by Paul S. Kemp
"Shame on ye to even say such a thing," Dorlon admonished. He was lean and gray, far from his youth but a good man to have as quartermaster. "If ye haven't a care, ye'll call down all manner of bad things up on our heads."
Zahban laughed at the other man. "Ye're turning into an old woman, ye are."
Dorlon cursed the captain good-naturedly.
As he stood on the deck, Rytagir studied the dark sky. He had to squint through the sheets of rain that swamped the ship's deck. Night was still hours away, but it was hard to tell given the storm. It was almost as dark as night already.
"Well," Zahban asked, "do we be rich men or poor men?"
Rytagir couldn't help grinning. He liked being right in his projects. "She was down there, captain. And so was the gold."
The crew cheered enthusiastically.
"The bad news is that we're going to be sharing the salvage. The good news is that getting it up from the sea floor is going to be a lot easier than I thought."
"What do ye mean by-?" Zahban clamped his big mouth shut as Irdinmai caught hold of the ship's side and hauled herself aboard.
"So this is yer bad news?" Zahban asked.
Irdinmai glanced at him with sharp disdain. She favored Rytagir with the same. "I've never been referred to in that manner."
"I guess she speaks our tongue," Zahban said sheepishly.
"Quite well, actually," Irdinmai replied. "And we're not any happier about the arrangement than you are, captain."
"I reckon not, Lady." The captains tone was respectful. "Well then, let's just make the best of this." He rolled an eye at Rytagir. "I just hope ye left us some profit to be made."
"There's enough." But Rytagir knew that every man aboard was thinking about how there could have been more.
7
After the relay was set up, everything went easier. Rytagir stayed below and supervised the salvage. The sea elf warriors didn't have much experience at working shipwrecks, but they learned quickly.
The gold was taken up first. They placed the ingots in nets and swam the loads to the surface. Zahban's men stored the salvaged goods in Azure Kestrel's hold. Irdinmai stationed guards aboard ship to ensure it didn't depart unexpectedly.
Fatigue chafed Rytagir mentally and physically, but he kept himself working. Once he had the hold salvage squared away, he turned his attention to the captain's quarters.
He found the captain's log easily enough, but the papers he was looking for-the ones he'd heard about and read about in the research he'd done regarding the peace treaties-weren't there. At least, not within ready sight.
Then he started looking for secret places where documents, contraband, and the captain's personal fortune might be kept.
"Maybe those documents aren't here."
Walling away the frustration he felt, Rytagir turned to face Irdinmai. "If they're here, I'll find them," he promised.
"What's so important about those papers?"
"They'll provide a better understanding of the events that were taking place in this region three hundred years ago."
"And that's important?"
"Our histories tend to be more volatile than yours, Lady," he said. "Every time two cultures, two cities, or two nations fight, something of both is lost. If more than two are involved, even more is lost. The document I'm looking for was a peace accord. An early draft. It would be interesting to match it against the peace accord that was actually negotiated."
"Will that change anything?"
"I doubt it. But for those of us who really want the whole story and not part of one, these documents are a necessity."
"You really care more about finding this than the gold, don't you?"
"Yes. You have stories you hand down to your children, to teach them wisdom and your ways, and to teach them right from wrong."
"Of course. Every tribe does."
"Up there, few people live in tribes anymore. Many of them live in large cities."
Irdinmai bristled as if she had been insulted. "We too once lived in cities. I know what a city is."
"I meant no offense, lady. I only wanted to point out that cities are far larger than what you may be accustomed to down here. Many people-some of them from distant lands and different cultures-live in those cities. Thousands of them. As a result, our histories are not as pure as those among your people."
For a moment, sadness touched the silver eyes. "I've seen the ruins of cities that have fallen into Seros," she said. "I've wandered among the buildings. I can only imagine what it might be like to live in such a place as that."
There were tales of great cities of sea elves that had vanished on the ocean floor, but no one had ever found any truth of that. Rytagir believed in the myths more than most, but even he felt they might offer hope, but not truth.
"If ever you decide you should want to see a living city, Lady, get word to me. I'll be glad to show you around one." Rytagir didn't know what prompted him to make such an offer, hadn't even known he was going to make it until the words fell out of his mouth, and he felt foolish.
Instead, she said, "If I decide to see a city, I'll do that." Then she turned and began helping with the search of the captain's quarters. "Perhaps two of us will be more clever than one."
"Thank you," Rytagir said. He strove to wall off the barrage of questions that filled his mind about whether she would take him up on his offer, and what he would do and where they would go if she did. It didn't work. She was beautiful, and there were so many places he could have shown her.
He took a dagger from his boot and used the hilt to rap against the wooden walls and floor. The thump of metal strik shy;ing wood sounded different underwater.
But the sharp crack of smashing wood behind him drew his attention immediately. He spun, not certain what he'd heard.
Then Irdinmai called out a warning.
In the gloom barely penetrated by the lucent coral he carried, Rytagir saw a powerful figure claw through the stern windows that led to the captain's quarters. It had six limbs, and the two additional arms helped it tear through the windows.
The creature looked more fish than man. Iridescent scales covered its powerful body and gleamed under the glow of the lucent coral. Black talons curved out from its fingers. As broad as it was, it didn't look tall. But Rytagir knew from the size of the window that the creature had to be almost seven and a half feet tall.
Large, magnetic black eyes sat under a ridge of bony growth. The creature's head was hard and angular, and the jaw jutted forth. Sharp teeth filled the great, gaping mouth. Ridges carved the creature's face and gave it an inherently evil visage. Fins ran the length of the creature's arms, from its wrist nearly all the way to the shoulder.
Like the sea elves, the creature was lighter on its front than on its back. Most of the creature was teal in color, but it was uneven, stained with ragged splotches of gray and green. Great fins growing out from the sides of its head swept back to join the main dorsal fin along its back. The fins of the sahuagin of the outer sea stood out independently.
It wore a dark breechcloth of indeterminate color that hung to its first knees. The creature's legs were double-jointed, the second joint allowing the legs to bend back the other way. It carried a long club that looked like a spear. One end held a sharp-bladed point, and the other held a spiked club head. A leather harness crisscrossed its chest and held up a bag woven from underwater plants.
Rytagir had dealt with the sea devils before, each time barely escaping with his life.
"Meat," the creature shrilled in its language. It thrust the staff's blade at Irdinmai's chest.
8
Rytagir threw himself forward but knew he was going to be too late.
Irdinmai gave ground and drew her sword from her hip. The blade whisked in front of her and collided with the sahuagin's club. The club went wide of the mark.
The sahuagin snarled in angry frustration. Two more of its fellows, these with only two arms apiece, poured through the broken window.
The two other sahuagin flew across the open space. But the room inside the cabin was limited. They got in each others way. Rytagir feinted at the head of one and ducked down as his opponent chose to bring up his club to block the perceived blow.
Crouched now, Rytagir sprang forward and slashed his sword across the sahuagin's midsection. The creature's entrails spilled out. Without thought to its dying companion, the second sahuagin grabbed the mortally wounded one's innards and began to feast.
Deep Sashelas, Rytagir swore to himself. Even though he'd heard stories about how callous the sahuagin were, he'd never seen anything like this. The sahuagin shoved its maw full and chewed and swallowed. Even the wounded one turned and snatched loose pieces of itself from the water and ate them.
Rytagir stepped around the sahuagin he'd slashed just as it convulsed like a drowning man and died. A blood cloud spewed into the water from its massive jaws.
The second sahuagin stabbed its weapon at Rytagir. After blocking the blow with his sword, Rytagir kicked the sea devil in the face. The sahuagin's face shattered under the blow and fangs drifted out into the water.
Still, the fight hadn't gone out of it. The creature regrouped at once and attacked. Rytagir blocked the spear with his left forearm the second time and thrust the long sword straight into the sea devil's neck. The blade grated on the collarbone, then sank deeply into its chest. With a quick twist, Rytagir slashed the sahuagin's throat and freed his blade at the same time.
Fearfully, he shoved the dying sahuagin from him and glanced in the direction he'd last seen Irdinmai. He felt certain she was already dead.
Instead, she bravely fought on and succeeded in blocking her opponent's attacks. Several cuts on three of the sahuagin's four arms wept crimson into the water. She was good with her weapons. She held a dagger in her left hand and as he watched, she dropped her long sword and drew yet another knife.
In a blinding display of martial arts, Irdinmai slashed her opponent from head to toe. The sahuagin flailed at her, but she blocked the blows with her elbows and forearms.
Then her right hand shoved the knife up from under the sea devil's chin. The blade was too short to reach the creature's brain, but the second knife, swept across in her left hand, sank to the hilt in the sahuagin's right temple. For good measure, to kill the reptilian brain that drove her opponent, Irdinmai cruelly twisted her blade.
The sahuagin shuddered and went still.
Calmly, Irdinmai freed her knives and put them away before reclaiming her long sword. She glanced at Rytagir.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
Rytagir nodded. "I thought you were in trouble."
"I was." She favored him with a tense smile. "We still are."
A shark invaded the captain's quarters. The fierce beast came at Rytagir with its mouth gaping. Rytagir rapped it on the nose with his sword hilt.
The shark turned tail and left, but not before it managed to grab one of the dead sahuagin by the leg and haul it back out into the open water. Before it had gone far, another shark zoomed in to rip one of the dead sea devil's arms off.
"Move," Irdinmai ordered.
Rytagir started for the door, then he saw a crack in the wall behind the elf maid. The hidden space there held several pouches and a waterproof wooden document box that just fit the description Rytagir had read about. He forced his way past Irdinmai and shoved all the contents into his shoulder bag.
Irdinmai led the way through the door. Rytagir paused just long enough to grab the lucent coral he'd dropped.
Though he couldn't see very far in any direction, Rytagir saw that the ship was overrun with sahuagin. The sea devils were locked in mortal combat with the sea elves.
"Merciful Sashelas," Irdinmai whispered in her tongue, "keep us in your benevolent sight."
"We've got to swim for the ship," Rytagir said. He spoke in her tongue so she would effortlessly understand his words. "We need to join forces while we're still able."
Irdinmai glanced at him in surprise. "The ship? On the surface?"
Rytagir knew the sea elves would be loath to leave the sea. "It's the only chance we have," he insisted. "You'll be out of place aboard, but so will the sahuagin. We can fight them off there."
Before Irdinmai could reply, two sahuagin shot out of the darkness into the lucent coral's pale blue globe. The sea elf maid knocked Rytagir aside. Sahuagin claws slashed across Rytagir's leather armor and the blow knocked him farther back.
The sea devils came around. Both grinned maliciously as they drew back their spears.
"Meat!" one of them shouted.
A dolphin swam like an arrow and struck the sahuagin before it could defend itself. The crack made by the spine shattering was loud in the water. Still, the sahuagin refused to die so easily. Even with its head on its shoulder, it fought to swim toward Irdinmai and Rytagir.
"Block him!" Irdinmai shouted.
9
Instinctively, Rytagir lifted his sword and turned aside the sahuagin's thrust as Irdinmai stepped toward it. Her blade sank deeply into the sahuagin's midsection. She used his spine as a fulcrum and cut through the side of the sea devil's body. Blood filled the water.
Mortally wounded, the sahuagin drew back and gave vent to a full-throated blast of rage. Rytagir's ears ached from the pain of the assault.
He swam back and pulled at Irdinmai's arm by hooking his wrist inside her elbow. The glow from the lucent coral shifted and threw shadows of her body over everything.
"We have to go."
She turned and swam after him. The sahuagin outnumbered the sea elves. Corpses of both hung in the water. Dying warriors managed only feeble movements. Both were prey for the sharks.
"Get your people together," Rytagir ordered. "Get them out of the battle."
Irdinmai sheathed her sword and smashed her bracelets in quick syncopation. Evidently the ringing tone created, or the pattern of the sounds, was unique to Irdinmai. At once the sea elves swam to their mistress's side and set up a defensive perimeter.
"Take them to the ship," Rytagir said in the sea elf tongue so everyone would know. "We can better hold them there."
The sea elves hesitated. Irdinmai gazed at Rytagir.
"Now! "Rytagir roared as a line of dolphins intercepted the sahuagin and sharks that came at them. "Now, if you want to live."
Irdinmai gave the order and the sea elves swam for the surface.
Rytagir pricked his finger with a knifepoint and spoke a string of eldritch words. Nearly all of the sharks and sahuagin turned on the ones next to them and started rending and tearing with fangs, claws, and weapons. Death spread throughout the water. Only a few of the sahuagin escaped the spell's effect.
"What did you do?" Irdinmai asked.
"A spell," Rytagir explained as he swam up to meet her.
"Magic?" She looked appalled. "You're a wizard?"
"Only part of my studies, Lady. I don't know many spells. That one is small." Rytagir glanced over his shoulder. The sahuagin still fought each other and the sharks. "The spell puts blood spoor into the water and encourages predators into a blood frenzy."
"We should attack them while they're confused," Rasche said.
"No. That spell won't last long. Swim if you would live. I've got one more trick up my sleeve."
There were a few muttered oaths, but the sea elves swam together.
When he whirled in the water, Rytagir saw that the sahuagin had once again taken up pursuit. He was no longer dependent on the lucent coral alone to see them. Pale gray light from the sky above penetrated the water too.
He reached into his shoulder bag and took out a small bag of sharks' teeth. Then he waited as a score of sahuagin swam at him. Many of them suffered wounds from the hands of their fellows.
"Rytagir!" Irdinmai shouted.
When he knew he could wait no more, Rytagir spoke the words sharply, traced a sigil in the water, and shoved the bag forward. Heat nearly scorched his palm as the spell consumed the bag of sharks' teeth.
A silvery ripple shot through the water and spread out, eight feet wide and almost forty feet down. The enchanted water shredded the sahuagin like sharks' teeth. Bloody gobbets of flesh, limbs, heads, and torsos floated limply in the water after the spell exhausted itself.
The sea elves cursed again, and Rytagir knew they would never trust him again.
"Swim," Irdinmai ordered.
Captain Zahban and his sailors had their hands full repelling the sahuagin. The sea devils tried to board the ship, but the crew fought them off.
"Captain," Rytagir shouted as he broke the surface, "permission to come aboard!"
"Come ahead with ye then," Zahban shouted back. He yelled out orders to his crew, and eager hands swept down to pull Rytagir and the sea elves from the water.
Archers stood to arms and feathered as many of the sahuagin as they could.
"You're a fool for staying," Rytagir said.
"Ain't ever been one to cut an' run," Zahban replied as he cleaved a sahuagin's skull with his cutlass. Blood and brain matter splattered the deck. "But I wasn't gonna give ye much more time, I'll warrant ye that."
The sea elves fell into place with the ship's crew. Together, they fought to keep the sahuagin from the deck.
"Where'd ye bring them beasties up from?" Zahban asked.
"They came up on us unawares," Rytagir shouted. He thrust his long sword through the throat of a sahuagin that had climbed up the side of the ship. Then he kicked it off his blade and back into the ocean.
"From where?" asked the captain.
"I don't know."
"I've never seen so many in these waters."
"There appear to be more coming." Irdinmai pointed to the east.
