by Raymond Cain
Once the azurans boarded their ship, they scrambled to retrieve their crossbows. Most of the bolts bounced harmlessly off the constructs but the occasional one chipped off a piece of stone or caused a small crack in their target. The attacks did not slow the golem advance at all.
“This should be interesting,” Flynn said as the golems reached The Dragon. Bones crunched under their feet as they stepped onto the deck and waded into the pirates’ ranks.
Chapter Thirty-One
The main deck of The Dragon was in chaos. A handful of azurans were stationed on the ship and they joined their comrades in repelling the golem attack. The pirates outnumbered their opponents by nearly two-to-one and their crossbows were discarded in favor of swords, maces, and battle axes. The men waded in, slashing and chopping with the strength, courage, and skill one might expect from seasoned pirates.
One of the pirates lunged forward, plunging a longsword through one of the golem’s stony legs. The construct backhanded the man, sending him flying across the deck. A second azuran moved into a flanking position and sliced his sword deep into the golem’s other leg, nearly severing it. The man tried to remove the blade but the golem punched him, sending the pirate flying across the deck. The construct removed the sword and hurled it at another pirate who expertly swiped it out of mid-air with his own longsword.
“Nice parry,” Flynn said.
Kylara shrugged. “It wasn’t bad.”
Three azurans with maces surrounded one of the golems and took turns delivering minor blows when the construct’s attention was focused on one of the others. The golem seemed unable to anticipate the attacks, and it soon had so many pieces of stone smashed out of it that it could barely defend itself. A particularly deadly blow removed a large chunk from behind its knee and sent cracks through its thigh. The golem crumpled to one knee and the three pirates eagerly moved in.
Another golem showed up behind the three azurans and grabbed one of them by the shoulder. It hoisted the pirate up and tossed him overboard. The instant the azuran entered the dense seawater, his body was crushed and the black creatures in The Abyss swarmed over him. Panic flashed over the faces of the two nearby pirates as they watched their ally get crushed and devoured.
A trio of azurans were slicing through the arms and legs of a single foe until the two golems joined the battle. The uninjured golem hoisted two of the pirates into the air and tossed them overboard. The third pirate tried to run but one of the injured constructs caught him and crushed him in its arms.
Two golems rained a flurry of stony fists on two pirates, and the men were unable to defend against their much-stronger foes. The constructs beat the azurans senseless and moved on to the helm. There were two wheels at the helm, presumably for vertical and horizontal steering, and the golems smashed the wheels apart.
“Look,” Tasker said. “Those ones are attacking the ship.”
After the first wheel was destroyed, the ship leaned to one side. The golem smashed the second wheel, and the Dragon tilted forward, dropping down deeper into The Abyss. The men’s eyes widened in terror and the ship sank. As the Dragon fell out of sight, a chill passed down Flynn’s spine. He cringed at the thought of dying in the Abyss. Getting killed by a sword seemed merciful by comparison.
“We should go,” Lycia said, unraveling her unkempt braids and hastily tying her hair into a ponytail. “Let’s get the Searunners.”
“Okay,” Tasker said, craning his neck to try to get one last glimpse of the Dragon before it fell out of sight.
The four of them jogged up the hallway and stopped at a door with ice on the bottom and a puddle of water on the floor. Lycia crouched down and her crimsonite ring flared brightly. The air surrounding her right hand crackled and flames poured under the door. Flynn and Kylara watched her work but Tasker continued farther down the hall.
Flynn flinched his head back. “Where are you going?”
Without bothering to look behind him, Tasker waved his hand dismissively. “There’s something I need.”
“Books, most likely,” Kylara said, and Flynn nodded.
Waves of heat flowed out of Lycia’s right hand and poured under the door. Ice behind the door melted and the pool of water she crouched in widened by the second.
“How long is this going to take?” Kylara said, shifting uncomfortably. “I could probably smash through the door quicker than it will take you to thaw it.”
“You might be able to if you use your head,” Lycia replied, dryly. “But I don’t think your staves are hard enough.”
Eager for any excuse to get away from the angry females, Flynn turned to leave. “I’m going to go help Tasker. I’ll be right back.”
Kylara glanced at Flynn, shrugged, and let out a sigh. She paced impatiently while Lycia released more flames, making the water bubble and releasing steam. The puddle stretched across the hallway and Kylara scooped up some of the water to clean some of the muck off her magekiller armor.
When Flynn entered the hidden library, Tasker was rifling through books. The steel-reinforced door was torn from its rusty hinges and the icy bookcase was in pieces all over the floor. Flynn stepped carefully through the ice shards and found his brother cradling a leather-bound tome like a mother cradling a newborn baby.
“They didn’t destroy it!” Tasker said excitedly. “They didn’t destroy any of them!”
Stacks of dusty books sat in piles on the floor and there were shelves bursting with ancient tomes along each wall. It was an enormous wealth of information but it would require many trips to take them all and Flynn knew they didn’t have the time.
“Look, Tasker,” Flynn said, hesitantly. “That’s a lot of books and there isn’t much room in the Searunners. . .”
Tasker, still cradling the book, glared at Flynn the way a mother would glare at someone who told her to leave her baby behind.
Hoping mightily to avoid a scene, Flynn thought of a compromise. “So perhaps we can start by taking a few of the more important ones first, and then we’ll see if it’s possible to get the rest later.”
The fury in Tasker’s eyes subsided slightly. “Well of course we’ll start with the most important ones,” he said, glancing at a stack of beautifully preserved books that was far too large to fit in the Searunners with passengers crammed in the back.
“And we’ll need to bring the ladies with us, of course,” Flynn added, intending to derail his brother’s train of thought.
Tasker stared longingly at the stack of tomes, each one filled with knowledge from an ancient civilization. After a great deal of hesitation, he finally spoke through clenched teeth. “I know. Our friends’ safety comes first.”
There was no trace of sincerity in his brother’s words but Flynn pretended not to notice. “Great. Choose a couple you think are most important and I’ll go and see if the women killed each other yet.”
A look of anguish passed over Tasker’s face as he regarded the mound. “I’ll sort through these.”
“Quickly,” Flynn added as he took the first few steps through the icy remains on the floor. “After the racket we caused with the drilling machine, I imagine that troops from Deepstone will not be far behind.”
Tasker grunted in reply and Flynn left the library. The floor was flooded and the grunting sounds of two women carrying a heavy burden resounded down the hall. He hurried toward the watery room and paused partway there when he heard a sound. Many sounds.
Footsteps were approaching and Flynn ran as quietly as he could up the hall. He slowed when he reached the puddle and bumped into Kylara and Lycia as they were hauling a Searunner out of the room.
Flynn put a finger to his lips. In a hushed tone he said, “Someone’s coming.”
The ladies put the Searunner back down and Flynn peeked out into the hallway. Theoric and Gideon entered the nearby intersection, along with the ten crewmen that Theoric brought into Deepstone with him. Gideon stared curiously at the drilling machine, but Theoric paid it no mind.
One gl
ance was enough for Flynn to know something serious happened to Theoric. Dark bruises marred the man’s face and he walked with a limp. His left arm cradled his ribs and he limped eagerly to the portal. Flynn kept close to the doorjamb to avoid detection but he cringed as Tasker entered the hall with a stack of books in his arms. The stack was so high, Tasker could not see Gideon and the azurans staring dumbfoundedly at him. Unlike the other pirates, Theoric was so engrossed with the portal that he did not seem to notice Tasker.
As Theoric looked out into the seawater, his face went slack. He looked deep into The Abyss, a look of desperation on his face. Flynn knew the pirate was searching for The Dragon, which was surely laying at the bottom of the trench. If there was a bottom.
Seeing Theoric so distressed brought Flynn a great deal of satisfaction. He unsheathed his sword and stepped into the hallway, the crimsonite jewel in the pommel burning bright. “What’s the matter, Theoric?” he shouted, and the pirate’s purple eyes locked on him, hatefully. “Missing something?”
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Well there goes the element of surprise,” Kylara said, unsheathing her darksteel staves and scowling at Flynn.
Flynn shrugged. “They saw Tasker already so it was already lost. But it doesn’t matter; those men stand between us and escaping. This fight was inevitable.”
“What’s done is done,” Lycia said, her red and blue rings brightening as she spoke. “Let’s kill them and go home.”
Kylara sniffed derisively. “Brave words from the least experienced among us. That’s the kind of confidence I expect from someone with little understanding about the man we’re about to face.”
“The man?” Lycia asked. “You think it’s just Gideon over there? There’s a group of azuran pirates, including Theoric, who—”
“—who is badly injured, due to his ship being destroyed,” Flynn interjected, happy for the opportunity to share good news and break up the banter between the volatile women.
Lycia wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion. “He’s injured because his ship is destroyed?”
“It’s a long story,” Flynn said. “But suffice to say, he’s not looking healthy.”
Kylara entered the hall and stood next to Flynn. Gideon stepped out from behind the others and his cold, purple eyes locked on her. The two of them faced each other, neither moving a muscle, as though they were frozen once again. The other pirates, apparently sensing the seriousness of the hatred between those two, gave Gideon a wide birth and did not yet proceed up the hall.
After many chilling moments, Gideon stepped forward. There was an air of confidence around the half-azuran as he walked purposefully toward Kylara. His eyes never left hers and she stood perfectly still, as though the sight of the man paralyzed her. Flynn could understand why; Gideon appeared calm on the outside, but there was a storm raging beneath that impassive exterior.
Kylara trembled. Her knuckles were white from gripping her staves so hard and Flynn put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She flinched at his touch and a look of wide-eyed horror passed over her face as she looked at him.
“What are you doing?” she asked, glancing at the hand on her shoulder as though it was a venomous spider.
Flynn withdrew his hand. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to. . .”
“Don’t waste your time trying to console me,” Kylara said, coolly. “Ready your sword, Theoric’s men are coming.”
The azurans approached with swords drawn. The group parted around Gideon and Flynn caught a glimpse of Theoric at the back, plodding along and cringing with every step. The pirate did not yet have his weapon drawn.
A blazing heat to Flynn’s left interrupted his thoughts. Lycia stood there, her fists clenched and rings bright. The air around her right hand crackled and concealed her fist within a shell of fiery energy. Tendrils of flame dripped from the shell and sizzled when they touched the water at her feet. Freezing mist surrounded her left hand, and dripping icicles formed tiny frozen islands in the water.
Tasker stood next to Kylara with his Stingray drawn. “Do we have a plan?”
“Yes,” Kylara replied. “Don’t miss.”
When the azurans were half a dozen strides away, two of them removed throwing daggers from their swordbelts. They brought their arms back to throw but Lycia acted first. The icy storm surrounding her left hand intensified and the magical energy was released in the form of long icy shards that stabbed into the dagger-wielding pirates. They crumpled to the ground, lifeless.
The blaze surrounding her right hand flared, enough to singe Flynn’s hair and some of the loose strands on his leather armor. The blaze was extinguished as fiery arrows were released from her palm. Initially, the flaming shafts were composed of solid-looking flame. By the time they reached their targets—a pair of pirates next to the ones that were brought down by the ice shards—the arrows dispersed slightly and much of the flames dissipated over the azurans’ armor. The flames struck the pirates’ chain mail, but at that distance the blazing shafts were not able to penetrate the metal links. The azurans were scalded, but they kept coming.
“I think someone needs to work on her fire magic,” Kylara said, snidely.
“I’ve taken down two so far this battle,” Lycia replied. “How many have you killed?”
Kylara narrowed her eyes at Lycia, then grinned as their opponents drew near. “Ask me again in a minute.”
The fear that gripped Kylara moments ago seemed to have dissipated, and the red-haired warrior had a glint of eagerness in her eyes as she stared down the approaching azurans. Her lips pulled back into a twisted smile and she spun her staves in anticipation. Flynn was grateful that he wouldn’t be on the receiving end of the fury she was about to unleash.
The azurans charged. Flynn’s heart pounded as the pale-skinned cutthroats bolted but he didn’t tremble or feel fear. Strength surged through him and he didn’t know if he was being energized by the crimsonite in his sword or his innate need to protect the ones he cared about. Either way, he was eager to use it to take down his foes and avenge his parents.
“Conserve your energy,” Kylara said, as though she could read Flynn’s mind. “You’ll need it when we face Gideon. And Theoric.”
Flynn could not see Gideon or Theoric behind the advancing azurans, and it concerned him. Kylara lowered her stance, putting herself in a good position to brace herself against a charge or to hop back out of range of an attack. Flynn mirrored the stance and readied himself for the onslaught.
One of Stingray’s bolts flew over Flynn’s shoulder, striking a pirate in the face and killing him. The lifeless azuran crumpled to the floor, tripping two pirates behind him. Lycia released a barrage of ice and fire projectiles that stabbed into the four pirates leading the charge. The flaming arrows were more effective at closer range, and three more pirates went down. A fourth was badly wounded.
“Five,” Lycia sneered, and Kylara nodded. The competition was underway.
Kylara let her stave slide through her hand, prodding it forward like a spear. The butt of the weapon slammed into one of the pirate’s faces, caving in the front of his skull. She deftly grabbed it with her other hand and swung it, crushing the skull of the azuran Lycia injured. “Two.”
“One of those was mine,” Lycia said, drawing in magical energy around her fists.
“He looked alive to me,” Kylara replied. “Perhaps you could kill who you aim at so I don’t have to clean up your mess.”
Lycia glared, and her hands disappeared in raging storms of flame and frost. The storms intensified and as she was ready to unleash a tempest of fire and ice, a blade flew over the heads of the charging azurans and struck her in the shoulder.
The blade bit deep, sinking nearly up to the hilt between her collarbone and her shoulder. The blow spun her around, and she unleashed her magic on the wall next to her. One of the charging azurans was caught in the cold and flames as they spread along the walls and ceiling. The man screamed and crumpled to the ground, his skin and clothes bad
ly burnt.
Kylara did not risk a backward glance at her injured companion and she met two of the attackers with a flourish of deadly strikes and parries. A strike on one pirate’s wrist knocked the sword from his hand, enabling her to bring both weapons to bear on the man next to him. She finished them both by performing a spin with outstretched arms, smashing them in the head with her staves.
Next to Kylara, a pirate wielding a longsword and mace made slashing attacks at Flynn. He wanted to step back out of reach but he forced himself to remain at Kylara’s side, lest he leave her flank exposed. The man was a skilled fighter and blocking the flurry was exhausting. Eager to end the battle quickly, he saw the briefest opening in the pirate’s defenses and took it. He poured all his energy, and his sword’s energy, into a thrust that darted his sword forward like a stingray’s tail. The rapier bit deep into the man’s mid-section, and Flynn kicked the man in the chest as he pulled his sword out.
“One,” Flynn said, meekly, knowing full well he had no chance of getting as many kills as his female companions.
Only one of Theoric’s crewmen remained and he unsheathed a pair of shortswords, to pair off with Kylara’s staves. The man’s movements reeked of confidence but Flynn suspected the battle would still be brief against his incredibly skilled friend, until Gideon intervened.
A spinning black blade flew over the pirate’s shoulder and headed straight for Kylara’s face. She picked it off with one of her staves but the pirate took advantage of the distraction by stepping forward and lunging with both shortswords. Kylara swept them aside with her other stave, but he scored thin cuts in the left side of her chest and her left arm.
Flynn was about to lunge forward with an attack of his own until an icy spear flew by him and slammed into the pirate’s chest. The man flew backward and landed hard on his back, shattering the spear tip when he landed on the flagstones.