GeneforgeMartin 18
Chapter 4- Greetings of War
Standing on the docks with his arms crossed over his chest Andras watched from his perch on a stone wall as the ship was prepared to make sail. They would be leaving soon, the six students from his school and three additional from Delbin. All were on the docks now, most talking nervously with their parents or other well-wishers while stocky serviles hauled their heavy trunks onboard. Nobody had come to wish Andras well or to see him off yet. He didn't expect Kristoff to make an appearance but his mother's absence was a little disheartening.
He focused his eyes and his thoughts on Carnelian more often than not. She was standing with Tuldaric with her arm interlocked with his as she spoke to her parents, a smile frequenting her face. She didn't look over at him much, and when she did she made it a point to look away but he noticed each time she did her cheeks looked a little pinker. He smiled to himself.
"Do you fancy her?"
Andras jumped with surprise, and looked over his shoulder to see the speaker. It was one of the Delbin students, the short man with dark hair cut short much like his. What he lacked in height he made up for with a stocky build, more so than what was typical for a Shaper and so Andras wondered if this man had also trained for something else, perhaps Guardian? He would ask some other time.
"I noticed you were watching her, but you would do well to forget about her. She's-"
"Betrothed, I know," Andras cut in, his eyes returning to the large sea-Drayk floating in the water.
"I was going to say peculiar, but that is also true."
Andras was a bit annoyed by this newcomer, but he turned to him and offered his hand out for a greeting. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Andras." He sounded edgy even in his own ears but he didn't care. The other accepted his hand and shook it with some vigor.
"Zalex," the other greeted.
"So, Zalex, in what way is she peculiar?" He doubted anyone from Delbin or standing on those docks, with the exception of her parents (perhaps), knew Carnelian better than he did; but he was curious to hear what would make someone call her peculiar. She was a lot of things, but that wasn't something that came to his mind.
"Well, she doesn't treat serviles right."
Andras was confused. "How so?" He never knew her to mistreat anything, much less a servile.
"Just a moment ago when a servile took her trunk, she thanked him."
"Thanked him?" he repeated. He hadn't seen it for himself, but that did qualify as peculiar. "She was speaking to someone else."
Zalex shrugged. "Maybe, but she's done it before. In fact, she does it whenever a servile does something for her. I've seen it many times. As I said before, she's peculiar. Treating those creatures like that is asking for rogues."
Andras was quiet. He didn't know what to say in her defense. There really was no excuse for such nonsense but he could overlook that about her. It wouldn't come as a big surprise to see her over-nurturing serviles. After all, she spoke to plants.
Speaking of Carnelian, she walked over to where Andras and Zalex stood. Her mouth curved into a bright smile as she greeted them both with equal enthusiasm. She adopted an air of propriety, asking them about their morning, but her eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief when she asked Andras about his. She knew very well what kind of morning he had.
"I see you've met Zalex." He nodded. "He's Tuldaric's nephew," she explained. "And one day he will be mine as well."
No he won't. Andras had to remind himself she was just talking to sound proper in front of a mixed audience but he still wanted to correct her. Zalex was not going to become her nephew because Tuldaric was not going to become her husband. He wanted to blurt it out so Zalex's fake smile would fade from sight.
"I wish to speak with you," he heard his mother speak up from behind him. She came at last! He turned to see her staring up at him with a rather perturbed expression. His stomach knotted up. Perhaps his elation was premature. What could she want to talk about? It could have been anything but he was afraid to guess, and as unhappy as she looked he feared she might know something he didn't intend for her to find out. Did Margus tell her that, too?
"Go ahead," he offered, but she glanced over at the audience standing next to him and shook her head.
"Alone. Come with me."
He looked over at Carnelian and Zalex and nodded to excuse himself before he followed Lanira's retreating form. H hoped one or both of them might have said something to rescue him from what he feared was coming next, but he walked uninterrupted to one of the supply buildings where she directed him to the first room they came upon.
"In here," she ordered, waiting until he walked in before she followed. She closed to door before saying another word then turned to him. "Where were you last night?" That was a loaded question and he shifted uncomfortably under her expectant gaze. His lack of a reply told her what she needed to know. "Andras, please tell me you weren't with Carnelian."
"It would be a lie," he answered, crossing his arms over his chest to form a defensive shield and looking down to avoid her stare. Even in the dim light he could feel her eyes burning into him.
"She's engaged! You can't be doing that, you shouldn't be. Have I not taught you better?"
"You taught me to follow my heart and I have." It was a pitiful effort to turn it back on her and it wouldn't work, he already knew it.
"Were you following your heart or your…" She emitted a sound of disgust and muttered words in her outsider tongue as she started pacing. She never taught him more than a few words in her old language because his father, in efforts to banish any hint of her outsider heritage, had forbidden it; but he could tell by the tone of her voice those words weren't saying anything nice about him.
He watched her move about the room, trying to think of something to say to stop her or at least make her see that what he did was the right thing. "I love her."
"She's not yours!" she snapped. The volume of her voice surprised him, but he held firm.
"I've lost everything else I care about, allow me this."
She was shaking her head. "I can't, you can't. This isn't anything I have control over. She is to marry Tuldaric. She belongs to him. If it's discovered what you've done…"
"Are you going to turn me in?"
She stopped, looking insulted by the idea she could betray her own son. "Of course not, but do you really think that's the only way you'll be caught?" Her angry expression melted into concern. She held his face between her hands so he would have to look her in the eye and see that she was thinking only of him. "Andras, these things don't stay hidden very long. The consequences a student faces if caught are harsh, you've already tasted that, but the consequences for adultery can be deadly and that is what the two of you are doing. I've seen it before, and it always ends badly. I don't want that happen to you."
He pulled away from her. "It won't," he assured her.
"How long do you think you can hide this?"
"Years if I must."
"Years? You'll be lucky to keep it secret for months." He responded with a questioning look. "Tell me, what will happen when she becomes pregnant? That will make it a little harder to keep out of sight, don't you think?"
"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" He was trying to deflect the question, knowing he had been given a dose of reality he couldn't deny.
"You're not going," she announced.
"Yes, I am. I want to now."
"For the right reasons?" she asked, hands on her hips and head tilted to the side.
"What are the right reasons? I want to go. What else matters?"
"If the only reason you want to go now is because she's there then it does matter. I'm going to speak to your father. We'll make other arrangements… a different school, perhaps." She turned to walk away from him but he grabbed her by the shoulder.
"No. I'm going today, on that boat, with her." He never stood up against his mother before, at least he was never able to do it effectively, but this time he refused to budge. Nothing she could say, nothing Margus could add in the back of his mind was going to change his stance.
She turned to face him again, her frown weighing heavy on her face. "You're making a mistake, Andras."
"Perhaps, but it's my mistake to make, no one else's. I accept whatever consequences my actions might bring." He sounded so confident he almost fooled himself.
"Even if those consequences cost you your life?" She waited a moment, seeing he was unconcerned then added, "Or hers?"
"I'm going," he repeated. Lanira sighed, shaking her head one last time to show her disapproval.
"I hope I'm wrong." She reached beneath the white gossamer fabric that draped over her frame like a robe and produced a long, narrow dagger. She offered it to him. "Seeing as you 'lost' your other one," she began, trying to sound cheery. It wasn't working. "One of the few things I was able to keep from my old home. I want you to have it. I hope it will offer you some protection against whatever foes you might face."
He accepted the gift, examining the knife in the poor light, then strung it on the black leather belt and slid it over to rest just over his right hip. He thanked her, then made his exit. She walked behind him back to the docks, solemn and silent.
"I was beginning to worry," Carnelian said to Andras when they reached her. "I thought we'd be leaving without you." She was being humorous but she couldn't know how much truth her words held. If his mother had her way, they would be leaving without him and he had come very close to caving to her wishes. He was proud that he held his ground, but also a little bothered knowing he caused her pain by doing so.
Lanira returned Carnelian's smile with a half-hearted effort
The girl that had helped Andras at the Awakening joined the group. She wore a bright smile as she approached, putting forth extra effort to make certain Andras noticed her arrival and looked her way. She stood by his side, opposite of Carnelian, regarding the other woman with an ill-disguised look of scorn. She greeted Lanira with a courteous bow of her head and smile.
Her hand rested against his back as she spoke, a strangely open move in front of so many professors. It would be frowned upon for her to pursue any romantic relations with him, but the difference was she had no one waiting to marry her. Frowning would be all they could do. For the next two or three weeks, they belonged neither to Mennetak or Tayedikal and could do almost whatever they pleased.
Andras felt exposed. No rules or threats of expulsion remained to protect him from the unwanted advances. He would have shook the hand off his back, or asked her to stop but seeing Carnelian's face darken with jealousy the more Anela stood next to him gave him reason to tolerate it for now. Let her see how it feels.
The lines were released and wrapped up onto the boat to await use in another port. Serviles scurried about to make certain everything was in its place. Andras and the others watched in amazement as the ship began to propel itself forward. The water lapped up at the hull, and below the surface the dark green scales showed through.
Andras watched the port disappear from sight, making his alienation from the world he once knew complete. From here on he was in a world completely new to him with only the written words of his deceased brother to serve as his guide.
A low rumble emitted from the Drayk's chest, rousing the attention of all students onboard. Andras turned around to see her enormous mouth open wide in a yawn before she continued her quiet trek onward. On either side of the boat he heard the sound of water stirring. He looked over the edge to see something massive emerge from beneath them. Two enormous wings unfolded, stretching high above them, sending a spray of water down on all below. Andras ducked, but kept his eyes upward to watch as the long fingers spread outwards and the thin membrane that stretched between caught the air and filled. Sails. She used her wings for sails. He smiled to himself. She was magnificent. It was incredible to think something so large, so grand, could be formed at human fingertips. But not his, not yet. He couldn't shape a flea right now, but one day he would give life to creations of even greater grandeur than this sea-worthy Drayk.
He read through his brother's passages about the ship. Margus had been just as awestruck by the giant beast as any of them were, but he mentioned something in his writings that nobody onboard had spoken of yet. Andras closed the book and hurried to the aft, looking over the edge. He didn't imagine all sea-Drayks had this, but it merited a look.
"What are you doing?" Carnelian called as she followed him over. It took a moment, but just as Margus promised Andras saw what he was looking for, blending in to the scaly hide beneath the wooden frame.
"Look. There!" He pointed, but she didn't see what he was showing her at first. Then one moved. It pointed its little snout up at the faces that watched it and let out a pathetic roar.
"Younglings!" she exclaimed with great delight. There were three once they located them all, and they clung to their mother with a fierce sense of duty. They were strange little creatures, none of them much larger than a man but in comparison to their mother they were tiny. Their bodies were wide and flat, and all four limbs were short-coupled and webbed. One day they may bear the weight of a large wooden vessel built atop and strapped to their bodies as well, but for now they skitted about freely.
"How did you know?" Carnelian asked, still offering her hand out in efforts to coax one youngster away from its maternal perch.
"Margus told me," he answered. He held the dried piece of meat Luke had given him earlier and ripped pieces off. He held his hand over the edge, lower than Carnelian's, until one snout ventured up high enough to sniff what he held. Almost the moment the creature sniffed him a long forked tongue slipped out and lapped at the piece of meat. It felt strange, scratchy and warm, and Andras dropped his bait into the open mouth.
The first full day of the trip was exciting to all who were aboard the ship. None had ever been on the sea before, at least not since they were old enough to remember. And watching the port fade into the dusky horizon had been a thrilling experience. By the second day the monotony of the expansive blue water began taking its toll. A few didn't have the stomachs for the constant rocking motion and Carnelian made up a tea that seemed to help.
Andras wasn't bothered by the sea's motion, but he was growing tired of the painful boredom it provided. He felt cramped on the small vessel. It was meant to carry no more than six students, and with nine aboard it was more than crowded.
There were bunks provided below in the cabin, stacked two high in rooms scarcely large enough to turn around in. There was also a small table for them to eat the stale bread, dried meat, and cheese that was provided for their meals. Two or three could sit down and eat at a time while the rest waited their turn. Andras took early to the habit of waking before dawn so he didn't have to wait for his breakfast.
The most unpleasant part was not the repetitive food or cramped conditions. It was who they had to share their cabin with. Shapers never shared space with serviles. They were filthy, unclean, and smelly creatures, but there were two aboard this boat to tend to the maintenance and whatever the students needed. Their stench was thick in the cabin below, and Andras, along with several others, found himself much more at home on the top deck where the air was clean and fresh.
Margus' words proved helpful on more than one occasion. Any question Andras could have thought to ask about where he was going or what to expect was answered in the journal. It helped him feel at ease, though he was no more happy about his destination than before. Knowing what to expect took some of the fear out of it and helped him prepare for the inevitabilities that lie ahead.
Luke kept him company a small portion of the time, when he tired of his talks with Caen (which wasn't hard to do.) Anela also took a seat by his side, sometimes she would inquire about what he read, but she brought up Margus all too often and Andras grew weary of the topic. The way she spoke of him, the woeful look on her face when she reminded herself (and Andras) that he was dead suggested her interest in Margus had been more than just a passing one. When Andras stopped responding to her ceaseless question about his brother, her presence became scarce as well.
"Look, an island!" Everyone rushed over to where she stood with spy glass in hand. Their bare eyes couldn't see what she saw, but when she handed the spy glass off to the next candidate he saw it to. Andras got it next, and he looked, following where her finger pointed. A small green and brown lump formed on the horizon, breaking up the dull monotony of the waters around them.
"What island do you suppose that is?" She was asking Andras, who shrugged as he passed the glass off to yet another person.
"Hard to say," he answered walking around her to snatch up his brother's journal then began flipping through the maps. From what he could see it was difficult to match the island up with any he saw drawn on paper, but when he considered where they were headed and where they came from there was only one logical choice, Sucia Isle.
Carnelian peered over his shoulder to see what he saw. He pointed a finger to the one he thought it was without offering any explanation as to how he deduced that. She didn't argue which meant she probably didn't know any better than he did.
"Barred?" she asked, noticing the large letters printed right above the name. Indeed, it was barred. Barred by the Shaper Council which meant Shapers had once inhabited that island and something happened, something terrible. Places were barred for serious problems that even Shapers couldn't control; a disease gone astray, a powerful creation that could not be contained or destroyed. It could have been any number of reasons, but what they both knew was the consequences for visiting a place barred by the Council were severe.
"Sucia?" Luke's voice chimed in, looking over Andras' other shoulder. Soon more crowded around to examine the map, most agreeing with the verdict.
"Should we get a closer look?" one asked. "That would put us about a day off course," another argued. "But it would verify our location," Luke suggested.
"The Drayk knows where she's going," Carnelian cut in. No one paid her any attention. "There's no reason to stray from our course."
"I'll go," Andras volunteered, ignoring her look of insult. "I'll take one of the younglings so we stay on course." Everyone agreed with a nod or a lack of objection except Carnelian who insisted that it was a bad idea for anyone to go, especially him. The island was barred, she reminded him, and that only happened for good reasons.
"I'm going for a closer look. I have no intentions of stepping foot on that island," he promised her, but he could see it was not making her feel any better. She had voiced her disagreement, but that was all she could do. He was going no matter what she did, "In the interest of science," he said.
Truthfully, he was anxious for any chance to get off the boat, even if it meant trading it for a much smaller one. The younger Drayks had no wooden frame built atop them which meant there wasn't much to stand on, and they skitted over the water much faster than their lumbering mother. He could make the trip in a fraction of the time it would take the rest of them on the back of one of those, and he had to admit he was curious.
A short while later they had coaxed a youngling Drayk into the water where it drifted alongside its mother, back flattened as it waited for its passenger. With spyglass strapped to his belt Andras grabbed the rope that was rigged with a pulley to lower him down.
"This isn't a good idea," Carnelian told him one last time. Her face wore a worried frown despite his best efforts to ease her fears.
"We'll have more of that cider when I get back," he told her, then he nodded to give the signal that he was ready. He held onto the thick rope with gloved hands, keeping his body rigid as it was hoisted up over the side, then lowered down. Carnelian's face watched him as he settled himself onto the young Drayk's back. He passed her one more smile for reassurance then spurred the little beast into action.
Through the spyglass Andras couldn't see much more than rocks, trees, and the occasional remnants of a civilization that once inhabited the island. He spied a few small birds, but nothing that spoke of the threat that had lead to the island being barred by the Council. His little Drayk followed the shoreline, still keeping a healthy distance away in case there were unseen dangers closer in. The island appeared to be split in half down the middle by a large inlet and even with a spyglass Andras couldn't see very far into it. If there had been more time he would have beckoned the creature he stood on to take him into it, but time ran short and they would need to hurry back to the mother Drayk soon.
Unsatisfied, but out of time, Andras gave the command to return and the scaly body surged ahead, turning in the direction of its mother's small silhouette on the horizon. More than once it called to her, a frightening sound that rumbled from deep within its throat and each time it was echoed by an ever deeper booming voice from the distance.
Before long they were alongside the large Drayk once again, and Andras was hoisted back onto the deck with another rope. He was met with many questions that none waited their turn to ask, and he did his best to answer as he could. No, he didn't see anything. No, it didn't look dangerous. No, he couldn't tell what happened. A rather uneventful exploration, he assured them, and after a few minutes the inquiries slowed then halted.
Once he was free to move about without more questions to slow him he took his normal seat at the prow of the ship, drawing a knee up to his chest as he rested his head against the rail behind him. It was not comfortable, but the quiet it offered him was relaxing. Carnelian joined him a short while later, sitting down next to him with a heavy mug held in her hands.
"Cider?" she asked. He smiled, a little surprised that she brought it to him so soon, but he shook his head to decline her offer. He preferred to drink without an audience.
"What about Zalex?" he asked, gesturing to the man as he sat not far away, still tending to his vigil of the two of them.
"He's not my father," Carnelian replied indignantly. "Besides, what harm is there in enjoying a nice mug of cider?"
Andras took the mug from her hand, eyes still locked on Zalex as he took a sip. Defiance. Zalex's expression and body language both told him to get up and leave, but he refused. Carnelian was his, and no one, least of all Zalex, would intimidate him from her side.
"What did you see?" she spoke up once he rested the mug against his thigh. She must have been waiting for the opportunity to question him herself but she had been elbowed out earlier. If anyone else had asked him that, he would have been annoyed.
"Well… beaches, trees, rocks…"
"Any buildings?" she cut in.
"Yes." He stopped to think. "Though by the looks of it they've been abandoned for quite some time."
"I wonder what happened there." She said it to herself, thinking out loud as her eyes searched the cloudy sky above her. They both wondered the same thing, but it didn't matter what curiosities they harbored, there were doomed to remain ignorant. Doubtful, if it had been centuries, that many on the Council were privy to that information either.
"Andras?" Luke's voice interrupted the quiet moment with a panicked call. Andras jerked his head up, seeing fear painted on his face. Luke pointed his hand towards the aft of the boat and asked, "Did you see that when you were there?"
Andras bounced up to his feet, forgetting his mug on the deck, looking in the direction of the outstretched finger then past. He felt his breath catch in his throat were it remained stuck for several seconds before he was able to exhale again. Was it a ship? It looked like one, but it lacked the organic form of a Drayk beneath the wooden prow and instead of massive wings stretched out to catch the wind it was propelled with large white sheets hung from wooden poles. It approached from the direction of the island he had briefly investigated, and despite its lack of moving parts it appeared to traverse the water faster than the Drayk.
"What is it?" Zalex asked, standing up and finding something else to fix his gaze on.
"I didn't see that," Andras insisted, wondering why they thought he had all the answers. His experience in these matters extended no farther than theirs. "Spyglass?"
There was a scramble of robes as more than one dashed to answer his request. He held his hand out, not looking to see who retrieved it for him, and closed his fingers around the hardened leather body as soon as he felt it in his hand. He held the spyglass up, examining the strange ship that pursued them. They were certainly no one of his kind. On their faces they were an abundance of hair that covered the jaw, and around the mouth. The hair on their heads was long and unkempt. A few wore silver armor and had swords pulled out as they prepared for a battle. Others worked the ropes, pulleys, and levers of the ship.
"Prepare yourselves," he warned. "They aren't looking to make friends."
Nobody responded. They looked at each other waiting for someone to suggest something.
"Can we go faster?" Andras asked, breaking the bewildered silence.
Caen hustled to the front, leaning over the prow to give the instructions to the Drayk. The deck beneath their feet surged forward signaling her immediate response. The giant wings lifted out of the water and fanned out, catching as much of the light wind as possible. Her head was pushed forward, mouth agape. She was working hard.
There was nothing to do but watch as the strange ship caught up to them. When they were close fierce-looking jigs emerged from the hull, stretching out to rake the claws into the flesh of the tiring Drayk. In their hands they held four pronged hooks and they prepared to hurl them onto the deck where the bewildered students stood. Voices on both sides shouted, but where Andras stood he heard words of fear.
The mother Drayk must have heard them. Before a hook could be tossed onto their deck or the vicious jig could snag her in its clutches she doubled back, turning on her tail hard. The once horizontal deck turned nearly vertical and knocked all passengers off their feet. Andras was swept off his feet like the rest, but he was one of the lucky few to grab a bracing with one hand and prevent himself from tumbling into the water. His other hand reinforced Carnelian's grip where she had grabbed the nearest thing to her, his arm. Caen, and two others were lost in the sea, and the rest hung on with faltering grips.
"Don't let go!" she pleaded. In his mind he promised her he would do no such thing, but his fingers stung from the splinters that embedded in his skin from his hasty grab and the weight they bore from his body and hers was threatening to pull them loose. He would have liked to release her and let her find her own hold, but she clung to him so tightly that he couldn't have shaken her loose if he wanted to.
The turn completed and the deck flattened out once more and the students that remained were jostled by the impact as they were upright once again. Six bodies lie on the deck, terrified and hurting from the violent maneuver. It took a few seconds, what felt like minutes, before Andras could gather enough sense about him to stand up once again. Carnelian remained on the floor, appearing very grateful to still be afloat.
He stared out behind them. The hostile vessel made its turn quick enough to be on the pursuit once again, and now they were three short. Out in the water he could see the flailing arms of two of his lost comrades, but there was no going back for them, not now. He would hope for their sakes they could stay afloat long enough to be rescued when it was safe once again to stop or even slow down.
It wasn't long before the ship was upon them once again, and again the Drayk executed a last minute turn on her tail to avoid getting snagged. The wooden boat was fast, and it had unending stamina, but it lacked the ability to turn on a second's notice and she began a zig-zagging course towards the island they had passed by not long before, keeping herself and her passengers just a breath away from being captured or worse.
One more was lost to the turbulent maneuvers before they wisened up to the strategy and huddled down on the deck, helping one another hang on to the wooden frame. Of course they all knew the Drayk couldn't keep on the run much longer. She was a living creature with limited endurance. Her efforts were evident in her labored gasps, flaring nostrils and widened eyes, but the will to survive urged her onward and she fought the fatigue that was trying to claim her. But how long before she succumbed?
"We'll have to fight," Andras announced.
Zalex shook his head. "With what? We have no weapons and none of us are trained to fight."
Andras was trained, but not enough to be able to take on these armored monsters and their weapons by himself. It would be a losing battle if it came to hand-to-hand, but he wasn't ready to resign himself to defeat just yet.
"Cut the lines!" Andras bellowed, taking his dagger out and slicing at the rope attached to the hook that was embedded in the wooden frame of the deck. Zalex and Carnelian also sawed at the ropes with their own knives, but the intruders were too fast. Two were on the deck within seconds, and more hooks were thrown and dug their teeth into whatever wood they could snag.
The scaly snout of the Drayk whipped around and snapped her teeth at the attackers, tearing a good chunk of their boat's prow and spitting it into the water. She went back for more, and continued tearing at them, snarling and growling in anger and pain as she struggled to be free of the jig.
One of the strangers lost his footing on her deck and tumbled into the water. He flailed and screamed for help, but the weight of his armor dragged him beneath the surface and he disappeared.
The other invader lunged for the weakest on the deck, Carnelian, but was stopped short by Andras. The two clashed, Andras armed only with a short dagger but without the burden of heavy armor he moved much faster. He dodged a couple jabs and a swinging sword before he slipped his hand through and sunk the dagger into the soft exposed throat. Both hands of the bearded man went to his neck, trying to prevent the scarlet blood from spraying out and dropping his sword on the deck.
The blood spilled onto Andras' bare hand as well, and the warmth shocked him. He drew his hand back, staring for a moment at the red spray covering his skin. Someone else's life stained his hand. In that moment he heard Tanor's words, "When you kill, something inside you dies as well. Something you cannot get back." He glanced back up to the dying soldier. The man stared at him, cursing him with his eyes as he sunk to the deck. For a moment he regretted what he had done, wishing he could take it back. But then more attackers boarded the ship, flailing weapons around threatening to harm his friends, and he forgot his woe. Andras kicked the dying soldier over the edge into the water and retrieved the blade his opponent dropped. Finally, a worth-while weapon! He met two more boarders in a similar manner, Zalex helping him dispatch one and send him over the edge, the other ended up without a head atop his shoulders. One had managed to rake Andras' shoulder with a knife before he, too, had departed from the rest of his body.
Andras didn't regret those. In fact, each one he dispatched sent a surging thrill through him. He liked it. He liked the way the sword cut into the flesh, sending out a spray of blood as it robbed his opponent of life. In his hands he held incredible power, the power of life and death and he chose to deal out death. It felt good.
"They're sending you to the wrong school!" Zalex exclaimed, the awe evident on his face and in his voice. Andras showed his agreement with a nod, still panting from his efforts. The ship pulled away, and didn't appear to be chasing them anymore, but he had a feeling that was no cause for celebration.
The vessel moved to face its broadside their way. They stood and watched it, not knowing what to expect but all had a feeling it couldn't be good. Andras' arm was throbbing, but he was too preoccupied with the enemy's intentions to tend to it yet. Thunder sounded and smoke spouted from a strange looking mouth that appeared through a window facing them. An explosion sounded, and water shot up into the sky, raining over them. Everyone dropped to the deck, including Andras who lost the weapons he had held in his hands. He looked around startled and confused. What had just happened?
There was no time to gather their senses before the thunder sounded again and was followed by another explosive geyser just in front of them. Carnelian screamed, the Drayk roared in anger. She was trying to swim away, now heavily injured from her run in with the strangers, but it wasn't fast enough or far enough. The explosions kept peppering the water around them, sending the geysers into the air each time and reminding them how close they were coming to being the next target.
Running away wasn't helping, and the mother Drayk must have realized that. She spun around, facing the ship that assailed her, and prepared her own firey breath in retaliation. The ball of fire hit the other ship's masts and the sheets of white erupted into flames, sending the men on the deck scrambling. Another explosion rang out.
"We have to get off this!" Zalex shouted to Andras who agreed with enthusiasm. There would be no happy ending for this duel, and when the boat sank, the students sank with her. One youngling still clung to its mother's tail and admidst the melee of the canon-fire and the retaliatory fireballs they were able to coax it over to the protected side where they would climb on. Four of them would be a bit much for such a little thing, but they had no other means of escape.
Zalex climbed down, Luke followed. Andras ducked to avoid a spray from another explosion, then searched around for Carnelian. Where was she? She had been standing by his side for the entire time, but now she was gone and he had only turned his head for a few seconds. His eyes scanned the water in case she had been knocked over board, but nothing showed up. Then he caught a glimpse of her inside the cabin.
"Carnelian!" he shouted for her, but she didn't answer. He ran over to the cabin, shouting her name down the short flight of stairs. A faint voice answered back. She was trying to round up the serviles that were hiding down there so they could be rescued as well. "Leave them," he commanded. He walked down the stairs and his feet stepped into ankle deep water and the level was rising.
"They'll drown," she insisted, still refusing to come back with him empty handed. He grabbed a handful of robe and dress on her shoulder and yanked her back with him. She shouted and screamed in protest, repeating "They'll die!"
"You'll die with them!" he hollered as he dragged her up on to the deck just in time to see the Drayk lay on the other ship a hefty shower of fire that left more wood on its hull and masts in flames. He stood still only for a moment to watch the display before he pulled Carnelian with him to the side where the other two were waiting. He lowered her down to where hands could grab her and pull her to safety.
It was his turn next, and he climbed over the railing and began walking his feet down the side. He lowered his foot to find something to stand up but he would never find that solid footing.
Canon fire hit the Drayk square in the chest and the explosion was immense, sending bits of scaly flesh and the wooden boat that had been built atop her back flying everywhere. Andras' body was thrown back and hammered into the water so hard that he was left dazed and drifting out of consciousness.
The water had swallowed him, and nearby the enormous body of the large Drayk was sinking to her grave on the sea floor. Andras was caught in the suction that was drawing him down with her, and his limbs fought against the current to no avail. Above his head he could see the light dancing on the surface of the choppy water fading away as he was drawn further down. There were black silhouettes of debris floating, but no where could his eyes find the silhouette of the little Drayk and its three rescued passengers. They must have fallen victim to the explosion as well.
His lungs began to ache, his head started to pound as the need to breathe was becoming overwhelming. He fought it as long as he was able to but soon instinct took over and he brought in a lungful of saltwater. His body spasmed as it realized there was no air to breathe but the more he fought the quicker he was losing. The faint light above him beckoned him back to the surface where he would breathe air once again, but a tunnel closed in on him and soon he could see nothing.
He heard a voice speaking to him. It was distant and muffled, but it soon became clear enough that he could understand what it was saying. It was Margus. He was talking about the things that happened to him when he sailed off to Shaper school. Then he spoke of their father, a man that Andras preferred not to ever think about, and he spoke of the pride he had for his brother who was also to become a Shaper. When the subject was brought up Andras felt angry at Margus. "Why would you do this to me?" he asked him, as though Margus had chosen to be killed so his brother would have to take his place. But Margus didn't answer. His tone changed.
"Why are you here?" he asked. "You don't belong here, not yet." Andras didn't understand. He liked it there, wherever "there" was, and he didn't want to go back. There was pain in the place he left. It was cold, frightening, unpleasant. His brother's form materialized before him, wearing the robes of a Master Shaper. He reached a hand out, touching Andras in the center of his chest. Although the fingers barely touched him Andras felt as though he had been kicked in the chest, and he doubled over, threatening to vomit or choke. His brother gave no explanation for his strange behavior. He disappeared from sight saying as he left, "It's time to wake up now."