The Dark Glory War (26 page)

One of our marines raced at it with sword held high. As he brought the steel blade down, the creature brought its right arm up and took the cut on its forearm. The blade bit into the creature’s flesh, but not deeply, and the impact rang loudly with the peal of metal on metal. The marine bounced back, glanced at his notched blade, then the creature clapped its metal hands, flattening the man’s helm to the width of a dinner plate.

The blood and brains that spattered it sizzled like fat in a hot skillet. Greasy smoke washed up into its beard and hair. The creature threw its head back as if to laugh, though no sound issued from its throat. It paused for a moment, then stalked across the deck.

This was asullartciri, a Dark Lancer. Its metal flesh moved as the muscles beneath it flexed and stretched. The unarmed figure stalked the brig’s deck as quarrels flicked out, striking sparks as they hit, then bouncing away. Someone on another galley shot at him with a grand crossbow, but the creature snatched the yard-long shaft from the air and used it to pin a marine to the deck.

The fearful shouts from our marines was suddenly matched by screeching from the gibberers on board theInvictus. Back by the aftcastle, Leigh had emerged from below decks. Stripped to the waist, wearing only mask, boots, and black leather breeches, he swung Temmer in a golden circle. Though I still saw the dark marks of fatigue beneath his eyes, he moved with a vitality I’d not seen in him in days. Swinging through a forehanded blow, he opened a gibberer from hip to spine, then lunged to the left, punching through the breastbone to the heart of another. His blade came around in a parry, then whipped back up as if his arm was a spring. He laid his foe open from hip to hip, then glided forward, slicing here, stabbing there, hacking off a limb beyond.

A man behind me screamed. I whirled, then fell back on my buttocks as thesullanciri came flying through the air toward the forecastle. It hit the tower hard, shaking it, and bouncing me across the deck. Its hands closed over the railing. The shields mounted there screamed as its grip bent them backwards. The Dark Lancer hauled itself up to the forecastle deck, then reached out and closed a hand over a paralyzed man’s head.

The sound of sizzling flesh overrode the man’s muffled scream. A sharp crack exploded and sticky wetness covered me. The man’s body dropped away. Thesullanciri opened its fist, looked at the crumpled ball of metal that had been a helmet, then cast it aside with the contempt of a child discarding an ugly rock.

The creature slammed one metal fist against its chest and the peal cut through the din of battle. The gibberers looked up to the forecastle and howled. Leigh raised his bloody sword skyward in a challenge. The Dark Lancer waved Leigh forward, but my friend laughed contemptuously. Without looking, he flicked his blade out in a backhanded cut, decapitated a gibberer sneaking up on him, then pointed to the main deck.

Thesullanciri leaped down from the forecastle, crushing oak decking and scattering several gibberers. It stalked forward. A terrible glee lit Leigh’s face as he stepped over bodies in his approach to thesullanciri. I rose to my feet as Leigh brought Temmer up into a guard and I noticed, for the first time, that the gold blade’s purple runes burned as intensely as the Dark Lancer’s eyes.

Quick enough to be little more than a blur, Leigh struck. The Dark Lancer’s right arm came up to block. The gold blade’s arc slashed partway through the iron warrior’s flesh, half severing the limb above the wrist. Thesullanciri recoiled, its left hand clutching right forearm. Purple fire oozed from between its fingers, dripping free, to splatter the deck with tiny flames.

Leigh laughed aloud and snapped his blade toward a knot of gibberers. The purple gore sprayed out, igniting fur. Leigh used his free hand to wave the Dark Lancer forward. “You’ve met your match. Come and die.”

Thesullanciri, while speechless, was not stupid. It stamped its right foot down, springing up several deck planks. One caught Leigh in the right knee, the other came up beneath his left foot, catapulting him into the air. When he came down, Leigh hit hard, landing with his back on a helmet. He bounced once, and Temmer twisted out of his grasp. Its gold glow faded, and a palsy shook Leigh.

I stooped and snatched up a pair of grapnels, one in each hand. Whirling the one in my right hand by the chain, I arced it at the Dark Lancer. The grapnel arced out over thesullanciri‘s right shoulder, then the chain attached to it began to wrap around his torso. The metal links clattered across its chest, then the grapnel swung up past thesullancirVs left hip and entangled its three tines on the chain.

I gave the chain one violent jerk, rattling the bulk of it against the monster’s chin. “My turn, now.”

Thesullanciri turned within the chain’s embrace, then reached out and wrapped the slack around its injured forearm. It gave the chain a little tug, which carried me to the forecastle rail. I let more of the chain slip between my fingers, stopping it from hauling me to the deck below. It smiled, then jiggled the chain again.

I nodded and slid over the railing, then dropped to the deck in the forecastle’s shadow. Chains from both grapnels pooled at my feet. Beyond the Dark Lancer I could see Leigh crawling over the deck, his right hand reaching for Temmer’s hilt. Only Leigh and his sword could destroy this thing—of that I felt certain—but I didn’t know how long it would take Leigh to recover.

I just had to buy him the time.

I dropped to one knee and raked the grapnel in my left hand through the links of the other chain, and then through the anchor chain. I lashed out with my right hand, snapping the catch off the windlass, then launched myself in a forward somersault over the flailing chains. The anchor’s weight whipped the chains out through the little port, taking up all the slack in the chain I’d hung on thesullanciri.

For a heartbeat it looked as if my tactic might succeed. The chain’s tugging warped thesullanciri’s right forearm, allowing more of the fiery blood to gush from it. The Dark Lancer stumbled a couple of steps toward the bow. I rolled to the left to avoid being trampled, but Chytrine’s creature hunched its shoulders, bent its powerful legs, and dug its heels into the deck. Yellow curls of wood gathered beneath the creature’s heels as it hauled back, then twisted, catching the chain on its right shoulder and hauling its burden back toward midships.

When it turned, it turned straight into Leigh.

Leigh’s double-handed blow cleaved Temmer straight through thesullanciri’s left knee. In falling over, the severed limb shook the deck and cracked planks. Purple fire pulsed from the stump in gouts that crisped wood and ignited gibberkin corpses. The anchor’s weight tugged at the unbalanced figure, dragging it off its one good leg. Thesullanciri flopped onto its back, purple fire trailing in its wake as the anchor dragged it toward the wales. Leigh leaped through the jetting flames, raising his sword high as he flew. He hurtled through the air, all gold with purple highlights, as if he were some heroic statue in a temple to Kedyn. He stabbed Temmer down, driving it with all his strength through the monster’s breast. The blade sank in to the hilt, with purple flames licking up around it, anchoring thesullanciri to the deck.

Leigh, one knee on the monster’s chest, screamed triumphantly. The golden glow and purple fire cast his face in a mask of martial fury. His expression was enough to send a half-dozen gibberers diving overboard. Laughing boldly, he raised his fists in victory.

This broke his connection to the sword.

He wavered, then slumped to the left and fell into my arms.

I let Leigh slip to the deck, then drew my sword and bisected the first gibberer leaping at me over thesullanciri ‘s body. He flew past on my left, curling himself around his rent belly, then slammed into the forecastle’s wall and sagged to the deck. A sailor’s poleax split the skull of the next one, then Nay blasted through the wall of gibberers headed in my direction. Side by side, we shielded Leigh from their attacks.

Thesullanciri’s death had broken the spirit of many of the gibberers. A few remained to oppose us, but even they dove for their small boats as their support evaporated. We threw off their grapnels, happy to let them go, then laughed as someone shooting the grand crossbow drove a shaft through a hull and water geysered up.

The black storm clouds broke over us and brought with them a bone-chilling rain. Thunder cracked, and the ship’s deck rocked. The howling wind drove sheets of rain at us and scoured the ships of blood. The only advantage was that it put out the few fires burning on our decks.

The onslaught of the weather was as fearsome as it was sudden, and gave Lord Norrington no choice but to order the fleet to retreat to the harbor town where the merchantmen were waiting. He did send a prize crew onto the brig and had them sail the Aurolani ship after us. Our fleet captured a few other enemy ships, including two of their galleys. A couple of our galleys dragged the smaller ships back with them, not having the crew or time necessary to cast them off.

We ran before the wind, making for Mirvostok. We came around a small headland and entered a narrow bay that was fed by a small river. The storm still raged over the landscape, but the ocean became far more calm within the harbor. Small fishing boats headed out toward us and guided us to safe moorings. Since theInvictus‘ anchor had been fouled, we moored the ship to theVenator. Most folks thought we should have just cut the old anchor away and used the deadsullanciri in its place.

Once in port, we moved Leigh to an inn, got him a hot bath, some soup, and a little ale. Nay and I stayed with him as he began to come around. His color improved, a little pink brightening the grey of his flesh. Despite strict orders from his father to remain in bed, Leigh dressed warmly and went out to theInvictus to recover his sword. He drew it from thesullanciri as if it had been sheathed in straw, then slid it home in its scabbard and returned with us to the inn.

Up in the room he collapsed on the bed. Nay pulled Leigh’s boots off, then Leigh crawled beneath a down comforter. He propped himself up on the pillows and nodded at Temmer, which hung by his sword belt over the nearest bedpost. “Let me have it, please, Hawkins.” He patted the bed beside him and I laid the blade there.

He rested his hand on it and closed his eyes for a second. A look of serenity passed over his face. “Thank you, my friend.”

“My pleasure.”

He opened his eyes. His hand stroked Temmer’s hilt. “Yes, you too, Hawkins. If not for your quick thinking, things would have been much more difficult.”

Nay frowned. “If not for Hawkins, the Iron Prince would have had you gushing up between his toes.”

Leigh laughed. “Ah, such a jest. I had Temmer back in hand quickly enough.”

“Your quickly looked like sloth to me. If Hawkins hadn’t dropped a chain on Wresak, you’d have been done for. We all would have.”

Leigh blinked his eyes. “Wresak … Yes, that was Wresak.”

I glanced at Nay. “You know thesullanciri’s name? How?”

“Tale told to armorers. King of Noriva had an ailing son named Wresak. The king got the idea that the artisans could create a metal body for his son. It would do for him what Temmer does for Leigh. The Prince, though, he didn’t like how it felt in it. He got himself out and never used it again. It stayed in Noriva’s palace until Kree’chuc attacked. Wresak’s youngest great-grandson, also named Wresak, decided the Iron Prince could be used to defeat the Aurolani Horde. He fought against them initially, then his lust for power took over and he became Chytrine’s plaything. He destroyed his brothers, destroyed his nation.”

Leigh slowly nodded. “I knew that story, but thought I’d dreamed it. Perhaps I did dream it, with Temmer in hand.”

Nay frowned at Leigh’s musing, then shrugged. “At least, I think that’s who that was. If not, there’s another one out there.”

Leigh’s eyes brightened. “Bring him on. I’ll carve him up as easily as I did this one.”

I exchanged a quick glance with Nay, then patted Leigh on the leg. “Get some sleep.” I looked past him and out the window at the rain pouring down. “We’ll be here for a while.”

I got something to eat with Nay, then we went in search of Lord Norrington. We found him at another inn, in the company of Princes Augustus and Scrainwood, as well as a number of other advisors. Prince Scrainwood objected to our presence, but Lord Norrington waved that objection away. “If not for them, I’d not be here. They stay.”

The expedition’s leaders worried over charts showing the coast of Okrannel. Mirvostok was located on the eastern shore roughly thirty to forty miles from Crozt. The coast road running up to Crozt and then down around to Svarskya would be the fastest overland route to the Okrannel capital. Going directly inland would require us to travel over some of the highest mountains in Okrannel, and we had no passes to speed us on our way. Heading up the coast road would present no problem, save that the Dnivep River cut deeply across the base of the Crozt peninsula, all but severing it. The Radooya Bridge spanned the river gorge on the coast road, and a company could hold that bridge against an army.

But sailing out and around Crozt to get to Svarskya likewise presented a problem. The locals told us the sea only acted the way it was when Tagothcha was awake, and it didn’t take much imagination to figure out that Chytrine’s forces had awakened the sea’sweirun. They assumed she’d bribed it with fabulous gifts, inspiring it to work against us. While the harbor’sweirun was able to keep us safe and the water calm— thanks to gifts the locals made—Tagothcha’s anger meant we were bottled up here until such time as he got bored and let us go-To make matters worse, refugees from Crozt had already passed down the coast road and gathered in Mirvostok. The stories they told were not pretty, nor were they likely exaggerated. Chances seemed excellent that part of the force that had been landed at Crozt would be headed down to Mirvostok. The town’s landward defenses weren’t bad, but they were not up to holding off a determined Aurolani horde. Taking the town wasn’t necessary, they just had to keep us here defending it. That would give Chytrine’s troops plenty of time to lay siege to Svarskya.