*
The following day, knowing the Norukai fleet was fast approaching, the kraken hunter sailed away from Serrimundi followed by four armored cargo ships. Serrimundi scout boats ranged farther south, prepared to light their signal rafts as soon as they spotted King Grieve and his raiders.
Left behind, Olgya watched them go, vowing to do her part to save the city.
Harborlord Otto had dispatched runners throughout the city, issuing a complete ban on fires, lanterns, not even a candle behind a shutter for the coming night. When darkness fell, Serrimundi had to be invisible, swallowed up in darkness and fog. Olgya had practiced her spell to call up the mists in the sea.
Near sunset, the lookout on the bluff spotted a curl of signal smoke to the south, which meant the raiders would be here within hours. Ready to intercept, the Chaser and the four sailing ships angled swiftly toward the smoke to provoke the oncoming Norukai fleet. They would taunt the serpent ships and bolt away, sailing north, leading them toward Tanimura for the final battle.
More than an hour later, near full darkness, the provocateurs sailed back past the harbor, pushed by magically enhanced winds. As deepening night blanketed the harbor and city with gloom, Olgya got to work before the Norukai could heave into view in hot pursuit. Waiting beneath the Sea Mother carving at the headlands, she used her gift to touch countless droplets of water, raising a mist from the calm waves beyond the mouth of the harbor. At first it was like faint steam rising from a pot of water about to boil, then it thickened into lacy wisps of fog that coalesced with other strands into a low-lying blanket.
The mist rolled up and into the harbor, blanketing the hills, flowing along the coast, and extending out to sea. Even as the darkness thickened, no lights twinkled from any homes in the crowded city. Olgya thought of families huddled together in the dark, comforting one another. The night had an unnatural hush.
Back at Ildakar, she had watched her glorious city vanish behind the shroud of eternity; now she had to make another city disappear, but in a different way. Olgya thickened the mist around the mouth of the harbor so the Norukai would see nothing but a blurred coastline, if they could make out anything in the darkness. As the last gloom faded into deep night, she spotted the blue sails of more than a hundred serpent ships racing after the Chaser and the four armored cargo ships. The enemy fleet was dizzying in its size, but Olgya had seen it before, at Renda Bay. She now saw the sense in Nicci’s plan; no matter how hard the people might fight back, these ships would have destroyed all of Serrimundi’s defenses, filled the harbor, and burned the city to the ground.
Even if the trick worked, however, Olgya intended to make her mark here.
As the thick fog spread and settled, Olgya took a dinghy and rowed out of the mouth of the harbor. The currents were erratic, but she used her gift to steady the boat as she made her way out to the long line of dangerous reefs beyond the harbor.
Rowing hard, she picked her way along the foamy line until she chose a place to lay down another deadly trap. She created a small shimmering ball of light, flickering cold flames that were tightly layered like the petals in a rosebud. She laid the glowing kernel among the reef rocks, ducking from the spray hitting the rocks. Her little spark glimmered there, immune to the water that tried to douse it. This wasn’t normal fire, but would become a beacon bright enough that she hoped it would lure some of the oncoming Norukai ships right to the Keeper.
Finished, she rowed back to the sheltered harbor, confident the trick would work.
Out on the reefs, her enigmatic light grew brighter in the fog.
*
Lars stood at the bow and howled into the night, shouting a challenge at the fleeing ships. The Chaser sailed ahead into the darkness.
He remembered Nicci from Ildakar. Now the blond sorceress kept provoking the raider fleet by lashing out at them with bolts of lightning. King Grieve drove his fleet after them in a headlong charge. Groaning at the benches, the muscular Norukai pulled on the oars, driving the serpent ships faster than any wind.
The small krakener and four large warships fled north with all possible speed, which told Lars that the sorceress could not sustain her attacks. She and other gifted provocateurs had struck and harassed the serpent ships at sunset, but then they turned and fled. Obviously, they feared King Grieve’s mighty navy! Nicci’s lightning had been nothing more than a sting to enrage the wild bear of the Norukai fleet, and the serpent ships swooped after her, closing in for the kill.
Lars commanded his crew, “Pull at the oars. You are not weaklings!” The muscular raiders, both men and women, sat at the benches and gritted their teeth, groaning with the effort. The oars dipped into the water, cut deep, and pulled back. He did not want his ships to lose their quarry in the darkness as thickening fog rose all around them.
While Grieve and his fleet sailed forward like a battering ram, Lars and his ten ships hugged closer to the shore. This was farther north than he had ever explored, even on their recent destructive raids. Just like his comrade Kor had been, Lars was under a death sentence, obligated to fight until he died. He would keep attacking these scared little people for as long as he could, but he didn’t expect they would manage to kill him anytime soon.
Now his raiding ships sailed through the black night and suffocating fog, but Lars could hear waves rushing against the nearby coast. “Row faster! The sorceress is out there somewhere. We must be the first to catch her.”
“Will King Grieve feed her to the serpent god?” asked one of the warriors.
“There is no serpent god,” said Ura, a muscular woman who was too ugly even for Lars. She’d shaved her head to make herself nearly indistinguishable from a male, although she could not hide her heavy breasts. “We are the serpent god, and we take the sacrifices ourselves.”
Lars said, “First we have to catch them.”
The oar master pounded on the drums, and the serpent ships plunged into the impenetrable fog. Near the serpent figurehead, one sailor cried out in surprise and pointed forward. “Lars, look! Some kind of beacon.”
A bright light sparked upward from the veils of white mist, like a full moon. It glowed and pulsed at the waterline, tempting, dazzling.
“What could it be?” asked Ura.
“It is magic,” one of the raiders muttered.
“Of course it is magic—we are hunting a sorceress!” Lars said. “That is where she must be! Adjust course. We will follow that light and run it down.”
The sailors pulled hard on the oars, and the serpent ships cut through the water like vipers ready to strike. The tantalizing beacon glowed through the fog, calling them. It lifted higher in the sky then dropped low again.
“Prepare your weapons,” Lars said.
The Norukai seized their assortment of blades and clubs and rushed to the front of the ship, ready to swing themselves overboard as soon as they cornered their prey. The glow brightened, and Lars had to shade his eyes. He still didn’t know what it was, but the beacon seemed to be retreating. “Faster!”
Just as the first serpent ships approached the dazzling orb, he heard the crash of breakers—far too close. He had only a moment to think before his ship ran aground.
“Reefs!” Ura screamed just before she was hurled overboard by the impact. Jagged rocks ripped open the lower hull, smashed the keel.
Lars slammed against the rail. Many of his sailors bowled into one another and tumbled over the side, yelling in rage. Hulls cracked and crunched as more of his serpent ships smashed against unseen reefs. The glowing beacon hovered mockingly overhead, brightened to a flare, then winked out, leaving them in mist-shrouded darkness.
Another serpent ship careened into Lars’s vessel from the starboard side, crushing the hull, snapping off the oars like twigs. The impact shattered his ribs and his left arm, and Lars fell over the side as his ship tilted. Water gushed into the open gap in its hull.
He plunged into the roiling water and flailed with his useless broken arm. His bare chest scrape
d against the sharp reef rocks. He saw dozens of his crew scrambling for purchase against the heavy waves, holding on to the wreckage.
At least seven of his vessels had run up onto the reefs, and Lars realized that the glowing orb had lured them into treacherous waters. A trick! Hundreds of wounded Norukai were swept out to sea or caught up in the churning foam and pulped against the rocks.
The fog grew even thicker, hiding them from the rest of the receding fleet. Lars could only hear the resounding crashes as more serpent ships plowed into the reefs and other vessels. When he tried to shout, a curl of seawater gushed into his mouth. He coughed, his shattered ribs stabbing like knives. He tried to pull himself onto the questionable safety of the reef.
Ura climbed up on the rocks that were slick with green seaweed, reaching for a handhold. She cried out as something grabbed her. She clawed at her leg, trying to break free, but she was jerked into the water. Nearby, Lars heard more screams, not just anger and surprise from the wrecks. His people were being attacked! The Norukai clawed for shelter on the reefs, but more were swept under, seized by something beneath the water.
Lars squirmed about, looking for an enemy. “Who are you?” He had lost his sword during the fall, and his arm was broken, but he bunched his other first. “Where are you?”
Humanlike forms glided up out of the water, sleek and gray, covered with scales and with mouths full of needle teeth. They slithered onto the reef rocks to fall upon their helpless prey.
The selka had pursued the Norukai fleet, waiting for their chance, and now they rose from the foamy water. Three of them grabbed Lars. He struggled, but they tore him to shreds before dragging his body in pieces under the waves.
CHAPTER 72
The imperial road rolled ahead of them, mile after mile, unwinding in lazy curves along the foothills. Tens of thousands of trampling boots left a much wider swath behind them as they crossed the land.
Utros dispatched scout parties and procurement armies along offshoot tracks, but only a few of the parties were successful in bringing back enough food for him, Ruva, and his primary commanders. Meanwhile, the main body of his army pushed onward like a slow stampede.
The general shaded his eyes to look ahead down the endless road that eventually led to Tanimura—or so he hoped. Hovering nearby, Ava’s spirit let out a brittle laugh. “We have only to walk forever, beloved Utros, and then we will be there!”
He tried to squeeze greater speed from his stallion, but the animal was exhausted and hungry, plodding along with no more energy than the shambling soldiers behind them.
Utros had conquered many cities in the past, and he remembered every victory. Numerous town leaders or self-proclaimed kings had fallen under his sword. Back then, his army was invincible, and his success was guaranteed in each engagement. He had never imagined that Iron Fang’s entire empire would fall, but Utros still intended to complete his mission.
The endless string of soldiers marched through the low hills until they formed a sprawling camp that stretched throughout the woods. The soldiers didn’t bother with cook fires, for they had nothing to eat except a few rabbits, squirrels, or other wild game they had scrounged. By now, his warriors were so ferociously hungry that they devoured any animals they killed without bothering to cook the raw meat, while their starving comrades licked any smears of blood left behind.
As darkness fell in the sparse forest, Utros lay back on the ground and drowsed while listening to the rustle of the camp. He had vowed to conquer the Old World, and his men had followed him for so long. He would not let it all be a fool’s chase.
Ruva lay beside him, curling her naked body against his, but not in an erotic way. She drew strength and comfort and gave it back to him. Without speaking, she just pressed her back and shoulders against his chest. He wrapped his muscular arm around her. “Tell me you can keep them alive, Ruva. Tell me your spell is strong enough.”
“Strong enough?” Her body shook, and he realized she was laughing. “You think I am stronger than the Keeper?”
“Keep him at bay for a little while longer. It is to his advantage to let me continue my war, because we will send him many more souls.” Utros felt a shiver and opened his eyes to see Ava’s glimmering form above them, as if jealous that her sister could touch his solid form and she could not.
“The Keeper wants what he wants. The Keeper wants me.” Ava drifted closer, extended her flickering arms. “He wants Ruva, both of us.” Her image strained like a flame in a wind. When her sister reached out for her, Ava vanished. Ruva slumped back down, sobbing, curled up in a fetal ball.
When sleep still eluded Utros after an hour, he rose and walked among his soldiers, speaking quiet encouragement to anyone who remained awake. He walked to the perimeter of the camp, where the forest grew darker and thicker. He heard rustling in the underbrush, saw shadows of movement, and he tensed, ready to fight whatever might be out there. When he dropped a hand to his side, he realized he had left his sword back with Ruva.
Tawny shapes drifted among the shadowy trees. For a moment he thought they were stags, in which case he would send out hunters to shoot them down, but when several of the wild forms glided toward him, Utros saw they were not deer, but feline, predatory.
Sand panthers whispered through the woods, their large paws barely crackling the forest debris. Catching him alone, easy prey, a massive female bounded toward him and let out a roar. The other cats streaked forward into the camp.
Though unarmed, Utros swung his fists as the panther crashed into his chest and bore him down. With a grunt of effort, he heaved the big cat aside, only peripherally noticing that the tan hide was covered with branded runes such as he had seen on the combat beasts from Ildakar. Claws raked across his upper arm, cutting deep into the thick muscle before his metal bracer caught the claws. In the brawl, he punched the snarling panther under the chin.
Roused by the noise, other soldiers came running, and more big cats fell upon them. The lead female, though, targeted Utros specifically. Something was driving the animal; this was not just some mindless predator making a convenient kill.
As more soldiers rushed to defend the general, he heard another round of shouted alarms in the extended camp. A clash of swords rang out into the damp night air. As he battled the sand panther, he couldn’t let his attention waver, but he saw human forms darting in, barely visible in the forest gloom. With a swift, dispersed strike, they attacked the groggy soldiers, killing hundreds before they melted back into the trees, never becoming fully visible.
Utros continued to wrestle with the panther. Her claws ripped through his leather armor and tore open his side. The cat’s eyes shone in the starlight, full of murder, and when she roared, he could feel her hot breath on his face.
“Utros! No!” Running up, Ruva raised her hands and summoned her gift. A crackle of magic swept through the air, flames that licked out to slam the panther, but to the general’s astonishment, Ruva’s fire merely rippled around the spell markings on the tan hide, causing no harm.
The bright flash of impotent fire was enough to startle the cat, though. The animal leaped back, snarled, then pounced on Utros again. With the sweep of a paw, she knocked off the gold mask, which clattered to the ground. Ruva struck out again with her magic, buffeting the panther, and as Utros rallied, the big cat retreated, snarled one more time, and melted back into the trees.
With their general under attack, hundreds of his soldiers grabbed their weapons and came running to the rescue. More than a dozen sand panthers were attacking his army in a concerted effort, but when so many soldiers rallied against them, the cats snarled, slashed a few more times, and bolted into the forest. They vanished into the night.
Hungry for revenge, some soldiers rushed into the forest in pursuit of the mysterious attackers, but their battle cries turned into screams as they died out in the darkness.
Utros stood, bleeding from where the panther had mauled him. Sobbing, Ruva pressed herself against him. “You’re hurt. You
’re bleeding, so much blood!” Then she smiled oddly at him. “Blood . . . has magic.”
The sorceress clasped the deep cut in his biceps, squeezed, and unleashed her gift. He felt a tingling warmth as his muscles and skin knitted under her healing spell. He had rarely asked either of the twins to heal him, because battle injuries were worth savoring. Even the pain counted for something.
But Utros could not afford to be weak. He needed the full use of his body. As Ruva patched his worst wounds, he stared into the forest where the panthers had disappeared. What had driven them here? What guided them?
Now alert and on edge, the soldiers in the camp gathered up the bodies of the men who had been slain by the panthers and the mysterious attackers in the forest. Under normal circumstances, his warriors would prepare the fallen for a respectful burial or funeral pyres, but these were not normal circumstances.
Utros did not want to think about what they did with the corpses.
*
Sleeping on the Chaser’s deck as it raced away from Serrimundi with the Norukai fleet in hot pursuit, Nicci fell deeper into herself, and her dream presence connected with her sister panther.
Mrra moved with twenty other sand panthers, pacing the army of General Utros. The panthers had no maps, but Nicci had a clear sense of where they were from the strength of her connection. The spell bond was growing stronger as they came together after being widely separated. Mrra continued to lope toward Nicci, day after day, closing the distance and trying to help.
Nicci tasted blood as she dreamed. Seeing through feline eyes and feeling her claws and muscles, she crashed out of the forest and attacked the enemy soldiers. Connected to Mrra, Nicci guided the cat to find a singular target, the most important victim in the entire army. General Utros.
She and Mrra attacked the commander, wounded him, tore off his golden mask, but even though the branded runes protected her from direct damage by magic, Ruva’s powers were dangerous. And the general and his soldiers could kill the panthers. Nicci urged them to withdraw.
Heart of Black Ice (Sister of Darkness: The Nicci Chronicles Book 4) Page 43