Heart of the Kraken (Tales from Darjee) (3 page)

The mermaid turned her head to the wall, as though trying to shut out the men. It could have just been the light, but her skin seemed tinged a pale blue or unhealthy grey. Her lips more purple than red.

"
It
, is a fish. My men and I have researched it extensively. You can just see the gills in its neck." Wyman moved forward to pull aside a lock of ebony hair and reveal three delicate lines on her neck. "We only hope the Lady Alise lets us further examine its corpse when—" he swallowed his words and dropped the hair in his hand.

"When?" Reis swung his head to face Wyman.

"Well, obviously once it has served its purpose, it will be killed." Wyman really was the most incompetent liar.

"And what purpose would that be?" Reis' voice lowered in tone. Now they revealed the truth, one far more interesting than a hidden mermaid. What exactly did Lady Alise want with a mermaid?

"She's going to eat her heart," Fenton said. He had heard the rumours, you didn't spend a lifetime at sea without hearing every marine-related story that abounded. He was simply better at remembering than most of the crew who had been hit one too many times in the head with a plank. "Consume the heart of a mermaid and you know the secrets of all men."

The mermaid covered her face with her hands and her shoulders shook as the men discussed her death.

Reis let out a grunt. "A handy thing for a ruler to be able to peer into the souls of all her subjects and know whatever they try to conceal. I bet she wants this mermaid real bad." His eyes narrowed as he focused on Wyman. "How much?"

The daffodil handkerchief reappeared and Wyman wiped away the sweat on his brow. "The Lady Alise promised us 10,000 gold coins and the creature's weight in Sunshine."

A low whistle came from Yusuf and Fenton knew why. The gold itself was a fortune but throw in Sunshine? The drug commanded a high price on the street from people wanting to escape their dour lives. Sunshine painted everything in shades of yellow and effused a body with warmth and happy hormones. You could die in the snow while your brain thought you basked in a summer's day. The creature's weight in the toxic drug doubled the offered purse. The Razor's Edge crew had captured a very valuable fish in their net.

Reis pointed a finger at the short and rotund pirate. "Dinger, go back to the Edge and activate our sling. We're going to liberate Captain Wyman from his onerous task. We're taking the creature and I will personally ensure she is delivered to the fair Lady Alise."

Wyman clenched his teeth as his features hardened and found his balls. He reached out and grabbed Reis' arm. "No! You cannot take it. We have spent months in our pursuit. The reward is our only pay for the separation from our families and the loss of our jobs."

The captain drew his pistol and fired. The shot reverberated in the enclosed space. Even the hardened pirates winched as the noise of the blast rang out. The mermaid disappeared beneath the water of her prison and became a shimmer of colour.

Wyman staggered back against the wall, clutching his right shoulder. Blood oozed between his fingers as he slumped to the floor. His mouth opened and closed but no words came out. Feet stomped outside and two more crew burst into the room.

"I should kill you for touching me, but you are a fellow captain." Reis turned at the newcomers. "Maynard," he addressed one. "Wyman has injured himself. Send one of his men down to tend his wound. Fenton and Yusuf, open the deck access." He pointed up at the crack in the ceiling and the pirates jumped to work to find the mechanism to open the hatch.

Reis slammed the crate lid and reattached the padlock. Then he dropped the key into his pocket and left the room, whistling a popular tune to himself.

Up on deck, the boom arm swung over from the Razor's Edge and dropped a chain into the hold of the Endeavour. The Endeavour crew stood to one side, sour looks on their faces as they lost their payday. A few pirates kept their pistols trained on the injured men, just in case any decided to follow their captain's example of foolhardy bravery.

Voices shouted instructions, chain rattled and then pulled taunt. Soon a hand wave told the men all was secured and over on the Edge they activated the winch. The metal crate rose up into the air, swung over the ocean and was then lowered into the dark embrace of the pirate ship's hold.

The pirates' prey would now be cut loose with her damaged propellers and left to drift on the ocean. If they thought ahead, they would have spare sail so as least they could limp back to Darjee. If not, they would have to wait until a passing Regulator airship spotted them and gave assistance. Either way, it wasn't Reis' problem. Like a bloated lion, he took the best bits and would walk away from the picked over carcass without a second thought. He only looked forward, to how he would spend his gold.

Reis held out the key to Fenton. "Since you do such an excellent job caring for the kraken, let us add another creature to your menagerie. You can keep Lady Alise's dinner healthy until we deliver her."

Fenton stared at the key for a moment and then shoved it in his pocket. A lead weight settled in his gut at being made prison guard of the exotic creature, at least the kraken swam free until summoned. He grabbed a rope and swung back over to the Razor's Edge. Once he hit the deck, he headed for the stairs down to the pirate hold. The metal box now had a new home and sat to one side of the cramped space. No one had even bothered to lash it in place. If they hit a rough ocean, it would be tossed about like a match stick. Overhead, the cargo hatch was slid shut and locked to make the ship ready to get underway.

The gossip flew around the crew faster than a flame over kerosene. Mermaid, they whispered. Bound for the Darjee Empire. A mythical creature, like the kraken. He ran his hands along the cool metal, but not a sound came from within. Was the creature dead? He dealt to the padlock and then prised the lid open.

The dark surface of the water broke and the feminine creature sat up. Black hair clung to her scalp and draped over her breasts. She leaned her arms over the edge and took several deep breaths as though she had been starved of oxygen while contained. She lifted her eyes to his and he gazed into pools of deep azure. He sucked in a breath, he could drown in such depths, the hue of the deepest part of the ocean.

With long fingers, she pulled a tangle of wet hair from her face and pushed it back behind her ears. She peered around the darkened hold, different to her former location. Her gaze flicked back to him and she cocked her head to one side.

"Do you have a name?" he asked, it seemed like the best opening line.

Water still dripped from the creature, but he swore he saw a single tear run down her cheek.

Chapter Three

Ailin had no idea how long the men kept her imprisoned. Time divided into hours and minutes was a landwalker concept. Deep in the ocean, they followed a different mistress, the primal tug of the tides governed by the pale caress of the moon. Had she lain trapped for one waxing of the moon, or several?

All she knew was that trapped in the darkness she had an eternity to revaluate one little decision that sealed her fate. Having played it through her mind over and over, she decided she would do it exactly the same again to save a child. She just wished it never happened in the first place. If she could draw the moon backward across the sky, she would warn the children away. Scare them back to the coral reef before events unfolded.

As an unmated female amongst her kind, it was her task to supervise the young. The vessel floating above them was a curiosity. It was rare for landwalkers to venture so far into the ocean, weeks from their cities and brightly lit shorelines. The young among them dared each other to venture close. Their game was to touch the hard bottom and flee back to their playmates. Several children played in the shadow of the ship. None saw the men on-board watching the flash of scales through the clear water. Until the net fell over the side.

Ailin watched them at play and their game seemed harmless. The ship didn't appear to pose any threat, it lazed in the sun like a basking whale warming its hide. She should have known better. Should have listened to the elders and their stories of ruthless and cruel landwalkers. Once, her life had touched that of men and death ensued.

The fabric spun and fanned out through the water as weights carried it beneath the waves into their domain. She never intended to go near the net, she knew what it was a trap of men. She called out her warning to the others who all swam to deeper water. All but one. The smallest had no sense of caution and soon became entangled trying to catch the spinning lures tied to the mesh. Ailin did her duty, she saved the little one. She cut her fingers tearing at the net to free the child but too late, she noticed her fin was caught by gossamer threads that held as strong as metal.

"Go," she cried to the child who dashed into the dark embrace of the deep ocean. The net jerked upward and tore her body from the water. Blood ran over her hands as she tried to untangle herself, clawing at the mesh caught around her tail. Hot air washed over her and she gasped. Her lungs burned in the long seconds it took for her gills to close and her body to switch to another way of breathing.

She dropped to a hard surface and landed awkward with her hands caught in the net. She tried to cry out but her body was still adapting to breathing like a landwalker and she didn't have the extra oxygen to spare. Tiny needles pricked at her tail from splinters as she was hauled over the wooden deck. Men surrounded her, the only relief was their shadows stopped the harsh sunlight from burning her sensitive skin. They loomed over her and cheered, a harsh guttural sound after the gentle murmur of the ocean. Their cold flat eyes and sharp teeth reminded her of ocean predators. One drew forth a large knife and slashed at the net pulled tight around her tail.

She bit back a sob as the blade skimmed too close and sliced through a line of scales. The men chattered amongst themselves. One appeared to be their elder. Remembering her stories, she labelled him the captain. She remembered other tales from long ago and waited for what they would do to her.

"Take it below," the captain said.

No, she shook her head. His words froze her flesh until fear made her teeth chatter when two men grabbed at her body. One slid his hands under her arms and the other snatched at her tail. They carried her below deck and threw her in the steel box full of stale sea water.

"Night night," said one man.

The other rubbed his hands together and then the lid dropped over her, sealing her in.

No light broke her prison, not even the tiniest sliver.

As if I want to see the walls of my prison.

She slammed her fists against the lid but it didn't budge. She rolled onto her stomach and used her powerful tail to strike out, again to no effect. She fought against the metal surrounding her until her nails were ragged and bleeding and she exhausted her body. Only then did the tears run down her face and mingle with the water as she cried into the void. Even in the darkest evening below, a shaft of moonlight could pierce the depths of ocean. Luminescent fish became lights, emitting a soft glow. Here was pure black like the deepest abyss but without even the bobbing light of an angler fish to act as a guiding star.

Stranded above the water she dwelt in a dry hell. As she endured her captivity, the sea water around her turned stale and fetid. Men laughed as they destroyed her life and treated her like caught mackerel. She withstood their poking and prodding in silence. One slid a blade under her gills and she froze in case he slit her throat. In hindsight, she should have let him. It was only when they dropped the lid and entombed her did she break down and weep. The salt of her tears mingled with the sea that shared her confinement.

Time lost all meaning. Shut away in the dark box, she no longer saw the rise of the moon or the harsh sunlight. Torn from the ocean, she lost the rhythm from the ebb and flow of tides. The container barely offered enough room to stretch cramped muscles, she could not swim or flick her tail. Boredom and confinement shredded her mind and she screamed until her voice gave out and only a harsh whisper escaped her lips.

Then someone would throw open the lid and blind her sensitive eyes. A fresh bucket of water would be sluiced over her form and if she were lucky, they would toss in a fish for her to eat. She heard their words, she knew the fate that awaited her. They captured her so that another landwalker could eat her heart.

But today was different. Today, the other man came, the one with greed in his gaze. The tang of blood washed the air and mingled with the sweat of her captors. He asked questions about her and then the lid slammed shut, trapping her in a warm, foetid dungeon. Shouts and cries were muffled through the steel but the slosh of water told her she was being moved.

Buffered back and forth through the thick metal came the dim cries and shouts of men. A thud as her tomb shook and dropped, then nothing. She held her breath, waiting. Jostled and thumped they had no real concern for her wellbeing for they planned to kill her anyway. Perhaps they sought to tenderise her flesh. The rattle came as the padlock drew through the lock and then a hand levered the lid up. Her crate seemed flooded with light as bright as the sun. She raised her hands and protected her face until her eyes adjusted. Long blinks and the sun dimmed to a dull lantern.

A man stood over her, looking down, lantern in his hand. Seeing her shy from the light, he hung it from a hook in the ceiling, away from her face. She blinked, letting her vision adjust.