Will Wight - Of Dawn and Darkness

But that couldn’t be the reason Under-lieutenant Belyard was here. The five ships had been on him before he’d decided to set course for Silverreach.

Why, then?

Belyard pulled the glove off her right hand and knelt, pressing her bare palm against the deck.

Of course. He’d been afraid of a Reader coming aboard ever since they’d picked up Urzaia, but for some reason he hadn’t considered it today. Stupid. It was possible that, with a little luck, she might be able to pick up a remnant of Urzaia’s Intent.

And it was absolutely impossible for her to miss the presence of the Lyathatan, chained beneath their ship. The Elder’s presence was permitted by the Navigator’s Guild, but if she didn’t know that, she might take Calder into custody and turn him over to the Blackwatch. Which would have its own set of complications.

One of which included being forced to abandon Urzaia ashore in an Elder-haunted and abandoned town.

He shivered as he felt her Intent pass through the ship, questing and insistent. After almost fifteen minutes, she steadied herself on the rail and pulled herself to her feet. “I apologize for the inconvenience, Captain. Nothing out of the ordinary here.”

He couldn’t conceal his surprise. She had scanned his ship and found nothing unusual?

“Really?” he asked.

Another quarter-second smile flashed across her expression. “Nothing out of the ordinary for a Navigator’s ship. We’ll take our leave immediately, and I apologize once again for the inconvenience.”

She started to turn, but Calder needed more information. If they were looking for Urzaia, why hadn’t they thought to look ashore? If they weren’t, then why had they chased him into the shallows?

He began hesitantly. “If I may ask, what were you looking for?”

She turned back to him, tightening the glove onto her hand. “These past few months, reports of Elder activity have increased weekly. The Emperor has the entire army, both the Luminian Order and the Blackwatch, and half the Navigators on containment duty. Every city and town supervised, every vessel inspected. It’s hard enough on us, but the alternative is leaving Imperial citizens to the Elders. And the Emperor would never allow that.”

No, the Emperor would never abandon his citizens to danger when he had the power to save them, Calder thought, and he could taste the cynicism. But he had one more question. “I’m sorry. Increased Elder activity…all along the Izyrian coast? Surely there’s somewhere we can safely make port. They can’t be everywhere.”

She eyed him with an expression he couldn’t read. “Not everywhere along the Izyrian coast, Captain. Everywhere. We’ve received emergency reports from all over the Empire.”

His heart began to pound like a war-drum.

“When I said the Blackwatch and the Luminian Order had been mobilized, I meant all of them. The entire Guilds. Every chapter, everywhere.”

Calder nodded acknowledgement to the Under-lieutenant, giving her one of the shallow half-bows that polite society favored in the Heartlands. “Thank you for your concern and your prompt response, Under-lieutenant.”

“Take my advice, and bring your crew elsewhere. I know the Navigators are exceptions to most rules, but this town was quarantined for a reason. There’s no sense taking chances, especially now.”

Under-lieutenant Belyard saluted one more time and left the ship, taking her men with her.

When she left, Calder let out a deep breath. “All hands on deck,” he said quietly, and Andel opened the hatch to shout down for Petal. Technically, he should have brought Petal up on deck for the officer’s inspection, but that would have shaken Petal’s nerves for days. As she was an alchemist, he’d planned on saying she was in the middle of a delicate project that could not be abandoned without risk to the safety of all onboard. In the end, it hadn’t mattered.

Petal emerged a few seconds after her hair, quivering and looking around for soldiers. When she saw none, she scurried up to the stern deck to join the rest of the crew.

Andel stood as dispassionately as ever, hands behind his back, the silver crest of the sun gleaming on his chest. Foster grumbled into his beard and fiddled with a musket. Petal glanced up at him through the veil of her hair. Jerri stood in the center, in a simple green dress totally unsuited for the deck of a ship. Her emerald earrings flickered in the sun, her braid hung down behind her, and she gave him a brilliant smile.

He winked at Jerri but watched the whole crew, minus Urzaia, fixing them into his mind. For once, the Aion Sea was the direction away from the Elders, which showed that everything in the world had gone wrong. And here they were in Silverreach, where they more than expected a Great Elder was buried. If he’d heard the reports of Elder activity before, he would never have stopped here.

But here they were, and Urzaia was ashore alone. Granted, he was the one most likely to survive an Elderspawn assault by himself, but he still wasn’t safe.

In case the worst happened—and in this case, he couldn’t even imagine how bad the worst possibility was—he wanted to remember the crew like this. As they were now.

From beneath his feet, a male voice boomed out in rumbling laughter. Shuffles was joining in.

So they were headed into lethal danger. Strangely, that made Calder feel better. At least he knew.

“We’re going to get Urzaia,” Calder said. “Jerri and Foster, stay with the ship. Andel and Petal, with me.”

There was a moment of communal confusion as everyone worked out what he’d said. Jerri’s eyes flashed. “Petal can stay, I’ll go.” Petal shivered like a leaf in the wind, and even Andel looked confused.

Calder met Jerri’s eyes. “If we don’t make it back, we need people aboard who can actually sail out of here. That means someone who can navigate and a Reader who might be able to persuade the Lyathatan to move. That’s you and Foster. I need someone with me who can fight, and that’s Andel. He can also potentially help me carry Urzaia out of there, if Urzaia is…immobilized. For the same reason, Petal is coming along for potential first aid.”

Andel moved to the second longboat, which was actually salvage from another Navigator’s wreckage. It was three feet shorter and a little wider than the first longboat, so they had taken to calling it the ‘shortboat.’

“That makes just enough sense that I won’t reject it out of hand,” Andel said. “Personally, I would rather take a few potions than Petal herself. I’m afraid she’ll freeze up if we’re in danger.”

Petal raised a hand. “Me too,” she said softly.

Calder placed a hand on her head, feeling as though he was comforting a child. “I have every faith in you, Petal.” The thought came to him that she was still almost five years older than he was, but it was too late to change his attitude now. “You’ve never run before.”

“I usually hide,” she whispered, but he ignored that too.

“All ashore that’s going ashore,” Calder called, dropping the shortboat and spinning out the ladder. Jerri was still glaring at him, but she did wave to him as he left. Foster was loading one of the port guns, leveling it at Silverreach. Calder appreciated the caution.

In the shortboat, Calder and Andel took one oar each—the first longboat wasn’t wide enough for two, but this one was. They began pulling for shore, and Calder couldn’t help but notice how much longer it took them together than it had Urzaia alone.

As they drew closer, Calder extended his Intent. If he remembered correctly, he should be able to get a sense of the same strange, Elder Intent he had detected last time. It had hung in the air, thick as spring fog.