by James Dale
"This is not good," Arrinor muttered. "If I had only known before we left Dorshev, I could have taught you with Eaudreuil's help. But out here? With no other Mindspeaker to practice with while I instruct you? I can explain to you the how, but it will do you no good until...if he comes again. When that happens, I do not think Leviathan will be very accommodating."
"Tell me anyway," Jack sighed. "If I have to learn on the run, I will. It...It wasn't pleasant."
"I don't imagine it was," Arrinor nodded. "The few seconds I left my mind open to...explore, was not an experience I wish to repeat."
"How do I do it?"
"It is like shielding your thoughts," the Ailfar Mindspeaker began, "only in...Reverse? When you shield your thoughts, you imagine a...a wall, yes?"
"Something like that."
"The wall to shield out thoughts must be constructed in the same way, then...pushed out-word. Understand?"
"Simple enough," Braedan nodded, relieved it wasn't more complicated.
"Simple to say, yes," Arrinor agreed, "but to do it? Without practice? Leviathan, a being of far greater intelligence than Val'anna, if he detects the shield, he will try to break through. I have never seen it happen, but there is a tale from the Second War of the Stones of Gaeil Iraellidon encountering a demon possessed na'Ghomari. When the demon broke through his shield, Gaeil...it burned away his ability to Mindspeak. Though he survived, an important part of him had been stripped away. The part that made him who he was. He just...wasted away. It took him many years to die."
"Judas Bloody Hell," Jack muttered.
"If...if you can endure the pain, it might be best for you not to make the attempt," Arrinor said quietly. "Though if Leviathan comes again, I imagine it will not make much difference. You...we all may not survive long at any rate."
"What if...will trying to shield my thoughts...draw his attention to me?" asked Jack. "Long enough for Ara’fael..."
"Do not even consider such a thing!" the Ailfar hissed. "What would such a sacrifice gain? Even if Leviathan swam up to the side of the ship and lulled among the waves long enough for Ara’fael to burn him to a crisp, if such a thing is possible, Ljmarn's Heir...you cannot use Deathbane with your mind stripped away."
"I may have to try it anyway," Jack sighed. "I will never draw Deathbane lying on the bottom of the sea, or in Leviathan's belly."
"I could do it," Arrinor suggested.
"What good would you be to me? With your mind stripped away?"
"If it saved you? Saved Ally? My life does not mean much in the grand scheme of things," Arrinor grinned ruefully.
"It means something to me!" Jack argued.
"But..."
"We'll just have to think of something else."
"What? What else is there we can do?"
"I don't know," Jack shrugged. "We may not have to do anything. Maybe he...maybe Leviathan was just curious? Maybe he's wary of a ship as large as Muriel's Revenge? Maybe that's why he just gave us a bump and went away?"
"Have you ever seen a shark feed?" Arrinor asked.
"Yes. Why?"
"I haven't," the Ailfar admitted. "But I have heard Anaekin's crew speak of it. When a shark feeds, when it attacks its prey, it doesn't go directly for the kill. First it nudges with its nose, testing. I have a bad feeling is what Leviathan did earlier. He was testing."
Braedan knew it as well. Arrinor was right. Rhondiayna the Great Serpent had only been testing the hull of Muriel's Revenge. The question was, when would it come back to feed?
"How are you Fire Mane?" Braedan smiled at his wife as he appeared by her side on the fields of Greenrun Plains.
"I miss you Great Lion," Annawyn sighed. "I miss your touch...your..."
"I think I hear a rabbit," Long Tooth said with an amused grin. "If you will excuse me? It may take a few minutes to catch him. I'm not as swift as I used to be, even here. Will you come with me Morning Flower? He asked Ailicia.
"I will not be too noisy?" the Ailfar princess asked teasingly.
"I will teach you," the wolf replied. "It is time someone did."
"I miss you Beloved," Anna said when they were alone, her hand reaching out to touch his face, though her husband was a diaphanous mist in the outer dream.
"We'll be back soon," Braedan promised. "Captain Anaekin says we are only few days from Lordsisle."
"And another month or more returning," the auburn-haired beauty lamented.
"When I have Yhswyndyr, it will be safe enough to come fully into the Land of Dreams," he replied with a mischievous grin. "Then we can...meet beneath your willow beside the stream, or in our own bed, or..."
"Jack!" Ailicia's shout seemed to fill the starry sky. The Ailfar maiden was suddenly at his side. Even in the insubstantial form of an outer dream, he could see the look of horror on her face. "It's coming back!”
"What is coming back, Beloved?" Annawyn cried, but her husband was gone.
Braedan's eyes snapped open and he doubled over in pain, falling from his bunk. An oppressive weight filled his mind, like an invisible hand had reached inside his head to squeeze his brain. Fighting the blinding pain, he struggled to his feet, found Grimrorr only because the elven forged blade was pulsing white hot at the foot of his bed, and stumbled for the door. He burst from his cabin as a piercing scream shattered the night and a wave of water washed across the deck of Muriel's Revenge. Sailors rushed about shouting with confusing and the crew manning the port side borelstrade fired steel headed javelins into the sea. Then the pain is his head abruptly began to fade.
"What happened?" Braedan asked, almost crying with relief as the pressure on his brain disappeared.
"Something rose up out of the sea and took Margess!" a frighten sailor wailed. "Just snatched him right off the flaming deck!"
"It was him," Arrinor hissed, coming to Jack's side.
"Did anyone see anything?" Jack shouted. "Did you see it?" he asked, grabbing the shaken crewman.
"All...all I saw was...was a dark shadow come up out of the water," he stammered. "It took Margass! Holy Yh! What was it?"
"Why...why only take one?" Braedan asked the Ailfar prince.
"Fear," Arrinor whispered. "He wants to make us afraid."
It took Braedan a long while to find Annawyn again, the time difference between them was becoming too great. Soon he probably wouldn't be able to speak with her at all.
"Beloved!" his wife cried when she saw him, tears streaming down her transparent face. "What is happening?"
"We're in trouble," he replied, aching to put comforting arms around the shade of his wife. "We..." Jack convulsed with pain. Even in the Land of Dreams, the power of Leviathan’s mind was devastating! "Pray for us my heart!" he hissed.
"Beloved!" Annawyn wailed as he disappeared.
Only the strength flowing into him from Grimrorr allowed Braedan to make his way on deck. He knew even before he spotted the Ailfar archers shooting arrows into the ocean he as too late. The pain in his head disappeared with a blinding flash and he collapsed to his knees in relief.
"My Lord!" Cyran cried, rushing to his side.
"I'm okay," Braedan sighed, allowing the Lion to help him back to his feet.
"He took another crewman," Arrinor said, taking his other arm. "Are you...how are you?"
"It was worse this time," Jack replied quietly.
"I know," the Ailfar nodded. "He's enjoying this."
"Find Ara’fael."
"A Word of Shadow can do what you ask," the Ailfar Spellweaver nodded when Braedan informed her what he wanted done. "But to cover the entire ship...it will press the limits of my ability."
"How long can you hold it?" Captain Anaekin asked, passing a shaking hand through his long, blonde hair.
"Sunrise?" she shrugged. "Perhaps. But...after, if he comes again, I will be of no use to you for several hours."
"I'll help you," Malik Gamrin said. "I still remember a thing or two from my misspent youth."
"Come then," Ara’fael nodded, tak
ing his hand. "Let me see how much the Lords managed to pound into your thick head."
"Ailicia," Braedan said, calling the Ailfar Dreamwalker. "Find Anna if you can. Tell her I'm okay. I need to be awake if...if he..."
"I will find her cousin," Ailicia nodded, kissing his cheek.
Jack and Arrinor followed Malik Gamrin and Lady Ara’fael as they went to the bow of the ship. They sat down cross-legged, knees touching, and held hands. Soon a pale blue nimbus of light surrounded the pair, slowly growing stronger until Grimrorr glowed white in his hand in answer to their spell. By the time the blue light had expanded to cover the length of Muriel's Revenge, the power of the elven forged blade surged through Braedan until he thought he would erupt like a dormant volcano. Never before had the Ailfar sword filled him with such strength. If Leviathan came again, he would not find it so easy to take another crewman.
But Leviathan did not come again. The Word of Shadow cast over the ship by Ara’fael and Malik covered them, allowing the Annothian dreadnought to pass the remainder of the night in safety. When the sun rose like a fiery orange ball in the east, the Spellweaver and the former Adept of the Staffclave released their Word and collapsed against each other in exhaustion. With the end of their spell, Grimrorr also lost its strength and Braedan fell to his knees beside them, suddenly feeling as if he'd not slept in days.
"How did the Staffclave ever let you slip from their grasp?" Ara’fael asked wearily, her head resting on Malik's shoulder.
"The Word of Shadow was my specialty," the general grinned. "My Razorbacks are famous from showing up suddenly out of thin air."
"The old war-horse actually helped?" asked Jack with a weary grin. "I thought he was just looking for an excuse to hold your hands."
"I don't think he will find it so easy to leave Lordsisle again," the Spellweaver replied, sitting up to pat Malik's weathered cheek. "Not until they have taken his sword away and put a staff in his hands."
"Go get some sleep," Jack said, kissing Lady Ara’fael's forehead and giving the stocky mercenary's shoulder a grateful squeeze. "You've earned it."
"Captain Anaekin," he continued, as Malik and the Ailfar Spellweaver left arm in arm, quietly discussing their night's work. "I don't know how long it's going to take him to find us again, but let's not make it easy. Raise full sail and get this tub moving."
"Aye, aye," the captain saluted. "It's a big ocean. If Lady Ara’fael and Malik can do the same for us tonight, we'll be at Lordsisle in two and a half days."
Leviathan did not find them that day. Braedan felt the demon's darkness touch his mind only once and so lightly he must have been far, far away. When night came again, Muriel's Revenge was another day closer to Lordsisle and Ara’fael and Malik had recovered enough to weave another Word of Shadow. Fully rested and with confidence gained from the preceding day, Malik was able to add more strength to the Ailfar Spellweaver, and they held their protective Word over the ship from sunset till sunrise.
Braedan was so sure there would be no more appearances by Leviathan, he went Dream-walking to find Annawyn. Though he searched for hours, her dream pattern was nowhere to be found. With weary resignation, he returned to regular sleep. It would be the last he would enjoy aboard Annothian vessel.
The next day he again felt the dark touch of Leviathan's presence, but again, it was very far away. For the first time since the Great Serpent Rhondiayna and had made himself known once more to the world, Braedan actually felt a glimmer of hope Muriel's Revenge would reach its destination. It disappeared again just before sundown as Ara’fael and Malik resumed their spot on the bow to begin their Spellweaving.
A blue light was just forming around the pair when he suddenly felt the first dull pain of his approach. With growing familiarity, he knew Leviathan was still some distance away, but the pressure in his mind was increasing quickly and he knew the beast was coming towards them fast.
"Hurry!" Jack hissed, clinching his teeth against the darkness threatening to drive him to his knees.
Sweat began to form on Malik's forehead and Ara’fael's lips were moving in silent recitation of their spell. The blue light around them was expanding quickly now. But not quickly enough. Jack, barely able to stand, was forced to use Grimrorr to remain on his feet. The elven sword was glowing whiter than he'd ever seen it before, its power surging through his veins like a raging flood, but it provided no protection against the blinding pain of Leviathan's approach.
"To starboard!" a lookout shouted. "My God! Look!"
Braedan struggled to the ship's railing, Tarsus appearing suddenly at his side to lend a hand of support. Looking out over the ocean, sparkling like diamonds with the setting sun, they spotted a bulge in the water rolling towards them. Even though it was still at least a thousand yards away, it was huge. For something to displace so much water it must be huge. Once Braedan and his Special Forces team had been picked up off the coast of Syria after a particularly bloody insertion. The sight of the fast attack nuclear submarine USS Atlanta surfacing less than one hundred yards from their zodiac was one of the few clear memories he retained from the mission. It could not compare to what he was seeing now.
"Judas Bloody Hell," he whispered. "We're in trouble."
The words were barely passed his lips when the blue corona of Ara’fael and Malik's Word of Shadow grew beyond the railing where they stood, extending a few feet beyond the ship. The bulge of water marking Leviathan's approach was still coming towards them, but it now seemed uncertain, as if the beast was no longer sure of its prey. The railing quickly lined with anxious crewmen, Golden Lions, Rangers and Dragon Guardsmen, all with some sort of weapon in their hands. Lukas a'Maeridon took up a place at Braedan's side, arrow notched in his long bow, ready to draw and fire in an instant. If there was anyone on the ship who dared to breathe as they watched the fast-moving hump of water, it was to whisper a prayer.
Leviathan came closer...closer, then finally passed less than two hundred yards of their stern. Most of the watchers rushed to the stern to keep him in sight, but Braedan had no reason to follow. The pain in his head was not diminishing, he knew the beast was not moving away.
"It's coming back around!" someone shouted, his voice cracking with fear.
Braedan collapsed against the railing and spilled his supper into the sea.
"Arrinor!" Tarsus roared.
The Ailfar prince rushed to his side as Tarsus and Lukas carefully lowered Jack to the deck.
"Do something!" the Amarian shouted. "It's flaming killing him!"
"Jack!" Arrinor said sternly, placing his hands on the side of Braedan's face. When his eyes fluttered open with only the whites showing the Ailfar slapped him. "Listen to me! Concentrate on my voice! You've got to push him out of your head or you're going to die!"
Jack could barely hear him through the dark fire consuming his mind. Leviathan was in a rage. He could feel his anger at losing the prey so close. Darkness and hate washed over him in waves. He'd never felt such pain. Black lightning bolts of agony shot from his brain to every nerve in his body, sending him into racking convulsions.
"Get Ara’fael!" Arrinor cried, turning to Lukas.
"But if she releases her spell..." the Bowmaster argued.
"If she doesn't come, he is going to die!"
"No!" Tarsus shouted, overruling him. "Get Malik instead! He can do enough to keep him alive while Ara’fael maintains the spell!"
"But..." Arrinor began.
"Malik can't hold the Word! If it's gone, we're gone! But he can help Jack!" the Amarian shouted. "I know he can!"
"Get Malik," Arrinor nodded.
Tarsus and Arrinor felt the Word of Shadow waver as they struggled to restrain Jack's convulsions, but as Malik arrived at their side, it returned to full strength.
"I don't know what the hell you think I can do," the general muttered, but he laid his hands on Braedan just the same. "Healing is the hardest art to learn, and I wasn't any flaming..."
Jack's shudders abruptly ceased.<
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"There," Malik sighed. "Get him up and move him around. If he can hold it down, have him drink some water. I've got to get back to Ara’fael. The Word is wavering. And someone clean the puke off him!" he shouted over his shoulder as he rushed back to the Ailfar Spellweaver.
Tarsus and Arrinor lifted Braedan to his feet as Lukas began to wipe his face with a hastily procured rag. He revived almost instantly and looked around at his friends with confused, pain filled eyes.
"What...happened?" Jack whispered.
"You took a nap on us," Tarsus grinned. "How do you feel?"
"Like somebody's been using my head for a football," he groaned. Lukas pried Grimrorr from his hand and lifted a skin of water to his lips. After a few painful swallows, he nodded his thanks. "I can still feel him in my head. He isn't going away."
"Ara’fael and Malik conceal us," Arrinor replied. "Their Word is holding. How...how is the pain?"
"Bad," Jack admitted. "But...fuzzier somehow."
"Malik...did something," the Ailfar prince said. "Something to block the pain."
"Malik?" Braedan smiled wearily. "Ara’fael is right, the Staffclave will never let him leave Lordsisle without a staff in his hands. Where's Leviathan?"
"Circling," Tarsus replied. "He knows were here somewhere. I think it’s going to swim around until it runs into us."
"Where is he?"
"Where is it?" the Amarian asked the nearest man, an Ailfar Ranger with bow drawn and pointed out to sea.
"There," the Ranger replied, using the tip of his arrow to direct them. Night had fallen, but it made no difference to the Ailfar. About three hundred yards ahead on their port, Braedan finally spotted the moving bulge of water. As he watched Leviathan made a slow turn to the north, continuing his circling search for his prey.
"Do we...does this ship have..." It was hard to collect his thoughts. Despite whatever Malik had done to lessen the pain, the darkness of Leviathan filled his mind.
"Do we have what?" Tarsus prompted.