The stone champions paused, their empty gazes focused downward. Then, as one, they raised the weapons that the artisans had carved for them in salute. As if the marvels he had witnessed had not been sufficient, Aryx gaped as each and every unliving champion roared out a victory cry, followed by the name of him they saluted.
The name “Sargonnas” echoed throughout the Great Circus.…
CHAOS WAR SERIES
The Doom Brigade
Margaret Weis and Don Perrin
The Last Thane
Douglas Niles
Tears of the Night Sky
Linda P. Baker and Nancy Varian Berberick
The Puppet King
Douglas Niles
Reavers of the Blood Sea
Richard A. Knaak
REAVERS OF THE BLOOD SEA
©1999 Wizards of the Coast LLC
All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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Published by Wizards of the Coast LLC. Hasbro SA, represented by Hasbro Europe, Stockley Park, UB11 1AZ. UK.
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All Wizards of the Coast characters and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast LLC.
Cover art by: Jeff Easley
eISBN: 978-0-7869-6291-4
640-A1136000-001-EN
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www.DungeonsandDragons.com
v3.1
To my family, both near and far, including
that very young new author,
my nephew Alex.
Contents
Cover
Other Books in the Series
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Map
Chapter One - Adrift in the Blood Sea
Chapter Two - Dread Companions
Chapter Three - Nethosak
Chapter Four - The Temple of Sargonnas
Chapter Five - The House of Orilg
Chapter Six - The Encroaching Darkness
Chapter Seven - The Storm
Chapter Eight - Storm Over Nethosak
Chapter Nine - Warriors of the Deep
Chapter Ten - An Eye for an Eye
Chapter Eleven - Fragile Alliances
Chapter Twelve - Armageddon
Chapter Thirteen - Secrets
Chapter Fourteen - The Kazelati
Chapter Fifteen - The Maelstrom
Chapter Sixteen - Sword’s Betrayal
Chapter Seventeen - The Coils of Chaos
Chapter Eighteen - The Final Sacrifice
Chapter Nineteen - Aftermath
About the Author
Adrift in the Blood Sea
Chapter One
Even though he was barely conscious, Aryx could not help but think how aptly named the Blood Sea was at this moment. The life fluids of his companions had already been spilled into the sea, and soon his own would join theirs, darkening the waters further and no doubt attracting still more hungry denizens of the deep. The minotaur did not fear death at the hands of such creatures, but he wished he could go down fighting, not floating helplessly like some damned gift to the sea goddess Zeboim’s pets.
Waves rocked the dusky gray minotaur about like a rag doll. Fog—the same cursed fog that had led to the slaughter aboard the Kraken’s Eye—cut off all but the faintest light of the pale white moon. None of the constellations, not even those of the gods Sargas or Kiri-Jolith, were visible. In Aryx’s jumbled mind, that could only mean that the gods themselves had turned against him.
As he coughed up seawater, flashes of memory returned to haunt Aryx. The screams, the fighting, the flames, the dying, and the fog-enshrouded monstrosities swarming over the ship, dragging what remained of his companions under the surface of the sea after they had finished with their butchery. Brave though the minotaur crew had been, they had stood no chance against their attackers.
Aryx was almost willing to drown rather than recall the images, but in the end, he could do nothing. They swarmed through his mind, and once more the wounded minotaur lived the final minutes of the condemned ship.
* * * * *
“Damn this fog! Where could it have sprung from?” Graying Jasi stalked the deck of her beloved Kraken’s Eye, glaring at the thick mist that blanketed everything. She sniffed. “And what’s that peculiar scent? Like something musky …” Torches provided some light aboard the ship, but they barely penetrated the dense haze. Most of the minotaurs clustered together so they could see one another.
During her years as a captain, Jasi had sailed over much of Krynn, overcoming countless dangers. That she now showed such anxiety over this thick fog greatly disturbed her crew, who respected both her skills and her experience.
“Maybe her sea majesty’s displeased with something,” the first mate, a black male, muttered. Hugar had sailed with Jasi for more than half the captain’s career, and together they had raised three children, one of them now a captain himself. Shorter than many minotaurs, Hugar made up for his lack of height with strength so great that at one time he had been a top contender in the arenas. However, knowing that the arena would keep him separated from his beloved Jasi, he had abandoned the competitions, preferring to be at her side on the high seas. “Maybe it’s us she’s angry with.”
Jasi shook her head. “No, this doesn’t feel like one of Zeboim’s moods. This is … different.”
The two dozen members of the ship’s crew, including Aryx, listened intently. This was his first voyage on the Kraken’s Eye, a proud old twin-masted vessel, although it was his fifth year as a ranked crewman. Both in the arena and aboard two previous minotaur vessels, Aryx had proven his worth. Many other captains had offered him positions. Many of his tutors had predicted that even if he did not rise high in the arena, he would command his own vessel some day soon. He had chosen the Kraken’s Eye with a future command in mind, knowing he could learn much from its mistress. In fact, in the thirteen months since they had sailed from home, the young minotaur had gained more experience and knowledge than he had during all his previous voyages.
Slimmer than most, Aryx compensated for his relatively slight build by being quicker, more determined than most other minotaurs. He had a good eye and a swift hand with both axe and sword. His features were more angular than usual, but among the minotaurs, this made him a bit exotic. Narrow of snout and with attentive, deep brown eyes, Aryx had never lacked for female companionship, even if none of those relationships had lasted very long. Too often he found himself anxious to return to the sea to visit new lands. While this wanderlust was common among his kind, in him it had become almost an obsession. Even his family was hard-pressed to understand Aryx’s desires at times.
A slight bumping sound against the ship set his senses on edge, but after seeing no reaction from any of his cre
w mates, Aryx tried to settle down again. Although he lacked Jasi’s experience, he, too, felt something was amiss with this strange weather. Perhaps the dead calm that accompanied the infernal fog had something to do with it. The fog seemed to push in on them, as if it had some dire purpose in mind. Worse, the thicker the fog became, the stronger the musky odor grew. The smell had begun to give Aryx a headache.
Trust in the gods to interfere in your life any way they can. He thought of the ancient family motto, somewhat mangled through the centuries. It was said to have been first mouthed by one of the most famous of Aryx’s ancestors. Of the clan Orilg by blood, Aryx could claim direct descent from the legendary renegade Kaziganthi, known also as Kaz of the Axe and Kaz Dragonslayer. In truth, his lineage had both served and worked against him, but in the end, he had always felt stronger because of his birthright.
Once again he heard a slight thumping sound, as if something hard had bumped against the ship. Aryx wanted to go to the rail to see what it might be, but Captain Jasi chose that moment to break the silence.
“Well, we’ll never make port if we don’t get moving!” Jasi drew herself up, looking every inch the able sailor and commander she was. “If the sails have failed us, then we’ll just have to row back.” Like many minotaur vessels, the Kraken’s Eye had been designed for both wind and calm. If nothing else, minotaurs always knew that they could rely on their strength. “Gods or no gods, we’re headed home!”
Hugar took the cue. “All right, all of you! Man the oars! It’s time to earn your pay! Get moving!”
No one questioned how the captain intended to navigate through the thick haze. Jasi seemed to have a sixth sense about the location of Mithas, or so Aryx had been told. One of the elder crew members had regaled him with stories of the captain finding her way home from halfway around the world even though storms and hostile natives plagued her ship nearly the entire journey. From what little he already knew of her, the young minotaur believed those stories.
The moment Hugar began barking his orders, the crew started to their posts. Everyone save those needed on deck would take to the oars, including Aryx.
No sooner had he taken a step toward the hold, however, than the Kraken’s Eye began to rock back and forth violently as if it were being slapped around by some great pair of invisible hands. Several crew members lost their footing, and one tumbled into the bowels of the ship. Jasi barely kept her balance. Only the handrail prevented her mate from falling overboard. The fog quickly intensified to the point where Aryx could barely see the minotaur next to him.
“By the horns of Sargas, what’s happening?” one of the crew called out. Everyone gathered on deck, trying his best to maintain his balance.
“Have we run aground?” someone asked. “Can’t see anything in this blasted mist!”
“This is no natural mist,” another sailor muttered.
“Belay that talk!” the captain, barely a shadow, roared.
Hugar had made his way back to Jasi, his concern more for her than the thick fog. One of the other minotaurs, a brawny male called Hercal, cautiously made his way to the side and peered down into the murky sea. Aryx had to squint to make out the outline of the muscular sailor’s form.
“Can’t see a cursed thing,” Hercal muttered. Aryx thought he saw the vague shape of the sailor stiffen. “What by the wrath of the Sea Queen is—”
He never had the chance to finish. As Aryx stared, wide-eyed, a long shadow thrust itself up through the other minotaur’s back, then just as quickly sank back out of sight.
Hercal rolled backward onto the deck, at last coming into sight. A gaping hole in his chest spouted crimson, and the minotaur’s eyes stared sightlessly up to the hidden heavens. Underneath him, more blood pooled.
The nightmares began swarming over every rail.
Aryx had faced elves, dwarves, and draconians in combat, and none of those races had ever sent so much as the slightest chill of fear through him. Yet now, staring at the vague, horrific shapes climbing onto the Kraken’s Eye, he felt such foreboding that he could only watch at first, doing nothing to repel the monstrous boarders.
Tall they were, at least half a foot taller than the-largest of the crew. These creatures were no minotaurs. Aryx made out shells that seemed to encompass their entire forms, almost giving the appearance of huge lobsters standing upright. Instead of heads, the creatures had knoblike growths where the eyes should be and long, impossibly flexible snouts. The young minotaur knew immediately that nothing like these invaders had ever been reported in the annals of his people’s history.
Then one of the horrors raised a wicked, curved weapon, much like a sword-length scythe, with angled and edged teeth, and sliced down the nearest crew member.
The brutal act broke the spell over the rest of the crew. Captain Jasi drew a massive broadsword from her back harness. Hugar, proficient with an axe, appeared at her side, already swinging his heavy weapon down on the nearest of the monstrous invaders. Aryx reached for his own axe, his every thought consumed by the upcoming battle.
Hugar’s axe struck the creature’s dark armor, bouncing off harmlessly. Jasi barely deflected a multibarbed lance with three heads that threatened to skewer her mate. Then she brought the blade up from underneath, striking not the armored hide, but the general area where the face and possibly throat should have been. The blade buried itself in the murky invader. The fog-enshrouded monster hissed horribly, and then a fount of bright, yellowish liquid splattered both the captain and the first mate.
“Sargas take me!” Jasi cried. “Their blood burns!”
Her warning came too late for one minotaur. Cutting an arc with her battle-axe, the female crew member had nearly severed the squat head of her foe, only to have a shower of acidic fluid drench her face. She dropped her weapon and cried out, the monster’s blood having burned her eyes and much of her snout. Before anyone could come to her aid, a second attacker impaled her, twisting the barbed tip of its lance into her midsection. The dead minotaur vanished into the fog, dragged away on the head of the lance.
“Form a square!” Jasi called. The crew tried to obey, but their monstrous adversaries had already moved to cut them off from each other, leaving the minotaurs to fight in small pockets or, worse, by themselves. These were no simple beasts they faced, Aryx realized, but trained warriors.
Another behemoth sought to slice Aryx in half, but he ducked back, receiving a stinging but shallow cut across his midsection. He brought the axe around and managed to sever a three-digited, clawed hand from his shadowy adversary. The attacker emitted a hissing shriek that hurt Aryx’s ears, then tried again to cut him down. This time, however, the minotaur took advantage of the creature’s slowed reflexes, deflecting the blow and countering with a deadly strike of his own at the horror’s unprotected throat.
When the shower of acid came, he had already moved aside to face a second foe. Aryx beat back the barbed lance but could not break his new adversary’s defenses. Another of the armored monsters joined the fray, pressing him back. Now facing both lance and scythelike sword, Aryx found his skills with the axe wanting. The armored creatures fought with styles that differed greatly from what he was familiar with. All around him, he saw that the rest of his companions were in similar straits, facing both unfamiliar styles and opposing numbers that continued to grow. Wave after wave of armored terror clambered over the rails, their collective fury focused on the small group trapped on the deck.
At last the monsters’ superior numbers exacted their toll. Belac, an elder sailor who had taught Aryx some tricks with the axe, fell, pinned to the deck by three lances in his torso. Krym, on his first voyage aboard the Kraken’s Eye, called out for help from Aryx just before a scythe-bladed sword decapitated him. Somewhere deep in the fog, Aryx heard another crew member scream, a scream cut mercifully short.
The battle turned into a slaughter. For every watery invader the crew killed, three more took its place. Aryx downed one of his attackers, receiving a stinging shower
of acid across his chest, then stumbled away as the other sought to spit him on its lance. He whirled around just in time to witness Hugar fall to his knees, the first mate’s axe—and his arm—lying in a bloody pool beside him. A scythe sword came down, cutting a swath through Hugar’s chest. With a mournful cry, Captain Jasi rammed the point of her acid-scorched blade through the head of the monster, but too late to save her beloved.
A minotaur named Feresi seized one of the torches and tried to drive several of the creatures back. Her desperate gamble worked at first, the flickering flames seeming to frighten the armored attackers. Several scrambled back to the rail, enabling many of the surviving minotaurs to gather into a group. Aryx and the captain joined Feresi and six others, their combined might stemming the tide for a time.
Unfortunately the minotaurs could not maintain their momentum. Fresh marauders pressed forward. A barbed lance broke through Aryx’s defenses, catching Feresi in the stomach. She gasped and dropped the torch. It rolled along the deck, passing between two crew members and leaving in its wake a smoldering trail.
“Hold them!” Jasi cried, blood seeping from a shoulder wound. The armored reaver who had wounded her fell at her feet, its fluids searing the already damaged deck. Aryx gritted his teeth as he stepped into a shallow puddle of the acidic liquid, but he held his place. Everyone’s lives depended on holding fast against their attackers.
The minotaurs’ strength gradually ebbed. A husky male to Aryx’s right fell prey to both scythe sword and lance, his body pulled forward into the mass of monstrous creatures. Aryx watched the corpse disappear into the mist, knowing that he could very well be next.
Warmth suddenly bathed his back, a warmth that swiftly increased. Someone shouted. Aryx heard a crackle of flame and realized, to his horror, that fire now threatened the Kraken’s Eye, fire likely caused by Feresi’s loose torch.
The bright flames slowed the monsters from the deep, but not enough to give any hope. Even if the attackers did retreat, it didn’t seem likely the crew would be able to put out the fire in time to save themselves and the ship. Yet still they fought on, for fighting was all that remained for them.
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