Chapter VIII (8)

  The ship shook as something rammed into the hull. Mitsuko woke and swung herself out of her hammock in a matter of seconds and dashed above deck. When the second impact rocked the ship, she caught her balance on the wall, narrowly avoiding falling to her knees.

  “The paint! Look at the paint you dimwitted oaf of a crust!”

  The captain roared at someone above but when Mitsuko climbed out onto the deck, she found Captain Alina not facing her crew, but shouting out into the ocean at something below the waves. One hand on the gunwale, cutlass raised with the other. The rest of her crew dashed about, taking down sails and tying ropes. One woman collided with Mitsuko, planks of wood under her arm and a hammer in hand.

  After taking in the chaos for a few seconds, Mitsuko’s curiosity got the better of her and she moved to the boat’s edge to look down into the ocean.

  At first, there was nothing but still water. Then movement. The sea churned. A massive serpent with scales the color of the ocean itself coiled around The Terror. Its eyes locked on Captain Alina as she shouted.

  Mitsuko swore softly and flicked her wrist, a blade of ice forming in her hand. Everyone else was busy with damage control, they didn’t even glance in the captain’s direction.

  Mitsuko looked back over at the captain to shout and ask what needed to be done, but her question died in her throat as another figure loomed behind Captain Alina. A burly cook with only one arm.

  Sett raised his only arm and planted it between the captain’s shoulderblades, shoving the woman overboard. The serpent accepted the sacrificial offering. Before the captain even touched water, the creature’s head snapped forward and snatched her from the air, smothering her scream as it crushed her torso between its teeth with a sickening crunch of shattered bone. Captain Alina’s legs bent, kicking weakly into the air. For a moment, she struggled, clinging to life. Then the monster threw its head back and swallowed the woman whole.

  For a moment, everything was still. The sea serpent released the boat and the ship settled back into the water as it departed. Mitsuko dared to hope that maybe they’d all be fine. But then, as a parting gift, the monster swung its tail into the hull, obliterating the wood. Water rushed into the gaping hole, and the ship tilted precariously.

  As horrible as being on yet another shipwreck was, it wasn’t Mitsuko’s primary concern. After killing his captain, Sett had turned and met her gaze. His eyebrows lifted, clearly surprised to see her. Then he grinned. It wasn’t the same easygoing smile the cook had worn the past few days. This held a sinister edge to it. Threatening. Despite the warm sun overhead, she shivered under his scrutiny.

  The ship stabilized after a few more minutes. Several sailors were dead, but they’d managed to patch up the breach with spells and wood.

  Sett snatched up the fallen cutlass and turned it in his hand while examining it. Then he crossed the deck to face Mitsuko. He pointed the blade at her.

  “Say anything and I’ll turn them all on you,” Sett warned. “The captain sacrificed her life to save us. A noble death. Understand?”

  First she looked to the side. The crew was scrambling across the deck. The mages on board were strained to keep the seawater from filling the hull. No one seemed to even notice the sudden disappearance of the captain. Did none of them witness his betrayal? Was this a premeditated mutiny? An opportunist’s kill? Or a calculated assassination?

  She nodded slowly. She lacked knowledge about the situation at hand and, honestly, it didn’t matter. Captain Alina was dead. No bringing her back. It was in the past now, and Mitsuko had no intention of joining the woman as serpent feces at the bottom of the sea. Sett was right. Assuming none of the crew had seen him, they’d undoubtedly believe his words over hers. Even if they weren’t part of Sett’s mutiny, she doubted there was anything useful like truth potions or lie detecting artifacts on board. She held no authority here. For the moment, it was better to be silent. She wanted to ask ‘why?’ but in this case, it might be better for her health to remain ignorant.

  “Good. Been looking for an opportunity for ages. Wish we could change course for Verdant Island, but it looks like we’ll have to settle for Ashen to fix up the hull. Only another hour of sailing. Lucky for you.”

  He tapped the cutlass to his brow in a salute, then left to discuss the captain’s death with the other crew.

  “Only another hour,” Mitsuko muttered. She didn’t know exactly what was going on. Why sea monsters kept attacking boats, or what Sett had planned, but she’d be back on land soon enough.Once there, she could find another ship to take her back. Or, if she found nothing available, she had no doubt Wan would eventually find a way to get her back to him.

  She sighed and dropped her ice sword into the sea. She took a few moments to watch it dissolve. The Terror’s mages had the ship stabilized and afloat while the sailors made frantic repairs.

  Mitsuko deemed it safe enough to return to the closet-sized smuggling room she had been staying in. It took her less than a minute to scoop her things into her bag. Then, after a moment of hesitation, she grabbed one of the chunky healing potions and slipped it into her pack’s side pocket. The earlier impact had shattered several of the crate’s potions; one more missing among the broken glass wouldn’t be missed. Even if the quality looked abysmal, a weak and slow acting healing potion was always better than no healing potion.

  Ashen Island suited its name, just as Mauve Island had. The island on the horizon was a thousand shades of gray and nothing else. It looked as if everything on the island had burned down and left behind …well, ash.

  Normally, she suspected the ocean surrounding the island would be a foaming white from the craggy rocks that jutted up, but without the tide’s pull, the placid water was glassy and unclouded. Able to peer into the clear depths, Mitsuko understood why most ships avoided the island. The water was shallow, at times only a meter deep. But The Terror traced a narrow underwater canyon that bisected the treacherous bay. A canyon that might very well be invisible on a normal day. The captain had mentioned being a water elementalist. That was probably how they had normally traversed the shallows. Elementalists with strong affinities could often see through their element.

  The town they docked at blended into the gray background. As did the locals. They were humans, but their skin was gray from the island’s soot. They didn’t look entirely pleased to see them as the crew threw them ropes and were pulled into harbor.

  “I thought no ships were coming until the barrier dome goes away,” a dockworker said suspiciously as they disembarked.

  Sett stepped forward with an open arm and a charming smile. None of the other crew opposed him taking charge. The cook was well-liked and likely the most diplomatic and social of The Terror’s crew. It only seemed natural for him to take the lead here. It still made Mitsuko frown though.

  “Aye, but you see our ship? My friend, I’m afraid you have a serpent problem off your coast. We need to patch her up now. A few days' time and a bit of your famous timber for repairs and we’ll be right as rain and on our way out. Naturally, you’ll be compensated.”

  The dockworker frowned but nodded curtly, accepting the excuse.

  “While we’re here though,” Sett continued, “the guild mentioned a lifeboat might have drifted ashore nearby with some survivors of a wreck. Any news on that front?”

  “Hm. If they washed up here it would be a couple kilometers that way,” he jerked a thumb at the eastern coastline. “That’s where most of the currents go this time of year.”

  Mitsuko stared down the beach. Nothing but still water and gray sand until the bend of the coastline. She stepped up, deciding it was time to speak up.

  “My friend was on that boat. Are there any locals who could guide me?” Mitsuko asked.

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  The dockworker rubbed at his chin, smudging the soot under his frown as it deepened in thought.

  “Not all of us can just drop what we’re doing on a whim. But there is a kid, Theo, who goes down there to scavenge for anything washed up. His mother hasn’t let him out since the barrier though. They’ve been holed up in their home since it appeared. She’s thinking this is the end times, but if people’s lives are at stake, she might be willing to listen to reason and compromise. She’s eccentric and paranoid, but not without a heart. You’ll have to take it up with her.”

  After some quick directions, Mitsuko separated from the crew to track down the boy. On the edge of town, she found Theo’s small house. She knocked on the gray wooden door and waited. Then knocked again. And waited. And knocked again. The dockworker had been certain the boy and his mother were home, but the continued silence made her begin to doubt the man. Normally, even if someone was avoiding answering the door, they would still be making noise inside to scurry away or bar the entry or whisper commands to one another. Mitsuko heard nothing.

  Just when she stepped away to retreat, the door swung open a few centimeters, held back by a chain. A woman with scraggily hair peered out through the crack at Mitsuko.

  “What do you want?” she snarled. Her one visible eye darted about, examining her.

  “Does Theo live here?”

  That was not the correct question to ask. She knew it the moment the words came out. A smarter person might have led with, ‘hello, how are you today?’ or similar peasantry. Something to soften the conversation and put the other party at ease. Meanwhile Mitsuko’s immediate knee-jerk reaction was to be blunt and get to the point. And, to be fair, that sometimes worked on people. But definitely not on this woman. Her already suspicious attitude turned outright hostile.

  “No. Go away! And don’t go near my son!”

  “Wait!”

  The woman slammed the door, but Mitsuko was faster, creating a blade of ice between the door and the frame, blocking it from shutting.

  The weapon’s appearance didn’t alleviate the mother’s worries. She screamed. Thankfully no one rushed to help her.

  Mitsuko, now firmly regretting even attempting this conversation, abandoned her venture of finding a guide, leaving the home and headed to the coast. Who needed a guide anyway? All she had to do was follow the beach until she saw any wreckage washed up from their ship. She was sure she’d manage fine alone.

  But, as it turned out, she wasn’t alone.

  “No boy?” Sett asked. He sat on a rock that stuck up out of the gray sand beach, waiting for her. He had a pack slung over his good shoulder and the cutlass strapped to his belt.

  “His mother insisted that he stay home.”

  “Eh.” He performed a one-armed shrug. “We don’t need him.”

  “We?”

  “I’m not letting you run off on your own.” Sett graced her with a grin. A gold tooth glinted in his smile. “These islands are dangerous.”

  Mitsuko gave him a flat stare. She was confident she could kill anything he could. If anything, he’d be a weight around her neck.

  “Last I checked, you were dangerous. I don’t care for the idea of getting stabbed in the back.”

  “Me?” the cook asked innocently. After a pause, he barked a laugh then added, “And there’s a bounty on bringing those lost passengers back to Mauve safely.”

  “Your expedition is already getting compensated by Wan.”

  “Exactly!” Sett declared happily. “The hull’s going to take some time and money to patch up. A few more doubloons helps ease a transition as our new captain takes up his new mantle.”

  “Let me guess, you’re the new captain?”

  Sett bellowed a laugh. “Me? A one-armed cook become captain? Hardly. No, the first mate will take control. He’s an old friend of mine and I want to make sure he’s as successful as possible with his new endeavor. Anything to help a friend.”

  “How can I trust you?”

  “Sailor’s honor!” He slapped his chest with his hand. “Also, I need ya alive if I want those doubloons from your boss.”

  She decided if she later saw a means in which to slip away, she’d take it but for now, she reluctantly accepted his company.

  And, with that said, the two of them started down the beach. The sun, locked into place overhead, beat down on them. Mitsuko found herself eagerly seeking out every patch of shade offered by the large rocks and occasional gray palm tree. The beach wasn’t an endless bed of sand. Rocks and even cliffs cut off their path multiple times. While Mitsuko had no problem wading to the next stretch of beach or climbing over obstacles, she expected Sett to struggle. To the contrary, the one-armed cook had an even easier time of it than her. When a few dual-headed serpents bit at their legs while they walked through sea water, he severed their heads with only a few swift chops downwards with the metal cutlass.

  “You know how to use a sword?” Mitsuko asked after witnessing him dispatch them with ease. She hadn’t even needed to create a blade.

  “Eh. You pick some things up after a few fights. Not anything special. Just got to be fast, strong, and accurate.”

  That was an oversimplification. Mitsuko carefully examined how he held himself when wielding the blade. Sloppy posture. Unbalanced. Novice would be a generous term. But she made no further comment.

  It took several hours, but the ship’s wreckage was impossible to miss when it came into sight. Broken shards of wood, ripped cloth from the sail, even passenger belongings. It all lay scattered across the sand and floating in the placid water nearby. Mitsuko nudged a wooden trunk with her foot. Then, a few paces away she saw with amusement the crate that once held the navigation tools. Perhaps the boy she had rescued could have escaped by sitting inside it after all. Assuming he didn’t drown first. But his corpse probably would have washed up intact.

  “Looks bad,” Sett said, examining a chunk of the hull. “And you said everyone escaped?”

  “Not quite. One of the lifeboats was eaten by what looked to be a kraken.”

  “Interesting,” he said. Then he lowered his voice as he muttered to himself. “A kraken attack directly after the barrier dropped. And then that serpent earlier. Wonder what the crusts are up to.”

  “So you do think it was a kraken then? Don’t famous sea monster hunters live on this archipelago?”

  “Aye. They do. But it was probably still a kraken.” Sett didn’t elaborate the statement beyond that, despite her proding a bit more.

  It only took a minute of searching to locate Holly’s lifeboat. It wasn’t hard to spot. Without the tide, a trail in the sand remained despite it having been several days since the boat was dragged ashore. It had been flipped upside down and used as a shelter. Footprints were scattered all around and the blackened remains of a campfire next to the makeshift shelter hinted it had been used for a while. Nothing fresh though. Nobody had been there recently. Thankfully, Mitsuko grew up in the jungle. While she hadn’t been the most attentive when learning about survival as a child, the basics of tracking still stuck

  “They went into the forest,” she told Sett.

  “Idiots,” he scoffed. “They just needed to follow the coastline.”

  “Maybe. But it’s also possible they didn’t have a choice.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

  She hesitated trying to phrase it right. “Their footprints. The way the foliage was smashed down. It looks like they were running or, at the very least, in a hurry.”

  “Something chased them?”

  “Maybe. But I don’t see anything other than human footprints.”

  “A bird then? Perhaps a roc or griffin? They’re rare but not unheard of in the area.”

  “Possible. But I see no feathers.”

  He grunted and rested his cutlass on his shoulder. As they followed the trail, he wielded the weapon like a machete, cleaving through the bushes. Mitsuko made no comment. He was making an unmissable trail for them to follow back to the beach. It also meant that if something did chase the survivors, it would know someone new had passed through. She kept her eyes open and remained vigilant, searching for tufts of fur or scat. Anything to tell her what might have driven the survivors inland. But there was nothing except the signs of the normal humanoids she’d sailed with for weeks. Perhaps someone had turned on the others? But why? A dispute? Panicked desperation?

  The only comfort she took was in the small, clearly gnomish footprints in the sooty mud. She even found a stray purple hair. Holly had been here.

  Then they broke through the treeline and Mitsuko froze. They stood in a circular clearing, a break in the gray forest. And, in the center of that circle, was an ancient stone pyramid.

  “Part of the World Dungeon?” Sett asked, frowning.

  “No. I’ve delved into the World Dungeon,” Mitsuko said. “This is different architecture. This is a temple. They’re similar, but while the World Dungeon is endlessly sprawling with random stretches of danger and treasure, temples like these are man made creations. Usually to seal away treasures. They’re also known to be condensed death traps filled with monsters. Every step has potential for fatality.”

  Dozens of footprints led straight to the entrance.