by Dante King
“That’s a decent start.” Jonnik held out a tentacle for Beqai to shake, then lowered his voice so that it was only just audible through the cheering of the crowd. “But remember, we’ll be watching you. One hint that you’re back to your crabshit, and we’re gone.”
Beqai gripped the tentacle tightly in his own and fixed Jonnik with a steady gaze. “Keep talking like that in front of my people, and I’ll cast you back into the ocean myself.”
Jonnik laughed. “Now, that’s what I call a king.”
Beqai climbed back on his barrel and raised his hands. Silence fell slowly across the docks.
“Loyal subjects,” he called out. “Trusted allies. Noble friends. For too long, we have let Horix bring out the worst in the Resplendent Tears Guild, and through it, bring violence and oppression to our lands. They have scorned us, weakened us, spat upon us. They have ridden roughshod over our farmlands and our borders. Their greed and their meddling have brought monsters down upon our heads. And now, their arrogance has grown so great that they openly attacked our city and kidnapped my beloved daughter. Our Kumi.”
A roaring tide of anger swept along the docks as the meaning of the words sank in.
Beqai raised his hands, and the noise subsided. “They poisoned the mind of my son, and he is now lost to Mother Sea. I doubt he will return, and the guild is upon their heads. There may be good people in the guild, but there are more whose hearts are veined with evil. They would wipe out the Wilds, people who live peacefully among us, who bring the blessings of their Vigor to bear for the rest of us. Will we let that stand?”
“No!” the crowd roared.
“Will we let them murder our friends and families?”
“No!”
“Will we allow them to spread their foul words and foul deeds through our lands and beyond?”
“No!”
“Then, will you stand with me for all the Diamond Coast?”
“YES!”
The cheering spread through the city. Bells rang, and drums pounded. Spear butts were beaten against the ground.
Beqai climbed down and gathered his commanders around him. He gestured for Kumi, Jonnik, and the most powerful Wild chiefs to join them. Kumi motioned for me to gather with them.
“My plan is to attack under cover of night,” Beqai said. “We’ll blanket the ocean in mist to hide our approach until we reach the island. They’ll suspect our coming, but it’s simply a distraction to have our strongest swimmers and best Augmenters reach the island. This is our fight, but we must be diplomatic if at all possible.”
“Diplomatic?” Jonnik snorted. “You called us here to have tea with these fuckers?”
“We will offer them the opportunity to surrender Horix, Cadrin, and the Depthless Dream. Should they spit in our face, then we’ll open their gates and lead an attack into the courtyard. Ethan, you and your companions will be responsible for apprehending Horix and the trident.”
“And what of Labu?” Kumi asked quietly. “If he survived and still fights on their side?”
“I’ll offer him a chance to surrender,” I said in reply. “That’s the best I can do for him.”
Beqai nodded his satisfaction. “It’s a plan that I believe fits with all I learned as a general, but I know that my judgement has been dulled of late. So, if you see a problem with it, speak now before the tide carries us away.”
“What if Horix has unlocked the power of the trident?” I asked the king. “You said he would need the storms to pass, and the skies have been clear for a day now.”
Beqai’s expression darkened. “A day will be insufficient to gain its true power. The Depthless Dream takes time, precision, and quiet in order to properly master. We will ensure our enemy has none of these. In a still ocean, all things may be realized. In a storm, one can lose themselves. And I intend to bring a storm against my old friend.”
“Just give me the blood of these fuckers, Beqai,” Jonnik said. “That’s all I want.”
The Wild chiefs growled their assent. The Qihin commanders nodded and bowed to the superior experience of their king.
Beqai turned his gaze on me. “You have some experience and have proved your wisdom in war. What do you think?”
“I’m not exactly a general, but it’s the best plan I can see,” I said. “As we would all expect from one of the Emperor’s own commanders.”
“Then get to the boats,” Beqai said. “Dusk will fall soon, and we should be ready to strike.”
I took Kumi’s arm after the group split off and steered her down the dock.
“I want to be the first one through the doors of that guild house,” I said. “And I want people with me I can trust. Are you in?”
“Of course.” She smiled at me. “There’s no one I would rather stand beside in this fight.”
“Great. Now, we just need to find the others.”
“I think I know where to look.” Kumi led me through the crowd toward a small eating house. “It’s dinner time on the verge of a battle, and Kegohr asked me yesterday about good places to eat.”
We arrived at a dockside inn. Sure enough, my friends sat by the window next to a table piled with food. Veltai and Kegohr sat at one end and feasted on thick tuna steaks. They leaned in close to talk to each other. Yo Hin was building a tower of sushi rolls next to them and occasionally took a break from his construction to nibble on one of them. Vesma and Faryn focused on eating steamed buns across from him and engaged in bursts of stilted conversation.
I grabbed a couple of rolls off the top of Yo Hin’s tower and wolfed them down. It had been a long day, and the sight of food had made me desperately hungry.
“Are you all ready for war?” I asked. “Because it’s kicking off tonight.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Kegohr said. “Just gimme a minute to finish this.”
Veltai slammed a fist into the palm of her hand. “At last, stomping time.”
I glanced out of the window. The sun sank rapidly toward the horizon and turned the sky from blue to blood-red. The fleet was mustered in the delta, but no one would make a move until darkness had fully fallen.
“You know what,” I said as I waved for the innkeeper, “we’ve got a little time. Let’s eat first.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Night slid over the Diamond Coast like a blanket of silver-studded darkness. Boats of all shapes and sizes moved almost soundlessly through soft waves as the Wild forces approached the Guild House of Resplendent Tears. Siege hulks, rowboats, and troop-carriers alike glided over the water toward our target.
Qihin Clan warriors disembarked the boats into the surrounding water as the Wild Augmenters channelled a thick mist that rose from the lapping waves. The water barely rippled around them as they descended into the dark waters off the coast of Horix’s island fortress.
The island disappeared as the night and magic mist hid it from view.
The fishfolk waited in a silent row of mostly submerged heads and watched the leading boats near the guild’s weathered docks. I nodded to them and turned to my companions. We were an eclectic band of Augmenters, from the hulking Kegohr to the diminutive Yo Hin. The boats that pulled up to our flanks carried the elite of the Qihin royal guard and King Beqai.
Beqai was as quiet as the rest of us, but he somehow seemed to fill that silence. He was a still center of power with such looming significance that he needed no noise to proclaim his presence. All eyes were drawn to him even as the drifting streamers of mist played around his royal barge.
He raised a tentacle on each side of his body and stared into the fog. The men around him waited for his signal. I didn’t know if the king’s connection to the water let him see through the mist or if he was just waiting on some subtle sign. Beqai dropped his tentacles in a sudden and decisive movement.
The swimmers shot immediately from their places. They darted through the sea with all the deadly agility of a mako shark. Some vanished entirely beneath the waves. Others swam at the surface or hovered just bene
ath. The protrusion of their fins were the only sign of their presence.
The wind rose in a sudden, fresh blast. Our cloak of Augmented mist was torn apart, and the island appeared ahead of us as a looming pillar of rock, marble, and ice.
“We’ve lost our cover,” Vesma whispered.
“We’re close. It served our purpose,” Faryn murmured from beside her.
The boats accelerated at another signal from Beqai. Slight creaks and the faint splash of parting waves echoed over the swirl of water. Kumi clasped both hands around the magical carving as she urged our craft closer to the target.
The scouts raced through the water until they were mere feet from the docks.
And that was when everything went to hell.
A burst of light raced out from hundreds of lanterns and glowing stones as they were ignited or activated on the walls of the guild house. The swimmers, previously little more than flickers amid the waves, became pale bodies against the sudden wave of light.
“Now!” screamed a furious voice.
Glittering points flew through the air with a hiss like a pit full of angry snakes. The air above us turned into a rain of Ice Spears as the Resplendent Tears Guild chose offense as the best form of defence.
“There goes our diplomacy!” I shouted. “Shields up!”
Vesma, Kegohr, Veltai, Yo Hin, and I all raised Flame Shields on our arms. We brought them together to form a shield wall that resembled an ancient Roman tortoise formation of pure flames. Frozen projectiles struck our shields, melted away, and fell harmlessly into the water.
Our allies weren’t so lucky. Spears skewered the scouts near the docks along with a few individuals who stood exposed at the bows of the foremost boats. Beqai had called up a wall of water to shelter his barge, but others didn’t possess his mastery of the ocean. Some of the more gifted Augmenters protected themselves with Wild variants of Ice Armor techniques, but other warriors fell as the hail of ice sliced into their unprotected bodies.
The first blood of the battle had gone to our enemies.
It was time to hit them back.
As the first volley of enemy Ice Spears abated, Beqai lowered the wall he had summoned in front of his barge. He raised his arms and half his tentacles and waved them back and forth. The Qihin king swayed with the rhythm of the waves. A lucky Ice Spear hurtled toward him, and one of his bodyguards knocked it out of the air. The king’s focus remained unbroken.
The sea around us churned as Beqai swayed and chanted. Mist rose from the waters, not only the individual clouds of our approach but a vast mass that billowed around us and turned the clear air white.
“Members, soldiers, and staff of Resplendent Tears!” the king bellowed. We have not come to fight! Your Guildmaster, Horix, has committed a great crime. He has stolen the precious Qihin relic, the Depthless Dream. He kidnapped my daughter. I wish only for your Guildmaster to pay for his iniquities. You do not all have to suffer for what he has done.”
There was silence as the fog shrouded us in thick, white clouds.
A response came a moment later when shards of ice rained down upon us. The mist obscured our enemy’s view of us, and the accuracy of the frozen projectiles vanished as they splashed into the water around our attacking force.
“The time for diplomacy is over!” Kumi yelled to her father as she dodged a spear. “We must storm the guild house and retrieve the trident.”
Beqai nodded slowly before he raised his tentacles once more. “Forward!” he bellowed to the troops. “Keep moving!”
Oars rattled in their ports and splashed in the water as the boats surged ahead and plowed furrows through sea and mist. Drums beat, and commanders shouted out the rhythm as warriors bent to their oars. The thrumming beat of the instruments of war obscured the splashes as more warriors leaped into the water and swam toward the shore.
The mist made it harder for the enemy to pick their targets, so, instead, they hurled Ice Spears indiscriminately into the fog. There were thuds as the frozen missiles embedded themselves in prows, masts, and decks. Screams echoed out across the water as the enemy spears pierced allied flesh.
I couldn’t help but think that King Beqai’s plan to take only Cadrin and Guildmaster Horix from the guild had just been destroyed.
The swimmers reached the island and climbed out of the ocean with dripping weapons and focused determination. This left them more vulnerable than ever, exposed to the sight of the enemy and with little cover. Guild Augmenters hurled their missiles over the tops of crates, aiming from the safety of the battlements. Their attacks landed among our scouts and caused mayhem among our vanguard.
Our boat burst from the front of the mist into the water just off the docks as flames trailed from our Flame Shields.
Kumi let go of the carving at the rear and rushed down the boat. She pushed the fire Augmenters aside to get to the prow. We kept our Flame Shields firm to protect her as the guild filled the air with five-foot-long splinters of frost. The boat’s momentum kept us on track toward the docks, even without Kumi’s magical direction.
Kumi raised her arms with a great flourish and started to sing. Strands of water rose from the surface of the ocean and stretched out across the docks. They caressed the wounds of the injured fishfolk and wrapped around their deepest injuries. Wild healing magic flowed from Kumi and mitigated the harm that the Ice Spears had done. Warriors jumped back to their feet, healed and reinvigorated, and darted toward the guild house. Some raised small shields of rough ice or bucklers to provide a defense against the hailstorm from above.
Our boat hit the docks at an angle. Wood scraped against stone, and the planks shuddered beneath our feet. I vaulted over the side first with my Flame Shield raised and the Sundered Heart burning in my hand. The others followed close behind with their weapons at the ready.
Other ships emerged from the fog behind us. Huge broadheads of the ballistae appeared and opened fire. Their thick, corded arms snapped and hurled the massive projectiles at our attackers. A bolt struck a battlement, and a rock twice the size of my head fell free of the wall before it crashed down on the docks beside Kegohr in a shower of shards. The Qihin’s other siege machines emerged, and more bolts joined the barrage as I advanced with my friends at my back.
The siege machines forced our attackers to hesitate and keep their heads down, but the damage to our scouts had been done. Half a dozen warriors lay dead or badly injured across the docks. Others floated nervelessly in the water.
An Ice Spear melted as it struck my shield of magic and showered me in shards of ice and gouts of steam. “We need more cover!” I called to my companions. “Radiant Dragon, with me.”
I sheathed my sword and turned to face the ocean.
“Summon as much fire as you can,” I said. “Don’t worry about form or technique; just focus on heat and fury. We need a few more seconds of cover to get our forces onto the docks.”
I thrust my hands out, pointed at the water in the docks, and let the fire flow. The others joined in, and the five of us poured fire Vigor down on the waters. Our power combined to create a wall of flames. The ocean bubbled and steamed as the heat brought it to a ferocious boil.
Steam billowed around us and joined with the forward tendrils of Beqai’s slowly dissipating mist. A bank of cloud formed and rushed across the docks, carried by the stream of heated air we had created. A fresh sea of mist obscured the enemy’s view of our advance in mere seconds.
A thud boomed around the island as a ramp dropped from the front of a craft carrying a giant battering ram. The creaking of ropes and the bellowing of orders followed as the crew hauled the ram out of its berth and up the ramp onto the docks.
The fire from the siege machines intensified to match the enemy attacks from above. Ice Spears buried themselves in shields, the hulls of boats, and those warriors not lucky enough to have found proper protection.
We finished our work at the water’s edge and joined the forward attack on the guild house gate. I called on the
power of water to robe me in Frozen Armor as the rest of the Radiant Dragon disciples raised their Flame Shields again.
The first battering ram reached the main gates while the other headed around the walls to seek another entry point for our assault. Soldiers with shields advanced to protect the crews of the ram as they swung it back and forth and built up momentum. Then it slammed into the brass gates with an almighty boom.
The gates were sturdily built and held in place as the ram pounded at them. By the tenth blow, dents showed, and one of the gates buckled. But the great sheets of embossed brass held firm.
Vesma raised her hands and channeled a stream of Untamed Torch on the metal of the gate. I grabbed her shoulder and added Flame Empowerment to her attack. Steam hissed as a cherry-red sheen climbed over the guild house’s main defence.
“Almost there!” the ram commander shouted. “Keep at it!”
The commander fell a moment later and clutched at a jagged Ice Spear that protruded from her thigh. Kumi bent over her, used her power to melt and reform the Ice Spear, and turned it into a bandage of healing water to wrap the wound.
I gritted my teeth and redoubled my efforts to boost Vesma’s Untamed Torch. I poured Vigor into her stream of fire as it bathed the gate in flames.
The ram swung back with a ponderous momentum.
Then it hit and plowed through the weakened metal in an explosion of splinters and shattered ice.
I rushed through the gap with Kegohr, Vesma, and Kumi close behind.
A row of Resplendent Tears guards stood at the gates and formed a wall of interlocking shields. As one, Kegohr, Vesma, and I raised our hands and launched blasts of Untamed Torch at their blockade. The shield wall shattered as men fell or staggered back from the searing heat.
