Robert Newcomb - A March into Darkness

“What is it?” Faegan asked.

Wigg judiciously rolled the wineglass back and forth between his palms for a moment. “It’s Tristan,” he replied. “I worry about him constantly. Only the Afterlife knows what that creature Xanthus did with him, or why.”

“You are not responsible for Tristan’s fate,” Faegan answered. “From what you told me, he had no choice. Nor did you have any choice but to let him go.”

“I know,” Wigg answered. “It’s just that-”

Suddenly theTammerland heaved mightily into the air, the angle on her bow easily as sharp as when the ship had violently risen to escape the Necrophagians. Wigg’s concentration slipped, allowing the chess board and its pieces to go clattering to the floor. Just as quickly all the room’s furniture slid aft, taking the wizards with it.

His eyes wide, Wigg looked at Faegan. They immediately understood that something must have gone terribly wrong abovedecks. Besides themselves, Jessamay was the only mystic aboard with the power to raise the ship so dramatically. Worse, Tyranny would have never allowed such a violent maneuver unless the situation was dire.

As they tried to hurry for the door, the wizards heard Minion drummers suddenly start hammering out the maritime drum roll called “beating to quarters.” It was the clarion call for all Minion warriors while at sea, ordering them to their action posts. Even from several decks below, Wigg and Faegan could hear the sounds of Minion boot heels urgently pounding across the ship’s topsides.

Knowing that there was no time for discussion, the two wizards struggled for the door. Finally traversing the sharply angled floor, they clawed their way up the inclined hall and toward the aft stairway.

FROM HER PLACE AT THETAMMERLAND’S STERN RAIL, TYRANNYlowered her spyglass, then looked blankly out across the ocean again. In all her years at sea she had never met such a threat.

“Is it true?” Shailiha asked urgently. “Are Axel and Valgard right about what they told us?”

Adrian and Scars were also standing beside her. Everyone was holding on to the rigging, so as not to fall backward while theTammerland continued her steep climb. Jessamay clung to the ship’s wheel and was straining her powers to the utmost to keep theTammerland rising. As the flagship flew higher, her timbers and masts groaned torturously, like they were about to come apart. Tyranny handed the spyglass to the princess.

“Look for yourself,” Tyranny answered. “It is beyond your imagination. I doubt we can escape it.”

Shailiha quickly brought the spyglass to one eye, then twisted its cylinders to bring the threat into better focus. When she saw the danger her jaw dropped.

About one league away, a deadly wall of water had risen to more than two hundred meters and was heading directly toward the fleet. Just as the two warriors from Traax’s patrol had said, the wave stretched to the north and south for as far as the eye could see-even with the aid of the spyglass. The swarming beings that the returning warriors had also warned of were accompanying it.

The warrior manning theTammerland ’s forwardmost crow’s nest had seen the threats and had quickly rung the warning bell. But because cloud cover sometimes blocked the moonlight, he had not seen them soon enough to do the fleet much good. Then Axel and Valgard had unexpectedly crashed to the ship’s deck. They had been nearly dead from exhaustion.

Although the warriors had returned ahead of the wave, they had lost much of their lead to its amazing speed. After hearing their incredible tale, Tyranny knew that there was only one way to survive. The mystic aboard each vessel must force her ship to climb to her utmost while reversing course. Tyranny had immediately issued the orders, then commanded the Minions to their action stations.

Still gasping for breath, Axel had finished his bizarre report with more bad news. Traax and his remaining warriors were surely dead, he said. There could have been no other outcome.

Shailiha absently handed the glass to Scars. After looking for a moment, he used one meaty hand to angrily collapse the spyglass’s cylinders. Shaking his head, he gave his captain a grim look.

“We won’t escape it!” he shouted. “We weren’t given enough warning! Even at our current rate of climb the wave will strike us! You were also right to reverse course, but I fear that our actions won’t be enough!”

Scars turned to look at the other Black Ships as they struggled to match theTammerland ’s steep climb. He quickly pointed at them.

“Our sister ships are faring even worse!” he shouted. “The acolytes aboard them don’t have Jessamay’s strength!”

Everyone turned to look at the five struggling warships. Flying behind and below theTammerland, their bows were raised at distinctively lesser angles, hampering their climbs.

As she looked, Shailiha’s heart sank. She knew that the acolytes were doing all they could. But if Scars believed that theTammerland would be engulfed by the oncoming wave, the others didn’t stand a chance.

“Where are Wigg and Faegan?” Tyranny shouted. “We need them!”

No sooner had the privateer asked the question than the two wizards exited the stern stairway. Holding on to the railing, they struggled their way toward the others.

“What is going on?” Wigg shouted.

Tyranny pointed astern. By this time the huge wave and its accompanying creatures could be seen with the naked eye. Just then a patch of magenta moonlight caught the wave, illuminating its terrifying splendor. It would be on them in moments. As everyone watched, Serena’s flying creatures started diving down to start their attack.

“I beg the Afterlife,” Wigg breathed.

“What do we do?” Tyranny demanded. “Can you stop it, or turn it away somehow?”

Wigg shook his head. “Its power is beyond our gifts!” he answered. “Our only chance is to outrun it!”

“What purpose do the flying creatures serve?” Shailiha shouted. “Surely the wave is enough to destroy us all!”

Faegan looked up at Shailiha from his wooden chair. It was plain to see that he was as thunderstruck as Wigg.

“Those monsters have but one purpose!” he shouted. “They will attack in force to overwhelm the Minions! If they kill the mystic aboard each ship then the vessels will crash back to the sea, their fates a certainty when the wave rushes over them! That is why they are diving well ahead of it! Order every warrior into the air at once! They have to meet that swarm head-on and somehow keep those beasts from breaking though!”

Shailiha immediately barked out some orders. At once warriors by the thousands left theTammerland ’s decks to fly toward the advancing swarm. More soared downward to relay the princess’s orders to the other ships. Soon the night sky filled with their beating wings, and thousands of dreggan blades flashed menacingly in the moonlight. Wigg quickly called three more warriors forward.

“Take me, Faegan, and Adrian to three of the other ships!” he ordered them.

“What are you doing?” Tyranny demanded. “We need you here!”

“Not as badly as they do!” Wigg countered. “Jessamay must continue to climb theTammerland! But the weaker acolytes need us! It is the only way! The two remaining sisters that we cannot help will just have to do the best they can!”

Scars, Tyranny, and Shailiha watched the warriors take the three mystics in their arms. The Minions launched into the air and disappeared into the darkness over the stern rail.

Shailiha turned to look at Jessamay. The sorceress was near exhaustion, her legs shaking as she tried to keep theTammerland climbing ever higher. Just then Shailiha heard a terrible noise and turned to look.

As the wave chasing them drew ever nearer, the Minion hordes and the swarming Vagaries creatures clashed head-on.