Harbinger: The Downfall - Book One (25 page)

Rogen swept a blade at its head now that it was level with his. It ducked upward by pulling itself back to the ceiling and threw the knife at a metal canister of oil. The knife pierced the canister, causing a stream of oil to spout from it onto the floor and begin snaking its way towards the hot coals.

Bezel swore, “Damn, this could make things more difficult.”

Tildan laughed and muttered, “What the hell,” and charged across the kitchen at the beast. With the man’s height, there was no way it could pull itself up and out of his reach. It tried though, flattening itself on the ceiling and slithered towards the small portholes that vented the room.

Cite looked around for something to stop the oil from reaching the glowing coals that were even now beginning to create small fires on the wooden floor. He grabbed a blanket from Bezel’s bed and ran to block the stream of oil.

Tildan grabbed the slippery beast as it reached the edge of the porthole and began to pull itself through to the outside. He wrapped his huge arms around its slick body and tried to bring it back into the room. Rogen grabbed a heavy meat tenderizer to help the big man if he could.

Bezel picked up a fallen skillet and began trying to corral the hot coals away from the oil. Cite threw the blanket over the oil to soak it up and stop its advancement.

The creature grabbed Tildan with its hind legs, and a tail grew from its hindquarters to wrap around his already bruised throat. With inhuman strength and a deft twist of its sinuous body, it threw the large man onto his back and into the rivulet of flammable liquid on the floor. The creature leaped again for the porthole and pulled its body through the portal that should have been much too small for it to fit, but not before Rogen crushed its foot with the meat tenderizer. The creature screamed again.

Tildan landed on the edge of the blanket, tearing it from Cite’s grasp, and splashed the liquid further across the floor. Tildan dripped oil as he stood and looked around. Time seemed to slow as the flammable liquid dripped off the giant of a man and onto a small fire created by a coal. Tildan burst into flame.

Cite could feel the rush of fear from the man. If Cite used the blanket, it would go up in flames, since it was soaked in oil. If Tildan dropped and rolled, he would ignite the rest of the kitchen. If he ran, it would fan the flames and ignite the rest of the oil. Any way he moved, he risked spreading the fire. Already the flaming oil was dripping off him and getting closer to the stream that was slowly dwindling from the container. Tildan did the only thing he could; he crouched, covered his head with his arms and hoped he did not spread the fire. It didn’t work.

The kitchen burst into flame. Bezel backed away, throwing up his hands to protect his face. Rogen spun to survey the situation and Cite looked for something else to put the flames out. He spotted a bucket of sand, kept for this purpose.

The door burst inward and Dawn stepped in, her face a mask of anger. Her braid lashed around behind her as she looked around and assessed the situation. She drew in a deep breath and raised her hands. Cite felt a rush in his head, like a hurricane force wind being pulled past him and into Dawn. Winds whipped in from the portholes and the temperature of the room dropped. The flames dwindled to nothing and everything was covered in a layer of frost.

Tildan stood and looked at his niece and his son standing behind her. “You couldn’t get here a little bit sooner?” he asked.

“You’re welcome,” she said. “Rogen, keep out of sight and tend to my Uncle’s burns. Bezel, on deck. Cite, you too. We need to find whatever it was you were fighting. I assume it was the same thing making all that racket with the screams?” Seeing the men nod, Dawn turned and pushed past Warton and back onto the main deck. Bezel followed in his nightshirt, reloading his crossbow from the small case belted around his waist. Cite fell in behind.

Most of the crew were on deck, some pulling up buckets of water, others rushing to the forecastle. Dawn led the way up the stairs to join the latter. The creature had made its way onto the bowsprit, as Kytson and Conald watched it, keeping their distance. It screeched again as they gathered on the deck in front of it. Bezel leveled his weapon and fired, a second quarrel appeared beside the first in its chest. Conald swung a rope with a grapnel on it and threw it towards the creature at the same time Kytson threw a harpoon with a rope tied to it.

The grapnel missed, but the harpoon’s aim was true. It went all the way through the monster’s shoulder and out its back. The shape shifter stood up, and before they could pull it in, it fell sideways towards the water. Kytson set his feet and began to pull the rope in hand over hand and Conald stepped behind him to help.

“What the hell was that?” Conald asked.

“Jumper,” Cite said, laughing to himself at the pun. Kytson looked at him with a glare, and Cite could not be sure if it was because of what he had said or if it was just general ire. “Jumper was not himself; that was something else, a Troöd. They are a reptilian race. This one used magic of some sort and apparently was a shape shifter. It tried to kill Tildan, Warton, Bezel, Rogen, and me. It would have taken the whole ship down if it could have.”

The rope in the men’s hands showed resistance and became taut. They leaned back, putting their weight into bringing the creature back on board. The line began winding out and tore from Conald’s hands. Kytson managed to hold on, but the line fed out so quickly that smoke could be seen rising from his hands. He let out a yell and released it, his open hands showing the meat had been torn all the way to the bone. Conald grabbed the end of the dwindling coil of hemp and tied it off on a cleat. The rope wound out until there was no more and the line went taut with a jerk. The wood where the cleat was bolted gave a dangerous cracking sound. The ship jerked to starboard as whatever was at the other end of the rope changed directions and pulled the ship behind it.

“Cut that loose!” Dawn shouted as she leapt for the rail. Conald drew a knife and ran forward to do as she commanded. As he reached the rope, it went slack and dropped into the water, no longer stretched tight but still tied to the deck.

“Cut it before whatever that is tears my hull off, Conald,” Dawn commanded again. “Kytson, get below and see to those hands, you are no good to me up here now.”

Cite slowed his breathing and let his mind relax, extending his thoughts out. He felt the warm energy course through his hands and knew he held his psychic daggers. Something moved at the edge of his awareness. Not a thinking thing like the people around him, but something much more primitive. Something large. A sense of fear reached Cite from the approaching creature and it turned away and moved off at high speed, as something even larger came into the Mind Mage’s mental net.

“Get ready, people, something wicked this way comes!” Cite shouted.

The winds died, the sails went flaccid, and the ship slowed. Most of the crew had come to the forecastle, waiting for whatever would happen next. Bezel, his crossbow loaded, also waited. Conald cut through the rope and dropped it into the dark blue depths. Dawn leaned over the rail, watching the waters where the rope disappeared.  Only the sound of the sails flapping and the gentle lapping of the waves on the hull broke the silence. Everyone stood still and looked around, watching the water for any unnatural movement.

The water on the port side of the ship erupted as a large creature, easily half the length of the ship, launched itself into the air and its body crashed down onto the main deck. The ship rocked and a half dozen crew, including Treat and Puffer, slid towards the monster. The beast had a long snout that snapped at the sailors on the forecastle deck with multiple rows of ten-inch long teeth. Three seamen disappeared into its maw. Its deep emerald color caught the sunlight as its head whipped sideways and snatched Puffer from the deck. Puffer did not even have time to draw a breath to cry out before his body was bitten in half and swallowed by the gargantuan sea monster.

On the main deck, Kytson had just made it into the forecastle. Rogen, buckled the last of his pouches and weapons onto his body as he pushed past Kytson, who gave him a suspicious glare. Vonka grabbed a sword from the many at the base of the main mast, while Warton went for a long pole used for pushing off docks, rocks, or other hazards. Rogen skidded onto the leaning deck, sized up the situation and drew his double-handed battle-axe from over his shoulder.  Tart had just come onto the deck from the Captain’s quarters and slid towards the port railing.

On the forecastle deck, Bezel grabbed the rigging and wrapped his arm around a rope to prevent him from sliding into the water, or worse. He whipped the crossbow around and fired a bolt into the thick rubbery hide of the creature’s face. Cite hovered in place as he calmly threw his energy knives into the beast’s neck. Conald scrambled for another harpoon.

Dawn’s eyes flashed with anger. She threw her arms wide and the wind swirled around her as if answering her call. The sails snapped and the waves began to break against the ship. She searched for the ley lines and felt an earth line in the ocean floor, a water line in the strong current that followed the coast they were approaching and another in the air that followed the same paths as the weather systems.  Reaching out with her gift, she touched each of these, being careful not to draw too much energy, and began to build her attack.

The creature finished swallowing the swabbie and slid back towards the water, tearing away the railing and rigging and dragging it all over the side. Conald launched the harpoon and pierced the hide of its neck. Its head whipped sideways, catching Warton and sending him into the ocean before it followed him. Tart slid along the tilted deck, but caught hold of the broken railing before he fell into the waiting ocean.

Rogen ran towards the boy, grabbing a rope that was tied to the mast as he passed. He threw himself across the deck on his belly, axe in his right hand and rope in his left, and shot past Tart and over the open water. He could see the huge silhouette of the beast in the water below Warton. Rogen’s rope reached its full length and snapped him back towards the ship. With a twist of his body he returned to the deck on the opposite side of Tart, effectively wrapping the rope around the young sailor. The ship was righted now that the sea beast was no longer weighing it to the port side. The force of that correction threw everyone on board off balance, and Tart slid across the deck to the main mast. Rogen landed on the deck, releasing the rope and rolling to his feet. Grabbing another rope from the torn rigging, he began to run a wide circle that would allow him to swing wide and across the water.

Warton was wrapped up in the rigging and lines that the monster had wrapped itself in and pulled into the water when it slid back into the sea. He was trying to drag himself on top of the wreckage, but he was being pulled under as the monster pulled the debris deeper.

The waves grew in height as the wind strengthened. Dawn walked to the rail overlooking the main deck as the ship rocked. She looked over the scene below and reached a decision. Drawing energy from two of the ley lines, she combined them in her mind and clouds formed overhead where there were none moments ago. Cite could feel the hum of energy course through her as his mind touched hers.

Cite rose into the air above the deck. He saw Rogen beginning another run towards the edge of the ship, to where Warton floundered. The looming shadow of the monster quickly grew larger in the water below Warton. The mind mage felt for the mind of the beast but only sensed its presence. Its mind was much too primitive and alien for him to be able to delve into it. He did feel an envelope around the beast’s mind, as if someone were driving it to attack when it would not have done so. Cite drew the energy back to his hands. Pressing them together then pulling them apart slowly, he created an elongated dagger that was more like a spear.

The creature burst from the water and thunder rolled from the newly formed clouds above. Conald threw a harpoon at the beast and Bezel scored a hit in its eye with a quarrel from his crossbow. Warton was raised into the air on the snout of the beast and rolled off and fell back towards the water. Rogen swept out over the water, swiping at the monster and leaving a trailing gash under its right flipper. He continued forward and as his feet skimmed the surface, Warton grabbed hold of his legs.

The beast crashed down on the deck of the ship again and snapped at Tart. Catching the mast in its maw with Tart in between its jaws, it heaved with its powerful neck muscles and a loud crack was heard as the mast shifted. The swabbie froze in terror, but a shout from Vonka brought him back to his senses. The boy turned and tried to climb the mast while keeping an eye on the monster on the deck. As Tart started to climb, the creature opened its jaws and snapped them shut again, severing Tart’s leg at the knee. He fell back to the deck outside of the beast’s jaws, screaming and holding his amputated leg.

Cite drew his arm back and threw his psychic spear. It flew into the base of the creature’s skull and disappeared. The beast thrashed and let out a cry that almost deafened Vonka, who was trying to stab it with a sword. The monster then began to slide back towards the water, its head whipping about and the ship leaning, water lapping onto the deck.

Tildan appeared in the doorway of the forecastle, sword in hand, with Kytson behind him. The quartermaster’s feet were bound, his skin was blotchy from the burns and most of his hair was missing. The boatswain’s hands had been wrapped, and he gingerly held knives from the kitchen. With a final thrashing movement from the creature, the mast splintered and fell towards the forecastle as it slid back into the water, trailing the rope that was still in its mouth from where it had swallowed the reptilian shape shifter earlier.