Warhammer Red Thirst

by Warhammer

  Cendenai watched the vessel creeping away from the harbour under half sail. "It should be safe." She turned the wheel several degrees to port, then called her second mate to take it. Standing amidships, she began calling out orders.

  Salah conferred with the signaller. The mirror winked again. Several ships nosed ahead of the rest. Ariel loosened her knife in its sheath and hoped Cendenai would move to a more sheltered position before they came within range of the Magrittan.

  Everything came into sharp focus for Ariel. Ahead of her, the hardwood mast glowed in the deep red polish of the sun; the air was clean and sharp with land-meets-sea smell, over that lay the heavy, oily naphtha; she could feel the grain of the wood beneath her feet. Her blood beat in her ears. She could die out here.

  Like a bird of prey, they stooped toward their victim. Cendenai chopped her hand down, and the arbalest rattled its load of death up at the sky. She barked a command at the steersman, and the Aramam heeled over in a vicious turn. Ariel heard the water hissing against their hull.

  The Magrittan had her naphtha lit and two figures on deck were manoeuvring the balister into position. One of them dropped to the deck with an arrow in his thigh.

  The women by the arbalest had two more bundles of arrows in place. Cendenai chopped again. In reply, the Magrittan loosed her balister.

  A ball of black and flame arced from their deck. Ariel watched it. It was going to overshoot. Cendenai shouted for the steersman to pull the Aramam into an even tighter curve, out of the Magrittan's line of sight. Another ball of fire streaked into the air, flame streaming behind it like a comet's tail as it fell towards them out of the sky. They almost made it; the comet's tail caught the taffrail behind Send. Ariel threw one bucket of water onto the planking around him and ran with the other to the burning taffrail. The water hit the naphtha with a cracking, steaming hiss and the rail bubbled. The fire seemed out but Ariel drew another bucket of water to be sure and dumped it over the mess. The residue would have to be scraped off.

  Send sat with his eyes closed, water pooling by his feet. He did not move.

  The Aramam was well out of range now and the Magrittan lay dead in the water, over half her crew injured or killed by their rain of arrows. The crew of the Aramam laughed and clapped each other on the back. Ariel stood there, the bucket still in her hand. She was glad she was not dead. Cendenai smiled up at her, then shrugged and looked around the Aramam.Ariel understood: the ship was Cendenai's responsibility; she could not come to Ariel yet.

  "We only lost one," Salah crowed, pointing to where orange flame licked and sucked at a lateen-rigged vessel to starboard. "Pull back. We'll blockade the rest and send the fireships in."

  The skeleton crews on the fireships set full sail and tied the wheels in position. They opened stopcocks on barrels of oil in the hold and doused the decks with it. Then they dived off and swam to the nearest ships where they were hauled aboard, leaving the floating bombs to their crews of stuffed dummies. One passed so close that Ariel could see the smile a sailor had painted on a white face. Elven archers lit the cloth-wrapped tips of their arrows and waited for the signal.

  One of the Magrittans hurled a huge stone from its mangonel in a desperate attempt to sink the deserted ship coming directly toward it. Salah smiled. They had left it too late. He murmured to his signaller and the mirror caught the last bit of light from the sun. A triple handful of arrows soared towards the fireships. The first ship lit with a soft whump.

  Ariel turned her face away from the heat and the rattle of arrows as they rained onto the escaping vessels. She no longer cared that the man who sold the olla which had killed Bel was somewhere on one of those ships that roared and crackled and fell into the water. She wished it was all over. A buzzing in her ears muffled the shrieks of sailors burning to death.

  The buzzing became more insistent. She shook her head to clear it. It got louder, like bees swarming somewhere nearby.

  Send stood up. "Stop," he said. The buzzing faltered then resumed. He looked at Ariel. "Tell Cendenai to stop."

  The Aramam hove to. Send turned to face the harbour over the starboard rail. The ship fires were dying but the red glow over Magritta grew. The Rose of Aramam lay alone, unprotected. The buzzing grew to an angry hum. Djellah came up on deck, her hands to her ears. Hamqa followed.

  "In the name of the gods, Senduiuiel," he cried running across the deck to where the elf stood as if he had not heard, "stop this!"

  Ariel stepped in front of him. "Your Magnificence."

  "Get out of my way."

  "He requested that none approach him until it was all over."

  He tried to push past but she barred his way. "Out of my way, woman."

  "Your Exalted Magnificence, I cannot."

  He pulled his dagger free from its jewelled sheath. "I haven't time to argue."

  "Nor I." She slid her own knife free. For a moment she thought he would attack her, then he threw his knife to the deck.

  "I'll have you whipped when this is over."

  Ariel ignored him and sheathed her knife. She did not know what else to do. Cendenai, holding Djellah who had her face buried against her older sister's chest, caught Ariel's eye and nodded. She had done the right thing.

  Send raised his arms and breathed out, slow and strong. The abrupt silence was shocking. He brought his hands together before him and cupped them. The air around him began to shimmer like a heat haze; Ariel saw it flicker with rainbow colours. The buzzing was replaced by a gentle ringing. The air changed: colour poured onto Send's hands. It seemed to Ariel that he hesitated a fraction, then accepted streamers of mauve and lilac, pink and violet, turning the rest away.

  Send raised hands full of amethyst fire and threw his magic free. It skimmed the waves, then soared. The sunset turned lavender. Over Magritta, the red glow deepened to hot ruby. A wind slammed out from the mouth of the harbour and tore over their ships like crazy laughter. Ariel shivered, even though she knew she was not its target. The edges of the sunset turned back to red.

  Send shuddered. Sweat ran from his chin and down his neck. He closed his eyes and began to chant something in Elvish. The sunset shone lavender again, crept across the sky toward Magritta.

  In the harbour the water frothed and jumped as though someone in a rage beat at it with a paddle. Ariel thought she could make out a huge figure that reached down and picked up the Magrittan ships like toys, crushing them, dropping the pieces back into the water. It slashed at the remains in a frenzy, then turned its attention outward, and howled.

  Send fell to his knees. The surge passed over him, over the Aramam.

  "Help me up."

  Ariel was afraid to touch him. Send gave her a weary, bitter smile. She felt ashamed, but her fear outweighed her shame. He pulled himself to his feet.

  "It's done. Look."

  Above them, the amethyst deepened and solidified, took on substance. It laughed, and Ariel was reminded of the statue in the clearing on the night of Bel's death. The two figures filled the sky.

  "The Greater Daemons of Slaanesh and Khorne will finish this fight without us."

  Ariel had travelled with this sorcerous elf, shared food with him. She backed away.

  Overhead, the colours clashed. The sea heaved; an enormous wave rolled outward.

  Cendenai had seen the danger. The Aramam came about to face the wave head on. It slid under her bow, gentle as a hand under a lover's back. Then dropped them. For one heart-stopping moment as they plunged nose down, Ariel thought they would fall until they reached the sea bed, but the bow strained up, up and the Aramam righted herself. The wave raced away southwest.

  "It might catch the Horn of Araby," Cendenai remarked. She looked over at Mousaou Salah who was pale with shock, then at her father, and beckoned the signaller. "I'm ordering the fleet away."

  They would have to use flags this time, Ariel thought irrelevantly. She craned her neck to look at the sky. The two figures were high above them and moving higher. Red flashed, then mauve.


  Djellah ran over, but even she stopped several paces from Ariel and Send. "Who'll win?"

  "Neither," Send said. He was pale, and still shaking slightly. "Neither is stronger than the other. They rely on us mortals to fight most of their battles."

  "Why did he" - she pointed upwards - "destroy his own ships?"

  "To Rhug'guari'ihlulan, the Bloodthirster of Khorne, it doesn't matter who dies. Blood and death are like... food." His voice was harsh with fatigue and the knowledge that those who might have counted themselves friends now feared him as much as, more than, they feared the Magrittans.

  Djellah looked back to the Magrittan harbour where nothing floated but a few scraps of wood and pieces of sail. "Not a good ally."

  Ariel spread honey on her breakfast bread, and took a bite. She was wearing Cendenai's blue robe. Cendenai poured spiced fruit tea for them both.

  Djellah burst in. "He's leaving."

  Ariel knew she meant Send. "He's not waiting until we reach Meknes?"

  "No. He's taking a boat and just... going. Can I have a piece of bread?"

  "Um? Surely." She handed her a piece. "I wish he'd come to say goodbye." Then she wondered if that was true.

  "But he did," Send said from the doorway. "May I join you?"

  Cendenai leaped out of her chair and Ariel reached for the knife she no longer wore at her hip. Send watched. Ariel took a deep breath, forced herself to be calm. Cendenai reseated herself.

  He was not wearing his multi-coloured studs, and the lines by his mouth were deep. His eyes were dark-shadowed.

  "I'm sorry," Ariel said, and hoped he understood.

  "I think," he said slowly, "that there are times when I don't like being a wizard." He looked at them steadily.

  Ariel wondered if he was thinking of the fact that now he had publicly summoned a Greater Daemon of Slaanesh he was outcast, shunned by elven society. He would never be able to sit at breakfast like this, with family and friends.

  "Why did you do it?"

  Send must have heard the question behind her question. "The way of Chaos is like a snowball rolling down a mountainside. After a while, what began as a piece of fun started in boredom has become a juggernaut too huge to stop. It rolls until it breaks up against rocks, or smashes the village below." He touched one long finger to his breastbone. "Now my juggernaut is too great to stop. I try only to steer it to where it may do the least harm, and perhaps some good."

  Ariel glanced at Cendenai.

  "I came here," he said, "to say goodbye, and to tell you... I'm sorry your sister died."

  Ariel bowed her head, then lifted it again. "What will you do?"

  "Travel."

  For a moment, Ariel caught a glimpse of that alienness she had first noticed aboard the Rosamund. Suddenly she understood what his life must be like, moving from one place to another, pitting his strength against Chaos. One day, his strength would falter. She looked at Cendenai again, then back to him.

  "We intend to travel too." She wanted to share something of her life, if only her plans, with him. "Cendenai and I intend to start a trading line, independent of our families."

  He smiled. It was the first time they had seem him smile. "River and coastal trading?"

  Cendenai shook her head. "Cathay, the Southlands and the New World."

  "I wish you both much luck." He stood and bowed. "My boat will be ready. It has been an honour meeting you."

  After he had gone, they were quiet for a while.

  "You didn't mention Helseher," Ariel said. Djellah was eying the bread. She gave her a piece.

  "No. We're not sure he'll agree."

  "He will. He and Marya are hungry for the ocean again."

  And he knows that two ships offer more security in a harsh world, Ariel thought to herself. She remembered she and Bel swearing always to take the other's side, no matter what. She looked over her cup at Cendenai. Nothing seemed so bad when there were two of you.

  "Can I come too?"

  "When you're older, Djellah, when you're older."

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