by Jon Kiln
Berengar forced himself to turn away. He flew out over the cliffs and across thick woods beyond the mountains. He looked up at the sky and felt dizzy from dozens of suns. He eventually figured out he was traveling east.
He found himself soaring across water again. He thought he was back on the lake, but realized the water was much bigger. He was on the deck of a ship. The boat was moving far too fast for the real world as time accelerated in Berengar’s vision.
He saw the island rising ahead. For a moment, the trees burst into flames raising black smoke into the air, but that path snapped and the island extinguished itself. He saw other ships approaching and then they vanished as well.
The island faded in and out of a dark spot.
“A blind spot,” Berengar whispered. His voice sounded flat and no other versions of himself repeated the words this time in the unnerving chorus of possible futures.
He was alone.
The island came back into view and then was darkened again. He recognized it. He had sailed less often than he had visited deserts, but he remembered. This was Broken Shell. It was the island in the Southern Sea where Berengar had returned Marlex after his failed attempt to petition his cousin, King Ramael, to forgive his exile. If Marlex had remained at the island instead of mounting a failed overthrow, he would still have his eyes. Berengar remembered the island from all those years ago because of the odd shape of the bays that gave it its name.
He tried to see it again, but it was lost in the blind spot. Either a fragment of the Eye was there or Caffrey was there with his fragment.
“Or I am wrong.” Berengar’s voice echoed at him a thousand times.
He turned to see who was with him on the ship approaching the darkness of the island.
Nisero stared back with sword sheathed. “Don’t do it, Captain. This is a bad plan.”
“This was your plan.” Berengar’s voice echoed.
He stared between the decks of two ships. Belsh had a blade held to his young throat. Some versions of the boy stepped away safe. Others fell dead into the water with his throat cut.
Berengar looked north at the darkness hanging above the capital and palace. He stood holding the crown again in a throne room painted in blood. Nisero’s sword was unsheathed.
Berengar pushed away and landed back on the bank of the lake next to the Lieutenant. He lifted his hand off the fragment.
“What did you see, Captain?”
“I think we need to go to the island of Broken Shell in the Southern Sea. It is the place where Marlex was exiled and his father before him.”
“It is as good a plan as any.”
Berengar carefully wrapped the fragment back in the cloak. “You say that now.”
“Should we gather the men?”
“Make preparation to leave in the morning. We have many days travel ahead of us.”
Nisero stepped away. “I’d send Belsh, but I have not seen him recently.”
Berengar looked across the lake and smiled. “He’ll return soon enough, I’m sure.”
Chapter 10: The Cage of Certainty
The travel was not as smooth through the forests after leaving the mountains. The war expanding to the Southern Tribal Confederations had proved a bigger obstacle than Berengar had anticipated. Even though the lords and villages were largely uncommitted to the new conflict, they still viewed Berengar’s party as a potential invading force. They were not outright hostile, but they were not welcoming either.
As their pace continued slowly, he was sure word of their passage was traveling faster to the leaders of those that were in conflict with the kingdom and probably to Caffrey himself. Whatever advantage the blindspot of Berengar holding a Corner of the Eye might provide, the word of mouth was probably counteracting it.
Berengar and his group finally reached a fishing village on the shore of the Southern Sea. They were too far away to see the island of Broken Shell, but he knew it was there as he waited for Nisero to follow along the docks, feeling out the various captains and sailors.
“He’s willing to take us,” Nisero said as he returned. “The ship is large enough to transport us including the wagons, but he wants to talk to you first.”
Berengar made his way down the dock and the captain of the ship stepped down from the gangplank. He wore a thick material girded around his waist, legs, and loins, but no shirt. His shoulders were tanned and freckled. Gray hair spotted his head, beard, and chest. “I am Captain Felords. My ship is the Surewind. We are friendly and loyal to the King as always, Captain Berengar.”
“That is good to hear, Captain Felords,” Berengar said amicably. “Are you willing to carry us across to Broken Shell?”
“Of course, sir. There is a standard fee for men of the King, but I’m going to have to ask more due to the extenuating circumstances.”
Berengar looked out across the water. “Are we sailing into hostile waters?”
“Not to my knowledge. The people of the island remain loyal to the King as well.”
Berengar tilted his head. “I thought Broken Shell was populated with exiles and those banished by the Crown.”
“The population includes permanent guests of your King, as you are well aware,” Felords said, “but it is administered by local fishermen that have always been friendly to their benefactors from the north.”
“How do fishermen control prisoners?” Nisero asked.
Felords shrugged. “Having no other options makes quite the effective cage. Being fed and housed with nowhere else to go in all the world makes for a docile life.”
“What are the extenuating circumstances that make your fee steeper, Captain Felords?” Berengar asked.
“The kingdom is at war, sir. While I am certain your great King is in the right as always, I have to deal with angry lords of this region that would question my patronage while you are not around to defend me. I would rather pay them than to fight them. So, under those circumstances, I must ask you for the additional fees I am likely to be charged for my northward loyalty in the future.”
Berengar nodded and leaned back where Belsh stood closer to the start of the dock. “Send the men to retrieve the dragon from the wagons.”
As Belsh went, Felords shook his head. “Did you find a creature that survived the purge of Faithcore and now you seek to have it eat me?”
Berengar smiled. “This dragon breathes extra fees, Captain Felords.”
The three men who had been assigned to carry out the chiseled wall from the secret passage struggled to carry it down the dock. They set it up with a struggle and let the sunlight sparkle off the multi-colored jewels.
Captain Felords looked it up and down. “This is a pet I believe I can keep. Prepare your party to load, Captain Berengar, and my men shall make preparations to sail.”
As the wagons, animals and gear were loaded below, Berengar held onto the rail and tried to gain his sea legs. Nisero joined him at his side. As they cast off, the motion on the waves became more pronounced.
Rain began to fall, disturbing the surface of the sea and wetting the hair of the men.
Berengar leaned over with the wind and mist in his face and fought the urge to vomit.
“I can move the men to the other side if you need privacy, sir,” Nisero said.
“No.” Berengar held the rail and swallowed several times. “We are brothers in arms. We should not have to hide weakness of stomach upon the waves from one another.”
“I find it disconcerting that a piece of the Great Artifact might have been hidden on the very island where Marlex and other exiles sat brooding against the King and kingdom. That is a deadly combination.”
“If Marlex had a piece of the Eye, seems like he would have been more successful.”
“Probably so, sir,” Nisero agreed. “Maybe Caffrey was kind enough to exile himself for his crimes.”
The island came into view with its jagged bays. As they drew closer, Captain Felords dropped the sails and allowed the ship to drift. The rain tapere
d off to a drizzle.
“What are we doing?” Nisero asked.
Felords looked at the Lieutenant and the Captain. “We stop beyond the breaks and wait for one of the ships from the island to come out and inspect us. The King keeps his guests here and the administrators of the island have to be careful who and what they accept. They wouldn’t want to admit a store of weapons or warriors disloyal to the King. I thought you had been here before, Captain Berengar?”
“I have,” Berengar confirmed. “It was long ago, but I remember.”
A small ship sailed out from one of the bays and approached from the island. The smaller ship had oars and rowers that pulled them toward the Surewind. About halfway to them, another dozen ships cast out from the various bays, but headed northeast away from their position.
Nisero pointed out across the water. “Do you think our enemies are fleeing ahead of us, sir?”
“No way to know until we reach the island and start asking questions.”
The ships spread out from one another as they sailed away from the island.
The smaller ship pulled in their oars and drifted up alongside the Surewind.
Felords called out, “Prepare to be boarded, men.”
The crew dropped ropes down to the ship. The ship that was about a body length lower in the water from them tossed ropes up. The Surewind crew took them and began tying off. Belsh caught one and tried to tie it off as well.
“Boy, let the crew handle it,” Berengar said. “We are from land and ill trained for this work.”
Belsh nodded and hand off the rope at one of the rails.
Crew from below climbed up.
A hooded figure with one arm stood behind the rail hanging off the side of the Surewind by one hooked leg. The lone, right arm wrapped around Belsh’s neck and produced a blade. The attacker held the edge under Belsh’s chin and growled, “Nobody move.”
Berengar drew his sword as did the rest of the Elite Guard.
“What’s happening?” Felords asked in surprise. “Are you pirates? Name a rate and keep your heads.”
The other men along the railing produced bows and drew, aiming arrows at the men on the deck of the Surewind. Berengar thought about the arrows that took out the Elite Guard at Caffrey’s estate and the bolts from the trap in the secret chamber of Faithcore.
Felords held up his hands. “Hold. We are looking to spill no blood. Name your deal, scoundrels.”
A voice from below shouted up. “Very wise. At least there is one smart captain aboard. Unfortunately, it is the other Captain with whom I need to speak.”
Berengar lowered his sword and glanced over the side between two enemy bowmen. He saw more arrows pointing upward ready to fire. And then he saw the sneer of the man that had been speaking.
“Caffrey,” Berengar spat.
“You give me the Green Corner of the Great artifact. You surrender and you can live,” Caffrey said.
“I thought we had the Green Corner,” the man with one arm holding the blade on Belsh spoke.
“It was a fake. Berengar brought me the real thing as I had hoped.”
“Why don’t we fight until we are all dead and the Eye is sunk to the bottom?” Berengar suggested.
Caffrey waved back to the sea behind him. Berengar looked and saw that the ships had turned and were coming at them in a solid wall.
“Very dramatic,” Caffrey said. “But I think they will be here before you succeed with your murder suicide. The Corner, Captain. Now. While you and your men still live.”
Berengar unlatched the satchel and took out the bundle. He unwrapped it and held the wedge through the cloak to keep it from touching his skin. Berengar held the piece over the water between the ships. “Let the boy go or I drop it into the sea deeper than you can hold your breath to ever retrieve.”
“I already have a piece. You are wasting your time with this pantomime.”
“If a single piece were good enough for your purposes, we wouldn’t be here now.”
“Fine, you give me the piece and I let you, your men and your boy go. You sail away unharmed.”
“I’m not letting you get the piece.”
“Then, we keep talking until the other ships arrive. I like my odds with each passing moment, Captain.” Caffrey glanced over his shoulder.
“I don’t have to kill all of them,” Berengar said menacingly. “Just you.”
“I do so enjoy being alive. Final offer, then. I release the boy and your men. You surrender only yourself, Berengar. Your men keep the Green Corner. You, me, and my men sail away. Your men and scholars finish the search of the island for the third piece. We go to find the fourth piece. We will all have two pieces and the weight of our paths will pull us back together for a final battle to control the entire artifact. I will not kill you or any of your people, for now.”
“That is an excellent lie. One of your best maybe.”
“You hold the piece in your hand. I swear to you that the deal I offer is true. You can see for yourself the path I offer is the only way out. See for yourself.”
Berengar pulled his lips back from his teeth. “If you hold the piece of the Blue Corner, then I can’t see your future actions.”
Caffrey smiled. “Look at the boy’s future then. Our standoff will wait.”
“Don’t, Captain,” Nisero protested. “This is a bad plan.”
“Watch him,” Berengar commanded. “If they make a move, knock the piece from my hands into the sea.”
Berengar reached out and touched the wedge with two bare fingertips. He felt the power move through him, but fought to keep his vision on the enemy around.
His mind bobbed in and out of his body. He saw the blade come away from Belsh’s throat and Nisero taking the Eye. Berengar sailed away with Caffrey alive. The path was thick. He had trouble stepping off of it.
On a thin line, he found himself waiting until the other ships arrived and the arrows peppered the bodies of his men. He took another step to the side and saw himself drop the piece in the water. Belsh’s throat opened and his body fell into the water after it.
A thousand times he watched himself surrender and Caffrey let the boy go along with the piece of the Eye. He kept his word every time Berengar surrendered, but the Captain couldn’t figure out why.
Berengar pulled his two fingers away from the wedge and found himself fully back in the present.
Caffrey smiled wide. “See? The Great Artifact allows us to trust each other, finally. That is a great magic, indeed. As you have seen, your time to decide is very short. The price of leading men always comes down to a willingness to give up yourself.”
Berengar wrapped up the piece and handed it off to Nisero.
“Sir, don’t do this. He can’t be trusted.”
“Of course, he can’t,” Berengar said. “But unfortunately, this is the only way and I have seen that for myself.”
Berengar stepped over the rail and dropped down onto Caffrey’s ship. The Elite Guard moved forward, but Nisero lifted a hand staying them. The one-armed man took the blade away from Belsh’s throat and dropped down as well. They took Berengar’s sword and tied his hands behind his back.
Belsh leaned over the railing. “I’m sorry, sir.”
“When you see your brother safe at the capital, tell him I said hello.”
“As you wish, sir.”
Caffrey clapped his hands. “Enough with your codes, Captain. Let’s be gone.”
The bowmen dropped off the Surewind back onto Caffrey’s ship. Caffrey saluted up to Nisero. “A pleasure doing business with you, Lieutenant. Good luck finding the third piece on the island. I’m sure we will meet again. Certain of it, in fact.”
The men below cut the ropes and rowed away from the Surewind. The other ships changed course once more and they all sailed northeast away from the island. Before he lost sight of the Surewind, it looked to Berengar as if they were approaching the island.
“Brave move, Captain,” Caffrey said, patting Berengar’s
shoulder. “I’m sure you feel a bit foolish at the moment for falling into my clutches, but you made the right choice. I know you can hardly accept that assurance from me, but this was the only path forward. If I could have killed you on the spot, I would have. Believe me. Once you survived my first trap, I was as surprised as you to see that the path chosen by the gods, as they say, would lead us here. Very surprised. We are both men in the clutches of destiny.”
The one armed man pulled the hood back and revealed a scarred face that Berengar recognized. He was sure he was in the midst of another vision. He completely forgot his intended response to Caffrey’s taunts. That train of thought was gone.
He stared into the face of Solag and she appeared calm and even sane. The stillness of a creature Berengar had only ever seen in full blown madness was unnerving. Just seeing her alive struck him as utterly impossible. Seeing her whole in mind even as she was missing her left arm was somehow more terrifying to him than the last time they had faced off.
“How?” Berengar breathed.
He expected her to draw her blade to slice his throat, but she remained disturbingly still.
“You know my General, of course.” Caffrey gestured towards her. “There is something beautiful about second chances, don’t you think, Captain?”
“How are you here?”
“I did not have the good grace to die,” Solag said in an even voice. It was deep, but still the voice of a woman. “I was reborn instead.”
“How did you lose your arm?”
“I fell off a cliff,” she said. “Got hurt.”
Berengar nodded and looked away. “Could have been worse. I wish it had been worse.”
“Sorry to disappoint you. How are your daughter and grandson these days?”
“Do not speak of them.”
“I’ll do more than speak of them soon enough. I promise you that.”
“Enough,” Caffrey said. “When you hold all the power, you do not have to threaten as if you are weak.”
Solag stepped away from Berengar but did not reply.
As the ship bounced over the waves, Berengar felt sick to his stomach again.
