Shadow Trapped

by D. K. Holmberg

  Linsay considered Carth with a sideways glance. “Another assumption on the part of Carthenne Rel.”

  “Which one? That you had a loving family? Or about your sister?” She glanced to Talia, waiting for confirmation, but Talia pointedly avoided her gaze.

  “About the consistent home,” Linsay said.

  She climbed aboard and patted Jenna on the shoulder as she passed her. Jenna tensed, and there was a part of Carth that questioned whether the other woman would do as she had promised and pull out a knife, slipping it into Linsay’s back, but Jenna refrained. It was considerable restraint on the part of Jenna, and Carth was impressed that she had managed to avoid attacking.

  The other women joined Linsay, and Talia followed more slowly, making a point of not looking in Carth’s direction, but also not in the direction of Alayna and Jenna.

  Carth positioned herself in front of Talia, preventing her from getting past. “I don’t begrudge you your choice,” Carth said.

  Talia looked past Carth, not willing to meet her eyes. “She’s my sister.”

  “I understand. If you’re going to be on board the ship, I’m going to need your assistance.” She looked over at the others taking up their places near Linsay. “I’m going to need everyone’s assistance. You know what it’s like when sailing. Everyone has a task.”

  “I don’t think Linsay intends to have a task on your ship.”

  “We’ll see,” Carth said. She approached the three women standing near Linsay. “If you’re going to be aboard my ship, I would like to know your names.”

  The women each glanced to Linsay, and she nodded.

  “I’m Rebecca,” the one nearest Linsay said. She was a short woman with brown hair, compact and with a muscular frame.

  Carth smiled at her and nodded as she turned to the next woman. “And you?”

  She was taller, though not quite as tall as Alayna, and had flat gray eyes and dark hair. She was rounder than the other woman, and less muscular. “Margo,” she said. She had a low voice, and her eyes darted over to Linsay, as if still seeking her permission.

  Carth looked to the last woman. She was of average height and average build. She wore baggy clothes that concealed her frame from Carth. There was nothing about her that was remarkable, which was exactly the reason that Carth knew she was the one of the three to be most concerned about.

  She watched Carth with a blank expression on her face, making it difficult to know what was taking place behind her eyes. What enhancements did she have? What ways had Linsay affected her?

  “Alessa,” she said. Even her voice was unremarkable, an average sort of voice.

  Carth turned her attention to Linsay, and she stared at her. “If you and these others are going to be on my ship, you’ll need to help when the time comes.”

  “You would trust us to help?” Linsay asked.

  Carth glanced at the other women. “I trust you to do what’s in your best interest. And when you’re on board my ship, that involves doing what’s necessary to keep yourself safe, which means that you will work with me as needed.”

  Linsay flashed a smile. “Of course.”

  “Then where are we going?”

  Linsay’s smile widened again. “West. We’re going west.”

  14

  They had been sailing for two days. The winds had been good, carrying them quickly across the sea, pulling them from Waconia and moving swiftly. When they had neared Keyall, Carth had felt an urge to guide the ship into port, but Linsay would have known. Besides, there was no reason for her to take them into Keyall. They were well supplied, and it would only be a delay, and an unnecessary one.

  Alayna had the wheel, guiding them as they sailed, and Carth stood next to her, surveying the sea as they flowed from one wave to the next. “You haven’t had them do anything,” Alayna said.

  “That’s not entirely true,” Carth said. She nodded toward the mast, where Rebecca had climbed. Jenna was already up in the mast nest, looking out from high above. “I have them shadowing.”

  “Do you really anticipate trusting them if it comes to it?” Alayna asked.

  “I want them to be prepared. It’s better to learn what they need to do when there’s no real urgency to it than to be thrust into a role where they need to act and have no knowledge of what they’re supposed to do.”

  “What if she only wanted you—us—for our sailing prowess?” Alayna asked.

  Carth smiled. “That’s a possibility.”

  “Considering all the piracy that is rumored to exist beyond Keyall, she feared coming this way without you.”

  Carth nodded. “And interestingly, had she not wanted to betray us, I would have willingly had her along. We could have sailed west, searching for whatever artifacts she wanted.”

  “I don’t think that is quite what she wanted,” Alayna said.

  “No, I don’t think that’s quite what she wanted. She would rather be the one controlling the situation.”

  “What do you think she’s after?”

  “I think she’s after something that will give her power,” Carth said. Either Elder Stones, or whatever there was that was similar.

  “And your mentor? What does he have to do with this?”

  Carth let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m not quite certain. I’ve been trying to determine what role Ras might have in this. He shouldn’t have been involved. He rarely leaves his home, and when he does, he’s usually cleverer about it.”

  That was what troubled her. Not that she didn’t believe Linsay, though there was a part of Carth that wasn’t certain whether Ras had truly been captured, but she had a hard time trying to think of why he would have come this way.

  What would exist in the west that would have drawn Ras away from Odian?

  If it had piqued Linsay’s interest, it had to be some sort of artifact. She was the Collector, after all.

  “That’s not the only thing that troubles you,” Alayna said.

  “It’s not. Coming this way makes it difficult for us to get word from the others. If Ras is captured, I’m not sure that we’ll hear from the others in time to be able to confirm it.” And if they didn’t confirm it, then it was possible that all they were doing now was acting on behalf of whatever Linsay wanted of them.

  “Carth!” Jenna yelled from the mast nest.

  Carth looked up. Jenna leaned out over the sea. Sitting up there, she looked comfortable. It was a natural place for her, and sailing might be the only place where Jenna truly felt as if she were meant to be. Somehow, Carth had to ensure that she was not dragged off the ship again.

  “Three ships to the north.”

  Carth turned and looked in the northerly direction, but didn’t see any ships. She frowned, trying to look for what Jenna had seen, and Alayna nodded. “Go,” she said.

  Carth jumped off the deck, pushing off with the shadows, and reached the peak of the mast, gripping on to it tightly. She glanced back to Jenna and noted Rebecca watching her with an interested expression.

  “Three?” Carth asked.

  Jenna pointed. Carth followed the direction of her pointing and saw three massive ships in the distance. They had black-painted hulls and enormous gray sails that caught the wind, and they would eventually make their way toward Carth and her ship.

  “Recognize them?” Jenna asked.

  “I can’t tell from this distance.”

  “Which means that you don’t recognize them,” Jenna said.

  Carth grunted. “They’re not merchant ships. That size of ship is rarely a merchant ship.”

  “Then what?”

  “Likely they’re warships, but for who?”

  They were far enough out in the sea that they weren’t near any significant land. She scanned the horizon, looking for other ships, but there were only those three. They were making their way toward them, and moving swiftly. Eventually, they would catch them, unless Carth made an effort to outrun them.

  With her abilities, she thought that she could, but
… was that what Linsay wanted?

  “What are we going to do?” Jenna asked.

  Carth jumped down from the mast and landed on the deck. She made her way below deck, hurrying toward the cabin where she’d find Linsay. When she reached it, she pushed open the door without knocking. Alessa jumped up and placed herself in front of Carth, blocking Carth from reaching Linsay.

  “It’s okay,” Linsay said.

  Alessa moved off to the side and allowed Carth to enter.

  “What can I do for you?” Linsay asked, setting down the book she’d been reading.

  Carth flicked her gaze to the book, but there was nothing on the spine or the cover that would tell her what the book might be about. She noted a symbol embossed on the leather cover, but nothing else. “Three ships are making their way towards us,” Carth said.

  “Three. That sounds impressive,” Linsay said.

  “Do you know anything about this?”

  “I think we’ve established that I’m not much of a sailor,” Linsay said.

  “Only that you are. You managed to move in and out of Keyall without anyone realizing that you were there. That takes some element of skill.”

  “Not my skill.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that I wasn’t the one sailing.” Linsay sat up, and leaned towards Carth. “You’re the captain of this ship, Carthenne. Why do you think I wanted your particular skills?”

  “Did you anticipate that we would be attacked?”

  “I knew it was a possibility. Any merchants that have tried sailing beyond Keyall have failed. The few that have returned have come with word that they are barely able to outrun massive ships that come after them.”

  “And you thought that I might be able to overtake these ships?”

  “You’re not without capabilities, Carthenne, especially when it comes to sailing. I believe your particular ability would be most useful in this situation.”

  “I don’t intend to sink them.”

  “No? If you do nothing, they will overtake us, as I believe you said. Is it your intention for us to be captured?”

  “Maybe it is.”

  Linsay smiled. “An interesting idea. If we were captured, I suspect you would intend for yourself to escape, and you might offer your assistance for what I know about Ras.” She watched Carth, waiting for a reaction.

  Carth didn’t want to react, but that was exactly what she had been thinking.

  “You should know that I have no intention of revealing what I know of Ras until the appropriate time. If I’m captured, then the game shifts, and it moves away from me working with you to me working with them. Do you think that you would have a better chance of discovering where to find Ras when I am working with them or when I’m working with you?”

  “I think that I have an equal chance of finding Ras either way. You’re not the only one who can shift the game,” Carth said.

  “No, but I believe we’ve established who the superior player is.” She said it so casually, and so dismissively, that it felt like a slap. “If you shifted the game and attempted to take on these ships, or even allowed me to be captured, you would be acting from a position of weakness.” She leaned forward. “And I would be acting from a position of relative strength. Tell me, Carthenne, what would you do when making a move without knowing your opponent? How difficult is that? In this case, I know more than a little about the ships that are pursuing us. That would place me in the stronger position.”

  Carth kept her face neutral. Linsay was right. She needed more information, and she wasn’t going to be able to react quite as well as Linsay if she attacked this way. If she gathered more information, she might be able to counter, but Linsay would have been planning this all along. Everything that was happening was all a part of Linsay’s plan.

  “What would you have me do?” Carth asked.

  “I would have you be Carthenne Rel.”

  Carth regarded Linsay for a long moment and then spun, turning away from her and Alessa, making her way back to the top deck. She pushed off with the shadows and jumped back to the top of the mast. Jenna watched her with a question in her eyes before turning her gaze north, back toward the ships.

  They were closer. Carth could make out the enormous size of the ships, as well as the size of the triple masts on each of them. There were dozens of men visible on the decks, and several of them carried longbows. Each ship was equipped with ballistas, and Carth had memories of the last time she had encountered a weapon like that.

  There was something about the ships that was familiar. Could that be what had sunk the smugglers’ ships when they had gone off to serve as bait for the Collector? Carth had thought it was a storm, but maybe it hadn’t been.

  She could sink ships. She didn’t doubt her ability to press out with S’al and attempt to overwhelm them, but was that what she really wanted to do?

  It was what Linsay wanted her to do, which was reason enough for her to attempt something else. Linsay had the upper hand, and somehow Carth had to even things out, but how?

  Something unexpected. That was what she needed.

  Only… what was it?

  “Carth?” Jenna asked.

  “I see it,” Carth said.

  Two of the ships were readying their ballistas. Carth suspected that she could counter and imagined that she could prevent at least one of the bolts from reaching the ship, but could she prevent two? What about three? If they all attacked at the same time, she wasn’t certain that she would be able to react quickly enough to counter.

  “Aren’t you going to do your flame thing?” Jenna asked.

  Carth flicked her gaze to Rebecca and then back to Jenna. “I’ve tried, but it’s not working against them. I think they have the same sort of resistance that people in Keyall have.”

  Jenna’s eyes widened. “They’re going to overtake us—or attack us—in minutes.”

  “Possibly.”

  Rebecca looked down and scurried down the rope to the deck, disappearing below.

  “If your flames don’t work—”

  “I haven’t tried,” Carth said.

  Jenna considered Carth for a moment before looking back toward the deck. “That was for her benefit?”

  Carth nodded. “Linsay wants me to destroy the ships. I haven’t been able to figure out why, but she claims that if they overtake us, she will shift her focus and will play the game with them.”

  “The game? This is our safety, not some game,” Jenna said.

  “We will be perfectly safe,” Carth said. She directed the shadows coming off her sails into the water, pushing the ship along. Powered by the shadows, she was able to propel them forward, and they moved increasingly quickly. The ship picked up speed, putting distance between them and the other three that were coming toward them.

  “If you’re questioned, tell them that I’m sitting up here,” Carth said to Jenna.

  “Why would they question me?”

  “Because I’m going to see what I can learn about those three ships,” Carth said.

  “Carth, that’s not necessarily a smart decision.”

  “Maybe not smart, but sometimes when playing, you have to make a risky move to get the payoff you need.”

  Jenna swallowed. “How are you going to do it?”

  “I’m going to jump.”

  Carth combined the shadows and the flame and exploded up and out.

  She streaked high into the air, shooting higher and higher, and watched as her ship became smaller and smaller. From this position, she could more easily see the other three ships. She didn’t try to direct her explosion, wanting only to create distance. She wouldn’t have a great amount of time before Linsay realized that she was gone, so she would have to act quickly, and would also have to be able to conceal herself so that the other ship didn’t know that she was coming.

  When she reached the zenith of her explosion, she started coming back down. Carth sent another explosion of shadow and flame, directing h
er behind the three ships, and streaked toward the water. She surged the shadows through her body, strengthening herself, trying to prepare for impact with the water. From this distance, she suspected it would feel like crashing into hard rock.

  Carth braced herself for the impact and crashed into the water. She attempted to streamline herself, trying to keep from hitting with too much force, and stretched her arms in front of her to part the water as she did. Still, there was pain when she hit, and she kept her arms out in front of her, locked straight out so that when she did hit, she was able to withstand the force of the water.

  Darkness enveloped her.

  Carth drew strength from it, borrowing from the shadows within the water as she sank below the surface. She looked around, trying to find where the ships were parting the water, and surged for them.

  She remained deep beneath the surface, not wanting to come up for air until it was necessary. The closer she could come to the ships, the more likely it was that she would be able to remain concealed. She propelled herself forward, trying to ignore the sense of movement around her, not wanting to know what else might be in the water with her. This far out in the sea, it was possible that there were dozens of other creatures, and many of them would be able to swallow her whole.

  In the distance, she could detect the presence of the nearest ship. It was massive, and as it streaked through the water, Carth wondered how many men a ship like that carried. Dozens. Dozens upon dozens.

  Enough that she needed to be careful.

  When she reached the hull, she reached for the keel and grabbed onto it, letting it drag her through the water. Carth held on to a connection to her magic, using that to send her streaking through the water along with the ship. She crawled slowly along the side of the ship, not wanting to move too quickly, and not wanting to draw attention when she finally crested the surface.