Reavers of the Blood Sea

by Richard Knaak

The crew worked frantically to keep the Vengeance from suffering a similar fate. Broedius ignored them, concerned only with seeing the other vessel up close. Others came on deck, including one of the Kazelati officers, a pretentious minotaur with sleek horns and almost golden fur.

  “What is the meaning of this? I was just informed that we have altered course. Captain Brae will not—”

  A single glance from the ebony-eyed knight silenced Brae’s representative, who stepped back, still indignant.

  Aryx tried to satisfy the knight commander’s thirst for information before the two ships either collided or were both swept into the maw of the whirlpool. He shouted out descriptions of every bit of damage he could make out, but nothing would satisfy Broedius.

  Then Aryx spotted a form tangled in the ropes and another impaled on a broken rail. Knights, both of them, although the second one had clearly not had time to armor himself. The dragon orb enabled Aryx to see that they had both been dead for some time. They were the only victims on deck, but from a ship this size, Aryx knew that countless more lay below or had been scattered to the sea.

  At last the derelict came near enough so that the minotaur could read the name.

  Dragonwing.

  He pulled back from the rail, his worst fears justified. Lord Broedius noted his actions and turned on Aryx, awaiting word. Aryx first described the two figures he had seen and his suspicion that more lay below. Broedius nodded, but clearly understood that the minotaur had one last bit of information to impart.

  “It’s the Dragonwing, Knight Commander. Your reinforcements have arrived.…”

  The veteran knight cursed the heavens, cursed the Chaos, and, to Aryx’s surprise, even Takhisis. “You’re certain that it could be no other ship, minotaur?”

  “Any closer and even you’ll be able to read the name yourself, Lord Broedius.” In fact, if the two ships did get any closer, the Vengeance definitely risked a collision.

  “Then we may assume that the Queen’s Champion has also been lost.” Broedius wore an expression of extreme weariness, causing the dusky gray warrior to wonder if the human had slept lately. Recalling the cleric’s revelation concerning the knights and their goddess, he suspected not.

  The Dragonwing drew perilously near as the current began to shift both vessels. Aryx waited for Broedius to give the order to turn about, but the knight commander did nothing, still staring at the derelict. At last unwilling to risk matters any longer, the worried minotaur turned and shouted, “Turn her about! Quickly!”

  Broedius looked at him, but did not countermand his orders. More than a little relieved, the crew immediately obeyed. Aryx watched with concern as, despite their efforts, the Vengeance initially made little headway. The Dragonwing drew closer, almost as if the specters of its dead warriors sought to take those aboard the other ship with them to the Abyss. Now anyone who looked close could see the two macabre corpses and read the name of the vessel.

  Just as it seemed they would collide, the Vengeance pulled away, the skilled minotaur sailors having completely taken over for the humans. Beyond Aryx’s ship, the Dragonwing suddenly shifted direction, a tremendous wave tossing her on a course almost directly toward the waiting Maelstrom.

  “She promised them the future of Krynn,” Broedius muttered. “She promised all of us the future of Krynn.…”

  “Lord Broedius, they’re beyond our help. You have this fleet to be concerned about.”

  The knight stiffened. “I’ve not forgotten myself, minotaur, but know that like your own Kraken’s Eye, I knew many of those aboard the Dragonwing and her sister ship. I trained with some, trained others myself. They did not die in battle; they were slaughtered!”

  Memories of his crew mates flashed before Aryx’s eyes. “I know that, Knight Commander, and we may still face the same fates in these very waters.”

  “Yes, you’re absolutely right.” Broedius looked around. “I think perhaps I overestimated the safety this region would provide us.”

  Lightning again crackled. Another bolt struck the sea, a sight not uncommon around the Maelstrom but one that nonetheless Aryx found disturbing. Closing his mortal eye, Aryx stared carefully in the direction of the monstrous whirlpool. All seemed normal until he studied the very fringes. Through the emerald orb, the minotaur spotted what he thought appeared to be sparks flying out of the vortex. Many claimed the phenomenon to be in great part magical, its creation having come with the destruction of Istar and the swallowing of much of the eastern side of old Ansalon, but now, for the first time, Aryx glimpsed some of that wild power. He wondered where such magic came from and if it could be harnessed. In some ways, it reminded him of the aura that had surrounded Rand, but more intense, untamed.

  A shift in the clouds caught his attention. Something else besides lightning crackled up there as well. If the edges of the Maelstrom had teased him with brief glimpses of magic, the? skies directly above abruptly swelled with raw power.

  “Gods above and below!” he gasped. So much power, and all coming into play so near the ships. Another bolt struck the water, again close to one of the lead vessels. Aryx had experienced storms during sea voyages before, including some in the regions surrounding the Maelstrom, but something about this encroaching storm disturbed him as none other ever had. He did not think his concerns due simply to the possibility of attack; the very elements themselves unsettled him for reasons he could not explain.

  Despite the danger, there could be no turning back for the Vengeance. This deep into the Blood Sea and with so many other vessels following its lead, the flagship could only press on. Planks groaned and sails fought desperately to contain the mad winds. Gradually they drew next to the Avenger’s Axe, which struggled to maintain its course.

  A flash of crimson enveloped the heavens, a flash that even without the dragon orb, Aryx would have had no trouble noticing.

  A sense of foreboding swept over him.

  Lord Broedius noticed. “What is it?” The knight commander wiped water from his eyes. “Was it that strange lightning flash?”

  “Something’s about to happen! I’m certain of it! We’ve got to get away! Alert the other ships of impending danger!”

  The human looked at him, trying to gauge whether or not Aryx’s warnings carried merit. Then, his expression growing still grimmer, the knight commander turned. “All ships to stand by for attack! Send the warning! Quickly!”

  Frantic signalmen waved lanterns toward the nearest vessels. The Sword of Tears still hung sheathed at Aryx’s side, but he reached instead for his war axe. The sword he would only use as a last desperate resort.

  “The warning has already been passed on through half the fleet,” Broedius said with some relief.

  General Hojak and the Kazelati representative joined them. “What’s the meaning of this?” Hojak rumbled. “Where’s the threat?”

  “What could possibly attack us in this violent—” began the Kazelati.

  Out of the maw of the whirlpool shot a score and more crimson bolts, lightning from below, not above. They flew up high into the air, then arced downward, some of them dropping toward the fleeing armada.

  A Kazelati ship in the distance burst into flying tinder as the first bolt touched down.

  “By the axe of Kiri-Jolith!” Aryx gripped the rail, the blood draining from his face. How many minotaurs had just died? He looked at the others, seeing his own horror reflected there.

  The other bolts rained down, but fortunately many missed direct targets. However, a few struck and struck well. A second vessel, one of the survivors of the siege of the empire, burst into flames. Several others caught fire simply by being grazed by the passing bolts.

  “Find Rand!” Lord Broedius roared.

  Aryx wondered if the knight commander thought that Rand could repeat his stunning spellwork. The minotaur had his doubts, but he understood that something had to be done or the fleet would face total devastation. Even as Aryx watched, a third vessel burst into flames. More close, the Avenger’s
Axe suffered a burning sail, one which Captain Brae’s crew frantically sought to save.

  One of the burning ships suddenly shifted direction, no longer able to keep free of the Maelstrom’s lengthy grasp.

  A thump caught Aryx’s attention. Recalling the final seconds before the slaughter aboard the Kraken’s Eye, he cautiously leaned over the railing and peered down. Too late, he recalled Hercal’s sudden and terrible death, but no barbed lance shot up, only a violent wave that drenched the minotaur.

  Looking through the dragon eye availed him no better at first, although it did give him a slightly better view under the surface. Aryx scanned the side of the ship. So far, he saw no Magori, but …

  There. Only a glimpse, but the shelled back could not be mistaken for anything else.

  Aryx straightened, shouting at the top of his lungs. “Magori near the hull!”

  No sooner had he spoken than the first of the aquatic: attackers rose out of the sea.

  His earlier word of warning to Broedius had already set defenses into motion. Knights trotted to the rail, bows in hand. Aryx recognized few of them save that they were among the best archers the humans had to offer. Despite the storm, despite the waves, the archers did not move like men with a hopeless task. The minute they reached their destination, the knights immediately sought out targets, steadying their arms as best as possible.

  The first of the monstrous reavers got a handhold on the ship’s side. Despite their aquatic nature, the Magori appeared almost as uncomfortable with the raging sea as those aboard did. Had it been their own choice, Aryx suspected that the underdwellers would have chosen a different time and place to attack, but the sinister Coil clearly did not care.

  A shaft buried itself in the throat of the initial attacker, sending the dead Magori falling back into the ocean. However, by that time, countless more crustaceans sought to clamber upward. Considering that they had to use one hand to hold their weapons, the Magori proved dexterous indeed, their feet acting almost as a second pair of climbing hands.

  The archers let loose a steady rain of their own, and the first line of the foe died to a member. However, the shifting deck and the harsh spray slowed the humans’ efforts more and more. The first opponent Aryx could reach pulled itself up over the rail, only to die from one swift blow of the minotaur’s axe.

  “Don’t let them get aboard,” a voice Aryx recognized belatedly as Delara’s shouted. A moment later she reached the rail, arriving just in time to push one of the underdwellers back into the sea.

  Stepping back, Aryx glanced at the nearest other ship, the Avenger’s Axe. Although they had the fire under control, the other flagship now had attached to it more than twoscore crawling Magori … and that just on the side that he could see. Did all the other ships in the fleet have such numbers attacking? The legions of the Magori seemed endless.

  More and more warriors, both human and minotaur, came on deck. Now a new problem arose, for although they had great numbers of their own, the defenders nearly tripped over one another. Everyone wanted to do his part to defend the ship, for without it they were all lost.

  Delara pushed against him, sword already stained. “I thought I’d never reach you! This is madness! We’re likely to strike one another down before the underdwellers even have the chance!”

  “I know!” He looked back. “Form ranks! Take turns! Don’t bunch up!”

  Some seemed to hear his frantic shout, for lines did begin to form. Others, Lord Broedius’s voice foremost among them, began crying further orders. The archers withdrew, now too close to remain effective. Knights and minotaurs with hand weapons moved up to fill the breaches, and when no gap remained, other warriors held their positions, awaiting their opportunity.

  Aryx stepped back for a moment, again forced to wipe water from his eyes. However, as he looked up, the minotaur thought he saw huge tubular forms breaking through the surface of the water just at the very edge of the titanic whirlpool. As with the last time Aryx had seen them, they revealed no beginning or end, only gargantuan trunks that could crush or wrap around an entire ship. The shapes rose briefly above the sea, then sank out of sight again.

  The Magori’s master had come to see that they completed their bloody task.

  He looked around to see if anyone else had noticed the monstrous serpentine forms, but the battle had seized the full attention of everyone else. By this time, all semblance of order had vanished in the fleet. Some vessels drifted helplessly toward the Maelstrom, while others did their best to either hold their positions or sail in the opposite direction from the terrible pool. Several were still on fire, and every ship that Aryx could make out had Magori attached to its hull.

  A new danger loomed as Magori on one nearby vessel began trying to chop their way through the hull. Aryx glanced down at his own ship and saw one of the creatures attempting the same thing. Fortunately, as it raised its lance, a wave knocked the crustacean back into the water.

  The treacherous sea worked with the fleet in this one instance. Many of the Magori could not hold on to the bottom of the hull for very long, not with the way the waves rocked and tossed each vessel. Still, the threat remained a real one, especially for those vessels trying to move to calmer waters.

  “They’re aboard ship!” someone suddenly cried.

  Aryx whirled about, sighted three, then four of the Magori on the upper deck. To his horror, among the defenders up there he noted Seph. His younger brother wielded an axe beside Carnelia. More Magori pressed on, though, using the defenders’ own numbers against them. The foremost creatures held barbed lances, forcing knights and minotaurs to either back up or be pierced.

  Beyond them, arms upraised, stood Rand, who clearly had come back on deck with the hope of performing another spell, likely at the knight commander’s behest. The cleric seemed to be beseeching the heavens for help, but Aryx noted that the aura remained almost dormant. Rand still thought that his miracle had been granted him through Kiri-Jolith, but the minotaur had by now become certain that the blond human drew his power from elsewhere, either himself, the world around him, or some combination. Seph and Carnelia did their best to protect the cleric as he tried to help the armada, but they were all doomed to failure unless someone made Rand see the truth.

  Then a Magori blade nearly caught Seph in the throat, and all concern over the cleric’s spells vanished as a more personal fear overwhelmed Aryx.

  “Let me through!” He left his position, knowing full well that another eagerly waited to fill it. All he could think about was the danger to his brother. He had already lost one sibling to this war, possibly even more. Seph, though, had always been the closest to him. To lose Seph would be like losing his own arm.

  However, a great flash caused him to pause in his tracks. Other fighters on both sides hesitated, trying to see the source. A fearsome display of elemental forces shot forth from the very center of the Maelstrom, turning the Blood Sea even more turbulent. Waves taller than the masts of the Vengeance crashed down on one of the ships already caught in the pull of the whirlpool, swamping it.

  Knowing he could do nothing for those aboard the other vessels, Aryx renewed his efforts to reach his brother and Rand. Unfortunately, most of the other combatants recovered from their shock at nearly the same time, making his path difficult. A Knight of Takhisis fell in front of Aryx, his face ripped off by a lance. Before Aryx could reach the crustacean responsible, two minotaurs assaulted the creature, one chopping off its right hand, the other driving his axe into its head. Aryx took a breath, then pushed on.

  Most of the original Magori had perished, but more climbed the sides to take their place. Several moved in on Seph and the others. Aryx’s brother fought bravely, deflecting a Magori scythe sword and wounding the monster in the side of the throat. Aryx’s hope rose; if Seph and the others maintained a united front, they would remain safe.

  “Aryx!” Delara’s voice came. “Drop!”

  He obeyed immediately, trusting her urgency. A scythe sword buzze
d past his horns exactly where his throat would have been. He rolled over, eyeing the monstrosity looming over him. However, the Magori no longer paid him any attention, Delara having already engaged it. Her swift sword darted past the crustacean’s own blade again and again, although most of her attacks resulted only in superficial wounds. Aryx shifted to his knees, and as the underdweller stepped past him, he rose and jammed the sharp point of his axe into the creature’s soft throat.

  Acid burned his fingers, but Aryx gritted his teeth and shoved higher until at last he felt the creature shudder its last. The minotaur removed the axe, marveling that the damage to both his weapon and his fingers had not been more severe. Forced to pause again, Aryx glanced to the side and noticed an unsettling glow forming around the Maelstrom. He hoped that the fleet could escape before the whirlpool engulfed them, too.

  In the time it had taken Aryx to kill his foe, still more of the foul crustaceans had swarmed over the rails of the upper deck. Even the storm could not wash away the musky stench surrounding them, and the clouds only served to let the Magori see well enough to attack their enemies with horrific precision. They harried the suddenly outnumbered defenders, dividing them. Rand remained well protected, but others were in desperate straits. Carnelia had Seph beside her, but he kept darting forward to strike, then quickly returning to the line. The female knight clearly wanted him to stay nearby, but Aryx’s brother grew more and more reckless.

  Only a few yards separated them now. Aryx shoved past a knight who stood wiping acidic blood off his sword. Delara remained with Aryx, defending his flank.

  “There’s more of them coming over the side!” she called.

  He saw exactly what she meant. To the harried defenders’ right, half a dozen aquatic reavers poured over the rail, weapons at the ready. Two knights turned to meet them, a necessity that unfortunately divided the defenders’ forces yet more. Carnelia’s band, which consisted of another knight and three minotaurs, including Seph, tried to shift toward this new attack, but in doing so, the band fragmented further. Seph and Carnelia’s sole knight found themselves separated from the rest.