by Raymond Cain
Hunger pains stabbed into him and images of shrimp, lobster, and deep-fried sea cucumber filled Flynn’s thoughts. An icebox at home was filled with seafood and he pushed the ship into top speed. Writhing, carnivorous plants swayed in his wake as he sped by and a great white shark veered out of his way.
“Massage,” Flynn said, and the pilot’s chair responded. He had hoped for a distraction from the hunger but as the chair bubbled and lumps of dense water kneaded into his legs, back, and sides, he shifted uncomfortably. The massage was not soothing in his weakened state and he winced as the chair rubbed against the lumps and bruises he acquired from the beating. Despite it all, he was smiling. It was good to be free.
The smile widened when he thought of the one ultimately responsible for his capture.
“Theoric,” Flynn growled. “I’m coming for you.”
Chapter Five
After an evening of gorging himself on lobster, shrimp, orach salad, and many mugs of oceanberry juice, Flynn slept more soundly than he ever had before. The next morning it felt as though he rose from a coma. Before heading to the Pool Room, he gathered enough food for a long journey, including deep fried sea cucumber, sea grapes, mussels, salted crayfish, and sea almonds. He also brought a small bundle of kelp, in case he got desperate. For drinks he brought water, oceanberry, redvine juice, and a bottle of seagrape wine that he promised himself to leave uncorked until he found out where Theoric was taking the prisoners.
The supplies filled up the back of the Searunner and Flynn sped off toward the salari community. Along the way, he dispersed a blindingly bright school of lanternfish and navigated through a crowd of jellyfish floating over a coral shelf. When the salari caves were in sight, he slowed and hovered at the edge of a ridge that looked down on the community. Things seemed to be back to normal; salari farmers were tending fields of orach and kelp, laborers navigated between stone huts with nets of food slung over their shoulders, and warriors mounted on giant seahorses rode in and out of the caves.
Feeling exposed, Flynn exited his craft and scoured the ground for something to conceal the ship. He uprooted armfuls of weeds and kelp, and spread them over the hull. Before long, the ship was indistinguishable from the surrounding seascape.
After slipping inside and moving just enough weeds to observe his surroundings, Flynn waited for Theoric to arrive. After a few hours with no sign of the skeletal ship, he climbed back out to stretch his legs and relieve himself. He returned to his vessel and devoured some of his provisions, more to pass the time than to satisfy his hunger. Hours went by uneventfully and he accidentally fell asleep.
There were no indicator coral in sight and when Flynn woke up, he had no idea how much time had elapsed. He continued to wait and for what felt like days, he ate, drank, and made brief trips outside his ship to fertilize the nearby vegetation. For over a day he watched groups of salari leave to check their traps but there was no sign of Theoric. He feared constantly that the pirate may have shown up during one of his naps and he considered questioning one of the salari citizens, but that would be risky.
The giant seahorses’ eating habits turned Flynn’s stomach. They grazed constantly at the edge of the community. When there were no floating plankton, they grazed around coral to devour small fish. When neither plankton nor fish were available, they nosed around in the dirt for shrimp, crabs, and lobsters. The moment one method did not immediately provide them with nourishment, they immediately switched to another.
A cloud of anchovies passed over his ship. There were thousands of the oily fish, illuminating the surrounding water with their blue-green glow. As anchovies were a food source for nearly everything on the ocean floor, it wasn’t long before eels and sharks arrived. The predators plunged into the anchovies and the group of fish moved like a single organism to avoid them. Again and again the predators plunged into what looked like a wall of food, only to enter an empty tunnel of open water within the swarm.
After an eternity of waiting, a purple light appeared in the distance. Theoric’s skeletal warship approached the salari community. The bone masts creaked and the sinew rigging groaned as the vessel descended. An electrical storm raged in the heart of the ship, creating branching lines of power that sizzled between the rib bones in the hull. The electricity hissed where it touched the water and propelled the vessel quickly through the depths.
A sick feeling passed through Flynn as the ghastly ship approached. It thrummed with power. Purple energy crackled from the mouth of the dragonskull bowsprit at the front of the vessel. The skull’s eye sockets surged with electricity, giving the vessel the appearance of a skeletal creature swimming through the water.
Flynn’s eyes narrowed when he saw the pale figure standing at the bow of the ship. Theoric stood with one foot on the bowsprit and one arm held lazily over his knee. His other hand held onto the rigging that was once a dragon’s sinew. He wore a long black leather coat emblazoned with skulls on the chest and arms. A leather swordbelt sporting a pair of jeweled cutlasses hung from his waist, and a leather tricorn sat on his pale head. All three sides of the hat were pinned up with silver skull-shaped pins.
The ship was still a long way off but Flynn thought he could almost make out the man’s purple eyes glaring at him. He shrugged the notion away as simple paranoia. Even so, he crouched inside his ship as though it would improve his concealment.
The Dragon sizzled louder as it descended. The spine deck curved downward, creating the popping sounds of vertebrae moving in and out of alignment. The hiss of electricity striking the water created wisps of steam and strings of bubbles floating up from the sides. The grazing seahorses fled inside the caves as The Dragon hovered in front of their hillside community. The storm in The Dragon’s hull diminished to a dull, purple glow once the ship stopped moving.
A handful of azurans, white-skinned, white-haired humanoids with purple eyes, stood on the deck. They wore helms made from human skulls, enchanted to allow them to move and breathe underwater. Theoric did not join them, but he gestured at the bony prominences that formed a low wall around the deck. The prominences folded down, affording the men easy access off the ship. They hopped off The Dragon and landed in the soil, giving rise to slowly-falling clouds of dust.
The azurans marched toward one of the caves and a cloud of slowly-falling sand followed their footsteps. They were greeted by an older-looking salari wearing a seashell robe fastened together with golden wire. The salari was flanked by two female salari wearing seashell garments that barely covered their private parts. They kept their heads down, their eyes focused on the ground, and their long blue hair hung down over their faces.
The azurans went inside and for some time, nothing happened. Flynn risked getting out of his Searunner and he crouched down at the crest of a hill to take a closer look. Memories of his parents filled his thoughts. To Flynn, the fact that Theoric nearly destroyed Seahaven seemed trivial compared to his other crimes.
With Theoric out in the open, merely a stone’s throw away, Flynn considered returning to the Searunner and firing a volley of projectiles at him. There was a reasonable chance he would succeed. He nearly killed the pirate the first time, and he’d had more practice since.
“Squawk!” screeched a bird perched on the crow’s nest. There were bald patches amidst it red, blue, and yellow feathers, and the flesh on its head seemed partly rotted away.
“Theoric,” shouted a lookout standing next to the bird. “There’s someone on the hill.” The man held a spyglass fixed on Flynn’s position.
“Damn it,” Flynn said, dropping down into a cluster of glowing, leafy vegetation. He belly-crawled back to his ship. “Why don’t I ever learn?”
“Let’s check it out,” Theoric replied, removing his black leather tricorn to brush a strand of white hair out of his eyes. He donned the hat as his crewmen leaned over the deck and peered in Flynn’s direction.
The crackle of electricity raged and spokes of energy danced between the ship’s rib bones. The gru
esome vessel rose, scattering sand and creatures below, and turned toward the Searunner. The ghastly frigate would be upon Flynn in moments.
Flynn slipped inside his ship, closed the hatch doors, and shoved the acceleration lever forward, launching his ship and scattering the vegetation concealing the vessel. He kept his speed low and went deeper into the kelp forest, trying his best to avoid brushing against trees as shaking them would give away his position.
The Dragon crested the hill and soared over the one-hundred-foot-tall kelp trees. It cast a purple haze on the kelp trees and Flynn parked his ship in a well-concealed section of the forest, hoping mightily the azurans would not see him through the branches. He scowled at the skeletal ship and envisioned the hapless prisoners being tossed in its soul engine as it pursued him. It sickened him to think of the unfortunate creatures’ souls getting ripped out to provide the vessel with power to function.
A narrow gap between branches was enough for Flynn to get a closer look at The Dragon. The warship had many more bones than it did the last time he saw it, and the once-wooden rear of the craft was replaced entirely by bone. Many humanoids were fed to the ship in recent months.
The dragonskull bowsprit was supported on three giant vertebrae and it angled downward toward his ship. Purple energy raged from its eyes and it opened its mouth, revealing an inferno of electricity and a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth. Flynn’s gaze locked on the skull’s empty eye sockets and wondered if the ship was actually looking at him.
Considering how improved his chances might be if he sped away, Flynn’s hand clenched hard on the acceleration lever. The purple energy blazed brighter in the dragonskull’s mouth and he knew that he was spotted. He launched the ship from hiding, ricocheting off one kelp tree after another.
Behind him, the dragonskull released a wide stroke of electrical energy that incinerated the spot where Flynn was hiding. Energy continued pouring out of its mouth, cutting a swath through the kelp forest toward the Searunner. Flynn veered right, narrowly avoiding getting cut in half as the electricity tore into the ground past him.
“By the depths!” Flynn cursed, “When did his ship learn to do that?”
The Searunner bounced around from tree to tree and Flynn was getting thrown about too much to steer between them. The collisions were making him nauseous and he was relieved when the collisions stopped and he exited the forest. He tried to shake the dizziness away as his pursuer gained on him.
The Dragon appeared over the trees and energy was building up in the dragonskull. A stroke of electricity roared out of The Dragon’s mouth and Flynn veered left. The stroke cut through a bed of hard coral, scattering debris and tiny organisms.
Flynn pushed the Searunner up to full speed and the ground below him became a blur. The electrical storm inside The Dragon flared brighter and it increased its speed, cruising nearly as fast as the Searunner. He weaved between a lion’s mane jellyfish, a giant octopus, and a manta ray as The Dragon pushed straight ahead, creatures bouncing off its hull as it went.
The Dragon fired another bolt and a trail of bubbles trailed behind it as it tore through the water. It punched through the manta ray and struck the ground, kicking up sand and seashells. The manta ray sank, trailing a vertical line of blood above it.
After Flynn was far enough away that he could no longer see The Dragon, he circled around and headed back the way he came. He reasoned that Theoric would give up on him and head back to the salari colony to pick up prisoners, and so he cruised slow enough to give the azuran time to get there first.
Flynn soared high as he approached the community and, as expected, The Dragon was parked in front of the caves. Careful to stay far enough away to avoid detection, he hovered high above as five scaly humanoids were dragged from the caves and forced onto Theoric’s ship. It was difficult to make out from a distance but the ship seemed to alter its shape to allow the crewmen and the prisoners on board.
Concern ate at Flynn. The last time he saw Theoric, the pirate was injured and alone, on the run from a leviathan. Not only did Theoric survive that encounter, he acquired another crew and became even more powerful. The Dragon’s hull was fortified with thousands of new bones and the energy it released could tear a ship in half. The man was a force of nature, and he hated Flynn above all others.
A flare of purple energy revealed The Dragon was moving again and Flynn waited. The skeletal frigate cruised low over the rolling terrain and Flynn maintained his position high above its stern. With all the glowing creatures swimming between the two ships, it would be difficult for one of the azuran crewmen to spot him.
Miles of hills and valleys covered in glowing vegetation passed below and in time, a vast, dark expanse was visible in the distance. The Abyss, a miles-long hole cut deep into the earth, stretched out before them. Flynn felt a knot in his stomach and he pulled back on the acceleration lever as Theoric continued forward over the enormous fissure.
Flynn thought he was no longer fearful of sailing over the miles-long trench but the black expanse filled him with dread. Even so high above the fissure, it was nerve-wracking to pass over it.
Steeling his nerve, Flynn increased his speed, soaring high over The Abyss and hovering far above the frigate by the time it reached the other side. Curiously, Theoric came to a halt at the edge of the fissure. The Dragon hovered over the blackness.
Flynn froze, fearing he was spotted. He half-expected The Dragon to start ascending but his eyes widened in dumbfounded shock when the opposite happened.
The Dragon descended into The Abyss.
Flynn pressed his palms against the sides of his ship and stared through the floor in disbelief. “That’s crazy! Why would he go down there?”
Despite the risks, Flynn lowered the Searunner to take a closer look. He couldn’t believe his eyes. The skeletal ship was moving deeper and deeper into the darkness. Flynn descended with it, maintaining a constant distance. Before long, he reached the cliffs and found the bone ship far below.
Staring through the floor of his transparent hull, the purple light from The Dragon was barely visible. The light flickered, as though shadowy beings were swimming in front of it. For quite some time, Flynn hovered over the blackness and watched. Eventually, the purple light grew. The Dragon was ascending.
“Impossible,” Flynn said. He realized he was holding his breath and he inhaled deeply. “Nothing that enters The Abyss survives.” The bone frigate was preceded by the familiar crackling and popping sounds of electrical energy and shifting bones.
Flynn sped toward a nearby cliff face and headed for a grove of giant, transparent mushrooms. The house-sized organisms emitted a yellow glow that contrasted the fields of green and orange algae around them. Flowering vegetation flourished between the mushrooms and Flynn set his vessel behind a cluster of poseidonia, plants with long, blade-like leaves that produced green flowers. The flowers cast a bright red glow that turned yellow, then blue, brown, and red. They were tall enough to provide cover from the azuran ship.
The Dragon’s masts emerged from the darkness, followed by the bowsprit and the main deck. Finally, the hull appeared, pulsing with purple energy. Bony blades protruded from the breastbone along the bottom center of the hull and azuran crewmen were visible between the ribs, in the lower decks.
“They did it,” Flynn said, slack-jawed with disbelief. “They survived The Abyss.”
The eyes on the dragonskull bowsprit blazed with power and purple bolts spilled out from its teeth. The vessel was drooling with energy. Theoric stood with one foot up on the bowsprit and one hand holding onto the rigging. His leather coat was tight around his stocky frame and a braid of long, white hair hung down below his tricorn.
Flynn was intensely curious. No one would enter the deadly region without good reason. What could be in there that would interest a renowned pirate? And how did he survive?
One of the crewmen carried an armful of shackles and Flynn suspected they were the same shackles the prisoners wore. At first, he g
uessed the prisoners were thrown into The Abyss but if Theoric was going to do that, he could have dropped them in from above. No, Theoric brought them down and put them somewhere.
To learn what Theoric was up to and find a way to stop him, there was only one thing Flynn could do.
He would have to enter The Abyss.
Chapter Six
The Dragon sailed east and Flynn hovered over the spot where it emerged. He was close to the edge of the fissure and through the translucent floor he saw only blackness.
Reaching behind the pilot’s chair, he produced the bottle of seagrape wine he had been saving. Remembering his promise to drink it when he learned where Theoric took his prisoners, he was about to uncork the bottle but he put the wine back with the rest of the provisions instead. Learning that he needed to enter The Abyss was nothing to celebrate.
He circled the area for some time and deliberated how badly he wanted to know where Theoric went, until a blue flicker caught his eye. He pulled the acceleration lever back to a neutral position, slowing the Searunner to a stop. A moment later there was another flicker. It had the same blue hue as aquazite.
The sight piqued his curiosity but the thought of entering The Abyss made Flynn’s stomach clench so tight that it threatened to squeeze out the shrimp and orach salad he had for breakfast. A shiver passed down his spine and the hairs on his arms and back of his neck stood on end. Seeing The Dragon exit unscathed minutes earlier did little to bolster his resolve.
Another flicker of blue light rekindled his desire to see what was down there but as he laid one hand on the acceleration lever and the other on the steering globe, he couldn’t force himself to submerge. There was solid blackness below him but somehow, it seemed like it was moving.
“Okay,” he said to himself. “If I see one more flash…”
Another flicker of blue light shone from below.
“…two more flashes, then I’ll go down and investigate.”
