by B J Hanlon
He felt the water reach his feet and glanced down. It was thick and viscous. His heart raced and he felt the power building, growing in his body. It grew, he began to hear snaps of static in the air and feel them in his body.
The odor of the liquid rose to meet him. He instantly knew what it was.
Oil. Lamp oil. And a lot of it.
“What?” Mersett called.
“Scat…” Edin said. Lightning will turn this to a fire storm.
He raised an arm and let the bolt out.
A thick, blue bolt flashed down, almost too quick to make out. It struck Mersett’s hand and deflected off. A huge explosion came from below shaking the walls and the stairs. Edin fell, his hands slapping the wall. Edin shook his head and blinked a few times. Noticing a glowing light against the wall he turned to see what it was from.
On top of the stairs Casitas stood with a torch in his hand. Someone moved in front of him and kicked over another barrel.
More oil flooded down the stairs. Edin watched as Casitas dropped the torch. It struck and instantly the stairwell was awash with light and fire.
Edin ran down the stairwell, slowly feeling the talent leech from him like a bottle on its side. He half ran and half slid down. He felt the heat rising on his back. Then something burning, flesh. He couldn’t turn around. Edin shouted “run!”
A spark leapt past him and then flamed. He tried to skirt it, but the fire latched onto his soaked boots.
He was only a few yards from the dungeons. No one was below.
Edin screamed, his foot, then his leg was on fire. He ripped off his tunic and slipped. A moment later he was on the ground in a flaming puddle. His nightmare turned real.
Edin could see their faces in the flames, all the Por Fen, the nobles, the villagers of Yaultan. Everyone who wanted to kill him, to burn him alive. They were getting their wish. He could do nothing about it, he wanted to cry, the heat, the searing pain was unbelievable.
Suddenly, hands reached in and yanked him up.
A shove from behind and Edin fell forward. He tumbled fully into a cool pool of water. The flames were extinguished and he felt the coolness flow around his body.
Something brushed his leg, he yelped and took in a mouthful of water… not water, sewage. Edin spit or retched as he turned and saw the glowing orange surface above his head. Below, he saw the unknown, the deep and unseen depths. Dark water that caused him to freak out.
Popping his head out, he glanced around. The group were all standing on a stone ledge over the waterway. Next to them was a crumbled opening billowing black smoke, perforated by dancing flames.
Arianne was on her stomach, she reached over and waived for Edin’s hand. He gripped it and she pulled, helping him onto the ledge.
Edin rolled up and out of the sewage, he laid on his back and let himself breathe for a moment. As he glanced over, he was sure he could see dead birds and rats floating in the water. He nearly puked again.
Arianne was hovering above him, her eyes shining down. He heard the crackle of the flames barely above a soft whimper.
“You stink and your trousers are destroyed, again.”
He sat up and noticed that, one leg was completely missing, the other half burnt. His skin felt tender but it didn’t feel as though he’d been barbequed.
A moment later, he saw Dorset, crying and staring into the inferno.
“Mersett?”
Arianne shook her head.
“We can’t stay…” It was Placisus but he sounded far away.
Edin carefully stood and grabbed Dorset’s arm. He tried lifting his frozen friend, a friend whose legs decided to start working too late and one splashed into the sewage river.
Edin gripped his arm and helped him back up. It did little to wake Dorset up.
Ahead, in the dark cavern, he could barely make out the figures of Placisus, holding a torch with one arm and helping Le Fie with the other, far ahead of them. Arianne was next with Edin followed by Dorset.
They followed, without turning down any of the other passageways.
Black smoke continued to hang an arm’s length above his head. The river of waste flowed with them. Slowly, Edin began to hear the sound of water. It was soft at first but grew louder.
Ahead of the two men, a light nimbus cloud hung in the air. Le Fie and Placisus stood before it as if it were a wall.
As they approached, it was clear that on the other side of the mist, there was some sort of waterfall.
“What is it?” Edin asked.
Placisus hesitantly put out a hand and ran it through the mist. When he pulled it back, nothing happened. He flipped his hand over, the same with the backside. Placisus tried again. He put his arm through.
“There’s nothing here, it’s just air… but.” He pulled his arm out, the sleeve was the same, nothing happened.
“A cleansing mist.” The voice came from behind. Dorset’s first words since they left the cell block. His voice cracked. “A spell to purify the sewage…”
Placisus stepped through disappearing for a moment before returning. “He’s right, there’s a pool below, the water looks pure. And there seems to be an exit ahead of us.”
Before he went through, Edin turned to Dorset. “Are you okay?”
Dorset offered a weak smile and went through first.
On the far side, Edin noticed he was dry. The shredded clothes looked to have almost been laundered. Though still shredded.
He was in a giant cylinder with a skylight up top and a bright, clean pool down below being fed by the sewage turned fresh water falling in. And there was a bridge to a tunnel on the other side.
He followed the stone bridge; it was one large piece that must’ve been hewn from something much bigger, then they continued on down the opposite tunnel toward a pinpoint of light that slowly grew.
There were a pair of doors to the right and left about ten feet past the cleansing tunnel, but they didn’t turn. They continued forward.
As the light grew, it seemed that they were ascending. Very slightly but he felt the strain in his calves. Water lapping sounded ahead of them.
“The sea,” Placisus called back.
They emerged in the morning sun. The warmth from the rays felt heavenly. They were on a small stone platform, barely large enough for all of them to fit.
The dampness and seaweed at their feet seemed to say it spent a part of its time submerged. More seaweed along with barnacles were attached to the sides. Off to the right, he saw the cliffs. Then it hit him.
This was where they threw the body… where Edin saw that dark shape...
“We’re on the north side of the main isle…” Placisus said. “The water here is uncontrollable. We have to go back.”
“Why?” Arianne asked. “You have the talent… I’m sure you can–”
Dorset interrupted, shaking his head. “These are ancient waters, like ancient stone we have no power over them. They were created before man and will be here long after we’re all dead. These waters do not move with currents, they stay here. They only rise with the tide. It is the same with most waters of the Anderiania Sea.” He waived his hand out as if to present it.
“The Corrinbomon owns these waters,” Placisus croaked.
“Corrinbomon?” Edin asked. “That’s real?”
“Oh yes. An ancient sea beast that sinks ships and eats them and their crew.”
“Ships do not sail on the north side of the island,” Le Fie muttered. He was sitting on a stone off to the side and staring out to sea.
Arianne had healed him slightly; Dorset was been too weak.
Edin looked back into the tunnels… the maze. If they went back in, would they find their way out? And if they did, what would they be up against.
The sun was shining down as he stepped to the edge of the pier. He dipped a toeless boot into the water. It was cold.
Edin sat down, letting his legs dangle and slowly took off the boot.
“What are you doing?” Arianne ask
ed.
“I’m going to swim it. Or try to.”
Bells rang out from somewhere off to the south. “That’s the signal,” Placisus said solemnly, “the battle is over.”
“Even if we get across, we have nowhere to go… Pharont clearly wasn’t as receptive as we thought,” Arianne added.
“The Reaches,” Dorset said.
Edin was sick of waiting, discussing plans. The bell ringing told him the battle was lost, Edin couldn’t give up though. They all stuck their necks out for him, believed him to be some sort of man of prophacy, and seemed to destroy their lives for it. Especially Mersett. If he could get them out of this. All these people who seemed to care about him…
Edin pushed off and slipped into the water, his body reacted as he knew it would, shivers, muscles clenching. For a moment, he tried to do what they said was impossible. Use the waters… He remembered turning himself into a fish… nearly.
He felt naught but the eeriness of being out on in the open water with nothing underneath. Edin put his legs to a rock and pushed off putting his head below and swimming.
The thought of the sea beast somewhere below was a good motivator to hurry.
Edin lifted his head after a dozen or so strokes to make sure he was on the right track. He wasn’t.
He made a course correction and then he was aimed for it. The stone was a hundred or so yards away. He kept swimming.
The next time he looked up, he noticed he’d somehow been taken off course again. Not just that, he was further out to sea. He heard people screaming behind him but didn’t stop. He stuck his head back under and tried to spy anything.
An odd thought came to him, there were no fish. None anywhere. And not just that, he remembered at one point seeing small specs of life that floated in oceans. None of those were here either.
It was as if this area was complete devoid of life.
Everything but me.
This realization caused him to try and swim faster, he pumped his legs and drove his arms forward.
He popped his head up, he was closer to the huge rock wall, but further to the north. Glancing back, he tried to spy the pier but could see nothing over the white crests of the waves beating around him.
Edin pumped his arms and legs faster. His heart raced and he got the feeling of something trailing him. He’d heard of sharks before and their much larger cousins, giasharks, thirty footers, that could swallow a man in a single bite.
He felt a wave pulling him up. Edin glanced up to see the rock formation about five yards away. He flowed back down and felt the water trying to recede. Edin pulled and kicked, hopefully moving forward.
In front of him, a black shape appeared just below the surface. There were eyes and a huge prominent nose. A giant beast, staring at him. His body froze like he’d just been thrown in ice and slowly, Edin began to sink. His mind worked like bears in winter.
The water washed over him, he felt like he was being pulled down. The voices, screams, far distant were like drizzle during a thunder boom.
A screen of white bubbles filled his vision for a moment before they ran back to the surface. And he could see the eyes, the nose… the rock with a jagged piece of wood sticking from beneath it like a pipe.
He was able to think again, barely. His lungs were gasping for air, they’d stopped working, everything had. Edin shot out an arm and grabbed the soft, spongy wood and pulled. He shot upward, five feet then his head burst onto the surface as a wave drove him forward.
Edin threw out his hands but they slipped on the stone. His chest struck the face and all the air he’d just gulped blew out.
He was sinking again, then his feet touched something, he breathed and then nearly screamed. It was slimy and it moved. Edin reached out, for something. Anything.
The unknown thing reached up and began curling around his ankle.
A hand hold, he prayed.
Then he found something, Edin pulled, his ankle slipped through the closing coil and he nearly threw himself up onto the rock. He turned, waiting to see the beast leap from the water and grab him.
Nothing appeared.
He glanced back toward the slab and saw only men in dark cloaks. His friends were gone.
14
The Beast of Northeast
Edin pressed himself deeper into a crevasse between two rocks. Their pursuers were looking in all directions, hands over their eyes in a Resholtian-esque salute.
He laid still and watched. After a few moments, one of the men climbed up onto the rock to the near side of the pier.
Edin saw a head peeking out from behind a large granite boulder twenty yards away. Long blond hair, either Dorset or Arianne.
They were climbing on fallen rocks that were dipping in and out of the shallows around the base of the volcano.
Le Fie was in front, somehow the man was strong enough to lead. Placisus was at the rear, his body half submerged in water.
They were taking a very treacherous route around toward the tall and narrower straights that separated Delrot from Brackland. The water rushed in and out of there with force. Swimming across would be almost impossible.
One of the suspension bridges was hanging high above them, but couldn’t see anyone crossing it. There were no more bells ringing and he wasn’t sure if the city was just silent or the distance was too great.
In a moment, the man would see the group and they’d be trapped. Magi or archers could pick them off from the cliffs. They’d be caught and killed unless Pharont was doing this for some other reason. One Edin could not guess at.
Edin closed his eyes and felt his talent. The connection to the world surged. Despite the fatigue that pushed him down, Edin needed to help.
The air was flowing, the waves were lapping, and small bits of electricity burst around his body. Edin let the air swarm like bees around a keeper and sent a gust toward the man climbing the stone. As it got further though, he could feel it dissipating. The broson dropped to his chest and clung to the rock.
Too weak. Edin thought for a moment. He could erect an ethereal wall or send his blades flying across like crossbow bolts.
This however, would give him away if he missed. Edin stared, lying on his stomach for only a few more moments. He had to feel the waves… the water. He remembered feeling someone else wrestling with the water in Pharont’s chambers.
What if that was what it was? Could he control the waves here? Heck if he could withstand the wan stones, maybe he could use the talent.
Edin closed his eyes and concentrated. He needed a large wave to knock the man off and sweep him into the sea.
As he tried, he began to feel something different. A rumbling feeling. He felt the waves… just a bit but there was a much deeper, more pronounced churning in his gut.
It wasn’t new, but it was stronger, as if something were pulling at him. Fighting him.
Edin felt the wave rolling in his mind and his stomach was doing the same. If he’d had a breakfast, it would probably have come out one of the two ends at this point.
Then, the feeling passed, he held out his hand and tried to feel it grow. He heard a shout from somewhere across the channel. Then he heard the crash of a giant wave striking the side of the cliff.
Edin snapped his eyes open and looked. The guard that was climbing the rocks was gone. In its place a dark black tentacle.
It slipped back into the water in a blink. A second broson was standing on the pier, staring at the water, then glancing back at where Edin knew the door to be. It was as if he were waiting for someone or something to come help.
Another shout, a name that Edin couldn’t quite make out. Then there was movement in the water. A broson splashed around, his head popping out and looking around. He saw his friend and called something back.
Edin carefully climbed a higher rock a few feet to his left. It was like a giant nub of a finger cut off at the first knuckle.
The black thing appeared in the water again, closer to the man. Edin felt the hairs on hi
s neck stand. It was a sleek, dark black color. It reminded him of the tunnels he and Arianne had travelled through.
It was about five feet from the bobbing man. Then the broson started trying to swim, his friend bent over, on his knees, and reached a hand out.
Edin stood. He wasn’t sure why, but from this angle, the sun reflected off the sheen of the black object like a mirror. Edin could make out the reflection of the mountain peak on its skin. White capped and pointed like an arrow to the heavens.
There was a second, when the broson was only a half yard or so from the outstretched hand of his partner and it seemed to give them hope.
Then, a terrifying, bone-chilling, yelp echoed across the expanse and the swimming broson disappeared. The other man leapt back like a recoiling serpent and tumbled back onto the stone pier further from the water’s edge.
The Corrinbomon. The remaining broson stood and began creeping toward the edge again. This time, he had a sword in his hand. He called out a name, but the sea was silent as if the man had never existed… like the body Edin had seen thrown in.
Then he spotted it. It was long, fifty yards at least, he thought for a moment, but at this distance it was hard to tell. It was coming from the far side of the pier. The opposite side of where the broson was looking for his friend.
The human part of Edin wanted to call out, to warn the broson, but the words were caught in his throat as if he’d just swallowed a sticky unripe tuber.
It exploded out of the water so fast and so powerfully that Edin flinched. His foot slipped on something wet and soft, trying to compensate for his backward fall, he threw his weight forward and began to stumble the other way. Toward the sea.
A terrifying howl came from the direction of the broson, but Edin was trying to drop his hands and prevent himself from falling back in the dark water.
He groped at anything to arrest this fall but nothing seemed to be there. After a thousand years of water lapping these rocks, they were as smooth as a well-polished gem. Edin felt his body tumbling, sliding off a stone.