Trade Winds
Chapter Eight
I fixed my gaze on the light, heedless of the discomfort the brilliance caused me. My eyes were beginning to tear, but I barely noticed.
There was a girl in the ice.
"What is this?" I gasped, completely astonished. The girl hung suspended in the middle of the massive crystalline form, the light emanating from all around her and illuminating the long tumble of purple hair that fell freely about her slender body. She was covered only by a length of white cloth wrapped bandage-like around her. The cloth was frayed with age and had begun to unwind from her, the ends floating motionless in the ice.
"Galen, Wanthope, please go back to the pedestal room and guard the entrance there. I'm sure the Glacian people did not stop at trap doors and caged monsters, and I don't want anything sneaking up on us," Twyblade said. He and Meshin didn't seem surprised. But then… maybe they had known what we would find.
He stepped up beside me, looking up at the girl as the others left quietly. Meshin hovered in my peripheral vision, watching, hand resting on his pistol. My mind couldn't seem to function properly and I just stood there mutely, unable to tear my eyes from the strange sight of the frozen girl.
"This is…" Twyblade breathed almost reverently, "the treasure that can save us all. This is the Purple Civilization's ultimate secret: their second Gigas."
"Second Gigas?" I repeated, looking sharply at Twyblade. He stared up at the girl, his expression drawing near to an adoration that was offset by the fierce gleam in his eyes. The look was oddly familiar, and I felt a pang of unease as I tried fruitlessly to remember where I'd seen it before.
"Yes… As you know, the giant Arcwhale that was the Gigas Plergoth had once been a living creature, a real Arcwhale…"
"You can't mean—!" I burst out, before swallowing the rest of my protest. 'No… no, I've seen what the ancients were capable of, what atrocities they had committed. It would be possible. I would not put it past them.'
Twyblade gave me a wry glance.
"No, it's true. The Glacians tried to make another Gigas in the same way they created the first. You see, they didn't trust the other Civilizations and wanted a little 'extra insurance,' so to speak. Having two Gigas while the others each had only one would have made the Purple Civilization very powerful. Also, the sheer size of the first Gigas was a limiting factor; there was no missing its approach.
"The Glacians tried something new with their second attempt, using a human girl as the slate for their designs. They wanted a powerful weapon, but a weapon that could be hidden easily. She is…" Twyblade stepped forward and reached out to touch the ice crystal "…the product of their ambitions."
"But why is she sealed away like this?" I asked. The captain was silent a moment.
"Their conditioning and alterations did not take as well as they had hoped, and the state of the Gigas was slightly unstable. The documents I have managed to recover, the few that even mention the second Gigas, all list the experiment as failed. They sealed her away because she did not meet their expectations."
Having turned to watch Twyblade as he spoke, I looked back to the girl—the Gigas. I noted the expression on her face—her youthful face, as if those many years that had passed between then and now had never existed—and felt my brow furrow.
She did not look, as one might have expected, as if she were merely sleeping. She did not look peaceful. No; instead, her eyes were open wide, as if in surprise or fear. There was absolutely no color to her eyes, the pupil having expanded so far as to completely eclipse the iris—likely a result of her state. I blinked up at her. She looked like somebody betrayed, with that pitiable expression.
'So then… why is he so interested in her? I mean, if she's as he says; a defective experiment…' The thought did not sit well with me. I could not comprehend what sort of person it took to use a fellow human in such a way.
"Lawrence, come, let's decipher these instruments." Twyblade stood before one of the banks of controls, one of the ones that looked like it had come off the bridge of a ship, beckoning me with a hand.
"I probably won't be much of a help, sir. I'm completely unfamiliar with Glacian technology, or writing," I said. Nevertheless, I went to stand beside the captain, looking uncomprehendingly down at the array of levers, buttons, and dials.
"Hmmmm," was all the answer he gave. He moved over to another of the tables, searching intently for… something.
'Maybe if I just start pressing buttons something will happen,' I joked with myself. I reached out a hand and brushed my fingers over the Glacian symbols on the controls. I snuck another glance up at the girl. 'She was… an experiment. Is she a girl, or a weapon? I wonder exactly what they did to her…'
"Aha! I think I've found something," Twyblade exclaimed suddenly, wrenching me from my thoughts. He mumbled to himself a moment, bent over the controls before him so that his nose hovered scant inches from the surface of the table. Then he straightened, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well. Lawrence, I'll need your help with this."
"What is it?" I asked, going over to him. The most prominent object on that bank of controls was a half-sphere made out of that nameless ice/rock material. There were deep channels carved into it, leading to a trough that ran the circumference where the hemisphere met the control panel.
"I think this is the keyhole," Twyblade answered. I eyed the half-sphere and its carved channels, beginning to feel a touch of suspicion.
"What's the key?" I thought I had a pretty good idea, but I asked anyway. Twyblade looked up at me with an apologetic expression.
"Give me your hand," he said. I hesitated, aware of Meshin drifting close behind me, but held out my left hand, palm up. Twyblade took it, and with a quick motion, sliced my flesh open with the dagger he was suddenly holding in one hand. Bright blood welled up instantly, but I only caught a glimpse of it as Twyblade slapped my bleeding palm down on the hemisphere. It had all happened so quickly, I didn't begin to feel the pain until then. It stung as if my hand were on fire, and I bit back the curse I wanted to spit at Twyblade
Watching my blood fill the channels and flow down to the trough, I worried a little about just how much he had cut me. I hoped that I would still have the use of the hand, that Twyblade hadn't severed the tendons.
A cracking, crunching sound reached me, and my head jerked up. There was a sizeable crack in the ice crystal, and, strangely, the light shone from it with blinding intensity. With a splintering CRRCCKK the line spidered across the ice's surface, and the crystal shifted, leaning drunkenly to the side. More light spilled from the fracture, and I squinted until my eyes were nearly closed. There was a low groan from the crystal.
As a child, I had grown up on an island close enough to the Purple Moon that the lake near the outskirts of my hometown froze over in winter. We used to ice-skate on it when the ice was thick enough. In the interest of safety, every child in the town was taught the vital danger signs of weak ice. That groaning was not a good sound.
There was a jagged patch of ice still clinging to the ceiling where the crystal had been attached. A chunk of it separated, falling and shattering against the main body of the crystal. As if that impact had set off a chain reaction, the whole thing began to splinter, slabs and lumps of ice falling in an avalanche to the floor. The light became unbearable, and I took my hand from the hemisphere to throw both arms up in front of my face.
After a moment, the crunch and boom of falling ice ceased, and I hesitantly lowered my arms. I was literally breathless with surprise at the sight that greeted me. The girl lay on the floor, free of any hindrance. She stirred slightly, pushing herself up on her elbows, then drawing her legs up under her to a kneeling position. Her hair fell around her, obscuring her face.
"G'varren schlossiv…" her whimper floated weakly to my ears. Slowly, she lifted her head, her gaze falling first on Twyblade.
I could see her perfectly from my angle. Her eyes, the pupils having returned to normal, were a peculiar silver color. Upon seeing Meshin, she adopted a confused expression, as if she couldn't remember him, yet thought maybe that she should. She rose unsteadily to her feet and took a couple steps toward him.
I shifted slightly so I could see the captain a little better, rather than trying to watch him out of the corner of my eye. My tiny movement, however, caught the girl's attention. Her head snapped around to face me, those silver eyes lancing through me.
There was a split second in which all three of us froze, then the girl's eyes widened and recognition blossomed in her expression. Before I could even blink, she threw herself at me.
"Evarisch!" she cried. I just managed to catch her with one hand as she ran into me with her arms outstretched.
"What in the—?" I said, staring down at her. She turned her face up to mine and beamed at me, spouting something in that strange language of hers. Her arms hugged me around my middle. "Uh… Captain?"
The girl suddenly released me, before Twyblade responded to my plea. But she reached up to cup my face in both of her long, thin hands. Gently, she drew my head down. Bemused and uncomprehending, I let her touch my forehead to hers.
The next thing I was aware of was blinding pain, like somebody was driving a red-hot poker through my skull. The room with Twyblade and Meshin and the girl disappeared, replaced with flashed of my memories, my thoughts, and other images and ideas, which I did not recognize as my own.
'It hurts! Make it stop! Please, please, MAKE IT STOP!'
When I became aware of my surrounding again, I was on my hands and knees, and the girl was kneeling beside me with her arms wrapped around my shoulders. I was shaking, my limbs trembling with the reaction to that intense pain, and I was panting as if I had been screaming.
"Please stop screaming, Master Lawrence," said the girl in her soft voice.
"I'm not screaming," I protested between deep breaths, before realizing that she had spoken in the common tongue. I looked at her with wide eyes.
"No, stop in here," she said, tapping a finger to her temple.
"Y-you…" I started. A sudden smile broke across her face.
"Syf remembers teachings, and connected with the master," she said proudly.
"You… connected with me? What does that mean?" I whispered. My mind was reeling. My mind… Touching her forehead to mine! The memories that were not mine, yet were in my head! "You connected your mind to MINE?"
Chapter Nine
I sat back on my heels, dizzied. My head was pounding, but I didn't pay much attention to the pain; I was too busy staring down at the girl. She had shifted with me, and was hugging my arm to her, head resting just below my shoulder.
What did she say? She'd done what to me? I tried to make sense of it, but didn't get too far in comprehending anything, as I quickly realized that, perhaps, the pain was affecting me more than I had originally thought. I put one hand- the one the girl wasn't clinging to- to my head, grimacing.
"Captain!" The shout echoed in the chamber, sounding rather unnerved. I looked quickly to the door, where Galen stood. He seemed completely unaware of the girl hanging on me, and focused only on Twyblade with wide eyes. "Sir! Wanthope says that we should hurry! There is something coming!"
That statement cut through the muzziness of my mind more surely than anything else, and I looked sharply to Twyblade.
"What comes?" he demanded, taking a few steps forward. I blinked as I felt a tremor pass through me.
'Am I… shaking?' I thought, with a rush of horrified disgust at the idea. Then I realized- 'No… no, it's the girl. She's shivering…'
I stood, pulling her upright with me. I shucked my thick overcoat and wrapped it around her thin shoulders awkwardly. As I did so, I caught sight of Meshin, watching me with hate and jealousy burning in his yellow eyes. I met his glare with one of mine before tuning back into the conversation Galen was having with Twyblade.
"We don't know, but the whole antechamber is shaking with its approach," the twin said.
"Damn it!" Twyblade cursed lowly, his face twisted. He looked at me and barked, "Lawrence! Collect the Gigas and let's get out of here!"
I gave a curt nod before turning my face down to the girl at my side. She still clung to my arm, her face pressed into my sleeve. One of her hands had unwound from its death grip on my bicep and was clutching the collar of my greatcoat closed at her throat.
"Can you run?" I asked tersely, and at a barely perceptible nod, started forward. When she followed, I picked up my pace, and soon was running at a decent speed into the antechamber with the pedestals. Twyblade, Meshin, and Galen followed closely.
"Captain! Perhaps it would be wise to leave now!" shouted Wanthope. He stood at the entry of the antechamber, weapon drawn, looking with uncertainty at the shaking walls. The rhythmic thump-thud of the tremors was indeed very like the footsteps of something large… and undoubtedly malevolent.
"Go, go! Back to the ship!" roared Twyblade. "I don't think we'll want to face this!"
"So do you know what it is?" I asked as I ran with the girl. She'd released my arm, but I kept a grip on her wrist with one hand while urging her along with an arm behind her back. She didn't speak at all, and didn't even so much as glance at the others. She kept her eyes downcast, and I wondered if she was even entirely cognizant.
The crystal lights in the walls of the long corridor flashed as we rushed by them, running full tilt. Yet, despite our speed, the footsteps seemed to be growing louder.
'It must be coming up one of the branching paths,' I thought, glancing down one as we passed. 'But none of them seemed particularly large… at least, not large enough to accommodate something that's as large-sounding as what's coming…'
Almost on cue, the path before me opened up suddenly, and I skidded to a halt, breathing a little harder from my exertions. The others stopped behind me as well.
"What's wrong?" demanded Wanthope. "Why have we stopped?"
"There is a… widening of the corridor ahead that I don't recall from before," I replied. My eyes swept the area. "It looks like the walls retracted on some sort of rollers, probably triggered by our actions in the other chambers."
"Damn it, you're probably right," Twyblade grated as he shouldered his way to the front of the group. Quite abruptly, and rather belatedly, I realized something.
"The footsteps have stopped!" I said, my voice louder and sharper as I felt a shot of adrenaline bolt though my body.
"Look!" exclaimed Galen, his arm jerking out to point across the newly formed wide area. All of our heads—save the girl's, who still stared down—swiveled to look.
What met our gaze was something none of us wanted to see. There was a half-second of silence. Then Twyblade said in a preternaturally calm voice, like somebody who had just glimpsed his own death and was accepting it, "An Eliminator."
"What?" I said sharply. "Those are Silver creations! What would one be doing in Glacia?"
"The Glacians stole the idea from the Silvites." Wanthope replied flatly; he drew his pistols from their holsters and the rest of the group followed en suite, drawing their weapons in a ripple of glinting light. I brushed the girl behind me with a curt movement, drawing my cutlass one-handed.
The colossal magic-and-metal Eliminator took one ground-shaking step forward, a faint glow emanating from the rounded knobs that seemed to serve it for sensors. It was great, hulking brute of a thing, and I sifted through my memories for any hints or strategies Vyse might have divulged in his stories. I know he had faced at least one of these guardians…
Twyblade grunted with surprise behind me, but with my attention invested solely on the obvious threat before me, I didn't turn, and merely glanced back out of the corner of my eye instead. I nearly choked at the flash of purple that passed me, heading toward the Eliminator. The girl! What was she doing?
For some reason, I didn't move, even though a small voice at the back of my head was shouting furiously, 'Hey! That idiot girl is going to get herself killed! After all that trouble… Stop her, fool!'
In fact, all of us seemed stunned motionless as the frail young woman walked slowly forward, each step slightly hesitant, as if she was unsure the ground was entirely stable. About halfway to the Eliminator, she stopped and stood. Girl and guardian stared.
Then one of her slim, pale hands rose in a gesture that seemed half like a greeting and half like a command to halt. One of the glowing knobs on the Eliminator flared to life, sweeping from side to side; a scanner.
For a moment, I could have sworn I heard a whispering in the back of my mind.
There was a low humming, a creaking and a clattering, and the Eliminator sank where it stood. All its separate parts seemed to compress as it settled to the floor, the glow about its surface fading.
'It's shutting itself down,' I realized, with some surprise. Ignoring the dull pounding in my temples, I switched my gaze back to the girl, who stood with her hand upraised still. Slowly, carefully, she lowered it to her side… and toppled.
Without knowing what I was doing, I was sprinting forward to catch her. My cutlass was sheathed, but I had no memory of doing so. I think I was the most surprised out of the whole group by my actions, and I stood there a moment and stared mutely down at the face of the now-unconscious girl in my arms.
"You'll have to carry her back," said Twyblade beside me. Somehow managing to reforge my impassive demeanor, I quirked one eyebrow at him.
"I won't be able to fight, if that's case," I pointed out. Twyblade nodded.
"I know, but I don't think the need will arise—" he looked down at the girl "—as it appears she has deactivated whatever defense systems existed."
Well, that was true… I lifted the girl, one arm cradling her back, the other supporting her legs behind the knee. Her head lolled onto my shoulder. I spared a moment to appreciate the irony of the situation.
'If Aika, Vyse, and the others were to see me now, they'd all probably have heart attacks. If I remember correctly, Aika dubbed me the 'Ice Man.' And now I'm spiriting away some girl in my arms, like a character out of some poorly written love ballad,' I internally grimaced. 'This incident must never be mentioned again.'
At least the warmth of her body provided some buffer against the bitter chill of the outside of the continent, as we returned to the port and hurried up the ramp to the Windsoul. Since I had given her my greatcoat, I felt the temperature acutely, and even though my exposure to the harsh weather only lasted a few moments—the time it took to go from door to ship—the muscles of my shoulders and back had clenched with the cold by the time I'd gotten on board.
I stood just inside the doorway uncertainly, still holding the girl gingerly. What was I supposed to do with her now?
"Kender, Galen, go to the engine room and get her at full power. Wanthope, take the bridge for now, and send Tresa down to me," Twyblade whipped the orders out quickly, not even pausing as he entered the ship and walked down the corridor. Over his shoulder he said to me: "Bring her this way, Lawrence."
He led me through the ship, past the galley, storage rooms, and crew quarters. The captain paused in front of a door some ways down from the room where I bunked down, turning around to motion me through the entrance before him.
The room seemed to be the sick bay of the ship; there were two narrow beds set up against one wall, and several sets of cabinets lined another. Without any prompting, I laid the girl down on one bed. She sighed and settled against the soft pillow, hugging my greatcoat around her shoulders. 'Guess I won't be getting that back anytime soon…'
"Cap'n?" questioned Tresa's voice from the doorway. I turned. "Wanthope said you asked for me?"
"I did. Gather a set of clothing that will fit this girl, would you?" Twyblade said, as I noted with interest that Tresa didn't seem at all surprised at the presence of the girl.
'Come to think of it…' I thought slowly, 'None of the crew—save me—were surprised. I suppose Twyblade must have told them what he expected? But then, why didn't he tell me as well?'
"…Lawrence." I jumped at the touch of Twyblade's hand on my shoulder; from his tone, it wasn't the first time he'd called my name. Tresa was gone, presumably to get the aforementioned clothes. I looked at Twyblade, silently berating myself for not paying attention to what was going on around me. Trying to get my eyes to focus on his face, I realized just how much my head was swimming.
"You are in poor condition as well; why don't you take the other bed," the captain said.
"I—"
"That's an order, and one you can't contest." Twyblade interrupted me firmly, forcefully directing me to the second bed. "I have no use for a crewman who can't focus."
"Yes sir." Skies above, did I sound surly? I must really be drained, if I was acting so childish. Sitting down on the bed, my exhaustion hit me like a ton of sand, and I managed the dim thought 'this thing's actually pretty comfortable…' before I was out like a light.
Chapter Ten
My sleep was not restful; I slept deeply for perhaps an hour or two before the dreams began. Dreams… I think that I could—no, should—call them nightmares. Dreams have the potential of being pleasant, but what my chaotic mind churned up that night was a far cry from even being something I could wave off when I woke; these were the terrors of the dark recesses of the mind that could haunt you even in the waking world.
I dreamed of being in complete darkness, the kind that seems to press in on you until you can't breathe. I dreamed of cold metal cinched tight around my wrists, ankles, and throat. It was impossible for me to move at all, so I kept lying motionless in the darkness, while the chill of the hard surface under me seeped into my body. Then unexpectedly, I spasmed violently, muscles leaping out of control as the metal table I was on was electrified. As I trembled defenselessly in reaction, light suddenly flooded the room, tearing a second cry of pain from me as I winced and closed my eyes. Hands seized me, pulling me up, dragging me away. Then, with the trademark abruptness of dreams, I was in another room, on another table, only this time in bright light. Mostly what I was aware of there was intense pain. It felt as if somebody was raking my mind with metal claws, digging fiery channels of agony through my head. The flood of pain washed over my whole being until I was sure I would die…
When I woke, I woke to a pitiful keening sound. It was the girl, the Purple Gigas. She cowered in the corner of the room, trembling and weeping into her hands. She was rocking back and forth on her haunches, slowly.
"What—?" I started to ask her what was wrong, reaching out a hand, but I was interrupted when the door to the sick bay opened. My hand dropped and the girl stopped keening. I looked back and forth between her and Twyblade, who stood in the doorway.
"Both of you are awake? Good," he said, moving a little further into the room. Tresa peeked her head over the captain's shoulder.
"Hey, now," she slid past Twyblade and went straight to the crouched girl. Hunkering down next to her, Tresa put an arm around the girl's shoulders. "Let's get you cleaned up and dressed, hey?"
Tresa helped the girl to stand, and the two of them walked out of the room, pausing as Tresa picked up a neatly folded stack of clothing I hadn't noticed till then from the table near the door. Twyblade and I watched silently as they left, Tresa murmuring quietly to the girl. Once they were gone, I switched all my attention to Twyblade.
"With all due respect, Captain, what the hell is going on?" A slow tendril of rage was beginning to curl around my heart. I had not been warned about any of this, and to judge from Twyblade's lack of reaction, he had anticipated it all.
"Well…" he said slowly, leaning against the wall, "What do you think happened?"
"I think I was deliberately misled, that vital information was kept from me, and that I'm now irrevocably ensnared in something I don't know that much about." I said bluntly.
"You're right, I did mislead you." Twyblade admitted easily. He leaned forward, his face earnest. "But I didn't think you'd agree to this if you hade known the complete truth about it; you are well know as being a loner, and doubtless would have refused to be bound to the Gigas in the necessary way. We need you, Lawrence. For my dreams for my crew to be realized, I need you to do this."
"Are you saying that I'm the only one who could be… 'bound'?" I asked, frowning. "And what exactly do you mean by 'bound'?"
"You are the only one," Twyblade replied sincerely. "The Gigas will only bind itself to the highest ranking Glacian."
"Highest ranking?" I interrupted, slightly confused. How could I be the highest ranking in a civilization that, number one: didn't exist any longer and, number two: I'd never really been a part of?
"The Glacians had a class based society, much like the one in old Valua. Positions of power and higher offices went to noble families. The older and more established families got more power, and were higher ranking. Your family preserved their bloodlines, and thus this heritage, more purely than any other after the Rains. Thus, you are the highest ranking person of Glacian descent alive today."
"So… what you're saying is… my family had power in ancient Glacia, and managed to keep this power through choice breeding?" I asked dryly. Twyblade quirked an eyebrow.
"Not exactly. Your family may have had no power whatsoever in ancient Glacia. They were simply the most powerful family that survived," he replied.
"Ah." I paused a moment to assimilate that information. Then; "What about this binding?"
"I think you already have an idea of what it means," the captain said calmly. My eyebrows drew together. I did have a thought or too, but…
"She… linked our minds somehow?" I hazarded.
"She forged a telepathic link between your minds, yes." Twyblade nodded. I shook my head in disbelief. I would almost reject the idea out-of-hand… almost. But when she touched her forehead to mine, I had… seen things. Heard thoughts that weren't mine.
'And she told me 'stop screaming,' but I wasn't… out loud,' I recalled.
"But… why?" I muttered, not really meaning to be heard. But Twyblade caught it, and answered anyway.
"That link is what allows you to control her. Rather than using a Moon Crystal like the other Gigas, the key to using this one is the power of your bloodline and your telepathic link." He was interrupted by the return of Tresa and the girl. He cleared his throat. "But beyond that, I have no knowledge of the nature of the matter."
I was bit irritated to not have all my questions answered, but I was also somewhat relieved. This was really too much. 'All I want is a bag of gold on my belt and the wheel of a ship in my hands. Fate has a cruel sense of humor.'
I could feel the beginnings of a headache in my temples.
'Why? Not just 'why me' but also why everything else? Why link minds?' I wondered. 'If our minds are linked, does that mean I can hear her thoughts, and she mine?'
A sudden thought struck me. 'If that's the case, then do we share dreams, too? Was she experiencing the same nightmare as I, and was that why she was crying? And… whose dream was it to begin with?'
"I don't like remembering." I jumped, startled, as the girl spoke unexpectedly. I looked down at her as she sat on the floor at my feet. I realized also that Twyblade and Tresa were gone, having left as I lost myself in my thoughts.
The girl looked much different, clad in typical Air Pirate attire with her long purple hair braided and wound around her head like a crown. There was also something else that had changed about her, though it took me a moment to realize what it was.
Her speech had improved, in both grammar and pronunciation. She no longer sounded like a child, and I even said as much: "You sound better."
"I'm learning," she replied solemnly, "from you."
The inflection in her voice made it plain that the remark really meant 'using the link, I'm taking the words from your mind.' Discomfited, I merely grunted in answer.
'Twyblade… I'm of half a mind to throttle you for this.' I closed my eyes and massaged my temples. 'Right, okay, so you say I'm the only one who could do this. So you say 'I need your help.' So what? Maybe if you'd explained everything to me, and offered me more gold, I would have agreed to help you out. Maybe. But there was no need to trick me into it.'
My eyes flew open as hands gently touched my face. The girl stroked my forehead, brushing away the strands of hair that flopped into my eyes and smoothing away the… pain. What?
"Are you… using Sacri on me?" I asked. There was a slight glimmer of green on her hands as she drew them away.
"You should not be in pain," she said, with a bright, innocent smile. I turned away.
Even though I had not gotten nearly enough rest, I didn't want to sleep any longer. What I wanted most then was food. My stomach rumbled insistently. I stood.
"What is your name, girl?" I asked gruffly.
"Syf," she replied.
'Oh, that's right… She called herself that before, when she was still speaking in the third person,' I stooped to pick up my great cloak from where it lay crumpled on the floor. Shaking it out, I eyed it, decided it was clean enough, and shrugged it on.
"Are you hungry, Syf?" I surprised myself once more as I offered a hand to help her up. "I'm going to the galley. If you want to eat, follow me."
I walked out of the sick bay and down the corridor without waiting for an answer or looking to see if she was behind me. However, it was on her that my thoughts dwelt.
'She seems so benign and naïve; could she really be a weapon? A Gigas?' I gave my head an imperceptible shake, and focused on the mouth-watering smell that drifted from the galley. Landric was almost as good a cook as Polly. He'd never be able to beat Urala, though.
Thinking about the Yafutoman girl's nigiri-zushi elicited another low rumble from my stomach. I paused at the door to the galley and glanced back. Syf stopped beside me, and watched me, waiting and ready to follow. I felt a distant turn of unease in my heart at the expression in her eyes. It was the look of complete trust.
I dismissed the feeling as merely imagined, and led the way into the galley.
Chapter Eleven
Sleeping for Moons-only-knew-how-many years evidently had a profound effect on one's appetite. Syf single-handedly managed to pack away three bowls of skilly'n'duff, a loaf of ship bread, and a quarter of a Sky Sardis potpie. Not to mention the seven tankards of tea she downed, as I tried not to stare. For my part, I polished off a hefty helping of skilly'n'duff, washing it down with a tankard of loqua. I felt I needed the fire of the drink to warm me up; the slight numbing effect was just a bonus.
Though I had gone into the galley ravenous, I didn't eat near as much as I had initially thought I would. I think it was because… well, Syf ate so much, and her feelings of satiation trickled down our link, I suppose. I could feel her contented murmuring in the back of my head, and that made me uneasy (which probably didn't help with my appetite either, I'd wager). Of course, I could just be overreacting and blaming everything on the link, now that I was hyper-aware of its existence. Maybe I just wasn't as hungry as I thought… Maybe.
I watched as Syf drank her tea with alacrity, her eyes closed and head tipped back. She gave a small sigh as she set the empty tankard down. Her eyes, when she opened them, were drowsy slits, and a thin smile played at the corners of her mouth.
"Have you had enough?" I asked blandly, resisting the urge to add a sarcastic comment to the question. I might as well have not tried, because Syf obviously picked up on my thoughts through the link, and looked down in shame.
"I have not eaten… in a long time," she whispered. I felt a flash of guilt and remorse at having hurt her, but quickly choked off the emotion. She could and did pick up everything through our link; I didn't like having my feelings thus bared to anyone.
'Dammit,' I thought, noticing that she was looking up at me through her eyelashes with slight surprise. 'I suppose I'll have to get used to sharing every nuance of emotion and every thought with her… it's not like I can escape it.'
'Evarisch…' the thought sounded like her voice, only echoing in my head. I jumped involuntarily. It was the first direct manifestation of the link, and it unsettled me greatly. But I forgot my discomfort instantly when I realized how anguished and worried she sounded. 'Have I displeased you?'
"What? I- no. No…" I frowned at the tabletop and ran a hand through my hair. "I'm simply… unused to this. The link and the… having you in my head."
"But… I am following the teachings…" she said, brow knitting in confusion. I looked her in the eye.
"You must know… You can see it in my mind… how nobody living really knows or remembers those teachings, or that they ever existed."
"Yes…" she said slowly, her focus turning inward.
'Well, at least I don't have to waste time explaining everything… She can just lift it from my mind. Though that's—' Syf's unnaturally sharp ears caught it first, and the information transferred to me faster than lightning. I was on my feet and suddenly very awake and alert as somebody rushed into the galley.
"We're being tailed," announced Twyblade, his eyes snapping with energy.
"Do we know by who?" I asked, barely aware of Syf standing and coming to stand at my side.
"Black Pirates," the captain replied tersely.
'What, again?' I thought. Twyblade turned and hurried out of the galley, motioning for me to follow. 'Maybe they were allies with the other ship we sank, and are looking for revenge?'
I ignored the fact that Black Pirate ships didn't normally form alliances, and decided that that was probably the case. I quick-stepped along with the captain, heading for the deck.
"They must have followed us to the Ruins, remaining hidden by the weather, and decided to let us go through the trouble of gathering any treasure before relieving us of it," Twyblade said grimly. "But never mind how they came to find us; they have us in their sights, and we must attack first, before they can hit us."
"That doesn't give us much time, does it?" I asked doubtfully.
"No. It doesn't." Twyblade paused by a small wooden bock that was hung on the wall. He opened it to reveal a mouthpiece and control for the ship's intercom.
"Meshin! I need you to prepare the cannons for a ship battle. Wanthope, stay at the helm. Tresa, assist Meshin. Kender, Galen, get down to the engine room," Twyblade fired the orders off rapidly, jammed the mouthpiece back onto its cradle, and shut the box. To me directly he said, "You're with me on the deck. Bring the Gigas."
'He's not going to…' I cut the thought off, swallowing. We stepped out on deck, and I immediately saw the ship that had been tailing us. It was off our port side, and closing the distance between us quickly. Twyblade swore.
"They're closer than I anticipated. Lawrence! Now is the time! Use the Gigas to destroy our enemies!" He spun to face me, his eyes wild and yet steely. I was taken aback for the space of a breath.
"What? But—" I said. Syf edged closer to my shadow, almost as if she feared Twyblade. I was somewhat bewildered, caught off-guard. A part of my brain screamed at me: 'What are you doing?! The Black Pirates will close with you in mere moments! You don't have time to hesitate!'
Yet, there I was, oddly unwilling to attack. I also was at a loss as to how I was supposed to go about doing so. Twyblade was shouting at me, and apart from my reticence, I had Syf's fear and unease at the captain's raised voice jumbling my thoughts. For a moment, I was dizzy and confused, and felt as if the world was spinning about me. Everything blurred together and I could not form a coherent thought.
The other ship must have fired their cannons, because I remember hearing the whump! sound of a distant explosion, followed closely by a great shattering, splintering crash as the cannonball tore through the Windsoul's foremast and into the deck. The wood exploded up in a hail of shrapnel.
The shock when the foot-long spear of jagged wood slammed into my shoulder jolted me out of my near dementia. I gasped and staggered back a step. Oddly, there was no pain. My body simply went instantly numb, and my mind went preternaturally still and clear. Then came the rage. I lost all power of rationalization as the fury at having been hurt boiled up from within me; I became primitive and instinctual, wanting only to lash out at whatever had hurt me.
'How DARE they?' My thoughts thundered. I was dimly aware that I was growling, hunching over with one hand gripping the blood-slicked wood. 'HOW DARE THEY SPILL OUR BLOOD?'
There was a shriek that sounded like it had been torn for some inhuman throat, and suddenly, my consciousness was catapulted out of my body and toward the ship that had shot the cannonball. Bereft of my body, my mind was free of the blinding fury; or rather, it could feel and recognize the rage, but was not ruled by it. However, though I knew the anger, I also knew that it was not mine. It was not just my consciousness that had arrowed toward our attackers. Syf's mind was actually what had flung itself toward the ship, pulling mine along for the ride; the anger was hers, but I was the cause… With my mind free of any hindering emotion, I saw it clearly. When I had been hurt, and my anger had overwhelmed me, it had also overwhelmed her through our link. She felt my fury, and it became her own. Of course the Glacians would have included a protective impulse in their Gigas, to ensure the survival of the controller of the weapon. With me hurt, Syf would destroy anything that threated us, and I was powerless to stop her.
Our combined minds shot across the sky between the two ships like a lightning bolt, entering the other ship through a porthole. We flashed through cabins, past crewmen, down corridors, and into the bridge. There: a helmsman, there: the skipper… their faces were pale blurs with the speed of our passing. Straight toward the captain in his chair we winged, aimed at the space between his brows. Closer and closer, until—just before touching—he somehow perceived us, and his expression grew terrified. The ship, the bridge, his face… they flashed through my mind, and I…
'NO!' I cried, but it was too late. I knew a moment of surging wrath, of erupting flames, and a gut-wrenching pleasure at causing pain… then, like a Huskra on a leash, I was jerked back to my body on the Windsoul.
I gagged, and coughed, spattering the deck with blood. I opened my eyes to find myself on my knees, and lifted my gaze to look over the railing. All that remained of the other ship was a burning hulk, of which only the keel was recognizable as having actually come from a ship. It sank quickly, breaking into flaming bits and pieces as it went.
'No.' My mind was stuck on the word; I couldn't get past the simple-minded denial to the thought that would inevitably follow it, after having seen what I had seen. The wooden spar was still in my shoulder, and I pulled it out thoughtlessly. My whole body convulsed with the effort and the resultant pain, and more of my blood splattered onto the deck in large drops. I staggered to my feet. 'No.'
There was a whimper behind me, and I suddenly realized that Syf had thrown her arms around my waist from behind, pressing her face into my back. I could feel her shaking, and knew she was weeping.
"Please, please, never again! Don't make me! Not again!" She sobbed the words with body and mind, her voice muffled by my greatcoat. That cleared my mind better than anything else, lifting the fog of pain a little. I twisted, disengaging her arms from around me so that I could gather her in my own. She buried her face in my chest, heedless of the blood.
I knew then I wouldn't. I knew that I would never force her to become that thing of terrible anger and power. I wouldn't manipulate her like a soulless tool, as if she were just another Gigas to be controlled and used. I could feel what it did to her, even though at that moment I still would not admit it to myself.
However, it was not only that one concern that weighed on me. There was also the fact that I could no longer place any trust in Captain Twyblade. That ship, now lost beneath the clouds of Deep Sky, had not borne black sails, nor a black flag. He had named it a Black Pirate craft, but I knew it now to be a lie. I had been on the ship, after a fashion, and I had seen it. In that moment when the captain of the doomed ship had realized he was staring death in the face, I had seen it, hung on the wall behind the captain's chair: a Blue Rogue flag. A Blue Rogue flag… white sails… it was impossible for anyone to mistake these things for Black Pirates'. Twyblade had lied, and so everything he had said up till then must have been either lie or only half-truth. I was a pawn in his game.
'No,' I flared, the word feeling much different from the previous dull repetitions. This time it had weight; my will was steeled behind it. 'I refuse to play this part!'
I wanted answers, straight answers and truthful answers this time! I wanted to know exactly what was going on in Twyblade's head! What was that damned man thinking?
Abruptly, I realized that Syf was sagging in my arms, unconscious. And I realized also that the warm trickle of blood down my side had halted. I looked at my shoulder, where the wound was covered by Syf's thin hand. I shifted, and the hand fell away, revealing a ragged hole in my shirt and smooth, unbroken skin beneath. I felt a peculiar twisting in my heart. Even in her distress, she had remembered to heal me.
Awareness of the rest of world retuned then, and I looked up around me with blurring vision. I swayed, feeling drained. I had to blink several times before the sight of the entire crew of the Windsoul swam into focus.
They stared at me, and at the girl hanging limp in my arms. There was fear in their faces, yes… but some other emotion shone in their eyes, something disturbingly close to greed. It made me faintly nauseous, and, although I was on my last dregs of energy, I scooped Syf up and went below decks, away from the stares.