warmth. Zach, seemingly unaffected by the falling temperature, leaned up against the bulkhead and dozed quietly. Carym thought it was ironic that Zach had chosen this moment to remain calm. He looked at the captain who stared remorsefully at his dead pilot and friend.
“What happens now, Captain Yag?” asked the woman, standing before the now dark viewing glass.
“We wait. The shaft we are in leads upward to one of the ports of Dalcasia. So long as we aren’t attacked again, we should arrive there safely enough,” he said, tiredly. “I think, the better question is, what do we do when we get there?”
The Dragon Writers Collection Page 37