The Maker of Entropy

by John Triptych

  Orilion edged closer to him so he could whisper in Zeren’s ear. “I still cannot fathom what your aim is, Zeren. How does bringing Karan over to the pirates help get my ship back?”

  “Karan is the last captive Vorconis has,” Zeren said. “Once we have her we can negotiate from a position of strength with the Khatun and her allies. We can bargain her for our ship and crew, and to help aid the pirates.”

  “How would she help the pirate cause?”

  “We shall have her as a bulwark against any potential treachery by our allies,” Zeren said confidently. “The once neutral tribes shall have her brother Lorrt, thereby forcing Vorconis to treat all sides equally.”

  “Vorconis will not be happy about this.”

  “Neither will we if this does not succeed.”

  The Tooan tribe’s sand sail had been expertly hidden in between two crags protruding out from the dusty ground behind the spire, but the pirate crew quickly spotted it since they knew it was somewhere nearby. Captain Gorbym expertly maneuvered his own vessel as it came in from the opposite direction, his crew already furling up the mainsail while the land ship began to silently drift closer to the small peak.

  As the pirate vessel soundlessly ground to a halt just before it could bump along the base of the spire, Zeren used his mindforce to leap out onto the group of rocks near its midpoint. He had been gathering Vis the moment he thought up the plan, and had plenty of reserves to last him well into the coming dawn.

  Based on the size of the opposing vessel, Zeren figured there would be around ten crewmen and an equal number of guards assigned to ensure Karan would be kept firmly in Lord Vorconis’s hands. Open hostility was certainly possible once the rescue would be found out, but Zeren felt if he could somehow find Karan and bring her back without killing anyone, then perhaps the Tooan would forgo any vendettas.

  Climbing up the narrow length of the spire, Zeren quickly spotted a watchman sitting just below its peak. Thankfully the sentry had been looking at the other direction and completely failed to notice the pirate ship coming in from the other side. The tribesman also shifted his torso sluggishly, suggesting he might be half asleep.

  Being in a playful mood, Zeren used his mindforce to push the sentry off his comfortably wedged seating arrangement. By the time the watchman realized he was in an awkward position, another helpful force push made him tumble down the narrow length of the spire. He tried to scream, but Zeren’s mindforce had clamped his mouth shut. All the unfortunate man could do was to utter a muffled yelp as he plunged down the other side of the peak.

  Just as Zeren rounded the bend of the spire and got close to where his victim had fallen into, two shadowy forms suddenly appeared side by side, making their way along the rocks near the crags and heading towards the base of the spire. The sentry had allies, and the sound of the man falling off his perch must have alerted them. Zeren silently cursed as he slipped behind a fair-sized boulder and waited.

  The man to the right was clearly shaking his head. “Cronk? Where are you?”

  The second man on the left trailed just behind the first. “He must have fallen asleep and fell off the top of this hill. What a fool he is.”

  Zeren grimaced. If they kept talking it would surely alert the rest of the crew. He needed to subdue them quickly or else the element of surprise would be lost. He waited a few more moments until both men had positioned themselves at the proper angle before unleashing his Vis.

  As the first man reached the center of the spire, a sudden, invisible force propelled him backwards and he tumbled right into the second man. Both were just about to cry out in surprise but their heads quickly smashed together with a loud crack, utterly stunning them. The unconscious pair tumbled backwards from the slope, the crunching noise of the loose gravel being subdued by the howl of the winds.

  Zeren’s confidence was high as he made his way towards one of the sharp crags shielding the enemy vessel. Using his Vis, he leapt off the top of the bluff and floated silently downwards, his boots landing softly on the deck. One other man was standing in the quarterdeck, leaning against the ship’s wheel. Since Zeren had landed at the opposite side, the man’s back was turned towards him.

  Creeping up behind his target, Zeren got close enough to where he could smell the man’s stink. The crewman sensed something was amiss and turned around. Zeren reacted, pivoting sideways while wrapping his arms around the back of the man’s throat and engaging his victim in a sleeper hold. The crewman struggled but it was to no avail as Zeren expertly cut off the air in his lungs. In less than a minute, the now unconscious man slumped forward, and Zeren laid him down gently onto the bronze deck.

  Peering out over the ship’s gunwale, Zeren could see the other crewmen had camped outside, beside the hull of the ship. It was a pity he had gone by himself, for if he had a small group, Zeren felt he could have taken the sand sail he was standing in as an extra prize. Turning his attention back to the deck, he slowly made his way towards the trapdoor. Pressing his ear onto the surface of the bronze door, he tried to listen in.

  When all he heard was a loud snore, Zeren unhooked the latch and slowly flipped the trapdoor open, deftly using his mindforce to muffle the squeaks coming from the dry hinges. A soft orange light glowed from within the ship’s hold. Peering inside, he could see the land ship’s heavyset captain sprawled on a table, wheezing heavily in his slumber.

  Using the ladder as a guide, Zeren slipped down along its sides and looked around. Karan lay sleeping on a makeshift bed near the far end of the hold, her ankle chained to one of the ship’s bulkheads. It seemed only the three of them were in the cabin. The luck of the gods was surely with him so far.

  Noticing the set of keys by the side of the captain’s belt, Zeren edged closer to the table while reaching out for them. Whether it was because he was a light sleeper or he had an innate sense of danger, the captain suddenly opened his eyes and sat up, his stare only inches away from Zeren’s own.

  Zeren couldn’t help but smile. “A pleasant eventides to you.”

  The Tooan captain was about to shout out an alarm before Zeren’s gauntleted fist drove itself into his stomach. The captain’s eyes bulged and he wheezed, gasping for air. Zeren punched him again, this time aiming for the bridge of the man’s nose while using an extra push of Vis to increase the strength of his strike. The blow caught the hapless man right in the face and his head recoiled off the table. Zeren bent over the now prostrated form. The captain was clearly unconscious, his nose broken and bloody.

  An alarmed voice called out from the other side of the room. “Who are you?”

  Zeren turned. Karan had been awakened by the brief fight and stared back at him with frightened eyes. Zeren smiled at her, holding his palms up in a gesture of peace. “Milady, I am here to free you.”

  Karan nodded. She stood up and held her manacled hands in front of her as Zeren reached over for the stunned captain’s keys.

  For the first time in many cycles, Zeren’s scheme had gone forth smoothly. Karan stood on the deck as the pirate vessel began moving away from the spire. Zeren had also sabotaged the enemy land ship’s mainsail so the stunned crewmembers couldn't pursue them after they recovered. The exiled Magus had retired to the hold, and was already drunk on algae wine when the hour of the dayspring had begun to seep across the land.

  Orilion walked over to Karan, a leather blanket draped over his left arm. Placing it around the young woman’s shoulders, he stood next to her while staring out at the dawning sky.

  Karan’s tired eyes seemed as if she’d been through a hundred battles. She had no more tears left to shed. “Where is our destination?”

  “Towards the Khanate holdings,” Orilion said. “I must ask if you could speak to your mother on behalf of my crew.”

  “Wulfgen will never listen to any of you once he learns of Tozhem’s death,” Karan said.

  “It was none of my doing,” Orilion said. “All I ask is for you to negotiate the release of my sand sail and of my men
.”

  “I shall ask her, let us hope it is reason enough for me to be reunited with my daughter and it would soften my mother’s heart.”

  Orilion smiled faintly. “If you speak well enough then perhaps this war may still be stopped.”

  She shook her head. “I do not believe so. There will surely be blood.”

  One of the crewmen manning the foresail jerked his head forward before turning around and waving his arms in the air. “Alarm! Alarm!”

  Captain Gorbym had been manning the ship’s wheel. He instantly became alert. “What is it, what do you see?”

  The nervous crewman pointed at the radiant horizon. “Look, look!”

  Orilion and Karan walked forward and placed their hands above their eyebrows to shield them from the morning rays. Behind the rising orange disk of the sun was a murky shadow that seemed to grow ever larger in front of them. The strange vessel out in the distance had a box-like hull, and it seemed to be twice as large as the ship they were riding on.

  Karan’s eyes grew wide as she placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream.

  The looming shape was unfamiliar to Orilion. He turned to Karan’s direction. “What is it?”

  “It is the Exalted,” Karan said nervously.

  Orilion was shocked. “What? How could they have found us?”

  Zeren came stumbling out of the trapdoor, carrying a wineskin. He had just fallen asleep when the alarm was sounded. His mind had been dulled and his Vis was at low ebb. “What troubles are we in now?”

  Orilion angrily tore the wineskin from his grasp before flinging it away and onto the deck. “Look out there, you fool!”

  Zeren was about to strike him for taking his drink away but curiosity made him stare out ahead of them. “What is that vessel? It does not even have a sail- how could it possibly move along the sand without one?”

  Karan was terrified. “The Exalted do not need to harness the wind, they use machines!”

  Captain Gorbym turned the ship’s wheel as he shouted to his crew to fully man the sail. The pirate vessel began shifting westward as it traveled along the side of a large dune. With the wind fully at their backs, the sand sail began to pick up more speed. He hoped it would be enough for this was the first time he had ever encountered such an enemy. The Exalted were but whispered among the pirate clans; stories of encountering their strange land ships were considered to be harbingers of doom.

  Thalena had climbed out of the ship’s hold and stared at the pursuing vessel. She stood beside Zeren and pointed at the Exalted ship. “He has found me.”

  Zeren looked at her with confusion in his eyes. “Who has found you, child?”

  Syviss came running up to them. She took her daughter by the arms and began to lead her away. “Thalena, you must not be up here!”

  Orilion nodded as Syviss started pulling her daughter back towards the trapdoor. He glanced over at Karan. “I think it is better if you retreat back down below as well, this could become perilous.”

  Karan shook her head. “I … I cannot stay down there. It is too much like a dungeon for me.”

  One of the lookouts stationed at the rear of the quarterdeck pointed at the enemy vessel. “Look!”

  The Exalted land ship had larger bronze wheels constructed along its sides rather than located at the bottom of its hull, like in traditional sand sails. Great gouts of smoke exuded from two tall smokestacks near the rear of its hull. Within moments, a strange growling noise seemed to emanate from the inside of the vehicle as it quickly accelerated and began to bear down upon them.

  The ones on the deck could only watch in awe as two large holes opened up in the front part of the Exalted vessel’s hull. Two metal tubes jutted out of the openings and pointed directly at them. Suddenly, the pair of hollow cylinders belched forth small clouds of smoke and fire. The sandy ground alongside of the pirate sand sail suddenly exploded, throwing up particles of dust over its terrified crew.

  Orilion’s eyes opened wide. “By the gods, it is like a gigantic musket aimed directly at us.”

  Captain Gorbym quickly began to turn the ship’s wheel from side to side as the sand sail started to zigzag along the flattened earth. Zeren crouched down so only his forehead was above the gunwale. Orilion did the same while taking Karan by the elbow and gently pulling her down into cover as well.

  After a brief pause, the Exalted ship’s guns fired again. A solid shell hit the outstretched mainsail of the pirate ship, and tore a large gaping hole in its leathery membrane. A number of crewmen cried out in terror. Karan slumped down behind the gunwale, covering her ears while tears flowed down her cheeks. Orilion placed a hand on her shoulder and tried his best to console her.

  Zeren grimaced as he could see the enemy land ship reloading its cannon for another volley. The smart thing to do was surrender, but they all knew a fate worse than death awaited them should they decide to give up. Zeren edged his way closer to the rear of the aft deck. If he could get aboard the Exalted ship, then there was a chance his companions might still get away. His recent bout of drinking had sapped his Vis, but now he was concentrating as hard as he could while building up his mental reserves. He needed the enemy land ship to get closer, and he would be able to use the mindforce to leap onboard and take the fight to them.

  One of the pirate crewmen fired a musket. It was a defiant but futile gesture as the lead ball simply bounced off the bronze hull of the trailing juggernaut. Shouts of alarm were once again raised as the enemy’s cannons had by now reloaded and were aiming for them once more. Captain Gorbym gritted his teeth as he pushed against the ship’s wheel, hoping to turn his sand sail into the proper direction to evade the next barrage.

  The enemy ship’s guns fired just as the pirate’s sand sail began a slow turn to the east. This time a shell hit the mainmast near its base, almost cutting it in two. With only the support lines keeping the mainsail aloft, the crew was unable to keep it upright as the mast began to bend. The leathery mainsail began crumpling into itself, and the sand sail’s speed slowed to almost nothing.

  Zeren could stand by no longer. There was still a fair distance between the two vessels but they had run out of time. He quickly stood up and dashed backwards along the deck, right past two terrified crewman, before doubling back and making a running start. He used his Vis for an extra boost just as he leapt out past the gunwale and flew towards the Exalted land ship. He collided with the side of the hull and began to slide down towards the ground. Zeren cursed as he caught the edge of a metal protrusion along the length of the hull and it stopped his fall.

  The Exalted land ship fired one more volley into the stricken sand sail before closing into boarding range. This time they used grape shot, raking the pirate ship’s deck with smaller, fist-sized copper balls. Captain Gorbym died while still clinging to the ship’s wheel, his spine shattered by an incoming shell. He gurgled out a mouthful of blood before falling over to his side. The few surviving crewmen still on deck cried out in pain and dismay as a bronze plank extended out from the Exalted land ship and connected with the pirate sand sail. A number of doors from the enemy ship suddenly opened, and its masked occupants began to pour out.

  Orilion blinked his eyes open. He had managed to lie flat on the deck the moment the grapeshot had been fired. Turning to his side, he ended up staring into Karan’s lifeless eyes. After getting up on his knees, he tried shaking her shoulders, desperately hoping for signs of life but it was clear she was dead. Cradling her in his arms, he realized she had been hit on the back of her head, and his hands were now sticky with blood.

  Zeren had made it to the topmost level of the Exalted land ship. The flattened upper deck had several trapdoors which were now opened, and dozens of Exalted warriors came streaming out. Using his Vis, Zeren drew his sword and cut a swath through their ranks, sliding and pivoting along the smooth flooring, never in the same place for more than a second. He would slash at exposed limbs before sliding away and driving his sword into another’s torso or exposed lim
b whenever his enemies attempted to strike him down. In less than a minute, half a dozen of the Exalted were down on the ground, either bleeding to death or silently writhing in pain from their debilitating wounds.

  The defending pirates on the deck tried to make a stand, but they were too few as they faced more a dozen enemy combatants invading their ship. A number of the Exalted had long spears, and they deftly pushed back the dwindling numbers of crewmen, who swung at them desperately using their cutlasses, but their weapon reach was far too short to be effective. One by one, the raiders fell onto the deck, mortally wounded.

  Orilion just shook his head while lowering Karan’s head back down onto the floor. A shadow loomed over him and he looked up, staring straight into the demonic metal mask of an Exalted. Before he could react, the enemy plunged a spear into his chest. Orilion let out a faint rattle before keeling over. His last visions were of Karan’s eyes staring back at him as he drifted into an ever darkening sleep, one in which he would never wake up from.

  Zeren grimaced as the remaining Exalted formed a wide circle around him, away from the range of his blade. He could hear Thalena’s screams across the deck of the other land ship. “Come on, you grubworms! Who wants to be the next one to die?”

  A muffled voice was heard coming from the rear of the line facing him. “It shall be I.”

  Zeren waited until one of them emerged and stood a few paces in front of him. Although he wore the same type of metal mask which concealed his true features, it was obvious this particular Exalted was their leader.

  Placing his blade on a high guard position, Zeren kept to his fighting stance. “I challenge you to a duel. If I win, the youngling and her mother shall be freed.”

  The Exalted leader nodded. “It is accepted. Who are you?”

  “I am Zeren, killer of the Grand Magus of Lethe and the greatest bandit who ever lived!”