The fading dream

CHAPTER FIVE

The Thunder Sea B arrakas 22, 999 YK

Thorn drew Steel as she headed for the helm. “Report,” she said.

There was a momentary fluctuation in the bonds connecting the elemental to the ship.

“That’s not a good thing.” The floor rolled beneath her as Thorn made her way down the narrow hall, and she braced herself against the wall to keep from falling.

Essyn Cadrel was already on the bridge with Captain Shaeli. The captain’s dragonmark was glowing slightly in the dim light, and the Khoravar woman cursed under her breath. She clung tightly to the gleaming wheel.

Thorn saw Cadrel’s eyes widen, and she realized Steel was still in her hand. She lowered the dagger. “What’s going on?”

“It seems we’ve found a souvenir of the Last War,” Cadrel replied.

“Cyran breacher,” the captain said. The words were an effort.

“I fought on the ground,” Thorn said. “What’s that?”

“A nightmare,” Shaeli said. She gasped as the ship shuddered again.

Breachers are a joint creation of House Cannith and the binders of Zilargo, Steel told her. A warforged leech built to prey on elemental vessels. The first impact must have been it latching onto the hull. Now it’s fighting the captain for control of the elemental core. If it overcomes her willpower, it’ll loose the elemental and shatter the vessel. Even if it doesn’t, it will carve a hole through the hull.

“Lovely.” Thorn murmured. “How do we fight it?”

“No weapons,” Shaeli said. Her breathing was shallow, her voice strained. “I’ll try… to surface. You might survive the wreck.”

I’m afraid she’s correct. On a normal ship, you might be able to target the breacher from above. On this vessel, by the time it penetrates the hull, it will be too late.

“Get to the hatch,” Shaeli whispered. “Lifeboat.”

“And what about you, Captain?” Cadrel said.

“Must remain… If I let go… it’s over.”

The ship shook again. Thorn’s mind raced. There was no way for her to fight an enemy outside the ship, and if it punched a hole in the hull, the water would finish them before battle was an option. Then a memory came to her. Merrix d’Cannith shattering a warforged soldier with a single touch, in the tunnels below Sharn.

Drix was still in the galley when she returned. He’d spread the pieces of the crossbow across the table again and seemed oblivious to the threat.

“Drix!”

“Oh, hello again.” He smiled at her. “What’s wrong?”

Thorn pulled Drix from his chair, sending tools and twine tumbling to the floor. “We’ve only got a few minutes before this ship gets cracked like an egg. Can you do anything about it?”

“What could I do?” Drix said, seeming honestly curious.

Thorn strode into the hall, pulling Drix with her. She could feel the vibrations as the breacher drilled into the hull, and she followed the sensations. “You’re Cannith, aren’t you? Can’t you do anything?”

“I’m just a tinker,” Drix said. “I fix things. Make things work better.”

Host above, Thorn thought. He certainly isn’t Merrix. “Have you ever fixed a warforged?”

“Yes,” Drix said.

They entered the heart of the vessel. There ahead of them was the elemental core-a swirling sphere of the bluest water Thorn had ever seen, suspended in a cage inscribed with glowing sigils. The sphere was shaking, pseudopods lashing out to strike at the bars. And to the side, Thorn could feel the breacher grinding into the wall, separated from them by less than a foot of wood; if not for the mystical force strengthening the hull, it would surely be through already.

“How? Just hammering the plates? Or with magic?”

“I’ve been working with magic,” he said. “But I’ve still got a lot to learn. It’s hard.”

The breacher could break through at any time, Steel warned her. Or the elemental could break its bonds. In either case, this is the worst place we could be.

“I know,” she said, returning the dagger to his sheath. “Tell me what it’s like.”

“A warforged… it’s magical but also alive. You need to reach out with your thoughts. Feel the threads of life.”

The liquid sphere pulsed, and the ship rocked as it did. Thorn could feel the vibration of the construct digging into the wood, and she could imagine the metal beast latched onto the hull.

Drix was oblivious to the threat, lost in his memories. “You follow the threads, search for the breaks, let your strength flow into the broken strands to bind them together…”

Thorn pushed Drix up against the shuddering wall. “Can you feel what’s on the other side of this?”

Drix looked nervous but he pressed his hand up against the hull. “Yes.”

“Can you feel those threads of magic?”

Drix closed his eyes. “Yes… but it’s strong. Bright. It’s not hurt.”

“I know. But you can touch those threads? Feel their strength?”

“Yes,” Drix murmured. The boat rocked again, and a cascade of sparks fell from the golden cage surrounding the elemental core.

Thorn was no artificer, but she knew a thing or two about magic. She thought about the lessons she’d learned, the techniques she used for breaking through mystical wards. “You know what it’s like when a thread breaks. Can you break the threads you see? Use your strength to tear at them instead of mending them?”

“That’s not the way it’s supposed to go,” Drix said. “It’ll hurt-”

“It’s the only chance we have,” Thorn said. “It’s hurting the ship, Drix. It’s going to destroy the ship and kill us all unless you can make it go away. Make it let go.”

Drix frowned and Thorn could feel his tension growing. His fingers twisted, clenching into fists. “I… can’t…” he said. “They’re too bright. Too strong.”

“Keep trying,” Thorn said.

Suddenly a hand gripped her shoulder, pulling her back. It was Essyn Cadrel. “There’s no more time!” He grabbed Drix and Thorn saw that there was a crack running down the hull. “Come on!”

He turned, tugging Drix with him as they headed toward the top of the ship. The cracks were spreading. There was nothing more to be done. By the time they reached the top hatch, the ship was shuddering and shaking. The crystal orb set into the wall by the hatch was half-filled with pale blue light.

“We’ve surfaced,” Cadrel said. “Quickly now!”

Throwing open the hatch, they stepped out onto the deck of the elemental ship. Salt spray filled the air, and the sky was a dim gray, the morning sun lurking behind thick clouds. Behind them, a ring of water rose from the surface of the sea. It was the extension of the elemental that propelled the ship through the ocean, and the elemental’s pain was plain to see. The ring contorted, struggling against invisible bonds. There was a lifeboat clamped down by the hatch.

“Careful!” Thorn shouted, grabbing Drix before he fell. The surface of the ship was slick, treacherous even if the vessel weren’t twisting and rocking. Cadrel pulled the tarp from the boat, and Thorn pushed Drix to it. “Just get in!”

Cadrel knew how to handle a boat, which was a good thing; it was all Thorn could do to keep herself and Drix from tumbling into the water. Soon they were free. “Oars!” Cadrel cried. “We need to get as far away as we can!”

The stricken vessel was just fading into the fog when the wards finally fell. The ring surrounding the ship snapped, two great tentacles of water rising into the air and flailing at the clouds. For a moment they stayed suspended in the air, waterspouts quivering in the light of early morning. Then they fell. As the ring collapsed, the ship burst asunder. The elemental core had broken free of its bonds and exploded in a torrent of water.

“Row!” Cadrel said.

Chunks of wood showered down from the sky, splashing into the water around them. Then the shock wave hit. The little boat was flung up on a watery cliff then slammed back down into the ocean. Thorn’s oar was torn from her grip, and for a moment she was falling toward the water. Cadrel caught hold of her arm and pulled her down to the bench.

Thorn wanted to sink onto the floor of the little boat, to just lie there and forget about the chaos of the past hour, the sacrifice of Captain Shaeli. She knew better. She drew Steel and looked at the ocean, searching for any signs of motion beneath the heaving water. “Stand ready!” she called to the others. “That breacher is still out there!”

Cadrel nodded. He drew a wand from his belt. Drix stared into the ocean, clinging to the boat. “I don’t feel it,” he said. “The water’s empty.”

“Would you bet your life on that?” Thorn yelled, shouting over the ocean spray.

“Yes,” Drix said. He picked up the oar that had fallen to the bottom of the boat, smiling slightly. “We’re safe now.”

I’m not sensing anything either, Steel said. The power of the elemental is fading. I’m not sensing any other significant magical signatures.

“Wouldn’t it be shielded from divination?” Thorn said.

“Possibly,” Cadrel said. He was watching the ocean, tracking any ripples with his wand. The boiling water was settling down. “Maybe it was destroyed in the blast.”

Unlikely, Steel said. Breachers were designed to bring down elemental vessels. They were built to survive it.

“I suppose.” The waters were calm, and there was no sign of metal in the depths. “If it really was an old weapon, I suppose it makes sense… crippling shipping but allowing civilians to escape.”

“What else could it be?” Cadrel said. “Seaside was one of our important ports. Naturally it was defended. With the Mourning… well, you’ll have to forgive us if disabling old weapons hasn’t been at the top of our list of priorities.”

“I suppose,” Thorn said. “It’s just… Shargon’s Tooth was designed to evade just that sort of defense. It’s shielded against basic divinations. For that breacher to find us, we must have bumped right into it. And the breacher itself has just been out here, unsupported, for five years; it can’t be in top condition.”

“I don’t see a better explanation,” Cadrel said. “It’s damned inconvenient for us, to be certain. We’d best hope these elves can help us home.”

“Eladrin,” Drix pointed out.

“Yes, eladrin,” Cadrel said. “But this has to be chance, Thorn. No one is building breachers anymore. No one could have known our route. This isn’t some sinister conspiracy, just a trick of the Traveler. So take heart. We all survived it, didn’t we?”

“You seem to have forgotten Captain Shaeli.”

Cadrel was crestfallen. For once he seemed to be at a loss for words.

Thorn looked away. Cadrel was right and it certainly wasn’t his fault. And the Tooth had been protected from divination, which meant that as unlikely as it was, the logical conclusion was that they had come across it themselves, that it was just bad luck.

Drix was leaning over the edge of the boat. Debris from Shargon’s Tooth was scattered around them, thrown far from the ship by the force of the elemental shock wave. Stretching as far as he could, he reached into the water and hauled a dripping piece of wood from the ocean. It was the little crossbow he’d been working on.

“It seems all of the laws of probability have fallen asunder,” Cadrel said. “Now I suggest we start rowing. I know I’ll be happier when we reach dry land.”

“You won’t,” Drix said. He was examining his crossbow, removing the sodden string and checking the gears. He didn’t look at Cadrel as he spoke, but his voice was calm and clear. “there’s no happiness ahead. Only mourning.”

“Lovely,” Thorn said. She slipped Steel back in his sheath and picked up her oar.