Rivalry (War of Nytefall Book 3)

by Charles E Yallowitz

  “He does that from time to time,” he states with no desire to give her any details. Offering the woman a flask of blood, he shrugs when he is rejected and takes a long pull. “You are the reason I have no illusions about the opposite sex always being in tune with the emotional side of life. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that you’ve known this is about love since the beginning. Jewelz took Clyde to make you feel the pain that she feels you inflicted on her. Her intention is not to kill him, but to steal him and break your heart.”

  “A partner is entirely different than a lover,” Mab argues, her voice a little shaky. Unable to handle being stared at, she flips to her feet and turns her back. “Jewelz might think Clyde and I are together again, so that’s why she’s doing this. I mean, it isn’t like she knows everything that’s going on in my life. Could be that she never heard about us stopping our more intimate relationship in the first place. Don’t get me wrong. Clyde dying will hurt, but it’s not the . . . I mean . . . Why did you have to be the one who talked to me about this?”

  “Because Chastity stayed behind and Luther is busy keeping Bob occupied,” Decker says with a chuckle.

  The burglar rolls her wrist and opens her hand to reveal Clyde’s necklace, which she puts around her neck. “You don’t share what I’m about to say with anyone. As a thief, I don’t like people getting too close. That’s why I get so defensive about these types of things. Also, me being that way with Clyde means I have to take on some of the responsibilities of Nytefall and I’m not ready for such a step. So, I’ve been playful to a point with him since he returned. Part of my anger towards Jewelz is that I feel like she’s forcing my hand when it comes to making this decision. Hey, I know you don’t owe me anything, Kenneth, but do you think you can keep your friends away from her? I want to finish this with my own claws.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that,” Decker replies with a bow. “Even Archillious has sensed that this is personal for you. None of us are foolish enough to get in your way. Though I am curious to know what you’re going to do to her when you finally meet.”

  A wicked smile appears on Mab’s face as she whispers, “If I get the chance, horrible things that will make the gods vomit.”

  *****

  Luther is the first to reach the top deck and is immediately hurled against the railing by a blast of water hitting him in the back of the head. The ship rocks in the other direction and he slides across the slick planks until Bob catches him by the wrist. Having jammed his lance into the creaking floor, the elf clings to the weapon and spins around it to get a better look at the halflings. The crew is standing on the deck and hanging in the rigging, but none of them are moving. Each one has a vacant expression and their limbs are locked in place while they try to sway with the ship. Stuck in a deep trance, the vampires snap their spines whenever they follow the more violent motions of the current. Luther taps his friend’s hand and points to the sky, which is devoid of clouds and even the slightest breeze. He clears his throat and nods at the mast, but Bob’s fingers slip and he slides towards the door to the lower decks. Flipping around, the red-haired forest tracker is about to jump for the abandoned wheel above when he sees Stephanie appear to steer the ship. Her arms are a blur of motion as she tries to gain control without knowing what she is doing. Before Luther can call out, Decker trudges out of the open doorway and catches him by the shirt collar. The dwarf waves to Bob, who hooks a leg around his lance and holds out his arms to receive his awkwardly hurled friend.

  The ship stops rocking for a few seconds, which the forest tracker takes advantage of by bouncing off the elf’s shoulders. He heads for the crow’s nest, but a taste of danger causes him to transform into a raven. Luther’s sudden change in size is enough to save him from a blast of lightning that punches a hole in the ocean surface. A sucking noise can be heard from the roaring currents as the gap is filled and the vessel is nearly dragged into the small whirlpool. Sensing that he is still in trouble, the forest tracker flies in an erratic pattern and narrowly avoids more of the blasts. He is unable to find the source and eventually dives into a messy pile of rope that has gathered at the prow. Returning to his true form, Luther struggles to get free of the thick bonds, but a jerk of the ship sends him over the railing. Dangling from the prow, Luther stares at the current, which has grabbed the ship with a collection of ephemeral hands. The longer he looks at the churning surface, the clearer he can make out hundreds of faces that range from grinning children to screaming elders. He can feel his mind drifting off as an eerie melody invades his ears, but the spell is broken once he is yanked back to the deck. A surge of pain snaps him out of the rest of his stupor and he glances at where Bob’s lance is stabbing into his foot.

  “Thanks for the rescue!” Luther shouts over the noise. Getting used to the current, he walks and slides to where Decker is checking one of the halflings. “I don’t have much knowledge when it comes to the ocean. If it’s anything like land then all of the animals have left the area or been eaten. All I can tell is that something has caught us. It could be two things since one is striking from above and the other from below. You’ve been doing a lot of sea voyages to attack our people in Canst’s Fields. Is this familiar?”

  “Not exactly,” the dwarf answers before pinching the crewman. Getting no reaction, he curses under his breath and makes his way to the helm. “The only beast that I can think of is a siren, but they live around islands. This is open ocean, which means we’re not likely to run into any hidden rocks. It wouldn’t explain the lightning either. Although, I’ve never seen bolts come out of nowhere and leave such odd holes in the water. Those had to be going at least thirty feet down.”

  As they climb the stairs, they notice that Stephanie disappears for an instant and then returns wearing a jacket over her drenched gown. The ritualist continues steering as she explains, “I thought it was strange that Mab wasn’t up here, so I checked in on her. She’s in her cabin and freaking out. Whatever put the halflings into a trance is trying to do the same to her, but she’s fighting back. So, she isn’t going to be any help. I do have something to suggest since I heard someone mention a death current. Ocean mysteries aren’t my specialty, but I’ve heard a few things. There are stories about those who drowned in shipwrecks getting carried away by the same current and combined into a submerged mass of rotting bodies. Supposedly, they roam the oceans and try to increase their numbers by directing vessels towards obstacles.”

  “There are a lot of faces and hands down there,” Luther mentions as he summons two of his phantoms. Sweating blood, he whispers the command for them to turn into ravens and take to the sky where they are ignored by the lightning. “So much for decoys. If there’s a physical entity below then we should be able to hurt it. What about harpoons? I saw a few racks of those in the hold along with oil barrels.”

  “But this thing is bigger than Nytefall!” Bob shouts from his perch on the stern. A series of clicks come out of the elf’s mouth and he leans far over the edge once he is done. “I found dolphins, who are the stallions of the sea, on the outskirts of this thing. We’re shouting at each other, but they tell me that they see rotting meat for miles. Sharks are gathered beneath the whole mess and are having a snack. Everything else is staying far away since they see merfolk trapped in the mass. Didn’t know they could drown.”

  The sound of splintering wood draws their attention to the starboard side and all of the vampires hurry to see what they hit. Instead of damage to the hull, they see a clawed hand sticking out of a jagged hole that used to be a porthole. A violent rocking forces them to grab the railing and they see Mab’s arm disappear, but the limb punches again once the ship has steadied itself. Decker whistles to Bob and points from a coil of rope to the elf’s lance, his message not becoming clear until he makes a harpoon throwing motion. With a frown, the lanky Dawn Fang readies his weapon and tosses it to the dwarf, who lets it fall to bounce off his chest when he sees Stephanie wandering towards the port side. Rushing to sto
p the entranced ritualist, Decker frantically waves for Luther to spear Mab before she breaks through the wall. Putting all of his strength into his jump, the soldier tackles his friend and tries to hold her down while the forest tracker hurls the makeshift harpoon. The burglar is pulling herself free of the hole when the lance punches through the center of her back and she looks down to stare at the injury, but makes no move to escape. With Bob and Luther grabbing the weapon, they yank on Mab with enough force to send her flying onto the deck. Both women get to their feet and unleash matching shrieks before flopping back onto the floor.

  “These can reduce the power of a Dawn Fang for a few minutes,” Decker says while sliding a pair of manacles to Bob. He takes out another pair and binds Stephanie to the railing in case she tries to jump again. “Do the same to Mab. This takes out the only two onboard who could pose a threat to this death current. All I can think is that being vampires means we can’t be drowned, so we only have to wait this out. Of course, that means we could lose the ship and then we’ll never reach Apelios in time.”

  “Archillious might have a poison that can help us,” Bob suggests, his head swimming from touching the manacles. Gripping the wheel, the elf briefly hears a song, but it stops when he hums an opposing melody. “They’re trying for the rest of us. Being offkey and pinching should give us some time. Not that we possess any powers that can fix things. I hate to admit this, but horses aren’t the solution. You have magic, Decker, so cast a spell.”

  “I don’t know any that could handle this,” the soldier begrudgingly admits. The blade of his axe bursts into flames and he holds it up to send a blast into the sea. Before he can unleash the fireball, his beard puffs out and he lets his arm drop to avoid getting struck by a blast of horizontal lightning. “It keeps getting worse. To think we’re going to be defeated by a threat that we stumbled upon. Perhaps I can help the rest of you get away. Bring me a barrel of oil and I will bathe myself in it. One spark will turn me into an inferno that we can throw at the death current. It does seem to be afraid of my fire axe.”

  “Let’s find Archillious and ask about the poisons first,” Luther suggests before jamming his fingers in his ears. Even with the blockage, he can hear the singing, which is joined by strange thuds. “I think something is changing. Hey, look over there! One of the halflings is starting to move. Maybe we’re coming out of the current.”

  Decker and Bob look to where Luther is pointing with his elbow and watch as the captain trudges up the stairs. With a shake of his head, the halfling seems to snap out of one trance and immediately enter another that requires he skip towards the wheel. The ship veers to the left and a screech erupts from below, which sends plumes of putrid-smelling water into the air. All of the crewmembers break into a flurry of activity and bellow a tune about searching for a lost treasure. Unsure of what is happening, the Dawn Fangs can only watch as the halflings rush about the deck using various methods of movement that are all oddly playful without hampering their work. Even one man who is walking on his hands is able to keep up with the others. Those in the rigging leap and clamber around like monkeys, none of them showing fear or care about the dizzying height. Within minutes, the ship has stopped its violent rocking and begins heading for still waters.

  The ephemeral hands stretch higher up the hull only to get severed at the wrist by a white blur that circles the ship. Being spectral instead of flesh, the limbs quickly regenerate, but find that whatever is attacking them is moving fast enough to keep them at bay. Enraged by the denial of its newest members, the bulk of the death current rises from the depths and attempts to block the vessel. Its undead form is nothing more than hundreds of bloated corpses covered in seaweed and barnacles. Flesh on the verge of rotting has melded together to keep the drowning victims together and the edges of the shifting creature are an array of flailing arms. All of the toothless mouths open as the monster leans forward and reveals compact lightning storms hidden inside the maws. Once one of the cloudy orbs leaves its shadowy home, it becomes a faint haze against the clear sky. Before the distortion can release a bolt, the white blur protecting the ship shatters it and comes back around to punch through the main body. All of the death current’s empty eyes shift and get closer to the gaping hole, which is no bigger than a grown man’s fist. Even with the damage being minor, the creature is not used to getting injured and immediately plunges back into the depths. It stays completely still while the ship drifts away from its influence, the occasional arm breaking the surface as it moves to keep the corpses afloat.

  “You two saw a flying bunny, right?” Bob asks with a quizzical look on his face.

  *****

  “These are the rules while we work together,” Lost declares while she paces from one side of the room to the other. Blocked from Archillious’s mind, she has staked him to the floor by using the harpoons from the hold and curving them to prevent easy removal. “First, you are to address me as Princess General and do so without sarcasm. I know what that is now, so don’t try to trick me. Second, you will bathe once a day because you stink. If need be, I will gladly dunk you in the ocean and take you out after an appropriate time has passed. Third . . . I forgot, so let’s move on to four. I get all of your desserts for the rest of the trip and you have to eat all of my vegetables. Fifth, I will kill you at the first sign of betrayal. It won’t be pretty. Sixth, there will be absolutely, positively, without question no socks. Do you understand?”

  “Always good to see that some of my viciousness has rubbed off on you,” Archillious replies with a laugh. He cackles at the feeling of the harpoons twisting and sinking, the threat of dismemberment getting closer. “You really aren’t the torturing type, Princess General. How about we stop this game and talk like adults? After all, you’re eighteen now, so the mature Archillious should treat you like a woman instead of a child. Not the way you’re thinking, but I do need to take you seriously these days.”

  “What do you mean by not the way I’m thinking?” the silver-haired vampire asks, her foot rising to scratch her head. When she realizes what the assassin is talking about, she growls and stomps hard enough to put her foot through his stomach. “Ewww! That’s just gross and perverted and gross and nauseating and gross! I’m adding another rule. You don’t say or think anything like that about me ever. If you do then I’ll figure out how you’re blocking me and get around your defenses. Once in your head, I’m going to make you think dirty thoughts and be grossed out too.”

  “That doesn’t sound like much of a threat.”

  “Fine, I’ll make you forget how to make poisons.”

  “I can always relearn it.”

  “Then-”

  “Don’t you remember that threats never work on the unbreakable Archillious?”

  No longer able to hold back her disgust, Lost has the harpoons on his limbs sink low enough that the curved end touches the floor. She is barely aware of the door behind her opening when she has the metal stakes spin and sever all of Archillious’s limbs. Impressed by the womb-born’s savagery, the assassin laughs until red tears flow from his eyes. The noise angers Lost even more, but she is tackled from behind before she can behead the other vampire. She rolls onto her back to see that Decker is standing over her and Luther is nearby with only one of his sickles drawn. Wanting to hurt Archillious some more, she has her bunny rush through the porthole to knock the soldier into the hallway. She is surprised when the forest tracker steps in her way and ducks her pet’s next attack. Not wanting to fight a friend, Lost pouts and is about to take a seat on the bed when she remembers who has been sleeping in it. With an impish smile, she grabs the frame and flips it through the wall. The instant she sees the open ocean, the Dawn Fang falls into a trance and walks to the very edge of the gap.

  “I don’t think she’s ever been at sea before,” Bob mentions from the doorway. Seeing Decker’s medal on the floor, he tosses it to the dwarf, who is sitting on the floor with a gaping wound in his side. “The crew and Stephanie are back to normal. I check
ed on Mab, but I can’t find her anywhere. The rat I talked to thinks he saw her vanish in the hold, but he couldn’t be sure. How did Lost get here?”

  “Mommy slept with an elf, gave birth to me, abandoned me, I lived for-” she starts to explain, her voice cutting off when she realizes what her friend is really asking. Enjoying the taste of salt on her tongue, she leans out of the ship until she is holding onto the edge by her nimble toes. “I hid in a barrel of cheese that the cook kept forgetting about. Well, he didn’t forget so much as I turned him away whenever he got close. Don’t worry because I snuck out to take a bath every night. Mab has become a really deep sleeper since Clyde was taken. Can we fish from the top? I’ve never gone fishing before.”

  “Not sure I like her being here,” Decker admits with a groan. Ignoring his own injuries, he goes about pushing Archillious’s limbs together and removes the harpoons. “It isn’t that I don’t like you, Lost, but I think we’re going to need stealth before power. Your lack of restraint could result in a disaster, especially with such a cunning enemy as the Vampire Queen. She probably knows about you too, which means she can set you off. For example, what would happen if she pins a pair of socks to my back?”