Legacy of the Blood (The Threshold Trilogy) (17 page)

Much to his surprise, he found hope and healing in the form of an
orphan boy named L’aslo. The child was starving, begging on the streets of a
small village. L’avan saw his own son in the eyes of the orphan and decided to
adopt him.

The Great Wars had made many orphans, and it wasn’t long before
they came across another young boy who was starving and alone. Once again,
L’avan saw his own son in the eyes of the parentless child, and Za’far became
the adopted brother to L’aslo.

The two boys were soon joined by O’nan, then Gi’tel, then So’phus,
then M’os, then Cre’sin, then Kay’l, then Na’cum, then B’osli, and finally
Ed’mon.

They were the eleven sons of L’avan.

Naiser had become king by then, and his rule was harsh and
violent. His subjects were required to be warriors as well, and L’avan wanted
lives of peace for his sons. He decided to take his children far to the north,
behind a mountain range, to live in solitude and harmony.

The sons of L’avan grew into men, and their father knew that they
needed wives. Their isolation was their protection against the hand of Naiser,
and L’avan knew he could not simply walk to the nearest village to find
suitable young women. Word of their existence would reach the ear of the king,
and they would be protected no more.

He retired to the far forests of the northernmost mountains to
meditate and search for an answer.

It was during this time that he first encountered the Serraf and
the Rashad. The Serraf were beautiful women with magical powers, and the Rashad
were their guardians. Eleven of the Serraf agreed to become mortals and to wed
the sons of L’avan, and their Rashad companions came with them.

Adesina’s ancestors had named themselves L’avan, in honor of their
founding father, and they called their home Pevothem. The Rashad guarded the
kingdom against outsiders, and the people prospered in peace. Adesina was a
direct descendant of Ed’mon, and L’iam was a direct descendant of L’aslo.

L’iam had taught her all of this early in their relationship. His
eyes would light up with enthusiasm as he told each tale of their shared
history, and he would use his hands to help illustrate his meaning.

Adesina felt her heart warm at the thought of her beloved husband,
and she hugged herself as she tried to fight the urge to weep when she recalled
Ravi’s ominous words in Kendan’s quarters.

What would she do if they were too late to prevent the ritual?
Would she kill her husband in order to save the world?

It didn’t seem right that anyone should ever have to make such a
decision.

She already had so much blood on her hands. She felt the weight of
the lives she had taken, and she did not even know their names. How could she
ever bear the weight of taking the life of the man she loved?

A panicked cry from the deck brought every head around. Adesina’s
thoughts were snatched back to the present, and Satosh ceased telling his
story.

“Aekuor! AEKUOOOOOOOR!”

The sailors scrambled to get to their stations, and Captain
Zulimar began roaring commands.

“All hands on deck. Man the catapults. Prepare the decoys. Evasive
maneuvers.”

Suvi grabbed Adesina’s hand and began dragging her towards the
sleeping quarters. “Hurry! You will be safer below deck.”

The other passengers looked to their leader, uncertain what to do.

“What is happening?” she demanded.

“Sea monsters,” was the terrified reply.

“What is an aekuor?” asked Adesina as Suvi pulled on her arm to
lead her away from danger.

The teenage girl was more preoccupied with getting the passengers
to safety, and she wasn’t keen on answering questions. “It is a giant sea
serpent. They roam the deep waters, and are attracted to the sound of a ship’s
wake.”

“We are warriors,” declared Mar’sal. “We can help fight.”

Suvi shook her head. “You cannot fight an aekuor. All you can do
is try to divert its attention and then flee.”

Adesina pulled free of her grip and took her by the shoulders.
“Suvi, I want you to take Faryl to Kendan and Maizah, and I want you to stay
with them.”

She shook her head fiercely. “You cannot go to the deck. You will
be killed.”

The young queen mustered all the authority she could put in her
voice. “Do not argue with me. There is no time.”

Suvi hesitated, her eyes filled with pleading. Finally, she nodded
and took Faryl’s hand.

“Will you be all right?” asked the apothecary.

Adesina smiled. “We will be fine.”

She gestured to Mar’sal and Than’os, who followed her as she ran
towards the stairs. Ravi followed, of course, even though it was doubtful that
he could help fight this battle.

The night sky was clear, and the moon shed its bright light on the
glassy sea. At first Adesina thought that it was raining, but it was only the
spray from the turbulent waters.

The members of the crew were frantic in their movements, shouting
to one another and running back and forth. Some of them were launching small
barrels out of catapults into the open ocean. The barrels were packed with
explosives of some kind, and they ignited once in the water. Other crewmembers
were desperately trying to maneuver the ship in the opposite direction.

At first the L’avan couldn’t see anything but the dancing waves in
the ocean, but after a moment a barrel exploded and the aekuor appeared.

It was a dark blue that almost seemed black in the moonlight, and
the metallic scales shimmered with slight iridescence. It had the body of a
serpent, but with a ridge of spiny fins down the center of its back. Its head
was shaped like the point of an arrow, with more sharp fins spreading outward
in an expression of menace. It opened its mouth, revealing rows of jagged
teeth, and gave a high-pitched shriek.

Adesina had never seen a creature so large. It was easily twice
the length of the ship. For a moment she was frozen in terror, as were her
three companions.

Satosh was helping load the catapults, and he spotted them
standing there. “Go back down below,” he bellowed. “You will be safer there.”

The sound of his voice spurred Adesina to action and she shook her
head.

“We can fight it.”

Captain Zulimar heard this declaration in disbelief. “No one can
fight an aekuor, lander. You can only anger it. Go below before you get us all
killed.”

“Can you tame it?” Than’os asked Adesina.

Some L’avan were skilled in using their
vyala
to tame
animals. Adesina had seen it done, but she had never tried it herself.

She opened herself up to her
vyala
, letting the power surge
through her body. Then she began to mold the raw energy into the form she had
watched the animal tamers create. Her vision became a swirl of light green and
dark red, and she extended her hands in the direction of the sea monster.

Adesina’s
vyala
settled over the creature gently, like a
blanket of comfort and serenity. The orange eyes of the serpent became dull, as
if very sleepy, and the L’avan queen felt optimistic that she would succeed.

One of the younger crewmembers was stationed at a far catapult.
Captain Zulimar had given no orders to cease their tasks, so the young man
reloaded and fired in reckless haste.

He misjudged his aim, and the barrel careened directly towards the
aekuor. There were several shouts of dismay, but it was too late. The barrel
exploded on impact, forcibly jarring the aekuor out of its trance.

Its eyes turned red with rage, and it let out another shattering
shriek. It turned its attention to the retreating ship, and began its vengeful
pursuit.

“Abandon catapults,” roared Captain Zulimar. “All hands prepare
for impact!”

Adesina desperately tried to regain control of the monster, but it
shook off her
vyala
with mindless fury. It was gaining speed to ram the
ship. The L’avan queen cursed under her breath and turned to Mar’sal.

“Slow it.”

In a flash, he called forth his
vyala
and changed the density
of the water surrounding the ship. The aekuor slowed noticeably as it drew
nearer, but not enough to stop completely.

The monster’s arrow-like head battered the side of the ship,
throwing everyone to the deck with the impact. Than’os was already using his
own
vyala
to manipulate the properties of the wood. Instead of
splintering from the attack, the side of the ship merely dented.

Adesina leapt to her feet and sprinted to the railing. Her
vyala
whipped into a frenzy, almost as if it was ready to retaliate of its own
accord. The air crackled with pure energy, and she sent a fiery wave at the
head of the gigantic beast.

The aekuor screeched in pain, but the damage seemed minimal. The
sharp fins along the edge of its head were singed, but the hard scales of its
face protected it from fatal injury.

The serpent raised its long tail and brought it down on the side
of the ship. The crashing sound of impact shook the air and the tumultuous
water sprayed Adesina’s face. Once again, Than’os protected the vessel from
crippling damage, but he had to jump out of the way to prevent being crushed.

Captain Zulimar appeared to realize that it was too late to try to
escape, and he began shouting a new set of orders. “All hands, battle stations!
Man the catapults. Aim for the beast. Helmsman, take defensive position.”

The crew was stunned. It was as if he had ordered their deaths.

Satosh also seemed to understand that they were beyond retreat,
and he was the first to run back to his station. “Come on, you cowards! Fight for
your miserable lives.”

The others followed his lead with heartened expressions.

The exploding barrels hardly injured the sea monster, but it was
enough of a distraction that the L’avan could weave their magic with more
precision and power. Mar’sal continued to slow the aekuor’s movements in the
water, and Than’os focused on keeping the ship intact.

The wood of the vessel moaned and cracked from the abuse it
received, and Adesina feared that it would not last much longer. The salty
scent of the ocean was mingled with the strange stench of the sea monster,
making the beast seem even closer than it was.

Adesina focused all of her efforts on creating a massive illusion.
She hid the
Zephyr
from sight, and made it appear that there were a half
a dozen other ships surrounding the aekuor.

The monster howled and lashed its tail at the illusions, passing
through them and causing no more than waves and spray. The ship’s helmsman used
the opportunity to create some distance between the vessel and the beast.

After a few moments, the aekuor stopped its fruitless attacks and
dove beneath the water. There was a breathless silence and those aboard the
ship waited to see if they were safe at last.

Satosh ran to the side and peered into the water for a moment
before whipping around. “It is sensing our wake, Captain.”

“All hands, brace yourselves,” bellowed Captain Zulimar.

Adesina clutched at the railing, allowing the illusion to
disappear. Without warning, the aekuor burst from the water, ramming its
enormous head against the side of the ship. The young queen heard the wood
splinter and felt the ship tipping to its side.

She gripped the railing with whitened knuckles, her heart was
frozen with fear as she wondered if they would capsize. Adesina knew that the
aekuor would not cease its attack if the ship were destroyed. The monster would
kill them all, one by one.

She looked down and the black water roiled sinisterly, as if to
welcome them to their graves.

There was an eternal pause in the motion of the vessel, and then it
slowly began to right itself.

“Hold on,” urged the captain.

The backlash was not quite a violent as the initial attack, but
Adesina’s arms ached from clinging to the rails. A wave of water crashed over
the deck, forcing her to hold on even tighter.

When the water subsided, she sputtered for breath and tried to
push her silver hair away from her face. The shriek of the aekuor sounded
dangerously close, and Adesina acted on pure instinct. She released the railing
and lashed out with her
vyala
, pushing herself to the opposite side of
the ship.

The action saved her life.

The aekuor loomed over the
Zephyr
, with wrathful eyes that
glowed with bloodlust. Its head darted forward, clamping its jagged teeth on
the main mast. The monster’s powerful jaw crushed the thick pole, and the top
of the mast crashed down where Adesina had been only moments before.

Thanks to Than’os, the deck of the ship held against the force of
the falling mast, but it was clear that the
Zephyr
would not survive
many more attacks.

“Captain,” shouted the L’avan queen over the cacophony of the
battle, “what can we do?”

There was a grim expression on his dark face. “There is nothing we
can do,” he answered with deadly calm. “Our lives ended when we failed to
escape this beast.”

She shook her head stubbornly. “I refuse to give up.”

A fierce gleam flashed in his eye. “I am not suggesting we jump
into its maw. I will fight with every breath in my body. But you should not
fool yourself into thinking that we will survive this.”

Adesina admired his spirit, but she could not—
would
not—resign herself to such a fate. L’iam needed her to live.

She was suddenly filled with fresh determination regarding her
husband. This was not the first time they had faced an impossible situation
together. In spite of how hopeless some of their battles had seemed, they found
a way to overcome them all.

She would do the same now.

Adesina didn’t care what ancient lore said about her ability to
save L’iam from dark rituals. She had accomplished the impossible before, and
she would do it again. She
would
find a way to save L’iam’s life.

But first, she needed to survive the aekuor.

“Ravi!”

Her guardian was bracing himself against the wild motions of the
ship. His black fur was dripping with water, and there was a gash across his back.
He turned his eyes to his ward, and she could see that the golden color had
taken on a strangely rainbow sheen.

Another wave crashed over the deck, causing Adesina to pause in
her efforts to reach the Rashad. She regained her balance and hurried forward.

“Ravi, there has to be some way to defeat the aekuor.”

His feline face was drawn and unusually taut. “I am trying,
Ma’eve, but this is a creature of the old world. It bears the strength of the
ocean itself. The aekuor were not meant to be defeated by mortals.”

“Are you saying it is invincible?”

He shook his head. “No, but we do not possess the power to defeat
it.”

Adesina felt her courage failing. “What can we do?”

“I told you, Ma’eve, I am trying. It is much more than I have ever
attempted before, and it will take some time. You must protect this ship until
then.”

The rainbow sheen in his eyes was growing more pronounced.
Adesina’s intuition told her that he was calling on his own form of
vyala
.
She had never seen him use it in battle, and she had no idea what to expect.
However, somewhere deep inside herself she knew that she was about to witness
something extraordinary, and that filled her with confidence.

“I will assure you all of the time you need,” she promised.

Adesina turned back to the aekuor, who was now whipping its tail
across the deck. She reached up to draw energy from the sky, and pulled down a
bolt of lightning to strike the sea monster.

It wailed in pain and retreated momentarily.

When it tried to advance again, Adesina called down another bolt
of lightning. The aekuor howled in frustration, but kept a careful distance.
Its brutish eyes were unnervingly thoughtful as it considered the situation.

The serpent-like body of the beast slipped back into the water,
circling the
Zephyr
over and over. The crew rushed back and forth,
repairing what damage they could and helping the wounded to get below deck.

The respite was brief, and the aekuor’s renewed attacks were as
vicious as ever. Its head speared out of the ocean, swiped the side of the ship,
and then disappeared again before Adesina could prepare any countermeasures.
Then the beast continued to circle, repeating its assaults at random intervals.