The blood drained from Benjamin’s face. “If that’s true, Abbey might be in more danger than we originally thought.”
Jarvi nodded grimly. “The best thing we can do for her is to figure out what these so-called Storm Raiders are up to, find proof, and take it to the Magistrate. And we need to do it quickly.”
18
Tor scowled as the small boat headed for the shore. “Can’t we go any faster? I want to get this over with.”
Dahlia gave him an indulgent smile. “Patience, darling. We’ll be there soon.”
That sentiment didn’t make him feel any better.
They were headed back to the city of Bode, the last place he wanted to be. But he didn’t have a choice. He’d promised Eril, the Barskall chief, he’d visit him this morning. Now, he, Dahlia, and his first mate were all heading toward shore to attend a pointless meeting instead of doing something useful.
Like finding the fugitive girl.
It still made him furious that she’d slipped away so easily. He didn’t know what was worse—that she’d had the gall to try, or that he’d been foolish enough to give her a chance to succeed. He was used to everyone in Holdgate giving unquestioning respect to Tor the Storm Captain and everyone outside Holdgate cowering in fear of Tor the Storm Raider. It hadn’t crossed his mind that the captain, Storm Caller, and first mate of the lowly ship, The Foggy Day, would conspire to trick him, especially for the sake of a fugitive Arcadian girl. It boggled his mind.
Now, he was left with the task of not only tracking down the girl and her cohorts, but also deciding what to do with the ship and crew who’d harbored her. Their deaths would be difficult to explain, but not impossible. He could arrange to have the ship sink. In fact, he could blame their rookie Storm Caller, assuming Summer Wind and High Tide caught him before he made it back to Holdgate.
Still, Tor preferred to handle this as peacefully as possible. Maybe he could convince Captain Roy of the wisdom of Storm Raiding. It would be nice to have another allied ship he could trust, even if it was a less than impressive one. From what he’d seen of Captain Roy so far, he didn’t hold out much hope. The man didn’t seem to have the spine for real sea work. But Tor wasn’t ready to give up yet.
The boat touched against the dock, and Randall tied a line to secure it. The three of them stepped out onto the dock and made their way through the city.
The streets were silent, even though it was the middle of the morning. The survivors of the previous night’s raid were undoubtedly cowering in their homes, probably thanking the sea that their homes were still standing, unlike those of many of their neighbors. A few Barskall Warriors wandered the streets, most looking considerably less fierce than they had the previous night now that their seiderdrek had worn off. It would have been difficult to tell Barskall from Bodeman this morning.
Tor held a sleeve to his nose as he walked. As much as he enjoyed raiding, he didn’t enjoy the stench of the fires the following day. It seemed gross by sunlight, and it set his stomach on edge.
Eril hadn’t told Tor where he’d be setting up his headquarters, but he hadn’t needed to. Tor had been working with the man long enough to know he’d claim the largest building in the city. In this case, it was an ancient church from long before the Mad Days. Somehow, it had survived the many strange times Irth had been through, including the fires of the previous evening.
The Barskall Warriors standing guard outside the church quickly led Tor, Dahlia, and Randall into the building and to their master. He was sitting in a massive chair at the front of the old house of religion.
He bellowed a greeting as soon as he saw them, and it echoed through the vast hall. “Captain Tor! Another successful raid.”
As always, there was an edge of madness in his voice, something that screamed unhinged. Unlike his Warriors, Eril never fully came down off his potions. He couldn’t afford to if he wanted to keep his role as chief. Any one of his men would kill him at the first opportunity.
Tor marched to the front of the church and clapped Eril on the arm. “Indeed. Your men performed admirably as always.”
A serious look crossed Eril’s face. “Of course, they did. Are you implying you thought they wouldn’t?” He glared at Tor for a moment, then burst out in uproarious laughter, as if he’d just told the world’s funniest joke.
Tor exchanged a glance with Dahlia. It was always a bit dicey visiting Eril. When he was on his potions—and he always was—his moods were beyond unpredictable.
Eril abruptly stopped laughing, and his eyes narrowed. “What’s this my men have been telling me? Summer Wind and High Tide sailed out this morning?”
Tor cleared his throat. He really didn’t want to get into this, but he didn’t see a way around it. “Ah, yes. It turns out there was a fugitive aboard our fourth ship. She’s wanted for murder. She escaped in the night, taking The Foggy Day’s Storm Caller and first mate with her. I fear she may be headed back to Holdgate to spread, well, uncomfortable rumors. I sent the other two ships after her.”
Eril let out a grunt Tor interpreted as thoughtful. “Hmm. I assume it would not be good for our current arrangement if she were to make it back to Holdgate alive?”
Tor nodded. “You assume correctly.”
Eril slammed his hand down on the arm of his massive chair. “Then it’s settled. My men and I will help you track down this fugitive.”
Abbey trudged through the mud, making her way further up the mountain. Dustin was lagging behind her a bit, and Syd was a good thirty yards ahead. Every time Abbey looked up, that woman seemed to gain even more of a lead on her. For a sailor, she certainly was a good mountain climber.
When Abbey had questioned her on it, Syd had simply said, “Sailing isn’t all scrubbing bulkheads. We often have to go inland.”
An icy wind licked Abbey’s face, and she frowned “You know,” she called back over her shoulder, “it would be really great if we had someone who could control the weather. Imagine if that person could just, I don’t know, make the sunshine brighter, or make the cold ass wind that’s been hitting me in the face for the last twenty minutes disappear.”
Dustin’s voice was strained when he answered. Unlike Syd, his voyages on the stormships apparently hadn’t included a lot of mountain climbing. “Two things. First, that’s not how Storm Calling works. I don’t control the weather. I harness it. I shape it. It’s like riding a horse. You have to act like you’re the boss and hope the horse doesn’t realize he outweighs you by eight hundred pounds and can throw you off whenever he damn well pleases.”
It seemed like a semantic difference to Abbey, but whatever. Dustin had spent a decade learning Storm Calling. It only made sense he’d be a bit particular about it. “What’s the other thing?”
Dustin grunted with effort as he climbed a particularly steep section. “You know the other thing. Storm Callers can’t use their magic if they’re not touching seawater.”
“That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” Abbey said.
“Look at it this way. You have to stand near a flame to feel its heat, right? It’s the same way with storm magic. It comes from the sea, so you have to be near the source to use it.”
Abbey thought about that for a moment. That wasn’t the way her father had explained magic to her. “The way I understand it, magic comes from within us. My father uses hand gestures to focus his mind to use the magic properly. Isn’t it possible that storm magic works the same way? Maybe your staff and the sea—it all just focuses your mind.”
Dustin let out a strained laugh. “Look, no offense, but I think I know a little more about storm magic than you do.”
Abbey stopped and held out a hand for Dustin. He reluctantly took it, and she pulled him onto the rock she was standing on. “Have you ever tried it?”
“No. I haven’t tried jumping off a cliff to see if I can fly either, but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t work. I know the laws of nature, and I know the laws of storm magic.”
“Fine,�
� Abbey said. “If it comes from nature, is storm magic only in the sea? Or is it in the dirt, too? How about the trees?”
Syd’s voice came to them from far above. “You two are going to want to come up here.”
The bald woman stood on an outcropping, looking out over the sea.
Abbey let go of Dustin’s hand. “Let’s get up there.”
They made it the rest of the way to the outcropping in silence but for their grunts of effort. Abbey was getting tired, but she wasn’t about to let Dustin beat her to the top, so she pressed on. She arrived at the rocks ten yards ahead of Dustin, and she allowed herself to put her hands on her knees and catch her breath for a moment.
When Dustin joined them, Syd gestured to the sea far below.
“Damn it all to hell,” Dustin said. “Well, at least we know we made the right call.”
Abbey blinked at the horizon, trying to figure out what the other two were looking at. Apparently, she wasn’t as practiced in spotting objects far across the water. “What is it?”
Syd moved behind Abbey, then pointed. Abbey followed the woman’s finger, but it still took her a moment to see it. When she did, she let out a soft gasp. It was a ship.
“It’s not Thunderclap,” Dustin said.
“Not The Foggy Day either,” Syd added.
Abbey raised an eyebrow. “You can tell that from this far away?”
Syd ignored the question. “It’s either the Summer Wind or the High Tide. Which means Tor sent them out searching for us.”
They watched for a few minutes in silence, then Dustin let out a soft whistle. “They’re moving mighty fast. It won’t be long before they pass us.”
“It’s a good thing we got off the water,” Syd said, echoing Dustin’s previous statement.
They watched for a few more minutes, and even Abbey noticed how quickly the ship was moving. If they’d been in their little boat, this thing would have caught them no problem. “I don’t understand. With how fast they’re going, how do they hope to find us? There are a million spots we could be hiding. We could be in any of these coves. On any of those islands.”
“It’s a standard sweeping technique,” Syd said. “This ship’s primary mission is to ensure we don’t beat them back to Holdgate. They’re cruising down there as fast as they can. If they overtake us on open water, great. If not, they reach the city before us and brand us traitors and liars. That way, if we do make it down there, it will be more difficult to get people to believe us.”
“That’s definitely High Tide,” Dustin muttered.
Syd continued. “My guess is they’ll be sending Summer Wind close behind to conduct a more thorough search of the shoreline.”
Dustin sighed. “If you’re right, that raises an interesting question. We’re caught between High Tide and Summer Wind. No way we can get home by sea. And walking there would take a week, easy. So, how are we going to get home?”
The answer came to Abbey suddenly, like a bolt of inspiration. “We don’t go home. At least not yet.”
Syd raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
A slow smile crossed Abbey’s face. “Think about it. Our primary objectives are to stay alive and to get home as quickly as possible, right?”
“Yeah.” Dustin sounded anything but confident in his answer.
“And the fastest way home is a ship. It would take us a week to walk back to Holdgate, but we could make it back to Bode in only a day or so.”
Now, Syd’s skepticism was turning to outright worry. “And why the hell would we do that?”
“If Tor sent Summer Wind and High Tide off to look for us, that means Thunderclap is guarding The Foggy Day all alone.”
Dustin went pale. “Wait. Thunderclap is the best ship in the Kaldfell Peninsula, which pretty much means it’s the best ship on Irth. Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”
Abbey put her hand on her sword. It felt good to finally have a plan. “I’m suggesting we sneak back to Bode, sabotage the hell out of Thunderclap, and get our ship back.”
19
Abbey concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other as they made their way up yet another steep hill. It had been a long morning of hiking, traveling north through the mountains of the Kaldfell Peninsula. It was difficult to gauge how far they’d come on this mountainous terrain, but she was beginning to suspect Dustin’s prediction that they could make it back to Bode in a day was woefully optimistic.
Syd had told them they would stop and rest when they found a good spot, but that had been hours ago, and apparently, they still hadn’t come across a place that met the bald woman’s lofty standards. “We need a spot that can’t be seen from the sea or from the land below.” Syd had told them. “We don’t want someone spotting us and coming to check out the mysterious strangers in the hills.”
Abbey slowed her steps and dropped back to walk alongside Dustin. The poor guy looked even more worn out than Abbey felt.
“How’s the mighty Storm Caller?” Abbey asked. “You gonna make it?”
He shot her a slight smile. “Please. You’ll drop from exhaustion long before I do.”
She let out a laugh. “We both know that’s not true. Although, you do have that little walking stick.” She gestured to his Storm Caller staff.
“Yeah, who knew my sacred staff would be reduced to holding me up as I climb a damn mountain?” He paused. “Wait, did you say little?”
“Aha!” Abbey said triumphantly. “I knew you were sensitive about that thing.”
It felt good to laugh, to put aside their quest for just a moment. At the same time, her mind had been working as they walked. “I’ve been thinking about your Storm Calling and what you said about the sea. Some Storm Callers can cast without being on the ocean, right? Like the Storm Caller on the wall of Holdgate during your Testing?”
“Yeah. But that’s because there is a trough filled with seawater on the wall. It was designed for that purpose. A Storm Caller can sink their staff into the trough and do everything they could do on a ship at sea.”
“Hmm. So, you’re saying that little bit of seawater contains the same amount of power as the sea itself?”
Dustin shook his head. “It’s about the connection to the sea. The wood touches water, and that connects the whole thing.”
Abbey opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, Syd called to them.
“Up here!”
Abbey looked up and saw Syd standing in the shadows under a rock overhang. “Holy shit; I think she’s going to let us rest.”
Dustin shook his head. “No way. I’m not getting my hopes up until I’m sure.”
They made their way up to where The Foggy Day’s first mate was waiting and found her standing in the shadows. Abbey took a look around. She could see a small village in the distance, but even if the townspeople looked up here, there was no way they would see Syd, Abbey, and Dustin among the rocks. They were equally protected from someone on the water seeing them.
“This place will be adequate,” Syd said. “I’ll take the first watch. You two sleep for a few hours.”
Abbey and Dustin both breathed a sigh of relief.
Abbey settled in on the rocky ground. She didn’t have a blanket or pillow, but somehow, she had no problem falling into one of the deepest sleeps of her life.
It seemed like only a moment later she felt someone shaking her. She opened her eyes and saw Syd crouching over her.
“Arcadian, there’s trouble.” Without waiting for a reply, she stood and walked to the edge of the rocky outcropping.
Abbey wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and go back to sleep, but then she saw Dustin standing next to Syd. No way was she going to let him look heartier than her. She sighed, struggled to her feet, and joined her companions.
Neither Syd nor Dustin spoke. Their eyes were fixed on the village far below. Abbey quickly saw why. Two columns of smoke rose up from the town.
If the columns of smoke had been together,
Abbey might have been able to convince herself that this was simply some house fire that had spread. But the two columns of black smoke were rising from opposite sides of town. This was no accident.
Abbey spoke through gritted teeth. “Barskall.”
Syd nodded slowly. “My thoughts exactly.”
Dustin hesitated. “How can we be sure?”
“We can’t,” Syd said. “Not without getting closer.”
Abbey was already starting down the mountain toward the village.
“Whoa, hold on.” Dustin held up a hand. “Shouldn’t we discuss this?”
Abbey paused and looked back over her shoulder at him. “There’s nothing to discuss. If it is the Barskall, those people need our help.”
Syd nodded her agreement. “She’s right. Not only that, we need to confirm if it’s Barskall. We need to know if they’re looking for us.”
Dustin stood quietly for a moment, thinking as he clutched his staff. Abbey knew he had to be afraid. He’d spent so long honing his storm magic skills, and if this came to a fight, he’d be without them. He was probably wondering what good he’d be in a land-locked battle.
He took a deep breath, then looked down at the village. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
It took them nearly an hour to make their way down the mountain. By the time they reached it, the sun was setting, and there were many more fires blazing.
Abbey, Syd, and Dustin paused at the edge of the village. People were scurrying around carrying water pails, but there were no Barskall that Abbey could see.
Syd called to a short, blond man who was running past. “You there! What’s happening?”
The man stared at them, perplexed at the sudden appearance of these strangers. But then his gaze settled on Dustin, and his expression changed. “Oh, thank the sea.”
“Uh, what?” Dustin suddenly looked very uncomfortable.
The man ran up to Dustin and grabbed his cloak. “Help us, Storm Caller! It’s the Barskall. A few came into town to start these fires, and they’ve been sending in waves of Warriors ever since. They’re looting our homes even as they burn.”
Welcome To The Age of Magic Page 35