“Okay,” said Jenur. “I admit that I didn't see that coming. Out of all the people who could have been the spy—”
“I leave,” said Messenger. “Must go. Have urgent errands to run. Farewell, mortals. Keep going south. Kano is awaiting you.”
Messenger's upper half collapsed back into the rest of its form and then snaked across the deck back to the bulwarks, Telka bobbing soundlessly around inside. The blob climbed onto the bulwarks and then launched itself onto the giant's body, once again sneaking into its open pores.
Then the giant turned around and walked back into the rain and wind. And as before, it disappeared into the storm like it had never been there at all.
-
Malock didn't need to tell anyone that Telka was the spy because Messenger had taken the doctor away in front of several other sailors. The news spread quickly and within the next hour everyone on the ship knew who the traitor was.
The entire crew was shocked by Telka's true identity. It was especially shocking because Telka had always been a highly respected member of the crew due to his skills as a doctor. Almost every member of the crew had suffered from an injury of some kind on this voyage and the only reason any of them had survived was thanks to Telka's excellent medical skills.
Replacing Telka was difficult. Telka had been the only certified doctor on the ship, after all. In the end, Malock chose the aquarian Ranof, who claimed to have studied medicine back up north several years ago. True, Ranof was not a professional doctor, but he was the only other sailor who seemed to know anything about medicine and Malock couldn't afford to be picky.
With Messenger's departure, the Iron Wind could once again sail south. Over the next few days, Banika reported to Malock that a lot of sailors were skeptical that Messenger had made the right a choice. A few even speculated that Jenur had somehow tricked Messenger into taking Telka over her, though as far as Malock could tell, most of the crew no longer harassed Jenur. That was good. After all he had put her through, he didn't want the rest of the crew to give her more grief.
Malock didn't quite relax just yet, however. He remembered what the Loner God had told him, about some of the northern gods placing their agents—plural, not singular—on his ship. Telka had apparently been one of those agents, but who were the rest? What were they trying to do? How come they had not revealed themselves yet? And why did Messenger only take Telka and not any of the others?
For that matter, Malock wondered why Tinkar, out of all of the many gods in the world, would place a spy on his ship. It was true that Malock was not a big fan of Tinkar, but he had never gone out of his way to blasphemy or insult the God of Fate. What would Tinkar have to gain by killing Malock or sabotaging his voyage? Did Tinkar have a grudge against Kano or something? Or was there something bigger going on than any of them knew?
All Malock knew for certain was that they still had quite a ways to go before they reached World's End. He also knew that their food and water supplies were running dangerously low, thanks in no small part to the Gray Pirates' gorging on their resources earlier. The fishing crew was bringing in a lot of fish every day, true, but the fish always went quickly and it never seemed to be enough. Water was another difficult thing, as they couldn't drink the saltwater of the ocean. They had Bifor desalinate the water by freezing and melting it, but it was a time-consuming process and the water always had a tinge of salt to it no matter how thoroughly Bifor desalinated it.
According to Vashnas, in just a few more days they would reach another island. She claimed it was going to be an island of snow and ice and that they would feel the cold weather coming in very soon. Hence why she advised Malock and the rest of the crew to bundle up as best as they could so that when the cold weather came they would be prepared.
And not a day after she told Malock about that, a strong gust of cold wind blew through the ship. It was icy cold, made even worse by the waves of the ocean splashing against the sides of the ship. Malock managed to keep warm, thanks to his thick boat cloak, but when he checked on the rest of the crew, he saw that they were not doing nearly as well as he was.
For one, almost all of them worked above deck in the cold wind, with little to protect them from the chilliness. For another, they did not have thick or warm clothes to wear. The aquarians in particular seemed to be taking the cold hardest, shivering and shaking hard. More than once Malock spotted Bifor walking around the ship, waving his wand and leaving a trail of blurred air wherever he waved it, perhaps casting a heat spell. Malock wished he had thought to pack some warm clothes for the crew before departing Carnag.
The weather grew colder the further south they traveled. Ice began forming on the bulwarks, sails, and even over the surface of the main deck. The Iron Wind became even more dangerous than it usually was, with the possibility now of slipping and falling flat on one's back a real danger now. Malock was glad that he didn't have to work outside, even though his stateroom wasn't much warmer than the rest of the ship.
He and Vashnas spent a lot of time cuddled up together in his stateroom, his boat cloak spread out wide enough to cover them both. This was primarily how he kept warm, as he had no way to start a fire and wasn't even sure a fire would be a good idea on a wooden ship anyway.
In fact, for the next few days, that was almost all he did, lie on the sofa in his stateroom with Vashnas by his side. Banika would come in at mealtimes to bring food and updates about the crew and ship, but other than that, Malock and Vashnas didn't move much. Vashnas confessed that the next island they were going to was one she wasn't very familiar with because she didn't spend a lot of time there when she first went through the southern seas, due to the coldness of the water.
Malock merely nodded when she told him that, like he understood. And he did. Aquarians had colder blood than humans and so had even less tolerance for icy temperatures than they did.
What he didn't understand, however, was why Vashnas didn't tell him about the Loner God, back on Ikadori Island. Yes, she had said she hadn't fully explored the island the last time she was there, but he had a hard time believing that she had not known about a god.
And if what the Loner God said was true, then he was not the only god on the southern seas. There were more, hundreds, maybe even thousands more, and yet Vashnas had not mentioned a single one of them in all of her talks with Malock about the southern seas and the dangers they held. Shouldn't she have run into at least one of these gods? They hunted mortals, after all, and Vashnas was a mortal herself, wasn't she?
Malock tried to ignore these thoughts. After all, Vashnas was his partner, his lover. He couldn't suspect her of being up to no good or withholding important information from him for her own selfish reasons. So far, she had been a loyal and steadfast friend to him, defending him and supporting him even when no one else did.
And if she did have secrets of her own? Well, didn't everyone have secrets? Malock certainly had secrets that he had not revealed to anybody, not even to Vashnas. Not dark secrets, per se, but mostly embarrassing ones he preferred to keep to himself. He couldn't honestly expect Vashnas to know everything about the southern seas anyway, as it was a large area that held dozens if not hundreds of islands.
Of course, Malock didn't spend literally all of his time in his stateroom. Occasionally, about once a day, he'd go out to stretch his legs and see how the rest of the crew was doing. Most of them were cold, damp, and miserable, but Malock saw no way to relieve them of their misery. They had little extra clothing to pass around, after all, and they had no way of heating the ship (aside from Bifor's minor heat spell). He hoped they would pass through the cold quickly, before any of them died or got frostbite from the gelid water.
It was on one of these trips, about four days after Messenger's departure, that Stalf (which what Vashnas called the next island)) came into view. It was actually spotted by Gormas Okina, a sailor who worked as part of the cleaning crew near the bow. That made Malock send Banika up to the crow's nest to find out why Vinji, the lookout, di
dn't report, which led to a depressing discovery: Vinji was dead, his body frozen and stiff.
This was disheartening, but not surprising. Vinji had always been a private aquarian, which was why Malock had chosen him to be the lookout in the first place. Banika theorized that Vinji had fallen asleep during the night at some point and passed away in his sleep due to a lack of sufficient clothing and heat, probably without ever realizing it himself.
They held a quick funeral for Vinji, but due to his private nature, no one was sure what kind of funeral was appropriate for him. Malock let the aquarians lead the services, as he figured that they would know the best way to prepare his body. They said a quick prayer to Kano and then dumped Vinji's body in the sea. It had to be quick because the wind and waves were cold and standing around made everyone even colder and more miserable than they already were.
Afterward, Malock decided to not assign a new lookout to the crow's nest, at least not right away. Going up there was a death sentence in this weather and considering how low the crew was on sailors, Malock didn't want to risk anyone's life unnecessarily. Besides, Stalf was already within sight, and in just a few hours they would reach it.
Now Malock had a tough decision to make: either keep on going past Stalf until they eventually reached warmer waters or stop by the island briefly to hunt for food. Vashnas said she thought there might be some edible animals on the island, as she had once spotted some seal-like creatures lying on the Stalf's shore, but she wasn't sure if those animals were native to the place or were simply resting there from a long journey.
Malock really wanted to keep going south; however, they were low on food. The food that they did have was barely edible even after Arisha cooked it, and everyone was getting tired of fish. Not to mention that Stalf might also be home to some fresh water, which was another thing they were low on. That most of the crew had not set foot on land in over two months was another good reason for landing there.
But then he remembered the Loner God and Ikadori Island. There could very well be another god on Stalf, perhaps one that liked to eat mortals, a god who may not be very fond of visitors. Or maybe it wasn't a god, but perhaps wild animals that killed whatever invaded their territory. Or perhaps the flora was violent and unpredictable, ready to eat or poison or stab anyone who walked into it.
In the end, Malock decided they would land at Stalf. Not very long, of course, and if they saw the slightest hint of trouble, they would leave without hesitation. When he shared this with Vashnas, she didn't seem happy about it at all, but she agreed to it regardless.
After making this decision, Malock went out and announced to the crew that they were going to land at Stalf for a few days. Many of the crew (at least those whose mouths hadn't been frozen shut by the cold) cheered the decision and quite a few asked who was going on the expedition. Malock explained that he would have a list in another few hours or so but that in the meantime, the crew would have to keep working.
This the crew did cheerily, much more so than they had since Vinji's death. And so Malock returned to his stateroom, where he began drawing up a list of people to go with him onto Stalf when they landed there.
-
Kinker was quite glad that Jenur was not taken away by Messenger. He had to admit he was shocked when he heard about Telka being taken away, but he didn't grieve for the doctor much. True, Telka had saved his life when he first joined the crew, but the two had never been close and after all of the stuff he had been through over the last few days, he didn't have much room in his heart to be broken about this betrayal..
Yet, as glad as he was that Jenur was not taken away, he found the time they spent around each other to be quite awkward now. Even when they were just hauling in the trawl or preparing the fish for Arisha to cook, the fact was they both still knew their deepest, darkest secrets. Kinker's conversation with Jenur back in the stateroom had been done under the impression that he and Jenur would never see each other again, but now—unless one of them got killed somehow—it seemed like they were stuck together.
The two made a silent agreement never to talk about the things they shared with each other, either among themselves or with anyone else. After everything they talked about, there wasn't much else to say on the matter.
When the cold weather came in, life on the Iron Wind became far less bearable than before. Especially for the fishing crew, who spent most of their days getting splashed by icy cold water, hauling in the freezing trawl, and doing their best to skin the fish, which were becoming far less common now, thanks to the cold weather. Kinker managed to scrounge up some old blankets and coats from the hold, but those did little to keep him and the others warm.
It became even harder when Vinji died, if only because his death came as a genuine surprise to most of the crew. As with Telka, Kinker did not shed any tears over the lookout's death, not because he disliked Vinji but because he didn't know the aquarian. That, and he was an aquarian, which made it even harder for Kinker to feel sad about Vinji's death.
The most immediate danger that met Kinker every day was the frozen surface of the deck. Though Kinker had had years of experience working on boats and ships, he had to be extra careful when walking across the frozen desk of the Iron Wind. More than once, his old feet nearly caused him to slip and fall on his behind, often only catching himself at the last minute. He wished the trawl was located on one of the lower decks, which had not yet frozen over, but because that was impossible to do, he had to make the climb up the stairs from the hatch to the top deck, with the knowledge that at any moment he could slip and crack his head wide open.
Yet even that wasn't too terrible until the snow started falling. The snow began falling not more than a couple of hours after Stalf came into view. It was not heavy snow by any means, but there was enough snow to cover the entire ship in a thin layer of it from stern to bow. Beautiful flakes fell gently from the sky, covering the ship in a gentle blanket of the white stuff.
While Kinker wasn't too fond of the snow, Jenur was ecstatic. She'd pack snow together into large balls and throw them at some of the other sailors, who retaliated with snowballs of their own. Not only that, but she also somehow built a snowman that vaguely resembled Malock, which she cheerfully knocked over when she got bored of it.
“Why are you so energetic?” Kinker asked at lunchtime, shivering as he ate his fish (which thankfully was still warm from the oven). “It's just snow.”
Jenur stopped kicking the remains of the Malock snowman around and looked at Kinker with enthusiasm shining in her eyes. “Just snow? Kinks, back where I come from, you'd be lucky to see even some sleet once a year. But I've always loved snow and always loved islands that have regular snowfall. It just makes everything look so different, magical even.”
Kinker looked around. The other members of the fishing crew were in various states of displeasure at the snow, from Deddio dusting snow off his jacket to Gino shivering so hard that he looked like he was about to fall apart. The snow that had melted so far had created yet another layer of ice, which Kocas discovered when she slipped and fell on her bum trying to stand up.
“Magical,” said Kinker. “If you say so.”
“You just need to learn how to have some fun,” said Jenur. “Take it easy for once.”
Kinker wished his fish was a little hotter. “I'll take it easy once we're back in saner seas.”
Jenur rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Say, what's that?”
Jenur pointed toward the oncoming island. Kinker had to rise to his feet to see what she was talking about, but carefully, as the spot where he sat was covered with ice like the rest of the ship and he didn't want to trip and fall.
Once he succeeded in that endeavor, he looked out at Stalf and squinted. The island wasn't very far away at all now; in fact, they would probably make landfall in an hour or so. Despite that, Kinker could not make out as many details about the island as he'd like. The entire thing looked like a big white splotch, probably because it was completely covered in
snow, but soon Kinker spotted what appeared to be rounded white walls (whether of ice or snow, he couldn't say) in the interior, surrounded at its base by a ring of trees.
“Huh,” said Kinker. “I have no idea what that is.”
“Looks like someone built it,” said Jenur. “At least, I doubt nature could have made something like that. Only question is, who?”
Kinker didn't have the answer to that, nor did he try to think of an answer. His brain was too frozen for anything like that.
After lunch, Malock nailed up the list of people who would be going on the expedition with him to Stalf. As usual, Kinker had to rely on Jenur to read it for him. She informed him that only five sailors were going on the expedition with Malock this time and that, surprisingly enough, she was one of them.
“You're going on the expedition?” said Kinker as he and Jenur walked back to the poop deck, away from the gathering crowd of sailors who were trying to read the list. “Why would Malock pick you? Especially after, well, you know.”
“I don't know,” said Jenur with a shrug. “Maybe he thinks I'm a good hunter or maybe he is trying to make up for being a dick. Either way, I'm not complaining.”
“Why not?” said Kinker. “You remember what happened on Ikadori Island, don't you?”
“Yeah, but look at all of the snow,” said Jenur, gesturing back over her shoulder. “Looks like there are layers and layers of it, completely undisturbed by anyone. I've never seen so much snow in my life.”
At that moment, Kocas appeared out of nowhere, her dreadlocks frosty, and got right up next to Jenur. She glared at Jenur, being so close to her as to make even Kinker feel uncomfortable.
“How did you do it?” said Kocas.
Jenur looked at Kocas, frowning. “What do you mean?”
Kocas brushed her dreadlocks out of her eyes and said, “Don't play dumb with me. How did you convince Malock to make you part of the hunting expedition that's going to Stalf?”
The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock Page 19
