Lodestone Book One: The Sea of Storms (49 page)

Shann’s mouth
was open. Seawater ran down her face.
“What?”

“Lodestone
cannon,” Lyall said. “It uses a shaped charge, a bit similar to a
grenade–
Patris.
”

“Yes, yes. I’ll try and run her
as close to the Barrier as possible and track the storm front. It’s
risky and she’ll be like a gudrun beast to handle, but the
Prophet’s ship will encounter the same problems. We’ll see if her
master has the guts to brave the storms. At the very least, it may
buy us some time.”

Another dull
concussion sounded from the oncoming vessel. Seawater burst over
the
Reach’s
larboard rail.

“They have our range,” Patris
bellowed. “Quickly.”

The three of them slid down the
ladder and sprinted over the deck to where Alondo and Boxx were
waiting.

“What’s going on?” Alondo cried
in alarm.

Lyall joined Patris and Shann as
they fought to bring every scrap of canvass to bear to the wind. “A
Prophet’s ship is attacking us.” He saw with dismay the frightened
look on his friend’s face. There was no way to lower the launch
under these conditions.

A third boom sounded from the
chasing ship. Lyall ducked down instinctively. Hot metal impacted
the deck in a staccato rattle. When the sound died, Lyall looked up
to see that their sail was peppered with several holes.

“Chain
shot,”
Patris hollered. “They’re not
trying to sink us–they’re trying to
cripple
us.”

Before them,
the Great Barrier roiled like nest of giant vipers. As the
Reach
heeled over in the
gale, Patris sprinted to the rudder. Their ship turned to starboard
and began to run before the storm’s leading edge. Lyall and Shann
trimmed the sail and fought to keep her course straight. Rain, now
mixed in with the wind, lashed their faces as they worked. Lyall
kept glancing aft. There was no doubt about it–in spite of their
best efforts, the carrack was gaining on them, the symbol of the
Prophet now clearly visible through the smoke rising from its
forward mounted cannon.

Another round
of chain shot tore into the rigging. One linked pair of half balls
narrowly missed Shann.
If we carry on like
this, we’ll be shot to pieces.
The next
volley reduced the canvass to tatters. The remnants of their once
proud sail hung uselessly from the crosstrees. The deck was
littered with splintered wood, tangled cordage and spent shot. The
launch had a gaping hole in its side. Miraculously, no-one appeared
to be injured. Patris was advancing toward him. Lyall made his
decision. “Patris, strike what’s left of the
sail.”

“Do you want me to signal our
surrender?”

“Absolutely not,” Lyall replied.
“We’re going through.”

~

“What do you mean, ‘going
through’?” Patris demanded.

“I mean,” Lyall met his eyes
levelly, “we are going to cross the Barrier.”

Rain had plastered Patris’
shoulder length black hair to his head and was running down his
olive face. His tail swished from side to side. “You can’t be
serious. It would be suicide. We don’t even have a sail left to
speak of.”

“We won’t need a
sail.”

Shann was standing beside Patris.
He turned to the girl. “What’s he talking about?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know,” Shann
confessed.

Keris, Alondo and Boxx had all
converged to listen to the exchange taking place on the cluttered
deck. Lyall fixed Shann with his intense blue eyes. “Do you
remember that first morning back at the Calandra? It was you who
came up with the idea of using lodestone.”

“But Keris said–you agreed that
it wouldn’t work,” Shann said.

“The method
wouldn’t work, but only because we couldn’t secure a sufficient
lodestone mass to push the vessel. But the idea–the
idea
is sound. When
Alondo told how Captain Arval supposedly used flying perridons to
pull his ship through the Barrier it got me to thinking. What if we
were to install lodestone into the deck and then leap off while
tethered to ropes? Maybe we could pull the ship in just the same
way.”

Wind gusted through the ragged
remains of the sail, flapping like a round of applause. Shann put a
hand to her head. “But…that wouldn’t work either. If…if I were to
push off from the ship, then the forward pressure from the
lodestone in the deck would be matched by the backward pressure
from the lodestone layer of my cloak. It…would be just as if I were
to attach a line to the deck and pull on it–my pulling forward on
the rope would be countered by my pushing backward with my feet on
the deck. The ship wouldn’t move.”

Lyall and Keris looked at each
other. “She thinks like a Keltar,” Keris said.

It was intended as a compliment,
but Lyall was certain that Shann would take it badly. He moved
quickly to head off any clash between the two. “You’re absolutely
right, Shann. Action–reaction. But what would happen if I was to
leap off and then retract the upper lodestone layer, whilst at the
same time extending the bronze?

Shann was frowning in
concentration. “The lodestone in the deck would still push me away,
but the bronze in my cloak would pull on it.” Shann looked up. “But
would it be enough to move the ship?”

“I did some tests in Sakara,”
Keris replied. “The pull is small, but it accelerates with time. I
am certain that two of us could do it.” She turned to Lyall. “Three
would be even better.”

“How about it, Shann?” Lyall
asked. “Will you help us?”

Shann nodded quickly. “I’ll get
my cloak.” She ran off in the direction of the stern castle,
dodging to avoid the debris that littered the deck.

“We haven’t much time,” Keris
pointed out. “The Prophet’s ship has ceased its bombardment. That
means they must be getting ready to board us.” She reached into the
pack she carried and pulled out her cloak, shaking it free and
securing the neck clasp. Lyall followed suit.

“What do you want the rest of us
to do?” Alondo asked.

“You take the rudder and
Boxx…well, just make sure it holds onto something,” Lyall
said.

“No.”
All eyes turned towards Patris. “Look, I don’t
pretend to understand what you people just said, but you can’t take
this ship in there. There are hurricane force winds and
impenetrable seas, not to mention the fact that we don’t even know
if anything can survive beyond the Barrier.”

Lyall tested his neck control.
“Look, I was going to send you back to Sakara–Shann, too. But the
launch is too badly damaged. And we can’t stay put–not with that
thing out there.”

Realisation
dawned on Patris face. “You
planned
this all along, didn’t you? You planned to take
this ship into the Barrier. Why? What possible reason could you
have?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t have time to
explain right now. But I won’t sacrifice anyone else to the
servants of the Prophet. You saw what they did to
Keris.”

“I don’t care about that.” Patris
said. “I’d rather take my chances with them than face the
Barrier.”

Shann reappeared at the door to
the stern castle clad in her flying cloak and hurried towards them.
Keris faced Patris. “There’s no time–they will be boarding us any
moment now. We have to move.”

“Look.”
Alondo was pointing up at the sky. Lyall followed
the line of his finger. The hull of the carrack lowered over their
ship now–a predator breathing down the neck of its helpless prey. A
dark shape was hurtling across the threatening sky between the two
vessels. It landed lightly on the afterdeck, the cloak settling
about its shoulders.
Keltar
.

The creature walked slowly to the
ladder but did not descend. Lyall saw clearly the bald head. The
round face. The twisted smile of triumph. It looked down at them.
“My name is Saccath.”

“I know who you are,” Keris
said.

“Then you know why I am here,
‘betrayer’. You will come with me.”

Lyall stepped forward. “She’s not
going anywhere with you.”

Saccath looked around the
shattered deck, as the wind and rain continued to lash down. “Your
pathetic ship is destroyed. You have no-where to go. Come with me
and I will spare these others. Refuse and they will all
die.”

“I told you,” Lyall said. “She’s
not going with you.”

Saccath laughed without mirth.
“This is the one who dresses as Keltar. The one who was bested back
in Corte by Garai. Do you take your orders from this gundir now?
Did you know that he already led one failed insurrection eleven
turns ago? Led his people into death and then fled.” He turned to
face Lyall. “We have your sister in custody. Renounce this woman,
and come with me and I will take you to see her.”

Lyall’s mind
reeled with the news. Aune–
Aune is
alive
. But could a Keltar’s word be relied
on? He shook his head. It did not matter. He could not–would not
turn against his companions. If it were true–if she was indeed
alive and in the hands of the Prophet–then he would find another
way to free her.

Somewhere near the edge of his
consciousness, he heard Keris respond. “Saccath, you have been
betrayed, but not by me. The Prophet intends to destroy all
Kelanni.”

“Lies,”
Saccath spat. “You may have been able to convince
that old fool Ferenek before he died, but you will never convince
me. I am Keltar. The eyes and ears of the Prophet.” He drew his
diamond bladed staff from behind him. “In the name of the Three and
of the One, you will come with me.
Now.”

He jumped from the stern castle
to the deck in front of them. Keris and Lyall had their own staffs
drawn and were standing their ground. Alondo and Boxx were backing
away towards the bow. Shann, without a staff of her own, was
casting about wildly.

Lyall called
out to her.
“Get back with the
others.”

He looked back to see Patris
stepping forward, hands outstretched in capitulation. “I am not
with these people, Keltar. They deceived me. I request the
sanctuary of the Prophet and safe passage back to
Sakara.”

Saccath regarded him with a
mixture of annoyance and disdain; then swung his staff. The wood
connected with the side of Patris’ head and the thief collapsed to
the deck in a heap. He did not move.

The three cloaked figures began
circling one another slowly, like caged animals.

“The Thief Guild,” Saccath
sneered. “They would betray their own family for a fraction of an
astria. A slip of a girl who also likes to dress up as Keltar, a
fellow with an odd hat and a Chandara, of all things. Why would you
ally yourself with such people?”

Saccath put one hand to his neck
and blipped the control on his flying cloak. “Interesting. I detect
a sizeable source of refined lodestone on this vessel. You will
tell me its purpose.” Keris swung her staff at Saccath’s head. He
sidestepped neatly and she grunted as her diamond blade sliced
through empty air. “Very well. We will do this the hard
way.”

Saccath turned and ran towards
the forecastle; then flared his cloak, and leaped from the deck,
pushing off the lodestone in the ship’s bow and hurtling towards
Lyall and Keris. They scattered in opposite directions, tumbling
beyond the reach of Saccath’s staff. The bald Keltar touched down
once more and began advancing on Keris. “You killed Nikome and then
our master, Mordal.”

Keris managed
to get her feet under her and held her staff out defensively. Her
voice was cracking. “I had no choice. They attacked and
wouldn’t listen
. Just as
you are refusing to listen. Wh–why would I be doing this if I
didn’t believe it to be true?”

Lyall scrambled towards Saccath
and made a thrust with his staff. Saccath knocked it away
contemptuously; then in a single fluid movement, raised his own
staff over his head and brought it down on Keris’ upheld staff with
great force. Keris was sent sprawling to the deck once more, as the
sound of clashing darkwood reverberated around the ship.

Saccath walked towards her
slowly, swishing his tail. “Motives–who cares for motives? Small
children, perhaps. Or fools like these.” He took in her companions
with a wave of his hand. “You are Keltar. You betrayed your master
and your oath. For that, you must pay.” He raised his staff once
more.

Lyall was
readying himself to lunge once more at Saccath’s back when he
registered a blur of motion above him. A fourth cloaked figure came
flying feet first, impacting the small of Saccath’s back.
Shann.
The bald Keltar
grunted, lurched forward and fell face first onto the deck. Keris
rolled out of the way and sprang to her feet. Shann joined her, so
that the two stood side by side. The girl was brandishing an oar as
if it were an oversized staff.