Will Wight - Of Dawn and Darkness

Calder held up the book. “Well done indeed, Mr. Petronus. Please take the wheel while we study this in my cabin.”

“I’ve already read it,” Andel said. “So I won’t spoil the surprise. Surrender the helm, and I’ll see if I can bring us back on course.”

Walking past, Calder actually clapped him on the shoulder. “Thank you, Andel. Now toss that barrel overboard.”

“And waste perfectly good beetles?”

Andel hadn’t seemed panicked about the journal. He’d read it, and he hadn’t come screaming out on deck, demanding that they change course. In fact, he seemed to accept the whole thing without complaint.

Calder couldn’t understand why. They were sailing into a death-trap.

As it turned out, the journal wasn’t just Valette’s thoughts about his upcoming mission. It also included copies of his original orders, as well as the reports that led to those orders.

The reports, taken in tandem with Bliss’ commands and Valette’s notes, told a frightening story.

“Farmers in the region report sightings of what they describe as ‘ten-legged spiders’ running through their fields at night. These sightings are often accompanied by the usual signs: stolen livestock, missing books, strange signs cut into cornfields. When the community contacted the local Blackwatch chapter house, we responded with a standard investigation. However, it reached no conclusion…”

He flipped the page.

“In southern Izyria, we cornered a hive of Inquisitors. They had abducted the elderly and those of mental infirmity, taking them to a cave for a ritual preparation we believe was intended to invoke the void. Watchmen on scene were able to contain the Elderspawn, but this behavior suggests an uncharacteristic boldness. Inquisitors are usually content to watch.”

Every entry was something like this. These ten-legged arachnid Elderspawn, these Inquisitors, had become active all over the Empire. There were sightings from Dylia, Vandenyas, the Nire, even the Capital. Overall, it painted a disturbing picture. As one entry put it, “For Elderspawn to work with such coordination and precise timing suggests a greater intelligence at work. I think we all understand the nature of that intelligence.”

Most frightening of all were Bliss’ thoughts on the matter.

“The town of Silverreach was built on Ach’magut’s tomb. That seems like a silly place to build a town to me, so perhaps they deserve their fate. Except they didn’t build the town, their ancestors did. Anyway, they should move.

“The Inquisitors only act together under the orders of their lord, Ach’magut, and he’s dead. For now. If Ach’magut is alive again, it is quite possible that we are all moving according to a plan he laid more than two thousand years ago. You should travel to Silverreach and determine if the Great Elder has revived. You’ll be able to tell.

“If he has, we’ll have to schedule Silverreach for destruction. There is always the possibility that you will not return from this assignment, in which case I will assume that you have been captured and tortured by Ach’magut, and adjust my plans accordingly. I hope that does not happen, because then I would have to send three hundred silvermarks to your widow, and that is expensive. Be safe.”

Bliss’ concern for the welfare of her Guild members aside, the news froze Calder’s blood. They were sailing into the lair of a Great Elder who might be alive and waiting for them. In fact, their sailing to him could all be a part of his plan. Calder was having difficulty thinking of a more painful way to die.

By contrast, Jerri’s dark eyes were sparkling. “What if he’s alive? Can you imagine it? The Emperor is the only one who’s ever seen Ach’magut directly!”

Sometimes, it was hard to tell when Jerri was joking. “That’s exactly what I was thinking, except we’re going to change course. I wouldn’t drop anchor at Silverreach if there was a chest of gold buried every ten feet.”

That was an exaggeration; he probably would go ashore in that case. Gold was gold, and the Elder might still be dead.

“It can’t be too dangerous!” Jerri insisted. “Bliss is sending a man into the town, and she wouldn’t have hired us if this was absolutely suicide.”

Calder pointed at the journal page. “Even she’s admitting there’s a good chance he’ll be heading straight to his death. I can’t believe he accepted an assignment like this.”

Jerri laid a hand on his arm, moving a little closer. She looked at him earnestly, speaking softly, and her voice sent a quiver through his stomach. “Calder, he agreed because it’s worth the risk. That’s the mission of the Blackwatch: studying the Elders in the service of humanity. You remember.”

In another tone, that would have felt like a jab, but he did remember. He had already made a deal with one Great Elder for a cause he felt was worth it, and that hadn’t worked out too badly. Not as badly as it could have, anyway.

Sensing her advantage, Jerri pressed forward. “Besides, you know your mother supervises everything the Guild Head does. Even if Bliss would have killed a man just to learn something, would she? ”

That was a good point. Alsa Grayweather wouldn’t have allowed this to proceed if there wasn’t a good chance the man would return. And since Calder suspected it was his mother’s recommendation that had landed him this job in the first place, he knew she wouldn’t put him within a hundred miles of Silverreach if it wasn’t somewhat safe.

“We don’t have to change course,” Calder said finally. Jerri beamed at him, so brightly that he found himself smiling back. He wasn’t sure why she cared about this, but for some reason she did, so he’d enjoy her good mood.

Before he could say anything else, she leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss.

He froze for a moment, stunned. A smile leaked out, tugging one side of his mouth up. If he didn’t know her so well, he would have thought she was too excited about going to town. But she had no reason to care, other than her boredom and her desire to go ashore. Maybe that was enough. For Jerri, the potential would just add some much needed spice.

Whatever the reason, she was happy to go to Silverreach. She was happy with him . And that was all the explanation he needed.

After learning that a Great Elder may be waiting for them in the town of Silverreach, Calder had lost himself imagining what else they might find.

It could be a town that seems normal, but at night, the townsfolk turn into bloodthirsty cannibals. Silverreach could have been wiped from the earth, covered by nothing but Elderspawn and squirming tentacles. They could literally sail straight into Ach’magut’s mouth.

Maybe they would see nothing wrong, and would return to report that to the Blackwatch…but it would all be part of the Overseer’s plan. He would sneak one of his Inquisitors into the belly of The Testament, and Calder himself would be the agent responsible for spreading an Elder infestation.

His speculation had run so wild that, when they arrived at Silverreach, he was not at all surprised to find it empty.

There were only three other ships docked, all of them smaller than Calder’s. Fishing vessels, with their catch rotting onboard. Gulls screamed as they whirled around the harbor, gorging themselves on piles of rotten fish. The smell had everyone onboard the Navigator’s ship wrapping rags around their faces, leaving only their eyes uncovered.

The town itself looked like a hundred others in the Empire—the houses were simple, mostly wood covered in plaster, with sloping tiled roofs and wide, cobbled streets. Silverreach moved uphill, watched over by a lighthouse that stood sentinel on the edge of the coast.