Ocean Of Fear (Book 6) (13 page)

“I would not have thought that possible if I had not seen it with my own eyes,” she said.

“And thus the balance of power is restored.”

“I still have a dagger,” she said. She did not sound so confident now.

“And I still have a sword.”

“I notice you have not drawn it.”

“I was taught never to draw the weapon unless I intended to kill.”

“That is somewhat reassuring,” she said. “Although it bespeaks an overconfidence bordering on the insane.”

“Why were you watching me?”

“We have an acquaintance in common, you and I, as well as an enemy.”

“And who would that be?” Kormak asked.

“The acquaintance is a Siderean priest who goes by the name of Jonas. The enemy is the man whose palace you studied so intently. Would you care for a drink?”

Kormak considered her words. It was possible that she was one of the Frater’s contacts here. It was one way she would know his name. The other was that Jonas had been taken by the pirates and given up his name and description but that did not feel right. Port Blood was not a place for subtle traps.
 

Keeping his eyes on her, Kormak bent down and picked up her spear. His finger’s found the concealed catch and he flipped it. The blade slipped back into its hiding place. He handed her the weapon and indicated she should precede him out of the alley.

“Lead on,” he said.

She led him into a tavern near the docks. A few men called out to her as they entered. A few men looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and envy. “Good evening, captain,” said the barman as she headed to a table in a distant corner.

“Captain?” Kormak said as he took a seat opposite her. She had shrugged off her cloak now. She wore a leather vest that left her arms exposed. They were long lean and muscular. She flexed her fingers. There was a faint trace of webbing between them.

“A courtesy title,” she said. “I own a ship therefore I am a captain. And no, in case you are wondering I am not a reaver. I am a diver.”

“A diver? One of those who seeks artefacts from the Sunken Kingdoms.”

“I don’t just seek them,” she said. “I find them. My name is Rhiana.”

“Kormak,” he said. “You are one of the Seafolk.”

“A true born child of Saa-Aquor.”

She looked very thoughtful then added. “You sound like a priest.”

“I am, as you have no doubt been told, a Guardian of the Order of the Dawn,” he said. “What is your connection with Jonas?”

“In the past both his patron and his Order were clients of mine. They bought things I brought up from the Sunken Kingdoms. These days we have a mutual enemy.”

There was no mistaking the glint in her eye or the malice in her voice.

 
“The Kraken? Why do you hate him?”

“He killed my sister Mika. She refused to sell him something he wanted. It belonged to me. He has it now.”

“What does he have?”

“A relic of the Sunken Kingdoms, found in the drowned ruins of Quama Rhi. A spell-engine of considerable value to the right person, a thing perhaps unique in the world today.”

“Could you be more specific?”

“A battle suit for making war beneath the ocean.”

“Functioning?”

“It could be made to work by an artificer of sufficient skill. Mika was such a one. He killed her in her shop, while I was at sea, and he took the engine. She was the only kin I had left.”

“I have seen him wearing it,” Kormak said. “The armour is the work of the Old Ones. It looks like living flesh moulded to the wearer’s body.

“No,” she said, “it is metal, perhaps of Solari manufacture.”

“That is not what I saw him in.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You are sure?”

“Never more so”.

“Perhaps he has found something better. No matter. He still owes me for what he took. You are an Aquilean. You know what a blood-debt means.”

“Blood for blood, death for death.”

“Yes.”

“I had not heard the Seafolk went in for such things.”

“I am inaugurating a new tradition.”

“The Kraken has allies.”

“The Quan. There is ancient hatred between such of them as survive, and my people.”

“I had thought them all gone from the world. The great library at Aethelas claims that to be the case.”

“Not all of them—some of the monsters still exist in the deeps. My people hunt them when they find them. They return the favour.”

“What is the connection between the Kraken and the Quan?”

“I don’t know. For years he sought any relic of the Quan or any book that contained the faintest hint of knowledge concerning them. He was obsessed. He quizzed both Mika and I about what we knew of the Quan, paid well for the knowledge.”

“And what do you know of them?”

“They are vampires of a most peculiar sort.”

“Vampires?”

“They drink the lives and the souls of their victims. Take their memories too.”

Kormak thought of his encounter with the Stealer of Flesh, Razhak. “I have had experience of such.”

“Yes, judging by your expression I can see you have. During the dark of the moon, for the past several months the Kraken has fed the Quan victims. Some of them were my friends.”

It was exactly the sort of dark sorcery he was sworn to stop. “I can see why you hate him.”

“Can you?” Rhiana sounded amused. “You look like the sort of man who seeks vengeance. I never thought I was the sort of woman. I find myself uncomfortable with hating someone so intensely. I wish to put an end to the person and thus the hate.”

“I don’t think it works that way,” said Kormak. “What is lost is always still lost. You can’t ever get it back.”

She shrugged. “Nonetheless I am compelled to seek satisfaction in this matter. That is why I passed on the information I did to Jonas and his friends. I have never seen myself as a spy either.”

“It seems to me that the Kraken is well protected.”

“Better than you perhaps think. The Quan guard the waters around his island. They have done so since he returned from a long voyage last year. They come and go from the mansion by night. There is a deep well deep in the Kraken’s house where he communes with them and they bring him dark knowledge.”

“How do you know this?”

“I know the Quan hunt the waters for I have seen them. There is an underwater entrance to the mansion—I have scouted it.”

“Despite the presence of the Quan.”

“I do not fear them. I am not without sorcery myself.” She reached out and touched his hand. A frown knitted her brow as she concentrated. The amulet against his breast grew warm.

“Either your mind is a blank or you are protected by powerful wards.”

“I would advise you not to do that again. I might see it in an unfriendly light,” Kormak said. “I do not like people trying to work magic on me.”

“You felt something then?”

“Yes.” He thought it best not to explain the nature of his defences or how he had divined what she was doing.

“I meant no harm. I merely wished to demonstrate to you why I do not fear the lurkers in the deep.”

“And how do you know what goes on within the palace?”

“There are girls who visit with his crew. They must be paid ten times the normal amount to do so but there are always some who want the gold. When drunk the crew sometimes talk to them. When the girls are drunk they sometimes talk to me.”

“You believe we should work together against the Kraken.”

She smiled. “Unless I miss my guess, you will try to kill him anyway, and I am not about to be robbed of my vengeance. It would be best if we did not work at cross-purposes.”

“I agree.”

“Good,” she said. She sounded pleased.

“I have business elsewhere,” said Kormak. “But I propose we meet here again before the tenth bell.”

“As you say.”

KORMAK RETURNED TO the inn they had used the night before. Frater Jonas was there, nervous at being on his own in a city full of pirates.
 

“Sir...I mean Kormak, I am pleased to see you,” said Jonas. He sounded sincere. Given the way two hard looking men at the next table stared at them, Kormak could understand why. He met their glances and held them till they looked away.

“Did your business go well,” said Kormak. He spoke in a low murmur now so that no one could overhear. Judging by the amount of drinking going on that was not very likely but you never knew who might be a spy. Plenty of other whispered conversations were taking place so no one would think it at all unusual.

Jonas nodded.

“I ran into someone who claimed to know you. Her name was Rhiana.”

“She found you then? She said she would seek you out down by the docks. I told her not to, but she can be stubborn.”

“Next time let me know when you’re going to put someone on my trail. I might have killed her.”

“I did not know that I would find her so quickly or that she would seek you out. Otherwise I would have. My apologies if I caused you any problems.”

“What else did you do? Did you find out anything about the Kraken?”

“He is having his ship made ready for a long voyage even though he’s only just returned. His crew are a tight-lipped bunch but from what my sources have heard it looks like they won’t be heading back towards the mainland.”

“No more raiding then.”

“Apparently so—it looks like he’s preparing to head westwards out into the wild ocean over the Sunken Kingdoms. As he did last year. Have you come to any decisions yourself?”

“The Kraken is in his place of power. He has a crew of warriors, a sea filled with squid-demons and other defences in place. Our options appear to be to either catch him here or wait until he goes to sea again and overhaul him there. You will remember how that went last time.”

“So you are determined to make the attempt on his life here.”

“It seems like the best place.”

“And you do feel this merwoman, Rhiana, can help you?”

“She can survive well enough in a sea full of Quan to scout his palace. She has some of the sorcerous gifts of her people.”

“And you trust her?”

“I will work with her if our goals are the same.”

“My people have had dealings with her for many years. Her information has always been first rate.”

“Did you pick up any more nuggets of intelligence?”

“The Kraken is not liked here. He has many enemies but all are afraid of him. If he puts a curse on a man’s ship, that ship does not return.”

“I think we both understand how that works.”

“His crew are a loyal and closed mouthed lot. Most of them seem to be old family retainers. Those who are not have served many years under his command.”

“Old family retainers? Of the mother?”

“Yes.”

“Where is she?”

“No one knows. No one even knows whether she is alive or dead. She would be an old woman if she were alive today.”

 
“We’d best go. I arranged to meet your ally down by the docks.”

Rhiana waited in the harbourside tavern. Around her lounged a group of tough looking men. “My crew,” she said as Kormak walked over to the table.

“My associate, Jonas,” Kormak said, just in case Rhiana did not want her crew to know of the connection or in case any outsider was listening in.

“He does not look like a warrior,” said a large villainous looking sailor.

“He’s a scholar,” Kormak said. “His head is full of interesting lore.”

“Good,” said Rhiana. “We shall have something to talk about once this night’s work is done.”

“This night?” Jonas said.

Rhiana moved closer to Kormak and spoke very softly. “The tides are right. Clouds cover the moon. We can get close enough to the Kraken’s palace without being spotted.”

Kormak tilted his head to one side and studied the merwoman. “This is all a bit sudden,” he said.

“I’ve been planning it for weeks,” she said. “You don’t have to come if you are afraid.”

A taunting note sounded in her voice. Well-acquainted with the ways people could be manipulated by questioning their courage, he said, “I am not afraid.”

Suspicions flickered through his mind. Did he really want to get on a ship on the harbour with this band of cutthroats? Did he really want to get into the water with a merwoman where the advantages would all be with her? Still, if it worked, this would be his best chance to get into the palace of the Kraken.

“Good,” said Rhiana. She swigged back her drink, turned to her crew and said, “Let’s be off.”

The dark water rippled in their wake. The sailors sculled the small craft. Frater Jonas stood in Kormak’s shadow, hand toying with the Elder Sign at his throat, clearly wondering about the wisdom of being here. Rhiana kept her gaze fixed on the Kraken’s distant palace. She licked her lips. Perhaps she was more nervous than she appeared. There were two ships tied up by the island’s docks. One of them was the Ocean’s Blade. The other was a much larger, sailing ship, closer in design to the Sea Dragon but even more rugged looking.

He pointed it out.

“The Kraken’s Reach,” Rhiana said. “His flagship. His pride and joy. If I get the chance I am going to send it to the bottom of the ocean.”

Her head moved from side to side and he realised that she was not studying the palace so much as the surrounding waters. Her strange eyes reflected the smallest fragments of light. Kormak realised that she could see better than he in the darkness.

“The Quan stay clear of the palace for a few hours during the dark of the moon,” she said. “They go somewhere, perhaps to perform their own strange rites.”

“You have been studying this place,” Kormak said.

“Oh yes,” she said. “And tonight I intend to make that study pay off. You’d best strip.”

He did as she said. Soon he was wearing only his loincloth, his amulets and his weapons. Rhiana looked at him and said, “You have the tattoo, just as you are supposed to.”

Kormak strapped the blade back onto his back. One of the sailors handed him a pot of grease. To Kormak’s surprise Jonas took it, sniffed it then passed it on.

“It will keep out the cold,” said Rhiana. “We’re going to be in the water for some time.”

“Just so long as it does not draw sharks,” Kormak said.