Raging Sea and Trembling Earth: Disciples of the Horned One Volume Two (Soul Force Saga Book 2) (6 page)

BOOK: Raging Sea and Trembling Earth: Disciples of the Horned One Volume Two (Soul Force Saga Book 2)
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Chapter 17


T
hat can’t be good
.” Jen pointed at a thick column of smoke rising just ahead of them.

Lon couldn’t argue with that. They’d been flying for two hours and unless he’d miscalculated the smoke came from the village where he expected to find David. Though he was sure his mission could have gone worse, he had trouble thinking how.

As they drew closer the roofs of flaming buildings came into view. It looked like most of the town was on fire. People were running around shouting. One group had formed a bucket brigade that fought in vain to save a sprawling, two-story building that had the look of an inn.

“What do we do?” Jen asked.

The buildings were too far gone to save and they had a mission. Much as Lon wished to help the villagers, he or the warlords could do nothing. “We need to find David.”

Lon guided the chariot toward the center of town. One of the few buildings not burning and the only one made of stone was the town hall. More creatures surrounded it. They were different from the ones that attacked the watch post. This bunch sported red scales and long, whip-like tails. One of the monsters thrust its head forward, jaws agape. Flames blasted the charred door, but it didn’t catch.

“We’ll handle them.” Jen grabbed the side of the chariot.

“Wait.” Lon guided the chariot over the roof of the town hall. A gaping hole revealed a collection of timbers and shingles scattered all over a red carpet. “Something’s inside already.”

Lon transformed the chariot into a bubble and lowered them through the hole. They landed and he let the bubble vanish. The warlords drew their weapons and formed a circle around him.

“Talon, which way?” Jen asked.

The lean, wiry warlord studied the debris. While he worked Jen asked, “How did you know they were inside?”

“I didn’t. I just wanted to check before we attacked the ones outside. It wouldn’t make much sense to kill the monsters outside if some had gotten inside already.”

“Captain, I got something. One of them must have cut itself on the glass. There’s a blood trail heading deeper into the building and it’s fresh. Fifteen minutes, tops.”

“Good work, Talon. You’re on point. Alec, watch our backs. Edward and Rhys, with me. Let’s move.”

Lon debated surrounding himself with a barrier and decided against it. They jogged down the hall, glass crunching under their boots. Once they moved away from the hole it looked like nothing had been damaged or disturbed. Landscapes and portraits decorated the walls. The further they moved away from the hole the darker it became. Lon wanted to conjure a light, but feared the soul force eaters might sense it.

If the gloom caused the warlords any trouble they gave no sign of it. Lon enjoyed using sorcery, but sometimes it would be handy to give himself night vision.

A crash followed by a scream came from down the hall.

Edward cocked his head. “That was close by.”

“Move it!” Jen said.

They ran toward the noise. A door blocked their path and Talon kicked it off its hinges. Inside was a meeting hall. A score of benches, most of them tipped over and broken, filled an open room. At the far end a raised platform with a chair for the lord faced the benches. Between the platform and benches five of the black-scaled monsters stood over a bleeding, almost-dead man. On either side of them five more badly mauled corpses lay on the floor.

“One of them’s still alive,” Lon said.

“Leave the monsters to us.” Jen took a step then seemed to vanish.

The others accelerated to match her speed. One of the lizard creatures went flying. It slammed into the wall then bounced up, a shallow gash on its arm. A few seconds later the rest were forced away from the dying man.

Lon rushed over and called up healing soul force. He knelt down and immediately looked away. The monsters had bitten half his face off. Lon poured power into the unfortunate man’s chest, trying to close the most pressing wounds first. All around him the clash of steel on scale filled the air.

It took all his concentration to seal up the mass of wounds on the injured man. He had to trust Jen and her team to keep him safe.

Lon sealed the last damaged leaking vein in his patient’s chest and looked up in time to see a black-scaled body three feet away.

He staggered back.

The monster opened its mouth.

An instant later the tip of a long blade burst from its open maw. Jen shoved the beast to the ground and ripped her weapon free.

“That’s the last of them,” she said.

Lon wiped the sweat from his brow. That had been far too close.

“How is he?” She nodded at the still-unconscious man.

“Alive, though I’m not certain if that’s a blessing or curse. Keep watch, please. I need to return to healing.”

Lon worked nonstop for an hour, sealing veins, mending flesh, and using every trick he’d learned to keep the patient alive. He hardly got one thing fixed when something else burst. At last, his soul force virtually depleted, a vein he thought he’d fixed ruptured again.

He had nothing left to seal it. Lon pressed his hand to the gushing wound, trying to slow it enough that his power could recover. The man’s heart stopped before he could close the vein.

Lon sat back, covered in blood. He’d failed.

Someone patted his back. He glanced over and found Jen crouched beside him. “You can’t win ’em all. Is that our guy?”

Lon looked at the dead man’s ruined face and quickly looked away. “I can’t tell. Wait. The description I received said David was known to wear a ring with his family’s crest, a red sword crossed over a black shield.”

Lon looked down. No ring graced the dead man’s hand. He sighed. It wasn’t David. “Could you check the other bodies for me?”

Jen nodded. She came back a minute later and held out her hand. “Like this?”

Lon opened his tired eyes. The gold ring in her hand had the right crest. “Damn it! The body?”

“He was in worse shape than this guy.” She set the ring beside him. “Sorry. We’re going out front to deal with those fire breathers.”

Lon stood up and pocketed the ring. “Wait for me. I find I have some anger I need to work off.”

Chapter 18

O
nce again Damien
found himself flying out over the ocean. This time he was too focused on the mission to enjoy it. The archmage flew beside him, not bothering with her eagle for such a relatively short trip. Her shoulders were hunched up around her neck and she was clenching her fists and jaw. His master’s anxiety leached into Damien and he kept forcing himself to take deep breaths. He needed to be calm and focused, not jumpy.

Damien moved up beside her. “If you don’t relax you’ll break your teeth.”

With a visible effort she relaxed her posture. “Happy?”

To Damien’s surprise he found he was a little happy. “You know, this is the first time we’ve gone on a mission like a proper master and apprentice.”

She looked over at him and the fierce scowl eased a little. “I hadn’t thought about it. I guess I don’t make a very good master, sending you out on missions by yourself.”

Damien waved a hand. “I don’t mind. It’s just I’m interested to learn how the other students feel, watching a more experienced sorcerer work.”

The scowl returned, but with a mocking twist. “Are you calling me old?”

Damien grinned. All the tension had gone out of her. “Perish the thought.”

They shared a laugh then turned their attention to the matter at hand. The sorcerer keeping watch on the ships hung in the sky half a mile ahead, a multilayer construct in front of him. He must have sensed their approach as he turned to face them the instant they stopped. The young man bowed to the archmage and nodded to Damien. He looked of an age with Jaden and Damien, but Damien didn’t remember him from The Tower.

“Ma’am, they haven’t changed course or slowed. I haven’t seen any activity beyond what you’d expect for a sailing ship.”

“Where are they?” the archmage asked.

He pointed west and a hair north. Damien squinted, but couldn’t make anything out. The construct he saw earlier must have been the far-seer Jaden had been so eager to learn how to make.

“Keep watch and if anything should go wrong send a message to High Sorcerer Sasha in Valcane.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the sorcerer said.

“Ready, Damien?”

“Yes, Master.”

The archmage flew toward the ships. Damien strengthened his shield and his master followed suit. A minute later the four ships came into view. As they soared closer Damien made out more detail. Built from dark wood and sporting three masts like Jaden had said, the ships were bigger than the ones tied up at the navy dock back in Valcane. Men stood in the ropes and pointed at Damien and his master as they approached. In the center of each ship a big brick oven with a soot-blackened chimney jutted out. He’d never heard of such a thing on a ship and couldn’t imagine its purpose. Perhaps the sailors liked fresh bread. A little closer and the stench of rotten meat filled the air.

Standing in a raised area at the front of the lead ship, beside the unloaded ballista, a bald man in billowing white trousers and shirt waved at them. The archmage flew down until she was hovering even with the waving man.

He beamed at them. “Hello! Welcome to the whaling vessel
Longshot
. Please come aboard.”

The archmage landed beside the sailor and Damien joined her. If this fellow was a representative of the empire Damien would swim back to Lookout Island.

“May I offer you food, drink?” the sailor asked.

“No, thank you. Are you the captain of this vessel?”

“I am. Anton Velco at your service. Please call me Anton. You are from the Lost Colony, yes?”

“We haven’t been a colony for many years, but yes, we’re from the kingdom. I’m Archmage Lidia Thorn.” She nodded toward Damien. “My apprentice.”

He nodded but remained silent. If his master didn’t want these people to know his name Damien wouldn’t enlighten them.

“Are you representing the empire or have you crossed the ocean for your own purposes?”

Velco threw back his head and laughed. “The empire? There is no empire. A dozen factions circle and spit at each other like angry cats, leaving the rest of us to survive as best we can.”

“Then you’ve come for your own purposes. I’d be interested to know what could convince several hundred people to cross the vast ocean in hopes of finding something you weren’t even certain existed.”

Some of Velco’s good nature dried up. “I’m not certain it’s any of your concern.”

A slender woman with long dark hair and pale skin came up from the lower deck. She wore flowing blue robes that swirled in the ocean breeze. Damien detected no soul force so she had to be a sorcerer. She whispered in Velco’s ear and he nodded once. The woman stepped away, but remained on the platform.

“I apologize for the interruption.”

The archmage waved her hand in dismissal. “You were about to tell us why you crossed the ocean.”

“I’m not certain I was. What business is it of yours?”

“My king has dispatched us to discover your purpose. You may tell us or turn around. Refuse to speak and continue on your present course and I’ll be forced to consider you an enemy. Enemy ships go to the bottom of the ocean.”

Velco laughed again. “I think we have you a bit outnumbered.”

Behind him the sorcerer drew on her power, sending her robes flapping and surrounding herself with a blue aura. Power crackled around her hands and her eyes glowed. She was fairly strong, but not extraordinary.

“As you can see we have our own sorcerers.”

The archmage glanced back. “Damien.”

He knew at once what she wanted. Damien drew deep from his core. Golden power crackled around him. The deck planks vibrated and several nails popped loose. Even the ocean below trembled. The female sorcerer took a step back, her blue eyes wide.

“If you wish to go down this road I believe we can accommodate you,” his master said.

The opposing sorcerer hurried over and whispered in her captain’s ear. He said something back and she nodded. Her aura vanished and the captain heaved a great sigh. “Very well. We wish to resupply in your kingdom. Our intention is to slay the Leviathan.”

Damien gaped. Of the five dragons, all the books regarded the Leviathan as the strongest. Sailors called the mighty sea serpent the god of the ocean. Having seen how badly even a weak dragon overmatched him, Damien couldn’t imagine how Velco might harm such a creature, much less slay it. If he had another hundred sorcerers in his service it wouldn’t be enough. He absorbed his power and relaxed. He didn’t need to fight these fools. They intended to destroy themselves.

His master must have had the same idea. “If you wish to commit suicide you’ve chosen an interesting method. Your odds of survival would be better if you turned around without resupply.”

“We know some tricks on our side of the ocean that you may not. I’m convinced we can accomplish the task. Are you satisfied? May we purchase supplies in your kingdom?”

“I’ll take your petition to the king, but I foresee no difficulties. Why should your gold sink along with your ships? My apprentice will guide you to our lookout post in case I don’t return before.” The archmage turned to Damien. “Don’t let them sail on until I return.”

“Yes, Master.”

She nodded once and leapt into the air leaving Damien alone on the whalers’ ship. The captain smiled. “Are you certain I can’t offer you something to eat?”

Chapter 19

D
amien sat
with Velco in his surprisingly spacious cabin. A little glass-fronted cabinet filled with pieces of bone carved into elaborate shapes or with detailed seascapes inlaid into them sat against the back wall. Damien perched on the edge of the captain’s bed while Velco reclined in the room’s sole chair. A small fold-up table occupied one corner. Beside it rested a two-shelf bookcase filled with charts and logbooks. On a small table rested a tray covered with dried meat, biscuits, and some sort of withered fruit. Damien found no poison, but still had no particular desire to eat any of it. Even the red wine in his battered tin cup smelled sour.

Damien took a nibble of dried meat just to be polite. “Why did you risk a fight with my master just to avoid telling her your intentions?”

Velco tore a chunk out of his meat. “I wanted to see what she was made of. I have to admit I was impressed. Would she have sunk us if I continued on without answering her?”

“No, she would have had me do it.”

Velco laughed and almost choked on his half-chewed food. When the captain could breathe again he said, “You don’t mince words do you?”

“I’m a warrior, not a politician. If I have something to say, I say it.”

“Ha! You and I are going to get along. How far to this island of yours?”

“I could fly there in half an hour, but sailing, maybe a day or two. I admit I have little experience with ships. Do you really think you can kill the Leviathan?”

“The sorcerers I’ve spoken with assure me their plan will work. No guarantees of course, but they seemed confident.”

“I don’t suppose you’d care to share?” Damien took another nibble of meat. If it took two days to reach the island he’d have to stomach the food for a little while.

Velco devoured a biscuit, mold and all. “Your master tell you to ask?”

Damien smiled. “Not in so many words, but she’d be disappointed in me if I didn’t try.”

“I hate to dash your hopes, but I don’t exactly understand the process myself. Something about suppression and negation. I can pilot a ship, plot a course, or kill a whale, but sorcery is beyond me. When the time comes I’ll do what they tell me and hope for the best.”

Damien shook his head. The captain had taken too big a risk to pin it all on hoping for the best. He either knew more than he let on or was desperate. Looking at the man Damien thought it might be a combination of both.

“Why risk it? This trip, hunting a dragon, my master’s wrath. What’s so awful in the Old Empire that you would make such a gigantic gamble?”

“Awful? On the contrary, things couldn’t be better. The guild’s business is doubling every five years. We’re rolling in gold.”

Damien just stared, not understanding. “And?”

“And what we’re not rolling in is whales. We’ve nearly hunted the safe areas clean. If we want to continue working we need to hunt out in the deep water where the big pods live.”

“And the whales aren’t the only big thing that lives in the deep ocean.”

“Yes, and the dragon doesn’t take kindly to us hunting in its territory. We’ve sent three flotillas out and only one came back with oil. The others vanished without a trace. The guild lost five hundred men combined on those ships. We can’t convince new crews to sign up unless we guarantee only shallow water hunting.”

“Right. You eliminate the Leviathan and a whole ocean opens up to you.”

“Exactly. This is our way of life. If we can’t find new hunting grounds we lose everything. I’ve staked it all on keeping our lifestyle going.”

“Including your life?”

“Including my life.”

BOOK: Raging Sea and Trembling Earth: Disciples of the Horned One Volume Two (Soul Force Saga Book 2)
3.09Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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