by A F Stewart
“She was swamped by a rogue wave formed in a calm sea. Forced on to the rocks. And then...then, as told by the lone survivor, bones reached up from the sea and dragged the remaining crew under the surface.”
“Oh, oh!” Manume interrupted and danced frantically on the sand. “I know about bones!” Hugh and Rafe stared at her, their conversation discarded. “Old bones, new bones, scared bones, the bones whisper. Yes, they do. Whisper, whisper.” She stopped moving and tilted her head. “Save me, save me. Little cries, frightened cries. Save me from the Bone Snatcher. From the Keeper. It’s why they came here, still come sometimes. Why they stay. The bones know. Yes, the bones know. Where to go. Where to hide.”
“What are you saying, sister?”
She smiled and twirled. “Brother, brother, why do they call it the Isle of Bones? Because they are here. In the dirt, in the sand. But where, oh, where did the little bones come from? The old and dead, the bones that fled. Fled, long, long ago. From a bad, bad thing.” She pushed some sand with her foot. “They’re still afraid. Of this Ashetus maybe. Ashetus.” She spat as if the name put a bad taste in her mouth. “Sour name, rotten name. Don’t like it. Don’t like him.”
“That actually makes sense, fits with what I’ve learned.”
“It does?” Hugh cast Rafe a skeptical look.
“Of course it does, silly man. My brother knows things. Found out some secrets, I think.” She giggled. “Didn’t you, brother?”
“Perhaps. An old friend of yours may be involved. The Nightmare Crow.”
She scowled and spat again. “Not a friend. Bad bird. Nasty bird. Don’t like him either.” She stamped her foot. “You two go. Talk to Hugh’s friends. Good friends. They will tell you more secrets. I will listen to some bones and see what they whisper.”
She made a shooing motion with her hands and then walked away across the dunes and grass. Rafe leaned down and helped Hugh to his feet. “She’s right. Let’s go talk to your new friends shall we?”
HUGH LED RAFE SOUTHWEST along the beach to a small secluded cove. The moonlight reflected off the tranquil sea and silence. Not even the wind blew, and the still air only enhanced the quiet. When Hugh spoke, his voice echoed like a drumbeat of thunder.
“They’ll know we’ve arrived and will show themselves in a moment.” He fidgeted, before adding, “They’re from the Island of Stone and Ruins Key, so be prepared.”
As the last word left his mouth, the sea beyond the cove rolled and heaved and three stone giants rose from the water. Rafe stared at the bipedal creatures made of red and grey rock, feeling something akin to awe and fear. Each possessed two arms and a head, but no visible eyes. That oddity caused a shiver to race up Rafe’s spine. Together, they opened their mouths and clacked the stone teeth within. From the ocean, sprung five flying, hissing serpents who lashed their tails and wings.
“Is he the one?” The voices of the stone giants rumbled, shaking the air around Rafe and Hugh.
“Yes,” the serpents replied. “Can’t you smell the stench of god on him? Of power?” The flying beasts circled the three giants. “Strong. Stronger than any I’ve felt since the first one.” The five creatures hissed. “But not all light. No, no. Darkness, sweet. Sweet darkness inside. Interesting.” The serpents flew lower, hovering just above the water in a semi-circle around the giants.
“Yes, interesting.” The giants’ rumbling voices washed across the cove again. “You have done well, Hugh. The flying ones say he will do.”
With a great grinding noise, the three giants turned their heads in unison, somehow staring at Rafe, even without eyes. The captain shivered, disconcerted by their attention.
“You are god? Blood of the Hunter? Blood of the one that came from the light in the sky? The one called,” the voices of the giants paused and then pronounced the name. “Ul-erne?”
“Yes. Ulerne was my grandfather.”
“Goooood.” The voices rolled the vowels in the word like a wave crashing on shore. “What do you know of his battle with the Terrible One? Ashe-tus.”
“I know they fought, and Ashetus was defeated.” Rafe replied softly, tucking away the fact that the giants had not called Ashetus a god. “I know Ulerne imprisoned him.” Rafe took a breath, squaring his shoulders. “And I suspect Ashetus has been set free.” Behind him, he heard Hugh’s soft curse.
The giants shook and the serpents hissed, whipping their tails. The sea swept upon the beach in wave, and the ground quivered. The giants’ voices bellowed, forcing Rafe and Hugh to cover their ears and strive for footing as the earth under their feet shifted and heaved.
“We warned him! Warned him!”
For several minutes the serpents and the giants moaned, the cove echoing in a haunting anguish. Then it quieted and the giants spoke, “He was weak, the Hunter. Mer-ci-ful. He would not kill the Terrible One. We warned, we warned. Prison would not hold, not eternally. Kill we said, kill. He could. Only he could, but he did not. Death herself begged him, but he did not kill.”
“Mother was there?” The words slipped out to Rafe’s immediate regret.
The serpents screeched, flying in a frenzied circle until the giants plucked them from the sky. “Shush, flying ones!’
They released the creatures, and the serpents retreated behind the giants as they addressed Rafe once more. “You are blood of Death?”
Rafe nodded. “I think so. I believe my mother is the one you call Death.”
“Flying ones. Could this be true?” The giants turned their heads in a scraping groan.
“Yeeessss,” the serpents hissed. “The Darkness we saw could be hers.”
The giants turned back toward Rafe. “Interesting. Blood of the light, and blood of the dark. That would give this one power. Power like first god, power to wield weapons.”
“Weapons?” Rafe interjected. “What weapons? Weapons to fight Ashetus?”
The giants clacked their teeth and a loud snapping sound echoed in the cove. “Not fight. Kill. Must kill Ashe-tus.”
Rafe took a breath. “I don’t have a problem with that.” A calm seemed to settle on the giants and the serpents as he said the words. “As long as there are no repercussions. Gods cannot kill gods without...” Here Rafe paused slightly searching for the right word. “I need to know if there will be consequences.”
A rumble came from the giants almost as if they were laughing. “No consequences. Ashe-tus no full god. Only half. You can kill. If you are strong enough.”
Rafe smiled. “I think I can handle it.” He showed bravado, even while he wondered if his words were true. But his answer seemed to satisfy the giants. “Now, do you know where I can find these weapons?”
“No.” A great rush of air blew from the giant’s mouths. A sigh of sorts. “Hidden away. Shifting secrets given to Shadow Guard. Only their song tells where now. Find the song in your world. Song of the First God.”
“Find the song?” Rafe repeated, unsure if he heard correctly.
“Yes. Must go now. We must hide. All should hide until you kill the Terrible One.” The giants rumbled, starting to sink.
“Wait, wait! One more question! What type of weapons am I looking for? What can kill Ashetus?”
“The horn and the bow. The horn and the bow.” The words echoed over the sand as the stone giants and the flying serpents disappeared beneath the sea.
As they watched the creatures depart, Rafe remarked, “Well, that was fascinating. It’s not every day you have a conversation with some of the Old Ones.” Then he turned to Hugh. “May I ask how you befriended the Stone Giants and the Wind Drakes?”
Hugh shrugged. “When she goes off, I get bored, so I explore. One day I found a boat and repaired it. Then I started travelling to the other islands in the Archipelago. The Stone Giants liked to talk.” He shrugged again and kicked at a pebble. “The Wind Drakes, well, they found me when everyone got spooked. The creatures that live here are afraid and want help.”
“So why not go to my sister?”
Rafe smiled. “Now that I understand.”
“Bah.” A familiar voice came out of the shadows and the Goddess of the Moon stepped into view. “They don’t listen well enough. Don’t listen.” She walked past them and stared out at the water. “They don’t listen.” She wheeled around to face Rafe and Hugh. “But I listen. Listened to the bones. Yes, I did. They said many things. About birds, and horns, and mothers who sing. Told me what to do, they did.”
Rafe sighed. “What do you know, Manume?”
“Not what I know, but what I did. To send you on your path, little brother. Away, away to kill the bad thing with the bad name. Back to your ship tonight you go, then sail away to your new Oracle and the ghostly girl who killed your favourite. Lynna will meet you on the way. She will tell you about the song. A mother’s lullaby.”
“Lynna? The song? Manume what do you—”
“Shush. No more talk.” She walked up to her brother and grabbed his hand. “Not to me, not me. Sail your ship. Talk to Lynna. Now I take you back. I have other things to do, strange people to see.”
Rafe sighed again. “Very well. I’ll go back and do as you ask. I’ll sail on the tide to see the Oracle.”
“Good, good.” She tilted her head and looked at Hugh. “Go home, Hugh. I’ll be back soon.”
In a flash of light and a swirl of magic, the pair of gods vanished, leaving behind the waves, the moonlight, and a solitary ghost shaking his head.
Chapter Seven
Songs of the Sea
“JUST ONCE, BLACKTHORNE, I would like one of the beings I come across to speak plainly. To say ‘go here’ and ‘do this.’ Is that too much to ask?” Rafe sighed in exasperation. He sat in his quarters across from his first mate, half a day’s sail out of the Red Bay harbour. “And they wonder why I prefer mortals. At least you lot don’t often speak in riddles.”
“Yes, sir. It would be nice. Perhaps, at our next stop, someone will hand you a nice detailed map of where to go with instructions on the back of how to vanquish ancient resurrected gods.” Blackthorne smiled and Rafe chuckled.
“Even better, my friend. But for now, we must contend with the fact that we’re sailing to Rock Island on the advice of my sister who talks to bones. And somewhere along the way, my other sister will show up to sing me a song that will supposedly lead us to weapons powerful enough to kill this new threat.”
“At least we have a confirmation of sorts that this Ashetus exists and he’s what we’re facing. And we have a plan to defeat him. Even if it is a peculiar one.”
“I suppose. We are better off than we were yesterday. I just wish things were simple.”
Blackthorne snorted. “Life around you, sir, is many things, but simple is not one of them.”
Rafe laughed. “Too true, Blackthorne, too true.”
A knock sounded on the door, and Pinky Jasper poked his head in the room without waiting for permission to enter. “Begging your pardon, Captain, there’s a waterspout off the starboard side. Behaving strangely. Could be...um... your sister arriving.”
Rafe glanced at Blackthorne who shrugged. “Well then, shall we go see what’s next in this mess?” The captain and the first mate rose and followed Pinky above deck. One glance showed him his sister had indeed arrived and Rafe barked an order as his foot hit the boards.
“Match speed with the waterspout, Mr. Anders, and the rest of you lot make way for our guest!” He walked to the rail and shouted, “Come aboard, Lynna!”
In answer, the spout abruptly veered towards the ship and burst apart in a spray of water, drenching both the Jewel and its crew in an unexpected shower of seawater. A lithe, naked woman gracefully tumbled through the air and the raining ocean to land safely on deck beside Rafe.
Lynna glowered at him. “Let’s get this over with. Privately.”
“In my quarters, perhaps? Below deck?”
“Fine.” She marched past him, ignoring the stares and averted glances of the crew, and climbed below deck. Rafe hurried after her, shaking water from his coat and hair. He caught up to his angry sister and escorted her to his cabin. He sat down at his desk while Lynna, trailing water across the floor, paced like a caged animal.
“What is going on?” She yelled, seemingly at the wall. Rafe waited, letting her rant. “Do you know what’s happening under the sea? It’s chaos. Every creature, every one, is terrified. All I hear is, ‘bones, bones, the bones are coming,’ or ‘the Terrible One. Save us. Save us!’ They’re all trying to hide. To flee.” She whirled, glaring at her brother. “And the sea doesn’t feel right anymore. It’s different. It’s darker. I can’t explain it. It’s like something else is reaching out, trying to take control.” Lynna shivered. “And that’s not the strangest thing. Those who have drowned, their corpses have disappeared from their resting places. There’s an underwater reef where the bones of an old sailor rested. They’re gone, disappeared. Every scrap of his remains vanished one day. What’s going on?”
Rafe sighed, Lynna’s words confirming his worst fears and banishing any hope he was chasing a fool’s errand.
“There have been rumblings from the After World as well. Souls in pain, souls gone missing. I think something old and powerful has awakened, something from before the gods.”
“From before the... is that why Manume was babbling about bones and your mother’s lullaby?” Lynna stopped pacing. “She insisted I tell you.”
“My mother’s lullaby?”
“Yes, something she sang to you when you were a baby. I used to sneak in and listen. It never made sense, but I loved her voice. I tried singing it once or twice to Manume when we were young, but she never wanted to listen. Until now.”
“Didn’t make sense how?” Rafe leaned forward, all his attention on his sister.
“The lyrics seemed dark for a lullaby, and I’m sure, what she sang was only part of the song. But it was strangely compelling, and I’ve never forgotten it.” She inhaled a breath and stared at her brother. “I never forgot, almost like I couldn’t forget.”
A prickle ran along Rafe’s skin. “What were the words, Lynna? I need to hear the song. It could be the key to stopping this threat.”
“A song?” Lynna’s voice dropped incredulity like the clouds dropped rain. Her demeanour changed from troubled to amused.
Rafe suppressed a smile. “Yes. A song.”
“If you insist.” Lynna closed her eyes and sang, her voice clear and sweet and soothing as a summer sea.
Hush, hush, close your eyes,
Against the night.
Hush, hush, the stars will shine,
Against the night.
The horn will sound.
The bones will fall.
The Hunter stalks the Terror.
Against the night,
The bow will sing.
The beast will die,
Underneath the raven wing.
So, listen well, oh, brave new soul,
And stand against the night.
Find the horn, and find the bow,
Along the Path of Sorrows.
Lynna fell silent, and Rafe sighed.
“That’s it?”
She nodded. “As I said, I think there’s more, but she never said. You could always go ask her.”
Rafe gave her a sour look. “That would take too long. The last time I went to her Underworld, it took six months. And she still refused to see me.”
“Oh. I didn’t know.” Lynna looked away with a sigh. “I’ve never tried to visit her after she left.” She sighed again. “Neither of us had much luck with mothers, did we? Ours turned their backs on their children, left us.” She turned to look at Rafe, deep sorrow on her face. “Is it a wonder we’re the way we are? Prickly outcasts from the gods. It’s why I prefer the sea to family.”
“And yet, here we are, pulled into the middle of a family mess.” Rafe nodded at Lynna’s surprised look. “Oh, yes, this is a family legacy. Whatever is happening, it
seems to be grandfather’s doing.”
“That far back? Father told stories, but...” She let the words hang, and Rafe understood. Their father always kept his secrets.
Rafe nodded. “I know. Which is why I’m grasping at straws and old songs. Can you think of anything else? Do you have any idea what the ‘Path of Sorrows’ is?”
“No,” She hesitated, then added, “But your temple at Rock Island might. It’s something, something odd. Your Oracle comes to mind when I hear that phrase.” She reached out as if to touch her brother then let her hand fall. “I’m sorry. I can’t help more. Is there anything else I can do?”
“Just stay safe and listen. I may need your help in this. I may need a lot of help.”
“You have my support, brother.” This time she did extend her hand, and he shook it. They walked back to the deck where they said goodbye before Lynna returned to her ocean.
THE SUN STRETCHED CLOSE to midday at the hour that the Jewel sailed into Blue Bay. After a quick report to the harbourmaster, Rafe and Blackthorne headed to the Temple.
“So, your sister wasn’t much help, then?”
“She confirmed my mother’s involvement and gave me part of the song, for all the good that did. Apparently, the bow and the horn we seek are on the ‘Path of Sorrows.’” Rafe shook his head. “Why the cryptic reference? Why not say it directly? Like they’re in the Fire Islands or locked away on Tenby Key. These riddles and clues are ridiculous.”
Blackthorne shrugged, and Rafe lapsed into silence until they reached the temple. There they rang the bell and gained entry. High Priestess Rayla met them in the main hall.
“Welcome, God of Souls.” She smiled at Rafe and then at his first mate. “And you as well, Mr. Blackthorne. Have you come about the disturbance the Oracle has sensed?”
“I would think it probable as there is some dark threat looming. What has the Oracle seen?”
“She should tell you that herself. She is in her chambers with that—that ghost you left us.”
