The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock (14 page)

“Banika?” said Malock, briefly forgetting his
argument with Vashnas. “What are you doing? Is there a
problem?”

Banika nodded. “Yes, sir. We have completely
stopped.”

Malock blinked. “Say that again.”

“We have completely stopped,” said Banika, this time
slightly slower. “We aren't moving forward, backward, or in any
direction at all. I guess you haven't noticed the stillness of the
ship.”

Now that Banika mentioned it, the floor was awfully
still. The world still spun for Malock, but he figured that was the
drink's fault more than anything else.

“Who dropped the anchor?” Malock demanded in his
most authoritative voice, although the effect was ruined by his
slurring of the word
anchor
at the end of the sentence.

Banika shook her head. “The anchor is still weighed.
We were stopped by ... well, I think it would be better if you saw
for yourself. It's hard to explain.”

Malock stood up, letting go of the wine bottle as he
did so, causing Vashnas to snatch it and stash it in a drawer in
the desk. “Take me to it, then.”

-

Malock managed to make his way out of the stateroom
without falling down too much, thanks to Banika's help. When he
did, he noticed that the sails were no longer blowing in the wind
and nearly the entire crew was assembled on both sides of the ship,
looking down into the water and talking in an incoherent mess that
Malock doubted he'd have understood even in his sober mind.

Banika led Malock over to starboard and pointed at
the sea below. “There's the obstruction, Captain. That is why it
was hard for me to explain.”

Malock leaned over the railing, remembering to grip
them tightly so he wouldn't fall overside in his drunkenness, and
peered into the water.

A thick, green moss covered the area around the
Iron Wind
for several feet in all directions. The moss ran
up the body of the ship, so thick that it looked like solid ground.
It was like two large, mossy hands had grown from the sea and
grasped the ship, making Malock wonder if the Loner God's influence
extended well beyond the borders of Ikadori Island.

“When did this happen?” said Malock, pulling back
(with some difficulty) from the railing to look at Banika.

“Ten minutes ago,” said Banika. “It spontaneously
grew out of nowhere. We're not sure where it came from.”

“Probably just a freak accident of nature or
something,” said Malock. “Okay, send some of the aquarians to rip
it off.”

“Already tried that, sir,” said Banika. “It just
grew back.”

Malock swore loudly and said, “Then get Bifor on it.
He's a freaking mage. He should be able to wave his wand and make
the moss go poof.”

“It's not that easy,” said Bifor, appearing
seemingly out of nowhere, twirling his wand in his hand.
“Watch.”

Bifor pointed his wand at the moss scaling the side
of the ship. The moss froze, but immediately was covered by another
layer of moss, melting the ice.

“As best as I can tell, this is magic at work,” said
Bifor. “That means someone is trying to stop us. Or rather, has
succeeded in stopping us.”

“You mean like a ... like a ...” Malock struggled to
think of the word. “Like a mage?”

Bifor nodded. “Yes. Though who it could be, I can't
say.”

Malock was just about to tell Bifor to find out who
it is when a loud shout made everyone jump. Another shout, followed
by a loud
thump
, followed, and Malock realized it was coming
from the center of the ship. He quickly made his way down the steps
to the main deck, with Banika, Vashnas, and Bifor following, and
stopped as soon as he spotted the source of the sound.

Lying face down on the deck, with a knife sticking
out of his back, was Forl Mas, one of the sailors who had gone with
Malock to Ikadori Island. His stillness, combined with the blood
leaking out from the wound, told Malock all he needed to know about
the sailor's fate.

Standing above Forl's corpse was someone Malock had
never seen before but who he knew was not a member of the crew. She
was an aquarian, clearly, her face resembling that of a crab's and
she had two large crab claws in place of hands. A thick, cracked
gray shell covered her body. A red bandanna was wrapped around her
right arm, which was the only piece of clothing on her entire
body.

By now nearly the entire crew was looking at her.
Many of them looked ready to fight, although something about the
confidence with which the crab aquarian stood in the midst of so
many hostile faces kept Malock from ordering them to attack.

“Glad I got your attention,” said the aquarian. Her
voice was very human-like, though the words were occasionally
obscured by the odd chittering sound her teeth made. “Murder is
always a good way to get attention from other people, though I will
admit that it's not always
good
attention.”

Malock stepped forward, trying not to look drunk,
and said, “Who are you and where did you come from?”

The aquarian looked offended. “You mean you don't
recognize Garnal Gray, Captain of the Gray Pirates? I am wanted all
over the Northern Isles for my daring exploits and thefts. My
bounty is about a million coins right now, which is a paltry sum in
comparison to all of the loot that I and my gang have stolen over
the years.”

Malock could not, for the life of him, recognize the
name, so he leaned toward Banika to his left and muttered, “Is she
telling the truth?”

Banika nodded. “Garnal Gray is indeed the notorious
pirate leader of the Gray Pirates, the most infamous and
longest-lasting pirate group in the history of piracy. Practically
every member of her crew is wanted for some crime or another. Their
collective bounty is ten million coins, last I checked.”

“As it should be,” said Garnal. “My crew and I have
worked hard to earn our place as the best pirates in the history of
Martir. Not even the legendary Varew the Black evaded capture as
long as I have.”

“Still didn't answer how you got here,” said Malock.
“Getting onto our ship without any of us noticing is quite the
accomplishment.”

Garnal chuckled. “'Twas easy, my precious prince. I
am an initiate of the Thief's Way, one of the best in all the
Northern Isles. Even your mage didn't notice me sneak aboard.”

“Okay, now what's the Thief's Way?” said Malock,
looking at Banika.

It was Bifor who answered. “The Thief's Way is a
magical path that followers of Hollech, the God of Deception,
Thieves, and Horses, often pursue. Initiates of the Thief's Way
learn how to use magic to increase their stealth and, while not all
initiates of that path are thieves, it has always been popular
among the members of that morally dubious profession. Hence why it
is called the Thief's Way.”

“They teach that at magic school?” said Malock in
disbelief.

“Sort of,” said Bifor with a shrug. “When I was in
the Academy, there was only one teacher of the Thief's Way, and he
was constantly on the verge of being fired because everyone kept
accusing him of stealing their things. He only ever had a handful
of students at any one time and many of them dropped out before
they graduated from his program because they couldn't handle the
hate from everyone else.”

Malock returned his attention to Garnal and said,
“So you're a graduate of the Academy, too?”

The pirate snapped her claws open and shut, as if
amused. “Of course not. I met a practitioner of the Thief's Way
some twenty years back who agreed to teach me how to do it. I had
to kill him, however, because he was planning to hand me over to
the authorities the entire time so he could get my bounty and never
have to work another day in his life. Quite the lazy thief, he
was.”

“Wait,” said Malock, putting a hand on the back of
his head. “If you're from the Northern Isles, then what the hell
are you doing down here in the southern seas? Trying to expand your
territory?”

“I was about to ask you the same question,
actually,” said Garnal. “I know who you are, Prince Tojas Malock of
Carnag, though I am surprised, because I always thought you royals
were too delicate to go on a dangerous voyage into unknown
waters.”

“My reasons for being here are none of your concern,
pirate.”

“And my reasons for being here are mine, prince,”
Garnal said. “But I can tell you why I am on this ship,
specifically: I am going to take it.”

Malock laughed, which he immediately regretted
because it made his head hurt. “Oh, really? You may be tough,
Garnal, but there's over a hundred sailors on this ship, all of
whom are even tougher than you. Maybe you ought to rethink your
plan.”

“You assume I am alone,” said Garnal. “If that were
so, I would not have been able to stop your ship cold.”

“So you summoned the moss,” said Bifor. “I had no
idea you were a botamancer.”

“Not me specifically, mage,” said Garnal. “Rather, a
certain member of my crew did that.”

Malock looked around and said, “Your crew? I don't
see anyone but yourself. If you're trying to intimidate us, it's
really not working.”

“You will be intimidated soon enough, gold blood,”
said Garnal.

Without warning, the ship lurched to the port; this
caused most of the crew to fall over. Malock just barely managed to
retain his balance, while Garnal looked completely unaffected by
it.

“What was that?” said Malock, looking around in
surprise.

“My men making a point,” said Garnal. “If you refuse
to stand down and let me have the ship, I will have my crew sink it
to the bottom of the ocean and kill the whole lot of you. Seems
like a reasonable deal to me.”

“Don't you have a ship of your own?” Malock
said.

Garnal's expression turned to fury very quickly.
“Don't change the subject. Give us the ship or you go down with it,
like a real captain would.”

“Doesn't seem to be a way out of this, Captain,”
said Bifor, who was one of the few sailors not to lose his balance
when the ship lurched. “Even if we take out Garnal, her men will
probably rip a hole in the ship's hull and we'll sink anyway.”

“Not helping,” Malock growled.

His mind raced, trying to think of a way out of
this. This was far more difficult than it should have been because
his mind was still heavy with drunkenness. His mind felt like mud
and more than once he found himself distracted by something not
immediately relevant to their current situation, like Vashnas's
jacket or that odd discoloration halfway up the mainmast.

Garnal didn't look like she was in a hurry at all.
She was whistling a tune he didn't recognize, rocking back and
forth, and occasionally looking up at the sky as if concerned about
the weather, even though the sky was clear. She almost looked
harmless.

Malock looked at the rest of his crew. Banika and
Vashnas had fallen when the ship lurched and had not yet gotten
back to their feet. None of the other sailors seemed likely to do
anything. The only thing Malock figured they needed to do (this
thought came slowly) was figure out how to stop Garnal's crew that
were under the ship. If they could just do that ... but they
couldn't.

Malock's arms dropped to his sides. “All right,
Garnal. You win. I'm not going to sacrifice the ship and the crew
just to stop you.”

Garnal's feet skittered across the deck happily as
she said, “Excellent, quite excellent. I expected your royal
arrogance to get the better of you, my precious prince, but for
once you listen to reason.”

Without warning, the ship lurched back into an
upright position, knocking over the few sailors who had remained
standing from before. Malock himself almost fell before being
caught by Bifor, who helped him up.

“Men!” Garnal yelled at the top of her voice. “Climb
aboard! The ship is ours!”

Malock wasn't sure how her men were supposed to hear
her, but a moment later, he heard people climbing the sides of the
ship and then a dozen pirates climbed over the bulwarks. A quick
glance told Malock that all of the pirates were aquarians, just
like Garnal, though not all of them were crab-like in appearance.
They had rusty, sharp-edged swords tied to belts or their backs and
they looked like they knew how to use them. Their hungry eyes and
gaunt bodies added to their terrifying appearances.

“All right,” Garnal called out, her voice loud
enough for the entire crew to hear her. “You heard your former
Captain. I am now in charge of this vessel. You are all my slaves
and will do whatever I or any of my men tell you to do.”

A large commotion started, but Garnal shouted, “Or
would you rather sleep in the bottom of the ocean tonight? It's
your choice.”

That silenced the entire crew quickly.

“Good,” said Garnal. “My first order, as Captain of
this pathetic ship, is to turn this ship around. We are heading
north, back home, where the Gray Pirates will rise again more
powerful than before. Anyone who hesitates or tries to sabotage
this voyage home will be immediately executed on the spot by
whichever member of my crew is closest. Understood?”

Malock's hands balled into fists, but he knew he
couldn't order his men to attack Garnal or her men. He sensed how
betrayed and angry the rest of his crew felt, but there was nothing
any of them could do without jeopardizing the entire voyage.

“Good,” said Garnal. “Then prepare the sails and
turn the rudder. We are going home.”

***

T
he next three days were the worst Kinker had
experienced on this voyage so far.

By all appearances, the basic schedule of the
Iron Wind
had not changed. The fishing crew still hauled in
the trawl at breakfast, lunch, and dinner; the cleaning crew
scrubbed the deck; Vinji remained in the crow's nest, and the rest
of the crew continued their various duties around the ship.