by David Gross
"It's true that we spend most of our time at sea," said Anvil. "But you can see the truth of it in their eyes in Eldrinpar. There's something out there." He stared into the darkening woods, and all the Sharkers' eyes followed his. Even Belmer glanced at the trees. Here and there a flash of color broke the monotony of the green, and the variety of plant species made the woods more a jungle. A distant sound of swallows lulled the sky to sleep.
"Maybe so," said Belmer. "But if there is anything out there, it would do well to fear us." He looked at each of the Sharkers in turn as he continued.
"You have lost much in the past days," he said. No one reacted to that statement of the obvious. "But you have survived in the face of powerful adversity. Redbeard couldn't burn you with the Kissing Shark, and he couldn't catch you after. Every time we've been attacked, we've won through. You'll fail now only if you can't muster the strength that each victory gives you."
Brindra looked ready to say something, but Sharessa interrupted her. "We'll follow you on land as we did at sea, but we need rest tonight. And Turbalt's crew won't make it two mileb." The Sharkers muttered their agreement. The men of the Morning Bird weren't seasoned pirates like the Sharkers, and they were weaker for having a weak and indecisive captain.
"Well camp after we've made a good start through the woods," said Belmer. "But we leave the crew behind. They'll only slow us."
"But sir," protested Rings. "We can't just leave them shipwrecked." Sharessa felt the same way. The Sharkers were pirates, but they were sailors first. They couldn't abandon the crew that had brought them this far over sea.
Belmer's eyes narrowed. Sharessa feared for a moment that he might punish Rings as he had Kurthe. Instead, he considered Rings's words, smiled faintly, and said, "Very well. But if they slow us, we leave them."
"Aye," said Rings. "Aye," agreed the others, except for Brindra. Belmer didn't seem to notice, but Sharessa thought she saw his eyes slide briefly toward the big woman.
"According to Turbalt, we must head for the hills to the northeast," said Belmer. "Rings, you take Turbalt's men. Spread them out to find a likely path. We haven't much light left, so hurry."
"Aye, sir," said Rings. He sounded almost cheerful now that they were doing something again.
Belmer turned to Sharessa. She felt his eyes caress her body with a casualness that was almost insulting. "Take the waterskins from the salvage and fill them at the stream." He pointed to where he had emerged from the woods earlier. "Find some good branches for torches. There are only a few lanterns from the ship." "Aye."?* #??
They left the beach and pushed into the forest. Their feet were silent on the thick loam, but everywhere they moved, thick fronds shushed in their wake. Only Sharessa moved quietly, slipping gently through the green leaves and branches. Her body was still used to the gentle motion of a ship's deck, and a floor that did not move seemed at once strange and reassuring.
"I hate this," muttered Brindra. She held her big arms close to her body. "You can't see anything through these trees."
"One night in the woods," said Sharessa. "Then a few days in the city, and we'll all go back to sea."
"I still hate it," said Brindra. The big woman had never liked land, especially narrow city streets and thick forests. Her shudders were contagious. Sharessa felt the woods looming on all sides, too. Somehow it felt more confining than a tiny ship cabin. At least at sea, the open air was only a few steps away.
They found the stream, and Anvil shrugged off the mantle of waterskins he had draped over his shoulders. Sharessa took one and immediately began filling it with cool stream water.
"Let's hurry," she said. She turned to Anvil, putting a warm hand on the big man's arm. "See if you can find some good branches." He nodded and moved away, eyes seeking deadfall in the darkening twilight. The others knelt by the stream, plunging the goatskin bags into the stream.
As Sharessa stoppered the second waterskin, a piercing cry cut through the forest. The Sharkers froze and listened. For a long moment, the only sound they heard was that of the stream.
"It's just a bird," said Ingrar uncertainly.
"Listen!" Belgin lifted his waterskin out of the stream and laid it gently on the ground. They all listened but heard nothing.
"Anvil!" called Sharessa in a loud whisper.
"Right here," came the big man's rumbly voice. Sharessa saw him standing no more than twenty yards away, crouched by a tilting shadowtop. Brindra and Belgin sighed audibly at the sight of him. They all fell silent again. A minute quietly strangled itself to death before anyone spoke.
"No birds," said Sharessa. The others nodded. They had heard neither the sparrows nor any other birds since the scream.
"Which way did it come from?" asked Sharessa. Brindra, Ingrar, and Belgin pointed south. When Anvil crept up, he nodded southeast.
"All right, let's go." Shar put down the waterskin, quietly loosened her sword in its scabbard, and led the way southeast.
They moved quickly through the slender trees. Ingrar cursed quietly upon entangling one foot in some creeping vines. Before he could slip out of them, Brindra slashed once with her curving cutlass, and he was free.
"Damned tangle," she spat.
"Quiet," said Sharessa. She gestured forward, and they followed her. The Sharkers traveled another hundred yards through the woods.
"Down!" hissed Sharessa. As one, the Sharkers dropped into crouches. They had all heard the rushing sound ahead. Before them was a small clearing through which the last breath of twilight floated to the forest floor. Sharessa could make out three or four figures on the other side.
"Shar?" It was Rings's voice.
"Here," replied Sharessa, standing. The others followed her into the clearing.
"We heard it, too," said Rings. The faces of the two Mar sailors with him were dark above their striped, sleeveless shirts. "One of the crew was over here."
"Elsger," said one of the sailors. "Elsger!" he called.
"Shh! Don't move." Shar's heart leaped at Belmer's sudden voice. The man was supernaturally quiet until he spoke. His skin was not as dark as that of the Mar, those who descended from the original inhabitants of the region. But with his delicate olive complexion he could blend into the darkness much more naturally than any of the human Sharkers, whose fair skin marked them as children of the Ffolk, the settlers who now ruled the Five Kingdoms.
Belmer bent low and began pacing the edge of the clearing, staring intently at the ground. Surprisingly, Belgin joined him, pausing now and then to peer at a broken stem or torn leaf. The tracking continued in silence for some minutes. Belmer began the circuit a second time, frowning as he passed close to Sharessa. The moon-faced Sharper was less patient.
"I can't see where they go!" shouted Belgin. "The tracks come in, but they don't…"
Sharessa saw three perfectly round spots appear on Belmer's face. The man moved so quickly that he seemed to vanish and reappear two paces back, crouched. His sword materialized at the end of his extended arm, pointing up at the darkening branches. No human sound was uttered, but something like the breeze rustled the leaves above. A breath later, the Sharkers drew their weapons, all eyes following the direction of Belmer's slim blade. Sharessa felt as if she were moving in deep water, so slow were her limbs. Then she saw it.
Bloody remains hung heavily in the boughs above. They would have resembled the offal of a slaughterhouse, save for their incongruous location. Blood pattered down like the first kiss of rain. The Sharkers stared for long seconds.
Brindra pointed to a scrap of blood-sodden cloth dangling from the mess. It was a remnant of the striped shirt of the missing sailor.
"Found him," said Anvil.
Chapter Three
Closing the Net
"Backs to center," commanded Belmer. His voice was quiet but clear. "Belgin, Ingrar, eyes up. The rest of you, watch the forest." The Sharkers obeyed without hesitation.
"Stay," he said. Then he slipped away from the clearing. Sharessa watched
him disappear. She couldn't hear his passage over the gentle susurrus of the wind in the trees. The last of the twilight had died, and the moon had not risen high enough to compensate. She turned her eyes to the task of watching for the approach of… she didn't know what. Whatever had eviscerated the sailor so quickly and silently.
"I don't see anything," whispered Belgin. "It's gone."
"The branches are moving!" said Ingrar. His voice cracked, and he bumped into Belgin as he stepped back.
"It's only the wind," said Anvil. "Keep watching."
They were silent for painful seconds. Sharessa wanted Belmer to return, but he did not. The minutes devoured the seconds. Sharessa heard them screaming in her mind.
"It's gone," said Brindra. "Whatever it was, it's gone." Shar could hear the uncertain hope in the big woman's voice. She knew that Brindra didn't really believe that the thing was gone.
"Let's go back to shore," suggested Ingrar. "We can see anything coming out of the forest from there."
"Yes," agreed Brindra fervently. "Let's get out of these woods."
"Right," agreed Anvil's rumble and Ingrar's tremulous voice. Rings began to nod but stopped after the first electrum jingle of his earand noserings.
"No," said Shar. "Belmer said to stay. We wait."
"To hell with Belm-" snapped Brindra. She cut herself off and grimaced into the black woods. "We need light."
"We'll wait a few more minutes," said Shar in compromise. "If he's not back, then we'll go back to the shore."
Brindra didn't respond, but Anvil grunted an affirmative for himself and the others. They waited, staring into the growing darkness with eyes wide to catch the faintest movement. Echoes of starlight floated down through the leaves, and the faint kiss of the moon glimmered on the high clouds. Sharessa strained to gather every faint of light with her dark eyes, but all she could see were vague gray shapes.
As the long moments passed in a funereal march, even Sharessa began to wonder whether Belmer had abandoned them. Then she tensed to strike at a figure that appeared before her. A split second and she realized it was only a shadow cast by the man who stood just within the moonlight. Her body hard coiled before her mind comprehended what she had seen. Belmer's hand was already on her sword arm. He was inhumanly fast. Sharessa was too relieved to be annoyed.
"Nothing," Belmer said. "I couldn't tell which way it went. It must have fled through the tree-tops."
"I don't think this thing flees from anything," suggested Belgin. Sharessa imagined him stroking his pale chin, though she could no longer make out his face in the darkness.
"Back to shore," said Belmer. This time it was the Sharkers who moved with uncanny speed. "Stay together," he added.
They hurried back toward the forest's edge, but it was too late. Three lanterns bobbed in the darkness.
"Cover those lights!" called Belmer.
"What?" called Turbalt. Sharessa heard Belmer's intake of breath as he prepared to shout, but it was too late. One of the lights suddenly leaped up toward the dark boughs.
Then the screams began.
Sharessa saw the lantern that had risen into the branches whirl so quickly in a circle that her persistence of vision created a floating ring of golden light in the darkness. Then the ring disintegrated into a dangling light again, jerking up and down briefly before falling with a tinkling crash. A weak, guttering fire spread where the lantern shattered.
The entire spectacle lasted no longer than three seconds. The crewmen below the ring had not moved, but the Sharkers had already spread out and stalked forward quickly and quietly.
"Jan! Jan!" cried one of the sailors below. Sharessa supposed that was the name of the missing sailor. She never had learned all their names, despite days at sea with them. Though they were Mar rather than Ffolk, the division between the castes broke down at sea, but even that took more time than the Sharkers had spent with the men of the Morning Bird.
Sharessa listened carefully for Belmer's commands, but her eyes were on the trees above the panicked sailors. All she could hear were their babbling cries for help or light or "Jan!" as they began to flee or draw their swords.
Sharessa saw nothing in the darkness above them, so she looked among the sailors as she came closer to them. One of the remaining lanterns had vanished, while the other danced frantically among the paralyzed or confused men who stood their ground. Turbalt's high-pitched wail made an almost visible wake as the shipless captain once more proved his mettle before his crew. He was halfway back toward the shore.
The dancing lantern suddenly stopped, and Sharessa saw Anvil's huge form looming over the small sailor whose wrist he had grasped. In his other hand, the big man gripped his cutlass. Taking the lantern from the frightened sailor, Anvil raised it high, pointing his sword out beside the light. He scanned the branches above as the sailor stepped away, putting his back against a tree and drawing his own weapon.
Rings and Brindra emerged from the darkness. The dwarf clutched his axe in both hands. His mouth was a thin black line, but his eyes sparkled in the lamplight as they darted from shadow to shadow, seeking whatever had snatched up the sailor. Brindra stayed near Rings's side, covering him with her own keen blade.
The others were nowhere to be seen, so Sharessa crept up to the edge of the lantern light but did not yet enter. She kept her eyes on the trees above and strained to see through the darkness.
"Quiet!" called Belmer from the shadows on the other side of the lamplight. He was obeyed.
Sharessa heard the gentle shaking of the leaves, the panting of the sailors. The rest of the world held its breath, and then she heard a wet tearing sound in the trees above Anvil's lantern. She started to cry out to him, but it was too late. A dark, ragged mass fell upon him with a sickening smack.
Anvil shouted in surprise and fear, but he held onto the lantern. Even as she darted forward, Shar knew she was too late to help. She watched as Anvil thrashed against his flailing attacker, trying to free his cutlass from the entangling limbs without dropping the lantern.
Shar was still ten steps away when the silhouette of a long, thin blade pierced the attacker's odd, barely human body. It vanished and appeared again, this time at another angle. The weird figure fell to the ground before Sharessa had closed.
By the time she reached them, Sharessa saw Anvil's bloody figure crouched protectively around the lantern. The light spilled out to show Belmer, standing beside Anvil with his rapier and dagger poised to strike again, his own hands and face spattered with gore. They all looked down at the creature.
At first they couldn't tell what it was. Slick, gory flesh glistened in the yellow lamplight. Flaccid tentacles emerged from its torso, and… no, those weren't tentacles at all. The dead figure had been savaged beyond recognition.
They stared at the ruined body of another sailor.
"How could it do… that to him?" asked Ingrar in disbelief. "And so fast!" The Sharkers and the surviving sailors from the Morning Bird crouched on the sand around the two remaining lanterns. Turbalt hadn't spoken since Anvil and Ingrar caught up with him near the shore. Even the eight remaining sailors ignored Turbalt now, looking to Belmer and the Sharkers for direction.
"I don't know," said Sharessa. "I don't know."
"It's a fiend," offered one of the sailors. "Definitely a fiend. Definitely."
"No argument about that," said Rings. "Let's just hope it's had its fill."
"Definitely a fiend," continued the babbling sailor.
"They don't get full," said Belgin. "They don't hunt to feed. They kill because they like it. It's what they're made for."
"How do you know?" asked Brindra. "How does anyone know what a fiend wants?"
"Definitely. Definitely a fiend."
"Somebody shut him up," grumbled Rings and Brindra together. Sharessa almost smiled at their chorus, but the amusement drowned in the rising fear that had surrounded them.
"You're right," said Belgin. "No one really knows what they want. We just hear about wh
at they do."
"It's gone now," said Belmer, across the lanterns. "But if what you say is true, we can't just stay here and wait for it to return."
"We can't go deeper into the forest," said Ingrar. "It can pick us off one at a time in there."
"We can't stay here," returned Belmer. "There could be more of them, too. The longer we wait here, the greater the chance they'll gather and find us."
"Good point," said Anvil. Sharessa nodded. She knew she didn't want to be outside anywhere in Doegan. The stories she had heard convinced her that there were more fiends than ever in these lands.
"Let's at least wait until dawn," said a sailor.
"Aye," agreed one of his mates. "The thing didn't attack until night."
Sharessa turned to see what Belmer's answer would be. He didn't speak at first, only reaching up to stroke his chin. Across the lanterns, Belgin was making exactly the same gesture. Despite the nearly tangible fear among the Sharkers and the sailors, a few smiles appeared, yellow crescents on the shadowed faces.
Belgin mocked his own signature gesture by turning left and touching his chin with his right hand, exaggerating his nervous expression. Then he turned right and took his chin in his left hand, adding a fair imitation of Belmer's serious expression. Rings chuckled, and a nervous laughter eddied around the group for a moment. Even Belmer smiled briefly.
The laughter died after a moment. In the silence, all eyes rested on Belmer. His serious, commanding expression had returned.
"We'll wait until dawn," he announced. A few of the sailor's heads bobbed in eager agreement, and Sharessa heard Ingrains sigh of relief beside her.
"First we close these lanterns," continued Belmer. "Then well move about a mile along…"
A low moaning interrupted Belmer's orders. Sharessa looked around to see which of the sailors had made the sound, but then it came again. It was from the trees.
"Close the lanterns!" hissed Belmer. "Spread out. When we move, it's north along the beach."
Everyone obeyed, except Turbalt. The captain of The Morning Bird knelt in the sand, clutching one of the lanterns. "No," he said in his quavering voice. No no no no no no…"
