King Of Souls (Book 2) (14 page)

Whatever these sorcerer’s had done to Brees, they hadn’t killed his compassion. Danielle could see it lurking in his eyes. “What if I told you I could have you there today?”

Brees raised an eyebrow, and Danielle smiled.

***

The Damocles churned through the ice ravaged sea hugging Meranthia’s northern coastline. The pitch-black night offered much needed camouflage for the ship and her crew. The recent stint of mild weather had offered the best sailing Tara had seen since her arrival six weeks ago. But, the temperature had dropped twenty degrees. Now, ice chunks battered the ship’s wooden bow every few feet.

“General Demos, we can’t sail these waters another night or the ice will sink us,” Tara said.

“Yes mistress. We’ve sailed away from the coast. Our scouts have spotted Meranthian warships nearer the coastline. It’s our intention to avoid confrontation until necessity dictates otherwise.” General Demos’s yellow eyes flickered downward before meeting Tara’s.

Tara had known General Demos long enough to understand his quirks. He held something from her. “What aren’t you telling me General Demos?”

General Demos’s forked tongue flickered. “It’s the sea ice mistress. I’m afraid it’s growing worse by the hour. Our scouts are reporting solid ice an hour ahead. If we don’t sail nearer the coast, we won’t last the night.”

“Then take us closer,” Tara said. “You don’t need my counsel for that.”

A low hiss escaped General Demos’s chest. “Yes Mistress, I would’ve done so already, but that brings the Damocles within range of a port city larger than suits our needs.”

“We’ve the Porthleven villagers and your commandos below decks. Might this port city suit our needs after all? I’m stronger now Gregor. If we can control this port, we can move inland.”

“Draco riders report a large shipyard in the harbor protected by a Meranthian naval base,” General Demos said. “We’ve come so far to risk everything on a needless gamble. Our draco scouts have reported a smaller village to the north that’s far more suitable.”

General Demos had risen to the highest rank of the Baerinese military structure for a reason, and she trusted his advice. “It seems we don’t have a choice do we General Demos? Can we make it past the shipyard undetected?”

“Perhaps. Much depends on the quality of the knights serving the young king. I believe they could detect us, if they’re watching.”

The Meranthians couldn’t understand the nature of her magic, and she had a few tricks up her sleeve. “Sail toward the warmer water General Demos. We’ll take our chances with the Meranthian navy.”

“Yes mistress.” General Demos bowed before disappearing toward the ship’s stern.

The Damocles groaned as it swung portside slipping through water teeming with boulder-sized ice. Over the next quarter-hour, the sea ice gave way to warmer coastal waters. The frigate made good time as it traveled north hugging the rocky shore.

Tara felt, rather than heard, a presence beside her in the freezing night air she loved so much, and she waited for General Demos to speak.

“The Meranthian town of Ripool lies a few minutes north beyond this peninsula.” General Demos pointed to a dark rocky outline extending into the veiled coastline beyond.

Overhead a low hiss split the silence followed by the sound of leathery wings beating against the frigid night air. A wrinkled brown draco came into view before settling atop the scout’s landing station amidships. The dark shadow of a Baerinese scout slid from the draco’s thin saddle and hurried down an ice covered ladder.

General Demos signaled for the scout, and the lone figure hustled toward the ship’s bow.

The purple scaled Baerinese scout appeared before Tara and knelt touching his knees and palms to the ice covered deck. His forked tongue slithered outward as if tasting the frozen sea air.

“Rise and give us your report Stefan,” Tara said.

The Baerinese scout stood towering three feet over Tara, but a head shorter than General Demos. “Two Navy ships approach our position my lady. They’re waiting just beyond the tip of this peninsula. But, the city of Ripool sleeps.”

“Did you see any soul knights aboard either ship?”

“I’m sorry my lady, the ship’s decks carried few lights, and I couldn’t determine the nature of the enemy raiding party.”

Tara gave the scout a brief nod. “Thank you Stefan. You’ve done well. Continue your patrol and inform me of any changes.”

“Yes, my lady.” The scout bowed low and hurried across the icy deck. He climbed aboard the draco’s saddle, and his thin lips parted, revealing jagged rows of sharp yellow teeth. A low rumbling hiss escaped the scout's mouth. The draco let loose a high-pitched squeal before flapping its long leathery wings and climbing into the night sky.

“General Demos, ready your squadrons,” Tara said. “I’ll need them in position as we round the cape.”

General Demos bowed. “Yes mistress. Should I tell the captain to alter our course?”

Tara smiled. “No Gregor. Tell the captain to slow as we round the cape. Just have your teams ready.”

General Demos bowed before descending narrow wooden stairs set near the ship's bow.

Ahead, the peninsula’s rocky finger appeared. Thick layers of slushy ice coated a thin strip of black jagged rocks.

As Tara ordered, the Damocles slowed. A half-dozen oil lamps hanging near the ship’s bow creaked on rusty hinges swaying with the change in speed and course.

If Elan had made a different choice, they could’ve changed the world, but his path didn’t include Tara. He’d made that clear. Elan’s path saw him bond with the conniving Earth Mother.

Slow heat simmered in the pit of Tara’s stomach. How she wished she had the chance to taste Lora’s soul. She and Elan could’ve ruled life and death in a way the creators never intended. They could’ve forged a power the world had never seen. But, he couldn’t overcome his antiquated morals and ethics. Maybe she’d asked too much of him. Maybe she could persuade this Ronan Latimer instead.

The frigate rounded the rocky tip and the hull’s wooden boards groaned. The port side oars paused above the choppy sea. The starboard oarsmen cut a trench through the water pivoting the frigate eastward.

Tara embraced the source of magic rooted inside her body and tapped into a small vein. She would need her power during the coming hour and resisted an urge to fill herself. Without a fresh supply of souls, her power would fade and she’d grow weaker.

She’d have time to gorge on the infinite feast of unprotected souls awaiting her in Freehold. With so much power, Elan, Lora, and Trace combined couldn’t stop her. But, right now, she would conserve her strength.

The Damocles rounded the peninsula and set a slow eastward course toward Ripool.

Tara could taste the souls awaiting her in the port city ahead. Would Ronan find her in Ripool? Had he planned some elaborate trap? Facing him now, before he came into his power, might provide a higher chance of success. Better now than later.

She recalled the ancient notes that she and Elan had translated. Gabriel’s notes hinted at true power beyond any Elan and she had unlocked. Had this boy-king tapped into that vein? If he had, he might understand magic’s raw essence in a way she never could. If he had discovered Gabriel’s power, could he help her? Would he help her?

Tara’s stomach fluttered. Chasing impossible dreams wouldn’t serve her. Not with so many Baerinese souls depending on her.

Dozens of oil lamps littered the decks of the Meranthian war cutters waiting in the waters ahead. A beacon of white-hot soul light moved along the starboard side of the nearest vessel and stopped amidships.

Tara shielded her eyes as the knight’s aura gleamed against the pitch-black sky.

Thirty yards away, a knight aboard the Meranthian naval ship amplified her voice. “Stand down your oarsmen and prepare for boarding.”

The stairs behind Tara creaked, and General Demos appeared at her side a moment later. “Mistress, I’ve ordered the oarsmen to follow the Meranthian demands.”

The rhythmic groaning of the ship’s oars ceased. The Damocles slowed, drifting to a halt twenty yards from the Meranthian war vessels.

“Thank you General Demos. Make certain we properly greet the Meranthian boarding party.”

General Demos bowed before retreating across deck. In his wake, a pair of Baerinese crossbowmen followed as they fell back toward the Damocles’s shadowy stern.

Tara moved from the ship’s bow and strolled along the starboard side’s wooden railing. She stopped and gazed at the Meranthian boarding craft cutting through the black water below.

A trio of soul knights sat in the first of two rowboats laden with well-armed and armored soldiers.

Tara tracked the yellow, blue, and white strands of their souls leaving tracers across the black sky. Their souls, protected by life magic, remained out of her reach, but she could handle them nonetheless. Her mouth watered while she counted the souls of the unprotected soldiers weighing down the rowboats.

A rope ladder flew outward and rattled against the Damocles’s frozen hull.

Blue shields flickered to life, surrounding each soldier in the Meranthian raiding party.

A golden-skinned soul knight wearing officer’s insignia grabbed hold of the frozen rope ladder. He climbed up and stepped onto the ship's deck while his crew joined him.

“Greetings Captain,” Tara said. “On behalf of the crew of the Damocles, I offer you a warm welcome and safe passage. Please come aboard,” Tara said.

The knight trained his piercing eyes on Tara, and her skin crawled.

One by one, the soul knights and soldiers climbed the rope ladder until two dozen warriors stood atop the Damocles’s icy deck. The blue shields surrounding the soldiers shimmered, bathing the deck with an eerie glow.

A tug of nervous anxiety gripped Tara’s chest. She stood exposed and vulnerable to the combined power of three fully imbued soul knights. Did these men and women understand the true power they held?

The golden soul knight’s aura blazed, and he leveled his gaze at Tara as if he could bore a hole through her head and harvest her thoughts. “I hereby seize this vessel and all aboard under the authority granted by King Ronan Latimer. You’ll remain where you stand until we’ve searched this vessel from top to bottom.”

Hard goose bumps rose on Tara’s flesh. “Gregor.” Her single word hung frozen in the still night air.

A whooshing sound followed by the hard crack of two inbound crossbow bolts landed behind the soul knights.

The soldiers and soul knights spun as a dozen more crossbow bolts whizzed by sticking in the bottom of their two boarding craft. Cold seawater seeped through fresh fist-sized holes in both boat’s bottom.

Golden weaves of energy flowed over the captain’s skin while he turned his gaze skyward toward the source of the attack.

Tara, channeling void magic, sent tendrils of death mist curling from her outstretched palm. She pushed it toward the nearest of three soldiers scanning the ship’s deck for the source of the attack.

A brilliant orb of light appeared in the outstretched palm of the blue soul knight. The shield circling the knight’s body flared sending bright blue light across the ship’s deck.

Tara’s attack met brief resistance from the shield’s surrounding the soldiers. But, her power far exceeded the soul knight’s even in her weakened state.

Black mist passed through the translucent blue shield. It coiled upward circling the soldier's neck and drifting up his nostrils.

A ripple of pleasure coursed through Tara’s body. She shuddered as the man’s life force drained from his body, adding to her depleted reserves.

The soldier’s dull gray soul flickered, and Tara hooked the last wisps of magic to his soul thread and yanked. The trapped soul popped loose like a suction cup lifting free a piece of cut glass.

Gray soul energy weaved through Tara’s death mist traveling across the deck and entering her body. She shuddered with pleasure and added the soldier's soul to her growing reserves. Her raw power increased while the soldier’s actions came under her control.

Tara pulled on the trapped souls of the two soldiers near the first further heightening her growing power base. With three soldiers already under her control, could she capture more before enlisting their aid?

The golden-skinned captain whirled and glared pointing his bright yellow blade at Tara’s chest. “Helena, shield that woman.”

Blue light burst from the outstretched palm of the shield knight while Tara wrapped her body in a thick weave of pure black mist.

An opaque wall of blackness appeared between Tara and the wide-eyed shield knight. The blue orb collided with the as her spirit attack disappeared into the void.

A crossbow bolt slammed into the blue knight’s shield. A second bolt landed with a dull thud near the golden knight’s feet.

The captain whirled and faced a short round man standing over his right shoulder.

The old man’s white soul thread hummed with nervous tension while he cowered behind a thick blue shield circling his body.

“Stand ready Ivan.” Ten-feet overhead, the golden knight leaped atop the ship’s wheelhouse. He grabbed hold of the central mast's ladder and climbed.