out of a pocket in her tunic.
The mage looked down at his apprentice with a frown. “Are you still hoarding food? I told you, you don’t have to worry. There’ll be plenty for everyone to eat on this voyage.”
She slipped the roll back into her pocket and hung her head with a guilty look. “I’m sorry, master. I was saving a snack for—for a friend.”
He smiled and patted her on the head indulgently. “Oh, you’ve made a friend already, have you?”
Her eyes darted to the window and then away again. He’d never seen her play with children her own age, but her mother had quietly told him that Aristia had imaginary friends and talked with animals. The “friend” was likely some seagull begging for scraps out on deck.
“You can feed your friend,” Ameyron said, trying to gentle his tone of voice. The girl had been through a lot for a child, after all. Her mother had warned him that she needed kindness. At least he knew how to treat one person on board the ship.
Aristia’s head snapped up. “But how can I see her when we’re sailing so close to the land? She says she can’t follow the ship where the water’s so shallow.”
That brought him up short. Was it a fish she imagined she was talking to? Strange that she would befriend something so slimy and coldblooded. Then he shrugged; it was better not to judge her quirks. “Save it for now, then. We’ll turn back out into the deep sea soon enough.”
Aristia turned back to the window and pressed up against the glass. “Great! I’ll tell her to watch for us, then. She didn’t want to lose us.”
Ameyron smiled and went back to his research notes. He would worry about the rest of the crew another time. If he could make at least one person smile, then he wasn’t doing too badly so far.
Eirenaios sat up with a start. Had he heard something, or was it just the normal creaking of the ship?
The rapping noise came again, louder this time, and he realized that there was someone knocking at his door. “Just a moment,” he called. He scrambled to his feet and ran a hand through his hair—the sea air seemed to make it frizz up.
When he flung open the door, his next-door neighbor, that dark-skinned priest Benu, took a step back in surprise. “I didn’t mean to startle you,” Benu said apologetically when he saw Eirenaios’s face. “The mage has called a strategy meeting out on deck. Can you join us?”
The physician nodded only a little, wary of moving too much. He’d tried several anti-nausea remedies before he’d managed to keep even water down, and standing upright on the heaving ship still made him feel queasy. “Yes, yes, of course. Let me just get myself in order.”
Benu craned his neck to look past him into the cabin. “Did I interrupt something?”
“No,” he snapped back. Before the other man could pry further, Eirenaios stepped out and closed the door quickly behind him. He gestured for the priest to step out of his way. “After you.”
Benu shrugged and turned away. He opened the door to the main deck and ducked to step outside.
Eirenaios followed without needing to duck—after all, the ship was designed to accommodate normal-sized people, and he fit just fine. Outside, the bright sun blinded him, forcing him to stop and squint until his eyes adjusted to the daylight.
Once he could see again, he found most of the crew and passengers scattered around on the benches where they ate their meals. The mage, Ameyron, stood up in the front, clutching a small notebook. He cleared his throat and glared at Eirenaios like he was a student late for class.
Eirenaios looked around quickly for a seat, then chose to join Nikephoros, the quartermaster. He looked like a man who was comfortable with a sword in his hand. Better to befriend the one who could protect him when they started facing monsters.
Ameyron swept his gaze over the assembled group and cleared his throat again. “Is this everyone who will be involved in hunting monsters?”
Captain Mynta, who had chosen to lean against the railing with her arms folded instead of taking a seat, nodded once. “All here.”
Eirenaios looked up in surprise as he noted who was there—and who wasn’t. Of course all of Ameyron’s handpicked team were present: himself, Benu the priest, and Aristia, the precocious apprentice. From the crew, there was Nikephoros, as he’d expected, but not the other man, Yuri. He knew Captain Mynta had mercenary experience, but he stared at the eastern woman, Rei—she was so slight that he imagined merely picking up a sword might snap her in half. The other women, the cook and the musician, were also absent.
He started to laugh, then covered it quickly with a cough. In reality, they had two fighters and a mage, and one of those fighters was a woman. Unless Benu was hiding a sword in his priest robes, the ragtag group could hardly take on anything larger than a house cat. No wonder they were going after little fangfrogs—against a real monster, like a chimaera or an acid-spitting harpy, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
Ameyron seemed satisfied with the sad little group, however, because he launched into his lecture. “For our first target, we’ve chosen the amphibious vermin of the Melusine Islands. If you’re not familiar with these creatures, a fangfrog is mostly what its name implies: a large frog with sharp teeth and two prominent fangs that it uses to inject venom into its victims. They’re about this tall.” He bent down and held his hand out just above knee height. “Now at that size, they might not seem like a great threat, but their venom causes paralysis and in some cases, death, so we’ll have to work together as a team to make sure that no one gets bitten.”
The captain shot a look at her first mate, who nodded back. “We’ve fought fangfrogs before,” Rei said with a bored tone. “Keep them at a distance with spears and arrows, and no one gets a scratch.”
“Yes, that is the popular method,” Ameyron said, paging through his notebook. “However, I’d like to try a slightly different tactic, to test the feasibility of its implementation going forward with future subjects. Ah, that is to say—” He cleared his throat nervously. “I want to capture one alive.”
Everyone reacted at once with visible repulsion.
“You’re crazy,” Nikephoros blurted out, stirring for the first time.
Rei shot to her feet. “What’re you going to do with a live monster? Experiment on it?”
Mynta pushed up from the railing and stared at the mage. “That wasn’t part of the contract.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Benu asked.
“Please, calm down and let me explain,” the mage said, holding up his hands for silence. Then Ameyron pulled something from one of his pockets and held it up: a hunk of coppery metal that glinted red in the sunlight. “I’ve been doing extensive testing on a new alloy I’ve named oreikhalkos that appears to counteract all effects of Wyld Magic,” he said in an even tone. “In the crates I brought on board as part of my research materials, there are cages made of this alloy in various sizes. When a monster is placed inside, they lose their powers and they’re trapped the same as any other animal.”
Mynta folded her arms and shook her head. “You’re not bringing any of those creatures on my ship. No way would I risk our safety that way.”
Ameyron held up a thick sheet of paper, weighed down with several official seals, and pointed to the words printed clearly on its surface. “By your contract, you’ve agreed to assist in my research experiments according to my direction and to transport any materials necessary back to the Academy. I need live subjects to study their behavior and test their magical capabilities in a controlled environment.” He extended the contract to the captain. “You read this before you signed it, right?”
Mynta clenched her jaw so tightly that veins popped out in her neck. “Yes, I did.”
Rei shoved a barrel aside angrily and pointed an accusing finger at the captain. “You sold us out!” She whirled and stomped down the stairs leading into the hold.
Nikephoros had also gotten to his feet by then, glaring at Mynta. “You need to change that contract. We didn’t know what we were getting into.”
&nbs
p; Ameyron licked his lips fearfully as he sized up the larger man, but he stood his ground. “These are the terms. If you can’t fulfill your end of the deal, then I need to find another ship.”
Mynta snatched the contract out of his hands and scanned the words for several long moments, her lips moving silently as she read. Finally, she looked up at the mage. “Do you swear that none of your experiments or captured monsters will put this ship or any member of my crew in danger?”
Ameyron ducked his head. “Yes, I swear. I promise that I’ll be extremely careful.”
“Good.” Mynta shoved the contract back at him. “The first sign of trouble that I get from any monster, I’m throwing all of them overboard, do you understand? I’ll forfeit my fee before I let anyone get hurt.”
Nikephoros came to stand behind the captain and folded his arms, glaring down at the mage. “And no more surprises. You gotta tell us exactly what we’re getting into before we do anything.”
Ameyron bobbed his head again like a nervous bird. “I understand. My work can get rather technical, but I’ll try to explain it as best I can.” He rolled up the contract and slid it back up his oversized sleeve. Then he turned and walked shakily to his cabin in the back of the ship. His little apprentice scrambled to follow him.
Eirenaios, who had stayed frozen during the entire heated exchange, shook himself and looked around for the only other person
The Voyage of the Miscreation #1: The Voyage Begins Page 6
