Lighting Distant Shores (Challenger's Call Book 4)

by Nathan Thompson

  It is, he confirmed. Although I don’t remember any of the islands around here having a hook on them.

  It probably changed its shape over time, Breena answered confidently. But I’m pretty sure that island’s name is Falee. It’s supposed to populated.

  It was also in the middle of the unnaturally still water. I sighed.

  We need to figure out if we can sail through that water. If we can, and if nothing pops up and tries to eat us, then we need to check that island for any survivors.

  We should be able to sail through it, the captain assured me. We’ll have to rely on magic to power the sails, and we’ll need to do what we can confirm the air around it isn’t poisonous. But it should be possible to navigate through.

  The Script, Water, and Air mages all confirmed that we wouldn’t get sick and die if we tried to sail through the still, polluted water. It was likely to be contaminated, though, which meant that a person without a Rise-enhanced body would get ill very quickly. That added a bit of urgency to our arrival, even though it was just as likely that everyone at the island right in the middle of it was already dead. We hurried all the same, and I reminded myself that this world may have already been lost, and that we might have to just settle for saving whoever we could.

  Aside from that, it was unlikely any large predator would choose to inhabit such a nasty open pool, so we chose not to hesitate. The glyphs on the ship flared. Weylin, Petal, and Breena began casting gust spells into the sails to increase our speed even further. Everyone else took up battle stations on the ship to prepare for trouble.

  Out on the open seas, the ship’s speed surprised me. I didn’t notice until I reflected just how smooth the ride was, and how similar it felt to the times I had ridden in a motorboat back home. Somehow, this medieval-styled ship that relied on its sails and magic was able to compete in speed with the engine-powered boats of my own technology-rich world. I wasn’t the only one surprised. Shock emanated over the mindlink from Breena and the three Testifiers.

  Hopefully, that would mean that my enemies would be just as surprised by this type of vessel as I was.

  The caravel slowed a bit once it hit the stagnant water. Now that it was closer, I could see that the unnatural green water hissed wherever it came in contact with the blue waves, as if one was poisonous to the other. Furthermore, my enhanced vision could just make out dead fish floating here and there within the water. Pieces of things bobbed up, bits of flesh, and heads that were neither human nor fish, but something in between, suddenly floated up to the surface.

  That gave me grim expectations for what we would find on the island, but we hurried nonetheless. Nothing rose from the water to attack us, and after an hour or so, we reached the shores of the island.

  I winced as we saw more bodies. These were all of the native humans, or Seaborn, as they were called, and they were clearly killed by violence. Meaning people had already died. I reminded myself that such things were inevitable, and that I was fifty years behind everything going on anyway, for reasons beyond my control. I focused on what I could learn from the bodies themselves. They were thrown near the waterline like they were trash, with wounds suggesting that they were either clawed or stabbed to death. And the bodies were all of elderly men and women.

  That gave me some small hope that they only killed the old and took the rest as slaves. We would still have to land to get more clues, but for now it was enough.

  The shore with the bodies wasn’t ideal for docking, so we skirted around close to the center of the island. The marines formed a shore party to guard the beachhead while my retinue and I advanced a little deeper into the island. There was more foliage in this part, but I thought I could see the ruined husk of straw buildings further in.

  Crying, Val and Weylin both sent to me around the same time. Someone is crying near that village.

  I hear it too, Breena sent next. Beyond that patch of trees.

  We passed through a copse of island trees until we saw the source of the sound Breena had mentioned. Burned huts and dried blood decorated everything, but there were no bodies here, and I wasn’t even sure if the blood was human. The crying was coming from a little dark-skinned girl that reminded me of Little Gabby. She was sitting against a tree, holding her knees against her chest. She raised a startled tear-stained face when she heard us.

  “Did you bite, too?” she asked us. “Is that why they left you here?”

  “No, honey,” I said as we looked around. There was no one else here, monster or Seaborn. “We’re here to help.”

  “Why?” the little girl asked. “There’s no one left to help. They killed all the old people and took the rest. I bit them when they stabbed grandpa, and they said the ship was full anyway, so they left me behind.”

  “Where did they go?” I asked. “Did you see which way they left?”

  “I can show you,” the little girl said sadly. “But it’s too late. The bad thing is coming. That’s why they left me behind. They said it wouldn’t chase the others if it could have me.”

  “Who said that?” I asked. “And who took the rest? Were they monsters, or did they look like me?”

  “Both,” the little girl said. “Though they weren’t nice, like you. They didn’t wait to hurt anyone like you have. But it doesn’t matter anymore, because the bad thing is coming and we’re all going to go away.”

  “No,” I said firmly. “We came with a ship, and we’re taking you with us. Then we’re going to try and get everyone back from the bad people.”

  “The bad thing will still catch us,” the little girl insisted. “Only Dona Via could save us from it. And she’s not here.”

  “My ship is really fast. Come on,” I said, reaching for her hand. “We’ll talk more when we’re aboard. Are you sure there’s no one else here?”

  “Sim,” she said, which translated as ‘yes’ in my mindscreen. “Is your ship very fast, mister? Or are you really strong, like Dona Via?”

  “I haven’t met Dona Via,” I said as she took my hand and we began hurrying back. “But my ship is very fast and I have a good crew.”

  “Dona Via doesn’t have a crew anymore,” the little girl told me sadly as she tried to keep up. I decided to just scoop her up and carry her. She didn’t resist, and continued speaking as she wrapped her little arms around my neck. “She used to, but the bad thing got all the Icons. So now she’s all alone.”

  “Not for long, she’s not,” I replied, still running with the rest of my team. “I’m here to help her. My name’s Wes. What’s your name?”

  “Emarina,” she answered me. “Where did you come from, Mister Wes? Why do you look like the bad men?”

  The people of the Sun-Jeweled Seas varied a bit more than those from the Woadlands, but the vast majority of them all resembled either the Hispanic or Polynesian populations on Earth. My lighter skin tone was really rare for this world, and unfortunately, most of Rhodes’ assholes happened to have the same color.

  “I’m from Earth, like they are. But I’m going to stop them, and try to fix all the other bad things that have happened.”

  “Okay,” Emarina said simply. I couldn’t tell if her calm came from a child’s innocence or the certainty that we were all going to die. “So are you like that man that was supposed to help Dona Via? The one that never came because the bad men killed him?”

  “I am that man, Emarina,” I told the little girl. “I’m the Challenger.”

  “Okay,” the Seaborn repeated. “I hope the bad thing doesn’t get you too, Mister Challenger.”

  We reached the landing party, climbed into the small boarding boat, and returned to the ship. I had let Gabin know through the mindlink that we would probably need to hurry. He was agreeing with that idea more and more by the minute.

  The water is getting sicker, he sent to me. The green is thickening into a strange substance. It is getting worse out to the far east. Your little girl is right, he insisted darkly. Something is coming.

  Please don’t step on m
y hand, a voice suddenly said in my head.

  A faint buzzing, whispering noise crawled through the air, but it was gone the very next moment.

  I gave the command to set out immediately. According to the little girl, whatever was coming had already slain Icons. Granted, I had pulled that off once as well, but I was pretty sure the deities here were on a higher level than Raw-Maw. It was a risk we couldn’t take yet, especially when we knew so little about the monster, and when there were other people I would have a chance to save if I hurried.

  The crew activated the caravel’s glyphs, and we pulled free of the island. We set a course for the direction that Emarina indicated she had seen the Malus ships leave.

  As we cleared the island, the buzzing noise returned again.

  Pungent mists drift on the wind,

  They fly ahead, to announce the end.

  Nuckelavee, Nuckelavee...

  The buzzing ended. Everyone around me suddenly whipped their heads around to confirm whether they were the only ones to hear the rhyme.

  Right, I sent through the mindlink. That was creepy as hell, even for me. Full power to the sails. Go ahead and burn as much magic as you dare. This time, I’ll help.

  I acted on a rule I never realized I had made. If your unknown enemy has the confidence to announce his own arrival with a creepy chant, avoid action until you have enough to know what the hell is going on.

  I stood next to Weylin and Petal as we fired gust spells into the sails. Behind us, Karim and a few members of the crew began scribing glyphs into the air to make our wind last longer.

  “Sighting in the east,” a voice shouted from the crow’s nest. “A black fog, with an orange light in the center of it. Moving rapidly over water.”

  “It’s him,” Emarina said in a small voice. “He’s coming.”

  The bright, clear day suddenly grew darker.

  “The plan is unchanged,” I commanded, keeping my voice clear and calm. “Outrun him if we can, prepare for combat if we can’t. Either way, remember that this isn’t our first nightmare monster. None of us are new at this.”

  Gabin nodded, and bellowed out similar instructions to his crew. I did my best to let him command his own ship, instead lending as much power to the sails as I could.

  The buzzing sound returned once or twice, but the chant didn’t return. I felt my body throb with mana as I maintained my spell. To my surprise, the burn wasn’t tiring at all. I could pour out enough magic to power the ship’s sails and last for hours easily, if I just stood still. My enhanced rates of recovery almost completely canceled out the drain from this simple Air spell.

  Psst, Breena sent privately. Wes. I have an idea.

  Fire away, I answered, as a plan of my own flashed into my brain.

  Yup, she giggled. That’s it. You were a second too slow.

  Can we really do this? I asked in surprise.

  I told you we would start sharing magic eventually, remember?

  My little fairy passed her plan to the rest of the team. Gabin swore and began shouting new directions to the crew. The sails unfurled to catch more wind, even though there was no natural breeze right now. Everyone backed away from me and Breena. Actually, most of the people seemed to be backing away from Breena. She had that same kind of mad look she’d gotten when I had given her that new wand.

  Ready, she sent to me. By my count. One… two…. Three!

  She hadn’t explained that we were going to fire on the count of three, but I still figured it out just in time to merge our mana through the familiar bond we shared.

  The next blast of wind made the masts creak ominously, but the timber held, and our ship surged forward. Gabin hadn’t been thrilled with Breena’s idea, but he had insisted that Atlantean sails were built to withstand most storms at sea, so he went along with the little fairy’s crazy scheme. He still seemed pretty relieved that his ship was still working, though, and after hearing Breena’s excited cackle, I didn’t really blame him.

  But I didn’t blame Breena, either, because our speed had doubled, and we were able to maintain it at a pace that was even steadier than what we had going previously. The relief that swept through me seemed infectious, because in a few moments, grins broke out across the rest of the ship.

  We’re going to have to find other ways to take advantage of this, I sent to my bonded sprite. I feel like we should have started doing it sooner.

  Nope, Breena chirped happily. Sooner would have blown your brain up. Best to wait till we were both Practitioner level in the same Ideal. And for now, it’s still hard to do unless we’re both standing still.

  Noted, I replied. But her words still gave me a lot of ideas for the near future.

  We crossed the boundary between the dead water and the blue sea, and I couldn’t help but look up to the crow’s nest expectantly.

  “Sighting is still far in the distance,” the man in the crow’s nest called. “Looks like we’re clear of whatever the thing is.”

  A few people cheered, and we relaxed our spell to let normal wind and tide take over. The cheer died off when everyone looked back at the island.

  The land was a good distance away now, barely visible from the deck. But the black fog with the red light in the middle of it swept over the shore, and a screeching cackle carried all the way across the dead waves. As the cackle continued, the black flog swirled over the entire island, spinning like a cyclone. The red light in the center continued to flare, the only source of illumination left in the place. As the cackling trailed off, the fog and red light began to fade with it, vanishing back into the noonday light.

  The island was now a completely bare beach. No huts. No trees. No grass. Nothing but the bodies left on the shore, and brown-green patches of something that looked like rotten seaweed. More buzzing reached our ears, carried across a wind that wasn’t there before.

  Pungent mists drifted on the wind,

  They came to us, announced the end,

  A single burning eye,

  A hate that raged and would not die,

  It poisoned us, we now depart,

  Nuckelavee, Nuckelavee…

  The whispering ended, leaving the waves around us as the only sound.

  “They always whisper when he comes,” the little girl murmured softly. I had no idea when she had walked up next to me again. “But this the first time one of us got away.” She looked back up at me. “Are you really the Challenger, Mister Wes? Can you really stop the Bad Thing?”

  “I intend to find out,” I growled, angry at just how much creepy nonsense was still left in the universe. The anger distracted me from my own fear. “Emarina, can you still help us find where the other ships went? The ones that took your people?”

  The little girl nodded.

  “They went for the next island. Where my friends live. It’s that way,” she said as she pointed just a few degrees off of our own course. I had to remember that Seaborn islanders traveled frequently, changing islands all the time. “Your ship is very fast, Mister Challenger. You might catch them in time.”

  “Right,” I said, encouraged by the news. “Let’s see what kind of speed we can muster. Captain, I’ll add as much power to the ship as you recommend,” I said to Gabin, because I wanted to respect his authority on this ship, and because I knew I needed to let him to do his job for this plan to work.

  He nodded, and began sending me orders through the link as well. Breena and I adjusted our output to his directions. Now that we were back in normal water and under normal wind, our natural speed increased even further, which helped us maintain a break-neck pace while still saving mana.

  This is very useful, Gabin sent to me. We are extremely fortunate to have so many powerful mages as passengers for this ride.

  Well, hopefully we’re not squandering all of our power right before a large naval battle, I sent back. I didn’t feel anywhere near drained yet, but since my friends were now making jokes about me suddenly passing out so often, maybe it was time to admit I didn’t re
ally know my limits. So I opened up further on my bond and my mindlink, helping us all track each other’s remaining power so that the entire retinue could make responsible joint decisions about its use.

  While we were assessing our output, Gabin disclosed the combat potential of the caravel, and I had to whistle in surprise. The thing was no aircraft carrier, but it could probably sink a modern-day pirate ship all on its own, even against a crew armed with machine guns and grenade launchers.

  The next couple of hours went by uneventfully, other than the wind and sea spray brushing against our faces. I tried to learn what little I could about our enemies from Emarina, but she didn’t know much, other than the fact that the Malus ships were the fastest ships she had ever seen, before our own, and that they could throw burning rocks and arrows.

  “And one of them was really gross,” she added. “It had sticky black stuff all over it. The monsters put all the people inside of it. There were going to put me in there too,” she shivered. “But I bit the one that grabbed me, and he got mad, and then asked why he couldn’t punish me. When no one knew why, they got scared and left me behind. They said the Bad Thing could have me.”

  “Are they working together with the Bad Thing?” I asked the little girl, trying not to think too much about what she had just told me. “Are they and the Bad Thing friends?”

  “No,” Emarina said as she shook her head. “The Bad Thing hates everyone. It killed their Icons too.”

  Well, that was hella-bad news, I reflected. I’d have to learn more about that nightmare, and soon.

  “Contact, dead ahead!” The man at the top of the mast shouted. “Three large ships with triple masts, middle with oars! Pursuing one small boat with a single sail!”

  “Dona Via,” Emarina said excitedly, tugging on my pant leg. “That must be Dona Via! She’s trying to save them!”

  “We’ll help her,” I promised the little girl. “But the fighting is about to start, so you should go below deck.”

  “You promise you’ll help Dona Via, Mister Wes?” the little girl asked hopefully, looking up at me with wide eyes.