Sam Sykes - Tome of the Undergates

‘What do you mean?’ Asper asked.

‘It was warm,’ Denaos muttered, stamping his feet. ‘Now it’s colder than a whale fart.’

‘Do. . do whales fart?’ She cocked a brow.

‘Everything farts; it’s what makes us human.’

‘But whales aren’t-’

‘That’s why their farts are cold ,’ he snapped. The tall man glanced up as Kataria elbowed her way into the huddle, his eyes darting from her bare arms to her bare midsection. ‘Not that I’ve any particular grievance with it, but are you sure you wouldn’t like a cloak or something?’

‘I don’t need anything,’ she muttered, not looking at him. Her stare was distant, though the corner of her gaze occasionally flickered to the silver-haired man standing beside her. ‘It’s not that cold.’

‘ Not that cold? ’ Denaos shivered at the very words. ‘It feels like I’ve just sat on an icicle and twisted.’

‘She said she’s not cold,’ Lenk spat, glowering at him. ‘Shut up.’

While a number of scathing retorts leapt easily to mind, ones he was certain would leave the young man fumbling for his stones, Denaos opted to clamp his lips together. Something between his and the shict’s stare confirmed the wisdom in that.

‘You’ll be sweating out of your pants in an hour, anyway,’ Argaol replied, glancing up at the sun. ‘The sea changes weather quickly. While those soft and dry porkflanks in the cities won’t be up to face their warm morning for another two hours, we men of Zamanthras have to be up before dawn so we can face Her when She’s cold and angry.’

‘And this has never struck you as blatantly stupid?’ Dreadaeleon offered the man a smirk.

‘I’m in no mood for a smug-off, boy,’ the dark man snapped. ‘The Lord Emissary has requested I point you in the direction of your demon and that’s just grand by me. The sooner you learn where you’re going, the sooner you can be off my ship and out of my life. So, unless there are any objections,’ his eyes darted between the assembled, ‘we can proceed.’

‘This is probably unnecessary,’ Kataria muttered with a sneer, ‘since Gariath can apparently just sniff his way to victory.’

‘Victory smells like a pair of ripped-off ears,’ the dragonman said in reply, dismembering the argument before it could begin, ‘just in case anyone was wondering.’

‘All right, if there aren’t any other objections,’ Argaol sighed, ‘we can get underway.’ He swept about, pointing towards the distant horizon. ‘Now, if you strain your eyes a bit, you can see your destination on the edge of the world there.’

Lenk squinted, peering out over the railing and shaking his head.

‘I can’t see anything.’ He made a gesture. ‘Kat, get up here and tell me what you see.’

‘No need for that,’ she replied. ‘I see a speck of white in the distance and, in the fore, a silvery piece of-’

‘ Anyway ,’ Argaol interrupted, ‘she’s correct. The island you’re looking for has the renown of being the whitest. See, it’s the furthest from Toha, the Heart of Buradan, where the Sea Mother plummeted from the heavens to submerge Herself in the deep. As one sails from Toha, where the sands are so blue as to render the shores useless, one finds the sands getting progressively whiter until you reach Ktamgi.’

‘Ktamgi?’

‘Aye, Ktamgi.’ He nodded. ‘The uttermost reach of Toha and her Blue Navy.’

‘What do you mean by that?’ Lenk asked.

‘He means it’s a former Tohanan colony, as far as an island can be from Toha and still be considered theirs,’ Denaos replied before the captain could. ‘Though he’s a bit mistaken; smugglers have been using the Reaching Isles for decades now.’

‘Check with whatever vile sources you have, you thug,’ Argaol snapped back. ‘The Reaches have been cleared of pirates for the past five years.’

‘My mistake.’ Denaos coughed. ‘I just figured, what with the fact that we were attacked by pirates yesterday, they might still be active. You yourself said that some of the Linkmaster ’s crew escaped on their companion boats.’

‘First of all, it’s the Black Salvation now. The Linkmaster was a pirate vessel and I command no such thing.’ He held up a finger. ‘Further, however many of Rashodd’s boys escaped are likely headed for safer waters than Ktamgi’s.’

‘You’re implying that Ktamgi’s waters are not safe.’ Lenk glowered.

‘Well, pardon the abruptness, but I figured since you’re eager to go chasing after gigantic black demons that rip heads off, safety wasn’t that big a concern for you.’

‘No one’s ever actually seen an Abysmyth rip anyone’s head off,’ Dreadaeleon pointed out.

‘ Be that as it may ,’ Argaol replied, ‘the threat of pirates, sharks or whatever man-eating parrots or similar creations may be out there are the least of your worries, I can assure you. As it stands, according to the Lord Emissary and our. .’ he paused to clear his throat, ‘ other source, Ktamgi is the most likely island the demon has fled to with the Lord Emissary’s tome. As stated, you’ll have about six days to get your business done before Sebast catches up with you.’

‘And Sebast will pick us up at Ktamgi?’ Asper asked.

‘Well, not as such, no.’ Argaol shook his head. ‘The waters around Ktamgi are shallower than most. He’ll be meeting you on an island another day north, on an outpost called Teji.’

‘Of course.’ Lenk rolled his eyes. ‘Why convenience us when you can make a profit?’

‘If you prefer not to meet up with us, you can try making it to Port Destiny in the companion craft.’

‘All the same,’ Dreadaeleon tapped his chin thoughtfully, ‘aren’t there a number of islands closer and more suitable to serve as a meeting site?’

‘Well, if you check the charts, you’ll-’ He glanced at the boy, searching the shadows of his coat. ‘Where are the charts I gave you?’

‘Likely down in the hold below. I memorised them last night.’

‘You memorised sixty sea charts in the span of a few hours.’

‘Wizard.’ The boy tapped his temple. ‘If I can figure out how to turn a man into a puddle of liquid entrails, I can assuredly memorise a few crude drawings of an ocean.’ He smirked again. ‘Though I did enjoy the pictures of compasses and sea monsters on the charts. Your handiwork, Captain?’

‘Sebast’s.’ Argaol sighed. ‘Look, the Lord Emissary insists on you having the charts and I’m not one to deny him. I’ve been all over the sea and-’

‘You have,’ Dreadaeleon interrupted, ‘and that’s why you’re overseeing thirty-odd unwashed, hairy men in various states of greasiness and undress and I’m about to-’

‘Get your head eaten by a demon,’ Argaol finished.

Dreadaeleon’s grin vanished. ‘Quite.’

‘At any rate, Teji is the only island that possesses a desirable combination of attributes,’ Argaol continued. ‘In addition to being relatively close to Ktamgi and friendly to merchants, it’s also as close as one can possibly get to the more northern islands before entering Akaneed territory.’ He grimaced. ‘I’ll not send even you into those waters during breeding season.’

Lenk almost hesitated to ask; no creature that he knew of was ever particularly desirable company during any kind of breeding season. Kataria, however, asked for him.

‘What. . is an Akaneed?’

‘Well, it’s like a giant, angry-’ He paused, smacking his lips. ‘You know, I shouldn’t even encourage you. If you stick to the plan and head for Ktamgi, then Teji, you won’t even encounter one, so there’s no sense in telling you what one looks like.’ He coughed, lowering his voice. ‘Not like you could do much against one, anyway.’

‘What?’

‘Nothing,’ he replied. ‘Any questions?’

‘What did you just say a moment ago?’

‘Any other questions?’

‘It occurs to me, Captain,’ Dreadaeleon mused, ‘that there are a dozen or so Reaching Isles, most of them likely possessing these white sands you speak of. If we get lost, how are we to know we’ve arrived on the right one?’

‘Decent point.’ Argaol cast a sideways glance at Kataria. ‘Ktamgi is the furthest Reach, so you’ll be looking for sands that are just a shade less white than her.’ He cleared his throat before she could respond. ‘Anything else?’

‘There yet remains,’ a voice spoke, slow and methodical, ‘one point of business.’

All other sounds were penitent before the voice of Miron Evenhands: gulls going silent, men pausing to swiftly look up before bowing their heads, and the great waves dying to a quiet, respectful murmur as the priest emerged from the companionway.

The wind, however, did not abate. As he strode towards the companions, his sleeves and cowl billowed behind him, white wings, stark and pure against the dawning gloom. His eyes glimmered like fading stars, his smile as easy and familiar as the sun.

It struck Lenk as only a brief, fleeting moth of a thought, but the Lord Emissary looked as though he hadn’t even been present for the carnage the previous day.

‘I would hope you aren’t planning to send my humble agents out before I can offer the proper benedictions, Captain,’ Miron said, reaching them. He appeared to be even taller today, threatening to challenge Gariath’s own impressive height.

‘I’m not one for lying to priests, Lord Emissary,’ Argaol replied, ‘so I’ll not tell you I was hoping to be rid of them as soon as possible, no.’

Miron ignored that, instead surveying the assembled with his unflinching gaze.

‘I hope the significance of this excursion has been impressed upon you all,’ he spoke softly, ‘not merely for the consequences that are to come from the Abysmyth’s holding of the tome, but also for those brave souls who have assembled here to pursue the beast.

‘Whether they worship Talanas,’ he glanced to Asper, ‘Silf,’ to Denaos, ‘the flow of magic itself,’ to Dreadaeleon, ‘Gods I’ve no wish to disrespect by uttering their names improperly,’ to Kataria, ‘forces beyond our own comprehension, ’ to a smugly smiling Gariath, ‘or. .’

He hesitated, blinking for the first time at Lenk. The young man blinked back, coughing.

‘Khetashe,’ he said. ‘The Wanderer.’

‘Oh.’ Miron bit his lower lip. ‘Really?’ He waved a hand, dismissing further conversation. ‘Regardless, a most momentous journey is about to be undertaken. For never before have so many gathered under a common cause since the House was first founded. And I hope-’

The Lord Emissary’s voice died for Lenk, fading into such pious rhetoric as could only be spoken by someone not about to be off to be killed. He was jerked aside by a dark hand, pulled away from the circle towards the railing and turned to face Argaol, the captain’s face grim.

‘Listen,’ he muttered, ‘you know I’m no blasphemer.’

‘Uh. . yeah?’

‘As well you know I’m none too fond of you.’

‘Oh. . yes.’

‘But I’d be no man of Zamanthras if I sent you off without encouraging you to a wiser course of action.’ He pointed down to the bobbing companion craft below. ‘I’m going to have the boys plant the sea charts in your cargo. There are a few islands safer than Ktamgi that you can land on out there.’

‘But Ktamgi is where-’

‘Don’t think I’m an idiot, boy, I know damn well what lies on Ktamgi.’ He sighed, resting a hand on the young man’s shoulder. ‘That’s entirely my point. There’s nothing to say you can’t just find a decent place to squat and wait out the six days before heading for Teji. Avoid the demon entirely, forget the tome and preserve your life.’