Wrath of Storms

by Steven McKinnon

  It rammed them again—Tiera retaliated by crashing back into it.

  ‘Careful!’ yelled Gallows.

  ‘Then you find a way to stop it!’

  The cab of the enemy Sabretooth opened, and one of Ventris’ men appeared, crossbow in hand—Gallows ducked as a bolt sailed overhead.

  ‘Any guns?’

  ‘Cocktails, rear footwell!’

  Gallows reached down, his fingers curling around a bottle of liquor with a rag.

  ‘Only had time to make three before I had to rescue your arse—make ’em count!’

  Another bolt shattered a window. While the pirate reloaded, Gallows took his chance.

  He stood up, the pirate’s face lighting up with glee as he nocked another bolt.

  Gallows lit the rag and hurled the bottle at him. It struck the pirate but didn’t ignite.

  The pirate raised his crossbow. ‘Idiot!’

  ‘Tell that to the driver!’

  That wiped the smile from the pirate’s face.

  Gallows sat in the cab as the enemy Sabretooth erupted in flames and exploded.

  ‘Good job,’ Tiera growled.

  The Sabretooth scraped through an narrow lane, Tiera having to swerve to avoid a Frostcloak. It screeched to a halt by the lip of a cliff. Tiera reversed, destroying an ornate fountain in the process. The axle screamed as Tiera doubled back and thundered through another stony passage.

  Then she slowed.

  ‘Holy shit.’

  ‘Agreed,’ said Gallows.

  In an open square, Gallows watched as Enoch jumped from one enemy Sabretooth to the other, yanking their gyroguns away and pummelling enemy pirates.

  He took a storm of bullets and looked like he was in as much pain as Gallows—but Enoch kept fighting—and as the pirates cowered from him, the Frostcloaks didn’t hesitate to shoot them in the back.

  ‘We might actually win,’ Gallows said.

  Tiera drove the Sabretooth along the outer edges of the village towards the other side of the square, close to the wreckage of the Childhood’s End. She turned the Sabretooth into an alley—and came face to face with the monstrous tank.

  ‘Holy shit,’ muttered Gallows. ‘Reverse, reverse!’

  The Sabretooth spun on the ice.

  The tank roared, but its turret swept its gaze away from them.

  Tiera cursed. ‘Where’s it aiming?’

  Across the ruins of Frosthaven, pillars of red smoke billowed up to the sky.

  A pit opened in Gallows’ belly. ‘The library.’

  The wall erupted and Mika fell to the floor. The building wouldn’t take another volley from the tank.

  Jasper crawled over to her. ‘…you alive…?’

  Mika’s and Jasper’s voices floated in and out as Serena concentrated.

  The flare was a signal. Ventris knows where I am.

  Someone pulled at her but Serena closed her eyes and searched the battlefield. The song spread, flowing like water through the village.

  She’d reach the tank crew before they fired again. She’d have to.

  ‘Leave her!’ Mika yelled. ‘Let’s go!’

  Jasper protested.

  ‘Listen to her,’ said Serena.

  One by one, she reached into the minds of pirates and Frostcloaks. It’s okay—you can stop fighting. You can lay your weapons down.

  The threads unwound, spinning to form an intricate tapestry.

  One by one, guns stopped firing

  It’s okay—the fighting’s done. You can stop now.

  Debris rained over Serena, but she didn’t give up. Just a little longer… Almost…

  She reached into the pirates controlling the tank and made them stop. Her song flowed around an impenetrable mind, like a river splitting in two and re-joining. Enoch.

  ‘What are you doing!’ Mika yelled. ‘He’s bleeding!’

  The song expanded across Frosthaven, opening a door into people’s minds. It was more than whispering words into their heads—she was part of them. She saw what they saw, felt what they felt—every emotion, every ounce of sorrow and fear.

  Heinrich and Lyani in the shelter… Tiera driving… Fear crawling inside people who know their injuries won’t heal…

  And Ventris. Impenetrable. Untouchable.

  But not unknowable.

  Her resistance marked her out the same way as Enoch; it may have shielded her, but it also made her stand apart from everyone else. Serena knew her exact position—knew the Queen’s exact position—as it sailed low overhead.

  And then it got into range.

  Serena reached inside the tank gunner’s head again.

  ‘There, there!’ Gallows’ fingers tightened around the hilt of his knife. The Sabretooth bounced across a ridge—but not fast enough. ‘Move!’

  ‘Yes, keep shouting,’ Tiera spat. ‘That’ll get us there quicker.’

  Gallows didn’t know what he’d do when he got to the library, all he knew was that he had to get there before the fighting started up again. If Serena exerted herself, then her power would disappear, and she’d be vulnerable.

  ‘Doesn’t this thing go any fa—’

  A cannonade resounded.

  One of the Queen’s thrusters snapped away and a crack split her hull. With a shriek, the gigantic craft lurched in the sky, twisting and slumping onto the jagged landing island.

  Tiera slowed the Sabretooth down and stared, mouth hanging open. ‘She did it.’

  Fists clenched, Serena stalked towards the crash site, her heart pounding harder with each step. Tiera called her name; Serena ignored her.

  Come out. Come out, Ventris. Come out and know who beat you.

  It would end here. One way or another, it would end.

  Her friends caught up with her, but Serena strode towards the airship, and waited.

  When Ventris emerged from the fire, even the flames cowered before her.

  With Gallows, Tiera and Enoch, Serena watched the pirate queen hobble towards them.

  The pirate queen’s pin-prick pupils bored into Serena, black as onyx. Her skin clung tight to her skull and her lips pulled back in an animalistic snarl.

  ‘It’s over.’ Cuts, scrapes and bruises bloomed over the pirate queen’s face, but she didn’t seem to register any pain.

  ‘It’s not over.’ Ventris raised her sword. ‘As long as you breathe, Siren.’

  Tiera growled and raised her rifle.

  Serena held a hand up.

  ‘I can feel it,’ Serena told Ventris. ‘The thing inside you. It’s killing you.’

  Ventris’ expression didn’t change.

  ‘Let me shoot her,’ Tiera begged.

  Serena ignored her. ‘Why did you come here, Ventris? Why kill all these people? Just to get to me?’

  ‘I saw the destruction wreaked by your hand. The whispers in my head told me to find you and end you.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I’ve seen the doom that awaits us all—but only now do I see who ushered it…’ Ventris stood still, and her snarl transformed into a grin. ‘See for yourself.’

  Serena sensed it—the opening in Ventris’ defences.

  She entered her mind.

  Rain bled from lacerated skies. Fissures opened across the earth, blotting the stars out.

  Serena watched through Ventris’ eyes as she hefted children by their hair and cut their throats, then discarded the corpses like sacks of rotten vegetables. She watched as Ventris stabbed crippled bodies crawling through blood-drenched soil.

  No—not Ventris…

  Musa.

  I’m looking through Musa’s eyes.

  Horses galloped around a battlefield strewn with the dead. The ground quaked and split, and everywhere Musa turned, she cut down defenceless foes. Blood-red tornadoes twisted across the sky, and screams rent the air.

  And still Musa didn’t get her fill of death. She swung her sword with lightning-quick precision, cutting down men and women, laughing as their village burned around them.

/>   Dead faces stared up from the dirt—Aldus, Nura, others.

  She killed them all. She killed her friends.

  ‘You are the Herald of Death…’

  Serena snapped back to Frosthaven, frozen to the spot, heart racing. Is that my fate? To be driven mad like Musa? To kill my friends?

  Ventris leaned on her sword, injured but no less fearsome.

  ‘Very good.’ Tiera eased a crick from her neck. ‘Can I kill her now?’

  Serena knew that Ventris should die—knew that she deserved it. But the images of Musa’s slaughter sill pressed on her eyes. ‘No more killing.’

  Serena turned her back on Ventris and trudged towards the centre of Frosthaven without meeting the eyes of her friends.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  ‘I saw it, Myriel. I saw the aurora—the Angel’s Breath. It was as beautiful as you said.’ Serena’s voice hung heavy in what passed as the shelter’s cramped medical quarter. The air smelled of sawdust, blood and antiseptic cream.

  She placed her hand on Myriel’s. The mage’s slack, rough skin warmed Serena’s fingers. ‘It led me to the temple.’

  ‘I’m relieved to hear it, child,’ Myriel croaked. Serena had been so used to her youthful energy, seeing how frail and old the mage looked now came as a shock. ‘I’m proud of you… And… I’m sorry for doubting you in Rhis.’

  ‘Don’t be.’ Serena whispered the words, as though speaking too loudly might hurt Myriel. ‘I was being an asshole.’

  Myriel chuckled, then coughed. ‘I fear I’ve been foolish, Serena. Worse, I’ve been arrogant—traipsing across the world, forgetting my age.’

  ‘You kidding me? You’re the youngest spirit I know.’

  Straining, Myriel reached over and tucked a strand of Serena’s dark, sea-green hair behind her ear. ‘When I was kicked out of the church, they said “Arrogance is the folly of youth—it does not suit you.” I didn’t care—in fact, without the Fayth rejecting me, I’d never have studied forbidden texts and enrolled in the Mages’ Guild to spite them…’ The light in Myriel’s eyes faded. Her fingers uncoiled from Serena’s. ‘But other people suffered the consequences of my recklessness. Alas, history has repeated. I lied to you, Serena—to everyone. I’m not as fit and healthy as I wanted you to think.’

  Serena gripped Myriel’s hand tighter. ‘You picked up a gunshot wound from fighting pirates, Myriel. You took one for the team.’

  ‘If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be in danger.’

  ‘Bullshit—if it wasn’t for you, I’d have died in Dalthea—so stop feeling sorry for yourself and concentrate on getting better.’

  ‘No.’ Myriel shook her head, red rims forming around her eyes. ‘You gave me life, Serena. Without you, I’d still be in my hovel, bored out of my mind. I’ve taken you for granted—you, Enoch and Tyson. My arrogance has put you all at risk… Can you forgive me?’

  Serena couldn’t fight back her own tears. ‘There’s nothing to forgive.’

  ‘Good… Good… I think I’d like to rest now.’

  Serena cleared her throat and rubbed her eyes. ‘Yeah, rest—you’ll need it; we’re going on a trip, Myriel. The temple gave us part of the answer—the rest is in Palthonheim.’

  ‘I fear that’s one adventure you’ll have to take on without me.’

  Words scratched in Serena’s throat. ‘You’re coming with us, Myriel. All you need is rest. Just rest.’

  ‘She should die.’

  Tiera was the first to speak, and Gallows agreed with her.

  A cracked ignium lamp smeared a spider’s web of grimy orange light from the floor, leaving deep shadows pinned to the ceiling and corners.

  Ventris sat on a simple wooden chair, bound with rope. Her head lolled from side to side. She looked bored, more than anything.

  Heinrich cleared his throat, his arm hanging in a sling. ‘Your surviving crew members will be handed to the Tarevian government and most likely executed. As elected leader of Frosthaven, I’ll sign any papers suggesting you meet the same fate.’

  ‘I welcome Nyr’s embrace,’ Ventris whispered, addressing no-one in particular. ‘I was living on borrowed time well before I accepted Arnault’s gift—we all are.’

  ‘More finisa lies.’ Tiera unsheathed one of her knives. ‘They’ll stop when I cut your throat.’

  Ventris raised her chin, exposing her neck. ‘It’s a better death than the one waiting for us all.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Serena asked. She stood in a corner, head and shoulders slumped.

  ‘Don’t indulge her,’ Tiera seethed. ‘Kill her and be done with it.’

  Ventris cocked her head. ‘You were a scared little girl when I found you, Yulia—have you changed?’

  ‘My name is Tiera.’

  Ventris’ teeth glistened in the low light. ‘Beneath all the bravado and aggression, I think you’re still Yulia, the sweet sister in service of the Gods.’

  ‘Ventris!’ Serena roared. ‘You said you’ve seen the vision before?’

  Ventris shifted on her seat, the creak of the floor loud in Gallows’ ear. ‘Glimpses.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘When I was in Palthonheim.’

  ‘Bullshit,’ said Gallows, ‘the Scholar City’s a ruin.’

  ‘I was there four years ago—before the Idari savages attempted their invasion… You abandoned our cause at the right time, Tiera.’

  Tiera crossed her arms. ‘You’d lost sight of the mission. You became reckless, killing for the fun of it. I didn’t abandon the cause—you did.’

  If Ventris was offended, she didn’t show it. ‘Tarevia…’ The pirate spoke the word like it made her sick. ‘That was the mission where I discovered the seeds of the lie we’ve all been living. I found a ruined temple—Musa’s resting place.’

  Gallows exchanged a glance with Serena.

  ‘You saw the map on the wall,’ Serena said. ‘It led you to Palthonheim.’

  ‘Where the rest of the lie was shown to me. The Fayth—the Indecim. Lies, all of it. They did not drive evil from our world—they were evil. They slaughtered men and women in the millions, then claimed the world as their own. And we worship them for it.’

  Gallows wasn’t religious, but the way Ventris spoke? He believed she’d seen something.

  He rolled his shoulders, easing a crick. ‘You say you saw the Gods in the past—but you’re shit scared of something else, Ventris. Why are we on borrowed time? What’s coming?’

  ‘The Herald of Death. It will awaken the Gods’ wrath.’ Ventris turned to Serena, the broken lamp igniting fire in her eyes. ‘Arnault’s gift illuminated what had been concealed in shadows. It uncovered more of the visions I found in Palthonheim—and one of the Indecim was worse than the others…’

  Serena balled her fists. ‘How can we believe a word you say?’

  Ventris leaned back, shadows crossing her eyes. ‘You looked through Musa’s eyes, saw the destruction she wreaked—and felt the joy with which she did it.’

  ‘I want to know the truth for myself.’ Serena stepped closer to Ventris. ‘Do you know a way into Palthonheim?’

  ‘Serena…’ Gallows warned.

  Ventris locked eyes with Serena. ‘Know what you’re asking, girl; to step into Palthonheim is to invite madness.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘I piloted your Schiehallion there—it was powerful enough to climb to an altitude previously deemed impossible. But I did it.’

  ‘Can you do it again?’

  ‘Whoa!’ Gallows interrupted. ‘Serena, that place is a ruin—no-one can get in.’

  ‘The message in Musa’s tomb was written for a reason, Gallows. The truth about her, about Sirens—it’s inside Palthonheim. I know it.’

  ‘Even if that’s true, we don’t need Ventris—the Queen’s torn up, but she can fly. We can go there ourselves.’

  Serena shook her head. ‘Ventris won’t give us the ignition sequence—and the thing in her head is still there—weak, but there. I can�
��t get inside her head unless it opens up for me, and she knows we’ll kill her if she gives us the sequence voluntarily.’

  Tiera leaned back against the wall. ‘The Hunter’s right—Ventris invites death. She’ll give us the Queen, we give her the blade. A fair trade.’

  Serena appraised Ventris. ‘She talks a big game, but she doesn’t want to die any more’n we do. You’re a victim of these forces too, Helena. If you really want to die, give me the ignition sequence and we’ll end it—painless. But if you want a chance at some kind of redemption—to face the things that have manipulated us all—then I’m willing to give you that chance.’

  ‘You can’t be serious?’ Heinrich protested. ‘I lost dozens of friends today—Lyani almost died and my children may never get another night’s sleep as long as they live.’

  ‘Serena.’ Gallows ushered her to a corner and spoke in a whisper. ‘The Queen only lost one thruster, we can get her in the air and hotwire the sequence—we don’t need Ventris.’

  ‘It’s not just that—whatever’s inside her knows where I am. And we don’t know how many more are out there—if Ventris dies, for all we know, the thing crawling through her mind jumps into a new host. There’s so much we don’t know—and I’d rather know my enemy than not.’

  Gallows thought about that. Shit.

  ‘We put her in a prison in Rhis and she escaped,’ Serena continued. ‘We hand her over to Tarevia, she’ll escape. We leave her here, she’ll escape. At least we can keep an eye on her.’

  Gallows swept his fingers through his hair. ‘I don’t like it. Killing her would be the safest option.’

  ‘And what if she lies when she gives us the ignition sequence? Have you ever hotwired an airship like the Queen of the North? Do you reckon Vabrizio would skimp on his prized possesion’s hardware? Listen, the longer we stay here, the more danger Frosthaven is in—and they’ve lost enough. Ventris comes with us.’

  Gallows set a bag of supplies down in the Queen’s bridge.