No Solace (The Flames of Retribution - Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-One - A sea of serpents

The airship landed on a small unnamed island about 100 miles from Janesport and took that time to refuel. The escort ships stayed hovering nearby to keep it safe, and I disembarked onto a hoverboat towards Janesport.

These waters had many serpents in them, so it was unsafe for small crafts to travel directly on the water. To prove a point, a serpent rose up out of the water twenty feet and snapped at one of the jets on the hover boat. The scales of the serpent were the shade of a brilliant Persian green and sparkled in the sun. A row of jagged plates on the reptile's back sliced the water, making it foam as it was churned up into the sky by them. The jaws that snapped at us were lined with triple rows of curved teeth like gleaming hooks. I caught a whiff of its rotten, fishy smelling breath and gagged.

The hovercraft maneuvered violently to the left, causing me and Ursula to topple over and slide. My shoulder banged into the rail, and I winced in pain. Then, Ursula bashed into me, causing me to shout as my injured shoulder pressed harder into the rail.

The serpent flung itself higher and its teeth clattered against the rail, earning terrified shrieks from both us and the men. A braver sailor than the rest of us flung a dagger at the beast, and it screamed its outrage. The sound partially deafened me and set my ears to ringing. It ducked back down in retreat, but we knew it would try again.

Before the serpent could attempt a third try, the hovercraft rose higher out of the serpent's reach. Both Ursula and I groaned as we lifted ourselves from the wet floor of the craft, and I tested my shoulder gingerly.

Ursula was thumping her chest. "Phew! My heart is about to burst!"

I raised and lowered my arm and tried to shrug my shoulders. I hissed.

"You okay?" she asked.

I nodded, then winced again as I swung my arm forward.

"Not okay. Here, let me help," Ursula said. She touched my arm, and the pain subsided after a few moments. I nodded at her and smiled. It was a good idea, having a healer with me. Perhaps Larimar wasn't out to get me after all.

"Thanks," I said.

"Don't mention it."

We both collapsed onto the deck and tried to get our nerves about us again. We had to be calm when we reached the port, or the guard would find us suspicious.

It took an extra hour before we reached Janesport itself, where the village's whitewashed church stood tall over everything like a queen. The village itself surrounded the church with houses and gardens. There were only four roads in and out of town; the one closest to the docks where the soldier's barracks were situated, the other leading straight towards the church, and two that wound around the church and encircled a small square where the tiny Library was located with Janicen's house built to the left side.

I had put on my freshly recharged homunculus, and my priest's garb before we had left the ship and Ursula wore her nun's habit until she could duck out of sight and put on something more appropriate for breaking into houses. There was a guard sitting at the end of the dock next to a guardpost building (It was more of a shack). I knew they would let us in without question because I was dressed as Faluel's priest and had appropriate documents, but I still felt a sliver of nervousness as I approached him.

He looked me over as if I'd just dropped from space before he gave an annoyed grunt and motioned to his shack, indicating that I should follow him inside along with Ursula. He unlocked the door and waved me into the dusty room as soon as it opened. "I'll need your documents, and please sign the register," He didn't sound happy to be welcoming visitors.

The guard was middle aged with black hair that was graying slightly above the collar of his uniform. He had gone soft in his middle, as many men of his age tend to do. I wondered if that was a reason it was called middle aged - because one's middle sagged.