Kal Moonheart Trilogy: Dragon Killer, Roll the Bones & Sirensbane (73 page)

Kal’s boots hit the deck of the dreadnought with a clang. The entire deck was a patchwork of six-foot square sheets of iron, fastened together by giant rivets. An enormous chimney rose into the sky and belched out thick black smoke. The vessel would be driven by steam, Kal guessed.

Azul had found a door. At least it looked like a door; the Eldragoran examined the metal wheel for a moment, then wrenched it anticlockwise. It spun freely, and the door opened outwards on heavily greased hinges. Azul stepped aside to let a troop of zombies stagger out. Lula was on hand to round them up; she had a length of rope along which manacles had been tied. Kal nodded in satisfaction; there would be no more zombie deaths added to her count today if she could help it.

She also didn’t want Lula’s fate in her hands. ‘Stay up top, Lu,’ she said. ‘We’ll send any more zombies your way. Find a boat and get them off this ship.’

‘Aye aye, Captain!’ Lula said. She snapped manacles around a zombies wrists while it tried to paw her face. These were Lula’s people, when it came down to it, and Kal had rather Lula help them than risk her life plunging into the heart of the enemy’s stronghold.

Kal stepped over the bulkhead and into the dreadnought. Azul followed, as did the dozen or so surviving Eldragoran marines. Boots clattering loudly, they all found themselves on a metal gantry overlooking a large hall full of strange machinery.

‘Be quiet, you imbeciles,’ Azul chided his troops.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Kal said. ‘He knows we’re here. He knows everything. Our only hope is that he eventually runs out of tricks and traps by the time we find him.’

Azul nodded. ‘When we find him, he is mine!’

‘It doesn’t matter
who
gets him,’ Kal said as they made their way down a spiralling metal staircase. ‘He can trip on his own robe and knock his brains out for all I care.’

‘It matters to
me
,’ Azul said. ‘I want revenge; for my brother, who Sirensbane had killed even after he tortured him and found him innocent; for riches and for glory. Do you not care about any of those things, Kal?’

She shook her head. ‘Not any more. I just want him dead.’

Kal, Azul and the marines spread out. The interior of the dreadnought was a maze of narrow passageways and hissing machines. Strange phosphorescent lamps were fixed in the overheads, providing just about enough light to see. The whole ship was compartmentalised, presumably to contain damage and flooding. There was no way that the Armada would be able to destroy it by cannon alone. Kal ran her palms along the warm machines; if she only knew where to start, maybe she could dismantle the dreadnought from the
inside
.

She could hear Azul’s voice blathering away from one of the parallel passageways: ‘You are not what I first thought, Kalina Moonheart. I had heard that this famous
Dragon Killer
was heroic, fearless and willing to gamble everything in her quest for fame and fortune. I am relieved, in a way. I still admire you, girl, but I have to say that you are only the
second
greatest buccaneer in the world at the moment. Ha ha ha—
look out
!’

Kal could hear running feet, shouts, and the sound of guns being fired at close quarters. A man rounded the corner—a Nubaran pirate wielding a big axe. Kal’s reactions were faster than his, and she managed to shove her blade between his ribs before he even had chance to take a swing at her. She quickly moved into the shadows between two of the phosphorescent lamps, and took the next enemy before he even noticed her, let alone attacked her. She grabbed him by the mouth and pulled her cleaver across his neck. He fell to the metal floor making a lot of mess, but not a lot of noise.

Kal felt a surge of exhilaration, and not a little satisfaction. Two quick clean kills; and this time, enemies she wouldn’t be losing any sleep over. It was a rare moment of triumph in this whole sorry business.

She could hear clangs as swords hit metal walls and pipes, and the double-bang of Azul’s pistols going off. Seconds later, there was another double-bang as he reholstered his spent pistols and drew the second pair from his bandolier. After that, there was silence except for Eldragoran voices. The surprise attack had been thwarted.

Then Kal saw movement at the end of the passageway. A red-cloaked figure passed through her line of sight and disappeared into the gloom. Seconds later, Azul must have seen it too—Kal could hear his shout, followed by the sound of pursuit. She followed, but with a little more caution.

She rounded a corner and found a compartment with an open circular hatch in the floor. A ladder descended to what sounded like a noisy engine room. It was hot down there, and Kal could sense the movement of numerous pistons and flywheels. She descended slowly … and arrived late at the scene of a bloodbath.

Azul was standing in the middle of a pile of bodies: his marines were all dead, as were about twenty mercenaries. The red-cloaked figure was lying face down, a sword in its back. Azul was clutching his ribs; when he pulled his hand away, it was red.

‘Are you alright?’ Kal asked.

‘A mere scratch,’ Azul replied. ‘I didn’t have time to reload my pistols, so I had to resort to a little close combat. A few nicks are inevitable. Why don’t you have a lick, Kal—Eldragoran blood tastes finer than the most expensive wine.’ Azul pulled back the hood of the corpse at his feet. ‘We should toast my dead
compañeros
, and celebrate the death of—’

‘It’s not him,’ Kal said.

The man under the cloak was tall and slim, but that was where the resemblance to Sirensbane ended. Azul swore in several languages. ‘Where
is
he? I’ve had enough of this accursed trickery!’

Kal tried to contain the frustration she also felt. She looked around the engine room. The giant turbine towered over them, and the steam that powered it was generated by hundreds of furnaces. The dreadnought could travel without sails or oar; it must burn an incredible amount of fuel.

‘I know where to go,’ she said.

‘Good,’ Azul said. ‘You lead the way. I will follow your pretty little ass.’

He winced as he moved. Azul was making light of his wound, but then Kal didn’t have time or words to waste on sympathy, so it was just as well. They made their way to a spot amidships, below the waterline. It was here that Kal noticed the bulkheads were thicker and reinforced. She and Azul took out two guards silently, and pulled open a heavy hatch.

The compartment within was stacked with racks of barrels from floor to ceiling. Each barrel was stamped with the enigmatic letters:
X X X
.

‘This is not the Magician’s quarters,’ Azul said. ‘This is …’

‘The powder magazine,’ Kal confirmed. ‘Come on, we need to find some rope.’

They searched around the compartment. Azul found a coil of thinly-braided cotton rope, and Kal tapped one of the barrels. But their preparation was disturbed by the sounds of approaching enemies.

‘This is not going to work, Kal,’ Azul said. ‘If we leave a fuse burning, they are going to find it and stamp it out.’

Kal punched her fist in anger. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘We need to cut our losses and leave. Are you ready to run?’

Azul sighed. ‘No,’ he said.

‘What?’ Kal said. ‘Come on. I don’t even think the Magician is aboard. I didn’t see any evidence of a drugs lab anywhere.’

Azul opened his shirt, and Kal could see that the wound he had received was more than just a glancing blow. His stomach had been punctured; it was the kind of mortal wound that tortured recipients with a long lingering death.

‘Go, Kal,’ he said. ‘I will give you as much time as I can.’

Kal helped him as he struggled to load and cock his pistol for the final time. Before she left, she kissed his cheek.

‘Give the Magician a painful death for me, Kal.’ he said. ‘Tell him I will see him in hell. Oh, and tell my king’s daughter that she will have to settle for a lesser man now. Or maybe a woman. Perhaps you could do her for me, Kal.’

‘Shut up, you ridiculous man,’ Kal said, laughing back a tear.

‘You deserve all the spoils and riches of this world now, Kal,’ Azul said. ‘Who is the greatest buccaneer to sail the Silver Seas?’

‘You are,’ she reminded him.

‘Only for as long as it takes you to get the hell off this ship. Then I pass my title to you. Now go!’

Kal didn’t need to be told thrice. She left the magazine and ran. The waves of pirates and mercenaries ignored her in their panic to check the powder. Her injured leg felt like it was on fire as she climbed the ladder, but it just served to remind her that she wasn’t dead yet. Back up on deck, she was relieved to see that Lula had gone, and the
Mort Royal
was a safe distance away, engaged in a close-range battle with the remaining pirate ships.

Kal ran the length of the deck. She didn’t have time to lower a boat. Instead, she ran up the sharply pointing prow and continued along the narrow bowsprit, hurling herself off as late as she dared before she slipped. There was no time to ready herself for a dive—the best thing she could do was curl her body into a ball to avoid a bellyflop.

The last thing she heard before she hit the water was a tremendous
boom
. There was a flash of bright white, and then the noise and light were suppressed as she was swallowed up by the sea. As she sank, she was buffeted by shockwaves and battered by chunks of metal. She swallowed water and was spun around at the same time, only to see a great metal section of the dreadnought’s hull blocking out the sun above the water.

When it hit her, she felt a smack of pain, then nothing.

END OF PART FOUR

PART FIVE

UNDER THE SEA

Now my heart is broken, my bridges burned,

And all I know has been overturned.

But when the world ends and we’re both free,

Look for me under the sea.

V.i

Blood on the Snow

Kal and Deros slowly backed away down the canyon. The frozen head of Mister Speckle seemed to watch them as they went. From somewhere up ahead in the dark, snowy mists they heard a shuffling sound and a bestial grunt. As one, Deros and Kal turned around and ran back the way they had come.

Except that running was impossible in the deep snow; instead, they had to almost jump, lifting their knees right up and hopping into the footprints that they had made on their way up the canyon. It was a slow, agonising retreat, and Kal knew that at this rate there was no way they were going to escape the monster whose hibernation they had just disturbed.

And then Deros did something unexpected: he dived to one side of the trail, disappearing into a deep drift. Kal immediately understood, and threw herself in, too. She landed on top of Deros, and together they scooped snow on top of them. If the snow could conceal and contain the monster’s scented trap, then it could also conceal Kal and Deros.

They hugged each other tight as something shambled past their hiding place, its heavy feet shaking the snow.

‘Good thinking!’ Kal whispered into Deros’s ear. ‘We would have been done for!’

‘Well, yeah, it was either this or try and fight it,’ Deros said in a faintly hysterical voice. ‘But I think two against one might have been a little unfair on the poor creature!’

Kal just hugged him tighter. ‘You
saved
us!’ she said. ‘I’m so, so sorry. Coming up here was a stupid idea. It’s all my fault.’

‘No, no,’ Deros tried to soothe Kal, despite being almost crushed underneath her. ‘You wanted to help Mister Speckle. It’s
my
fault we were even out here in the first place. I wanted to find treasure so bad. We should have stayed home and gone skating on the river instead with all the other kids, but you were kind enough to come with me on this stupid quest.’

Kal almost laughed. ‘Okay then,’ she said. ‘It can be
your
fault!’ She kissed him on the frozen nose. ‘Now let’s get home as fast as we can. Do you think it’s gone yet?’

When they emerged, the canyon was in darkness. The sun had almost disappeared behind the mountains, and when they reached the mouth of the canyon, the sloping field of snow they had climbed to get here was glowing orange. The sunset sparkled on the icy limbs of the Watcher Tree, and the forests and village below were just dark shadows.

A
darker
shadow moved along the tree line. Something was down there, something big.

‘What do you think it is?’ Kal said.

Deros squinted as he peered into the gloom. ‘It’s either a giant or a troll … or maybe even a giant troll!’

They watched it as it following the path they had taken along the tree line to Dark Dell, where they had discovered the stash of fool’s gold. The troll, or whatever it was, seemed to be following the only tracks it could find. But when it didn’t find them at Dark Dell, it would follow their scent down through the forest and back—

‘Home!’ Kal cried. Suddenly she was more scared than ever. Her parents’ cottage was the first place the creature would come to as it descended the mountain. ‘We have to do something!’ she said. ‘We have to warn them!’

‘How?’ Deros said. ‘Build a big fire? That wouldn’t be very sensible; the troll would come back up and get us instead. They always tell us to run and hide if we see a monster. Let’s go down to the forest and climb a tree!’

Climb a tree …
the Watcher Tree!

‘Come on, then!’ Kal said, hurling herself down the mountain slope. Her legs gave way almost immediately, but she fell onto her belly and started sliding down the snowy field. She shifted her shoulders to adjust her direction until she was heading directly for the Watcher Tree—the giant pine that stood alone, half a mile above the tree line.

It was a hair-raising ride. At one point Kal realised that she was skidding so fast she would probably break all her bones if she hit the tree. She twisted around until she was speeding feet first, and pulled her axe out of her belt. She jammed it into the snow behind her, using the blade as a brake. It was barely enough. She was still going to smash her legs at this speed. At the last second, Kal turned side-on and hit the trunk of the Watcher Tree with a solid thunk that drove the air from her lungs, and sent snow crashing down on top of her from the branches above.