by Simon Archer
It was clear that Tiny was headed to the fray.
27
J immy aimed the ram-prow of The Hullbreaker right down the lascu’s throat as it emerged from below, arms and tentacles raised from the water like rubbery black serpents. In appearance, the lascu was a great blue-gray shark easily two or three times as long as my ship, whose body past the large, triangular dorsal fin became that of a gigantic octopus. The shark’s black, flat eyes focused on the ship bearing down on it, and its jaws gaped open, wide enough to swallow us, in any case, though we’d go down hard. It was bigger even than Tiny, but the fearless Dragon Turtle drove at it with such ferocity that it was driven sideways.
The drumbeat keeping the oarsmen’s rhythm pulsed through the ship as she lunged forward, driving by the strong backs of orcish warriors. Beside me, Bord and his men prepared the experimental cannon.
“Fire at will,” I told them with a grin. “Let’s send that beast back to hell.”
“Aye!” the dwarf bellowed, and the crew started their work. Fire, rotate barrel, fire while the first barrel was reloaded. The powder and shot being run up from below disappeared almost as quickly as it could be delivered.
We couldn’t tell if the constant barrage of cannonballs had any effect, as the lascu and Tiny were locked in combat, the monster’s octopoid arms flailing madly about and setting off waves that damn near knocked us off course. One enormous limb just missed the starboard rail, and the wave sent us heeling over, but The Hullbreaker rolled back to true a moment later. Another swinging arm clipped the foremast and snapped it like a twig, the broken bit spiraling off to crash into the waves on the port side. We lurched that way as the weight still caught in the lines dragged us over.
The crew rushed to hack away the lines before they could do any more damage, and then we were inside the monster’s guard, too close for the tentacles to wrap around to strike us. We all braced for impact, as not a moment later, we hit.
The Hullbreaker’s ram tore into the monster just past its gills and carried it along for a few seconds before the lascu’s sheer mass ground us to a halt. In those seconds, with a battle cry on my lips and the rage of my ancestors burning in my heart, I charged out along the prow and used the momentum of the ship’s impact to leap.
It wasn’t my smartest idea, but something deep in my orcish soul demanded it. The elementals’ song rose in my ears once again. For a wonderful, terrifying moment, I flew through the salt spray in the air, my greataxe poised for the strongest blow I’d ever made. Water reached up to wrap around me, lending me strength once again, while the spirits of the air lifted and guided me.
Time slowed to a standstill as I hurtled forward, over the white froth of the water below, then I crashed hard onto the lascu’s back and brought my greataxe crashing down. Rubbery skin split almost bloodlessly under the impact as my blade sank in.
Then I had to hold on for dear life as the monster thrashed and sprayed its stinking black ink over my ship, Tiny, and everything else in an arc in front of it. For a moment, I went underwater, then popped back up to see a surprised looking Dragon Turtle being flung away by the beast.
Tiny landed in a massive explosion of water that almost capsized The Black Cat, but the little ship rode the waves, and her cannons boomed, throwing up spray from misses. A ball struck nearby, and although a solid hit, it just rebounded off the lascu’s hide.
The monster thrashed angrily, it’s hate-filled eyes rolling in their sockets to seek me out. It almost dislodged me, but rage seemed to have overtaken the thing. Massive arms wrapped around my ship and held it firm despite the straining of the oars to back the ship out through the water. The hex-strengthened timbers held, but barely, letting out a creaking and cracking that I could hear even where I was. I took advantage of the relative immobility of the thing to scurry towards where the prow of The Hullbreaker tore into it. A great gash seeped dark blood into the sea and stained the froth red.
“It’s too fuckin’ close!” Bord boomed. “Axes out, boys! Hack us free!”
“Strength, my love!” Mary yelled, and I felt a surge of energy burst through my flagging limbs.
All pain faded replaced by grim determination and rage. Step by step, I crossed the undulating, rubbery-slick surfaces of the lascu’s enormous back while it strove to tear The Hullbreaker apart with its sucker-covered arms. Timbers creaked and cracked some more, but held firm. It wouldn’t be long, though. More cannonfire boomed, then stopped suddenly.
I dropped to my hands and knees as the lascu rolled and dove. Before I was flung off, I sank my axe into its skin in a desperate move to keep my place. Once again, I was underwater for a time, but when it rolled back, I still held on, my axe blade wedged into its blubber.
This was a struggle of pure endurance at this point. Aboard my ship, I heard shouts and blows, but if the pain in its limbs wasn’t enough to dislodge the monster, there was no way my crew could chop through its massive arms before it crushed my ship. Gunfire rang out, but to no apparent effect.
There was just me. Tiny was out of sight. Sirensong and The Wasp circled impotently. Only The Black Cat drew close, sailing like mad as the lascu swung two of its tentacles at the encroaching ship. Tabitha was a madwoman at the helm, and her small ship was actually able to dodge the blows aimed at it. Of course, if a single one landed, the ship and its crew would be smashed to bits.
In the prow of the ship, a flame blazed. Ember Spark stood tall with her legs between the balusters and a spitting ball of fire between her hands. The witch looked at me over the many yards of water and lascu. Somehow, I saw her nod and grin.
With a burst of strength, I surged forward. The lascu’s great black eye was a flat expanse just past the wound behind its head, and its hateful gaze focused only on The Hullbreaker. This was our chance.
I gathered my own will and felt a shift in my footing as the water elementals responded. My run evened out as the lascu’s rough sharkskin dried beneath my boots. The wind howled at my back to speed me on. Magical strength fueled my limbs, and as I raised my axe and bellowed my challenge, Ember thrust her hands towards me, and the head of my greataxe was engulfed in fire.
Thunder boomed in the clouds overhead, and the vast eye rolled to focus on me as I leaped and came crashing down like a meteor in the dead center of that monstrous orb. My feet hit first, sending out a ripple over the skin of the eye from the sheer force of it. Then, I brought my flame-wreathed axe down like the fist of an avenging god.
At that moment, I felt a surge of some new power, as another element answered. The fire that Ember had cast called out to its kin, and they answered.
The lascu’s eye exploded in an eruption of clear liquid, and the monster loosed its grip on my ship. My body sank into the cold, viscous contents as the tight skin of the eye peeled back under my blow. Steam erupted around me as the flames wreathing my axe met liquid.
The call of the fire mingled with that of the air, and for a brief moment, I held the power of a great storm in my hands and heart. Loss of an eye wouldn’t kill the lascu, and in any other part of its immense body, my axe would be little more than an annoyance.
Here, though, I was past its defenses, quite literally inside the monster’s head. The storm spirits sang and danced and showed me what they could do in an instant, and in the next instant, I let them. A triumphant chorus roared through me, and the storm reached down from above in answer. Thunder boomed, and lightning flashed around me, overwhelming my senses and throwing me off and away.
When I recovered myself, I was in the dark water. There was no sign of the lascu, save a cloudy murk and the strong taste of blood when I breathed. Ligeia’s gift was in full effect, at least.
Above me, I saw the sparkling lights of the surface. They weren’t even terribly far. For a moment, I flailed about to arrest my descent, then began stroking awkwardly for the surface.
Within moments, I had help. Ligeia darted out of the gloom, her skin flashing silver as she came to me. While I did not need the h
elp, I welcomed it. The battle and that tremendous final explosion had drained me enough that all I could manage was a slow swim towards the light. With my siren’s aid, my head broke the surface in short order, not far from Tiny’s broad shell.
A quick look around showed me the four ships of my fleet, the retreating sails of the Imperials, and the Dragon Turtle. Of the lascu, there was only a floating, dark shape on the choppy sea.
“I killed it?” I asked. My voice sounded to me like I spoke through cotton, or under a mass of blankets. I shook my head to clear it.
“You did, my love,” Ligeia murmured as she leaned close and kissed me. “Though you frightened us by your method.”
I had called the lightning down from the storm. I pondered that while she kicked us over to Tiny, and we both clambered from the water. My greataxe was gone, lost to the depths in the slaying of the lascu, but that was a small price to pay.
Cheers went up from the ships as we mounted the peak of Tiny’s shell. Even the Dragon Turtle snorted with satisfaction, his enormous head stretched around to snuffle at me on his back. Ligeia reached out and patted him on the end of his snout.
“What in the hells happened?” I asked as Tiny started to drift towards The Hullbreaker. Since I’d been at ground zero, I really had no idea.
“It was incredible,” my siren replied. “You suddenly charged along the lascu’s back as if you ran on dry land, faster than I have seen you move before. Then, you leaped, and at the top of that, Ember hurled a flame that clung to the head of your axe.”
That bit I remembered, along with the strike that followed, but I wasn’t about to interrupt her. The whole scene must have been a wonder to behold.
“You brought the axe down on the creature’s eye, and it exploded in a cloud of steam and blood, then, from the heavens, a stroke of lightning flashed down, right where you stood, and the thing’s head blew apart. Its arms went limp and fell away as it grew still.” She shook her head in disbelief. “I dove in immediately to find you. Both Mary and Tabitha screamed your name almost as one.”
“I’m sorry I scared you,” was all I managed to say.
The elementals seemed to like doing what I needed. Lightning, sky-fire, an elemental combination of air and flame, was a fairly easy progression to imagine. It certainly packed enough force to kill something as vast as the lascu, and enough discretion not to kill me where I stood. I let out a long sigh, and my joints let out a satisfying crackle as I stretched. This power was something I could definitely get used to.
All too soon or maybe not soon enough, I stood on the deck of The Hullbreaker and did my best to be patient and answer the barrage of questions that followed. Mary hurled herself into my arms the moment I pulled myself aboard and clung tightly to me while I spoke with the rest.
Dinghies from the other ships arrived in short order, and after I finally managed to extricate myself from my witch and go change, the War Room of my vessel was almost packed.
“First off,” I said, a hand raised to ward off more questions. “I be fine, thanks to Ligeia an’ Adra’s teachin’ me the shaman’s ways.”
“That was fucking terrifying,” Tabitha exclaimed.
“Bloody amazing,” Jimmy said in awe.
Shrike just shook his head. “Damned reckless, if ye ask me, but I’ve come to expect no less from ye, Cap’n.” He smirked and shot me a teasing wink.
“I’m an orc,” I said by way of explanation.
“I could do it,” Kargad grumbled.
I reached over and clapped my old friend on the shoulder. “Aye, old friend, but ye’d have done it with a keg o’ powder, some waterproof fuze, and a cannon twice the size o’ yer head.”
Everyone snorted laughter. Drinks were brought by the cook, Jogrash, himself, and he left the barrel with us. We’d killed something that was nigh impossible to do, and it deserved a celebration, but it was too soon.
“Hold up,” I banged my fist on the table. “Ye do realize we ain’t far from the sea’s eye, an’ the bloody sahagin likely ain’t gone.”
That got them to quiet down really quick, and I continued, “We’re only an hour or two from the island. Likely they’re still trying to figure out how we managed to kill the lascu, but once they get their guts back, we’ll be swarmed.”
“Now the problem is,” I continued, “that we’ve no bloody way to really take the fight to them in any kind o’ numbers. With the lascu gone, an’ Tiny on our side, we might be able to at least give ‘em pause long enough to scout out the eye an’ see if The Golden Bull be sittin’ at the bottom. If she is, then I’ve got a pretty barmy thought that might work.”
I looked between the three witches and the shaman that sat with their captains around the War Room’s table. “Once we find the damned thing, we use hexes an’ elementals to raise it, beach it, then we loot it for everything it carries.”
Shrike raised a languid hand and asked, “What if the hull breaks, Cap’n?”
“That be why we need to scout her first. If she can’t be raised, it will be up to Bord an’ the other carpenters, mechanics, and what not to figure a way we can relay things piece by piece.”
Bord let out a long, low whistle. “Ye don’t ask for much do ye, Cap’n?” he grumbled.
“I could ask ye to come down with me an’ raise the ship on yer stumpy legs, cannonmaster, but I ain’t gonna do that to ye,” I replied.
“If ye did, I’d have t’ headbutt ye in the bollocks,” the dwarf narrowed his eyes, but they gleamed with mischief.
I chuckled into the momentary shocked silence around the table, and I think at least two of those gathered expected me to pick up the dwarf and break the table with him, but they were the ones who hadn’t been around the two of us.
Shrike snickered and shook his head, Jimmy grinned, and Mary just shook her head while Ligeia blinked in indifference. The rest followed suit once they realized there’d be no trouble.
“So,” I said once everyone had calmed again. “We’ve a plan, aye? Let’s go see what these fishmen are made of.”
28
N othing bothered us as we sailed around the sandbar that marked the outer edge of the sea’s eye. Even with the dark, wind-tossed water, the unnatural blackness of the nearly perfectly round hole was clear to see. Many of the sailors hadn’t seen such a wonder, including Mary Night, and they crowded the port rail as we glided past and slowed to a halt just beyond the shallows surrounding the small island.
Much like the nameless isle with the secured cove that we’d camped on a few nights previous, this particular island had a small beach around its border, and a thin, scrubby forest beyond. One section of the beach fronted on the eye itself, while the rest was ringed by the usual shallows that marked the typical archipelago island.
Overhead, the clouds were even thicker. The cracks that had permitted an occasional glimpse of blue sky had closed, and the fading sunlight was filtered to a growing twilight that promised a black night as the sun itself dipped slowly towards the horizon.
The only question that remained was whether the sahagin would attack us on land or on the ship. Tiny waited with the ships, floating between them and the sandbar as about half the crews of The Hullbreaker, The Wasp, and Sirensong prepared a quick, makeshift fort and several bonfires.
With my axe lost, I armed myself with the Huntsman’s Spear and another hand axe akin to those that Dogar carried. The Spear remained quiet in my hand, although I could sense magic in the blade and its new dwarf-made haft. Bord had outdone himself. The haft he’d made fit me perfectly and would allow me to use the thing one-handed. It would work a lot better underwater than any weapon I had to swing.
I had left Potts’ gun-axe back aboard my ship, along with my pistols. The idea was for me, Ligeia, Mary, and Tabitha to slip into the water and descend to check out the bottom of the sea’s eye, if it even had one, once the sahagin attacked. With them distracted, we could determine if The Golden Bull was even here.
Eustace Brill recognized the
island and the hole, so that did lend us a bit of confidence.
Now, we just had to see if the fish-men took the bait.
Night fell, black as pitch aside from our watch-fires. We orcs didn’t need the flames, but they’d let the humans see, and maybe they’d keep the creatures back if they even deigned to make an appearance.
Time ticked on as we held our positions. The fires began to burn down, and the crewmen assigned to them fed in more wood. I shifted a bit, stretching my heavy frame one muscle at a time. There was an oppressive edge of tension in the air. Where the hell were the sahagin? Had we completely misread the situation, and the creatures were nothing more than nomads that trailed in the wake of the lascu?
Suddenly, gunfire rang out from The Wasp, then more came from the other vessels. Tiny bellowed and snapped, throwing up waves of water as he attacked something on the surface, then dove. Out from the beach, the water rippled. Countless Vs, wakes cut by rapidly swimming forms, arrowed towards the shore from the hole.
“Be ready, men,” I growled.
The fishmen burst from the water and charged the beach.
Ember and Nagra cried out their hexes, and the fires blazed up, shooting balls of fire into the air that turned the black night to bright day. Sahagin hissed and shrieked, but they kept coming, right into the jaws of concentrated musket fire, led by Jimmy Mocker and Bord the cannonmaster.
Creatures fell in droves, but there were still more. The musketeers fell back, and pistols fired. I spotted an opening in the creatures’ ranks and pointed it out to my team.
“There! Go!”
Without hesitating, I charged towards the break in the sahagin’s charge. The others fell in behind me, and together, we plunged into the waves still ripe with sahagin. A fishman burst from the water in front of me, jaws snapping as the creature lunged madly for my throat. I slammed my axe down on its skull, then thrust the spear through its chest. It fell aside. Mary paralyzed two more, then dove beneath the water right behind Ligeia.
