Beyond the Burning Sea: Fate's Crucible, #1

The Known Lands of Ruine

- 1 -

Ghosts in the Mist

One Year Earlier

Captain Vaelysia dug her fingers into the knotted muscles at the base of her neck as she surveyed her battered ship, wondering if she and her crew were already dead.

Her ketch slipped ghost-like through a formless, unknown world shrouded in thick fog. It was all around them like the breath of some giant beast, clinging wetly to every surface, concealing most of the chaos of splintered, tangled rigging above their heads.

Maybe the storm's killed us after all, she thought as something cold and clammy brushed its fingers along her spine. She suppressed a shiver and told herself it was anticipation, excitement, but not fear. Never fear.

She ducked under a broken batten, brushing aside a mass of hopelessly knotted stays, and winced as she felt the newly-stitched slash across her shoulder protest. She hoped it hadn't ruined her tattoo.

Fate is the wind, the tattoo said. You can trust it to take you home, or you can seize the helm and make it. They were the words she lived her life by... and would likely die by some day.

But not today, she murmured to herself. She raised her voice slightly and spoke with the quiet confidence her crew expected: Starboard echo-man, sound your range.

A lithe sailor with sun-bronzed skin leaned out over the starboard bulwark, one arm draped over the same broken batten. He cupped a hand to the side of his mouth and called out loudly, HO!

The rest of the landing party waited in tense silence. Their colossal ship, christened The SKS Peregrine not two years ago, was too large to risk in an unknown bay this tight, but she carried two smaller vessels for close-in work; two-masted, junk-rigged boats that had been modified with a rowing deck and two dozen oars. One of these boats had broken loose from its moorings and been lost in the last storm, but this one was still serviceable - barely.

Their sweeps were poised just above the horizontal, but Captain Vaelysia could only see the first four feet of gleaming stonewood before each oar disappeared into the mist. She heard the staccato patter of water dripping off the wooden blades back into the calm, flat sea, so different from what they'd sailed just a few days ago. Beneath it the low, muted rumble of a waterfall came from somewhere ahead. The echo-man's voice bounced back to them.

I make at least fifty yards, Captain.

Her eyes slid sideways and met the fiercely green pair belonging to her first mate, which most of a Seeker vessel's crew referred to as the Ship's Whip. Tarq smirked and shrugged. Sixty, but who's counting?

Agreed. Fore echo-man, sound your range.

A stout, dark-skinned sailor named Mhorokai crouched atop the ketch's figurehead, carved and painted in the likeness of a huge falcon, with onyx gems as big as a man's fist for its glittering eyes. He'd been struck by a dead-eye during the storm and knocked unconscious and now wore a bloodstained bandage wrapped around his forehead. She knew how fortunate they were that he had survived: a survey ship without her echo-men was little more than driftwood.

Eight months out from port, the Peregrine had dared the Burning Sea, a feat most mariners considered suicide. Incredibly, they had survived and had even discovered a much safer return passage through a hidden channel they found after reaching the other side. Their self-congratulatory chest thumping was short lived, however: barely two days later, a vicious storm overtook them in the dark of night. They lost twenty-five good men as the tempest raged for days and blew them leagues off course into the uncharted seas beyond. They'd had two days' respite - barely enough time to tend to their wounded and release the dead - before more storms had set in.

The Peregrine was the first ship of its kind, a massive vessel with five towering masts. Its stated purpose was to modernize the Seeker fleet's stable of venerable survey ships - dubbed Mappers by most people - but its deep keel and vast cargo space made it clear that it was designed to extend the Sea Kings' reach to the farthest corners of Ruine. A true blue-water babe, as her Master Carpenter called her, she was an impressive display of power and ingenuity.

The raging ocean, however, was not impressed.

For a week they pitched and rolled, fought and drowned, all the while driven southward, beyond the edge of the world they knew. Because of her size, the Peregrine was an unruly, sluggish beast and it had taken every ounce of sailing skill and experience - and as the crew believed, considerable good fortune - to manhandle her through the storms.

When at last the sea's fury had subsided in the waning hours just before dawn, Vaelysia herself had gone aloft. It had been her voice that rang out from the crow's nest with every sailor's most cherished words as the first light of Ruine's twin suns revealed a pair of rocky spires thrusting out from the horizon far to their south. They stood silent sentry less than a league out from the mist-shrouded bay her landing party was now exploring.

Vaelysia's discovery was just the latest in a series of examples why, to a man, the Peregrine's crew (as well as most everyone who'd ever fought, gambled or traded with her) considered their Captain to be a living, breathing good luck charm. For her part, she believed you forged your own luck, and other than the Whore, she didn't have much use for the House of Pleasures or its sibling - and now extinct - gods. The fact that they'd survived had nothing to do with luck or fate and everything to do with the skill, courage and discipline of her crew. You made your own fortune. In their minds they were lucky because of her; in hers they survived and succeeded because they were good; and they were good because she and First Mate Tarq had made them that way.

No range, Captain, answered Mhorokai. The heavy accent of his native Sea King Isles made it sound like ‘Cup-tain'. But echo's strange. Might be the falls drownin'em.

They were in some kind of deep lagoon that was steadily narrowing; judging from the hard, flat strength of the echoes, the unseen shoreline to either side consisted of sheer cliffs.

Port echo-man, sound -

HO! The sounding call cut her off in mid-command, causing her to grind her teeth. A mapper's fourth echo-man was typically a mud-footed novice expected to learn the trade from his peers and step in only in an emergency. In the Peregrine's case, novice was being generous. Wiliamund (whom the crew's Row-master had christened Mung, the sailor's term for the slimy black mold they were perpetually scrubbing from the ship's oft-soaked wooden surfaces) was a self-described professional coward whose first words to his new captain had been I would say that you can count on me, save for the fact that I am altogether untrustworthy in practically every way. She'd immediately dispatched a courier with a request for a replacement, only to be told that Wiliamund possessed the best ears in Niyah and her request was denied. No doubt he had inherited those ears from some gods-damned nobleman with a fat purse or a favor owed.

Ummm... two hundred? No - two-fifty... I think - sir... Lady... Captain.

She raised an eyebrow and caught the look from Tarq. She made the range at two hundred and twenty-five yards. Maybe there was hope for Mung and his noble ears after all.

Depth, Boots?

An old man with a peg-leg, a neatly trimmed, snow-white beard and skin like boiled leather pulled up the last of his length of rope and counted off the hash marks to the weighted bucket affixed to its end.

Ten fathoms, Cap'n. But have a look at this. He upended the bucket, dumping a load of sand and seawater onto the deck.

A mixed murmur of excitement and trepidation rippled through the crew. A sand-bottomed bay was a good sign they'd found a decent berth to anchor and repair their battered ship, provided they could squeeze her through this gap. But it was also visceral proof that they were far from home; you'd find flows of molten lava, boiling geysers, and jagged reefs of black-rock around the Shattered Isles and Burning Sea, but not a hint of sand, and naught beyond the Isles but wind and waves for as far as anyone had ever sailed or seen. The Peregrine and her crew had been commissioned to explore the very edge of the known world, and they had gone over it.

Silence! came Tarq's growled whisper.

The Ship's Whip was an imposing figure; a head taller than almost anyone else on board, broad in the chest and shoulders, his arms and legs corded with muscle. Tarq was Khaliil - one of The Hidden Ones of the Wasting - and his entire body from the tops of his feet to his scalp was covered in intricate tattoos. They even covered his face and head, which was shaven but for a long, garnet-colored top-knot that hung to the small of his back and was braided with fat silver bands. He was fiercely loyal to Vaelysia and demanded the same from her crew; they obeyed instantly, and the ketch slipped quietly through the fog once more.

Vaelysia signaled the Row-master, holding up one finger. He nodded and raised his thick arm, meaty fist clenched. Twenty-four pairs of eyes locked on the fist and leaned forward, arms extended. The Row-master brought his fist down, smacking it into the palm of his other hand, and his oarsmen finished their stroke in perfect unison, their black stonewood sweeps coming to rest again just above the waterline, gleaming dark and wet. The stroke was sufficient to maintain their quiet momentum, keeping the craft gliding forward at a pace they could easily check and reverse if needed.

She ran a tan forearm across her forehead, wiping away the sweat. Given all they had been through, she could feel the crew's nerves beginning to fray. So she held rigidly to this slow, methodical course, repeating the same steps of checking range and depth in a cautious rhythm that was as much procedure as it was therapy: sailors, like soldiers, found solace in routine.

The low thrum of the waterfall grew steadily, but while the starboard range shrank to thirty yards, Mung's range increased rapidly before he lost the echoes entirely, indicating that the shoreline off the port side had either turned away or flattened out. At first Vaelysia swung the ship's bow a half-turn in that direction, hoping to find a beach head. The depth fell away so dramatically however that she corrected to follow the unseen cliffs to starboard again, until Boots began calling his depth between three and four fathoms. His bucket was drifting now from more than just the ship's headway; they were pulling against a slight current as they drew closer to the falls, and tiny wavelets now disturbed the flat calm of the lagoon, slapping against the vessel's flanks.

The Captain leaned out over the rail to inspect the free-board, noting that they'd settled some, but not enough to be concerned with as long as the depth didn't drop below two and a half fathoms. One of the features that made this style of launch boat so adept at its task (and a favorite of smugglers) was its shallow draught, but anything less than two and a half fathoms and they would likely snag the bottom. The Peregrine's keel was another story, however, and Vaelysia was heartened by the abrupt drop-off to port; if they could ease her into this bay, they could shelter, refit and restock for as long as they needed to. The prospect of her ship foundering - a very real possibility in its current condition - eclipsed the vague threat of anything that might be lurking on these unknown shores, so something like relief began to ease the knotted cords in her shoulders.

As the faintest breath of a breeze brushed her bronze skin, she realized that she could see the oar blades and more of the rigging above. The fog was thinning.

Fore echo-man, sound your range.

Three hundred and fifty, Captain... Mhorokai called back hesitantly. He was one of the best echo-men she had ever worked with, so it was unsettling to hear the hint of doubt in his voice. The tension promptly returned, coiling around her neck and shoulders, worming its way into her wound. She set her teeth and did her best to ignore it.

Is there a problem, Seeker?

He shook his head, his braids swinging back and forth. I'm not sure, Captain... the bounce is... strange.

Sound again.

Aye, Captain. He curled his hands to either side of his mouth and called out sharply.

He shook his head again and looked at her, bushy black eyebrows knitting over bright, intelligent eyes.

The same, but there is something else I think. Closer.

Longeye, see if you can get above this bloody fog, Vaelysia commanded and a tall, dark-haired woman with thick legs wrapped in supple sealskin boots nodded sharply and began scrambling up a ratline. She was Khaliil as well, though younger than Tarq. Her tale was still being told by the body-scribes; other than her sinewy arms, most of her upper torso was still clean, olive-toned skin. She climbed swiftly, effortlessly, disappearing into the fog.

How close?

Mhorokai frowned. I cannot say. Falls make it hard, Captain, but something breaks the echo up - something big.

Vaelysia stepped to the railing overlooking the oar-deck and signaled the Row-master to back oars, instinctively flexing her knees against the inevitable lurch as the ketch slowed dramatically.

Poles, she commanded, raising her voice just enough to penetrate through the din of the hidden falls. Mhorokai and two other sailors seized long, stout poles and moved forward to the bow.

Firstblade, she said to a large man with long dark hair swept back in a pony tail, claws out.

Unlike Tarq and most of the other sailors, the man wore a breastplate and single pauldron made of dark leather. He nodded and raised a gauntleted fist in the air, then opened it abruptly, spreading his fingers wide. A dozen men and women in similar armor with curved swords at their hips moved sharply to take up positions at the taffrails, the whisper of drawn steel their only audible response.

I have something, Captain! the lookout called down through the fog. Some kind of tower or shoal, fifty yards ahead. It's just a shadow but whatever it is, it's tall as - by all the Wasting's sand..!

Vaelysia craned her neck back, trying unsuccessfully to pierce the mist. She kept her voice calm and deliberate despite the ache in her shoulders. Talk to me, lookout. What do you see?

It's a - it’s some kind of monument, Captain. A statue, a huge stone statue of a jharrl I think - I can only see its head, but it's tall as the mainsail! Day-break's chasing the wind now, Cap and she's stiffening. Fog's lifting and you should -

Captain!

Vaelysia turned towards Mhorokai and the other two pole-men. They were braced at the bow, staves thrust out in front of the ship. Mhorokai was pointing past the prow. Behind him - over him, she corrected herself - a huge dark shadow loomed in the mist.

Without headway, the ketch began to turn as the current nudged her prow aside, so that the huge shape seemed to be moving, stalking alongside the ship. Several of the crewman muttered quiet prayers or clutched any of a dozen different good-luck charms (most of which featured a few stray strands of their captain's hair) as Tarq growled at them again to hold fast.

The breeze had indeed stiffened, the heavy fog being reduced to a ghostly mist that began to tear and fade, while the monstrous shadow slowly materialized and a part of the world that had been forgotten for centuries was discovered again.

Twenty yards off the starboard rail, a massive block of dark-green stone squatted in the lagoon, its pitted, chipped top cresting the waterline by a hands-breadth. Atop it was a huge, beautifully-wrought statue of a jharrl; a ferocious beast that most closely resembled a tiger but grew nearly three times the size and had a prominent lower jaw bearing two curving tusks as long and sharp as scimitars. Equally large and deadly-looking incisors protruded from the front of its upper jaw as well. The idol was carved from some kind of smooth, black rock; marble, perhaps, but with the slightest transparency that almost gave it the look of glass.

Half again taller than the ship, the beast was standing on heavily-muscled rear legs, lunging forward. Forelegs twice as thick as a boom were extended, ending in wide paws tipped with hooked claws as long as a man, raking the empty air above their heads. Beneath the accumulation of moss, stringy vines, dirt and the detritus of centuries, the detail was exquisite - every hair and muscle ridge clearly depicted. She wondered what kind of civilization possessed the artistry and ability to work whatever material this was with such perfection and suppressed an apprehensive shudder.

The dull gray light of the fog bank was beginning to brighten, and a sudden shaft of early-morning sun found its way through to strike the monument. A collective gasp went up from the crew. The statue shimmered such that it almost seemed alive, as though the rough fur were moving as the beast breathed. It was clear now that it was straining forward, held back by a massive chain affixed to a rusted iron collar around its neck, links as thick as tree trunks leading away into the dissipating mist.

Captain... Tarq said quietly, his head bent back as he took in the incredible sight.

I see, Whip. Her eyes had followed the chain as well, which led up and away. An even larger shadow towered there, still veiled in mist, waiting.

I think I need to use the privy, Capt-

Vaelysia turned to Mung and silenced him with a withering look.

Right then. Never mind. He smiled meekly.

The mist drew back further, golden and glistening in the early morning sun, but no longer thick enough to keep its forgotten secrets. Three times the height of the launch's mainmast and carved from the same translucent marble-like material as the jharrl, stood the figure of a warrior the likes of which the world had not seen in nearly four hundred years. His left fist was encased in a heavy gauntlet formed of grey-green ivory or bone, around which was wrapped the end of the massive chain leash attached to the jharrl's collar. His right arm was thrust out before him and ended in another mailed fist, this one clutching a twin-bladed sword-staff, held crosswise. The centered pommel was made of the same material as the gauntlets and other pieces of armor, she saw, though what manner of creature would yield such enormous chunks of either bone or ivory only the Sea knew. Beneath the moss, vines and salt encrustations, the pommel was covered with intricate carvings, though the long, gleaming black blades at either end were bare and smooth. She rubbed at the ache in her neck as she craned her head back to take it all in.

Rowmaster, two points to starboard and bring us in as close as you can.

Aye, Cap'n.

The waterfall they had heard was visible now as well. The colossus stood in a wide stance; ornate, armored boots of the same ivory material sunk ankle-deep in the lagoon, while between them cascaded a noisy torrent of water from where it fell over an escarpment behind the statue's knees. The giant sentinel guarded one end of a narrow river canyon that ran away into shadow, its broad shoulders nearly touching either side of the valley, its strange, crested helm rising higher than the cliff walls that surrounded the bay. Shafts of gilded light pierced some of the gloom at the mouth of the canyon, and from where she stood, Vaelysia could see the twisted green chaos of lush jungle growth crowding either side and spilling over the bluff in a verdant mimicry of the river.

Nearly eleven turnings of the moon had passed since they had set out to map the edge of the world they knew, and now here they were poised on the heady precipice of an entirely new one. Seekers dreamed nonstop about discovering new islands and hidden bays... but this! It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time - and she had never felt more alive.

Doesn't look very welcoming, does he? Tarq inquired from beside her.

The message conveyed by the posture and composition of the warrior and the lunging jharrl was unmistakable: whomever or whatever had placed these statues here had gone to great lengths to warn others away.

No, he doesn't.

Tarq scratched his chin nonchalantly. So... we'll be sending an expedition into that valley then. It wasn't a question; he'd served with her a long time.

Put a landing party together. Climbers first, including the boy.

Halliard?

Yes. Reavers too.

The Whip studied his captain for a moment. You don't honestly think that they're still alive, do you? That he's still here?

Vaelysia stared up at the colossal statue.

Gods I hope not.

FROM THE FORWARD TO "A Comprehensive History of Niyah After the Fall of Ehronhaal" by Mikkel Vaun, 158th Rector of Talmoreth, Order of Veda:

The paradise of the First World was destroyed by Maughrin, the Demon Dragon, and avenged by Tarsus, last of the Old Gods. From its remains, He revived the world. From His own life's spark, He formed the Young Gods: the proud Auruim, on their shining wings, to defend His creation, and the wise Dauthir, who abandoned flight to further nurture this Second World. We, His Children, were created last, before He ascended into the heavens.

Two thousand years passed with peace and order before the Godswar, when the Young Gods turned on one another. Once again, the world would change. Ehronhaal fell from the sky, setting the very air on fire and scarring that ground which did not shatter outright.

It has been nearly three hundred years since the Young Gods died. Our world has suffered greatly. But we are the Children of Tarsus, and under the light of the sun He lit for us, we shall honor that legacy. Like Him, we shall rise from these ashes to reforge the world.

- 2 -

Lost at Sea

Gods, what have we done?

Triistan Halliard stared hard at his own words on the wrinkled, salt-stained page of his journal. It was mid-morning on the sixth day since the SKS Peregrine went down with nearly all hands, not quite a full year after having arguably made the greatest discovery in mortal history.

They were the last words he had written scant minutes before the full fury of the House of Storms had manifested itself upon the ocean. Somehow he had managed to retain the book through the chaos of the tempest, though he could not say how, or why. It would be such a simple matter to throw it overboard and claim to have lost it - provided anyone who knew that it even existed managed to survive long enough to ask. Let the Dark swallow its secrets and choke on the oath he'd given.

If he still had his stylus, he might have scratched that last sentence out. The gods were dead, gone. They had long since wiped themselves out and left men to fend for themselves.

But what we found... The irony made his chest hurt. A lie within a lie, hidden behind a secret he had sworn to conceal.

He closed the book abruptly and stared out at the vast emptiness of sea and sky that surrounded him now. Under other circumstances, it would have been a perfect day - the sea was calm, her embrace gentle and soothing, while overhead the sky was the impossibly blue arch of a childhood memory. It was the kind of day Triistan would have spent aloft once his duties were completed, lounging in a ‘rig-tit', writing or reading. The jury-rigged strip of sailcloth and some spare cordage made for a cozy sling-style hammock, and his favorite place in the wide world was wrapped in the rough fabric, swaying dozens of feet above the ocean. But instead he was floating here in a battered launch, guarding a terrible secret and wondering if he would ever enjoy that feeling again.

His head ached fiercely from dehydration, his belly hurt from being empty, and his eyes burned from trying to scan the endless blue veil, but he forced himself to continue searching for a sail or the sweet, dark curve of land. Not because he held much hope of sighting either form of salvation, but because it was the practical thing to do: just because he thought they were doomed did not mean he had to accept it.

Though he could not be sure exactly where the Peregrine had foundered, it was common knowledge that they had been within six or seven weeks' reach of the Sea King Isles when the storm struck. Since then, he and the other survivors had been afloat in the Peregrine's sole remaining launch for five days and nights, and while progress was painfully slow, they had been moving in one fashion or another for all of that time. Even after the storm had subsided, the skies had remained sullen, oppressive and unwilling to allow the survivors to view the stars or Ruine's twin suns so they could fix their position. But just after dawn this morning, the veil of swollen bruises had finally drawn back, and with a bit of luck they would get a solid reckoning today. The young man told himself that they might even sight one of the small, outlying archipelagos that surrounded the Isles sometime during the next week or so.

He pushed a blonde and copper tangle of hair out of his eyes and looked across the deck at the Mattock, the crew's nickname for the burly ship's bosun, who'd had the mizzen watch and was dozing fitfully now. He had wrapped and tied his tattered shirt around his bald head as protection from the suns, but it had slipped down to cover half of his face, lending him a rare comical look. Even with all that had transpired, Triistan couldn't suppress a weak smile.

Mordon the Mattock Scow was loud, surly, and mercilessly demanding with his charges, but he had loved his ship. He had been meticulous about every aspect of her care; from scrubbing the mung out of every crack and crevice to the proper way to store spare cordage. No detail was left to chance on board ‘his lady'. Whenever he went over the side to inspect the hull, the standing joke - told well out of earshot out of a healthy respect for arms as thick as most men's legs - was to ask what he would do if he found a hole.

Triistan never laughed at their japes, though. He knew the Mattock was a good man, an honest man, and despite the seemingly never-ending tongue-lashings - not to mention a handful of real ones given before the mast - Triistan had developed a deep respect and admiration for him. Twice now the Master Carpenter had saved his life, and he wished with all his heart that they had listened to him before fleeing Aarden.

For the first time since the Peregrine's capsizing, a zephyr whispered in their makeshift sails, a seductive song of hearth and home. The fickle breeze tugged at the launch's ragged shrouds - their junk-rigged, serrated edges looking like tattered wings - just enough to keep a modest headway as they continued creeping northward. Triistan saw a few of the others lift their gaunt faces as they felt the heavy tropical air stir.

At least they seemed to have moved beyond the immediate wreckage and bloated bodies. The strength of the storm had scattered crew, cargo and other debris over a vast area, but they had not seen anything save open water since the previous morning. He dropped his head and rubbed his temple with weak fingers, catching a glimpse of the foul stew collecting in the bottom of the boat. He hoped they'd moved beyond the range of any scavengers as well.

Five days becalmed in this sub-tropical heat and humidity, with only the barest rations, was leaching their will and wits, and the rowing shifts they'd organized were growing shorter and shorter. Yet every Seeker knew the old adage: Three knots or more, bilge ye by the boards; three knots or less, the boot be the best. The Dark may be empty of light, but not of life. At sea, as on land, there were predators and scavengers with highly developed senses, and smaller ships had to be cautious with their waste. If you were making at least three knots, anything over the side would be sufficiently diluted and dispersed behind you to avoid attracting predators. Below that speed, however, and the smart sailor kept his waste in the boot - the bottom of his boat. It made for rather foul living quarters, but it was better than being dragged into the abyss by some nameless horror of the deep. Much to Triistan's and his fellow survivors' discomfort, they had not been making anywhere near three knots.

Of the nine survivors on board the launch, only eight of them were in any condition to man an oar. Lahnkam Voth, the ranking officer, had harangued them mercilessly for the first three days, but they were still uncomfortably close to the wreckage site.

Triistan winced and glanced at Voth where he was sprawled like some partially-crushed spider, arms and legs all askew. Calling him an officer was a stretch. A tall spear of a man with bulbous eyes, Lanky Lahnkam had been the Peregrine's Provisions Master, and as such was much more adept at counting, packing and hording than he was at leading men. His new command was derived from having the dubious distinction of being the highest ranking sailor left alive, and he approached it with the same methodical, rigid tenacity he had displayed as the ship's purser. That obstinacy had earned him the approval and gratitude of his captain, but the enmity of every mariner on board who thought they were entitled to an extra helping of rum or a new set of boots or another blanket on a cool night - which essentially amounted to nearly all of them.

At the mercy of the Sea and under the command of a bloody crate-counter, Triistan thought. Scow should be leading us. That's the merchant-kings' navy for you, though; cargo and coin outranked capacity and common sense. His face turned sour as he shifted his position.

Two hundred and fifty-two souls had set sail aboard the Peregrine, heading for home with orders to report their incredible discovery to the High Chancellor. Captain Vaelysia and the Ship's Whip had remained behind with the balance of the Peregrine's remaining crew: nearly three hundred pioneers who chose exile in an unknown world over the more familiar perils of the long voyage home to Niyah. At least, that was the story concocted by Captain Vaelysia, which Triistan had sworn an oath to promote. Only a handful on the return voyage had known the truth recorded in his journal, and as far as he knew, there were only two left who still carried that burden. It was a lonely feeling, but that was a small price to pay; at the moment he was glad he couldn't tell them the truth, because he still wasn't ready to face it himself.

He looked up again, scanning first to the north, where he knew the Sea King Isles should be, and just west of them, the southern edge of Niyah's mainland. He allowed himself to imagine that it was just below the curve of the ocean, about to breach, and he would be the one to call it out to the others. He brought his hand up to shield his eyes from the glaring suns, but that horizon refused to yield to his will, so he turned to the east, sweeping his gaze in a wide, slow arc from there to the south.

Two hundred and fifty-two had escaped... and now there are only nine of us left.

There had been some concerns about the structural integrity of the Peregrine's hull, enough to spark a heated argument between Captain Vaelysia and Scow, he recalled. The storm that had initially blown them well south of the Burning Sea and led to their discovery of the new continent had caused significant, obvious damage above the waterline, which they had set to repairing almost as soon as they had made landfall. The ship had been fitted with new fore and mizzen masts from the spare booms she carried, but they were forced to cut and haul new timber for the spars. Scow hadn't liked the look of the wood they brought back to him from the jungle - Damn my eyes if I wouldn't rather piss boiling bilge-water than hang that soft shite on my lady! he'd roared - but his real concern was what they couldn't see. He had insisted that the Peregrine needed to be careened and gone over from belly to batten, but the bay they had landed in did not have a suitable berth in which to do so. Not even a sandbar. A limping, one-month search east and west along the coastline had proved fruitless as well, revealing nothing but unassailable cliffs in both directions.

Eventually the Mattock was ordered to make do with what he had. They did not have the resources to build an entirely new ship, and the Captain was adamant that they had to get word of their discovery back. It had already been nearly a year since they'd originally cleared moorings at Stormgate, and while only a select few understood the full significance of what they'd found, even the dullest crew member among them knew what was at stake if enough time elapsed and another ship managed to discover the new world and report back first. Never mind the fact that it had existed here for hundreds of years before being discovered; now that they'd found it, the sense that someone else would do the same soon was overwhelming, and too many of them had already begun dreaming of the wealth and glory to come.

The Godswar and its catastrophic end had reshaped the world in every conceivable way: cultures, borders, technologies and even the land itself had been either destroyed or forever changed. Like hungry ridgebacks scenting blood, the Sea Kings sought to take full advantage of this opportunity, so they placed great value in exploration. New discoveries were richly rewarded, especially now - in the last decade, many of the mainland coastal kingdoms had nearly caught up to the Sea Kings' shipping capabilities and competition for trade was more intense than it had ever been. There was a significant movement back home by certain factions within the complex government of the Isles, pushing hard for the Sea Kings to not just solidify their power, but to extend it as well; to step into the vacuum left in the wake of the Godswar. The Peregrine's captain - if she survived and returned home - would no doubt receive a much-coveted Fleet Commander designation and the substantial pay raise and prestige that went with it; her officers could look forward to Captaining their own vessels, as well as fat bonuses equivalent to three years' pay; and her common sailors, besides bonuses of their own, would earn the envy of their fellow mariners, opening doors in their careers and eager thighs in every port of every town in the Isles and on the mainland, Niyah.

But Triistan knew that was only part of the story. In and of itself, the re-discovery of a lost continent would change their lives far more profoundly than promotions and a pair of firm tits in every town, as it touched off a race among nations to explore, conquer and exploit limitless new land and resources. But once it was known what was on the new continent - what this new land actually was - it would fundamentally change the world as they knew it. That was the real reason there had been such a rush to send word home again: they needed to be warned. Darkness stalked that mysterious land, and it was only a matter of time before it came crawling after them. He struggled daily to keep his fear at bay, worrying not just if they would make it home, but whether they would make it home in time.

So, the crews had been sorted out, officers assigned, orders and contingencies provided for, food and supplies laid in, ceremonies and rituals observed, hugs, vows, lies and good intentions shared all around, and letters to loved ones hastily scribbled - or in most cases, dictated and transcribed by one of the few people who could actually write. Most of that fell upon Triistan, and had he known that none of them would ever reach home, he would have demurred, saving himself a great deal of time and the embarrassment of unwanted intimacy with his shipmates.

When they had finally set out for home, the Peregrine had run swift and sure, her lines thrumming with energy as she ran before the wind, almost as if the ship was eager to leave the new land far astern as well. Most of the men and women selected to crew her had been only too glad to leave the strange country and its mysteries behind, many of them cheering as they passed what some were now calling "Peregrine's Point" while riding high on a following sea.

Such blind, happy fools then, Triistan thought.

Soon after, they had settled back into the familiar routine of watches, maintenance, navigation, cleaning, meals, and sleep that made up the pulse of a mariner's life, while they tried not to think about the daunting challenge they still faced ahead. The Shattered Isles were a belt of uninhabited islands and shoals that ran west to east for leagues uncounted. Up until the Peregrine’s voyage, they had long been considered the southern edge of the world, and now they lay between the crew and their home port.

Legend held that the islands actually moved, slowly being dragged westward by something called the Godsfall Drift, an inexorable current believed to have been created when the gods’ floating city of Ehronhaal fell. Legend notwithstanding, the myriad narrow channels and by-ways between the islands were far too small, shallow and treacherous for a deepwater sailing vessel to pass, but Seeker Command had long theorized that passage could be found through a nightmare landscape called the Burning Sea. There, a black mountain peak known as Sigel’s Wrath rose from the water, spitting fire and smoke into the sky and bleeding veins of molten lava hissing into the sea around its flanks. The water boiled and smoked, the air made men sick, and flaming boulders came rocketing out of the sky like missiles launched from the trebuchets of some ghost army defending the mountain. But the Peregrine’s stated mission was to chart a way through, so that’s what Captain Vaelysia had done.

They survived, and as they limped their way south, they discovered a hidden bay on the eastern side of the islands that ringed the Burning Sea. They put in to repair the ship and treat their wounded and sick, only to discover a wide, deep channel leading north and east from the back of the bay. As the Peregrine refit, First Mate Tarq sailed one of the launches up the hidden channel, returning a day later with the news that it was wide and deep enough for them to traverse on their return voyage. Apparently the other end came out between a series of overlapping islands that, when viewed from the north, completely obscured the passage.

Triistan knew he was not alone in his concern that the channel would still be there upon their return, let alone that it would remain large and deep enough for them to sail through, but fortune had favored them, and the Peregrine passed north through the Shattered Isles with far less trouble than their southern trip had seen. Indeed, by that time most of the crew were openly stating that the Captain’s luck must run with her ship, for in addition to their safe passage, they had seen very little inclement weather for most of the journey. What storms they had encountered had been mercifully tame, or small enough or far enough away to skirt.

Triistan smiled grimly. As most who spent their lives on the sea would tell you, it was only a matter of time, and the Peregrine and her crew had been borrowing that time heavily. Ten months and three days out from Aarden, in the small dark hours of the mizzen watch, whatever forces that now held sway over men's lives finally came to collect.

A brief gust of wind made the launch's topgallant ripple and snap above Triistan's head. He slipped his journal into the protective oilcloth pouch he had made for it, winding the leather cord sewn to one corner around the package several times to secure it. He wished he had not lost his stylus. He needed to write these events down so that he could stop replaying them in his head. He tended to become fixated on certain things, cycling through an event or idea over and over in an endless loop, examining all of the myriad factors that could be altered down to the tiniest detail. Once his musings began to appear on paper, however, the loop was broken; he could record the events as they transpired, or the idea as it had first occurred to him, as if the act of writing out his thoughts captured them, containing them in their original form as a naturalist might pin a specimen to his display board. With no such outlet, his thoughts of the preceding days continued fluttering around inside his mind, relentless.

The Peregrine's doom had swept in from the north and west, having marshaled its forces overnight, and as dawn broke somewhere behind its towering black mass, it swallowed them. The first blast of wind looked to the men in the fore-top like some giant silver-gray wraith scraping across the face of the ocean. It tore at her sails, breaking several of the new spars and sending two unprepared line-spiders hurtling into the ocean. They fished one out, but as they were dropping a lifeline for the second man, the Peregrine broached and heeled heavily. When she had straightened again, the sailor was gone.

They had managed to reef most of the undamaged sails, but one of the yards on the mainmast had snapped, fouling the braces and preventing them from taking in the mainsail completely. The ship and her crew fought gallantly for several hours, pitching and rolling across huge swells, while the wounded groans of the hull vied with the crash and roar of thunder from both sea and sky as she alternately hogged and sagged across or between huge waves.

Ultimately, the Peregrine had fought one too many battles with the unforgiving sea. As she crested a wave that Triistan swore was taller than her topgallants by half, a sudden blast of wind caught the partially-furled mainsail. She heeled, essentially falling sideways into the trough beyond. Another swell running counter to them took her square amidships and with a thunderous crack they could feel as much as hear, the Peregrine's back broke.

Triistan had been working directly across from Mordon Scow when it happened, and would never forget the expression on the Mattock's face as long as he lived: it was the look of a man who'd just received a mortal wound. Scow had just stood there, stock still, while sheets of rain and wind-blown spray hammered down at them from every conceivable angle. Triistan heard the order to abandon ship and men began running for the ketch, some fighting with each other in a panicked effort to get to the only remaining lifeboat. Yet the Mattock did nothing.

Triistan had grabbed the man's arm and shouted at him that they had to leave, but he might as well have been trying to uproot a tree. Scow shook him off and placed his two massive hands to either side of the foremast, then touched his forehead to it, almost gently, even as men pushed past them. Triistan saw Wiliamund slink by and called to him for help, but the look he received in response made it clear what the man most called Mung for short thought of helping anyone but himself. He never even checked his stride.

Desperate but determined not to leave the bosun behind, Triistan rounded on Scow, grabbed two fistfuls of the man's tunic and jerked him as hard as he could.

"By the Seven High Houses - MOVE YOU STUBBORN OLD BASTARD!!" He still wasn't sure who was more stunned by his outburst at that moment - he largely kept to himself and was so quiet half the crew still thought him a mute, and it had been many, many seasons since one of the Mattock's mates had assaulted and insulted him simultaneously - but it worked. Scow blinked and shook his head, and his square face had twisted into a snarl as he drew back his huge fist.

Triistan stepped back and raised his hands, gesturing and pointing towards the mob of men struggling to get into the launch boat. At the last moment, Scow seemed to recognize him and break out of his fugue. He shook himself and looked about, reflex and duty overpowering his emotions not a moment too soon: the ship was listing heavily to starboard and her main decks were awash, the air was filled with the agonized shrieking of wood pushed to its breaking point and beyond, and the panicked crew members risked dooming everyone to the Dark as they fought to release the launch.

Thunder and spray, this won't do - one more wave athwart and she'll come apart right under us! Where in the Endless Dark is the Captain? He reached out and grabbed a passing sailor by the arm.

Stand to, lad! Where's Captain Fjord?! Fjord had been the Peregrine's Second, directly subordinate to Tarq and a capable, if somewhat nervous, commander. For reasons only known to a select few, the First Mate had remained behind with Captain Vaelysia, so Fjord had been given command of the Peregrine for the return voyage.

The young man stammered and tried to pull away, but the Mattock's grip was iron-bound. He shook his head and pointed with his free hand.

Overboard, sir! He and Lyhmes were -

Scow didn't wait for him to finish. He let the man go and turned back to Triistan.

C'mon, boy, stop standing there with your mouth a'hanging open like a bloody scupper!

He grabbed Triistan by the collar and dragged him straight into the mob, bellowing above the storm as only the Mattock could. His roar and the presence of his huge frame knocking men and women aside soon brought them to order, and they began working together to ease the ketch overboard. Fortunately, that was the direction the ship was listing, so they did not have far to go when another wave struck them and the Mattock's prediction came true. With a horrifying cacophony of crashing and rending sounds, the Peregrine virtually exploded under and around her crew.

Triistan found himself falling, the sea reaching up for him with wet, eager arms. He plunged into the black water head-first, and in the terror of the moment, actually began swimming down until something latched around his ankle and hauled him back. He twisted in panic, lashing out with his other foot and striking the solid, broad chest of Mordon Scow.

The Master Carpenter had ignored his struggling and shot for the surface, only a few feet above his head. He seized hold of a piece of wreckage, gave a hard jerk to Triistan's leg so that he surfaced as well, then switched his grip to the back of his tunic and manhandled him partially onto the wreckage. With his head out of the water and an arm across the floating debris, Triistan choked and gasped for breath. The Dark would have to wait, at least for the two of them.

Somehow the ketch had survived and was fairly close, so they had kicked their way towards it, rising and falling with the undulating sea, apparently small enough to escape its full fury. There were already four people in the boat: Lahnkam Voth, two hulking Valheim oarsman, and an unconscious woman named Jode. She was one of Scow's apprentice ship's carpenters. As Triistan was hauled in over the taffrail and collapsed onto a bench, he saw immediately that she was in a bad way, with half a yard of splintered oar sticking out of her abdomen just above her right hip.

The next several hours had been a confused blur as they struggled to stay afloat and inside the boat while looking for survivors. Voth was useless, bulbous eyes bulging even further in terror as he refused to release his grip on the mainmast. Scow was furious, but he had been a seaman all of his life and mutiny in any form was incomprehensible to him. Instead he gave the man a contemptuous look and carried on as if the ranking officer were absent. He found some rope and had them all - even the ship's petrified purser - lash themselves securely to the jack stays. There was nothing they could do for the injured Jode as the launch bucked beneath them, though Scow held her head tightly and whispered in her ear for a few moments. When he released her abruptly and turned away, shouting orders to the other survivors, Triistan saw the girl's eyes follow him with a mixture of gratitude and determination.

Finally, the fury of the storm began to subside. It moved on in search of bigger prey, like a giant child tired of its toys, unwilling to trouble with such trifling things as survivors, of which there seemed precious few of anyway.

They pulled three more shipmates out of the water that afternoon: Dreysha, a dark-haired Mylisian beauty who made his heart race, and not because of her mean streak and the bandolier of throwing knives she was expert with; Rantham the Rogue, purported to be the luckiest man on board other than the captain, although up until they had hauled him into the ketch, grinning, Triistan had been convinced he was just very clever and very good at cheating at dice games; and Biiko, one of the Unbound from the Sea King Isle of Khiigongo, who had joined the Peregrine's crew just a few days before they had departed from Thunder Bay, and who's fate seemed to be inextricably entwined with his own.

He glanced down the length of the boat to where Biiko sat in front of their meager food and water supplies. That was one good command decision Lahnkam had made, anyway. The Unbound were legendary warriors, but despite their martial prowess, their spiritual beliefs required extreme humility and discipline in all things. There were many who scoffed at the idea of unassailable virtue, but so far Biiko had lived up to the legend. As Scow had put it, I ain't gotta wet-nurse him, and he don't squawk when life pulls the tit out of his mouth. More importantly, though, he had become an invaluable friend and guardian to Triistan for some bizarre reason he was only just beginning to fathom.

Now, as provisions on board the launch began to run low, tension and mistrust began to gnaw at the worn fibers holding their odd community together. A brother of one of the most feared and respected orders in the known world, with demonstrated discipline and integrity, Biiko was the obvious choice for Quartermaster. Even given their ragged, desperate condition, to a man they all trusted him over anyone else, and no one - not even the Mattock - could hope to challenge him physically.

Triistan looked out to sea again, performing his ritual search for land, unconsciously grinding his teeth as he silently willed it to appear.

- 3 -

Uprising in Strossen

N o blades! You will not bare steel or you will answer to me!

Casselle did not have a blade to draw. Assuming she survived until next week's end, she would be granted the blade and the title of Laegis Templar. As she pushed back on the mob with her shield and weighted baton, however, she did think there was a possibility she would never hold that sword.

I'm running out of polite admonitions, growled Jaksen, immediately to Casselle's left. He was taller than her, with a strong build and a chin slightly overlarge for his face. It stuck out from underneath the helmet that was just barely too small for his head. He was from Barrowbridge, a farming community in Southeast Gundlaan, bordered by Deyshen on the east and just over the hills from the Argonne grasslands in the south. Casselle liked Jaksen well enough. He'd come from a big family with plenty of hard working brothers and sisters alike. They had that much in common.

Why not use that terrible breath of yours? mocked Temos Pelt, who stood immediately to Casselle's right side. Although the humble son of a trapper, Temos had excelled in the Templar academic training, much to the irritation of several other cadets who'd taunted him for his lack of formal schooling when he'd first arrived. He was taller than Casselle by a hand, just an inch or so shy of Jaksen, and had the natural, wiry athleticism of someone who'd spent most of his early childhood ranging the thick forests of northern Gundlaan.

Hush, Rabbit, Raabel grumbled, playfully mocking Temos' family profession. He was on Temos' right side, the biggest of the squad, standing over Jaksen by a good foot in height. He was strong, too, and often bragged that he was helping his father collar criminals when he was but twelve years old. Despite his permanent scowl, Casselle knew Raabel's jest to be more playful than cutting, because the four of them had become strong friends during their years of training.

Perhaps it was fitting that they all perished on this, the first real challenge they faced together. Their tiny squad was set in formation in front of the gate that separated the rest of the city from the Elder Circle, which was both the name of the round building behind them and the body of men that ruled from inside it. If the building had another name, no one ever cared to use it. It wasn't the only building behind the gate, but these days it certainly was the more important of the two.

We are servants of the Elders! Of Strossen! Of Gundlaan itself! came the cry from the Templar Captain. He was close by, close enough for Casselle to glance over her shoulder and see the look of steely resolve in his eyes. Whatever dead god gave him that resolve was hidden behind the fingers clutched around the talisman at his throat.

Down with the Elders! Down with the Church! yelled an unwashed man that attempted to claw past Casselle's shield. With the weight of several others behind him, he threatened to take her down, but she widened her stance slightly and lowered her center of gravity. She also used her baton to brace her shield from behind long enough for Temos to aid pushing the man up and away from her. He was consumed by the crowd and replaced by a more respectably dressed man with a much fouler mouth. After the third insult in quick succession regarding Casselle's promiscuity, she slapped him hard across the cheek with her baton, unintentionally bloodying his nose. He screamed and pressed to get away.

What are they on about? Jaksen asked.

Anarchy and disorder, Raabel growled.

Representation at the Elder Circle, Temos clarified. It's not... A thrown rock interrupted his explanation, caroming off his shield with a metallic crash.

I actually agree with you idiots! Temos yelled into the crowd. Up until you decided to become a bloodthirsty mob!

The mob surged. It was not in response to Temos' comment directly, but they threatened to push the squad back into the spiked iron gates where the Elder Circle building stood tall behind them. The Temple of Passages, the structure where the Young Gods had once held court with those that lived in the city, stood in front of it. At one time it had been a separate building, but since the Ehronfall it had merely become an elaborate entryway to the expanded Circle building.

We must hold! yelled the Templar Captain. Another glance back affirmed to Casselle that he was, indeed, behind the relative safety of the gate.

Bloody easy for him to say, Temos quipped as he helped Raabel turn aside a man eagerly attempting to climb the gate on his own. The crowd had only grown stronger since Casselle's squad had been hastily deployed from inside the Temple. Today had been important since it was the Elder Council's monthly audience, and they had been there to perform a standard turn of watching the grounds. It gave the squad the chance to observe veteran Templar attending to their duties, but also bolstered the apparent number of Templar on site.

Not that there were a large number to bolster to begin with. Casselle knew the only reason she was here, the only reason that any of her squadmates held the shield emblazoned with the Templar's Hammer, was because the organization was desperate.

That momentary distraction cost her the sure footing she'd held up until then. Something banged