by John Corwin
Tahlee turned toward the other deck crew. "Secure deck! Prepare for departure!"
The navigators raced to their positions and gripped the channeling rods that fed into the levitation foils. Elyssa and I leaned over the railing and looked down.
Speaking in a conversational tone, Illaena gave Tahlee another order. The first mate shouted it to the rest of the crew: "Cast off!"
The ship shuddered and surged upward fast enough to buckle my knees. Wind rushed against the crown of my head as we floated higher and higher. I shifted to incubus sight and spotted an aether stream flowing north by northeast far overhead.
I knew it probably wasn't a great time to talk to Illaena, but something about our earlier conversation regarding aether streams had me curious about which route we planned to take to reach Voltis. Illaena regarded my approach with a disdainful raise of her left eyebrow.
I spoke before she could tell me to go away. "Since there are no aether streams from here to Voltis, do we have to sail to Sazoris first, or is there another northern route?"
"I never said there were no aether streams to Voltis," Illaena replied. "Merely that there are none known to the land dwellers." She turned to Tahlee and spoke another command.
"Ahead to Voltis!" The fiery-eyed redhead relayed the commands in a deafening shout. "May the skies treat us with mercy!"
We reached the aether stream and the foils caught the current, propelling us forward like a stone from a slingshot. Illaena and the others watched with amusement as Elyssa and I staggered against each other in an attempt to remain standing. Elyssa planted her athletic legs and snagged my arm to keep me from sprawling in a heap.
"It is good you have a strong sera to guide you," Illaena said. "Most land dwellers are soft, but your Elyssa is fierce and hearty."
Elyssa blushed, but keeping a straight face looked at me and said, "Most men would die without a strong woman to keep them safe."
I rolled my eyes though I honestly couldn't dispute her assertion. "Elyssa has saved my life more times than I can count."
Tahlee looked at me and blinked. "Are you not Justin Slade, the great hero of Eden?"
I wasn't sure if she was messing with me or it had taken her this long to figure out who I was. Up until this moment she'd never actually spoken to me. "I don't know about being the great hero, but I've done my fair share of fighting."
"You do not look like much," she said. "Is it true the men of Eden claim the glory though it is their females who win the day?"
Elyssa snorted and quickly covered her mouth.
"Are all Mzodi men—seraphs—weak and incapable?" I asked.
"They are strong and superior to land dweller males," Tahlee said. "But there are few who match Mzodi seras for wits and skill."
"Nice to see the Mzodi run an equal opportunity operation here," I said. "I wouldn't want to file a sexual harassment complaint or anything."
Unfortunately, the Cyrinthian version of sexual harassment translated into something that meant sexual battle, sending Illaena and Tahlee's eyelids fluttering with blinks of pure confusion.
I took the opportunity to change the subject. "Are we headed straight for Voltis, or will we drop off Racha and her people in Guinesea first?"
"If I have heard no word from the Xanda by the time we pass the eastern coast of Guinesea, we will continue on to Voltis and keep the prisoners until our return." Illaena turned her gaze to the sky ahead. "Since time is of the essence, we will sail through the night. I suggest you return below decks and rest."
The sun touched the mountains to the west, tinging the sky with red. Thousands of miles ahead in the growing twilight the Voltis Maelstrom waited with its secrets. We were finally underway to either answers or a violent death.
Well, that's nothing new.
Elyssa and I took Illaena's advice, retiring to a cabin after telling Adam and Shelton what was going on. Before going to sleep, we joined the mile-high club on the cloud bed and shared some laughs about Tahlee's comments.
Even though being with my one true love was all I ever wanted, a hollow space in my chest seemed to expand every day we were trapped here in Seraphina. Cradling Elyssa in my arms, I stroked dark locks of her hair from her cheek and said, "Do you ever feel disconnected in this realm?"
She nodded. "All the time. It's like we're stranded on an alien planet and have to survive until we can return to Earth."
"That sounds like something I'd say."
Elyssa pecked a kiss on my nose. "Guess I'm a geek then."
"I wonder what's happening back in Eden with Victus and Serena." Heat flushed my face at the thought of all the lives lost from their betrayal. "I don't know if there's anyone left in the Overworld to stop them from doing whatever they want."
"Even though we're not there, people of good conscience will defend the Overworld." Elyssa's gaze grew distant. "They'd better hope Ivy doesn't figure out what's going on or she'll blast every last one of them."
I managed a wry chuckle. "She comes from the Daelissa School of Kill Everyone. I just hope she's safe."
Elyssa pressed a hand to my cheek. "I know she is, Justin."
I closed my eyes and savored the quiet moment with the woman I loved. Ivy was young but powerful. She could take care of herself. I hope I'm right.
In the meantime, we had to get to the bottom of this current crisis and stop it so we could divert all our attention to getting back to Eden. Knowing we'd cleared a major hurdle and now had a ride to Voltis allowed me to feel a little less stressed out.
I just hope the journey doesn't kill us.
Chapter 16
A great shudder jerked me awake and sent me and Elyssa rolling off the bed. My reflexes responded at once and I nimbly caught myself on my feet while Elyssa rolled gracefully to hers.
The floor lurched upward and sent us flying into the air. I channeled sticky strands of Murk and tethered us to the floor.
"How's your head?" Elyssa asked as we rode out another bout of violent turbulence. "Is channeling magic still painful?"
"I hadn't even thought about it until you mentioned it." I tapped my left temple. "No headaches." I channeled a ball of Brilliance in my right hand and waited for a stabbing sensation that never materialized. "Maybe I'm back to normal."
The ship righted and smoothed out. A thump and solid thud reverberating through the hull gave me the impression that we'd reached solid land.
"Let's see what's up," Elyssa said.
I stripped and went into the Seraphim equivalent of a bathroom for a quick cleaning. Charging the gem on the wall, I sent it the Cyrinthian command for wash. Ultraviolet mist sprayed from the gem and brushed against my skin, leaving a cool minty sensation in my lungs every time I drew breath.
Elyssa hopped in with me and held her arms out slightly. "Make sure it gets your armpits, babe. I love you, but your armpits stink when you don't let the mist reach them."
I stuck out my tongue and made sure to hold up my arms.
"Are you cleaning your tongue too?" she said with a wink.
"It's better than brushing your teeth the normal way," I shot back—which was true. The cleansing fog definitely made personal hygiene a breeze.
The mist evaporated, leaving me sparkly clean and slightly damp. I charged the gem and sent another command. Warm air blew against us, leaving us dry and ready to face the day—well, once we put on some clothes.
The ship sat on a blackened chunk of rock that barely passed for an island. Small blue waves lapped at the shore and a few seagulls circled overhead.
Mzodi bustled about the top deck. Near the bow, Tahlee checked the rising sun by peering through a short tube with gems affixed to the ends. It resembled a spyglass, but was likely something much different since she would've burned out her retinas staring at the sun like that. Illaena stood behind her, a hand on the other sera's shoulder.
A low rumble jerked my gaze north where I caught my first glimpse of the Voltis Maelstrom. We were still miles away, but the border of the massive storm looke
d like a wall of gray clouds with the constant flash of multi-colored lightning. A distant boom thundered and the clouds turned brilliant red before returning to gray.
"We're sailing into that?" Even Elyssa sounded concerned.
"Holy butt muffins!" Shelton leaned against the railing to my left. "I hope someone brought umbrellas."
Adam held out his phone to record the massive storm in the distance. "I think that was a volcanic eruption."
Shelton gazed uneasily at the captain and first mate. "Here's hoping Illaena knows how to steer this ship through it."
A gout of water sprayed fifty feet into the air just off the northern side of the island, and a monstrous whale nearly the size of the Falcheen broke the surface of the water and regarded us from less than a hundred yards away.
"I hope it doesn't try to mate with the ship," Adam said in a worried voice.
"Look at its eyes," Elyssa said. "They're so big and round."
The pupil in the whale's huge green eye narrowed to a slit. The creature dove beneath the water, leaving behind a massive wake that splashed against the tiny island. One of the crew shouted at Tahlee who tucked away the spyglass and consulted with Illaena. The captain twirled a finger in the air and the deck crew raced into position.
"I think they're worried," Shelton said. He leaned over the railing and looked out into the water. "I see something."
Adam joined him. "Is it coming toward us?"
Though the creature had dived deep, the water was so clear and the sun so bright I could see a massive shadow beneath the surface growing closer and closer. "It's definitely coming at us!"
The ship shuddered and lifted off. The four of us grabbed hold of the railing as the vessel abruptly shot forward to the east. The water exploded and the whale leapt onto shore where we'd been, its massive maw gaping wide. What I'd mistaken for a whale more closely resembled a shark, but without the trademark dorsal fin to give it away.
"Jumping Jehoshaphat!" Shelton shouted. "Get us out of here!"
The monster slid back into the ocean and veered toward us. The Falcheen shot upward just as the massive predator exploded from the ocean, tooth-lined maw gaping wide, a torrent of foaming salt water rushing down its sides. The jaws thundered shut on empty air and the creature belly-flopped in the water with a mighty roar.
I leaned heavily on the railing, heart thudding in my chest. "What was that thing?"
Illaena appeared at my side and looked over the railing. "A tartha."
"How odd that one should be so close to the surface," Tahlee said. "It is not mating season."
My gaze wandered to a fountain of seawater blown from the spout of a tartha. Then I spotted another and another as far as the eye could see. "It must be party season," I said and pointed to the other spouts. "I count at least a dozen of those things."
Hot wind gusted across my face followed shortly by an icy breeze. An explosion in the distant maelstrom threw volcanic ash high into the air.
"The tartha will make the entry into Voltis more difficult," Tahlee said.
Shelton's eyebrows arched. "Can't we just fly over them?"
Illaena sighed. "Set course and prepare for entry."
Tahlee relayed the orders with deafening shouts that could probably be heard all the way inside Voltis, and the Falcheen shot forward.
"You didn't answer my question," Shelton said.
Illaena huffed impatiently. "We have to fly low during the approach to enter a mountain tunnel which will deliver us safely past the outer layer of storms."
Shelton jabbed a finger at the red flames licking the gray outer barrier of Voltis. "Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are constantly rocking that place. I ain't no geologist or volcanologist, or even an earthquakeologist, but how in the world could a mountain tunnel survive in that environment?"
"I think you mean seismologist," Adam said helpfully.
Shelton threw up his hands. "Whatever!"
Illaena and Tahlee exchanged a look of disdain.
"I do not know," Illaena said. "I can only trust the Muhala Kajeen would not mislead us with false instructions." She turned and went back toward the command pedestal in the middle of the deck.
Adam patted Shelton on the back. "Looking a little pale there, buddy. Want some Dramamine?"
Shelton looked at him hopefully. "You got any more of those sleeping potions? Something tells me I don't want to be awake for this next part."
I snorted. "I don't want to have to drag your unconscious body around during an emergency. Best you stay awake."
We walked to the bow and stared at the black clouds billowing on the horizon. The wind changed temperatures and directions, slicing to my bones with freezing cold one moment before roasting my eyebrows the next. Brimstone tickled my nose and bits of rocks and ice pelted us. A hundred feet below, the water foamed and rocked as tartha tried to pace the ship, though their massive bulk made it impossible to match the nimble vessel.
Another shout from Tahlee rang out and the Falcheen dipped lower toward the ocean. A tartha burst from the waters ahead, jaws gaping, and missed us by a mile. The next beast that tried to make a meal of us leapt toward our port side, but fell well short of its goal. Just ahead, I saw the water rippling as another sea monster came at us, timing its leap perfectly.
The gaping maw came right at us. Tahlee shouted and the ship lurched to starboard. Adam and Shelton shouted with surprise, feet flying out from beneath them. I flung tethers of Murk and strapped my friends to the railing as the scaly hide of the tartha roared past less than fifty yards from its intended meal, its huge eye glaring angrily at the missed opportunity. The foul stench of fish breath and the bucking and swaying of the ship made me feel green around the gills.
The ship leveled out and resumed a beeline for a pitch-black mole on the swirling gray face of Voltis. A tartha trumpeted in the distance and others of its kind picked up the call until it sounded like a pack of dinosaurs lamenting their missed meal.
Shelton shuddered. "That sound gives me the creeps."
"What a bizarre noise for such huge creatures." Adam held out his phone to record another tartha making a last-ditch effort to catch us.
I looked up at the unassailable wall of churning clouds, aether, volcanic ash, and ice stretching as far as the eye could see in all directions. "Looks like the surface of a gas giant."
"Like dark Jupiter." Shelton jabbed a finger toward a spinning ball of ice. "Look at that!"
Plumes of fire exploded from holes in the side of the ice, a comet streaking from the heavens. The object plunged into the ocean several hundred yards away and exploded in a geyser of steam. Huge waves rose in its wake. The Falcheen rose above the water and let the ripples subside before dropping back down on course.
Shelton gripped the rail with white-knuckled intensity. "Is that the tunnel?"
The black spot had grown into an uninviting maw. Salty mist whipped across the deck and the turbulence vibrated the deck beneath our feet until I thought the ship would fly apart. The temperature soared and dipped, making my nose run while the constant roar of the Voltis Maelstrom thrummed my entire being like a guitar string. "I'm gonna catch a cold if this keeps up."
Almost there now, the navigators fought with the crystal rods, pushing, pulling, and rotating them to keep on course as elemental fury pummeled the Falcheen from all sides. A huge wave swelled ahead.
Tahlee shouted, "Hold fast!" and the ship held course.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Shelton gripped the railing.
I cast a shield spell over the four of us just as the huge wave crested twenty feet above the deck. The Falcheen's sharp bow pierced the wave and sliced through it. Water cascaded across my shield and ran across the deck like a small river. Some water froze into icy puddles, leaving treacherous footing for the members of the deck crew that ran from station to station assisting the navigators.
The tunnel grew larger and larger, its face rough basalt, dense and dark from eons of volcanic activity, its inside
s a mystery of dark pitch. The gaping maw swallowed us. The turbulence went still and the roar of the maelstrom dropped to a whisper.
I looked back and watched as the last shreds of daylight vanished from the hull of the ship before darkness devoured it. For a moment, I felt no rush of wind, no pull on my guts to tell me if we were moving or sitting still. What if we're about to hit a wall? I panicked and channeled a light globe, but it did nothing to penetrate the thick darkness.
Tahlee's shouts rang through the darkness and beams of light speared out from the weapon gems on the outer hull. Soon the dark surface of the tunnel became visible, though the way ahead was shrouded in pitch. We coasted slowly for hours, navigating narrow turns and sudden dips as the tunnel wound like a serpent through the bowels of the mountain. A river of lava flowed along the bottom of the next cavern, giving us a sweltering journey until we reached the cold darkness once again.
Ghostly wails echoed from ahead, making me wonder if the sound was a trick of the wind, or hints that something horrible lay in wait.
I shivered. "Reminds me of El Dorado." Icy fingers walked up my back at the thought of the light-draining creatures that tried to devour us in the depths of that cursed city.
"I keep waiting for a giant worm monster to eat us," Shelton said.
Adam grinned. "Let's tell each other ghost stories."
Shelton gave him a withering glare. "You start that and I'll throw you overboard." He sighed. "Man, I wish Bella was here."
"I have a teddy bear you can borrow," Adam said with a straight face.
Shelton balled up a fist. "Keep it up, wise guy."
The spooky wails grew louder, like hearing the echoes of distant conversations as the ship reached a sharp bend in the tunnel. The crew steered carefully, pivoting the back end to keep the middle of the ship from scraping the tunnel wall. It reminded me of trying to carry a long couch around the corner of a hallway, just on a much grander scale.
When we cleared the bend, the ship climbed a rise toward flashes of orange light.
"I think we're almost through," Shelton said hopefully.
Adam frowned. "I don't think that's sunlight."