Heart of the Kraken (Tales from Darjee) (20 page)

Us? Only now, close to the jetty did she notice the other creature mostly submerged in the water. In length it was bigger than the kraken, but narrow like an arrow and its hide shimmered blue and green like her tail. Her brain couldn't determine if it were a strange creature or a type of vessel. Ailin gasped. Her gaze shot to the old man and understanding crashed into her mind.

"You're Weston."

He nodded and a sad smile touched his lips. "Yes."

She pointed to one side. "Which means that ship is the Curiosity."

The lips twitched this time as though she touched an old joke. "She doesn't like being called that, her name is Sahara."

Ailin didn't understand, part of her brain still worried about Fenton bleeding out on the deck of the Razor's Edge and it was slow to process the man's words. "That is the ship's name?"

"Sahara is Sahara's name." His eyes shone when he said the name, his tongue caressed the syllables as they passed his lips.

These ore-mancers talked in riddles. The strange vessel drew her, the gleam on the scales so similar to her own but so much larger. She swam closer and ran a hand over the side. She expected cold metal, but this was warm and something else…

She drew her hand back with a start. The ship pulsed under her hand. It breathed. A slight in and out motion caused a tiny ripple in the water at its sides.

Weston stood and walked down the jetty, keeping abreast of her movement through the water. "You are safe here, only those invited by Nancy can access the caverns."

She laid her hand back on the large scales. "The vessel breathes."

He nodded. "Yes, Sahara breathes."

Ailin wished she could understand, there was a meaning here that skated close to her love for Fenton. If she could understand one, perhaps she could save him. "You made the ship to save the woman you loved."

A tear rolled down his face. "I could not live without her. Selfish, I know. The ore-mancers would have turned her into an automaton and forced her to work in the mines of Unus Talamh until her parts wore out. I would not sentence her to such a fate. Our love caused her injury, I had to try and save her. Trying was the only thing that gave my life meaning."

Ailin frowned. "It was never your fault. That lays with those who tried to keep you apart. Your love sustained her."

The vessel rippled under her hand and Weston laughed. "That's what she says, to stop beating myself up over it. It happened long ago and what matters is that we found a way to be together."

Ailin smiled. She liked this vessel. "Females are often the smarter of a species."

Weston gazed at the strange ship and a smile lit his face. In that moment, Ailin glimpsed the truth he held inside.

"You still love her," she said. It radiated from him as unchanged as the day he first saw her over fifty years ago.

His brow furrowed at her question and he huffed. "Of course I do. Only her outward form changed, never her heart."

The words so similar to the ones Ailin spoke not so long ago. She loved Fenton whatever form he took, landwalker or kraken. It made no difference to her.

"I love a kraken," she said, needing to say the words aloud.

Weston's eyebrows shot up. "A kraken? Don't see many of those around."

"He is also a landwalker." And quite possibly dead by now although she hushed herself and held on to her trust in Nancy.

"Well that's handy if you need something from the shops." Weston laughed and Sahara vibrated in the water as though she joined in.

It would be wonderful, except her last image of Fenton was him in his kraken form with Reis plunging a sword into his thick hide. If he died as a kraken, would he keep that form or turn back into a landwalker? Tears burned in her eyes even as she kept repeating Nancy's promise to save Fenton. She had lost him and never told him she guessed at his other half. The side he tried to shield her from even as the creature protected her. The ocean ran in his veins and called to her, just as he chased her through the water in her dreams.

"I love him whatever shape he holds," she whispered.

Sahara bumped against her and Ailin laid her face on the ship's scales. Under her cheek came the faint thud of a heart pulsing through the ore-mancer created curiosity.

Weston nodded. "I shall tell you a secret about men, Ailin. We are vain creatures. I'm sure if my fate and Sahara's were switched, she would have let the ore-mancers turn me into a toast rack and moved on with her life."

Ailin took comfort from her strange new friend and then giggled. "You would have made a fine toast rack."

Ripples shook the surface around Sahara as the ship joined in the merriment.

Weston tugged on the collar of his tunic and puffed out his chest. "I would like to think so."

Ailin liked this strange couple and the way they bantered back and forth despite the obvious physical differences. Only one thing bothered her. "How did Sahara's landwalker form inhabit the ship?"

Weston sat down on the timbers and dropped his bare feet over the side. "Ore-mancers have a gift, but Sahara worked a miracle on the shell I created for her. I think she and the ship were so in sync, they fused together and became one. I intended it to replace her broken body but like a woman, she took what her man handed her and turned it into something fantastical."

The ship rolled against his feet and tickled the soles. The affection clear in how each reacted to the other. The tears returned to Ailin's eyes, would she ever have that with Fenton? Her kind only ever took one partner and her soul cried out for him just as her form longed for the press of his flesh against her.

"Nancy will be here soon once he is sure the storm has served its purpose."

She reached out and gripped the side of the pier, her fingernails biting into the timber. "He must save Fenton, Captain Reis will kill him."

Weston reached down and patted her hand. "I know it is difficult not knowing what is going on beyond this cavern, but Nancy has everything in hand. He will explain."

Chapter Twenty

Inside, Fenton laughed. Dragut Reis thought he won by unmasking him and driving Ailin away in terror. When actually he worked to Fenton's plan. Nancy was right, you needed to play a long game and think several moves ahead. He had known being caught trying to free Ailin would bring the captain's wrath down on his head. He had hoped Reis would flick the switch and release the kraken as punishment.

He could never have taken away the horror he saw in Ailin's eyes, but he could save her. The pain ripped through his body as his skin tore, muscle shattered and the aquatic beast emerged from his wreckage. But he had kept possession of the small part of his mind that remained Fenton. Reis had thought to reveal his true form and then put him back into his flesh cage. Except had he kept the monstrous shape long enough to reach the creature who possessed his heart, wrap a tentacle around her, and release the mermaid back to her natural environment.

Too late Reis realised the betrayal. Too late he flicked the switch back again. With his sole focus on Ailin, Fenton never saw the blow, but the white hot pain seared through his body as the sword plunged into his hide. Damage done while the kraken was transferred to his human form. Then he withered and shrank as the beast dissolved back into ink lines etched in his skin. Fenton curled up on the deck, naked and covered in sweat. Reis' sword jutted from between his ribs and blood pooled around his body, but he smiled. As the thunder boomed and the rain pelted his body, the grin took over his face. Loving Ailin enabled him to search deep inside and find the courage he needed.

"End it," he whispered to Reis. "Kill me."

Then they would both be free.

The captain roared and turned to the closest crewman. He grasped at Maynard and pulled the other man's sword free. Fenton gazed up at the black sky, high above, only the top of Timmy's head was visible where he cowered in the crow's nest. Then, a discordant note cut through the thunder. High pitched, it screamed a challenge at the sky. As one, the crew turned from the spectacle of dying Fenton to watch a new actor in their drama emerge from the turbulent ocean. The shadow loomed over the deck and the crew shrank away. The lightning lit it from behind and silver ran along its hide. In size, it rivalled the kraken, as large as the pirate vessel but this creature was made of steel and brass.

The wyrm.

Razor sharp teeth as long as a man's arm snapped at the pirates. Red eyes glowed in the unnatural night as it swung back and forth. The enormous head bowed toward the deck and there, riding behind the ruffle, sat Nancy. He jumped to the timbers and the metal monstrosity half slithered onto the Razor's Edge. Its tail lashed out and caught Reis. It bowled him over and then pinned him to the floor. Men ran to his assistance but the wyrm turned and hissed, driving them back to the rail.

The ore-mancer stood over Fenton. "Sorry I'm late, lad, but it looks like all is going to plan." With two hands on the sword, he pulled it free and then tossed it overboard.

Fenton doubled over in pain as fire lanced his body. The blade left a vacuum that blood rushed to fill.

Nancy un-looped a scarf from around his neck and pressed it to the gash. Then he took Fenton's hands and laid them over the top. "Keep the pressure on and I'll fix you up once I deal with Captain Reis. Lenny!" he yelled over his shoulder. "Protect Fenton."

Lenny, the wyrm, wriggled closer along the deck and men jumped out of the way as whiskers made of thin wires swept past and gouged soft timber. All the time, it kept the captain squashed under its tail. One flipper extended from the side of its sleek form and it scooped up Fenton and cradled him close to its cold metal body. Safe in the wyrm's embrace, he could only watch proceedings.

Nancy looked upward at the storm clouds and drew a hand over the horizon. In that instance, the rain stopped and two clouds parted as though the ore-mancer opened a curtain a fraction. Light spilled from above and lit the wizard. Then he waggled a finger at Reis as though he admonished a schoolboy. "You have broken the covenant of Lusions. You have spilled blood within my harbour."

Reis laughed. "I made no move against another ship, he is part of my crew and it is my right to maintain discipline. You have no authority on the Edge."

Nancy tapped the side of his chin. "Ah, slight problem there. Your idea of discipline involves using ore-mancer technology, which is most definitely within my realm. I will agree to a compromise though. I shall remove the item and you can continue without ore-mancer assistance."

He knelt down and examined the gauntlet. One fingertip skipped over the dials and switches as the ore-mancer muttered under his breath.

Reis struggled against his captor. "You cannot touch that, I paid good gold for it."

"Hold him still, Lenny," Nancy said to the wyrm.

Lenny yodelled at the dark sky and sat a little heavier on the pirate. With the majority of his body pinned, only the captain's head and arm jutted free. Meanwhile, Lenny spat at any crewman who thought to approach and help their fallen leader.

"We should never stifle other creatures. Ore-mancers were created to use their power to help, not to create puppets." His exploratory fingertip circled the large brass switch. "You have tormented Fenton for years, now it's time to set him free." Nancy muttered under his breath in a strange language and his fingertips dissolved into the gauntlet. The metal became fluid under his touch, as though the particles pulled back to allow him access. Nancy turned his hand and grasped something under the switch.

Reis writhed and cried out as the other man dug deep in his arm.

"Ah," Nancy murmured. "Found it." He jerked back and up, ripping away the switch. Below it dangled wires and a cable. Reis screamed as the device was torn from his nerves and tendon. Connections were severed and cauterised in one swift yank. Another pass of his hand and Nancy sealed the wound. The metal stretched and reformed to cover the gap where once sat the switch that controlled Fenton's physical form.

Reis shuddered under Lenny's constant pressure. For once he, was the one unable to escape. His black gaze found Fenton. "I will hunt down you and your mermaid and tear out her heart before you, right before I rip out yours."

"I don't think so," Nancy said. "You will remove yourself from my harbour, the Razor's Edge is no longer welcome at Lusions. Lenny will ensure you don't return. He's quite an efficient guard wyrm although prone to being overzealous."

The wyrm turned its head and screamed, apparently that was its answer to everything. Then it lunged across the deck, spitting sparks and the crew scattered to shelter wherever possible.

Nancy dropped the switch to the deck and then crushed the metal under his heel. More ore-mancer magic flowed from his body as, given he went barefoot, there was insufficient weight to damage the device. When he lifted his foot, the metal danced and of its own accord, scrunched up into a tiny ball with one wire dangling, like a loose thread on a ball of wool.

Fenton curled into a larger ball as fire washed over his body and licked at his limbs. Without the device controlling his form, his body undulated as though unsure what to do. To sprout tentacles or keep legs? The ink on his back scoured deep into his flesh, tearing him apart only to reform again.