by Lucas Thorn
She was heading north with Hemlock. Maybe also with Chukshene. And the elf had come east to get as far from them as she could.
To clear her head. To find herself.
Instead, she’d found only death. First in Southlight, where she’d worked as a bodyguard for a few weeks. The man she’d worked for was a local smuggler with many enemies. She’d killed most of them by the time she was finished. In doing so, had earned enough to supplement what she already had and bought passage to the Crossbones where she hoped to find another ship to take her to Dragonclaw.
Now, pursued by the dead, the Shadowed Halls mocked from above.
Saja screamed.
Beside her, a yellow-haired man named Torrick. Eyes wide, he let loose a string of gibberish as he fought his panic with every swing of his axe. She turned from him as two pale hands wrapped around his face. Had to look away because a clammy hand had snaked out to wrap around her wrist.
Cold shivered into her bones and she whipped out with the axe to chop cleanly through the forearm which had grabbed her. The draug’s face was close to her own and it didn’t even flinch as its limb was hacked in two.
Didn’t even seem to notice.
Kept reaching with bloody stump. Leaning in.
Maw wide with hunger.
The whispers of the yellow fog grew more frenzied, gnashing at her ears. They chanted, a multitude of voices emerging from unseen mouths.
Kill them for me. Kill them all.
Kill. Kill. Kill.
And, beneath the chant, a harsh voice laughed an ugly little laugh.
Battling horror as much as draug, she punched Queen of Hearts between the creature’s teeth. The blade exploded in its mouth, sending tendrils of black burning through its skull. They tore through bone. Speared out so sharp and hard that, for a moment, it looked like the draug’s head was a pincushion. Then they retracted with a metallic crunch like the iron jaws of a trap.
The creature slumped at her feet and wouldn’t move again.
Maks jumped up next to her, the big man showing himself to be more nimble than he’d appeared as he danced among the thwarts and personal chests of the crew. Never put a foot wrong.
For herself, she staggered as the vessel rolled in the grip of an undulating wave.
Sensing her difficulty in keeping balance, one of the draug lunged. And caught Maks’ axe in its throat. The axe flashed right through and the head sailed out to land in the dark sea some distance out.
He eyed her grimly, breathing hard. “You okay?”
But there wasn’t time to reply.
The draug kept coming. A slow stream of putrid death.
She felt a bump behind her. Spun and saw one struggling. Arms were latched to Hapi, who was hitting it with his axe. But his grip on the weapon wasn’t tight and it was the flat which was smashing into the creature’s head.
Black blood spattered the boy’s face.
The draug moaned, cheek and nose reduced to mush. Opened its mouth. Teeth drooling black gore, it snapped hard around Hapi’s forearm
And tore.
The young man screamed. Shrill and agonised as the creature bit right through meat and bone alike.
Then it let go, body jerking uncontrollably as it flopped to the deck with Nysta’s axe buried in the back of its neck. She ducked down quickly beside the writhing body. Tore the axe free.
Lifted it.
Buried it again in its throat.
And again.
Until the head was cut free.
She looked up. Saw Hapi leaning against the mast, clutching wounded arm and looking for all the world like a child who’d just been beaten by his parent. An odd expression, she thought. But something in his eyes as he looked down at the decapitated draug made her think he knew the creature as something more than the wretched undead thing it was.
He opened his mouth to say something.
She’d never know what.
Three draug dashed forward, grabbing him as one. And with feral strength and a chilling hoot, they took him over the side.
Lunging after him, she caught her leg on the nearest thwart and fell forward, stunning herself as her head hit the side of the boat. She rolled onto her back, lights flickering as blinking eyes struggled for focus.
“Shit.”
A draug was in mid-air, pouncing like a rabid dog. She managed to bring up her legs and kicked out, sending it flying back to where it crashed into Maks. Who turned and slammed his axe into its torso, ripping rotten guts free. Then he really went to work on it.
She wiped blood from her eyes. Her blood, she thought.
And staggered to her feet, reeling as dizziness crashed into her.
Ainu was there. The girl slashing out with her axe. She twisted toward the elf as she dropped one of the draug. “Nysta, are you-”
The draug snaked up behind the girl, eyes burning with need.
Snatched a handful of shirt and dove for the side, aiming to haul her over. But Nysta launched herself at its back. Snarling with hate, the elf collided with the draug. Her nostrils filled with its stench. Salt water and rotting flesh. One hand found its skin and was revolted by it, but she gripped hard.
Then her axe crunched home, steel head submerging in undead meat.
The draug let out a wet roar of frustration as the side of the ship was denied to it. Bunched its legs. Released Ainu’s shirt. Then threw itself desperately toward the sea, taking the elf over the side with it.
Horror filled Nysta quicker than the cold water as she splashed into the sea. The axe was torn from her grasp and the draug sank heavily, leaving a thick cloudy trail of black winding into the dark.
Deeper down, the yellow lights throbbed with nebulous delight and the whispers, though muted, called the draug to drag her down.
Down into the depths where her body could be torn to pieces.
The laughter of that harsh voice rose in pitch, almost to a screech. She twisted and writhed, unable to swim and desperate for air. Kicked awkwardly with her feet.
Fingers burst free into the air above.
But the weight of her clothing and the knives were working to drag her down.
Once, many years before, she’d jumped off a waterfall with Talek. Had told him she couldn’t swim, but he couldn’t grasp the concept.
Everyone can swim, he said. “You’ll be fine. It’s not that deep.”
The current had taken her further than he’d expected and she’d been unable to fight it. Had thought she was going to die. When she was finally spat to the shore, waterlogged and terrified, she’d almost wept with relief.
And as she bobbed in the roll of the waves, she heard again the echo of his relief when he’d found her. Voice, ghostly in the dark, whispered into her brain.
“I’m sorry, Nysta. I didn’t realise…”
This time, though, he wouldn’t be finding her.
His voice was wiped away in a rush of whispers and high-pitched insane laughter which bubbled from the dark. Her mind flattened as horror reduced desperation to acceptance.
This was it, she thought.
This was where she died.
In the icy waters of the Sea of Blood. She opened her mouth. Felt salt water rush inside.
Wanted to scream his name. Just one last time.
And then something grabbed her arm.
Tight.
At first, she struggled, but it wouldn’t let go. It was too tough. Queen of Hearts was still in her hand and she made to rake at whatever it was, but missed. Her arm moved too sluggish through the water.
And then she was rising. Up through the dark where she erupted into the star-speckled night like a breaching whale. Choking for air.
Halvir, voice panicked and hoarse. “Hurry, Ainu! They’re right behind you.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Nemo bellowed. “Let her go, girl. Just let her go.”
“No!” Ainu wrapped herself tighter around the elf. Spitting salt water. “Bring us in!”
The girl was being dragg
ed back to the boat by Maks and Halvir, and she wasn’t letting the elf free. Nysta, realising the girl had dived in after her, now grabbed the girl’s arm with terrified urgency. And used her feet to press against the hull of the ship. Tried to climb back inside, her skin crawling with horror as she imagined death churning in the water beneath.
Then arched her back as a skinny draug with flat rattish teeth speared up from the deep and latched onto her, turning her nightmare into reality.
Threw its head back and struck through her gaping jacket.
She felt its teeth as they ripped into skin across her ribs then worried at her flesh like a shark. The elf let out a raw scream and nearly let go of Ainu’s arm but Halvir lunged across the side and grabbed her by her collar. He strained his muscles, hauling with all his might.
But the draug held with jealous grip. Arms wrapped around her thigh. Head pressed against her side where it gnashed and shook its head from side to side with increasing frenzy. Trying to chew loose as much of her body as it could.
She felt a rush of ice as fear spun crazily in her guts.
Then a spark.
And something moved inside her.
Worms of solid darkness.
They rushed through her body like a school of angry fish, rippling under her skin and squeezing through veins.
The whispers, risen to triumphant pitch, ceased utterly as the surge pulsed through her.
The laughter stopped.
And the draug jerked its head away. Looked up with suddenly frightened eyes. The first time she’d ever seen anything other than hunger in the face of an undead.
Let out a thin whine which sounded like a kicked dog.
And just let go, dropping into the sea and disappearing into the inky waves.
Waves which beat at her as Halvir, helped by a breathless Ainu, finally managed to pull the elf aboard. A few more draug were still alive, but they were mostly on their backs in pieces. Or moving along the deck like grubs, arms and legs already chopped free by the frantic crew.
And there weren’t many crew left.
Sour-faced Nemo scowled at her. The man’s thin brown eyes glaring with fresh distrust.
Geri and Pike, two young men with grins which spoke of shared lives, chopped a few struggling draug in the prow before flinging bodyparts back into the sea. The butchery seemed to please them.
The elf slumped as Halvir let her drop to the deck. She pressed a hand to her side where the draug had chewed. Felt blood pouring swiftly through her fingers. Grimaced as the big man dropped down beside her and tried to get a look at the wound.
“It’s fine,” she said through her teeth, arching in pain as he touched her. She could feel the worms scurrying in her flesh. Didn’t want him to see. See the thing she couldn’t bear to see herself. “I’ll be fine. Just leave it.”
“Leave it? Are you insane?”
She batted his searching hand away.
Found she was still gasping for breath and tried to consciously shallow her breathing. Steady it. So her racing heart could slow and the worms could work to heal the gaping wound.
“Let’s just say I heal fast and leave it at that.” She nodded to where Saja was trying to staunch a few deep cuts of her own. “See to those who need it, feller.”
Halvir gave her one last look. Then shrugged. “If you say so,” he said. “Reckon you know yourself better than I do.”
“Wouldn’t go that far,” she said softly as he moved out of earshot.
Ainu slumped down next to her. “That was close.” Wiped the wetness of relief from her cheeks and looked at the elf. “Thank you. You saved my life back there. I owe you.”
“I can’t swim. You jumped in after me. We both could’ve drowned. Nemo was right. It was stupid and you should’ve let me go.”
“It was fine. I grabbed a rope. And Halvir and Maks had us safe. They did most of the work, really. Pulled us in together.”
“But you jumped in.” The elf tried to get it straight in her head. “Makes us even, I reckon.”
“I couldn’t let you go like that. Not like Dolmek. It was bad enough seeing him get taken because of me. I couldn’t live knowing it’d happened twice.” She breathed the salty air, sucking deep. “The Madman hates when you let someone else die for you. It ain’t right. If anyone had to die right there, it should’ve been me. It was me he wanted. Not you.”
“Don’t sweat it,” the elf said. Rested her head back and looked up at the stars. And though it smelled of blood and putrid gore, the air carried enough of the clean sea to soothe the pain she was feeling. “Plenty more draug in the sea.”
CHAPTER THREE
The captain died a few minutes later. Gave a moist gurgle and that was it.
Nemo was with him, the old raider closing the captain’s eyes with his hand and then looking to the remaining crew. “He’s gone.”
“Good man, he was,” Maks rumbled as everyone looked to him for guidance. “By rights he should’ve died yesterday, but he hung on in there for us. He got us home. We shouldn’t forget that. No matter what. When we tell this story, we tell how he held on.”
“Still got a while to go before we can tell any stories,” Nemo said. His body shook with anger he was having trouble trying to contain.
Ainu stood in the middle of the boat, far enough from the edge so any sudden attacks by draug couldn’t drag her out. “But you can hear the shore. Listen. You can hear it. We’re nearly there!”
The old raider spat over the side. Flicked his greasy hair and shook his head. “You think the Madman gives a shit how close we are? He’s still right behind us, right? Look out there. His fog is still on our ass. And what’s to stop them coming up on the beach with us? They’ve got legs. They can fucking walk up and kill us right there. Ain’t no such thing as holy ground. Not here. Not this far from the Temple. That ain’t how they work. Trust me, I know.”
“One thing at a time,” Maks said. “Ainu’s right. She’s got cause to hope right now. We’re close. Out here, we’re exposed. Maybe if we make one of the islands, we can get free. We can hide. You know what draug are like. They’ll chase us hard. And out here, they’ve got an advantage. We can’t hide up here. But on land? If we can lose them in the forests, they’ll give up.”
The elf, eyes aimed at the corpse of the captain, suddenly wondered what his name was. He’d never introduced himself. Just took her coin and pointed her to the front of the boat.
Her eyes were half-closed with pain. Her side had stopped bleeding but she could feel the uncomfortable surge as the worms slithered through shredded and bruised flesh.
It was a slow pain, like she was being dragged through a grinder.
“Throw her over, I say,” Nemo said, eyes flashing dangerous as he took a step toward her. Pointed at her. “Look at her. She’s dead anyway. And I’ll bet everything I got she’s the reason they came. Look at her. Something ain’t right about her. I feel it in my bones.”
“Only thing you’ll feel is my knife if you take another step closer,” she hissed back.
He halted, looking to the others for support. “You know I’m right. What’ve we ever done to piss off Ihan? Nothing. And the captain? I won’t listen to you blame him. He was a good man. You know it. I know it. So, there’s no other reason for the draug to jump us like this. None. We’ve done this trip a dozen times and ain’t ever had any trouble before. She’s the only thing different.”
Saja lifted her head from where she was stooped over the small chest which served as both seat and storage for her belongings. She’d retrieved a small wooden idol, which she fingered absently. “You’d throw her to the Madman? Really? You’d send someone in your place?”
“It’s not like that,” he said, eyes sliding greasily away. “She’s not even crew! It wouldn’t be like that. It’d be a sacrifice.”
“You’re not his priest. And this ain’t the fucking temple. You can’t make that decision.”
“She’s a danger to us.” He gave a frustrated snarl. �
��All of us. Ainu jumped into the water there to save her. She should’ve been able to save herself. But she can’t even swim, can she? We ain’t keeping ourselves alive, but you’re ready to jump into the wet to save her skinny fucking skin! What for? I mean, what kind of elf can’t swim?”
Nysta coughed a wet salty cough. “A drowner?” Spat the taste of seawater. Looked up at their puzzled faces. “Sorry. I didn’t get that one myself.”
“Does that matter?” Saja waved her arms in irritation. “She’s spilled blood with us, and for us. She’s one of us.”
“We ain’t throwing her out,” Ainu said. Voice harsh. “You throw her out, Nemo, you demented little goatfucker, and you’ll have to throw me out too. And I’ll fucking well take you with me.”
“Fuck that,” Halvir said, only a little steel in his voice. “I’d throw Nemo first. At least the elf can fight.”
“You saying I can’t fight?” Nemo pulled his axe and long dagger free. “That what you’re saying? I’ve been fighting since before you were born, you short-bearded cunt! Come over here. Come on. Come say it to my fucking face!”
“Enough,” Saja said, lifting an arm to keep Halvir from doing just that. “That’s enough, Nemo. We ain’t sending her over. Or anyone else. The Madman takes his own. Right Maks?”
The one-eyed man hesitated. Not much, but enough for Geri and Pike to look anxious.
The rigging creaked as the ship dipped across the crest of a wave and the elf’s fingers discretely found the hilt of A Flaw in the Glass.
“Sure,” Maks said at last. “He takes his own.”
“You trying to protect her, Maks?” Nemo showed yellowed teeth. “That what’s happening here? It was your idea to bring her aboard. There something we should know?”
“Fuck you, Nemo. She paid. Her gold’s as good as anybody’s. And right now, her arm’s a damned sight more useful than most.”
But there was something there.
Something which made Maks struggle not to look away from the older man. Even Nysta could sense it, and it made her guts feel greasy.
Whatever it was, though, it would stay unsaid and the two men glared at each other from opposite sides.
Nemo squinted tightly, arms low at his sides with weapons drawn. Eyes burning with anger as Maks’ words travelled into his consciousness. He looked for a moment like he was going to charge the bigger raider down.
