A Shaper's Birthright

by Karen MacRae

  Elona was glad she was already sitting. This man, and what a man, had managed the impossible. He’d made her melt. She almost purred.

  He was probably the reason she didn’t think of her glaring error until they’d been at sea for a day. Her shrieks woke the others from an afternoon nap on the quarter deck. She came charging out of the Captain’s cabin to find them without pausing to put on some clothes. The Captain appeared behind her, an amused smile on his face, the sword in his hand sufficient warning for all to avert their eyes from his latest paramour’s splendours. The crew tore their eyes away and got back to work as Elona screamed.

  “Leo! I told you about him. Why did none of us think of it until now?”

  “What are you talking about?” Mystrim asked when she’d calmed sufficiently to hear him.

  “The librarian. Leo. He knows what’s in every damn book!”

  “So?” asked Pyteor.

  A sulking Nijel twigged first. “We could have got him to write down what was in those two books,” he said quietly.

  CHAPTER 20

  A storm at sea

  H ew was painting a picture of a bleak existence. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all doom and gloom. The life’s hard, no doubt, but there’s a sense of community as strong as any you’ll come across, their evenings are full of music and laughter and there’s never a shortage of ale or local whiskey.”

  “What about peristone?” Anna asked. “Does anyone still work it?”

  “Maybe a few, but there’s not much call for it these days. I’ve only been there a couple of times, mind, and it was a long time ago. I’d only a few whiskers on my chin.”

  “You were only a babe when you were last there?” asked Lachlan with a perfectly straight face.

  “Barely walking,” Hew agreed with an equally straight face.

  The others laughed and the two Islanders grinned.

  “Beitris, can you remember anything about peristone from your time on the island?” Finn asked.

  “Little more than Hew’s already said. I remember my aunt wearing a necklace of the local stone, as she called it, and telling me a little about how it was made, but I don’t remember ever hearing anything about black or white stone. The only person I can think of who might know is Kendrick, if he’s still alive. He’d have to be in his nineties by now. He was the Stone Elder when I was there. As far as I could tell, they’re in charge, like a lord, judge and teacher all in one and the font of all things to do with Stone Craft, but how they know anything when the craft’s been almost dead for centuries, I don’t know.”

  “So, apart from a big range of rocky, barren hills that cover about three quarters of the place, the terrain is a mix of rock and bog and treacherous underfoot, it only stops raining to snow, there are more sheep than people, hardly any of whom speak Standard, and it’s unlikely that anyone will know much about peristone never mind black peristone even if they could,” Sy recapped.

  “Don’t forget that Vixen’s last message said Nystrieth’s spies left Leask for Ionantis last Secondday. That means they may already be on Shae along with whoever else they’ve recruited since Leask,” Finn added.

  “Ach, that’ll be just fine,” said Hew. “They can do the hard work and we can swoop in and nick the stones.”

  “And we’ll just happen across them on an island that’s nearly fifty miles wide?” asked Lachlan.

  “I can do without the sarcasm, you big buffoon. There’re only two settlements and they’re both in the south. The other lot won’t stray far from there unless they’re desperate. It would take weeks to trek round to every croft. There are dozens of the things.”

  Lachlan nodded, taking no offence at the insult. “Fair enough.”

  “For all we know, the island might be swimming in peristone beads,” Finn pointed out. “Our first job has to be getting the Stone Elder on our side so he or she can help persuade folk to give them up to be destroyed. If Mystrim and Elona beat us there, we have to stop them leaving the island. The only stone that leaves Shae leaves with us.”

  Nine serious, determined faces nodded, their auras firm and steady.

  “The Stone Elder used to live just outside Tuath, on the other side of the river from my aunt. If he’s still alive, he’ll be there or in town. It’s the best place to dock anyway. I doubt little Deas’ harbour is big enough for the Lealta.”

  “Sorry to interrupt, Beitris, but we need to get inside,” Spider said, nodding towards the four Element-gifted crew members who were dashing across the deck. “There’s a storm almost on us.”

  Before he’d finished the sentence, the sky darkened as a giant cloud blocked the sun. The team turned to look south. An enormous black front was heading straight towards them. Fast.

  “Get below and stay there!” shouted a passing sailor.

  “Everyone to the men’s cabin,” ordered Finn.

  Anna lingered in the doorway to watch the Element workers climb to a sturdy platform about a third of the way up the central mast then tie themselves to metal hoops so they couldn’t be blown overboard. The crew took down the sails then disappeared inside as soon as they were done. Only a few sailors remained, fastening themselves to thick ropes running the length of the ship. The wind was growing by the second. Anna found herself struggling to hold the door open and realised the stupidity of being on deck. She stepped inside and a gust of wind slammed the door closed, wrenching her fingers back and near taking off her nose. She grabbed for one of the rails that ran down the narrow ladder, but the ship reared, her foot slipped over the edge and she landed on her backside with a thump. The next wave took the ship sideways, crashing her hip and shoulder into the other rail. She clambered onto her belly and clutched both rails, feeling with her feet for a safe perch on the ladder. Just as she thought herself safe, the ship lurched, her feet slid off and she was hanging in space. She scrambled to find a rung. Feet finally back in place, she clung to the ladder, her bruises forgotten, too scared to move. Suddenly she felt an arm around her waist and she was being carried down. She felt her feet touch the floor and turned to thank her rescuer. He was already back at the top of the ladder, looking down on the girl who’d just been flung to the floor by another huge wave.

  “Stay below!” he yelled before disappearing into the storm.

  Feeling like a complete fool for not listening to Spider, Anna crawled her way along the passageway. By the time she reached the cabin, she was a mass of bruises. The others looked over as she fell through the doorway. “Don’t,” she shouted over the noise of the storm. “Just don’t.” Faces twitched then laughter rang out in the small space.

  Jimmy stuck out a trunk-like arm to give the Shaper a hand to the nearest bunk. She grabbed it gratefully, smiling her thanks.

  “I was about to send out a search party,” shouted Finn.

  “Sorry,” Anna apologised, blushing.

  Seleste saw white flare from the Shaper’s bunk a second later. “We need a bit of help over here too, Anna,” she called, looking distinctly green. “It seems bad weather doesn’t agree with some of us.”

  “I think I’m going to die,” groaned Malik, his purple aura rippling with puce green as he reached for a bucket to throw up into.

  “Best deal with the baby first,” joked Seleste although Anna could tell she was genuinely alarmed by the state of Malik’s aura.

  “How I love a sympathetic woman,” he groaned between retches.

  Anna’s attempt to get out of the bunk ended up with her being flung into the one opposite. Jimmy was not a soft landing. Like Sy, the big Ionantian was pure muscle. He shifted Anna off his lap and onto her own patch of bunk then stood up, wedging one foot against the bunk Anna had come from and one foot against his own.

  “Gonna need your help here, Sy,” he called. He waited until Sy had copied his stance then leaned into his bunk and picked the Shaper up, holding her with both arms in front of him, her legs dangling. He passed her across to Sy like a parcel then Sy swung her around to Malik’s bunk.<
br />
  “Thank you, I think,” Anna said with a laugh, setting about Healing Malik of his seasickness.

  “I’d love to see you try that with Beitris,” laughed Hew.

  “Don’t mock an afflicted woman,” the guard groaned into her bucket. “Especially not when it’s her job to stop you from getting a sword in the back.”

  “Ach, you know I love you, B. Wouldn’t have you any other shape or size.”

  “Let me know if you want him turned into a frog, Beitris. I’m dying to try it on someone.”

  “Anna!” exclaimed Hew, dramatically clutching at his heart as if the Shaper had just stabbed him. “After all we’ve been through?”

  Anna laughed with the others then shuffled over to Heal Beitris, the last patient. She was just Healing her nausea when the Lealta seemed to go almost vertical and everyone and everything went tumbling. All three lanterns went crashing to the floor, the safety water in the bottom snuffing the flames and plunging the cabin into darkness. The stench of vomit filled the room as used buckets hit the end wall.

  “Everyone all right?” shouted Finn, getting himself back upright on his bunk.

  “Now I know why they have end panels on these bunks. They could have made them a bit softer, mind,” replied Spider, rubbing a bruised shoulder.

  Hew was investigating the lantern that had fallen on his head. “The wick’s completely sodden. We’ll have to open the shutters to see anything.”

  “No one’s opening a shutter. Captain Alexander’s orders,” Finn shouted. “Everyone stay put and make sure you’re safe.”

  “Oh, light, it’s back,” groaned Beitris.

  Anna, sitting right next to the guard, immediately bathed her whole body in white light in the hope it might ease her nausea. “Anyone got a bucket?” she shouted anxiously.

  “You kidding?” yelled Spider. “I don’t even know where up is.”

  “It’s all right, Anna. Whatever you did helped a bit. Ugh, maybe not. Oh, light,” Beitris moaned. Anna sent a steady stream of white energy into the guard’s aura as she tried to remember exactly where the source of her sickness was located. It was no good.

  “I’ll keep this up as long as I can, Beitris, but I can’t add a block in the dark. I’m sorry.”

  “Can’t you try, please? Unless my leg’s going to fall off or something like that, please, just go for it.”

  Anna thought about where everyone else’s sickness had originated. All had been near the ears, but not quite in the same place. If she imagined them all overlapping, they covered an area about an inch and a half across. There was no guarantee Beitris’ own motion sensors lay within the same area, but it was a reasonable assumption. She put her hands out to find Beitris’ ears and wove a simple block of white energy near them as quickly as she could, before the next wave hit the ship.

  “How are you?” she asked the guard. There was no response. She realised in horror she’d made Beitris deaf. She reached for her ears only to have her hands slapped away. It seemed Beitris was happy to be temporarily deaf as long as she was also feeling better.

  “How’s it going?” shouted Finn.

  “I made it too big,” Anna confessed. “She’s deaf, but she doesn’t want me to take the block off. She just slapped my hands away and I can’t do it in the dark without knowing where her ears are.”

  “As long as you can fix it later, Anna, leave her be. I’d have traded my hearing for these blocks you did any day.”

  The team settled as best they could to wait out the storm. An hour or so later, the cabin door burst in to reveal a dripping silhouette. “The Shaper’s needed on deck, Captain Alexander’s orders.”

  “The Shaper’s not going anywhere,” Finn shouted.

  “He said to tell you that we’re none of us going to make it unless she gets her tiny backside up the ladder pronto. Heath and Milgrim are both down hurt, the other two are fading and the Healer went overboard trying to get to them. She’s all we’ve got.”

  “Jimmy, Sy, on Anna. Keep her, and yourselves, safe.”

  The sailor saw the two huge men stand up and shook his head. “Our harnesses won’t fit the big guys and none of you know what you’re doing up there. She’ll be safe with me.”

  Finn didn’t like it but didn’t see he had a choice. “Be careful, Anna. Do exactly what you’re told.”

  Sy and Jimmy repeated their earlier trick to transport Anna safely to the door. The sailor grabbed her just as she was about to fall. “My name’s Brodie, Miss Northcott. Best if you get on my back and hold on tight. I need my arms.”

  The sailor retraced Anna’s earlier route with relative ease. He put her down outside the door to the deck and helped her into a leather contraption with two metal rings on the ends of long, thick leather thongs. “The rings attach to the ship’s safety ropes. Never ever take the harness off or remove a ring from its rope without having another already attached. It’s a death sentence,” he shouted over the wind that screamed just outside the door. He looked at the tiny woman and shook his head. The storm would have her off her feet in moments. “When I squeeze your arm, jump down and crouch as low as you can. We’re going to have to change ropes so it’s going to happen twice. It’s your job to make yourself as small as possible and hold onto the railings for dear life. You understand?”

  Anna nodded, terrified.

  Brodie took pity on her. “Just do as I say and everything will be fine. Ready?”

  His aura was tense and exhilarated, but completely honest and resolute. If anyone could keep her safe out there, he could. She nodded. She was as ready as she’d ever be.

  He crouched down with his back to her and she jumped on. He opened the door and the wind near blew her off. She buried her face in his neck and held on tightly as he leaned into the wind. The first stop was only five feet away, but every step was a battle. Anna raised her head a fraction to look and wished she hadn’t. Torrential rain was blowing horizontally from the stern and waves were crashing over the sides and the bow. Water sloshed across the deck, pouring out through the railings. Ahead was what looked like a wall of water.

  She closed her eyes and ducked her head back down until she felt a squeeze on her arm. She jumped off and wrapped her arms around the railings, holding on with all her strength. She could feel the wind trying to pry her off.

  As soon as the sailor had secured their rings, he crouched before her and she clambered back on. The wind blew them almost to the middle of the deck in seconds but then a huge wave crashed over the side, knocking the sailor from his feet and Anna flying. She felt her arm crack as it hit the deck. The Lealta pitched towards starboard and the water rolled over them as white light flared from the sodden Shaper.

  The sailor scrambled over to the girl and helped her up only for the wind to lift her like a kite. He pulled her into his chest like a babe and forced his way back to the rope that ran to the main mast. He squeezed the Shaper’s arm when he got there and dropped her by the railing.

  Anna’s imperfectly Healed arm was slow to respond and a wave slammed into her before she’d got herself properly secured. She went flying away from the railings, but the harness’ leather rope snapped tight, jolting her to a stop. Winded, she opened her mouth to suck in air only to find her mouth full of sea water. She spat it out and fought the wind that pinned her to the deck. She had to get her head above water.

  Brodie connected his second ring then let go of the rope so the wind blew him to her. His leather snapped tight and he fell to his knees beside her. “Get on!” he shouted, pulling her up. As soon as she was on his back, he battled his way upright and then to the shelter of the mast.

  Anna was amazed by the man’s strength and determination.

  “You need to climb,” he yelled.

  Anna looked up at the rope ladder. She knew full well she’d never make it. Even if she could trust her bad arm, she wasn’t strong enough to make it up there in this wind. “I’m going to need help,” she shouted.

  “Give me a minute to
get my breath.”

  Anna gave herself a mental slap for not noticing the man’s fatigue. She put her hand on his arm, pulled clean energy from her dagger and filled the sailor’s aura with it. He gave her a startled look then a grin. “Ready?” he asked.

  They made it to the platform just in time. Two were down and the other two weren’t far behind. Anna gave the conscious men a boost of energy then crawled from one patient to the next. Both had nasty head injuries. They’d lost a lot of blood and their auras were barely there.

  Brodie looked at the Shaper in awe as he saw the wounds Heal and the two men begin to regain colour in their cheeks. He’d have sworn they were past saving. Even if the ship’s Healer had managed to save them, they’d have needed days of rest, but the two got up to resume their job as if nothing had happened.

  “Can I help?” he shouted as the Shaper slumped to the platform floor.

  “No, it’s just a headache. I’ll be fine in a second.”

  Brodie didn’t see the white flash, but the pain left her face. “I’ll take you back.”

  “No, I’ll stay. They might need me again and I don’t want to go down there only to have to come back.”

  The sailor nodded and disappeared off into the storm.

  Anna sat on the platform for another sixteen hours, occasionally boosting energy levels and watching in absolute admiration as the team of four Element-gifted worked with the two Navigators strapped to the helm.

  They were pretty impressed with her too. Without her, they’d all be dead.

  CHAPTER 21

  Shae

  A nna had been asleep less than an hour when she heard Spider calling to her from the deck. She picked her way over the platform’s sleeping crew and looked down.

  “Blue can’t get up. Quick!”

  Anna forgot her exhaustion and flew down the rope ladder to sprint after Spider to the livestock area. Blue was in the third cubicle. Collapsed onto his chest, his legs under him, his fabulous emerald green aura was twisted in terrible pain. A huge swirl of black covered his hips and disappeared under his body.