The Fifth Magic (Book 1) (10 page)

He nodded and stepped onto the barge. After Bradley poled them into place, Logan took a few deep breaths, slipped beneath the surface, and swam downward. The light in his hand grew brighter the deeper he went. A sunken ship emerged from the darkness, its shadow form pristine with clean, sharp lines.

Chapter 9

The greatest threat our world faces is unyielding belief.

--Barabas the druid

* * *

Wonder and excitement emanated from the usually implacable Trinda. No one could say what Logan would find, but Brother Vaughn could feel the collective hope the diver would find something. Locating the secondhold would be a feat in and of itself; opening it and retrieving its contents a near impossible task.

When the man broke the surface and gasped for breath, Brother Vaughn knew he was pushing his abilities to their limits. Part of him feared the diver would swim into the ship and never find his way back out. It was a rational fear, and that was what troubled him most.

Glistening in the light of the herald globe he held in one hand, the diver had to breathe for a moment before he could speak. Trinda tapped her toe.

"I found the cabins," he said across the water. "Haven't figured out which is the captain's cabin yet. Some of the hatches are closed, so I'm going to check the open ones first."

Trinda sighed. "Do your best," she said.

After Logan took a few deep breaths, he dived and kicked his way back to the sunken ship.

Turning back at her guard, Trinda said. "Surely he's not the only person in the hold who can dive. Find the rest. Equip them and bring them here."

"Yes, m'lady," he said before leaving at nearly a full run, a wise move given Trinda's darkening mood.

Brother Vaughn watched the child queen and tried not to think about her that way. She'd hurt him, for certain, but that didn't seem to have been her intention. She never appeared to want to hurt anyone--except maybe Edling; she just wanted her way. Kenward was unusually quiet, and Brother Vaughn suspected it was because he was standing on solid ground, something the man quite openly detested. Even this marvelous body of water trapped within a mountain wasn't enough to overcome his discomfort. Trinda had almost complete control over him, his ship, and his crew, especially the thief who'd never been his to begin with; Brother Vaughn could understand his trepidation. Given the things that had come from Kenward's mouth in the past, he decided silence was the best he could hope for.

When the guard returned with three young men and two young women, each holding a herald globe as if it might explode at any instant, all of them were breathing hard.

"You bring me divers who are out of breath?" Trinda asked. "How good can they be?"

"I'm sorry, m'lady. I asked them to hurry, and these were the only people brave enough to answer the call."

Trinda nodded. "They are to be commended for their bravery," she said. "The water is cold and deep. Do not die. Your job is to help Logan and provide him light and not to die. Is that clear?" The divers all nodded, none bold enough to speak to the queen. They moved to the barge, but Trinda stepped in front of the smallest girl, who was younger than Trinda appeared. "Do your parents know you're here?"

The girl nodded.

"Do not die."

"I won't die, m'lady," the girl finally said, her voice quavering. "I used to clean the barnacles from our fishing boat before--"

Trinda nodded and stepped out of the girl's way. When she turned, her eyes were greeted by an incredible sight. Six herald globes cast overlapping pools of light onto the subterranean lake floor. Not far away, Brother Vaughn knew there were crystalline formations in a megalithic feral dragon's likeness. The divers had been urged to avoid the area, not because Trinda feared it, but she must have known the divers would. Brother Vaughn couldn't argue with the logic, since he, too, had been made to feel small, weak, and vulnerable upon seeing the mystical creature.

The ship itself was a design unlike anything Brother Vaughn had ever seen. It appeared there had been rowers in the middle decks, and she had no masts. There was no wind to speak of within this place. The ship must have been built within the cavern and would forever remain there. Trinda did not want the ship raised, even though it appeared perfectly preserved. Her only instruction had been to retrieve items of value, and specifically those items the ship's captain had considered most valuable.

"The ship has a name," Logan said when he next surfaced. "
Drakon Ghar.
Not sure what that means."

"I believe it means those of the dragon who protect," Brother Vaughn said.

"A guardian dragon," Trinda said, her visage unreadable. "I've never had one of those. I have wondered what it would be like. It's not all I expected it to be." No one made any response, and Brother Vaughn was trying to decide if it had been a joke. Unwilling to laugh at the wrong thing, he remained silent. Three more times Logan returned from the ship, though the rest surfaced twice as often. The young girl Trinda had questioned shivered so badly, her teeth knocked and her skin was a bluish color. "Out of the water," Trinda said, pointing to her. The girl might have protested but the glow in Trinda's eyes made her think better of it.

Smart girl, Brother Vaughn thought.

"Get her a blanket," Trinda said, and her guard went pale. Trinda just sighed and shook her head. "Someone had better go get some blankets, then, hadn't they?" He was already running.

Two boys got out of the water as well, and Trinda did not scold or chide them, nor did Bradley complain about conveying them to shore. When Trinda's guards returned with blankets, Trinda grabbed a blanket herself and wrapped it around the youngest girl's shoulders. She did, however, make sure the herald globes were returned to her guards. Logan broke the surface again and gasped for breath. "I think I found it," he said.

"The captain's quarters?" Trinda asked.

"The secondhold," he said. Subdued excitement rippled over those standing on the cold stone shore along the God's Eye. Trinda boarded the barge this time. When the barge reached the man who was treading water, Trinda knelt down and handed Logan the cube he himself had found and given to Brother Vaughn years ago. "Pardon me for saying this, m'lady, but if there's something in there that entitles a man to wine, women, and song, may I be first in line?"

Trinda laughed, her eyes twinkling. "You may."

"There's one other thing," Logan said, though he hesitated before continuing. "It looks to me like the captain of the
Drakon Ghar
sunk her intentionally. There's no battle damage, and all the hatches are open."

Brother Vaughn wasn't certain what to make of it, but his curiosity about the secondhold overwhelmed all else. Would Logan be able to open the secondhold? Would the ancient lock even function? Considering how well the ship was preserved, a part of him dared to hope. Another part knew the most dangerous dives were ahead. Twice more the diver came up for air, each time winded.

"Out of the water. All of you," Trinda said.

"I think I've just about got it open," Logan said. "Just one or two more dives, and we should know what's inside."

"Get out of the water, dry off, and warm up with some tea," Trinda said, and she turned her gaze on another of her guards. The man didn't know what to do at first, but then he must have realized there was no hot tea waiting for the divers, and he dashed away. "Fools," Trinda said under her breath; perhaps it was not meant for Brother Vaughn's ears, but he heard it nonetheless.

"Describe it to me," Trinda said to Logan once the barge reached shore. Kenward and Brother Vaughn stepped closer as the diver spoke quietly, still shivering. Trinda had been right. They needed to warm up. Had he misjudged her? Again?

"It's in what would have been the floor of the captain's cabin under a desk that's secured to the deck. I saw a square outline in the wood about the size of the cube. With a little prying, the wood plug came loose, and I saw the carvings within the recessed area. That's when I knew it was what you had asked me to find."

"You've done well," Trinda said. "Now tell me about the recess. What did it look like? Were the carvings the same as what's on the cube?"

Kenward listened intently but Brother Vaughn couldn't quite understand why she was pursuing this when he nearly had the secondhold open.

"It looked as if they had carved the cube out of that very piece of wood," Logan said. "The carvings on it fit perfectly into the ones in the recess once I had it turned the right way. That's what took me so long. I'm sorry."

"You have no reason to be sorry," Trinda said. "And here is your tea. I'm so glad you didn't have to wait any longer."

Trinda's guards had the good sense to look sheepish. "I've asked Miss Mariss to send hot food," Bernerd said.

"Thank you," Trinda said. "It's good to see you thinking for yourself."

"Yes, m'lady," he said, which annoyed Trinda. Everyone else wisely remained silent.

Runners arrived from the kitchens, and they brought thick stew in a kettle and loaves of bread. The stew was ladled into mugs and bread torn off in generous hunks. The divers eagerly accepted the food, except for Logan. "It's not good to dive with a full stomach," he said. "I want to get back in the water." The other divers hesitated, and he held up a hand to them. "I know where I'm going now, and I don't need any help this time. You all did a great job helping find it. Thank you. Eat."

Brother Vaughn thought Trinda might stand in his way, but she just nodded and stood aside. Logan handed his blanket to a guard and stepped onto the barge. Once back in the water, he dived without hesitation. Not for the first time, Brother Vaughn tried to understand why the herald globe shone more brightly the deeper it sank. Was it the cold or the pressure or the water itself? It should tell him something, but he couldn't figure out what it meant. No matter the mystery, the diver illuminated the floor of the God's Eye, and there appeared to be runes carved in the dark stone. Debris and artifacts from the sunken ship gave a tantalizing glimpse of the past, something Brother Vaughn had always longed for. History gave him context.

When Logan reentered the ship, he left those above with only shifting light beams as signs of his progress. Tension charged the air. Too many things could go wrong. Brother Vaughn was convinced that was why the diver had wanted the young people to stay on land; he was protecting them from what he knew might claim his life. Brother Vaughn admired the man's bravery and honorable intentions, but he cursed him under his breath at the same time. "And now we all just have to wait here and wonder if you're drowning or not," he said without meaning to.

"He's well," Trinda said, her eyes hooded, as if her thoughts were far away.

A moment later, Logan proved her correct and emerged from the
Drakon Ghar,
his legs pumping as he rushed back toward the surface. The diver swam to where Trinda waited. He was gasping for breath but held the herald globe steadily in one hand and a circular object in the other. "M'lady," he said. "I'm so sorry. I got the secondhold open, but this is all that was in there." He handed her a stone ring big enough to be worn like a bracelet. Brother Vaughn tried to get a better look at it, but Trinda turned away, leaning over as she examined it. He'd seen it for no more than an instant, yet he would have sworn it bore runes and maybe even a metallic glint.

He was about to ask Trinda what the ring was when Logan said, "Oh. And there was this." He reached down and pulled a rolled cloth from his loincloth, which was still submerged.

"Wait!" Brother Vaughn said as Logan moved to hand Trinda the rolled cloth. "Leave it under water. If you expose it to the air, it could disintegrate."

Trinda crossed her arms over her chest, met his eyes, and listened. Her expression was not entirely friendly.

He continued, speaking more quickly. "We need a vessel to move it out of the God's Eye without risking destroying it. And we'll need to move it to a colder part of the keep. There we can transcribe and preserve whatever knowledge it contains, even if we cannot save the item itself. May I enlist the help of your guards?"

Trinda stood silent for a moment, considering his words. "Do as he says."

People moved to obey her command and fill Brother Vaughn's requests. He wasn't certain it would work, but his studies on preserving knowledge told him it was his best chance. It also brought back painful memories of the order from which he was now estranged. He sought comfort in the fact that he lived his life by the Cathuran order's tenets, more so than many of his brothers and sisters, but those were prideful thoughts, and they shamed him. Only the knowledge of misdeeds at the hands of his brethren banished that shame. He was not innocent, but he was in the right.

"May we see the other . . . uh . . . thing?" Kenward asked seemingly against his better judgment.

"You'll get your chance," Trinda said with a smile that chilled Brother Vaughn. "But now's not the time. When you've secured the document, my guards will escort you to the great wheel. I think you'll find the conditions there favorable. By then, you should also have your supplies, and your repairs should be well under way." With a nod, she ended the conversation and walked away, most of her guards going with her.

Four guards remained. They would not meet his eyes. "You all know us, and you know we mean you no harm. Be at ease." The guards remained as they were, and Brother Vaughn sighed. So much in his world had changed, and little of it was for the better. He couldn't help but smile, though, when Martik arrived with a work crew and materials. Wood planks were assembled to make a small box, which they lined with oiled hide. The box was just wide enough to hold the rolled canvas. Martik instructed his men to build a larger container near the great wheel, one large enough to hold the unrolled scroll and still keep it submerged in elbow-deep water.