by Dante King
“We’ll be honored to help,” I said. “But I’ve seen how many warriors Horix can muster and how well they can fight. And those were only initiates. There are disciples and masters inside Resplendent Tears who will be more powerful than them. And we also have Horix to deal with.”
“Your Majesty!” A guard ran along the battlements and waved her arm to get the king’s attention. “Your Majesty, guild members have appeared at the east gate and are demanding entrance to the city.”
“Was the word ‘no’ not clear enough for them?” Beqai asked. “ Resplendent Tears and all its members are barred from this city until we have purged the poison from their tide.”
“They insist on coming in, Your Majesty,” the guard said.
“Then, they will get a taste of what I am preparing for Horix. Should they persist, seize them and bring them to me. They brought war to this land and now, they will feel its sting.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Are you sure they’re from the Resplendent Tears?” I asked the guard. “If these are guild warriors then they’ll have Augmenting powers. Do the guards at that gate know how to Augment?”
“No, sir,” the guard replied.
“Then I’ll come with you. And I’ll bring some backup.”
“I’m right behind you,” Kumi said.
The princess sent the messenger to rouse Kegohr, Vesma, and Faryn. They emerged two minutes later garbed for war. We followed the guard at a jog through the streets. Kegohr grinned, eager for action, and Vesma’s tight smile at me showed she was just as ready for a fight. Faryn trailed after us at a slower pace, but her expression was equally determined.
A cluster of guards stood behind the gates with their shields at the ready. Two others on the walls held their bowstrings taut and trained their arrows on the newcomers.
Relief flooded the guard captain’s face as he saw us arrive.
“There’s only two of them,” he said. “But they won’t leave. They keep talking about joining their guild brethren in the city.”
“Two won’t be a problem,” I said. “Open the gates, and we’ll have a chat with them.”
I drew my sword as the guards lifted a heavy bar from the back of the gates. I prepared to spring into action as they heaved the gates open.
Two familiar figures stood in the road outside the city. One was a tall, sturdy woman with red hair and a fierce expression. Bare arms bulged with muscle as she lowered her nunchucks. The other was a short, scrawny youth with a nervous expression and a wild mess of dark hair. Both wore plain, unmarked robes rather than the typical red robes of the Radiant Dragon Guild.
I stared at them for a moment in surprise as I lowered my weapon.
“Veltai?” I asked. “Yo Hin? What are you doing here?”
“What the hells kind of way is that to greet friends?” Veltai asked as she stomped through the gates.
Yo Hin scurried after her and waved nervously at the guards as he passed. In his current garb, no one would ever have guessed that he was a trained disciple of the Radiant Dragon just like Veltai. Or that he was one of the most innately gifted Augmenters in our guild.
Kegohr strode to meet Veltai and threw his arms out for a big back-slapping hug. But as they met she grabbed him by the neck and delivered a deep, passionate kiss. Kegohr took a step back and blinked in surprise when she finally let go.
“Missed you,” Veltai said matter-of-factly. “Now, where’s the action?”
“In Kegohr’s pants, by the looks of it,” Vesma whispered to me.
“We heard that you were on, um, on a quest,” Yo Hin said. “We asked Master Xilarion if we could come and help.”
“He said no, so we kept bugging him until he changed his mind.” Veltai slapped Yo Hin on the shoulder so hard, she almost knocked him over. “This little bugger can be annoying once he gets going.”
“Thank you, ” Yo Hin said. “I think.”
“Well, now it’s a party,” I said. “You got here in the nick of time. Resplendent Tears needs an education in how a real guild operates. ”
While we walked through the city, I told our newly arrived friends about everything that had happened since we reached the Diamond Coast. I filled them in on the details of our visit to the guild house, the attacks on the city, Kumi’s rescue, and the Qihin’s plans for war.
“So, the guild has declared war on Qihin City,” Veltai said. “And they need their heads kicked in.”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“Sending monsters here, stealing the trident relic, and capturing the princess.” Yo Hin swayed, as though he was a little light-headed. “It’s absolutely abhorrent!”
I shook my head at him as we continued into the city square.
Much of the bustle in the streets wasn’t from the warriors themselves but the people who helped them to prepare. Anyone with any crafting skill had come out onto the streets to help sharpen blades, sew uniforms, or rivet pieces of armor together. Bakers brought steaming piles of flatbread as provisions while fishermen retrieved heaps of preserved fish from smoke shacks behind their houses.
This was side of the Qihin that had not revealed itself before—a proud and closely knit community ready to give whatever they had for the greater good. They were a people drawn along by the tide their revived king had summoned. But there were too few warriors to take on a prepared force of Augmenters in a magical fortress. Not when most of them had to be left behind to defend the city.
“Are there others you can gather?” I asked Kumi. “Surely, there are more able-bodied men and women to fight.”
“Father’s influence is only so wide,” she said. “It’s been nearly a generation since we fought in earnest, and the number of our subjects who know how to fight is limited. Take away those we need to guard the city, and…” She sighed. “We simply don’t have the numbers for an all-out assault on the guild house. I know it’s what Father wishes, but it seems a task destined to fail.”
“Couldn’t we take the cellar tunnel again?” Vesma suggested.
“Labu will have warned them about it,” I said. “He let us in last time. It’s too risky to try a second time.”
They weren’t reassuring words, but if we were going to win, then more troops would be vital. A handful of fire Augmenters from across the mountains wouldn’t be enough to tip the scales. But where could we get more seasoned Augmenters and more troops to fight them in close-quarters?
“You told me there are Wilds living outside the city,” I suggested. “Could we persuade them to fight?”
“I doubt it,” Kumi said. “They hate us almost as much as the guild.”
“So, the Qihin are still the lesser evil, then.”
“The Wilds detest the Resplendent Tears,” Kumi agreed. “but they might be happy just to leave us to rip each other apart.”
“Who leads them?” Kegohr asked.
“Chief Jonnik. He lives on Shredded Scale Isle and commands most of the Wild bandits working up and down the coast.”
“There’s your army,” I said. “All we need to do is convince him that it’s in his interest to help the Qihin remove Horix from the Resplendent Tears Guild. Any shot at help has to be worth taking right now.”
“They sound like the type to slit throats and ask questions later,” Yo Hin protested.
“We’ve had plenty of experience with the Wysaros,” I reminded him. “How much worse can it be?”
“I’ll go with you as an emissary,” Kumi said.
“We’ll join you,” Kegohr told us. “You’ll need someone to back you up.”
“Too many people will look like a war party, big guy,” I pointed out. “Leave it to me and the princess here.”
I didn’t like bringing Kumi into a meeting with a bunch of bloodthirsty bandits, but I needed her there. I wouldn’t know how to act or what to say. Even my time as a security agent wouldn’t prepare me for such a meeting. I knew when I needed help, and now was the time for it.
Kumi gave our compan
ions instructions for who to report to at the palace before she and I headed down to the docks. The seahorse-boat we’d taken from the guild island was still tied up at the quay. After we boarded the boat, Kumi laid her hand on the carving at the stern, and together, we slipped out into the waves.
It was a clear day with a few fragments of fluffy white clouds scattered across a blue sky. The ocean sparkled all around us as our boat raced through the waves to the south.
“The storm has passed,” I said. “Doesn’t that mean—”
“Yes,” Kumi cut me off. “Horix will find tapping into the power of the trident much easier. Let’s hope Chief Jonnik hears our request.”
The water was much stiller than it had been on my last crossing and it made for a far more comfortable ride. The salt spray brushed my cheeks as I watched the world pass by around us. The marshlands of the Vigorous Zone climbed over the shore. Seabirds wheeled overhead and turtles bobbed in the gentle currents. It was a whole lot better than tidal wyrms crashing in and out of the water.
Thoughts of Horix and what he could do with the trident invaded my mind, and I pushed them aside. I had to focus on the mission, and that was speaking with the Wild Chief. I decided some casual conversation with the princess would help loosen me up before we arrived at the Shredded Scale Isle.
“How’d you sleep last night?” I asked.
Kumi laughed, all somberness vanishing. “Never slept better. You’re quite the talented lover.”
“Don’t undersell yourself. I’ve never seen a pool of water Augment itself before.”
She blushed and turned the boat without a reply. I settled on a less salacious subject.
“Tell me about the Wilds we’re about to meet. Why don’t they live with the clan?”
“There have always been some outsiders,” Kumi said. “Those who prefer a lonesome life to keeping the company of others, or who don’t like the idea of being told what to do by a king. But they were few and far between until Horix took over at the guild.
“When Horix took charge, things changed. It became impossible for people with Wild powers to get the training they wanted in Augmenting. The guild’s crusade against Wilds upset and angered everyone, but it also riled some up against the clan. Men like Jonnik didn’t think that my father and his advisers were doing enough to stand up for them against this oppression.”
“Given how King Beqai was when we arrived, I can’t blame them.”
“Father had started retreating into himself,” Kumi admitted. “In some ways, he found the Path of Peace at the worst possible time.”
“Hell of a coincidence.”
“Fate perhaps. He and Horix served Emperor Talekon together, and when they left his service around the same time, they both started down their new paths. One of peace, the other of hate.”
“We can use that,” I said. “Convince the Wilds that the real threat is the guild’s hate crusade, and that this is the best chance to end it. That should be enough to rally them beside King Beqai, temporarily at least.”
“It’s a good idea,” Kumi said. “If they don’t kill us first.”
The seriousness in her tone made my stomach churn. This idea had been my own, and I hoped it wouldn’t end with our deaths.
An island appeared around a bend in the coast. Cliffs towered on one side, and a steep slope of dense jungle sloped down to the ocean on the other. A golden shoreline beckoned to us behind a wall of sharp rocks and vicious reefs that turned the sea into a foaming mass of breaking waves and swirling eddies.
“This is quire the place,” I commented. “It’s almost like the tribes picked an island to discourage visitors.”
“And you want to go and visit them,” Kumi said tersely.
“It’ll be fine,” I reassured her despite the knot in my stomach.
Kumi slowed the boat and steered us carefully through the reefs. Fast currents tugged at our craft, but she managed to keep it under control. The princess brought us through the turmoil and into the still waters beyond after only a few minutes.
I leaped into the shallows and dragged the boat up onto the sand. A gang of seven Wilds appeared from the edge of the jungle. They carried spiked clubs, curved swords, and barbed tridents built of scavenged supplies. Their clothes were salt-stained and worn, with holes deliberately torn through them to reveal their Wild marks. Each of them bore fish-like features. Their leader bristled with urchin-like spikes as they drew closer.
“What the hells are you doing here?” she demanded as she strode down the sand.“This ain’t no place for outsiders.”
“We’ve come to meet Chief Jonnik,” I said. “I think he’ll want to here what we have to say.”
A snarl of fury ripped from the leader’s throat, and she lifted her mace to point it at me. “You do not speak of the chief! You are from the guild, no? Perhaps I cave in your skull and pepper the sand with your brains?”
“Please,” Kumi said as she climbed out of the boat. “We come in peace. We only wish to speak with Jonnik.”
“You.” The woman spat on the sand. “You think your daddy can save you here? Your blood will wash these shores as tribute.”
I reached for the newest of my powers. Fierce, stinging Vigor flowed through my hands. I flung out my arms and sent an Acidic Cloud to billow out and block her march forward. The leader cursed and staggered back as the front edge of the green cloud blistered her skin.
“We’re here to talk,” I said and dispelled the cloud as a sign of my goodwill. “About taking the fight to the Resplendent Tears Guild.”
“We look after ourselves,” the woman snarled.
“Well, if you’re looking to keep it that way,” I said, “you’ll want to hear our message. The guild possesses an artifact that gives it the power to become the greatest magical force on the Diamond Coast. But we have a chance to take them down first. Trust me; I don’t want to be here any more than you want me on your island.”
The Wild leader looked at Kumi with an expression filled with hate and swung the club down into the palm of her hand. But I could see that my words had made some impact. Mostly because she hadn’t ordered her little gang to attack us.
“Just take us to Jonnik,” I said. “If he doesn’t like what we have to say, you’ll get your shot to kill us anyway.”
“Jonnik will tear you limb from limb,” she said. “He hates guilds.”
“Then it’ll be that much more satisfying to watch him kill me, won’t it?”
“He’ll want to hear about this,” another Wild muttered to the urchin-girl.
The leader considered us for a moment longer, then barked out a laugh. “You’ve got balls, pretty boy. I’ll give you that. I look forward to Jonnik executing you.”
She led us along the beach, and the other Wilds stayed close to the tree line as they followed our path. Other Wilds appeared from the jungle and joined them as they went. A crowd soon trailed our progress as their chatter increased into an excited hubbub.
“I don’t like this,” Kumi whispered to me.
“You helped us set the guild’s own workshop on fire, and you’re scared of a couple of Wilds?” I asked lightly. “It’ll be fine; trust me.”
I’d made her that promise multiple times now, and I would do my damned best to keep it.
We reached an inlet on the east side of the island at the bottom of the jungle slope. A log hall stood in the tree line with doors facing onto a pillared veranda overlooking the golden beach. Word must have spread fast, because as we approached, the doors burst open and a huge Wild emerged.
I’d seen a lot of different sorts of fishfolk since coming to the Diamond Coast. Some, like Kumi, had only the faintest traces of their aquatic heritage. Others were clearly marked by patches of scales, fins, gills, or webbed feet and fingers. Only a few had tentacles, and those who did usually had only one or two, not like the great mass that King Beqai had in place of legs.
Jonnik was another exception. His huge, chunky frame resembled the build of an Oly
mpic weightlifter, and a shark-like fin extended from his back. Thick, human legs supported a massive torso and three pairs of tentacles instead of arms. The limbs were purple and shiny and covered in suckers. He wrapped one around a pillar of the porch, used another to take a drink from half a coconut shell, and flexed the others through the air as he watched us. He wore loose trousers held up with a broad, studded belt. I spotted a copper band around one of his tentacles and a garland of jungle flowers on top of his bald head.
I had a feeling that a handshake wasn’t the best way to open proceedings with this guy.
The Wilds fanned out to form a circle around their chief and his log hall. The urchin-girl shoved us into the center of the circle.
“Chief Jonnik.” Kumi bowed to him.
“Princess.” He didn’t return the gesture, just took another drink and smacked his lips together. “Who’s this scrawny whelp with you?”
“My name is Ethan Murphy lo Pashat, Outer Disciple of Radiant Dragon. I’ve come to give you an opportunity to fight the Resplendent Tears Guild.”
“Then fuck off to their island.” Jonnik pointed north with a tentacle. “We don’t want your sort here.”
“You don’t know what sort I am,” I said bluntly.
Jonnik tightened his grip on the coconut shell until it exploded into pulp.
“It’s a good thing for you I’m a patient man, Ethan Murphy lo Pashat,” he said as he walked slowly down the steps from his hall. “That’s why you’ve got a whole minute to explain yourself before I crush your skull and feed you to the fishes.”
“I know that the guild hates your people,” I said. “Now, they’re making moves against the Qihin, too. King Beqai is going to hit back at them to destroy the ones who’ve fostered that hatred. If you join us against them, you’ll have a chance to get revenge against the guild, to stop their attacks on your people. Once this is over, you can gain access to their power and learning.”
“You want us to fight for Beqai?” Jonnik laughed with a booming sound that echoed all around the cove and sent birds flying from the treetops. “Why would we do that when we can live here quite happily, picking up the scraps around Qihin? More than enough boats come through here, and they are ripe to seize and have plunder to pillage. Why waste our lives serving people who hate us? Whose children come out to fight our children just so that they can prove how big and clever and special they are?”
