Nearby, Deddio had already filled one of the cannons with gunpowder. Now he was trying his best to move one of the cannonballs from the ones on the floor to the cannon itself, but they were clearly too heavy for him. He heaved and struggled, but he could only do it one-armed due to how wounded his other arm was. Kinker wanted to help, would have helped, but he doubted his back would have agreed to it.
Somehow, Deddio succeeded in lifting one of the cannonballs—which probably only weighed about eight pounds, by the look of it—and shoved it into the cannon's barrel. A loud clunk told Kinker that the cannonball was now sitting securely within the cannon; just in time, too, because Kinker found a small bland cardboard box with the word 'MATCHES' written on it.
“I found the matches,” said Kinker, holding up the box. “Take it!”
Deddio ran over and took the box of matches from Kinker's hand. Unfortunately, Kinker had been gripping the box too tightly because it ripped apart and matches went everywhere, causing Deddio to drop to his hands and knees and start collecting as many of the little bastards as he could.
“You don't need them all, do you?” said Kinker in annoyance. “Just grab one and light the damn thing already.”
Deddio had about four in his hands, but when he heard Kinker's order, he got unsteadily to his feet and ran back to the cannon. He got behind it and started to push it across the the floor, but the cannon was clearly too heavy for him to move on his own. He got maybe an inch before collapsing, panting hard and groaning as his arm continued to bleed.
“No use,” Deddio gasped. “Can't do it. Can't push it.”
“Yes, you can,” said Kinker, feeling his temper rising. “Just do it, man. If you don't, then you can say good bye to ever seeing the Northern Isles again.”
That little pep talk didn't seem to do Deddio much good. He just lay there, looking utterly defeated.
Kinker opened his mouth to yell again, but he didn't get a chance because an ominous creaking sound caused him to look at the wall where the cannon was supposed to fire from. A second later, the wall went flying off, letting in a blast of cold wind and revealing the Tusked God, who had apparently ripped off that part of the wall with his tongue.
The Tusked God pulled the chunk of wood into its mouth and crunched on it loudly enough for the sound to rise above the screams of people and the roars of baba raga, a sound which was amplified now that there was nothing between it and Kinker.
Deddio stared in shock, but Kinker yelled at him, “The match, Deddio, the match! Blow that motherfucker to hell!”
Deddio shook his head and immediately lit his match on the back end of the cannon. He grabbed the cannon's fuse, but before he could light it, the Tusked God's tongue shot out again and wrapped around Deddio. Kinker barely had time to yell out Deddio's name before the fisherman was yanked out of the room and into the open maw of the Tusked God, where he disappeared in a scream and flash of blood.
Kinker tried to scream, but he seemed to have lost his voice because he couldn't hear himself scream. He just sat there, with his mouth open, watching as the Tusked God munched contentedly on Deddio's bones. The deity didn't seem to notice Kinker, but that didn't make him feel better at all.
Deddio's dead, Kinker thought. The ship is falling apart. Most of the crew is probably dead or about to die. Malock and the others are probably dead, too, I imagine. This must be how we all die.
Then Kinker felt a few pieces of wood nearby. He wrapped his fingers around them and brought them up to his face.
They were matches, some of the ones that Deddio had failed to pick up. Kinker looked at the cannon and noticed how close the fuse was to him. It was just out of his reach, but if he crawled over to it ...
Kinker got on his hands and knees and crawled over to the fuse as quickly as he could. Every moment he remained aware of the Tusked God, expecting any second now to be noticed and devoured just like Deddio. But he couldn't stop, not even with his back hurting as badly as it was, not until he reached the fuse and lit it.
Once he was close enough, he reached out with his free hand and wrapped his fingers around the end of the fuse. Hands trembling, Kinker tried to light the matches, but every time he did, a strong gust of gelid wind would blow it out and he'd have to try again. He went through three matches—far too many—before the fourth one lit and stay lit.
Then he brought the match to the fuse's tip and it caught fire. Kinker let out a hoarse whoop and looked up at the Tusked God, who was now looking at him with hungry eyes.
So Kinker shook his fist at the Tusked God and said, in a weak voice, “See you at the bottom of the sea, you son of a bitch.”
The Tusked God opened its mouth, probably to snatch him up just like Deddio, but it didn't get the chance. The fuse reached the end and with an almighty boom a single cannonball flew out of the cannon's barrel directly into the Tusked God's gaping mouth.
The cannonball must have gone deep because the Tusked God gagged and coughed. A moment later, flames and smoke burst from the Tusked God's mouth, scorching its tongue and tusks. The Tusked God howled in pain, thrashing about in the icy waters, acting more like a wounded animal than a powerful god now.
Kinker figured that the Tusked God would kill them all now, but much to his surprise, the Tusked God sank back beneath the water instead. Its growls and moans of pain disappeared as it vanished beneath the waves of Stalf Bay and not a minute later the baba raga threw themselves over the side of the ship and into the water below. Kinker watched them fall, hoping against hope that they wouldn't notice him, but they seemed to be retreating now because they didn't even stop, not even when one landed on the floor in front of him. Soon they were all gone and the entire ship was silent.
Until now, Kinker hadn't realized just how tired he was. When he thought about this, his eyes drooped, his shoulders slumped, and he immediately drifted off into unconsciousness, unsure if he would ever awake again.
***
Chapter Seventeen
The three deities began to advance, eager to eat. Malock was too shocked to come up with a plan. Behind him he heard Aseth struggling to open the door, pounding at it, with Kocas yelling at him to pound at it faster. Jenur just stood nearby, perhaps having come to the same conclusion as Malock: that is, there was no point in trying to run because there was no place they could run to.
Then Malock got an idea. The same idea that he had used to make the Loner God spare his life, actually. He figured it would have to work; after all, these three gods were probably under the same Treaty as the Loner God, which meant that all he needed to do was announce his status as Kano's chosen and he'd be safe.
So Malock stepped forward, putting on his bravest expression, folded his arms over his chest, and said, “Halt, southern deities. I am Prince Malock, the Chosen One of Kano. You cannot harm me, as per the Treaty.”
That actually worked. The three deities ceased moving and, although they all lacked eyeballs, Malock thought they were all looking at him now. Good.
“You can smell Kano on me, I'm sure,” said Malock. “And you know that the Treaty prevents you from harming me, a mortal who is under her protection. I suggest you three go home now and get your dinner elsewhere. My crew is off-limits.”
His smile quickly fell off his face, however, when the three deities scattered. The Leaf Goddess and the Cloud God flew past him toward Kocas and Aseth, who had failed to open the door and were now screaming their heads off. The Lightning Goddess made a move toward Jenur, but that girl was faster than lightning because she was now clinging to Malock like an octopus.
“Jenur?” said Malock, looking at her in surprise. “What are you doing?”
“You're Kano's Chosen One, right?” said Jenur. “I don't understand all this talk about this Treaty, but I do get that these guys can't hurt you. So I figure that I'll be okay as long as I stay close to you. Can't hurt me without hurting you.”
Malock was not sure that it worked like that, but perhaps it did because the Lightning Goddess d
idn't try to attack them. She flashed this way and that, moved forward and backed off, but she didn't actually touch them. She succeeded in looking intimidating, but not much else.
Figuring they were safe for now, Malock glanced over his shoulder and felt his heart fail him again. The Cloud God and the Leaf Goddess had made short work of Kocas and Aseth. The two hunters didn't even have skin on their bones anymore. They just lay against the door, their white bones splattered with blood, bits of clothes hanging off their bones. The two deities were making strange munching noises, even though they lacked mouths.
Then Malock looked back at the Lightning Goddess, who was still thundering and flashing. Behind her, Hana was leaning against the table, looking amused.
“I think we're at a stalemate here, Hana,” said Malock, raising his voice to be heard over the sounds of the gods. “I know your gods want Jenur, but I'm not going to give her up and they aren't going to attack her without harming me. Your only option now is to let us go.”
Hana shrugged. “You'll have to barter for your freedom with them. They're reasonable deities. I'm sure they'll be willing to let their dinner go free.”
Malock grit his teeth, but before he could respond, the Cloud God and the Leaf Goddess appeared, circling the two surviving hunters like hawks. The Lightning Goddess joined them, but like before she did not attack. Still, Malock had a feeling that eventually one of them would try something and he had a good feeling it would be the Lightning Goddess, even though he did not know her well enough to be sure about that.
How are we going to get out of this? Malock thought. I can get out, of course, but Jenur can't. Unless I give her up, but I can't do that. I'm not going to betray her again.
“Any ideas?” Malock muttered to Jenur, who was clinging even more closely to his body than before.
Jenur winced when the Lightning Goddess flashed again. “No. I'm pretty sure we're both gonna die.”
“That's encouraging,” said Malock. “You're just a barrel of sunshine, aren't you?”
Jenur glared at him in annoyance, which looked more threatening than it should have when the Lightning God's light reflected off her eyes. “Hard to be a barrel of sunshine when there are three very hungry gods that want to eat you for dinner.”
Malock shrugged. “Good point. Still, I would have thought you would have come up with something by now. You showed some quick-thinking when you defeated the Gray Pirates back there.”
“This time, my mind's shot,” said Jenur. “Sorry.”
“We can't stay here forever,” said Malock, looking at the circling gods. “We'll die of starvation or get tired or something else will happen. And you certainly can't cling to my arm forever.”
“Yeah, I know,” said Jenur with a gulp. “I really am starting to wish that I'd learned some magic back home. Or that Bifor was with us.”
“Maybe I can bargain with them,” said Malock. “Surely they must be reasonable beings who—”
Jenur put a hand over his mouth. “Don't.”
Malock ripped her hand off his mouth and glared at her. “What?”
“They aren't reasonable,” Jenur said, wincing as one of the Leaf Goddess's leaves scratched her cheek. “They're nothing more than forces of nature. You can't reason with a lightning bolt or a cloud.”
Malock didn't want to admit it, but she did have a point. As far as he could tell, the three deities didn't even speak Divina. He could tell they were listening to their conversation, waiting for the right moment to strike. He was not going to let them find that opportunity, not if he could help it.
Beyond the circling gods, Hana continued to lean against the table, her arms folded across her chest and her face alight with the most arrogant smirk Malock had ever seen on another being. She seemed unlikely to aid them and her mistress, the Mechanical Goddess, probably wasn't going to do it, either, because it was obvious that the Mechanical Goddess had taken Malock and his party deep into her body so they couldn't escape.
She must feed them, Malock realized. The Mechanical Goddess lures in mortals so her brothers and sisters can feast without having to hunt them down themselves. Very sly, that one is.
Of course, that realization didn't help him. All it told him was that the Mechanical Goddess was a cold-hearted bitch whose only concern, perhaps, was how to clean up the bones and blood that the other gods left behind. Maybe they would be dumped into that 'Maw' that Hana mentioned earlier, though as far as Malock could see, the room only had two exits, the door behind him and the window above him, and both were out of his reach.
He glanced down at his feet and noticed something odd about the square of floor that he and Jenur stood on. Though it appeared perfectly flush with the rest of the floor, he noticed the tiniest of hairline cracks around it, like a square. It almost looked like a trapdoor, but why would the Mechanical Goddess have a trapdoor built in her dining room like this?
It's probably the trash compactor, Malock thought. If it opens, Jenur and I will be shredded into pieces. Would that be better or worse than being eaten alive by a bunch of hungry gods, I wonder?
Of course, Malock had no way of knowing whether that actually led to the Maw. What it if was actually an escape hatch? It might lead outside the palace, perhaps even outside the ice walls. If that was true, then he needed to figure out a way to open it. He couldn't open it, however, because he would have to move to open it and if he moved then the gods might try to attack Jenur. He saw no way out of it.
As it transpired, Malock didn't need to do anything because the panel fell out underneath them on its own. Malock and Jenur had only a brief moment to exchange a look before they fell screaming. The Lightning Goddess hurled a lightning bolt at them as they fell, but luckily it only skirted the top of Jenur's hair.
The fall quickly transformed into a slide, but it was narrow and reeked of blood and filth. It was also extremely dark, especially when the hole from which they fell covered itself again. The slide twisted and turned, Malock and Jenur clinging to each other to avoid being separated. Malock didn't know where this tunnel led or why it had opened. Nor did he think about the fact that they were in the bowels of a goddess, albeit a mechanical one.
At first, the slide was silent, save for their own screams and shouts. Then, the further they went, the louder certain sounds became. Even with the wind rushing by, Malock thought the noises sounded like the drums of Grinf, but the closer they got, the more he realized they were the sounds of machinery at work, pounding and beating against each other, but he couldn't see the machinery and frankly he wasn't sure that he wanted to.
Not that he had much of a choice in the matter. With the sounds came light, a dark, reddish light that made Malock feel woozy. The light revealed just how narrow the tunnel was; the ceiling couldn't have been more than a few feet above them. The light itself seemed to be coming from up ahead, causing Malock to raise his head just high enough to get a look at what it was.
Up ahead—steadily drawing nearer every second—was what looked like the maw of a giant monster. Huge metal teeth clanged open and closed so rapidly, Malock figured he and Jenur would be turned into little more than scraps of skin and bone if they passed through them. Even worse, there was no way to stop, no way to halt, no way even to slow down, no way to save themselves from their inevitably gruesome fate.
But at the last minute, another route opened right next to the compactor and the slide shifted abruptly so they went down that way instead. That miraculous bit of luck surprised Malock, but he quickly became worried that this route would take them to a worse place. He imagined a pit of molten lava, like the kind he had read about in history books back on Carnag, which in the past had been used to torture or kill prisoners.
Yet the tunnel slide simply went on and on, becoming narrower and bumpier, but otherwise not ending in death. They did pick up speed, but Malock felt no increase in temperature and saw nothing to indicate that death was just around the corner.
They rounded a corner and immediately a light
appeared at the end of the tunnel. The next minute, he and Jenur went flying out of the tunnel, tumbling through the air, and landed in a shallow pit of water. The water was ice cold and made Malock gasp and shiver, but he quickly recovered and got to his feet, helping Jenur up as he did so. Then they looked around at their surroundings, trying to figure out exactly where they had ended up.
Much to Malock's surprise, it was the same cove where they had landed their rowboat several hours earlier. Not only that, but the rowboat itself was still there, causing Malock to actually hug the rowboat's prow, saying as he did so, “We're saved, we're saved, thank the gods we're saved!”
Jenur tapped Malock's shoulder. He looked up at her and saw that she was looking out at the sea. “What's the problem, Jenur? Aren't you happy that we miraculously escaped? Kano must have rescued us.”
Jenur nodded, still not looking at him, perhaps not even listening to him. “The ship ...”
Frowning, Malock looked out over Stalf Bay, wondering what Jenur was talking about. But when he finally spotted the Iron Wind—saw that it was missing its mainmast and that its port had been ripped off entirely—any good or happy feelings he'd felt since escaping the Mechanical Goddess left him entirely, leaving a hollow, horrified emptiness in the pit of his stomach.
***
Chapter Eighteen
The rowboats were designed for four people to row, so it was supremely difficult to row it across Stalf Bay with only two people, even when Malock and Jenur put their backs into it. Nonetheless, Malock and Jenur rowed forth with all their might, although the Iron Wind was in such shabby condition that he wondered if anyone was still alive on the ship at all.
As it turned out, there were still people alive on the ship, but not nearly as many as when Malock first left. According to Banika, who had a makeshift bandaged wrapped around her head, a giant monster calling itself the Tusked God had attacked the ship with a small army of baba raga. The men had been on the losing end of the battle before Kinker fired a cannon at the Tusked God, forcing it to retreat, but not before they lost a staggering twenty sailors, about eleven humans and nine aquarians. The wounded were far greater, encompassing nearly every member of the crew that hadn't been killed in the battle.
The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock Page 25