by R. J. Batla
“No!” Celeste screamed, yanking her left hand free. Pulling all the power she could muster, blue energy shot from her open palm, slamming into Bogata’s back. He fell unconscious immediately. The blast hurled his limp form from his perch and into the ocean below. He didn’t resurface.
Jerking all her limbs in with such force that the octopus lost his grip, Celeste freed herself and fell toward the water. Waving her hands, a column of ocean rose up to meet her, stopping her mid-drop. The swirling column kept her aloft as she gave in to the power of the Connection, urging more and more from the necklace.
Her voice altered, taking on the volume and tone of a thousand Tempus. “This will not happen. These animals will be set free.”
Celeste leaned forward and the column of water accelerated, racing her along the shoreline. She pressurized the water coming up through the column, and out of her hands shot an inch-thick stream, moving so fast and with so much pressure that it sliced through armor and scale alike. Celeste whirled and twirled her arms as she flew among the enemy, cleaving anything that wasn’t a Tempus in two.
Limbs fell off the larger beasts as the water jets pierced their skin, cries of rage and pain coming from their enormous jaws as they moved to fight this new enemy. She dipped and dodged with the column, weaving between the enemies, using their size against them until finally cutting off their heads, their huge bodies crushing ships even as they died.
But Celeste wasn’t done. On she fought, tirelessly rocketing up and down the shoreline, a whirlwind of death and destruction.
Hundreds more rose from the depths to challenge her, each meeting the same fate. Giant octopus, crab, and sharks died just as quickly and easily as the smaller mutated fish.
After ten minutes of brutal fighting, everything that had threatened her people had been killed. Searching one last time, she sent a pulse through the air and water, like a whale’s echolocation, searching out more enemies. Heading out to sea, she sensed and then turned to see the surviving pirate ships sailing away, with a few Tempus sailors harassing them in much smaller vessels. Deciding to let them go, she did one final sweep and found no threats. In less than twenty minutes, she had decimated the invasion force and single-handedly won the battle. Celeste dropped her arms and used the column of water to get her back to the Trident, too tired to do much else. Her muscles and bones burned from using the energy of the Connection.
She was exhausted. She’d been the conduit for too much energy too fast, the strain taking a heavy toll on her body. A couple of bones were broken, and many of her muscles had to be torn, given the pain she felt. It would take a squad of Elves a month to get her back into fighting shape.
The column of water she rode barely managed to make it back to the Trident before disappearing. After two steps on deck, Celeste fell to her knees and threw up. She tried to calm her racing heart and aching body.
I did it! We’ve won! She managed a weak laugh. Too bad Bogata was the one who caused all this. I still can’t believe it – my friend. Turned traitor.
Vaguely she heard a splash in the ocean and felt a dull vibration in the deck of the ship. Celeste tried to turn, but a vicious blow to her side sent her spent body tumbling across the deck, slamming against the door to the captain’s quarters. Pain racked her body as she crumpled, struggling to breathe. The Wave Connection came off her neck at the impact, the sapphires a dull blue now.
“Did you think you could get away with that?” Bogata said. Managing to raise her head, Celeste watched Bogata limp over and touch the necklace with the tip of his sword. “So this is the source of your power? Well, you don’t need it now!” He slammed his foot down on the Connection. When nothing happened, he smashed at it with his sword. When nothing happened again, Bogata kicked the necklace over the edge of the ship, sending it into the sea.
Without the Wave Connection, we can’t stop him! He’s too strong. He’ll be able to –
“Do you think you actually did any good? I’ve already destroyed most of the ships, practically crippling the mighty Tempus Navy before you’d even arrived.” He came up and kicked her in the stomach, her drained body giving no resistance. “You’ve done nothing but delay the inevitable, allowed them to live for a few measly more days.” He started kicking her more, accentuating each phrase with a blow to her midsection. Celeste felt one rib crack, then another, each with another jolt of pain. “I will rebuild my army. I will come back and finish the job. It’ll be easy for me. But you won’t be here, you’ll be de –”
He went silent and the kicks ceased. Celeste managed to look over her shoulder, the simple movement causing pain to flare up in her side. Yep, definitely a broken rib or two. The knife with the odd markings was buried in his neck, an odd look on his face, black hat falling from his head. Bogata pulled the blood-stained blade from his neck, staring, as blood flowed out of his mouth. “My own knife.” He sank to his knees, then fell over onto the deck, his life ended.
Once he was down, she saw Mate standing there in the follow-through of a knife throw, chest heaving, shirtless, and with cuts all over his body. “Good to see you, Captain. I hope I wasn’t too late.”
Celeste broke into tears, falling back onto the deck, too tired to try to stop them from coming, and too weak to answer. But, mostly, she was heartbroken. Bogata had been her friend. Her best friend. Yes, he’d turned himself into a monster, but somewhere in there, the man she knew, and yes, loved, in a way, had still been in there.
“Captain?” Mate said, rushing over and sliding to her side. “I thought I was too late. That was amazing what you did there!”
“Mate,” Celeste said, coughing up blood. “I –”
“MEDIC!” Mate yelled, then picked her up. He had several cuts and limped slightly, but otherwise looked all right. “Don’t you talk now. I’ll get you to the healers. Everyone’ll be right proud of what you just did. Saved a bunch of lives. Probably give you a metal or something.”
“I only hope it was enough,” Celeste said before she passed out.
Chapter 18
Two days later, while Celeste was still healing, Mate brought her the Wave Connection. Mate, with Barnacle and Klausi’s help, had swum to the bottom of the harbor and retrieved the spent Wave Connection as soon as he could. It felt good to have it back in her hands, but she shook from the sheer power she had used. Eyeing the sapphires, she didn’t see the same spark in them she had before – the Wave Connection had served its purpose, and used almost all of its energy.
Once she’d turned the tide of battle, the pirates who’d joined Bogata mostly turned tail and ran. The Tempus were able to capture a few, who were more than willing to talk in exchange for their freedom. They told of how Bogata used a machine to drain the life force of any living thing and then use that to boost his own power and create the abominations he had used to attack Watuaga. The pirates had been responsible for gathering the creatures to use in the machine, but they denied anything other than being paid for their efforts. They also gave up the location of the island, but they assumed it would sink without Bogata there to keep it together. True to their word, the Tempus commanders released the pirates, with a promise to watch them closely.
Celeste healed enough to attend the many funerals to be had. Far too many funerals, for far too many friends and important people. The Tempus had lost mighty warriors, including the brother of the king, who’d died killing the largest of the crabs and defending the city. For her personally, Jameson’s funeral hit hard, especially with his sword hanging on her hip. And true to his word, the gold she’d won so long ago had been transferred to her account prior to the attack.
There’d also been celebrations of the heroes of the battle, including a rather large one for her. She’d tried to get out of it, but Mate had made sure she’d been there and enjoyed herself.
But the memories haunted her. They wouldn’t leave her alone. Bogata. Her friend. The traitor.
Now he was dead.
As was her crew. She’d lost almost all o
f them, save four – whom she hoped the mermaids were taking care of and were working hard to bring them to Watuaga.
The friends she had from the Bastion came to visit her, finding her while she wandered around the city or sat in the temporary home she had been provided, since she’d lived the last few years in the Bastion dorms. She enjoyed their company. They told her how great she’d done, but they could tell she wasn’t really there with them. Celeste wasn’t sure if they looked at her with pride, pity, or concern.
Admiral DeKalb had come by as well, giving his condolences and offering her a reprieve from the navy until she deemed herself ready to come back. She had, after all, saved them, and displayed such great power, he said it was the least they could do. She kindly accepted and did her best to heal both physically and mentally, with a steady rotation of Elves helping with the physical part.
Three weeks post-battle, Leroy, Wylie, and John showed up on the docks, mysteriously pulled in by an unseen force. As she watched them come in, she caught a glimpse of smooth, scaly arms. Celeste smirked – mermaids. She stuck her hand in the water and waved, and was greeted with a splash as the mermaids zoomed away.
It thrilled Celeste to see her friends, and it did much for her to have them back. Many embraces and stories followed, and for days, they celebrated together, drinking as much ale and wine as they could find, toasting to those they lost at sea. With each raised glass, it seemed that her pain eased slightly, as if their toasts let loose the remorse she’d bottled up.
The five remaining crew of the Ajax spent as much time together as possible. Other than good company, Celeste knew they were hanging around to make sure she was all right. Their presence kept her spirits up.
◆◆◆
Twelve weeks after the battle, Celeste took a break from her friends to take a walk on the repaired dock in Watuaga, the sea breeze salty and sweet. Shaking her arms and legs to get the blood flowing, she jumped aboard a small one-man sailboat, untied her from the dock, and set out to sea. After everything that happened out on the water, Celeste wasn’t sure if she wanted to venture too far from shore. At least not for a while.
Taking a spin around the harbor, she took stock of the destruction. All told, they lost everything but ten ships, and five of those were heavily damaged and required extensive repairs. The attack caused devastation that would take years to fix – especially the ships. A series of squeaks off the port side brought a smile to her face. She reached up and touched the single scale that hung from a leather string around her neck.
Hey, Barnacles! Still hanging around, I see?
It seems excitement follows you like a small child after their mother. Wouldn’t be anywhere else. Want a tow back in?
Celeste laughed. Sure! She tossed a rope to the sworca who took it in his mouth. The little boat jerked as the powerful whale pulled it much faster than it was designed for. It brought her heart great joy to be able to talk to the animals and sea creatures, and she was growing used to the power.
But, then again, she’d killed so many ocean dwellers in the battle. It was necessary, and it was the only way to truly set the poor things free, but it still hurt her to take their lives, especially in retrospect.
Quickly the boat was back at the docks, and she tied it back up, hopping onto the wooden structure and turning around to look at her ocean friend. Celeste bent down and stroked the wet, rubbery head of the sworca. Thank you, my friend.
Anytime, my lady. I’ll always answer your call.
With a squeak and a click, Barnacles dipped below the surface, then seconds later, erupted from below, did a full flip into a belly flop, soaking Celeste as she laughed hysterically. The sworca waved as he skimmed along the surface and then truly disappeared. Celeste was comforted knowing he would always come when she needed him.
Behind her, there was a loud bang and a flash of blue light. Although she jumped at the noise and turned to see a figure standing on the land, she turned back to stare out over the water, lost in her own thoughts until she heard: “Ahoy! At the end of the dock.”
Celeste turned and saw a Senturian, a Ranger at that, now standing at the edge of the water. He was six feet tall, wearing black boots, tactical tan pants, and a shirt covered in plate armor. Drawing back his hood revealed a flat-top haircut, rounding out the look of the Rangers perfectly. As the special forces for the Senturian army, they were some of the most powerful people in Terraunum. He looked at her, shading his eyes with one hand while the other rested on the pommel of the sword on his hip.
“Permission to come aboard?”
Celeste looked down to confirm she wasn’t still on the boat, and indeed was on the pier. “These are public docks, Ranger,” Celeste said. “There’s no permission needed.”
“True, but I’m not familiar with ocean protocol.” He stood there waiting, an odd grin on his face.
Celeste rolled her eyes, realizing he would be much more patient than her. “Fine, come aboard.”
The Ranger grinned and marched over to her, his boots making a surprisingly little amount of noise on the wooden planks. He approached, but stopped short five yards away. “Howdy, ma’am.”
She stood up, taking a deep breath before turning to face him. “So what do you want, Ranger?” His face looked familiar, not too much older than her, but she couldn’t place him.
“We heard a rumor all the way up in Harlingon that a Tempus harnessed the power of the ocean itself. That she’d found and used the Wave Connection, and single-handedly nullified the threat posed by the traitor. I wanted to see if it was true.”
She nodded. “For all the good it did me.”
“The way I heard it, you stopped a massacre.”
She half smiled. “Yeah. But there was a cost.”
The Ranger nodded. “Always is. You wouldn’t happen to still have the Wave Connection, would you?”
“Seems like a Ranger would have done his homework and would know the Connection had been completely spent and was lost to the sea.”
He smirked. “I did do my homework. It’s not lost. Spent, yes – but lost…”
Celeste narrowed her eyes at the Ranger, then shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter. This is all that’s left now.” Celeste pulled the length of chain and sapphires out of her pocket to show him. “Is that why you’re here? Just wanting more power?”
He held his hands up, palms facing her. “Don’t take me wrong here –the higher-ups wanted me to ask the question. Such a powerful object would be a huge asset to whoever possessed it. Or whichever nation. But that’s not why I’m here.” He stepped closer. “They also say you tried to resign your captainship? That’s not something any Tempus I know would do lightly.”
Celeste cringed before she answered. “When you lose most of your crew and your entire ship, it’s not as appealing to go back out onto the ocean.” Still crouched close to the water, she wiggled her hand, and the ocean responded, twirling and swirling with her fingers as she made patterns in the water. She hoped her desire to stay on land would go away with time, but until then, she didn’t want the responsibility of a crew.
The Ranger remained silent, waiting for her to continue.
“They made an offer for me to captain a ship-of-the-line. One of the best ships we have, and one of the few we have left. But I’m not ready. I’m too young for that, too inexperienced. I need to learn more.”
“If you say so. I heard you handled yourself admirable by all accounts, and none of the officers would have done anything differently. But that’s your decision, not mine. So what’s your plan now?” the Ranger asked.
She shrugged. “I accepted an offer for a patrol ship captain, with the option to move up whenever I’m ready. A ten-man crew is much less responsibility, and the powers that be wouldn’t allow me to accept any position other than a captain.”
“And your four surviving crew members insisted that they remain under your command?”
Celeste nodded. “Aye, they’re good sailors.”
“With that
assignment, you’ll be spending a little more time on land then? Since you’ll just be on the coastline, never far from shore?”
She looked out towards the horizon, watching the water for a few seconds before eyeing the Ranger. “That stands to reason. What difference does that make?”
“Do you know who I am?”
“If rumor has it right, you’re Royn Crowell. And that scar on your neck is where the skeptor cut you.”
“I see my reputation precedes me. So, if you know that, then do you also know why I'm here talking to you?”
“Other than making sure I didn’t have the Wave Connection hidden away somewhere and might be a threat to another nation, no.”
“Well, I have a request. I’ll present it to you, and you can make up your own mind – if you’re not interested, I’ll disappear again. Does that sound good?”
She considered, playing with the water again. “Sure.”
Royn nodded. “I’m in search of Senturians with special abilities. Things that make them unique. Experiences or training that makes them different, stronger, more resilient. And a willingness to sacrifice everything for their people. You fit all of those.”
Celeste stood up, flicking her hand, and sent a jet of water rocketing out to sea. “These people you’re searching for. Why do you need them?”
“It’s a special group. Call it a secret society, if you want, known only to me and Ames Talco. We feel there may be a need in the future, though we don’t know the timing, that such people would be needed to defend the East Side against its enemies. Or people who would want to destroy our way of life and kill innocent people. We would stand against such things.”
“Doesn’t the Senturian Corps and the armies of each of the nations already do this?” she asked, interest piqued.
“They do, but our group is more of a failsafe – a backup plan, if you will. Someone who can pick up the pieces if it all goes to pot.”
“You mean if Malstrak decides to do more of what he tried to do here?”
