by Dante King
Even though Rollar had thought that Elandriel would wait until we were back in Prand to spring a trap, I knew otherwise. For this reason, I was prepared. After Yumo-Rezu and I had made love a few more times the previous evening, she’d finally staggered off to sleep, exhausted. She was by no means a strong enough deity yet to go without sleep, as I was able to.
As for me, I’d stayed up through the night, as I always did now, putting together a plan for when Elandriel would surely turn the weather against me. I’d figured out that he was setting something up on the first day we’d set sail. The ocean had been unnaturally calm for two days, and I was sure that it was Elandriel’s doing. Not only did he want to allow us to make rapid progress, which meant that we’d quickly get far away from the safety of any land masses, I was sure that he was trying to lull us into a false sense of security.
Thus, when I saw black clouds on the horizon and felt the first rustlings of hurricane winds rippling my cloak, I was by no means surprised.
“All hands on deck!” I yelled as soon as I caught wind of the brewing storm in the distance.
The pirates, the monks, and my party all hurried up onto the deck of the warship.
“Shiver me fuckin’ timbers, that’s one hell of a storm coming” Percy stared in horror at the thick black clouds on the horizon. Shears of lightning were already flickering through their bulbous masses.
“Should we try to go around it?” Elyse asked, looking worried.
“Impossible,” Percy answered grimly. “Look across that way,” he continued, pointing right, “and there,” he said, pointing left. “It’s unlike any storm I’ve ever seen. It’s coming at us from all sides, like an army that’s surrounded us completely.”
“That’s because this is no natural storm,” I said. “This is Elandriel’s doing.”
“How seaworthy is this ship?” Friya asked Percy.
Percy shrugged, and there was a bleak look of dread on his round, ruddy face. “She’s as sturdy a vessel as any, this warship; the Church of Light Navy may be a bunch a’ yellow-bellied cowards, but they know how to build ships well. But I can’t think of any ship I’ve ever seen that could survive a tempest like the one over yonder.”
“We’re going to have to work together to get through the storm in one piece,” I said. “Everyone who has some sort of magical power is going to have to chip in.”
Even Rami-Xayon looked worried. “Vance, that storm is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Even if we combine all our powers, and you draw on the full Death strength of your undead army, I don’t think I can create a wind strong enough to blow against a monstrous hurricane like that.”
I smiled. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to have to fight against the power of that storm.”
“We can’t outrun it, and we don’t have any shelter from it,” Rami-Xayon said. “We’re surrounded on all sides; I don’t see how we could possibly get through it.”
“We don’t need to try to outrun it or go through it, because there’s a much easier way to deal with it,” I said.
“How?” she asked.
“Simple,” I said. “We go under it.”
“Er, Lord Vance,” Rollar said, “I know that you have many powers that are beyond the comprehension of mere mortals, even Fated ones such as myself, but I hope you haven’t forgotten that the rest of us cannot breathe underwater.”
“I’m capable of many things, Rollar, but breathing underwater isn’t one of them,” I said. “But under the waves I’m going to be breathing air, just like you are. It’s going to take some effort, and it’ll be a bumpy ride, but I’m pretty sure that my plan will get us through this hurricane unscathed.”
“Pretty sure?” Isu said, raising a skeptical eyebrow and folding her arms defiantly across her voluminous bosom. “And if your plan doesn’t work?”
“Then we’ll all drown—that or be crushed to death inside the ship when it implodes,” I answered, grinning cheerfully.
A look of sudden comprehension flickered to life across Rami-Xayon’s beautiful face. “You’re going to use a reversed tornado to suck air down from the surface into the hold of the ship, aren’t you?” she asked. “That’s how you’ll give us air to breathe, and keep the inside of the ship from being flooded, right? I understand that part, but how are you going to get the ship under the water? Having air inside it is what keeps it afloat, and if you start pulling air in via a tornado, it’s guaranteed to keep it up on the surface, and then it’ll get battered to pieces by the forces of the storm.”
“I realize that, and that’s why I’m going to use an equally powerful force to keep the ship underwater.”
“Cap’n Chauzec, if I could uh, present the opinion of a veteran seafarer at this point?” Percy asked nervously.
“Go ahead Percy,” I said.
“I mean no disrespect, but you can’t simply pull a ship like this below the waves with air inside it and expect it to stay intact. The water pressure alone will crush it.”
“And that’s why I’m going to fortify the whole ship with Death magic. I’ll make these timbers stronger than steel. I’ve got my entire army down there on the ocean floor. There’s enough strength to draw on to fortify a whole naval fleet. Trust me, the water pressure won’t break the ship once I’ve fortified it.”
“What about getting it under the waves in the first place?” Rami-Xayon said. “You said you’re going to use a great force to do that, but if you’re using the Death power to fortify the body of the ship, what are you going to use to get the ship underwater?”
“Have you forgotten about one very special, very powerful undead creature of mine?” I asked. “What’s one thing krakens are notorious for? Why don’t you tell us, Percy?”
“Um, pulling ships under the…” he trailed off, and his frown of consternation became a gleeful grin. “Cap’n Chauzec, you’ve done it again! You’re going to use the ol’ kraken to pull and hold the ship under, fortify the timbers against the water pressure with Death magic, and then use a reverse tornado to stop water flooding in, and keep us breathin’ air instead of suckin’ water into our lungs! But uh, I do have one more question…”
“Go ahead.”
“With a tornado raging in the hold, how are we going to avoid being flung around like dry leaves in a gale, and stop our heads getting pounded to bloody pulp against the walls and pillars?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan for that too,” I said. “But the wind’s picking up fast and the whole sky is turning black, so let’s get on with things while we still have time. Percy, get your crew to take the sails down. Ji-Ko, get your monks to take everything that’s out here below deck. Rollar, Drok, you two help with the heaviest items that need to be moved. We have maybe twenty minutes before this storm hits us with the force of a hundred thousand Jotunn warriors; move your asses!”
“What do you want the rest of us to do?” Isu asked.
“Everyone else except Rami-Xayon and Layna needs to get below deck.”
“What do you need me for?” Layna asked while everyone hurried to get below deck. “I’m as eager to help as everyone else is, but I doubt I’ll be of any use against a gigantic storm like this.”
“How fast can you produce spider silk?” I asked.
“I can wrap up a man in a full cocoon in less than five minutes,” she answered with a wicked glint sparkling in her eyes.
“Well you’re not going to need to wrap anyone up in cocoons, but you’ll need to use that spider silk on the people below deck.”
I explained to her what I needed her to do, and she smiled and assured me that it could be done.
With the sky growing blacker than the darkest night above us and the wind now howling in a gale, Layna dashed below deck.
I drew my Dragon Sword and prepared to battle the most monstrous storm I’d ever laid eyes on.
Chapter Nine
“Elandriel!” I yelled at the sea of pitch-black clouds above. “Show me what you’ve got, asshole!”
As if Elandriel had heard my challenge, an ear-splitting clap of thunder pealed across the tumultuous ocean. Its crashing boom shook the timbers of the ship below my feet and rumbled my very bowels. A jagged shear of lightning flashed across the clouds, briefly painting their bulbous forms in hues of bright violet and pink.
Before I began my magic-blending, I sent Talon up through the mass of storm clouds. She would fly high above the storm and would provide a view of the surface. With the harpy as my eye-in-the-sky, I would know when we’d breached the tempest and could bring the ship up from under the waves.
Closing my eyes, I hurled my spirit into Talon’s undead form so that I could see and experience the storm from her perspective. When I opened my eyes, I saw and felt the world via the harpy’s senses. Soaring through the storm clouds, I was able to experience a precursor to just how violent and brutal the hurricane was. Furious winds battered Talon’s body and wings as she raced upward, and I could feel the hammering as if it were my own body being kicked around by winds so powerful that they felt as irresistible as surging tsunami waves.
For one sickening second, I felt Talon’s flesh starting to rip. I hastily shot part of my spirit down to the ocean floor, grabbed some Death power from my undead army, and flung it into Talon’s body before the forces of the storm could literally tear her limb from limb. Even so, the raging hurricane winds were tossing the mighty undead harpy around like cats playing with a helpless mouse. I needed some help to get Talon above the storm.
I also needed to do this quickly, because the ocean was already heaving and rolling. The former choppiness was morphing into increasingly massive swells. The ship was lurching and rolling, diving down at nearly forty-five degrees one second, then hurtling up the slope of a wave the next. The vessel was tossed around like a toy boat in the bathtub of some petulant brat throwing a tantrum. Percy’s pirates were hurled around like ragdolls, as were Ji-Ko’s monks, who, despite their legendary agility and acrobatic grace, crashed to the floor and flew across the deck by the chaotic motion of the ship.
“Hurry up and get below deck now! All of you!” I shouted at the monks and pirates, my voice barely audible above the vicious roar of the wind. “It’s only a matter of time before someone gets swept overboard!”
As if to drive home this point, a heavy wave crashed over the deck, sweeping a number of men across the deck and slamming them into the railing on the other side. Thankfully, nobody was swept overbroad, but with the increasing potency of the waves, I was sure that next time they wouldn’t be so lucky.
“Move it, get below deck now before I kill you all myself!” I roared at them.
They didn’t need to be told twice. They scampered away, abandoning any loose objects to the storm; they’d taken the main sails and the bulk of the supplies below deck anyway. Now, I need to help Talon before she got turned into shredded harpy in the storm winds above.
Rami-Xayon was fully focused on conjuring up a mighty tornado and therefore couldn’t help me out, but that didn’t mean I was completely cut off from any access to Wind magic. I pulled my consciousness out of Talon and yanked it back into myself. With my free hand, I drew my kusarigama; there was enough Wind magic in this weapon to do what I needed to do.
Gripping the Dragon Sword in one hand and the kusarigama in the other, I called on the magic of the Dragon Sword. Two glowing icons appeared before me: the white tornado representing Wind power, and the gray skull of my Death magic. Using the alchemic abilities of the Dragon Sword, I fused the two together, creating a madly whirling Death tornado. The spinning tunnel of black, foul air, its stench like grave rot, would function as a shield for my undead creature, cocooning around Talon like one of Layna’s webs and protecting her from the battering forces of the storm winds.
I launched the Death tornado upward, and it stayed connected with a black thread of magic to my undead army below the ocean surface. Using the necrotic magic of my army, the tornado hurtled up, blasting a furious passage through the raging storm like one of the red balls blasted from the Yengish wolf’s head weapons.
The Death tornado sucked Talon in and formed a protective shield around her, carrying her safely up through the howling hurricane. I hurled my spirit back into the harpy and observed the scene from her eyes. I stayed with her until I finally saw blue sky around me. Now that Talon had broken through the clouds and was above the storm, I destroyed the Death tornado. It disintegrated in a flurry of dissolving black threads that melted in a mere second into the calm, icy air. I let Talon take the reins, flying in a straight and steady line above the hurricane.
Talon now safe, I yanked my spirit fully back into myself, preparing for my own battle against Elandriel’s hurricane. I held the Dragon Sword aloft, gripping it in both hands, and closed my eyes. On my wrist was my mini crossbow, imbued with the magic of the Tree God.
A bolt of lightning crashed into the ocean mere yards from the ship, breaking my concentration. The ship lurched violently to the side, flung with such brutal force that it almost capsized. For a few moments, the deck turned almost vertical, and I was hurled through the air. I only just managed to stab the Dragon Sword into the deck as I fell, using it like an ice pick. Seeing Rami-Xayon falling with a scream toward the hungry ocean below, I lashed out with the chain end of the kusarigama. Her hand only just caught the chain before she would have been swallowed up by a massive wave.
“I don’t know if I can do it, Vance!” Rami-Xayon screamed over the shrieking wind, swinging on the end of the kusarigama chain like a pendulum weight. “I can’t concentrate hard enough with this hurricane raging like this!”
“You have to!” I yelled back. I clenched my jaw and contracted my muscles, using all my strength to swing her across to a section of rigging, onto which she could grab and hold tight. “Without the air from that reversed tornado, we’ll all drown!”
Another bolt of lightning smashed into the ocean next to us. A clap of thunder boomed so loudly that my head felt as if it had been split in half and left a shrill whine ringing in my ears. Whatever powers of weather control the Warlock of Yeng had possessed, Elandriel seemed to have not only mastered but doubled in potency.
“Hold tight!” I yelled to Rami-Xayon. “I’ll come to you.”
The ship pitched and lurched again, but this time I used the motion of the heaving deck to my advantage. I rolled down the steep slope of the deck, coming out of the roll with a spinning leap. I landed on the rigging and extended a hand to Rami-Xayon. Just as her fingers curled around mine a massive wave crashed over the deck, and if we hadn’t been holding onto the rigging, we would both have been swept overboard.
“Get to the main mast!” I yelled. “I’ll hold you safe there. You have to get that tornado conjured up. We’re running out of time!”
As if the ship itself was trying to emphasize this point, the timbers groaned ominously beneath us, and the mast began to bend. The warship was strong and well-built, but this vicious super-hurricane was pushing it to its limits. I didn’t think the vessel could take much more of this without being smashed to splinters, but I couldn’t get my kraken to drag it underwater until Rami-Xayon’s reverse tornado was sucking air in.
A huge wave launched the entire ship into the air, and for a few terrifying seconds, we were airborne. Then the ship came down with a booming crash and a mighty splash onto the slope of the back of the wave, only barely holding fast. The impact jarred us so hard that Rami-Xayon was flung out of the rigging. She hit the deck hard and rolled limply like a ragdoll, knocked unconscious. From somewhere deep below the decks came the dreaded sound of wood cracking and splintering.
One more incident like this would obliterate the ship.
“Shit,” I muttered. “This is not good!”
I dived off the rigging, somersaulted in mid-air, and landed on the deck. With the ship heaving and rolling, I picked up the unconscious Wind Goddess and used the chain of my kusarigama to lash us both to the mast. Then, gripping the kusarigama in one hand and the Dr
agon Sword in the other, I called up the powers of Death and Tree magic to fortify the ship. Tornado or not, I was going to send us under the waves. If I didn’t, the ship would be destroyed and we’d end up at the bottom of the ocean anyway.
“Rami-Xayon, wake up!” I roared into her ear as I brought up the glowing images of the skull and the tree. “Wake up, dammit, wake up!”
Her head lolled limply on her shoulders, and she showed no signs of any sort of response; she was still completely out cold. I growled out a wordless curse. The plan had seemed simple enough, but Elandriel’s hurricane had come on far faster and far more furiously than I’d anticipated. Now, he was on the verge of crushing me, but if I was going to end up meeting my end in the ocean depths, it was going to be on my terms, not his.
I pointed the Dragon Sword defiantly at the raging storm. “We’re going under, ready or not.”
Drawing on the brute strength of my tens of thousands of undead minions, I poured fortifying power into the creaking timbers of the warship. In the same way that I’d strengthened shields, armor, and weapons, the deck started to turn from rough, dull brown to shiny black. A smell wafted through the air, a stench that not even the howling hurricane winds could dissipate: the stink of grave rot. I grinned, despite the precariousness of my situation, for finally, my ship was no longer merely flying the flag of Death.
Now, it truly was a Death Ship.
My kraken had released the sleds pulling my troops across the ocean floor and was now swimming along under the ship. Shadowing the vessel, the sea monster was ready to wrap its arms around the ship and pull it under the water as soon as I gave the command. I would have to jump into the kraken’s consciousness and control it myself for this, because even with the ship now strengthened with my Death magic, the kraken’s tremendous strength could easily crush the ship to splinters.
