Tina Daniell: Maquesta Kar-Thon

Maquesta saw the shadowperson fall. Tangled in his voluminous cloak, he flung his arms about, but couldn't stay afloat. Maq swam toward him, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Hvel and Vartan had grabbed on to a section of the railing that was floating in the water. Panting, Maquesta finally reached the shadowperson and started pulling the sodden cape from him.

"I know the sun will hurt you," Maquesta gasped. "But you'll drown with all these clothes on." Letting the cloak and hood float away, she grabbed Ilyatha about the shoulders and swam with him toward Hvel and Vartan. Shouts from her crewmen on deck, and the cacophonous screeching of the octopus, filled her senses.

"Maq!" Vartan called. "We thought you were dead."

Maquesta pushed the shadowperson into Hvel's arms. "Hold him," she huffed. "I'm going after the octopus. If we can't beat this thing back, we'll all be dead."

She dived beneath the surface, breathing deeply of the water again, thankful that Tailonna's potion was still working. Maquesta angled herself away from the ship and under the octopus. From beneath its body, she saw its limbs waving wildly and noticed that two had been cut in half. Dark blood poured from the frayed edges. The creature's mouth was open, and its long, pointed tongue, covered with two rows of jagged teeth, wriggled back and forth.

As Maq swam toward its underside, short sword raised in front of her, one of the unharmed tentacles brought a struggling sailor to its mouth. She kicked her legs faster to close the distance, but the octopus stuffed the hapless sailor inside its beak, using its tongue to cut the man into bits before Maq could even discern his identity.

Maquesta closed her eyes for but a moment, not wanting to see the sailor's grisly end. Opening them slowly, she saw the octopus's beak open and close, chewing its meal. She thrust herself forward, slipping between a pair of tentacles and jabbing at the bulbous body from underneath. Again the octopus screamed, but this time the cry was louder than before. The leviathan pulled its tentacles away from the Perechon and started swirling them about its body in the water, looking for its attacker.

Struggling to keep herself away from the tentacles-and staying beneath the giant octopus where its eyes could not see-Maquesta drove the sword in again. Almost instantly she was surrounded by the inky blackness. Undaunted, she withdrew her blade and stabbed forward, certain that the great beast could not have moved far.

On deck, Fritzen and Koraf lowered a rope ladder to Vartan and Ilyatha. "Hurry, please!" Vartan called. "The thing got Hvel. Dragged him under. We'll be next!"

Tailonna jumped over the side and helped Ilyatha to the ladder. The shadowperson's eyes were closed, and he tried to draw his webbed arms about his face to fend off the sun's rays. Vartan leapt ahead of Ilyatha, climbing up several rope rungs then extending an arm down, indicating Tailonna should hand up the shadowperson.

After she was certain Ilyatha was all right, Tailonna dived beneath the water, searching for Maquesta, who she guessed must be somewhere in the cloud of blackness. She mumbled a few words, and a globe of glowing blue light appeared in the palm of her hand, cutting through the inky haze. She spied Maq beneath the giant octopus's body. Maquesta was quivering, and Tailonna noticed the leviathan's toothy tongue was wrapped around Maq's left leg.

The sea elf gasped, realizing the octopus must have released its nerve poison into the water, one of its last defenses. Maquesta must have hurt the creature badly, Tailonna mused as she swam toward the octopus's mouth, hoping she would be in time.

Maq felt her fingers growing numb and had to keep both hands about the hilt of her short sword so she wouldn't drop it. Shocks of hot and cold chased up and down her frame, and she felt a tingling in her leg where the tongue had grabbed her. She bit her bottom lip, hoping the pain might help her concentrate. Focusing, she stabbed forward with her sword, piercing the octopus's tongue.

The beast let go of her, and its tongue flapped wildly, her sword still embedded in it. Maquesta, weaponless, looked about and saw Tailonna swimming toward her. The sea elf had a dagger strapped in her belt, and Maquesta numbly swam toward her, motioning for the weapon.

Tailonna reached Maq in a few strokes and could tell by the glassy look in the captain's eyes that the nerve toxin was in her system. The sea elf shook her head and pointed away from the octopus, trying to get Maquesta to back off to safety. But Maq was determined. Reaching forward with unfeeling fingers, Maq saw her hand close about the dagger. She pulled the weapon from Tailonna's belt. Maq brought her other hand about the small hilt, too, not wanting to drop the blade. Tailonna's magical light source helped her see the giant octopus, which had now turned so it could watch the two tiny figures in the water beneath it.

The sea elf began mumbling again, calling forth violet darts from her fingertips that struck the octopus near its mouth. Its lidless eyes grew wide and dark, filled with anger, as it waved its tentacles to carry it closer to the small creatures causing it so much pain.

At the same time, a determined Maquesta swam awkwardly forward, luckily dodging a tentacle, and moving up against the creature's head. Its massive eyes regarded her balefully, and Maq stared back at the creature, pulled her lip up in a snarl, and plunged the dagger into the nearest eye.

In the next instant, the sea about the Perechon became a foaming, frothing expanse. Tentacles thrashed about, and the giant octopus screamed shrilly, causing those on board the ship to cover their ears. The ship pitched, sending many of the sailors to their knees.

"To the oars!" Kof bellowed. Only those sailors closest to him heard the order above the terrible noise coming from the leviathan.

Maquesta and Tailonna suddenly found themselves being propelled backward through the water. The giant octopus was shooting a jet of water through its body. The burst of speed sent the leviathan away from the Perechon , and the backlash sent Maq and the sea elf bumping soundly up against the hull of the ship.

"Grab the rope ladder!" Fritzen called out.

The feeling had started coming back into Maquesta's fingers. Mustering what was left of her strength, she pulled herself up the ladder and fell forward onto the deck. Tailonna scampered up behind her. As Maq raised her head, she took in the destruction.

The mizzenmast lay irreparably broken, in worse shape than the mast Belwar had destroyed on the Butcher . The railing was nonexistent about most of the ship, and holes dotted the deck where the leviathan's tentacles had ripped up boards. All about Maq, the crew worked to pick up the mess.

Fritzen helped her to her feet. His eyes held hers, and this time she didn't look away.

"I thought I was going to lose you," he said.

"I lost my father," she replied simply. "The Perechon can't make Lord Attat's deadline now. The morkoth is at the bottom of the sea. And the only way we're getting anywhere is under oar power. It will take us weeks to get back to Lacynos."

Fritzen kissed her forehead. "We also lost Hvel," he said finally. "The octopus pulled him under. Beyond that, two sailors were injured when the mizzenmast fell, but their wounds are not serious. Ilyatha will be all right, too, if that's any consolation. He's in the armory, under a blanket. The sun burned his skin and temporarily blinded him."

Tears spilled from Maquesta's eyes. The price had become very high indeed.

For nearly an hour the only sounds on the deck were made by crewmen cleaning up pieces of the mast and folding the sail. Maquesta sat on the poop deck, looking out over the water. Vartan padded up behind her.