Three bodies lay strewn about the deck, their skin weathered and wrinkled, the wind tugging at their hair and clothing, giving them the illusion of motion; dried blood surrounded them, black pools coating the planks. Vania shivered and looked away quickly from the eyeless sockets staring at her, the mouths of the corpses open in eternal silent screams.
"No noticeable wounds," Eddin murmured at her side. "Must've died from the sickness."
After a quick look at all three corpses, Bergin added, "Doesn't look like anyone has touched the bodies, aside from the sea birds and flies. Wonder if they were the last of the crew left?"
"So, the wizard must be down below," Derry surmised.
"Derryl, wait," A'lei'iana grabbed his shoulder before he could cross the deck to the hatch. She cocked her head to one side. "D'merdon. Do you hear that?"
Eddin froze, also tilting his head first one way and then another, ears swiveling slightly as he strained to hear. "No. What did you—" He turned quickly to the dinghy overturned on the deck, pushing Vania behind him. "Yes. What is up here with us?"
"Let's find out. Ducard." A'lei'iana gestured, crooning a strange language at the bear. It looked at her, grumbling lowly, then approached the small boat with a snarl.
A soft rustling sound came from under the boat. Ducard growled louder, the sound drawing the griffin to stand beside the bear, snapping its beak and hissing.
From below the hatch, the thudding of feet on wooden planks echoed up, the slow steps of someone laboring up the stairs.
Bergin drew his knife, eyes darting from the hatch to the dinghy, and back. "Does anyone else sense that?"
"Yes," A'lei'iana replied, also drawing her blade.
One of the corpses stretched out an arm, fingers gripping the deck, and pulled itself closer to the group by the ramp.
"Is this wizard of yours also a practitioner of necromancy?" A'lei'iana asked, brown and gold eyes watching the three corpses all crawling toward them.
With a loud snarl, Ducard swiped one large silver paw under the dinghy, a strange groaning growl coming from the animated corpse the bear drew from under the boat. Bear and griffin tore into the dead sailor until it was a mangled pile of parts, no longer moving.
"It would appear so," Eddin replied grimly. At the snap of his fingers, the lizard-like Eluri jumped from his shoulder and landed on the deck, growing to the size of a large dog. "Bergin, did the harbormaster mention how large the crew was of the Swift Crests?" Another sailor, clearly dead, crawled up out of the hatch and slowly raised itself to standing, then ambled across the deck toward them.
Vania stared at the animal Eddin had brought; it appeared to be a strange mixture of feline and lizard, with pointy grey ears, tassles standing up in tufts from the ears, and golden talons. The creature flapped its black bat-like wings and twitched its spiked tail as it snapped and clawed at the approaching trio of crawling corpses.
"Umm," Bergin replied, taking his eyes off the twice-dead corpse by the dinghy, "Harbormaster said the captain initially reported five sailors ill... She didn't give a total number of crew, but the captain reported deaths and illnesses regularly..." He went silent a moment, eyes scanning the deck for other lurking threats while he mentally tallied the numbers. "Twenty-one."
"That leaves sixteen potentially down below with the wizard," Eddin replied.
"Then we have our work cut out for us," A'lei'iana replied.
"A'lei'iana, you should stay up here with your bear and griffin," Derry said quietly. "Eddin or Bergin can stay with you. Vania and I will go below. He knows we're here, or he wouldn't be sending his puppets. I need to get to him before he kills Cianna."
"We will all go together, Derryl."
"No. Your bear won't fit through the hatch, and I doubt it wise to leave it unattended on deck if you go below. Besides, there's more of them coming now. You'll have your hands full, and we'll sneak behind and go down. There's no time to waste."
"Derry's right," Eddin said. "There's no time. That bastard was about to kill Laria when we stopped him—someone needs to get down below quickly before he can hurt Cianna." He raised a hand. "Penttik." A sleek salamander appeared, clinging to Eddin's back, its head resting on his shoulder. "Go below. Do not engage with the dead—find the living wizard and the girl. Protect her."
The salamander slithered down from Eddin's back and slunk along the deck, body easily twisting and dodging the shambling feet of the crew of corpses. Its skin turned brown, then began to look grainy, matching the wood of the deck, as it neared the stairs. As it slithered below, it completely disappeared.
"Bergin, you should lead going down below," Eddin said as he drew his own weapon. "You can help clear the way for Derry and Vania to get to the wizard. Mother and I will stay up here with our companions and put the crew to rest. Has sis taught you any cloaking spells yet?"
"A couple," Bergin replied grimly, eyeing the growing horde of sailors, held at bay by the animal trio.
Sarin, Ducard, and Eluri snapped and swiped at the shambling corpses, careful not to delve too far into the horde, but worked to draw the sailors out from the group one at a time. Another dead sailor fell to stillness under Sarin's talons as the space around the group shrank with the enclosing animated dead.
"Good. Use them. Trust your instincts. The more these corpses don't notice you, the better chance you'll have of getting to the wizard quickly." He grabbed the ferret from his shoulder and dropped it onto Vania's. "Prant. I'm trusting you to protect Vania, Derry, and Bergin."
A'lei'iana pursed her lips, fingers tightening on the hilt of her blade. "Be ready when we make an opening for you. I will also use my powers to try to lure them to come after us, but you'll want to move quickly. We don't know what else is hiding down below."
"How many are up here now?" Bergin moved sideways, standing beside Eddin, Vania and Derry behind.
"Counting the four dispatched already?" Eddin whistled and Taric took off, flying in circles over the deck. "Looks like...thirteen, and another one just coming up the stairs."
"So...seven below yet." Bergin took a deep breath and looked over at Derry and Vania. "Ready?" After they nodded, he looked to the two a'marlon animal wranglers. "At your signal."
A'lei'iana nodded curtly. "Keep yourselves and each other alive, rescue the girl, and capture the wizard." She looked out to the battling animals as she added, "And cover your ears."
The others barely had time to raise their hands to their heads, clamping tightly over their ears, before A'lei'iana released a loud, ululating shriek. The animals froze in their tracks and turned to look at the grand master; the dead crew, too, froze and fixed their eyes on her.
"Go. Now," Eddin hissed, pushing Bergin forward. "Hurry."
Bergin stumbled slightly from the prodding, then found his feet and raced across the deck, dodging around the still forms. Vania and Derry followed quickly behind. As the three disappeared down the hatch, the animals seemed to come out of their daze, shaking their heads slightly and grumbling, growling, and hissing as the crew of dead sailors also began to walk.
Eddin and A'lei'iana readied their weapons and joined in the fray, fighting alongside their animal companions.
Below deck, Bergin mentally cursed in the darkness, hands groping along the wall until his fingers found a lantern. He grabbed it from its hook and fumbled with the switch, hoping there was enough oil and spark left. It flickered to life as another lantern lit brightly behind him. He turned and saw Derry holding aloft a bright, blazing lantern full of red and white light.
The plain wooden walls of the corridor stretched beyond the light of the lantern, doors opening on both sides. Another set of stairs descended farther below. The thudding footsteps above them reminded them of the fight their companions faced.
"Crew quarters and common areas here, probably," Bergin whispered, indicating the doors. He swung his lantern at the stairs. "Cargo holds down below."
"Too bad we can't ask that weird lizard-thing Eddin sent ahead," Vania whispered. "No point in searching areas he's already searched..."On her shoulder, Prant chittered and stomped his hind feet. "Oh. Can you talk to him? But none of us can understand you."
"This bastard seems to like dark, dank hiding holes," Bergin noted. "Wouldn't be surprised if we found him in the bilge."
"Can't risk missing him," Derry replied. "We'll just have to start looking."
"Remember," Vania added, "we're looking for Cianna, the wizard, and the albino infant Laria saw when she was captive."
They slowly made their way down the corridor, opening doors and peering into rooms, checking chests and closets, and anything big enough to hold a child. The steady knocking of the waves against the hull gave their steps a hollow cadence as they traversed the silent corridor.
"Captain's quarters are empty, but it looks recently used," Bergin whispered. "Bed's messy, chair by the desk is overturned, wax of the candle is still warm... Bet he was staying here."
"Any sign of—"
"No," Bergin quickly cut off Derry. "No sign of Cianna. Let's keep going." He firmly shut the door to the captain's quarters, shutting in the mutilated and butchered corpse of the captain. He opened another door and walked in, looking around. "This must be the common area." He walked around some tables, swinging his lantern into corners to check for hiding places.
"Bergin, look out!" Vania grabbed Bergin's shoulders and hauled him back as a knife pierced the air where his head had been. A dead sailor stumbled out from the shadows, raising its knife once more.
Before the sailor could swing its knife again, Bergin grabbed its arm and pulled, quickly moving to the side, sending the corpse sprawling.
"Target the head!" Derry said as Bergin and Vania both began hacking at the sailor's flailing limbs. "Unless the wizard put an unusual amount of power into the corpse, destroying or removing the head is usually enough to stop it."
"And if removing the head doesn't stop it?" Bergin asked as he tossed the head away and wiped the ichor from his knife, frowning in disgust. He stared hard at the headless corpse; it didn't move.
"Then you need to keep removing parts until all the pieces stop moving," Derry replied, also looking at the decapitated sailor. "But that seems to have worked. Hopefully, that means this wizard is using up his powers..."
As Vania helped Bergin back to his feet, Prant jumped from her shoulders and bounded into the hallway, chittering. Derry, Bergin, and Vania stood, peering into the darkness and listening to the hollow thumping of waves against the hull. The ferret reappeared in the doorway, chittering and stomping its feet, then dashed away, only to repeat the performance when they didn't move.
"I'm no animal wrangler," Bergin said, "but I think Eddin's friend wants to lead us somewhere."
Vania nodded in agreement as they headed toward the door, Derry hurrying ahead of them.
They followed the ferret back down the corridor to the stairs leading to the cargo hold.
"The lizard-thing is down there with Cianna and the wizard?" Vania asked. The ferret squeaked once and ran down the stairs. Vania looked at the others; "I think that means yes."
Derry hurried past and began down the stairs.
"Derry, wait," Vania said, reaching for his cloak, but finding only empty air. She sighed and looked at Bergin. "We'd better hurry."
Down below, Derry shouted, followed by a thudding sound, and then there was silence.
Vania gasped and ran down the stairs, Bergin following a half second after.
"Derry!" Vania called. She spotted the older tydring at the foot of the stairs, illuminated by the bright white and red light of his lantern. "Are you all right?"
Derry looked up at her, hands on his ankle; "I tripped. Pretty sure it's broken." As Vania and Bergin came down from the last few steps and stood over him, he added, holding up his hands to them, "Help me up; I need to find Cianna."
Bergin and Vania each grabbed one of Derry's hands and pulled him to his feet. He grimaced and shifted his weight to one foot.
"We should get you back up and onto the other ship," Bergin said.
"No time," Derry replied curtly. "Cianna!"
"D-daddy?" a whimpering voice asked.
"Cianna!" Derry hobbled forward, swinging his lantern wildly, seeking the voice in the darkness.
"Daddy!"
Cianna practically glowed in the bright light of her father's lantern. She looked up with watery eyes from where she sat, bound hand and foot, on the floor of the ship, arcane symbols inscribed in black charcoal on the floor around her and a lone candle with a strange blue flame sitting just outside the symbols. A few drops of what appeared to be blood were scattered outside the circle, disappearing into the darkness deeper in the hold.
"Daddy," Cianna whimpered. "I'm s-so sorry, D-daddy. You t-told me—"
"Don't worry about that, Cianna," Derry cut her off. "I'm here now, and we're getting you out of here."
"Where's the wizard?" Bergin whispered as Vania helped Derry cut the ropes around Cianna.
Prant, once more perched on Vania's shoulders, chittered.
Uneven footsteps sounded in the dark, and the sound of crates falling broke the silence. A hoarse voice cursed as an animal hissed.
"Fighting that... lizard-thing. I think," Vania said quietly, staring in the direction of the noise. "Eddin told it to protect Cianna..."
Prant chittered again.
"Daddy? Can we go home now?" Cianna asked as her father clutched her tightly.
"Yes," Derry replied.
"Bergin. Help Derry get Cianna out of here and safely on our ship," Vania said quietly, still staring off into the darkness, where the sounds of the wizard emanated.
"And you'll what? Fight the wizard by yourself?" Bergin demanded. "None of us would ever agree to that." He crossed his arms, glancing down at the silent Derry.
"I'm not by myself," Vania said. "I have Prant. And that lizard-thing." She turned and looked at Bergin. "Derry can't walk out of here without help. And Cianna needs to get away from here as soon as possible. Plus, there may still be some walking corpses around; Cianna can't fight one of those, and neither can Derry with a broken ankle."
In the darkness, the wizard shouted something and the hold was briefly illuminated by a bright flash of orange light. In the following darkness, Eddin's salamander hissed.
"Go!" Vania pushed him. "I'm trusting you to get my family out of here safely, Bergin."
Derry stood, wincing, one hand on Cianna's shoulder, and held out his lantern. "Take this. You'll need it to see."
"What?" Bergin sputtered as Vania took the lantern silently. "You're not going to argue with her?"
"No," Derry replied simply. "Are you going to help me get my daughter out of here or not?"
Bergin looked at Derry, standing almost entirely on one foot, and Cianna, dirty, bloody, and terrified, standing beside her father. He turned to Vania. "All right. But, please tell me you at least—"
"Yes, I'm wearing my armbands; yes, I'm sure about my decision." She drew her knife with her free hand. "This killed one wizard already, even if he was a poor excuse for one; I'm sure it'll serve for this fight, as well." She nodded her head toward the stairs as the wizard cursed against the hissing animal again. "Hurry, before he decides to come after us instead."
Bergin sighed and held his lantern out to Cianna; "Think you can carry this for me, kiddo, so I can help your dad?"
Cianna nodded, one hand still clutching her father's as she reached out and grasped the lantern handle.
Derry nodded as Bergin positioned his shoulder under Derry's arm. "You take care of yourself, now. I expect to see you up on that ship with us when this is over."
"You will, Derry," Vania promised.
"Good. What would I tell Licia if you go and get yourself killed?"
Vania smiled and gave them a little shove in the shoulders. "Go. Hurry. Get out of here."
Aloud hiss was punctuated by the wizard's exultant, "Ah HA!"
"Go." Vania watched as Bergin, Derry, and Cianna slowly made their way to the stairs and began their ascent. She turned back to the dark end of the hold, where the wizard battled on, muttering to the ferret on her shoulder, "Just you and me now, Prant. Let's put this wizard away."
The ferret leapt from her shoulder to one of the many barrels, then ran toward the noise, scurrying along the tops of the piled chests and crates. Vania raised Derry's lantern and hurried after.
The white and red light stretched out into the hold and fell upon the wizard's back. He stood still, slightly hunched with his head bowed low. His drab wizard robe was torn in places, dirty and bloody along the hems. A few patches of pasty skin showed through in areas where the material seemed to have disintegrated. As the light struck him, he turned and fixed Vania with a vicious grin, face blotchy and splattered with red.
Throwing his bloody hands wide, he exclaimed, "So, we meet again! So nice of you to drop by and visit me for once, instead of me always seeking you out."
Vania stopped in her tracks and eyed the wizard, then her gaze dropped to the bloody mass on the floor behind the wizard. I'm sorry, Eddin. Looks like he killed your lizard.
The wizard caught her gaze and smirked; "Yes, I had to be rid of your poison salamander. It insisted on getting in my way." His smirk grew. "Of course, it wasn't really your salamander, was it? It was sent by your friend, the half-breed Marked tydring-a'marlon animal wrangler. He would be a fun quarry to hunt...though, wearing his face was also quite amusing."
"You're done hunting," Vania spat out. She took a step closer to the wizard. "You're done murdering and kidnapping. You're done torturing. You're done destroying lives." She stepped closer again, adding through clenched teeth, "You. Are. Done."
He threw back his head and laughed.
She glared at him and tightened the grip on her knife.
"I knew you'd be amusing!" He grinned, holding out his bloody hands. "But, you're wrong. I'm not nearly finished yet—I've only just begun! My research is beginning to yield some very interesting things. My proef has much for me to discover and learn. I'm going to learn the secrets of the gods... And then I will join their ranks as a god myself!" He laughed again.
Vania snarled wordlessly, dropping the lantern to the floor as she launched herself at him.
He chuckled as he sidestepped away from her, gesturing with his hands. A shining, brilliant orange blade appeared in the air before him. He grasped it, hand seeming to meld with the hilt.
"You're a woman of action. I can appreciate that. So, out of respect, I will kill you with a blade instead of my magic, which would be far too easy." He swung the blade at her neck.
She ducked and swept her leg at his knees. He grimaced as his legs crumpled from the impact. She dropped to one knee and stabbed at his chest. He parried her knife with his sword, then grabbed her with his free hand.
She growled and sliced his hand, causing him to release her with a curse. He slashed at her with a broad, swinging stroke, which she could only partly dodge. She cried out as the orange blade bit into her shoulder, then quickly tumbled backward as he swung again.
She stood slowly, eyeing the wizard as he also rose to his feet. She held her knife loosely in her hand, her other hand she curled into a fist.
He hefted his orange blade, grinning at her with all his teeth. "You want to kill me, don't you? You'll have to do better than that!"
"So will you," she replied, settling back into a defensive stance.
His grin broadened. "Very well." He clenched his free hand into a fist, then relaxed his fingers slowly, palm opening to reveal a bright silver eight-pointed star. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the silver star flying at her.
She instinctively moved her knife to block the projectile. Sparks flew as the two weapons met with a low, thrumming clang. The star rolled on its points along the blade of the knife and burrowed itself into her hand.
With a cry, her hand dropped the knife. She held her injured hand close to her chest and glared at the wizard as he approached her, sword resting on one shoulder. He once more swung his sword for her neck.
She grabbed his wrist with her good hand, snarling as she pushed back, stopping the blade in its arc. Her injured hand grabbed his free hand as he raised it to punch her. They grappled, struggling, until she began gaining ground, his arms slowly forced backward.
She twisted hard on his wrist; the orange blade fell with a resounding clang. He glared at her, then twisted his fist and curled his fingers into claws, jabbing his fingernails hard into the widening wound around the silver star.
At her cry of pain, her fingers loosened and he smiled, freeing his hands from hers and placing them around her neck.
"Bergin!" Eddin raced across the deck as Bergin, Derry, and Cianna emerged from the stairway. Cianna saw him, eyes widening as she gasped and tried to hide behind her father. "Derry! What happened? You're injured? I see you found Cianna. Is she okay?"
"Fell down the stairs. Broke my ankle," Derry replied simply. "And yes, thanks to your animal friend, we found Cianna alive and were able to rescue her behind the wizard's back."
Bergin looked around the deck, awash with mutilated sailors, as he helped Derry head toward the ramp. The griffin and bear stood on either side of the ramp down to the other ship. The Grand Master of the military stood at the helm above them, Eddin's hawk on her shoulder, sword unsheathed in her hands. "Are you and A'lei'iana well?"
"Yes," Eddin replied quickly, eyes searching the stairs. "Where's Vania?"
Derry sighed.
Bergin admitted quietly, not meeting the a'marlon's face. "She stayed below to confront the wizard."
"What? You left her alone to fight a wizard that's already tried to kill her twice?!"
"Didn't want to," Bergin muttered.
"Didn't have a choice," Derry replied. "We had to get Cianna away, and I couldn't walk without help."
Eddin studied them both, then nodded. "Bergin, get Derry and Cianna onto our ship. I'm sure the crew has medical supplies and can see to any wounds. Mother will continue to keep watch up here in case there are any more enchanted corpses. I'm going down below." He held up his arm, the hawk landing on it in a rustling of feathers. He ran down the stairs before Bergin could reply, long legs taking the steps three at a time.
Vania clawed at the wizard's arms as he continued to squeeze her throat. His face was up near hers as he leered at her.
Chittering warned Vania seconds before the ferret was atop the wizard's head, clawing and biting at his scalp, reaching his paws lower to try to claw the wizard's eyes.
The wizard released Vania as he shouted, grasping at the ferret as Prant quickly dove from the wizard's head back to the safety of the stacked crates.
Still gasping, Vania grabbed the wizard's shoulder with her injured hand, then swung her fist into his face. He grasped her shoulders as he fell, hauling her down with him.
Grappling together, he tried to once more get a stranglehold on her as she tried to pin him to the floor. They rolled and writhed across the wooden floor, Prant watching from above, chittering and stomping his feet in agitation.
Their wrestling brought them near the wizard's orange blade and he chuckled as he grabbed it, slapping the side of her head hard with the flat of the blade. She blinked, still woozy from the strangulation, temporarily stunned from the blow.
Grinning evilly, he rose onto his knees and pushed her hard into the floorboards, free hand pressing hard on her back. Raising the orange blade in triumph, he gloated, "Now, we shall see what happens when someone like you dies."
Prant leapt once more onto the wizard, biting deep into the fleshy area between the wizard's thumb and finger. He shrieked, fingers tightening around the blade, as he swung his hand hard against a nearby barrel to dislodge the ferret.
Vania rolled away from the wizard, pushing herself up onto her knees and frantically scanning the floor for her weapon. Her knife lay behind the wizard, well out of reach. She began grasping for anything she could use in the fight.
As the wizard finally succeeded in sending Prant flying from his hand, he hefted the sword and looked at her, still grinning maniacally. He walked toward her, steps steady and sure, and as he drew near to where she knelt, he raised his blade once more, the bright orange metal flashing.
Her fingers found the thin handle of Derry's lantern and she grasped it, swinging it with all her might into the wizard's side.
The bright orb shattered with a loud crash, the shards melting as the white and red flames leapt from the lantern onto the wizard.
The wizard's leer turned to horrified disbelief as he shrieked, frantically waving his arms and brushing at his clothes as the flames grew.
"Vania!" Eddin shouted as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
She stared at him, illuminated in the white and red flames, as he approached her. "Eddin."
He held out his gloved hands. "Come on. We need to get out of here."
As he pulled her to her feet, they both looked to the wizard, staring as the flames continued to spread. White and red flames were now eating their way across the cargo, ropes snapping as they burned and crates toppling. The wizard, engulfed in the white and red flames, seemed to also be limned in blue flame as he writhed, screaming, limbs flailing. As the flames continued to spread, another pile of crates toppled, hiding the wizard from view.
"Come on," Eddin repeated. "Can you walk?"
She nodded vaguely, still staring where the wizard had disappeared in flames.
"The whole ship's going to burn until it sinks. We need to go." He pulled on her arms, finally drawing her away from the scene of the fight and to the stairs. He pushed her ahead of him, keeping his hands firmly on her shoulders as they began climbing the steps, flames crackling behind them.
The hawk on Eddin's shoulder shrieked. Prant came running up the stairs, chittering frantically. The ferret leapt onto Eddin's leg, then climbed quickly to the relative safety of his shoulder.
The heat of the flames chased them all the way to the deck.
"Abandon ship!" Eddin called. "Debark the Swift Crests! She's going down!"
A'lei'iana came down from the helm and walked with them to the ramp. After Eddin and Vania had safely traversed down to the waiting ship, she whistled and gestured, the griffin and bear following her down the ramp.
Talya and her crew swiftly dismantled the ramp and cut the ropes, the ship pulling away from the burning galley just as the flames burst through the deck and began climbing the masts.
Everyone on the ship watched as the Swift Crests blazed brightly white, some tongues of red intermingled, the magical flames oddly smokeless as the wood burned. The ship slowly tilted, then sunk below the waters, taking its dead crew to their watery graves.
Vania continued to stare at where the ship had been as they made their way back to the pier. Deep below the surface of the water, a brilliant white light could still be seen.