by J F Rogers
My head swam. She released me and backed away. Her freakish eyes widened as if she’d witnessed something gruesome. With her mouth frozen in a silent scream, she collapsed to the floor.
The boat swayed. I fell on my butt…hard. “Ow!”
“Fallon?” Evan, Maili, and Pepin’s voices merged. All sounded prepared to jump to my rescue.
“I’m okay. You can come down.” I didn’t have the strength to yell. Hopefully, they heard me. Blood trickled from my wound. I pulled my shirt collar up and held my hand there to stop the blood flow.
Crypt Girl writhed on the ground, eyes rolled up in her head. A continual groan escaped her parted lips, like something from the Exorcist. Which was probably accurate. It was an exorcism. If she survived.
I pushed away from her flailing appendages. Father, please let her live.
The others lowered a rope ladder and climbed down. Evan rushed to my side. Maili and Pepin crowded the girl. Her thrashing finally ceased.
“Are you all right?” Evan nudged my hand away and inspected the wound. “Thank God. It’s not bad. It’s almost stopped bleeding.” He pressed a cloth to my neck.
“I’m fine.” I took the cloth to hold myself. “How is she?”
“She’s coming around.” Excitement heightened Maili’s voice.
“Wha—? What happened?” Crypt Girl asked.
Praises erupted around her.
“You made it.” I struggled to throw my voice the short distance to her over the cheering.
“What’s your name?” Maili knelt before her.
Crypt Girl thrust an arm out and inspected her hand, then touched her face with both hands as if she didn’t recognize her own body. “Rowan.”
****
Shouts rang out above us. Feet pounded on the floorboards. Electric stench wafted down through the porthole.
“Fasgadair,” I said, staring at the others.
Evan ran to the rope ladder, his feet slipping on the wooden rungs in his haste. Maili followed close behind.
Pepin held the ladder steady as Evan, then Maili disappeared through the hole. “Be ready to grab your weapon when you reach the top.”
I fumbled my way up the ladder. At the top, I peeked into the ghostly silence. A headless corpse lay a few feet away. It shriveled up and disintegrated to dust. A breeze swept through, disfiguring the pile.
I climbed onto the deck and armed myself.
“Fallon. Watch out!” Wolf shouted.
I wheeled around, face-to-face with a bloodsucker.
Chapter Eleven
◊◊◊
THE FASGADAIR’S EYES CAUGHT the moonlight. They gave off an eerie glow. “Fallon?”
What was this? The monster wanted conversation? Should I use my blade? Should I let it bite me? My hand gripping the blade refused to budge.
The thing jerked and fell toward me. When I jumped out of the way, it landed facedown, a blade protruding from its back.
“Where was yer head, Fallon?” Wolf came running. He pulled the dagger from the monster’s back. Then turned in every direction, gaze darting.
I sniffed the air. It didn’t smell like there were any more fasgadair on board. No live ones.
Wolf cleaned the blood from his dagger, then sheathed it. “Why’d ye stand there waiting for the monster to attack?”
“I was—I—It knew my name.”
“They all know your name.” He freed his sword and raised it above the fasgadair’s neck.
“No.” I held my hand up. “Don’t kill it.”
“Are ye daft? The thing attacked us. It killed a crewman.”
“What if I can save it?”
“Not this time.” He swung his sword, and the head rolled away from the body.
People began emerging from the shadows. Their low conversations growing louder.
A rough man with a row of hoop earrings lining his ear approached. “That’s the lot.” He brushed his hands on his trousers. “Best keep an eye out, though. Eh?”
“Why’d you do that?” I didn’t care that a crowd was forming. My hands clenched, rage shaking my whole body. “It could have attacked me. It didn’t.”
Wolf wiped his blade on the fasgadair’s tunic and returned it to its sheath.
“Don’t you see?” I asked. “It stopped. It recognized my name. What if it wanted help?”
“And what if it wanted to kill ye?”
“If it had, wouldn’t it have attacked?” I fought back tears. “Isn’t this what I’m here for? He was down. We had the upper hand.”
“What could we have done, Fallon? Ropes won’t restrain a fasgadair. Should I have thrown him in the hold with Rowan?”
“Of course not.”
“Perhaps we should drain some of your blood ourselves so next time we can force feed it to them before they regenerate and kill more of our people. Does that sound like a good plan?”
My fists shook at my sides.
“I will always look out for ye and our people before saving fasgadair. I won’t apologize.”
The captain approached adjusting his cap. “How many did we lose?”
“Two crewmen, sir,” Earring Man said.
The captain sighed. “Back your stations. The night’s not over.”
****
Objects dangling from hooks and rafters clanged in the ship’s sway, waking me. I rocked in my hammock while the scents of bad seafood and body odor sank into my consciousness, but it wasn’t as offensive. I must be getting desensitized.
The ship groaned and creaked with each roll over the waves. Its rhythmic movement and sounds both comforted and disturbed me. The disquiet that kept me awake must’ve lulled me to sleep.
Sunlight streamed through the small portholes. Dust particles danced in the rays.
Most of the cots were empty. Shimri slept in one, his arms crossed behind his head. Wolf’s arm dangled from another.
Wolf. At memories from the night before, I fought the rising anger as his chest rose and fell. He was still alive. Perhaps I shouldn’t be so hard on him. It’s not like we had a procedure manual outlining what to do. And we lost two men. This was war. We couldn’t possibly rescue every fasgadair. At least we saved Rowan. For my sanity’s sake, I’d have to follow the advice Evan gave last year and be thankful for the lives saved and leave the lives lost in God’s hands. Who lived or died wasn’t up to me.
I stood. Waves of nausea washed over me. I dressed and headed to the captain’s cabin for food.
Evan was alone at the table, cutting an apple in half. “Good day, Fallon. Are you hungry?” He held out half his apple and thrust it into my hand.
“Uh. Thanks.” I sat across the table from him, and he placed a roll and a hunk of cheese in front of me. I bit a chunk of apple, then the cheese. They tasted so good together. Like the snacks Stacy’s mom used to serve. Sometimes I missed home. “When will we arrive in Bandia?”
“We’ve been blessed with the wind in our sails. At this pace, we should arrive in a few days. A week at most.” He bit nearly half his piece of apple. It bulged his dark cheek as he chewed.
I groaned. A whole week? “Where’s Rowan?”
“In the hold, sleeping.”
“Still?”
He shrugged. “She didn’t want to come up. So, we brought her food. She seems comfortable on the bedding we provided. Give her time. She has much to contend with.”
“I want to talk to her.” I popped the last bit of apple and cheese into my mouth, grabbed the roll, and rose to leave.
He grasped my wrist. “Remember what I told you? We don’t know her story.”
I returned to my seat, forcing my mouthful down as he released me. “I remember what you said, but so far four people have reverted from fasgadair to gachen. Morrigan killed Aodan too quickly, but both you and Wolf turned out fine. What makes you think this could be difficult for her?”
Evan’s countenance sagged as if a great weight had settl
ed upon him. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Wolf and I didn’t have time to dwell on it. We needed to escape Ceas Croi, return you to your realm, and flee to Bandia.” His gaze moved to the floor. “I was just so grateful.”
“As I recall, so was Wolf. Why wouldn’t Rowan be the same?”
He twiddled his thumbs. “You don’t know her story.”
“You keep saying that. What difference does it make?”
He drummed his fingers. “I always looked up to my brother…though I shouldn’t have. He drank, got involved with the wrong people…gambled.” Evan chugged his cider, then set the mug back down and mopped his mouth. He watched his hands as he rubbed them together. “I found him, nearly beaten to death. Men circled him, taking turns kicking him.” His voice cracked. “I wielded my dagger and killed them all. I don’t even remember doing it. But I remember standing there, bloody knife in hand with felled men around me.” He peeked my way, then dropped his gaze and swigged another drink.
Absorbing what he was saying took a minute. I couldn’t imagine him doing something so heinous. Then again, he’d been a fasgadair when I met him. My captor. Whatever he was like as a fasgadair or before, he was different now. I touched his shaking hand to reassure him I didn’t judge him for what he’d done.
He jerked away. “I carried my brother for miles. I had no idea where I was going. We couldn’t go home. I couldn’t help him. A fasgadair found us. Our blood attracted her.
“You can imagine what happened next. I was desperate for my brother to live. But she refused to help him unless I allowed her to change me too.” He buried his face in his hands. “It was my fault.”
My hand hovered over his shoulder. Was it a good idea to comfort him? Good idea or not, I rested my hand on his shoulder.
“You did what you thought was best to save your brother.”
He swiped his eyes with the back of his fist.
I retracted my hand. “But you’re okay now. I still don’t see why you think it will be different, or worse, for Rowan.”
He emptied his mug and placed it on the table. “The fasgadair blood didn’t make me a murderer. I did.”
“Wouldn’t that be worse? Wouldn’t that make you feel less redeemable, not more so?”
He rubbed his face. “I honestly don’t know what’s worse. But everyone has a story. We don’t know what kind of guilt she’s experiencing or how she’ll handle it. She has time to think. That may not be a good thing. One thing I’m sure of…she became a murderer as a fasgadair, and that’s not something easily overcome.”
****
Evan opened the hatch, and I climbed into the hold. Though sunlight streamed through the slats overhead, the dank space was no less creepy than it had been the prior night. Impenetrable shadows lined the exterior. Hanging metal objects clanked, and wooden slats creaked as waves rocked the boat. The fasgadair smell was gone. Now it reeked of low tide and mold.
I stood in the spotlight. Blinded, I retreated into the shadows and waited for my eyes to adjust. Rowan lay curled up in the blanket, in a fetal position. She looked peaceful. I shouldn’t wake her. I edged back toward the ladder.
“Fallon?” Her hoarse whisper sent a thrill through me. Another one lives.
I sat beside her. “How are you feeling?”
“I don’t understand. I’m alive?” She picked herself up with the care of someone who’d been hit by a bus.
“Yes.” My heart danced. “You’re alive.”
“Did I hurt you?” She pointed to my neck.
I touched the tiny bumps. They itched, like mosquito bites. Someone should invent a fasgadair-bite cream. But I’d be the only customer. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“How are you okay? How am I alive?”
“I’m not sure. Last year, when I first arrived in Ariboslia, I thought I was here to kill my uncle. But it seems God had even bigger plans. My blood either kills or saves fasgadair.” I spied the empty plate beside her. “Oh good. You ate something.”
Rowan shook her head. “A bird took it.”
“What?” No way had I heard her right.
“This morning. A bird took the food off my plate.”
“A bird?” There were many gachen on this ship. Someone must’ve wanted more than their ration. I shook my head, disgusted.
“’Tis all right. I wasn’t hungry.”
I ripped my stale roll in half and held out the uneaten portion. “Want some?”
She reached for the bread. “So, you have the power to save us? Fasgadair rather? You speak as if it’s nothing.” She nibbled some and swallowed. “Who’s your uncle?”
I studied her. She seemed sincere. Hadn’t everyone around here heard of me? Or was that presumptuous? “Aodan.”
She studied me as a baby does, never taking her eyes off me. It grew uncomfortable. Maybe that’s why people babble at them, to break the uncomfortable silence. “You’re the prophesied child.”
“Apparently.”
“Aodan is deceased?” Her eyes widened, full of hope.
“Morrigan killed him.”
“I wouldn’t have expected such a twist of fate.”
“It was an accident. She was trying to kill me. How’d you become a fasgadair?”
She cast her gaze downward. “’Twasn’t by choice.” Bitterness and sorrow laced her voice. She tore off a morsel of bread. “I hated myself…what I’d become. I remained in solitude…in animal form. ’Twas a just punishment.”
“Well, not anymore. You’ve been given a second chance.” I patted her shoulder.
She raised her head, tears streaking her cheeks. “How can this be? Why me?”
“Why any of us? None of us deserves what God gives us.” And only God knew who He’d choose to save through me next…if I survived.
Chapter Twelve
◊◊◊
I HOPED THIS TRIP wouldn’t taint my love of the sea. There was a good chance I’d go ballistic if I remained trapped on this ship much longer. An entire week had gone by, leaving me desperate to stand on solid ground.
“Land, ho!” The man in the crow’s nest held his hands to his mouth to amplify those wonderful words.
The captain shouted orders. Some crewmen bustled about on deck while others climbed the masts.
I fought my way through the organized mayhem to the bow.
Someone rushed past me, pushing me into the rail. “Make yourself useful or get below decks,” a surly crewman jeered over his shoulder.
Having no idea how to help and desperately wanting to see land, I kept moving. At the bow, I strained to see anything along the horizon. The man in the crow’s nest had a bird’s-eye view and a spyglass. Still, I prayed he wasn’t seeing things.
I kept my gaze on the horizon, praying, hoping for something. A sliver of green between the ocean and sky revealed itself. Thank God! I gripped the railing.
The hilly landscape took shape, growing in size and definition, revealing a beautiful city protected by a wall. Buildings filled the hills and dotted the highlands. A castle stood in the center, partway up the massive hill. Pastures flanked the highlands. A fortress rested at the highest peak. Mountains framed the city. Protruding land formed an inlet lined with pillars, obscuring the kingdom’s lower portion.
Evan appeared beside me.
“What are those for?” I pointed to the pillars.
He leaned on the rail. “’Tis the warning system. They’re guarded day and night. If something goes wrong, the guard lights the fire. When the guard across the way sees the fire burning, they light theirs. They do this all the way around the city, so everyone can ready their weapons and barricade the passageway.”
Pepin dragged ropes past us.
“Pepin, check this out,” I called to him.
“Hmph. I’m getting off this unstable hunk of timber and onto dry land where God intended us to be.” He continued past without glancing or pausing. “Pech weren’t meant
to teeter about…” His unintelligible mumbling faded away.
Evan and I laughed.
Wolf joined us. “Looks like yer having quite the blether. Does Rowan still refuse to come up?”
Evan scoffed. “Not even to see land. She doesn’t seem to want to come out of the dark.”
“Well, the lass can’t stay on board when we reach port. ’Tis not our ship.” Wolf headed toward the hold.
Rushing past, I reached out to slow him. “Let me talk to her.”
I descended the ladder and searched the darkness. “Rowan?”
“I’m here.” Just a hoarse whisper, her voice floated toward me.
“It’s time to come up. We’re almost there.”
She pulled her knees up and hugged them tight. “Where?”
“Bandia.”
“No!” Shaking her head, she buried her face in her knees.
“What’s the matter?” I knelt before her. She refused to look at me. “Is there something wrong with Bandia?”
“No.” She lifted her head. “There’s something wrong with me.”
“What do you mean?” I moved next to her, and the odor hit me. The musky stink of someone who’d gone far too long without a shower. I breathed through my mouth.
“Nothing.” She gave me a pleading look. “I can’t go there. Please don’t make me.”
“I can’t make you do anything. But you need real food and a bath. And you can’t stay on this ship.”
Judging from her expression, she either didn’t believe me or didn’t care.
“If you’re running from something, you’re sure to get caught if you stay behind.”
She closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. “Will you carry me in a satchel as a raccoon to your room?”
I studied her face. “So, you are hiding from something?”
“’Tis the only way I’ll go.” She crossed her arms.
She was about as likely to walk out of this hold with me or provide a solid explanation as Morrigan was about to hand herself over to my blood for testing. I groaned. “Fine. I’ll carry you.”
Rowan disappeared under the blanket, and a masked bandit peeked out.
****
We sailed into the inlet wide enough for one ship to pass through. Twin towers stood on both sides. A wall snaked away from each tower along the coast, lining the backs of the buildings within its perimeter. Guards armed with bows stood at the tops and base of each. The guard on the right walked in our direction, holding up his hand.
