The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock (44 page)

Malock let go of her hand, but still didn't push her
webbed hand off his chin. “So there's nothing that I can say that
will change your mind, is there?”

Vashnas nodded. “You are absolutely correct, Mal.
Nothing at all.”

-

Despite the gaping hole where the starboard used to
be, the
Iron Wind
managed to sail south smoothly and with
little trouble. Quite a few of the sailors tried their hands at
various makeshift fixes, such as putting a tarp over the hole
(which was impossible to secure with the wind blowing and the
constant movement of the ship) and even deconstructing some of the
crates to use their wood to rebuild the starboard. All failed,
however, so the hole was left as is, even though it caused many of
the sailors sadness, especially those who were most proud of the
Iron Wind
's beauty.

To say the least, the atmosphere on the
Iron
Wind
was mixed. On one hand, everywhere Kinker went, he heard
murmurs of hope and excitement at the idea that they were almost at
World's End. A few sailors he even caught singing or at least
humming a tune he didn't recognize, probably a song from somewhere
up north. Most sailors were eager for this whole voyage to be done
and over with.

On the other hand, mixed with this happiness and
eagerness was a sadness and even anger at Bifor's betrayal. No one
on the ship had suspected Bifor of being a traitor. He had worked
so tirelessly to use his magic for the good of all that the idea
that he was planning to kill them all in the end was almost too
hard to believe.

Not to mention it caused some serious distrust among
the various sailors. More than once, Kinker found himself being
eyed warily by a fellow sailor, as if they thought he was going to
try to pull a Bifor, too. He didn't see why, considering that he
had done nothing to earn this suspicion, but he supposed that Bifor
hadn't either and yet he had turned out to be the most dangerous
traitor of them all.

Still, the air of distrust dissipated quickly when
the water went from the deep blue of the ocean to the clearness of
a creek stream in spring. This happened gradually, without anyone
noticing until Jenur glanced over the side of the ship and said,
“Hey, everyone! Look at the water! It's clear!”

This caused the sailors nearby—who happened to be
Kinker and Gino, among six others—to run over to the port (the
starboard was no longer good for looking over) and see what Jenur
was talking about.

And indeed, she was correct in her description of
the water. Kinker could see clear through to the bottom of the
ocean. He saw the sand, a variety of colorful plants he couldn't
even describe, and an even more dazzling variety of fish and
undersea creatures. What particularly caught his attention were the
strange, pink dolphin-like creatures that swam beside the
Iron
Wind
, occasionally leaping out of the water to display their
fantastic wing-like fins.

One such dolphin creature even managed to fly up to
the port, getting so close to the sailors that Kinker could
practically touch it. As it did so, a strange, melodious sound came
from its mouth, which sounded like a song to Kinker, but it was a
song he couldn't understand, a song he would probably never
understand, and soon he didn't hear it at all because the creature
dove back into the water to join its companions.

“What was that?” said Jenur in awe.

“A singing leaper,” said Vashnas, walking up to
them. “Sometimes called the divine fish. They're found only around
the seas of World's End. Very beautiful.”

“So that means we're almost there,” said Jenur,
clapping her hands together excitedly. “Right?”

“Yes,” said Vashnas. “I imagine that World's End
itself will be within view any minute now.”

Kinker turned to look at Vashnas. While the others
were all observing the beauty of the clear ocean, he wanted to keep
an eye on Vashnas. He had heard that she wanted to kill Tinkar, a
ludicrous idea if there ever was one, and so even when she joined
them in peering over the side of the ship to look at the sea, he
was not sure how he should treat her

Then again, is it really my place to judge
her?
Kinker thought, turning his eyes back to the sea,
completely aware that she was still standing next to him.
And
after everything the gods have put us through, maybe it's time we
mortals fought back.

The hours trickled by, or so it seemed, and
eventually, in the distance, a speck of land appeared on the
horizon. The speck grew larger, clearer, until soon the outline of
what appeared to be a large city appeared in the distance. And
beyond that city was a wall of blackness, the blueness of the sky
gradually transitioning into an overwhelming darkness that made
Kinker want to run and hide.

Vashnas pointed to the city and said, “That's
World's End. Our destination.”

Jenur frowned. She leaned over the bulwarks,
squinting her eyes, and asked, “So what's that blackness behind the
city? It looks weird.”

“The edge of the world, of course,” said Vashnas.
“Beyond that blackness is the Void. Only the gods can pass through
the Void.”

“What would happen if we tried to sail past it?”
said Kinker.

“Simple,” said Vashnas. “The Void would annihilate
us from existence. Even those of us who are protected by the gods
would not survive.”

Jenur gulped. “Well, that's certainly an encouraging
thought. Is there anything beyond the Void?”

Vashnas shrugged. “Perhaps the Powers. That's all I
was told when I first came to World's End all those years ago.”

“Well, I have no intention of getting annihilated,”
said Jenur, pulling back from over the bulwarks. She brushed her
hair out of her eyes and said, “What is World's End like,
anyway?”

“You will see soon enough,” said Vashnas. “I would
rather not describe it, except to say that it completely dwarfs any
mortal-made city, whether those made by humans or those made by
aquarians.”

Kinker frowned. “That is hard to believe.”

“Yet it is true,” said Vashnas. She patted her
jacket and said, “Not that it matters. I'll be killing Tinkar
either way, whatever World's End is like nowadays.”

That led to an awkward silence. Kinker bit his lower
lip and looked away, while Jenur tried to pretend that she didn't
hear that but clearly did. The other sailors had varying reactions
to this little reminder of Vashnas's grim quest, including Gino
actually walking away. Vashnas herself said nothing, but merely
played with a strange little silver disk that she seemed to value
highly.

As they drew closer to World's End, they saw even
stranger things. The most notable were strange bird-like creatures
that were vaguely humanoid in appearance. Their feathers were in
every color imaginable, from the brightest of red to the darkest of
black, and everything in between. They did not fly low enough for
Kinker to see them in detail, but he admired their beauty
nonetheless.

“They are the bird children,” said Vashnas in
response to an unasked question. “Children and followers of the
gods. Like the singing leapers, they live only around World's End.
They have no reason to go anywhere else.”

“What are they like?” said Jenur, looking up at the
bird children as they flew by overhead.

“Stinky, dirty, and not nearly as fabulous as they
look,” said Vashnas.

Kinker looked at her in surprise. “Did you have a
bad experience with them or something?”

“They tossed me off World's End when I was
banished,” Vashnas said, her hands wrapped tightly around the
ship's railing. “They did it rather gleefully, too.”

The bird children kept their distance, although a
few of the braver ones swooped in every now and then, like they had
never seen mortals before. Sometimes they screeched or chirped like
normal birds, but Kinker could not understand a word they said. He
just watched in awe as one bird swooped down, plucked a fish out of
the water, and flew back to join its companions that soared among
the clouds.

They were not the only seagoing vessel on the waters
around World's End, however. Scattered like pebbles in a park were
dozens of small, one- or two-person fishing boats, lines cast, that
reminded Kinker of the kind used by fisherman back on Destan. On
these boats were what appeared to be men and women, but he could
not tell for sure because they, like the bird children, kept their
distance.

“Who are they?” said Jenur, pointing at the people
on the fishing boats.

One of the people, a man in a blue shirt, waved at
their ship as it passed as Vashnas said, “Katabans. Like Hanarova
back on Stalf. “

“There are katabans here?” said Jenur. “Do they live
on World's End?”

“Of course,” said Vashnas. “All katabans live on
World's End, except when summoned elsewhere by gods. It is their
birthplace and their home. Last time I was here, the streets were
full of them.”

“They seem awfully friendly,” said Kinker, waving
back at the man, whose boat they quickly left behind. “Much
friendlier than Hanarova ever was.”

“Yes, and that's what disturbs me,” said Vashnas,
staring at a female katabans who was reeling in a large black fish
with tentacles in place of eyes. “Kano must have told them to not
attack us.”

“That's good, isn't it?” said Jenur. “I mean, we're
really in no shape to fight, considering ... you know.”

“I know,” said Vashnas. “Still, I would advise none
of you to let your guard down around any of these katabans. They
can be deceptive and tricky, even when they're friendly.”

“So what, do you expect them to try to kill us or
something all of a sudden?” said Jenur.

Vashnas shook her head. “I only expect the worst.
That is all.”

A few hours later, the island of World's End itself
became close enough for Kinker to see it in some detail. And what
he saw astonished him more than anything he had ever seen on this
voyage.

World's End was not only known as the Throne of the
Gods for nothing. The city literally appeared to be a giant throne.
The buildings were arranged in such a way that the tallest of them
scraped the sky and the smallest of them rivaled small mountains in
size. Kinker had never seen such huge structures before and he was
convinced at first that those were not buildings at all but rather
strangely shaped mountains.

Then Jenur said, “Are those buildings?”

“Yes,” said Vashnas. “Though they weren't quite so
huge back when I was first here. They must have gotten a lot of
construction done in the thousands of years since I was here
last.”

“But why would they arrange them to look like a
gigantic throne?” said Jenur, scratching her chin. “That seems kind
of impractical and unnecessary.”

“Because the gods, I would think you would have
realized by now, are really nothing more than giant show-offs,”
said Vashnas. “A giant throne on the edge of the world is quite
dramatic, wouldn't you say?”

“But who are they trying to impress?” said Kinker.
“Us?”

“Or each other,” said Vashnas. “Or both. Even the
southern gods tend to suffer from the kind of delusional pride that
their northern siblings do.”

“It's still amazing,” said Kinker. “If I lived in
such a city, I'd never leave it.”

“The gods have to be out and about in the world,”
said Vashnas. “It's part of their job. If they never left the city,
then the world would be worse off than it is now.”

Kinker had no argument against that. He just watched
as they drew closer to the island, as the buildings that made up
the magnificent city grew even larger, towering above them so high
that Kinker did not think he would be able to see their tops once
he got close enough. Part of him was actually afraid. He wanted to
run away. But he had nowhere to go, so he dismissed the feeling as
the irrational impulse that it was.

This voyage is nearly at its end,
Kinker
thought.
Best to see it through, despite whatever may be waiting
for us.

-

The
Iron Wind
docked at the northern end in
the island, which had a dock that seemed to have been designed with
their ship in mind because they managed to lower the ramp down to
it with no trouble. This surprised Malock, although he supposed
that perhaps the gods or katabans used ships sometimes, which would
explain the dock.

Malock gathered the entire crew onto the top deck,
near the ramp, every surviving member of the original fleet that
had set out from Carnag months ago. From his count, there were a
little over eighty sailors left out of the hundreds that he'd
started with. Standing in front of them on the top of the ramp,
Malock grimaced at how small the crew was now and how weak and
pathetic everyone looked, especially in contrast to the
magnificence that was World's End.

Nonetheless, Malock gestured at the city and said,
“My men, my sailors, my crew. Throughout this long, mad voyage, you
have all struggled to survive, have been pushed to your limits and
beyond. You have faced death, unimaginable pain and loss, dangers
of the kind spoken of only in the legends of old, and suffered the
loss of a good many friends and fellow sailors. That we made it
this far at all, when by all rights we should have perished at some
point during this long voyage, is a miracle in itself.”

None of the crew responded to that little speech.
Most of them seemed distracted by the Throne of the Gods, which
shone lightly in the sun. Or perhaps they were so worn out from the
voyage that even Malock's greatest praise meant nothing to
them.

Either way, Malock had more to say: “I do not know
what awaits us in the city itself. Kano has yet to reveal to me why
she summoned me, but I do know this: I will not be going into the
city alone. Instead, every one of you will get to come with me.
There will be no one left behind on this ship, not even someone to
act as ship guard. Everyone will come.”