by Rob J. Hayes
It started off close and tight and darker than the deep night, and only Beck's augmented eyes let her see anything at all, yet even that light did little but outline the rock around her. The cave wall scraped her on all sides and, before long, she could feel stinging grazes on her arms and legs. She pushed on through the pain and claustrophobia, while imagining horrible scenarios like the cave dead-ending and her being stuck, dying in the rapidly cooling waters, a nameless corpse in a nameless cave on a nameless island, never to be found, or worse, some sea beastie swimming in behind her to start munching on her legs, and her powerless to stop it.
Beck gulped in lungfuls of water. Her concentration slipped and the magic in her throat and lungs slipped with it. If it lost its hold on her flesh now she would be just as dead as if a sea monster did eat her from the toes up. Panic setting firmly in, Beck pulled herself through the cave faster and faster, hand over hand, heedless of the twists and turns and the cuts and scrapes she was earning. Her lungs protested. They weren't getting enough oxygen, and she started to feel like she was drowning.
Her head banged against rock and the augmentation in her eyes vanished. Her vision blurred and stung and Beck pulled herself along, reaching forwards with her hands and grabbing hold of rock again and again. As blind as a newborn, she could no longer tell where she was going, which only served to increase her panic. She breathed in a lungful of water and the magic lost its grip. Suddenly, the water in her lungs was killing her. Beck coughed. More water flooded in, and she knew she was drowning.
Having resigned herself to death, it took a moment for Beck to realize she had broken the surface and was holding onto the side of a rock pool, throwing up salty water, desperately trying to suck oxygen into her body. It seemed she floated there coughing and vomiting sea water for hours before she was breathing normally. Eventually, Beck opened her eyes.
Beck's throat felt as if she’d swallowed broken glass, and the taste in her mouth was approaching heretical, but she thrust those concerns aside and looked around. The cavern was huge. Aside from the pool she floated in, there were others as well, many others, and the floor of the cavern was dotted with watery pit falls and spiky stalagmites, mimicked by their stalactite cousins from above. Beck blinked, realizing the cavern was lit by a strange greenish light emanating from the walls, lending everything an eerie, otherworldly glow.
Beck dragged herself out of the water and gave a shiver. It was cold in the cavern and her blouse, now ripped and torn in places, clung to her torso and breasts, and her trousers were little more than rags held up by a rope belt. Her skin was covered in bloody scrapes and grazes, and she hurt like all the Hells, but she was alive. Cold, hungry, tired, and alive.
She pushed her sodden hair back from her eyes as water dripped from her body and clothing, and decided she didn't care how the cavern was lit, only that it was, and she could see the chest not a hundred feet away across the puddle-ridden ground. It sat upon a small mountain of gold bits that would have seemed like largess, but every sense that Beck could count was screaming at her to be careful, that all was not as it seemed.
She approached the chest with caution, picking her way between the watery puddles and keeping her eyes and ears strained for the first hint of a trap. Whispering a blessing to enhance her vision, Beck saw nothing out of the ordinary. With trepidation that bordered on insanity, she placed her right foot on the mountain of gold bits.
It wasn't so much a climb as a scramble, and she resorted to using all fours, releasing avalanches of cascading coins, until she found herself kneeling in front of the chest. Still, she sensed nothing out of the ordinary. Holding her breath, Beck pushed open the lid and waited for the trap to spring.
Nothing happened.
Inside, the chest was empty, save for a small roll of leather-backed vellum. Beck could only assume this was the chart Elaina Black wanted. With no other option but to complete her quest, Beck reached in, picked up the chart, and slotted it into the cylindrical case she’d been given, clipping the lid down tight.
A splashing noise alerted Beck to the trap, followed by a distinctive rattling that she had heard only once before. Slowly turning around, and hoping she was wrong, Beck's spirits dropped when animated skeletons climbed out of the standing pools all across the cavern floor.
The skeletons were mere fleshless constructs given cohesion and movement by the magic that animated them, but deadly nonetheless. Necromancy was second only to consorting with demons in the long list of heresies. As she gathered her reserves, what little remained after the exhausting swim and struggle through the tunnel, Beck could see the magic was old and faded. Whoever had set the trap was obviously long dead; perhaps they were one of the very monstrosities before her now. The skeletons were crude things, taking lurching steps as they dripped water onto the cavern floor. Some were missing parts of themselves. A skeleton with only one arm was closest to her, and it stumbled a step, falling backwards into another behind that sported but half a rib cage.
Normally, Beck would find such half-formed golems no problem. She would crush them all and set about cleansing the cavern of all heretical magic, but this was no normal day, and she did not have any of her supplies with her; in fact, she realized she had dropped the knife Elaina had given her, putting her distinctly on the weapon-less side of armed.
With a groan of pure frustration, she swung the case over her head and leapt, sliding down the cascading mountain of gold and hitting the floor at a sprint. Only the largest pool, the entrance pool, at the back of the cavern was devoid of walking, clawing skeletons. That was where she headed.
Beck barged past the first skeleton, narrowly avoiding its bony grasp, and dodged away from another. One crawling horror missing one full leg reached for her, and Beck leapt over it, clearing its grasp, but she landed heavy and slipped on wet rock, jarring her foot and twisting her left ankle. The Arbiter cried out in pain and fury but kept on, slowed to a hastened limp, her ankle sending sparks of agony up her leg with every step.
More skeletons came for her and she pushed them out of the way, ignoring the stinging scratches they left on her skin. With a few feet left before she reached the pool, Beck's spirits soared just as a bony hand shot out of a pool far too small to contain a complete skeleton. The hand locked hold of her good ankle. The cavern floor rushed up to meet her. Beck threw her hands out in front too late. She crashed to the ground and her head smacked against the rock, her vision exploding into painful white light.
Everything became distant. Beck knew she was in a rush, but couldn't remember why. The light faded, replaced with a dull green blur. Beck rolled onto her back, aching from the very core of her being, and stared up at the cavern ceiling… which appeared to be moving. Something hard and sharp dug into her back causing a fresh wave of pain. Her head cleared a little, and she realized that the cavern ceiling wasn't moving, she was. Ignoring the flaring pain in her head, Beck raised it to see a skeleton had hold of her leg and was pulling her towards one of the pools.
With a roar, she kicked the monster away and scrambled to regain her feet. The pool she needed wasn’t far, just a few feet away, if only she could get there. Hands grabbed at her blouse and wrenched her backwards, further from the pool. Another snatched her hair. At least two of them had her, and more closed in. She let out a half-whimper, half-growl, frustration and anger warring in equal measure.
Off-balance and stumbling, Beck grabbed at a nearby stalagmite. Her fingers dug into it, and she hissed a quick blessing for added strength. Pulling with all her might, she tore away from the skeletons, letting one construct keep half of her blouse, another a handful of her hair. A manic laugh escaped Beck's lips as she pushed off from the stalagmite, tore away the other half of her blouse, and limped towards the pool. The skeletons clacked and clamored behind her as she desperately spoke the words of the spell that would allow her to breathe underwater.
Beck reached the edge and dove in head first, not bothering with the spell to augment
her eyes. She was too exhausted to keep two sorceries active, and she didn't have the time to form the magic anyway. Blind in the dark and desperate to be away from the cavern of death, she pulled herself hand over hand, praying silently to Volmar that whatever foul necromancy animated the skeletons didn't extend beyond the cavern.
The journey out didn't seem to take near as long as going in, and Beck soon found herself seeing blurry light ahead. A few seconds later, she emerged, already feeling warmer waters against her bare skin. She wasted no time kicking towards the surface, angling through the blue until she had her head above water. Then she released the spell on her throat and lungs and spent another couple of minutes, treading water, hacking up the sea, and remembering how to breathe air.
It took a monumental act of will for Beck to swim the distance to the Starry Dawn, and she ignored the cheers and shouts of the pirates on board until she was alongside the ship.
Captain Elaina Black stood at the railing and dropped a rope ladder over the side. She grinned down at Beck. “Ya get it?”
Beck ignored the pirate's question and climbed, feeling the last of her energy drain away as she did so. After ignoring Captain Black's offer of a helping hand, Beck stood on unsteady legs, dripping wet, shirtless, with a boat-full of pirates gawking at her.
“You got one hell of a set, Arbiter.” Elaina Black nodded at Beck's bared breasts. “So, ya get it?”
Beck felt every cut, scratch, and scrape on her body, and her head throbbed like the all the Hells from the knock it had taken, yet she stood straight and faced down the pirate captain. “I'm going to need a new blouse,” she said in an icy voice, “and some salve for these wounds.”
“Aye, Pavel'll see to ya cuts,” Elaina Black said impatiently. “Did you get it?”
Beck pulled the cylindrical case over her head and tossed it to Captain Black, who promptly ripped the lid away and pulled out the chart, unrolling it in her hands, and grinning fiercely.
“Port Sev'relain,” Beck reminded the captain.
“Aye,” Elaina Black said, still staring at the chart. “Lucky for us both, I reckon. Next stop is in that very direction.”
#
Beck’s wounds were seen to by the ship's doctor, Pavel, a priest of the Five Kingdom's God Pelsing, then she stuffed herself with food from the mess before crawling into her private bunk. She spent a full day asleep. When she woke, it was dark, and Starry Dawn moved along in the sea at a leisurely pace. She found Captain Black sitting near the figurehead, watching the dark waters beneath them.
“Ya did good, Arbiter,” the captain said without turning around. “By the looks of ya it wasn't smooth sailing though.”
“Whomever hid that scroll had a good knowledge of necromancy,” Beck admitted. “I was lucky to escape.”
“But ya did.”
“Where does the chart lead?” Beck felt her compulsion lock horns with Elaina's will, yet again failing to draw out the truth.
“A small island about two days south of your Sev'relain. Little more than a scrap of land really. If I remember it right there's a few trees and some monkeys but little else. Ain't big enough to support a settlement, so no one stops there.”
“And what is it you hope to find?”
Elaina Black stared at Beck a moment before shrugging. “A book. Journal of the first Captain Black.”
Beck snorted. “Must be an important book for the Captain to hide it on a nameless island with its location hidden away so well.”
“Mhm,” Elaina purred. “Reckon it contained more than just his memoires. Captain Black knew some magic, might be some of it is written down.”
Beck narrowed her eyes. If the book contained magic, then it was a heretical manuscript, especially given her recent encounter with necromancy. She could not allow anyone, let alone a murderous pirate, get their hands on such evil power.
“And this island is on the way to Port Sev'relain?”
“More or less, aye.”
“Then I'll see this little quest through,” Beck said with a sharp smile at the captain. “I will help you get your book, and then you will drop me at Port Sev'relain.”
Elaina laughed. “Fairly certain we already struck that deal, Arbiter.”
#
The waves surged around the island like relentless little armies throwing themselves against a castle wall. It was a small strip of land barely more than a few hundred feet across. After a few jagged rocks, the land gave way to stunted trees, each struggling to outgrow the others. Despite its small size, animal calls drifted across the crashing waves. Beck watched the island skeptically as their dinghy drew near.
Aside from Captain Black, Beck knew none of the other eight pirates’ names in the boat, and she did not care to learn them. She had no idea how they might react when she destroyed the book, and learning the names of people she might have to kill always seemed so counter-productive, thus Beck retained her aloof distance.
As the little boat drew close to the island, one of the pirates leapt out, cursing as he stubbed his toe on a rock. He pulled the boat in so that the others need only wet their boots as they clambered ashore.
Beck found herself standing next to Captain Black on the rocky beach as the woman studied the chart. After waiting patiently a while, Beck closed the gap between them and looked down at what had the captain so confused.
“Now what?” Elaina mused, cocking her head first one way at the map, then the other.
“Do we have the right island?” Beck asked with a grin. “I'd hate for all my efforts to be wasted. For you at least, I still expect to be taken to Port Sev'relain regardless of your ability to find your ancestor's diary.”
“It's the right bloody island. Just...damned thing doesn't say where on the island to look.”
Beck scanned the little trees located further in. “Doesn't seem like there's much to search.”
Elaina snorted. “Ain't likely to be left out in the open for just anyone to find, is it? Probably buried or something. We can't exactly dig up the entire island.”
Beck glanced behind her to see a couple of Starry Dawn's crew departing the dinghy with shovels in hand. The other four remained behind, sitting in the boat with little to no indication of leaving.
Captain Black stared at the chart a little longer, then a grin spread across her face. She pulled a knife from her belt and slid it between the parchment and the leather-backing and she handed the chart to Beck. “Call it a souvenir of your adventure,” she said with a grin before taking her knife to the leather-backing and hacking it to pieces.
In short order, Elaina dropped the scraps of leather to the ground and held up a small, dull coin that looked to be made of copper. A silver chain was looped through a hole at the top of the coin so the thing could be worn like an amulet.
Elaina shot Beck a smug grin, which Beck returned with a shrug.
“Watch.” Elaina dropped the coin, catching the chain between her fingers. Instead of dangling there limp, the coin twisted and angled inland, as though it were being pulled towards the trees.
“Interesting.” Beck peered at the coin. She had seen dowsing charms before, though never one hidden to look like an ordinary item.
“Let's follow the coin!” Captain Black set off towards the trees.
In no time at all, they arrived on a small patch of scrubby dirt with the coin twisting first one way, then the other as it attempted to drag Elaina's hand to its target. The captain snatched the coin up and pocketed it before pointing to the small scrub. “Get rid of that plant and start digging, boys.”
They unearthed another chest that looked a lot like the one in the underwater cavern. Two of the pirates lifted it out of the hole they had dug, and Elaina bent to get a better look. The two men crawled out of the hole and collapsed onto the dirt, exhausted and sweating. Beck peered around Captain Black to get a better look at the chest.
“Looks pretty solid,” Elaina said, poking at it with her boot. “Don'
t see no lock. Take a look, Arbiter, see if ya can detect any magic or something.”
Beck sensed nothing from the chest, but some magics were subtle and, as lingering magics aged, they often lost potency and form, making detection harder. “Seems safe,” she said with a shrug. “At least as far as I can tell.”
“So how do I open it?” Elaina Black asked, pushing at the lid.
Beck considered a rune of explosion. The blast would destroy the chest and, hopefully, whatever was inside, however she wanted to see the journal before she destroyed it, so her report to Inquisitor Vance would be complete.
“There's writing on the top of the lid,” Beck said. “Just underneath that little oval disk is written 'Black Blood is the Key.'”
“Thought that was just a doodle,” Elaina said.
Beck almost laughed at the pirate's lack of learning. “It's old Acanthian, before they took to speaking the common tongue. There are many old, lost languages that only the Inquisition remembers.”
“Good job I brought an Arbiter with me then,” Elaina said with a grin. The captain placed her thumb against the oval disk and winced. Her thumb came away bloody, and Beck saw a smear of dark red blood against the oval on the chest. An audible click sounded, and it seemed to Beck as if even the nearby monkeys held their breath in anticipation.
“Guess my blood is as black as his was.” Elaina reached towards the chest. The pirate stopped, her hands hovering just a few inches above the lid. “Ah, fuck it.” She threw the lid back, bracing for consequences. Nothing happened.
Elaina leaned in, and reached into the chest. Beck slowly drew one of her pistols from its holster on her jerkin.
