Brian Rathbone - Regent

At the fastest speed she felt the ship could handle, the feral continued to gain on them. Twice more she attacked, and twice more it seemed only to infuriate the beast. Standing near the stern became a liability as the dragon overtook them. It came all at once, as if it had been holding back and only making them think it had been at maximum speed. The sudden attack caught Catrin off her guard, and she scrambled to cast out energy in hopes of warding off certain death. Behind the feral Catrin noticed two dark shapes diving toward the surface at unbelievable speed. Then those shapes extended their wings and pulled up to skim over the waves, sending spray circling in the roiling wind behind them. They hit the feral hard and fast, knocking him off course and away from the ship. It was a costly victory, though, and Catrin cried out when the feral struck like a snake and sent one of the regents into a lifeless spin until it crashed into the water with a series of sickening pops and snaps. Afraid of going much higher, again in the shadow of the unnatural cloud, Catrin guided them closer to the harbor. Approaching the tall ring of stone that surrounded much of the harbor, Catrin looked up almost expecting to see a Zjhon warship still nestled among the peaks, but it was gone, lost to the ravages of time and weather, she guessed.

When she lowered her gaze, she let out a gasp, which was immediately followed by shouts from the crew. Another formation of ships was leaving the harbor, just clearing the massive semicircle of stone peaks. The base of the passage was far wider than the top, and Kenward cursed when Catrin took them higher and turned sharply so the ship entered the narrow opening at an angle. In trying to match the angle of the rock face that would likely snap off the mainmast, Catrin pitched the ship onto its side, nearly losing Farsy. The wind whispered over the rocks as they passed, and an instant later, they emerged into the massive harbor. Instead of the giant sea and land creatures she'd been expecting, Catrin saw a waiting navy. A mass of ships clogged the waters, and enough land had been cleared to build fortifications. Smoke billowed from stacks on ships and from buildings.

The air above was no safer than that above the open seas. In fact, the rock faces made it even more dangerous to navigate. Bringing the ship down low, Catrin saw dark shapes in the water and knew that the large sea creatures may not be fully visible, but they were still there.

"If we set down," Kenward said, "they'll attack from underneath, just as they did the last time we were here. If we stay here, the dragons'll get us, and who knows what's waiting in that river valley. I don't recall it being a pleasant trip. And we had to turn back at those boiling statues."

"Do you have a better idea?" Catrin asked.

"No," he admitted.

"Then hold on."

"Get ready!" Kenward shouted to the crew. "This is gonna be a bumpy ride."

The whistle of the ship echoed off the canyon walls, and Catrin brought them higher, even as approaching formations of ships readied themselves to attack. These groups were smaller, some consisting of only three ships, but they moved with nimble grace and seemed capable of greater speed.

"This is insane!" Kenward shouted as they whisked over the first formation of ships, which remained just above the surface of the water. The air around them shimmered, and the smell of smoke polluted the air. "They're setting us on fire! Put us down! Put us down!"

Not wanting to lose speed, Catrin tried to only bounce the ship along the surface of the narrowing and shallow waters at the mouth of the approaching river. She'd envisioned the ship skipping like a stone, but the drag was far greater than she had anticipated. Everyone and everything aboard was thrown toward the prow. A jet of oily fire spewing black smoke struck the waves before them and set the water itself afire.

"Up! Up!" Kenward shouted.

Catrin would have obeyed his orders if she could, but it was simply too much to ask, and the ship struck the flames, which left the Eel covered in burning pitch. The crew watched helplessly as smoke streamed up through the railing. Realizing that even the water would not extinguish this fire, Catrin concentrated on getting the ship back into the air. Though it seemed like the worst possible thing to do, Catrin had a plan. Pelivor cried out as he exerted himself, the cut of his muscles standing out as the wind plastered his silks against him.

Just before they reached the next cluster of approaching ships, they left the water and banked to port, this time greeted by a series of thumps that slammed into the hull. No one knew how much damage they had taken, but crewmen were shouting from below, and some had to evacuate the deckhouse due to smoke.

"She's gonna burn up!" Kenward shouted.

Left with no other options, Catrin pushed the ship for more speed, even as the valley walls closed in on them. This time the carved figures that adorned the hillsides were even more intimidating simply because they might slam into one of them at any moment. Catrin soon found herself soaring through a narrow and twisting canyon, mere inches above the waterline and with far too much speed, yet the fires still burned.

No ships pursued them up the river, but a shadow passed over them and raced along the valley just ahead of them, as if the dragon were just biding its time, waiting for the best moment to strike its prey-prey that had nowhere to go and no place to hide. Feeling naked and exposed, Catrin tried to resist the fear that ferals seemed designed to create, but it was difficult to do. Crewmen wept on deck, and Kenward looked more frightened than Catrin had ever seen, but that may have had more to do with the way she was flying his ship. When he looked at her, he wore a looked of unabashed horror, as if she might truly be a monster.

It was no use. Catrin knew that almost every path would lead to their deaths, and even if her actions left them stranded on the Firstland, then it would be better than all of them perishing in the sea or the air above it. Staying low had its own dangers, proven by a protruding rock face that had remained hidden until the last moment, protected by a natural illusion. It smacked into the hull and sent them flying sideways. The dragon picked that moment to attack, and Catrin tried to split her attention between guiding the ship, providing thrust, and sending a defensive strike against the approaching dragon. She never got the chance to release that strike as Kyrien soared in between them and sent the much larger dragon careening away from the ship.

"No!" Catrin cried out, knowing that Kyrien was no match for a dragon more than twice his size.

Fly.

It was the only response she got from him before he collided again with the feral. Catrin could not watch, not only because it was too painful to see, but because the valley continued to narrow and every instant was critically dangerous to the ship.

"The fires are out, but there are holes in the hull, sir! Big ones! We're not seaworthy."

Kenward looked stricken but Catrin was not surprised. Still, it didn't matter to her; all it did was reinforce her decision. Ahead lay the Eternal Guardians, watching over the Valley of the Victors. The name seemed ironic to Catrin since all the images were of men, yet they had not ruled here for thousands of years.

"Catrin!"

"Hold on, Kenward!"

"Catrin!"

The panic in his voice made Catrin regret what she was about to do, but he said he had no better ideas, and she did what she could to save all of them, even if it pained her to do so. Though she'd seen them before, the Eternal Guardians formed a daunting barrier. Both figures crouched over waters that swirled around the stone they had sprung from. The one closest to them was worn to the extent that its visage was lost to time, which made it look all the more imposing. The other had only half its face remaining, but even that cast them a baleful glare. The feral grew larger in the skies before them and would pass above the Guardians about the same time they would reach the massive monument. No going over the monuments, then. "Hold on and stay clear of the masts!"