by Davis Ashura
“We’ll head south,” Serena said. “Bring the sail to port.”
Blue Sky swung about toward Sinskrill.
Demolition tacked with them, keeping pace to starboard.
As soon as they re-entered Sinskrill’s saha’asra, William knew it. Blue Sky’s sail snapped and the dhow leapt like a horse straining at its bit. More importantly, his senses heightened and his fatigue faded away. He sourced his Spirit, ready to drain the lorasra in front of Demolition when Serena waved a hand in warning.
“Not yet!” she shouted. “Wait. I want them to hit the dead zone absolutely square.”
William studied Demolition. Mahavans crowded the bow. Shouts, taunts, and threats carried across the rapidly closing space between the two vessels. Bowmen stepped forward.
He glanced at Serena in worry. When would she give the signal?
He turned back to Demolition, and his eyes widened. “Incoming,” he shouted as a volley of arrows whistled toward them.
Jake shrugged them off with a pulse of air.
The distance between the two vessels closed to no more than thirty feet. Lances of fire reached out from Demolition. They roared like wide-open incinerators.
“Now!” Serena shouted.
William hit the Servitor’s ship from starboard while Jake took port. They drained the lorasra along Demolition’s leading edge, extending it like an unfurling carpet.
The Servitor’s ship shuddered to a halt. The lances of fires wisped away. Shouts of confusion came from the mahavans on its deck. A mad scramble took place as mahavans raced about to trim their sails. The Servitor, visible on Demolition’s bow, glared murder at them.
His outrage grew when Serena hit his ship with a funnel of air and Demolition’s sails luffed. To add insult to injury, she also sent a torrent of fire at the Servitor’s ship. Riders put out the flames but not before she burned a huge hole in the mainsail.
Adam Paradiso—Serena’s Isha—and Fiona moved to stand beside the Servitor. “You will not escape!” the ruler of Sinskrill shouted while the old raha’asra gave William the barest of smiles before she schooled her features to stillness.
William flipped everyone on Demolition the bird.
Blue Sky Dreams pulled ahead, and they gained desperately needed yards.
“They’ll be back,” Serena warned.
“And we’ll be ready,” William countered.
The Servitor’s ship drifted to a full stop, and it took them precious time to get back to full speed. Minutes later Demolition picked up the chase again, but William and Jake continued draining lorasra along the other ship’s path. Demolition would run with full sails, close the distance for a time, then sputter to a halt without warning.
Jake’s face reddened, taxed by continually sourcing his lorethasra. William felt the burden as well, and his heart pounded.
“Save your strength,” Serena advised. “We’ve got a bit of a lead on them now. We’ll try that trick again the next time they pull close.”
William nodded, and kept his eye on the Servitor’s ship, willing it to slow on its own. Or better yet, capsize and sink.
“I see another boat!” Selene called.
William stared to where the little girl pointed. In the distance a ship raced toward them, blue-hulled, built for speed, and obviously modern.
“It’s Mr. Zeus,” William crowed. “It’s got to be.” He searched for Demolition and quailed. Once again, the Servitor’s vessel had closed on them.
He drained lorasra before the other ship’s path, but this time it bulled through, not slowing at all. He gasped in consternation.
“Fiona,” Jake snarled. “It’s her. She’s doing it.”
“Doing what?” Serena demanded.
“She’s pulling lorasra and filling the places we empty.”
William twisted about, staring forward to Mr. Zeus’ boat. So close, but so was Demolition. It quickly became apparent that the Servitor’s ship would reach them first.
They needed more wind, but Serena and Jake were already giving all they had.
William stood by feeling useless.
Damn it! They couldn’t go down like this!
William sourced his lorethasra, teeth clenched in determination. This time it would work. It had to. He separated the Elements and took a deep breath. Now came the hard part. His heart pounded as he slowly, carefully linked the Elements of his lorethasra to the corresponding ones in lorasra.
The construction trembled, threatening to fall apart. William stiffened, praying for it to hold. The connections steadied, grew firmer. He took a tremulous breath, smiling at his success.
“Hold on,” he advised the others.
To increase their speed he had to increase airflow against their sail but also decrease the boat’s friction as it passed over the water. William created a braid of Earth and reached for the hull and keel. He smoothed the flow of water against both, making it less turbulent.
Blue Sky’s speed increased. She skipped over the waves.
“Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it,” Serena encouraged.
Now for the sail. William concentrated, pushing more air against the lateen sail. It creaked, straining against its stays.
The dhow accelerated. The wind whined as the hull thudded against waves. They began pulling away from Demolition.
Lights flashed on Mr. Zeus’ boat.
“It looks like Morse code,” Jake said. He quirked a grin. “Thank God for Boy Scouts.” His eyes narrowed with concentration. “North,” he translated. “They want us to go north.”
“You sure?” Serena asked.
“Positive,” Jake said.
“All right,” Serena said. “Then ease the sail to full out.”
William went to trim the sails, but Serena called him back.
“Not you. Your job is to keep us running fast. Jake can handle the sail.”
“Use my nomasra if you have to,” Jake said, passing William his white, marble stone.
“You can have mine, too,” Selene said, handing William her stone.
“I need mine to pilot the boat,” Serena said with a regretful shrug.
William clenched his fists about Jake’s and Selene’s nomasras. “I’ll get us out of here.”
The moment they passed out of Sinskrill’s saha’asra, he felt it. His senses deadened, a lethargy settled on his thoughts, an uncomfortable weight dragged at him, and Blue Sky slowed.
William grimaced.
Jake and Selene both paled, looking sickly.
“You going to be right?” William asked.
“Get us to Mr. Zeus’ ship, and I’ll be right as rain,” Jake said.
Selene gave him a thumbs-up.
William grinned at her, before focusing on connecting his Elements to the lorasra contained in the nomasras. It took what felt like ages to figure it out, but when he did Blue Sky regained her lost speed. The axe-like prow cleaved the water, the wind keened, and saltwater sprayed in their wake.
William shifted his gaze from Mr. Zeus’ sleek yacht to the Servitor’s ship.
“I think we’re going to—” Jake began.
“Don’t jinx it,” William cut him off.
They had a good lead on the Demolition, but once they reached Mr. Zeus’ yacht, they’d have to transfer over. Who knew how long that would take?
As the minutes passed, Blue Sky extended her lead over Demolition. The Servitor’s ship had fallen more than a half-mile back.
“Come on,” Jake urged.
Mr. Zeus’ boat had already swung about to match their course, and Serena had Jake trim the sail again. They pulled along the starboard bow of the yacht.
William waved when he saw Jason, Mr. Zeus, and Daniel, all of whom were grinning.
“Closer!” Mr. Zeus shouted. “I need you inside thirty feet.”
“Pull the sail close in,” Serena ordered.
Blue Sky slowed.
William glanced at Demolition charging at them. “Hurry!”
Clear pu
lses distorted Mr. Zeus’ arms. He made a lifting gesture and separate weaves of air, like cold, spongy baskets, lifted William and Jake. They floated over the water to Mr. Zeus’ boat and landed on the deck.
Both of them laughed in ecstatic relief. Until this moment, William hadn’t truly believed he’d ever be free of Sinskrill.
“What about those two?” Mr. Zeus asked, pointing to Selene and Serena.
“Bring them,” William said without hesitation.
“Make it quick,” an unknown man urged Mr. Zeus before quirking a grin at William. “I’m Julius, by the way.”
Demolition closed, no more than a hundred yards away.
William sourced his lorethasra. There was no way he was ever going back. He passed Jake a nomasra.
Serena and Selene landed on the yacht.
“Go!” Mr. Zeus shouted.
The yacht’s engine rumbled to life. Daniel and Julius pulled in air and filled the boat’s sails. They punched forward.
Demolition raced after them, closing the gap. “Prepare to board them!” the Servitor shouted.
“Down!” Rukh shouted.
William did a double take. Rukh and Jessira? What the hell were they doing here?
Arrows arched toward them.
A swirling wind from Mr. Zeus and Serena sent the volley astray.
Lines of yellow fire, hot enough to haze the air, erupted from the mahavans and toward their yacht.
William snarled. Enough. No more running. He formed a susurrating braid of water and set it loose. From the sea exploded a cyclone. The throbbing lances of yellow fire snuffed out.
More.
William created a braid like the one Mr. Zeus and Serena used against the arrows. Walkers tried to stop him. William pushed aside their efforts, using his braid of air to smash theirs aside. The way to Demolition’s sails stood open. William flayed them.
Demolition slowed.
“You will not escape me,” the Servitor cried out. A conflagration exploded from his hands. It blasted into the yacht’s mast, tearing it into splinters.
William gaped in shock.
Rukh pushed him aside, out of the way of burning spars of wood.
Pulses of air rippled across the Servitor’s chest. He extended his arms and the yacht lurched to a halt.
William lost his footing. He fell to the deck. Selene screamed.
“The bastard’s holding us,” Jason said. The yacht’s engine whined, and he throttled down.
William studied the thick braid against which the yacht strained. He sent out a tendril of rustling earth, seeking to weaken the weave of air holding them in place. He might as well have tried to chew steel.
Demolition inched forward on momentum alone. She closed to within twenty feet of the unmoving yacht.
“Whoever you are, you’re trespassing,” the Servitor shouted at Mr. Zeus. “You’ve also stolen my property, and I demand you return it.”
“I don’t recognize your authority, and I don’t recognize your claim of ownership.”
The Servitor smirked. “Your recognition is immaterial. I rule Sinskrill, and before this hour is ended, you will kneel at my feet.” His hands glowed. “Or I can simply immolate the lot of you where you stand.”
“I thought Lord Shet ruled all,” Serena shouted in defiance. “You’re nothing more than his puffed-up servant.”
The Servitor reddened. “Daughter you may be, but be silent or I will forget our familial bonds and slay you where you stand.”
“My family is with me,” Serena said, putting her hand on Selene’s shoulder. “She’s all the family I’ve ever needed.”
“Foolish girl,” the Servitor replied in a cold voice. He flicked a glowing finger in their direction. Arrows thrummed.
Rukh and Jessira’s swords blurred, and five arrows fell broken to the yacht’s deck.
William’s jaw dropped. He hadn’t even seen them unsheathe their weapons.
Rukh offered the Servitor a smile as cold as the older man’s words. “You see. We are not such easy meat.” He stood relaxed and confident, but in that pose, he and Jessira reminded William of hungry predators unexpectedly met in the wild.
He inched away from them.
“There is no need for bloodshed,” Mr. Zeus said. “Let us sail away in peace, and your people and mine will both live to see another day.”
“No,” the Servitor disagreed. “I will not allow you to sail away with my two raha’asras, both my daughters, and Sinskrill’s location.”
“You’ll never see us again,” Mr. Zeus promised.
“On that, you are correct,” the Servitor agreed.
Rukh and Jessira stepped toward the stern, toward Demolition. They held bows.
William didn’t know what they intended. Braids of air would easily stop their arrows.
Rukh and Jessira’s hands blurred. A scream split the air. An arrow sprouted from a mahavan’s calf. Another appeared in another mahavan’s arm. Another scream. Three more mahavans went down.
The air tying the yacht in place frayed. William reached out with a braid of earth mixed with fire. He burned at the weave of air holding them. It snapped apart with a crack.
The yacht shuddered forward.
“No!” the Servitor shouted. Pulses of air traveled down his arms and chest. He obviously intended to recapture their vessel.
Jason gunned the engine.
William shot a stream of fire at the Servitor, hoping to distract him.
Jake and Serena joined him. They sent out bolts of air, hammering at the Servitor. Daniel and Julius snapped with whips of water.
The Servitor shrugged aside their attacks. His mahavans sent out bolts of fire.
Mr. Zeus used air and water to blunt their attacks. Fires broke out on the yacht. Daniel and Julius quickly put them out with streams of water. Jason sent lightning coursing at the Servitor’s ship.
Serena’s Isha held up a fisted hand. The lightning crackled around Demolition, but passed the ship by on either side.
William attacked with fists of air, surges of fire, walls of water thrown up from the Norwegian Sea, and even tendrils of earth meant to tear apart Demolition’s planks.
Adam thrust his hands forward. A braid of Spirit, Fire, and Air whipped out.
William’s breath went out. He collapsed and screamed. His blood felt like it had caught fire. It boiled in his veins and arteries. The same punishment Fiona had often administered early in their time on Sinskrill. Vaguely he noticed the others crumpled in pain as well.
The yacht shuddered again. It halted and slowly Demolition drew closer once again.
William gritted his teeth. He wouldn’t be taken again. He fought against the pain. Inch by inch, he rolled himself over. He bore down and got to his knees. Up to his feet. He pulled in air and earth and cut Adam’s weave in half. The pain receded. William stood on unsteady legs but managed a grin. He gestured Adam on. “Is that all you got?”
The others stood alongside him, looking shaken.
William’s breathing came easier. He sourced all the water he could, connected it with his fading nomasra. He sent a storm surge at Demolition.
Walkers frantically tried to blunt his attack.
The air rumbled with lances of fire. Bolts of air crisscrossed the short distance between the two ships. Tendrils of water tore at Demolition’s planking or sought to sink the yacht.
The stench of sulfur and a glacial chill filled the air.
Rukh hurled a ball of fire. It punched through the Servitor’s defenses, and he screamed. As one, the mahavans seemed to gasp, as their ruler disappeared from view.
Jason gunned the engine again, and the yacht pulled ahead. Dozens of yards opened up between the vessels.
The Servitor pushed to the fore of Demolition. Fire coursed down his arms. With a shout, he sent a ball of white-hot fire at them. It roared like a furnace and shimmered with heat haze.
William drained his nomasra. If the fire hit, the yacht would go up in flames. He aimed a strea
m of water. It struck the Servitor’s fire. Steam exploded. Thunder rumbled from the impact. More sulfur stench. The fire dissipated but continued to push forward. Daniel and Julius joined him. They added their braids of water. So did the others. More water hit the fire.
With a grunt of triumph heard over the intervening distance, the Servitor punched through. His flame had cooled considerably, a muted red now.
William gripped the gunwale. The fire was going to hit.
Something glowed like a dull green web around Rukh. It spread, enveloping the stern of the yacht.
The fire impacted against the webbing and dissipated harmlessly in a shower of sparks.
The yacht pulled farther away, and Demolition grew small in the distance.
For a time, no one said anything.
“Are we free?” Selene asked from the hatch where she’d taken cover down below.
Her question seemed to spark jubilation.
William whooped in victory and shared hugs with everyone he could lay hands on.
REUNIONS AND NEW CHALLENGES
July 1987
* * *
After sharing several rounds of hugs with Jason, Daniel, and Mr. Zeus, William settled down to tell them everything he and Jake had lived through. While he did so, they worked to sort out the wreckage of the mainmast and repair what damage they could from the battle against the mahavans. Jake piped up every now and then, clarifying some point.
“I can’t believe you survived such a shitty place,” said Julius. He was a Jamaican immigrant to Arylyn.
“We wouldn’t have made it if it hadn’t been for Travail,” Jake said. “We’d have died without him.”
“There were a couple other people who ended up saving our asses,” William added. “Fiona for one, and even the two of us. We saved each other.”
Jake gave him a playful shove. “You turned out all right, Wilted.”
“Yeah, but you’re still a jackass, Jake,” William answered.
Jake’s mouth dropped. “Wait! Is that what you guys used to call me? Jake the Jackass?”
Jason laughed. “No.”
Jake relaxed.
“We called you that Jackass Jake.” Daniel laughed.
“And if we were really mad at you, we called you that Sumabitch Jackass Jake,” Jason added.
