Crowned

by Christina Bauer

  Not that I didn’t try get answers from Jicho. That plan just hadn’t worked out too well. Starting a conversation with the boy was troublesome at best. Every time I asked him a question, Jicho launched into a description of his beloved bolts while some kind of dial popped or whistle blew. Jicho assured me he knew exactly how to manage the MAJE—and that he could certainly chat while still keeping the boat afloat—but I had my doubts. All in all, things were just more silent and sane when both Jicho and I stayed focused on our respective tasks. Even so, it didn’t stop Jicho from trying.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to hear about the bolts?” The moment the words left Jicho’s lips, one of the dials let off a small geyser of steam.

  I gestured at the errant dial. “I’m very clear on the bolts. Please focus on that steam. It looks rather dangerous.”

  “It’s not.” Jicho screwed his mouth up, which I was quickly learning meant that he wasn’t quite sure how to fix whatever had gone wrong. “Let me tell you about the bolts. We sourced them from a tinker in the north lands. The fellow had a nose the side of a yam. Did I tell you about him?”

  “Four times. How about we change the topic from bolts. What is the silk for, exactly?”

  “All sorts of things.” That was the best answer I could get from Jicho on critical items. “Oh, did I tell you that the tinker’s name is Obadiah?”

  “You did.” Six times.

  “Now this Obadiah—” Jicho paused, his gaze fixed on the water. All the color drained from the boy’s face.

  This wasn’t good.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Jicho didn’t answer. Instead, he kept his gaze locked on a strange ripple on the water, as if something was moving under the river and heading toward us. I pointed to the spot. “Is that what you’re looking at?”

  “Yeah.” All the color drained from Jicho’s face. “I don’t know what that is.”

  A chill crawled up my neck. “You don’t?” Jicho was my resident expert on odd happenings in the jungle.

  Jicho spun about in a slow circle. “There are more of them.”

  Standing up, I scanned the water around us. Sure enough, more of the strange waves were shifting across the surface of the river. About a half dozen somethings were moving toward us, their motions hidden by the dark river. My pulse sped.

  The charge of magick filled the air, making my hair stand on end. An odd chill licked across my skin, followed by a strange heat.

  Heat and cold.

  Necromancer and Caster power.

  I shook my head.

  It couldn’t be…

  A pulse of violet light shot under the surface of the water.

  It was.

  Whatever was coming, it wielded hybrid magick.

  My stomach twisted with worry and doubt. Yes, I couldn’t cast any spells right now. But if I were about to face Caster or Necromancer magick, then I’d at least know what to expect.

  Jicho moved to stand beside me. His small hand gripped mine. “You know what’s coming, don’t you?”

  “Whatever it is, it’s got hybrid magick.”

  “Then it’s not your friend Nan?”

  “Nan wasn’t even a trained Necromancer,” I explained. “She barely could pull in death magick, let alone hybrid.” More waves of cold and warm energy moved across my skin. I shivered. “Whoever is casting this, they’re as powerful as…” I stopped myself before saying the Tsar Viktor. Jicho was already wide-eyed and panting.

  Suddenly, a bony arm burst through the water’s surface, the skin covered in what looked like bubbling tar.

  My eyes widened. I’d seen that tar-like effect once before when I’d spied on the Sire and Lady. Back then, the Sire’s hand had glowed with hybrid power before he spoke the words that still haunted me: “hybrid power always corrupts.” After that, the Sire’s hands turned as black and bubbling as the ones before me now.

  I didn’t like that, not one whit.

  The hand dug into the water’s surface with claw-like fingers. Whatever this thing was, it treated the water as if it were solid instead of liquid. After that, a creature dragged itself out form under the surface of the water. It was tall and bony with an oversized head. Every inch of its body seemed to bubble and sag with tar. All-yellow eyes peered at me from a massive face with drooping features.

  It strode across the surface of the water, staying a few arms lengths from the side of the ship as it slowly lumbered along the surface of the water, keeping pace with the ship.

  Jicho scooted behind me a bit, his grip on my hand tightening. Using my Necromancer training, I schooled my features into a semblance of serenity and confidence.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “We are the Rushwa.” The creature’s voice was a deep gurgle. “I am the Rushwa.”

  My brows lifted. “You are a we?”

  The creature chuckled as six more creatures broke through the surface of the water. Like the first monster, these all hauled themselves onto the water’s surface and then walked over.

  “We,” repeated the Rushwa.

  At that moment, the ruddy bird let out another ear-piercing squawk. The sound sent waves of movement through the Rushwa. The creature hissed in pain.

  I pursed my lips. So loud noises affected the Rushwa. Interesting.

  Jicho shook my wrist. “Look, Elea!”

  Spinning around slowly, I scanned the waters nearby. Together, these seven monsters now surrounded our little vessel, stepping along in unison as they followed our journey along the river.

  Now, I couldn’t cast a spell, but the Rushwa didn’t know this. Focusing my mage senses, I pulled in Necromancer power from around me. Bones lined the riverbed and lay embedded deep in the jungle floor. To me, they all seemed to vibrate with magickal echoes of their lives. I drew the power into my soul and focused it into my limbs. My forearms soon glowed blue with Necromancer power. I made sure to show them off as I spoke.

  “If you value your existence, you’ll go back where you came from. Leave us alone.”

  The Rushwa gave another gurgling laugh. It stepped around the MAJE until it reached the next Rushwa in line.. A short burst of violet light encircled the two Rushwa as they merged into one, larger entity.

  I blinked hard, not believing what I was seeing. The creature didn’t appear to be solid, but some kind of liquid lighter than water and just as malleable.

  This was magick unlike anything I’d ever heard of before.

  Jicho buried his face in my side. “What are those things, Elea?”

  “Listen to me carefully. This deck is lined with doors. Do any of them lead somewhere you can stay safe?”

  The merged creature stepped into the next Rushwa in line, getting larger.

  Four creatures remained.

  Jicho nodded. “Most of them are big enough to hide in.”

  “Good.” I exhaled. “Then you need to go into one and stay put until I’m done here.”

  “You’re going to fight them, aren’t you?”

  Only two left now.

  “I’m going to try. That’s why you need to get someplace safe.”

  “I’ll try.” Jicho’s voice warbled with fear. “But I need to run the ship aground and turn off the stream engine.”

  “Do whatever you—”

  Before I could finish my thought, a massive hand wrapped around my waist, hauling me off the MAJE’s deck. Before I knew what was happening, the thing had jammed me into its mouth, swallowing me whole.

  One moment, I was struggling against a monster’s grip. The next, I was surrounded by oily slop, unable to breathe or see. Panic boiled through my bloodstream, but I was able to lean into Necromancer training once more. With force of will, I kept my mind and body calm.

  After that, I pulled even more Necromancer power into my body.

  It was true that I couldn’t cast a spell, but that didn’t mean there was no benefit to pulling in power. Before I got trained as a Necromancer, I used magick to help with chores like chop
ping wood. Later on at the Cloister, I channeled the same power to climb the Zelle mountain. Petra said it helped my focus.

  Petra. I pictured her once-beloved face tightening into a lined scowl. What would she say if I became this creature’s meal instead of Tsarina? The answer came from the pit of my soul.

  Petra would say nothing because the Rushwa are not going to kill me. I’m climbing out of this monster’s stomach and then…

  And then, I’d think of something.

  Maybe.

  Hopefully.

  In reality, I had no plan here and very little chance of survival.

  Even so, my lungs burned for air as I pushed all my magick into my forearms. After that, I scaled upwards. The creature’s throat was slimy and bubbled with the same sick energy. My power thrummed through my hands as I blindly crawled higher. When I got to the monster’s mouth, it let out a loud roar of frustration and pain. A welcome burst of air surrounded me. I took in a deep breath and held it in tightly.

  That’s when I remembered the ruddy bird. The Rushwa had shivered with pain when that animal screeched. A plan formed in my mind. I had a lung full of air and magick that could enhance anything physical that I did. What if I tried some screaming of my own?

  It wasn’t the best scheme, but it was better than nothing.

  Using all my focus, I channeled my magick into my throat and voice box. My neck glowed with blue light as I set loose the mother of all screams. The gooey structure of the creature shivered around me.

  After that, it burst apart.

  I landed in the dark waters with a splash. Kicking my legs, I propelled myself through to the river’s surface. Bits of oily goo floated around me.

  Now, I’m a death mage, but even I found that disgusting.

  The ship was aground, so I paddled over to the side of the boat and hauled myself onto the deck. If there was one consolation in this battle, it was that my quick post-fight swim served to wash off most of the black tar from being ingested by that hybrid monster.

  The moment I set foot on deck, one of the small doors on the floor flipped open. Jicho popped his head out. “Did we win?”

  He seemed so excited, I couldn’t help but smile. “We did.” I rubbed my forehead. “There’s no time to celebrate, though. We need to get this ship back in the water and find Nan.”

  “Sure thing,” said Jicho. “I have a toolkit that can help.” He knelt down and pulled at one of the small doors set into the deck of the ship.

  All of a sudden, an arrow whizzed an inch away from Jicho’s nose, landing with a thunk on the metal deck.

  Jicho hopped to his feet. “What was that?”

  More arrows passed right by his skin, each one zinging close enough to scrape him without drawing blood. I’d seen this kind of attack before.

  “Move slowly,” I warned. “Someone is warning us.”

  Jicho rolled his eyes. “Uh, I think they’re trying to kill us.”

  “Each of those arrows perfectly brushed you without striking. If they wanted to you injured, they would have done it by now. No, whoever it is, they want our attention.”

  I raised my hands to shoulder height and palms forward. Little by little, I rose to stand and turned about to face the jungle. “We won’t attack you. Come out.”

  A moment later, the jungle was filled with yellow eyes. Thousands of them. And they were staring straight at me and Jicho. The last time we saw those particular kind of glowing eyes, they were attached to tar warriors who tried to kill us.

  Not an encouraging thought.

  Rustlings sounded from the depths of the jungle. The yellow eyes grew brighter and larger. Whoever was out there, they were closing in. I held my breath and thought through my options. There weren’t many.

  Straightening my spine, I prepared to meet whatever new menace approached.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Gripping the MAJE’s metal railing, I peered over the side of the vessel. The metal hull remained half-deep in mud. Damn. We were still run aground.

  Jicho pulled on my sleeve. “Elea, the jungle.”

  Shifting my focus, I scanned the shoreline. A few yards away from the ship loomed a wall of hanging moss and heavy vines. Moonlight glinted off the emerald leaves.

  That’s when I saw it.

  A pair of bright yellow eyes peered out from the darkened jungle. I’d seen that look before. The Rushwa. My heart pounded with such force, I could feel my pulse in my skull.

  I just fought seven Rushwa. Surely, I can defeat one more.

  Dozens more pairs of eyes then blinked into view. I quickly tallied up how many Rushwa I might be facing.

  Ten…Twenty…A little over thirty.

  A pang of worry tightened my throat. Seven Rushwa were hard enough. But more than thirty?

  Little by little, a gangly figure stepped out from behind the vines. Based on the build, it was definitely a man, only one unlike any other I’d seen before. He wore a bone helmet with thick horns that jutted out and up on either side, reminding me of a water buffalo. The helm covered his face down to the nose, leaving only enough upper space for his luminous yellow eyes to peer out. The rest of the stranger’s slim body was covered in thin gray fur. A round silver amulet hung from a cord about his neck.

  Not the Rushwa, then. My shoulders slumped with relief. Whoever this was, perhaps he knew how to find Nan and the Sword.

  I waved from the deck. “Greetings, I’m Elea.” I wrapped my arm around Jicho’s shoulders. “This is Jicho. Can you help us? We need someone to push our boat back into the river.”

  The man waved me closer. Leaning his head back, he let out a series of guttural growls accented by chirps. The sound was melodic and purposeful.

  This was his language, only I couldn’t interpret a word.

  “Sorry, I don’t understand.”

  The man let out more speech-like sounds. After that, he moved his arm in a circular motion toward his chest. The intent was clear: come here.

  I knelt down to look Jicho in the eye. “I’m going to talk to him. Can you stay abroad the ship?”

  Jicho spoke in a child’s whisper, which was really no whisper at all. “Amelia and I planned some special things into the ship. I might be able to help.” He scrunched up his face. “The MAJE is designed do amazing things, but…” Jicho kicked at the deck.

  “But what?”

  “We never could get any of them to work. The ship kept exploding.”

  My eyes widened. In this situation, the words ship and exploding were not good at all. “I have an idea. Why don’t you stay aboard the MAJE? If anyone comes after you, then you can hide again.”

  Jicho rubbed his neck, his eyes lost in thought. “That’s probably a good idea.”

  Probably? Try definitely.

  “I’ll return shortly.” I gave Jicho’s shoulder an awkward pat. Casters usually hug each other, but I was still getting used to all that. Necromancers considered the need for physical contact to be a sign of weakness.

  Slipping over the side of the vessel, I landed in the mud with a splash. My Necromancer robes had gotten soaked in my battle with the Rushwa. Now I was sopped in mud up to my kneecaps.

  How I wished I could cast a cleaning spell.

  Hiking up my skirts, I slogged through the mud and stepped toward the strange man. As I got closer, I got a better look at his appearance. It turned out, the man wasn’t actually wearing a helm; the horns were an extension of his brow bone and actually part of his face. Whoever he was, this man was definitely some kind of magickal hybrid of a human and a water buffalo.

  I paused. Could this man be a Changed One? I scanned him carefully. No, that wasn’t a fit. Changed Ones were typical humans with an animal body limb, such as a snake for an arm or the legs of a cheetah. This man was something else: a true combination of human and animal. Although, I’d seen that by transform into a lion hybrid, but he’d been wild with fury. This man was calm.

  I shrugged. Ah, well. The realms were filled with all sorts of marvel
s we had yet to discover. I’d never seen anything like this man before, but that didn’t mean his kind hadn’t been living in the jungle for ages.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I met Jicho’s gaze. The question was in my eyes but unspoken, Do you know who these people are?

  Jicho shook his head. The answer was clear. No.

  The man let out another growl that was accented by deep trills. He waved his arm toward me again.

  “I’m coming.” I lumbered my way up the shoreline until I stood only an arm’s length away. Now, I could see intricate patterns of runes carved into the bones that wound out from his forehead. These were in Necromancer writing, so I could read them easily.

  Mrefu, Keeper of Kila Kitu.

  “Your name is Mrefu?” I asked.

  The man nodded. Good thing certain movements were universal.

  I tapped my chest. “Elea.”

  Mrefu launched into a long speech, accented by more growls and yips. His yellow eyes stayed locked with mine. The urgency in his gaze was unmistakable. Whatever he was telling me, it was important that I understand.

  “I’m sorry,” I shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re saying.”

  Mrefu hunched over, dipping his arm into the muck. When he stood up again, he started talking once more, only this time he was pointing to his darkened arm.

  I frowned. “Is there something wrong with the mud?”

  Mrefu huffed in frustration. After that, he began picking up great handfuls of mud and slopping them onto the downward curl of his horns. At last, I made the connection.

  “You’re talking about the Rushwa.”

  Mrefu nodded. His voice deepened as he spoke in snarling tones. He then mimed biting at his arm. Now, I knew exactly what he was talking about.

  “That’s right. The Rushwa attacked me. They tried to consume me alive, but I defeated them.”

  Mrefu began gesturing to the forest. All of a sudden, the eyes didn’t seem so much to glare as to stare at me in appreciation.