Demonkin (73 page)

“You should talk,” retorted the first fairy. “I saw your ship rise out of the water. It is a good thing the soldiers weren’t paying close attention.”

“It’s a good thing the soldiers didn’t have an elven scope like Alex,” offered a third fairy.

“Don’t use that name in Zara,” frowned one of the fairies. “He is Garth Shado here.”

“Oh?” retorted the offended fairy. “And talking openly about the illusions is okay? Who makes the rules around here? An ogre?”

* * * *

Grand General Kyrga stood before a wall map with Emperor Jaar standing next to him. Colonel Taerin stood behind them both and held his tongue as the two leaders discussed the state of the elves.

“Farmin was hit a day before the others,” Kyrga was saying as he pointed to the city on the map with a long pointer. “I believe this was done so that the same ship could pick up the children in Valdo.”

“But Queen Samir reported that the children escaped only because the storm tore apart the reeducation center. Are you saying that the storm was not at fault?”

“I am not surprised that Queen Samir would seek to deny any responsibility for the escape,” replied Kyrga, “but I have received other reports from Valdo. The Skate was in that city briefly on the night of the new moon. That is no coincidence.”

“I agree,” stated Emperor Jaar. “I shall have a talk with our uppity queen the next time she visits. What about Giza and here in Despair. Surely the same ship is not accommodating all four cities.”

“Not Despair,” agreed the Grand General, “but it is possible for Giza. Not directly of course, as no ship is capable of such a feat, not even with a water witch at the helm, but remember that the area east of Giza has been used by the rebels before. All they had to do was get the children from Giza to some point on the coast near the Pyres. The Skate could then pick them up on the way to the Needle.”

“The Needle?” balked the emperor. “And then to where? Do you really think they plan to sail through the Needle to get to Elfwoods? That is absurd.”

“They are not going to Elfwoods,” stated General Fortella as he entered the room.

Everyone turned to look at the Commanding General of the Second Corps.

“Elfwoods is deserted,” the general continued. “We found a well-beaten path to Shark Point, and my men saw ships sailing away to the south.”

“To the south?” echoed Kyrga. “To where?”

“I do not know,” answered General Fortella as he walked towards the wall map and stared at it, “but it is clear to me that their destination is not Elfwoods. They do not ever plan to return there.”

“How can you be so sure?” asked the emperor.

“Because they slaughtered over a thousand of our men,” replied the general. “The changing of shift for the mines in the Badlands coincided with the new moon this month. The elves took the opportunity to attack the center and the mine detail at the same time. They have no intention of ever returning to the Elfwoods.”

“They are heading for Alcea!” exclaimed the emperor. “Are they so stupid as to think that we will allow them to ever reach it?”

“There is one ship of children that will not be making the voyage,” snarled Kyrga. “Colonel, send a message to the Needle. I want the Skate sunk, and I will hear no excuses for failure. I don’t care if they are sailing without sails or floating through in a dense fog. I want that ship sunk.”

Colonel Taerin hastily scribbled a note and handed it to one of the door guards with instructions to send it to the Needle. He did not want to miss any of the conversation, as the generals and the emperor were speaking freely as they seldom did when others were around.

“That will doom three-fourths of the children,” frowned the emperor, “but what about the rest? The children were supposed to keep the elves in slavery. Who will toil at the mines now?”

“You could start with the men of the V Corps,” suggested General Fortella. “I am sure that there will soon be others to join them.”

“True.” Kyrga nodded. “The incompetence of the guards at the centers is quite disturbing. Perhaps some lessons are in order.”

“Incompetence is not limited to the guards at the centers,” Emperor Jaar said angrily. “The rebels have managed to strike all over the Federation with impunity. Why is that, Grand General Kyrga?”

Kyrga was caught off guard by the verbal slap. His face reddened as he turned to see Colonel Taerin still in the room.

“You were given a message to deliver, Colonel,” scowled Kyrga. “See to it now. And you are dismissed, General Fortella.”

The two officers left the room, General Fortella closing the door behind them.

“If you must criticize     me,” Kyrga complained, “please do so in private. It is hard to maintain loyalty when you humiliate me in public.”

“I do not need an underling to tell me how to behave,” retorted the emperor. “I think at times you forget your place in the scheme of things. You were nothing before I promoted you, Kyrga. I can easily return you to the lower ranks, and I become tempted to do so when problems like these arise. Why are these rebels able to waltz into our cities and do whatever they want to?”

“I will get to the bottom of these escapes,” promised Kyrga. “My investigation will be thorough. I promise you that.”

“Wonderful,” replied the emperor, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Then when I have Samir, Harowin, and Anator here, I can tell them the reason why Despair suffered the same fate as their cities. I am sure that will make them feel sufficiently cowed.” The emperor glared at Kyrga and continued in a more threatening tone. “I hold the upper hand in the Federation because we are constantly able to point out the weaknesses of the other rulers. Your ineptitude here in Despair is jeopardizing my position, Kyrga, and I will not put up with that. How are you going to rectify this problem?”

Grand General Kyrga stared at the wall map to avoid the gaze of the emperor. His mind raced to think of a way to blame the escape in Despair on one of the other monarchs, but he could not think of one. Suddenly, the solution struck him, and he smiled at its simplicity.

“I do not understand the problem,” offered Kyrga. “I have heard nothing about any escape in Despair. As far as I know, the elven children are still safely ensconced in the reeducation center.”

The emperor blinked in confusion, but only for a moment. Slowly, he sighed and nodded in agreement.

* * * *

Captain Gomery stood at the bow rail alongside the water witch. A tiny sliver of a moon hung over the Cliffs of Ranool as the Skate slid silently through the calm waters of the Needle. The tiny lights of other ships showed in all directions, but Haditha was skilled in avoiding any close contact with the other vessels. Every so often, the captain would dip a ladle into a barrel of chum lashed to the rail. He would then toss the mixture of raw meat and fish scraps into the sea. Invariably, he would turn to see if he could spot the telltale fins of the sharks that were surely following the Skate through the Needle.

“We are getting farther away from the Isle of Despair with each hour,” frowned Captain Gomery. “Why not let them see us now?”

“You seem to be anxious to have huge boulders rain down upon you,” retorted Haditha. “Just because I have the ability to breathe under water, that doesn’t mean that we are going to survive this journey. When the Federation finally spots us, they will throw tons of rocks onto this ship. When they are done with their barrage, you would be lucky to find a piece of wood as large as your body. What makes you think those rocks will miss hitting us?”

“I guess I hadn’t thought of that,” frowned the captain. “I figured that they would sink the Skate, and we would merely return to the Isle of Despair like we did when we sunk the fleet in the Sea of Tears.”

“We left the fleet burning on the surface,” stated Haditha. “This will be far different. The rocks that will be raining down on us will continue downward until they strike the bottom of the channel. Where do you expect us to hide?”

“Then let us abandon the ship now,” urged the captain. “There is no need for us to be on the Skate when it is struck. We have the mannequins in place. The ship will appear to be crewed. Let us go now.”

“That would allow us to flee safely,” agreed the water witch, “but it might not accomplish what we have come to do. They must know by now that a water witch is guiding the Skate. They will expect me to use my skills to avoid the rocks falling down on us. If I do not do that, the illusion of the children fleeing may not pass the test. We cannot afford to leave them skeptical. They must truly believe that the children have gone to their watery graves.”

“And you are willing to die for that?” asked the captain.

“I am.” Haditha nodded. “A month ago I would have laughed at such sentiments, but I was ignorant of what was going on around me. Over the years I have grown selfish and self-absorbed, but seeing the joy in those elven faces has changed me. I no longer see your friends as competition for your heart. I understand them now, and I find their motives pure and wholesome. They truly are putting their lives on the line for other people, and I find that remarkable. I envy them for their clarity of purpose and their selflessness. They are the most noble of people, and I am glad to have been able to be a part of their lives.”

“There is nothing in your words that I can disagree with,” the captain said sadly, “but I am not ready to lose you.”

“When I spoke of your friends,” smiled the water witch, “I was also speaking of you. I understand now why you came to Zara, and I know the courage that must have taken. Garth was right. I fell in love with a man who held high ideals, and I tried to make him choose between me and those ideals. I was a fool, and I am sorry for that.”

“Nonsense,” smiled Captain Gomery. “You are too hard on yourself. You may have acted like you didn’t care, but you were always there when you were needed. The months we spent on the Isle of Despair were filled with idyllic wonder, but there were no other chores that we were needed for. When the time came, you were there for the asking.”

“And I am here now,” stated Haditha, “but you do not need to be. Grab an empty barrel and slip over the side before we are sighted. The currents are favorable right now. You might make it back to the island.”

“No.” The captain shook his head and put his arm around the water witch. “I am here with you, and with you is where I want to be, no matter what comes. We will weather this storm together.”

The lovers lapsed into silence for over an hour, but the coming dawn broke their solitude. Faint whistles sounded from the Cliffs of Ranool, and huge rocks started falling into the waters of the Needle. Haditha’s arms moved quickly as she guided the Skate over an erratic course designed to make the ship hard to hit. For several minutes she was successful, but the zoned defense of the Needle made it impossible to sail through unscathed. The first large boulder struck near the stern, and it ripped through the deck with an explosive force. The Skate shuddered under the impact and Haditha was thrown to the deck. Captain Gomery bent over to help the water witch to her feet, but another boulder struck amidships. The Skate groaned as the deck splintered and timbers cracked. The captain tumbled and fell on top of the water witch. Three more rocks hit in close succession, and the Skate split in two, the barrels of chum spilling into the sea.

Captain Gomery wrapped his arms around Haditha as the ship dragged them under. Barrel and crates, which had air trapped inside them, rose towards the surface, as parts of the ship with metal dived for the bottom of the deep channel. Some heavy wooden beams seemed to float under the surface, too buoyant to sink, yet too heavy to race towards the surface. Huge boulders continued to smash into the sea, like meteorites streaking out of a night sky. The turbulence caused by their passing tossed the couple around erratically, and the water witch fought to maintain her bearings. The sharks closed in for a feeding frenzy, but the barrels of chum offered little for them to feast upon. They glided through the murky waters around the sinking vessel in search of prey.

Haditha glanced around nervously and then put her lips to Gomery’s. She breathed air into the captain’s lungs and then returned her attention to the gathering swarm of sharks. While sharks normally did not bother water witches, such was not the case in a feeding frenzy. Several large sharks began circling with a bit too much interest in the water witch and the captain. Haditha raised her arm with the flat of her palm facing the nearest of the sharks. A sudden pulse of water hit the shark in its head, and the creature immediately turned away. The others, unaware of the fate of the first shark, moved in closer. Haditha struck again at the next closest shark, and it too retreated in search of safer game. After the third shark was rebuffed, the gathering retreated, and Haditha moved rapidly towards the Cliffs of Ranool.

Within minutes, they were far from the zone where the boulders continued to plunge into the sea. Within half an hour, they had reached an area of the cliffs that the water witch had been searching for. With Gomery’s arms wrapped around her, Haditha glided into a crevice in the rock wall of the Cliffs of Ranool. She slowed to a crawl as she maneuvered through the narrow cave. Eventually, she rose to the surface. Captain Gomery gasped for air as he looked around. A single beam of light coming from somewhere up above lighted the large cavern.

“Where are we?”

“A cavern where I used to play as a child,” smiled Haditha. “We will be safe from the Federation here. No one but a water witch would know that this cave exists.”

* * * *

Colonel Taerin walked into the office of Grand General Kyrga. He saluted and waited for the general to acknowledge him.

“What is it, Taerin?”

“I thought you would want to know. The Skate has been sunk in the Needle.”

“Really?” brightened Kyrga. “Were there any survivors?”

“None,” answered the colonel. “We were correct about the elves being onboard. The slick of debris stretches out for almost a league, and the gathering of sharks is the largest the watchers have ever seen. There is also a lot of elven clothing, especially in sizes fit for children. There can be no doubt that the Skate was hauling the elven children.”