Into the Storm
Page 32
The ballista fired ahead of me, a large metallic spike sailing toward the beast only to glance off the copper scales covering his body.
He raised his tentacles and brought them down at us, the ship taking a hard right to just barely keep it from sinking the ship in a single blow.
Kayda screeched and fired a bolt of azure lighting straight at him, the jolting electricity shaking the kraken for a moment, allowing us to get slightly ahead of him.
I took a steadying breath and did something I hadn’t done before, I took light and fire mana and swirled them together and gathered them like a spear before launching it directly at the bastard. It hurt him, minutely, with only a small percent of his health going down. I didn’t dare get closer to him to give him the evil eyes to look at his level. That was just stupid if you asked me.
Though one of the sailors swore the beast was in the seventies by now. His continued eating and gorging making him bigger and more deadly.
The glancing blow irritated me, but it would be better to get to land where we could stand a real chance against him than stay and risk death on a tiny ship compared to him.
Arrows and more ballista fire covered our exit from his grasp, and that’s how we spent the next six hours, barely missing his attempts to catch us thanks to creative use of some spells and elemental magic to keep him away. Eventually, he grew hungry and sucked more water into his gullet. Hundreds of fish and other creatures fell victim to his avarice.
Odany and I kept the ship going, and I started to truly help her go through a litany of potential attack spells.
“So, I rotate the wind at the front and focus on it piercing?” She asked during one of our impromptu lessons. I nodded, and she focused again, motioning with her hands so that a small whirling bit of visible wind built before her in a shape vaguely like a mushroom before sharpening like an arrow.
“Exactly.” I smiled tiredly, then pointed to the kraken who trailed not too far behind us. “Shoot him.”
She eyed me carefully, then shooed the spell toward the kraken, and it just irritated him.
I rolled my eyes. “You should put more intent behind it.” I did the same thing that she had, but I added a higher rotational force to it, then pulled it back like an arrow. Once I felt like it was spinning fast enough and had eaten enough of my mana, I launched it. Rather than taking my magical delivery head-on, he ducked it, and it slammed into the pointed part of his head, taking a small sliver of his health away.
“We can’t last like this, man.” James groaned quietly as we ate a quick meal. We didn’t dare eat too heavily so as to make us groggier than we already were. The bastard wouldn’t let us sleep, and we were now four days into our mad dash toward the Continent of Beasts from when we had met the fucker.
Having been on the water more than a week, we were closer to our destination than we should have been thanks to Odany and me, but all of us were exhausted and starting to flag. Just that morning one of the sailors had fallen from the rigging into the ocean. I had grabbed him with shadows in an attempt to pull him back aboard, but I lost a visceral game of tug of war against the kraken, and the poor man had been seafood. Literally.
Bokaj had tried singing him to sleep, failing that, he played a song of rest every few hours to keep us all standing and functioning at a base level. Even my two Fae comrades were beginning to flag under the constant onslaught of danger.
“We have few options left.” Yohsuke brought us some food and looked at Jaken and me. “If this doesn’t qualify for some divine intervention, I don’t know what would.”
“They told us a while back that it needs to be something truly needed.” Jaken yawned and blinked at the rest of us. “The gods are fighting their own battle up there, and they need all the help they can get.”
“We’re fighting for our lives down here!” Bokaj grunted, smacking the deck before him angrily. The bags under his eyes a deeper purple than some of the rest of us. Even though the elves could take a four-hour meditation to rest, they could barely even get that.
We ate in contemplative silence while the kraken attempted once more to try and capsize us, but with no luck. The game of cat and mouse continuing, though he did almost turn us off course. Captain Holly’s quick thinking and complete control of her crew saved us from another swipe of his tentacles, and finally I broke.
“Fine—I’ll summon a fucking celestial!” The others cheered, and I closed my eyes, focusing on reaching out to the holy I cast the spell Summon Celestial.
The air before me rent in two and a large angelic being I was familiar with stepped out. Samu, Torchbearer of the Seventeenth Celestial Squadron under Lady Radiance Herself.
Wind whipped at the golden feathers of his long, luxurious wings, his ten-foot-tall Greek stature dwarfing me, and a familiar soft smile greeted me. His halo of spun gold above tightly curled hair that looked like it could be blond dipped as he took a knee in front of me. His wings flared to the sides of his body as his golden gaze met mine.
“King of the Unseelie, friend of the elements and the only living mortal to claim dominion over them.” He bowed his head once before standing and looking all of us over. “How can I assist such a powerful being?”
“Hopefully, by being an even more powerful being?” I said, his golden eyes narrowed. “Three generals have fallen, and two remain. One of them is chasing us. He’s done so for the last four days, and we’re beginning to fall. He doesn’t seem to tire, and he doesn’t seem to care how far he has to go to get us. If we don’t get some rest, or to shore soon, we will die and our mission will be a failure. All will be lost. I don’t know what you can do, but any help you can give us would be appreciated.”
“This is why you called me?” He asked skeptically, I was too tired to tell if there was sarcasm in his voice or not. He reached down and touched my head, some of my fatigue melted away, physically at least. He did the same to the others of our party, opting not to do the same for the crew, but leaving a pile of feathers at his feet. “Use these to rejuvenate the sailors. I will go and attempt to stall him for a while—all of you rest.”
“Thank you, Samu.” I sighed heavily in relief.
“Do not fear reprisal from me, master Zeke.” Samu turned slightly so I could see the smile on his angelic features. “This is the reason we are here. If it is of this magnitude, we will come.”
“Thank you,” I whispered as I fell to my knees. Suddenly, the overwhelming urge to rest overtook my survival instincts. The soft sound of flapping wings, then the ensuing battle between a general and a heavenly agent the least of my worries when all the pretty sheep began to jump a small fence in front of my face.
I blinked, the lack of light the first thing I noticed as the waves moved around us. Adrenaline surged through my veins, and my feet came under me in a flash. I whipped my head back and forth to see what I could and noted that the ship still sailed on. I stood where I had fallen, my fur warm, and my being refreshed at last. I noted that the others were stirring as well, but what truly surprised me was the lack of pursuit.
“The angel insisted that I tell you that he did what he could, he put the creature far from us so we could sail on,” Captain Holly explained with a grin and a yawn that shook her whole body. I noticed one of Samu’s fallen feathers had been tucked into her hair. “You like it? He said that it would assist in sustaining us. Half the crew is down sleeping—the ones who’ve survived at least. The fight between the angel and the kraken was short but fierce. The angel—yes, Samu, thank you—beat him back for a moment, then touched it, and they both vanished.”
“He must have teleported him somewhere.” I frowned, it couldn’t have been far, the spell I had only let me do it when things were willing. If I could go far with them that way, it stood to reason that the distance might be significantly less for someone who didn’t wish to be taken.
“Let’s get us going on.” I shook myself out and reached for the mana within me, pushing it out as wind and filled the sails. “We gotta g
et to land, sooner.”
“I’m aware, master Zeke.” Captain Holly rolled her eyes and kept her attention on the horizon line. “If memory serves, we’re roughly two days from shore at the rate we’re traveling. The sea bears us well, and the skies are clear—this is a good sign. We should be there soon.”
I nodded to myself and went to the ballista to work on some of the remaining ammo we had for it. We had been using cannonballs for the shots at first because we had more of them to spare, leaving the actual ammo for us to use as we would.
I spent time enchanting them to pierce dragon scales with Hubris assisting me, using some of the broken shell I had managed to nab from when the little dragonling had hatched with Ampharia.
Each shot cost me roughly 657 MP, but the design was such that it would pierce scales and burst in a shocking bit of magic thanks to adding some of Kayda’s azure feathers to the item too. Being a master enchanter helped now.
We had three shots with that enchantment, and I made one other that would freeze the target in place both with ice and shadow magic. That had been a little more interesting, the idea similar to the cage Maebe had used to trap Yve when she was younger.
Speaking of. “Yve, Servant.” Both of them separated from my shadow in a single bound, their heads bowed. “You’ve both been quiet, how are you?”
“We watched while you rest, and since the threat was more to the ship and less Fae in nature, there is little we could do for you, my King.” Yve’s jaws stretched wide with her tongue stretching out almost lazily.
“What my sister means to say is that we could fight that kraken and buy you time, but it would likely result in our demise and leave you without protection from the Seelie should they strike.” Servant flared pointedly at her while he stood there in his tiger-like shadow form.
“Very well.” I sighed, thinking for a moment before looking at Servant. “I need you to go check on my wife. Can you do that, then return?”
“I can if you dismiss me, but you should know that she will likely be busy.” I nodded and he didn’t say anything further after seeing the look of worry in my eyes. “I know that you have been trying to keep your mana reserves replenished to keep the ship going and that calling to her is a distraction that could well get either of you killed... very well, I will inquire after the Queen for you.”
“Thank you. Servent, go home, for now.”
He faded into my shadow, his connection to this realm gone.
“You do that so well,” Yve observed dryly, making me turn to look at her questioningly. “Worrying over someone who doesn’t need your worrying. Queen Maebe is the strongest Fae we have had in the Unseelie line since before even my time. Stronger even than the originator of the line. She doesn’t need your aid in everything.”
“She may not, but she has it anyway.” I shrugged, lifting the final ballista bolt to look over.
“Why?” Yve padded closer so that she could sit in front of me. Her presence cool against my skin, and it felt a little much in the breeze of our traveling.
“Because that’s what love is sometimes.” My simple explanation seemed to puzzle her more, so I just chuckled. “You aren’t used to love. It’s a selfless emotion. I don’t send Servant to check on her because I worry she’s incapable of handling her business. I send him because I care enough to know that she’s all right. And so that she knows I’m thinking of her. That she’s important to me. Even when my brothers and I, Vrawn, and Odany, are all fighting for our lives, I still think of her. How she is, and if she’s happy.”
She pondered for a moment in silence as I engraved this one to do pure piercing ice damage, icicles pointing down the length of the whole bolt.
“You love her.” It was a statement from Yve, and I just nodded to answer her. “What does this emotion afford you? What do you gain from it?”
“Her love in return.” I snorted, remembering I was talking to a particularly ancient Fae. “Love is selfless. It’s a feeling you get inside you that makes it so that being apart from the person you care about is almost physically painful. Like missing a part of yourself, but the part that you really care about. Their well-being sometimes trumps your own. You care more about how they are at times than you do yourself. They don’t consume you, they just make everything better.”
“Like slavery?” She cocked her head to the side and I laughed. “I take it, that means no? I find this puzzling.”
“Love is knowing that the person you care about is all right when you’re bleeding out and finding that you are relieved.” I ran my finger over my work to check for imperfections. “It’s hard to explain to someone who has never experienced it. I’m sorry if I’m confusing you.”
“Mortal,” Yve said suddenly. I blinked and glanced up to see her looking at me intently. “Love. Explain it to me.”
“I know we were kind of discussing it, but I’m not really in the right mind space for a lesson on emotions right now.” A large hand cupped my shoulder and I looked up at Vrawn.
“Love is the deepest feeling of affection you can hold for a person who is not your blood,” Vrawn said. Her gaze fell to me with a soft smile on her face. “It can start from a friendship or a chance meeting with someone who shows you that you are worth more than what you thought. Or it can sprout from a fondness for someone else who compliments you in ways that you never knew you needed. It’s wanting to share in the joys, hardships, and meandering paths of life with that person, or persons, whom you care for. Love can be burning passion and a cool breeze. Love is worth fighting for. Worth protecting. I love Maebe. I love Zeke.”
I reached up to pull her down for a kiss, whispering, “We love you too.”
She grinned and looked over at Yve. “Does that explain it for you?”
“You mortals and your attachments.” She rolled her eyes and scrunched her feline nose as if in distaste. Then seemed to ease herself out of the mood she was in. “Do you think there is love for everyone?”
“I think if you will it to come, you may find it, or it may find you.” Vrawn sat down next to me, closer to Yve than should have been comfortable, but she seemed fine. “But don’t ever settle. I’m glad I didn’t.”
“I see.” Yve frowned, not hard for a gigantic cat. “What is it that you are making?”
“I want to make a spear of ice that will freeze the ocean around a target, and will hopefully impale them as well.” I frowned and then looked up at her. “You have a good deal of experience with the cold, do you not?”
“I am… adept with it, yes.” She seemed to be a little wary of my curiosity. “Why?”
“Do you think you could help me with this?” I pointed to the bolt, and she raised a brow, her whisker flicking curiously.
“I have never been part of an enchantment before, I fear I would only hinder you,” she stated uncertainly. I had to admit that was a little strange for her. Normally so certain of herself.
“Nonsense, Hubris will help us with it.” I summoned the scepter and held it out before me over the item. “I have the intent in mind, all I need is for you to cast the ice magic into it. The material is conducive to magic, so it’s not too bad or likely to fail anyway. Please?”
“You’re giving me a choice?” Yve seemed almost as startled by that as the explanation of human emotion.
“You can either choose to help me, or not.” I shrugged and she frowned. “Look, I’ll be the king that is needed, but I want to work with my people. I’ll order them when necessary, but I could do this myself. I just want to make a stronger product. You going to help me or not?”
She shifted into her elven form and put a hand on Hubris, stating, “Purely because I am curious as to how this works.”
“Good enough.” Vrawn patted my shoulder, and I agreed readily. Of course, she was just curious. Got it, just help me damnit.
Hubris controlled her mana output, and I provided the intent for the spell, adding another of Kayda’s feathers as well as a bit of ocean water to it as components.
This’ll work, I smiled to myself.
The others came to, finally, and I could see their confusion. “We’d better see to the others and get to working on our escape plan.”
“Run.” Bokaj scratched his head. “That’s all we can do.”
“He’s right.” Balmur yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Not unless we can make the ship fly, and even though we have a decent amount of mana between us all, there’s not enough to make this thing take off. Right?”
I found myself laughing at that, and so did the others. It was nice to have a small moment of levity to cut the tension a bit.
“We keep trucking.” Yohsuke sighed and began to pace a bit. “You know, with what we’ve done with Maebe, why not get adventurous?”
“How do you mean?” James sat back where he was, eyeing the stars above us.
“We could make wings with the shadows since it’s night.” He motioned to the sides of the ship. “Not normal wings, but like additional sails, and Zeke can use those to push more wind into to give us a little more speed. What you think, Zeke?”
“Seems like it would theoretically work, but what if that bastard catches up to us?” I looked over the others, and the apprehension on their faces.
“It would be better to be closer to land.” Jaken stood up and stretched himself out. “No reason not to go all out.”
That was fair thinking. We all stood and had something swift to eat before the two of them posted up on the sides of the ship. Odany cast her gust spell once more on the mainsails, then I made my own version of it.
Trade Wind – Caster uses his magic to control the winds around them for travel. This spell can be manipulated at will by adding more mana. Duration: 4 hours (or until canceled). Cost: 400 MP. Range: 120 feet. Cool down: 2 hours.