“Listen,” said Banika, holding up a finger for silence. “It's outside.”
Malock and Vashnas both became as quiet as they could be. Then Malock heard it. Above the roar of thunder and the swaying waves, he heard something walking through the water. That was the best way he could put it. The swish-swish of the water was the same sound it made whenever someone walked through it, but that made no sense. Who could be out in this weather? Unless ...
Malock stood up and gestured for Banika and Vashnas to do the same. “We're going outside. Be prepared for anything, and I mean anything.”
-
Stepping out onto the top deck was much more terrifying than it should have been. Malock fully expected to be instantly killed by whatever was waiting for them, but when he, Banika, and Vashnas passed through the doorway of his stateroom and onto the main deck of the ship, they were greeted by a very bizarre sight.
All around them on every side, rain poured heavily from the clouds, but the Iron Wind was completely dry. Not a drop of rain fell onto their ship and even the waves around the ship were avoiding it. When Malock peered over the side of the ship, he saw that the water in which the Iron Wind rested was as still as could be. It hadn't frozen over or anything. It just stopped. It looked especially weird because the rest of the sea was still flowing around them normally.
“What is going on?” said Vashnas, wringing her hands. “What kind of magic is this?”
“Divine magic,” Malock said. “Only the magic of the gods could do something like this.”
Vashnas gulped. “Does that mean that a god is trying to get us?”
Malock looked out over the sea, trying to locate the source of the sound of the being walking through the water, and said, “I think something worse—much worse—than a god is after us.”
As soon as the words left his lips, it appeared. Its appearance was sudden. One moment, it was not there; the next, it walked out of the water and waves as if borne from the water. It towered over the tallest mast of the Iron Wind and strode through the water like it wasn't there. Every step it took sent vibrations up the Iron Wind, shaking the ship far worse than the storm did.
It was perhaps the strangest thing Malock had ever seen in his life. Though humanoid in build, the giant resembled neither human or aquarian. A green slime that smelled strongly of rotten eggs dripped off its body, almost like sweat, its reptilian skin glistening underneath. Large, sharp claws protruded from the tips of the dozen or so tentacles that flailed from its sides, claws that looked at least as sharp a Grinfian sword, if not sharper.
Its face was impossible to see. A cloud of smoke and smog covered it, the only features visible being its eyes. And what eyes they were, huge and red and glowing. Simply looking into the eyes was enough to strike fear into Malock's heart, the kind of fear that paralyzes you where you stand and makes all hope lost.
The giant, the Verch, stopped about a dozen yards from starboard. Up close, it was even bigger, standing so tall that Malock, Vashnas, and Banika had to crane their necks to see its head. It did not do or say anything, didn't even make a noise. It simply stared at them, perhaps trying to decide the best way to smash the Iron Wind into a million pieces.
Then a strange sucking sound emanated from the Verch's head and the next moment a large blob of slime shot out of the cloud. The blob landed on the deck with a splat, causing some of the foul-smelling slime to land on Malock and Vashnas, but not Banika, who due to her position behind them managed to avoid it.
“Ew,” said Vashnas, wiping the slime off her face. “If this really is the Verch, I'd say this is punishment enough.”
Malock tried to wipe the slime off his boat cloak, but then the blob started moving and he stopped, anxious to see what was happening.
Part of the blob extended upward, a long, thin pole, before two arms sprouted out of the sides. Then, at the top of the thin pole, two red eyes blinked open, followed by a mouth that had no teeth or tongue. The entire thing looked like a crude approximation of a human, as if an artist had drawn a human using a vague description provided by someone who had only seen a picture of a human once years ago.
The blob creature resembled the Verch in miniature. Its red eyes swept across the entire ship before fixing on Malock, Vashnas, and Banika. The intensity with which it stared at them caused the three to step back collectively, Malock reaching for his sword.
Then the blob held up a crude hand that constantly dripped slime. “Don't hit.”
The blob's voice was strange. It did not sound either masculine or feminine. If anything, it always sounded like how Malock had imagined a wasp's voice would sound if it could speak: halting, jerky, and with a slight buzz, too.
“It can talk?” said Vashnas. “I know the gods are strange, but talking blobs?”
“Quiet,” said Malock under his breath. “You want to get that thing angry?”
“Come in peace,” said the blob. Its voice was very uncertain, like it was not used to speaking Divina. “Not bad. Here to aid Chosen One.”
Surprised, Malock said, “I'm the Chosen One. You're here to help me? Not punish me?”
The blob creature tilted its head to the side. “Why punish? No. No punish. No wrong you did. Spy on crew did, however.”
“Sorry, but what's wrong with your voice?” said Vashnas, who Malock was beginning to feel less kindly to right now. “You sound weird.”
“Mortal language,” the blob said, grimacing as though it had just spat out a large wad of spit. “Clumsy. Awkward. Useless.”
“What was that you said about a spy?” said Malock. “And if I may ask, who are you? Are you the Verch of legend?”
“Verch? Don't know,” said the blob. “In filthy mortal tongue, name is Messenger-and-Punisher. Come to bring message from Kano.”
“A message from Kano?” said Malock. “Well, why didn't she just send me another vision? Surely that would have been more practical than sending, uh, you.”
Messenger-and-Punisher—who Malock decided to call 'Messenger' for short—frowned. “Other job, too. Get spy. Take away to be punished.”
“So you're here to deliver a message and take away this so-called spy,” said Malock. “Okay, what is it?”
“First, message,” said Messenger. “Kano says not to worry, you be safe from harm. Says she still awaits you on World's End. Says you trust me, I help you get the spy, help you get World's End safely.”
“Ah,” said Malock. “That's nice to hear.”
“So you're not going to destroy our ship?” said Vashnas. “Like you did with the pirates?”
Messenger's face was hard to read, but it looked confused. “Destroy ship? Pirates? Not sure what you talk about. Is confused.”
“What Vash meant is that you destroyed the hideout and ship of a group of pirates about a week ago,” said Malock. “Their leader told us that you ripped off the top of their hideout.”
Realization dawned on Messenger's face at that moment. “Remember now. Just Grinf told me go and kill them for their crimes. Tired of tolerating their crimes. Did good job.”
“That's ... strange,” said Malock. “I didn't know Grinf used you to dish out judgment on criminals.”
“Do work for all gods,” said Messenger. “North and south. Kept busy all day. Don't remember always what I do. Hence name. Messenger-and-Punisher.”
“Of course,” said Malock. “But back to the subject of the spy. What do you mean?”
Messenger made a face very similar to that of the Loner God. “Godly politics. Member of crew trying to cause trouble, trying to stop you from getting World's End. Servant of Tinkar.”
“Tinkar?” said Malock. “You mean the God of Fate?”
“One and only,” said Messenger. “Go below deck and I fetch spy.”
Malock raised his hands. “Wait, wait. You don't need to do that, really. No need to waste your time looking for the spy among the crew. You don't want to tire yourself out, do you?”
In actuality, Malock was only try
ing to keep Messenger above deck because he was certain that the blob's appearance below deck would cause a panic among the sailors. Even he wanted to run and he was not in any sort of trouble. He didn't want to think about what Messenger's sudden appearance below deck would cause for the rest of the crew.
Messenger frowned. “Not big deal. Just go below, grab spy, and leave.”
“But I could do it for you,” said Malock. “Just tell me the name of the spy and I'll fetch him myself.”
“Don't know name,” said Messenger. “Just know that spy is on board. Wish to make this quick. Have other jobs to do. Gods very impatient.”
Messenger started sliding toward the hatch, but Malock stepped in its way. He knew it was risky, but he reasoned that a servant of the gods wouldn't dare harm him, even if he annoyed it.
“Look, Messenger,” said Malock in his most pacifistic tone. “You're obviously a very hardworking servant of the gods. No need to spend hours searching my crew looking for the spy when I could do it much more easily.”
Messenger stopped and actually looked angry now. “Don't be wall. Get out of way.”
“I'm hardly a wall,” said Malock. “It's just that I—”
“Don't be wall,” Messenger repeated. “You safe, perhaps, but does not mean I must respect. Move or else.”
Malock stood his ground. “Give me one day, just one day, to find the spy. Just one day. That's not such an unreasonable thing to ask for, is it?”
Messenger looked unconvinced. “How find spy if you don't know who it is?”
“I know a way to do it,” Malock said. “A way that is much quicker than going through each sailor one by one. I can assure you that by the end of the day, I will have the spy.”
Messenger grunted. “Fine. Do as you wish. I leave, but I return tomorrow same time. I do other thing in meantime. Do not disappoint.”
With that, Messenger collapsed back into a gooey, formless blob, and slunk back to the bulwarks. It jumped over the bulwarks and landed on the giant's body, crawling into one of the open pores on its body. The ugly sight made Malock feel ill.
Then the giant stood back up its to full height, turned around, and marched back into the storm raging all around the ship. As soon as it stepped outside of the range of the still water, it vanished, like it had been dissolved by the rain and wind.
As soon as it vanished, the storm disappeared as well. The clouds evaporated, the sea grew calmer, and the sun appeared once again, making everything feel quite humid. It also made the trail of slime left by Messenger smell even worse, but Malock didn't pay attention to that. He was just glad Messenger was gone because despite its assurances that it was on his side, it had still freaked him out.
“That was the weirdest thing I've ever seen,” said Vashnas as she and Banika approached Malock. “And I've seen plenty of weird things in my life, trust me.”
Malock wiped the slime off his boat cloak as he said, “We don't have time to waste talking about it. Banika, gather the rest of the crew. They have to know about what Messenger told us, as well as what I am about to do.”
Banika nodded, but didn't leave. “If I may ask, sir, how are you going to find out who the spy is? Not even Messenger knew and he was sent here to capture whoever it is.”
Malock smiled. “Don't worry, Banika. I've got it all figured out. Just get everyone top deck in twenty minutes and then everyone will know about it.”
***
Chapter Ten
Everyone below deck felt the ship stop, which led to a lot of speculation as to what caused it. Due to the lack of windows in the lower decks, it was impossible to tell what was going on outside, which was why everyone was so eager to come top deck when Banika appeared with orders from Malock to bring everyone to the surface.
The ship didn't look much different than it had before the storm, except for the large splotches of a foul-smelling green slime on the starboard. Kinker didn't know where that stuff had come from or what it was, but he nonetheless avoided it because it smelled even worse than the hold did.
Malock stood above them all on the quarter deck, his hands gripping the railing. His eyes scanned the crowd of sailors, like he was looking for any suspicious behavior. It made Kinker feel uncomfortable, even though he knew for a fact that he was not guilty of anything except for what he had done back on Destan and as far as he knew Malock didn't know about that.
He, Jenur, and Bifor took up a spot at the back of the crowd, near the bow. Despite the entire crew being present on the deck, it felt far less cramped up here than it did down in the lower decks, probably because it was wide open.
As soon as the sailors spotted Malock they started directing their questions to him all at once in such a muddled confusion of noise that Kinker couldn't even hear himself think. A loud whistle blew just then, the boatswain's call, which immediately silenced the entire crew.
“My loyal crew,” said Malock, looking around at them with searching eyes that did not match his reassuring tone, “I see you all want to know exactly what happened. I heard some of you asking if we were attacked, while others think Garnal has returned. Let me assure you that none of us are in any trouble ... save for one whose identity is unknown.”
Kinker exchanged a look with Jenur as the sailors exploded with even more questions. “What does that mean?”
Jenur shrugged as Malock continued, “Earlier, a messenger of the gods appeared on the deck of this ship to deliver me an urgent message. He revealed to me that there is a spy on this ship, a follower of Tinkar, who has been attempting to sabotage the entire voyage right off from the start.”
“Who's the bastard?” one of the sailors shouted. “Tell me and I'll rip his—”
“That is the point,” said Malock, interrupting the angry sailor. “I do not know who the spy is. Not even the messenger knew. The messenger wished to search the crew for the spy himself; however, I convinced him that we could do it on our own.”
“Why should we believe him?” said another sailor near the front, shouting loud enough for everyone to hear. “Where's the proof? I ain't seen no spies on this ship of ours.”
“You would dare question the authenticity of a divine messenger of the gods?” said Malock. “Besides, the messenger's message has confirmed my own suspicions. This voyage has been one large disaster from the start and I've long suspected that a member of this very crew is doing everything in his or her own power to make it that way. Until today, however, they have only been suspicions and nothing more.”
“Still sound like suspicions to me,” Bifor said, in a low voice that only Kinker and Jenur could hear. “He still hasn't offered any proof.”
“I'm sure the Captain has good reasons for suspecting that,” said Jenur. “I mean, this voyage has been pretty disastrous. And I can't see any reason why this divine messenger would lie to us.”
Bifor looked like he disagreed, but he didn't get to voice these disagreements because Malock continued speaking:
“As it is unlikely that the spy will out him- or herself, I have therefore devised a method to weed him or her out,” said Malock.
He reached into the folds of his boat cloak and pulled out something too small for Kinker to see. He held it up for everyone to see, but even then, all Kinker could make out was that it was just big enough to fit in Malock's hand.
“I hope everyone can see this deck of cards in my hand,” said Malock. “These are divination cards, commonly used by Tinkarians to determine the future and fate of other beings. I myself carry this particular pack of cards for this reason, even though I am not personally a follower of Tinkar.”
“That's odd,” said Kinker. “He carries a pack of those cards but isn't a Tinkarian himself?”
“That's actually not very strange,” said Bifor. “Royalty commonly carry divination cards and use them regularly to determine their own future and the future of their kingdoms. Even those who openly scorn fortune-telling and divination still keep some on them.”
“Oh,” said K
inker. “Do they really work, then?”
Bifor folded his arms. “Depends. I've always been skeptical of their use. Most divination card decks are fakes, anyway, manufactured by scam artists who see a way to make easy money off gullible royals. I wouldn't be surprised if the Captain's own deck is a fake.”
“So do real ones work, then?”
Bifor opened his mouth to answer, but Jenur swatted his arm and hissed, “Malock's speaking. You two, talk about this later. I'm trying to hear him.”
Bifor shot her a rather angry look before returning his attention to Malock, who was now explaining his method to out the spy.
“You are all probably wondering how these cards will tell us who the spy is,” said Malock as he shuffled the cards. “It's quite simple. There are one hundred and nine cards in this deck, the exact same number as the crew. Banika has set up a table here, which I will sit behind. You sailors will then organize into a line, coming up to the table one by one. You will then take the top card on the deck and show its face to me.”
Malock held up the face of one of the cards, but again it was too far for Kinker to see properly.
“Each card has a picture of a god or goddess on its face,” said Malock. “In divination, they normally are used to determine the individual's fate; in this case, however, the one who draws the Tinkar card will be the spy.”
The crowd went into an uproar. Even though it was difficult to hear their individual voices, Kinker knew exactly why they were upset.
Malock raised his hands to quiet down the crowd. “Quiet, all of you! This is a time-honored technique used by Carnagian royalty for generations to root out spies and traitors. Not only that, but I have shuffled the deck so thoroughly that not even I know the order in which the cards lay. My belief is that fate will out the spy for us, which is ironic, really, when you consider that the spy is a Tinkarian.”
“That doesn't sound very reliable to me,” said Kinker as the rest of the sailors continued to yell obscenities at their Captain.
“Same here,” said Jenur. “What if someone innocent picks up the Tinkar card? Is he going to hand over the wrong person to the messenger?”
The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock Page 15
