by Stina Leicht
The room grew quiet. She made out the sound of a ticking clock and distant waves crashing against the beach. The work crews had apparently ceased their toils as the sky was cast in shades of purple, pink, and orange. The weather was perfect if a bit humid. Still, she could almost feel the storm lying in wait on the other side of the island like a wolf pack lurking at the edge of a dying campfire.
Kask’s open expression grew shielded and tense. “How much has Dylan told you of the world beyond your shores?”
Suvi stopped herself from smiling at his careful choice of words. Although known for being blunt, even brutally honest, the Waterborne were wary of what they revealed to outsiders. She looked to Dylan first for permission—something her father would’ve never done—but Dylan trusted her, and she had no intention of breaking trust.
He nodded encouragement but didn’t smile.
She said, “Dylan hasn’t told me much beyond a few enjoyable fish stories. Like you have tonight.”
“Do you know of the Old Ones?” Kask asked.
In a flash, an image of the World’s Pillar surfaced in Suvi’s mind, and she shuddered. Then it occurred to her that Kask couldn’t possibly be talking about the creatures under Keeper Mountain—until she remembered they were speaking in Eledorean and he’d used the appropriate inflection indicating evil. She blinked. “How do you know of the Old Ones?”
Kask paused. “We have heard stories from your soldiers. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to gather much information. It seems the Old Ones aren’t spoken of in passing. They aren’t discussed frequently among the Waterborne, either.”
“I don’t understand,” she said. “I’m not certain we’re speaking of the same creatures.”
“I assure you, we are. Have you had personal contact with them?”
“I haven’t. Not personally,” Suvi said. “I have visited one of the places where they are said to be trapped.” She took a deep breath. “No one has actually seen one in hundreds of years. One of their gates into this world lies buried beneath a mountain I know of within Eledore. There are other such places within each of the seven kingdoms, but I don’t know where.”
Leaning forward, Kask rested his hands on the table. “The Waterborne are not landless. We have the Mother Islands. Our homeland. I will not tell you where, because it is forbidden.”
“I have no need to know, anyway,” Suvi said.
Kask seemed somewhat surprised by her response, and again, she thought of her father and her uncle.
“Among our people there are legends of massive creatures that sleep beneath the ocean in the far east,” Kask said. “They stink of death and rotting slime and feed from nightmares. It is said they are large enough to eat ships whole. Ships not fortunate enough to be consumed are cast adrift to wander the seas. Their crews linger in a half-living state—their souls stolen from them. Any unfortunate travelers the ghost ships happen upon are boarded, raided, and cannibalized. Legends of ghost ships have existed for centuries. As you say, none have seen the Old Ones or a ghost ship—not within living memory.” He took a sip of wine. “Sadly, that is no longer the case.”
“You’ve seen them?” It was Dylan.
“Not myself. No,” Kask said without looking up.
“Who?” Dylan asked.
“Three months ago, the Dolphin vanished. Not long after that, Hanna’s Storm, the Sea Serpent, the Ardal Moonchaser, and Tess’s Star followed,” Kask said.
“Sink it all, that doesn’t mean anything,” Dylan said. “A storm might have taken them. It’s happened before.”
“As I thought, myself,” Kask said. “Until the Ardal Moonchaser returned here from a fishing venture. All her crew had disappeared. All but one. He lived long enough to tell us what happened and then mercifully died.”
Dylan’s skin took on a gray cast. “What did he say?”
“From what we were able to piece together, it seems the Dolphin came upon them in the night. Her sails hung in tatters, and the rigging was a mess.”
“Captain Prymm wouldn’t have stood for that,” Dylan said.
“Exactly,” Kask said. “Josiah was able to hide in the hold before they were boarded.”
“And he saw one of the Old Ones?” Suvi asked.
“As I said before, I have something to show you.” Kask got up from the table. “Please, follow me.”
Standing, Suvi understood that the wine had been more potent than she’d thought. Dylan steadied her with a hand to her elbow. Kask didn’t appear to notice as he led them down the broad staircase and across the courtyard. A pine-and-lilac-scented breeze pushed her hair away from her face. She tilted her head back and gazed into the night sky, seeking reassurance from the stars. The bad feeling from earlier twisted in her gut. Whatever it was that Kask was going to show her wasn’t going to be good.
They arrived at an iron-and-silver reinforced door set into the eastern wall of the third, shorter building. Kask unlocked the door with a key from his pocket. It opened to a set of stairs leading down into darkness. Dylan entered first, then Suvi and Jami. Kask paused to secure the door behind them. Light at the bottom of the steps told Suvi they weren’t alone. She followed Dylan, who started down, not stopping until he’d reached a narrow, unfurnished room. She spied another locked door at the end. It suddenly occurred to her that Kask was taking them to a dungeon. The stench of old blood haunted the air. She wanted to ask what they were about to see—anything to break down the fear clouding the atmosphere, but the moment she opened her mouth to speak, she heard a chilling cry. She felt sure the sound couldn’t have originated from an animal. Yet it couldn’t possibly have come from a person, either. The cross between a howl and a mournful keen echoed up the stairwell. Suvi shivered. Dylan started, and even Jami was affected. She saw her reach inside her shirt and then kiss the medal she kept on the chain around her neck.
Kask unlocked the door, motioned for them to go through, and then re-secured the lock. Two guards had been stationed inside the next room, a dungeon cell. It had a high ceiling and no window. A row of torches kept the cell brightly lit. In the center of the room stood an iron cage. In between the bars, pierced silver coins and tokens hung in floor-to-ceiling-length strands.
A misshapen creature unlike anything she’d seen before cowered in the shadowy corner of the cage, stinking of dust and old gore. The thing appeared malnourished and was about the same height as the average Acrasian—that is, slightly shorter than a kainen. It was clothed in a ragged jacket and loose black-and-white-striped sailor’s trousers. Its skin was covered in coarse, spiny fur the color of rotting leaves. It peered at her over a crippled and clawed hand with the shallow black eyes of a shark. Its features were flat and disturbingly nondistinct. A too-wide lipless mouth was set below nose slits, and something about the way it moved reminded her of an insect rather than a mammal.
In a blink the creature changed. First, it became a kainen with dark brown curly hair and a square jaw. “Help me. Please,” it said. Its voice was familiar and yet wrong—both sonorous and lisping as if it weren’t used to speaking around sharp teeth.
Suvi heard Dylan draw in a quick breath.
“It can’t be.” That’s Major Ander Lahtela, Suvi thought. He’s dead! How did he get here? Without thinking, she reached through the bars.
“Get back!”
Her hand stung as Kask slapped her away from the cage. Almost in the same instant, the creature threw itself at the bars. Silver tokens and coins clinked together like chains. A twisted arm swept through the bars, narrowly missing her. The monster’s visage blurred, and it hissed in pain before it became Nels. “Suvi! Please! Get me out of here!”
Stumbling backward, she let out a yelp. “What is that thing?”
“It has many names,” Kask said. “The Acrasians call it a malorum. We call it misery-drinker and soulbane. Its bite is quite poisonous, but not always deadly. The venom causes paralysis. More often than not, their victims die due to suffocation. Get enough into a wound, the
poison liquefies tissue. Then the soulbane feeds by sucking dry—”
Nauseous, Suvi took another two steps back. “That’s revolting.”
The soulbane smiled its too-broad smile with her twin brother’s mouth. She sensed an undercurrent of malice to its mirth. It opened and closed its jaw. Its teeth met with an audible snap.
“If it is rushed, it will drink a victim dry and leave behind a husk,” Kask said.
“Where did you find that thing?” Suvi asked.
“It was hidden on the Ardal Moonchaser,” Kask said. “Unfortunately, the boarding crew didn’t know it was there until it’d killed six of the crew.”
“How does it know what my brother looks like?” Suvi asked.
“Is that how it appears to you?” Kask asked. “It wears a different face for each person who observes it.” He turned to look at the thing. Sadness filled his eyes before he blinked. “It senses certain thoughts and targets images that evoke strong emotions. That is why we have to change the guards several times a day. Otherwise, it would lure them to their deaths as it almost did with you.”
“Why show me this?” Suvi asked.
“You asked me to explain our need for water steel. Silver can repel them—even kill them over time, but only water steel will kill them outright. Is that not so?”
“I—I’d like to leave now,” Suvi said.
“Yes,” Kask said. “It is late.”
THREE
“You can’t sleep either, can you, Suvi?” Dylan asked without turning around. A medium-sized black dog with short hair lay at the edge of the pool on his right. He scratched behind the dog’s ears. “This is Jet. She’s a good girl. Aren’t you, Jettie? The last time I saw her, she was a puppy.”
Surprised that Dylan should know her without looking, Suvi sat next to him on the edge of the dueling pool. The sharp brick ledge dug into the back of her thighs. No, I’m not sleeping. Not after seeing that thing in the dungeon. She let Jet sniff her hand. “Hello, girl.”
Dylan dangled his feet in the water. A perfect duplicate of a clear, star-filled night sky rippled in the pool’s surface. Set in the center of an elaborate potted-garden courtyard, the dueling circle was fifty feet in diameter and was no more than a shallow pool, ankle-or knee-deep at the most. The bottom was tiled in complex ceramic mosaic, but she couldn’t make out the pattern in the dark. The arena area was furnished with three concentric rings of teak benches—seating for spectators, she assumed. Hundreds of potted plants ranging from huge to small converted the area into a well-mannered forest. Heavy curtains made of rich damask marked entrances and exits and were supported by pairs of fifteen-foot pillars carved from differing shades of stone. There was no ceiling to protect the arena from the elements, only sky.
“At least it’s a beautiful night,” Suvi said.
Dylan grunted in agreement.
She checked a second time but was fairly certain that they were alone. The odds were good that Jami was near. Suvi didn’t know for sure—not that it mattered to her. Suvi listened to the water as little waves slapped the sides of the pool. Running late, the Sea Horse wasn’t scheduled to arrive for at least another hour. Kask had allowed Dylan and herself access to the dueling ring in order to prepare. Only, there wasn’t much preparation going on. Dylan sat at the edge of the water, his face set in a careful expression. As Suvi watched, he leaned forward and let his fingers touch the pool’s surface. The water grew cloudy just before tendrils of ice stretched in a sharp-edged halo around his fingertips. Faint crackling tickled the air. Jet sniffed with her nose in the air, got to her feet, and let out a soft bark.
Dylan soothed Jet. “Yes, Jettie. Magic. Good girl. Down.”
Jet complied.
“She senses magic?” Suvi asked.
“Cats are kept onboard to control the rats,” Dylan said. “Dogs trained to sense magic are kept to inspect shipments and to monitor the weather. I’m not the only weathermaster, you know. And not all the clans have amicable relationships with one another.”
“Oh.”
He withdrew his hand from the pool and destroyed the watery snowflake with his fist. “This isn’t your fight.”
“I’m your second.”
“You are not,” he said. “I’m doing this alone.”
“Your father disagrees.”
“His opinion doesn’t count.”
“Oh, I suspect he thinks otherwise. Come to think of it, I do too.”
“You don’t even know the first thing about a Waterborne duel.”
“Could that be because you haven’t told me anything? Therefore, my qualifications, or the lack thereof, are entirely your responsibility.”
Dylan stared up into the sky and gestured as if to plead with the moon. “I’ve no time for this. Will you stop arguing with me?”
Suvi unleashed a nervous smile. “What if I don’t want to?”
“I’ll not back down.”
“Well, I’ll not either,” Suvi said. “How does it feel when a good friend is being a stubborn ass?”
Dylan whirled. The tokens woven into his spirit knots clattered. “This is deadly serious!”
“So I hear.”
He let out a frustrated grunt.
“I don’t want to add to your problems,” she said. “That isn’t my intent. But you’re not making any sense.”
“Conveniently, whether or not you understand isn’t a factor.” He lowered his voice. “This isn’t about you, Your Grace.”
“That isn’t fair.” Suvi frowned and folded her arms across her chest. He’d hit a bit too close to the mark. Selfish. “I’ve never—”
“This entire situation is anything but fair.”
“I won’t let you commit suicide. I can’t. I want to help,” Suvi said. “Please, let me.”
He sighed and then whispered, “You can’t be my second, even if you weren’t a crown princess. Even if the sea lord would accept you as my second—”
“He said he would allow it, provided I won’t blame Clan Kask if I get hurt.”
Dylan’s mouth dropped open. “What in the name of the Great Abyss did you do?”
She shrugged. “I conferred with your father while you were off meditating or sleeping. Or worrying. Or whatever it was you were doing earlier.”
“You’ll be defenseless! And he knows it!”
“Defenseless? Ha!” She looked away. “I’ve been dodging court plots since I was eight. I have magic. I know how duels work. Nels told me. The second only assures that the fight is fair and acts as a witness. Your father says he won’t let you enter the ring without a second. No one else is going to do it. I’m your second.”
“I don’t believe this.” Dylan threw his hands up in the air another time.
“Is it because I’m female?”
Dylan let out a disgusted snort. “The Waterborne don’t hold to such stupid ideas.”
“Then is it because of Eledorean blood custom?”
Making another derisive sound, he shifted.
“It’s not the best alternative, I know. But I won’t have to hurt anyone. And my father doesn’t have to know I was involved.”
“This is not an Eledorean duel,” Dylan said, facing her. “Seconds participate in the fight.” Pointing at the dueling circle, he then said, “And the duel takes place in seawater.”
Suvi’s stomach dropped to somewhere around her knees. “Oh.” She watched as Dylan got up, paced to the far corner of the arena and back.
“Father knows this,” Dylan said. “What in the Abyss was he thinking?”
“What I was thinking. That you needed help.”
“You’ve landed yourself in a great deal of trouble.”
“Family habit. Nels is my twin brother, you know,” she said. “All right. What happens if you don’t have a second and your opponent does? Because clearly that’s the situation.”
Dylan looked away. “Then I must fight them both at the same time.”
“Damn it, Dylan!” Suvi said, exasperated.
“You’ve helped me—even when it was dangerous to do so. Who was there for me on my first posting? Who took my side when Lieutenant Mikkola would’ve had me tossed overboard?”
“That doesn’t matter. You don’t understand. You’re not Waterborne—”
“I owe you this,” she said.
Dylan exhaled.
She could see she was wearing him down. He was terrified, not that she blamed him. And although the idea of fighting in a duel made her stomach twist, she knew she couldn’t stand by and let Dylan die without attempting to stop it.
“And what of your Eledorean blood taboo?” Dylan asked.
It’s nothing but a senseless custom, Suvi thought. I know that now. She swallowed revulsion nonetheless. “Will I be required to use a blade or a pistol?”
“This is a magic duel.”
“Then I run no risk of staining myself with blood.” She let her shoulders drop. “My uncle has demonstrated the boundaries of blood custom in great detail over the years. Trust me.” She took a deep breath. “What will you need?”
“The second shields me from whatever Kester might do during the duel.”
“Who is Kester?” Suvi asked. “And am I required to kill him? Or can I merely stop him from hurting you?”
“Kester is Isak’s brother,” Dylan said. “You aren’t required to kill him. I simply need you to watch him. Alert me to danger, if you can. Or counter his attacks.”
“All right,” Suvi said. “If Kester can attack you, can Isak attack me?”
“I very much doubt he’d do that.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because Isak will be more focused on me, if he’s smart,” Dylan said. “He knows I can expose him. He doesn’t know about you or the messages. But he knows I wouldn’t be back unless I had some sort of proof.”
“How well do you know Isak?” Suvi asked.
“I used to know him very well,” Dylan said. “Or so I thought. But he was quite a bit younger then. He was twelve or thirteen when he went to work at one of our warehouses in Acrasia. He always was an ass. His brother is worse. At least, at the time I thought he was. I’m not so sure now. It’s been six years.”
