Of Kings and Killers (Elder Empire Sea #3) - WIll Wight Page 0,58
it. The Intent of the Imperial seal couldn’t be broken anyway, so no one could read it, not even Guild Head Bareius.
As soon as the Magister left, Rina lit a match and set it to the corner of the envelope.
Bareius’ orders. It wasn’t time for peace yet.
Rina was honored by his trust.
Chapter Eleven
three years ago
Calder had led the others to barricade the far wall as best they could now that the hallway ended in a smoking hole.
As far as he could piece it together from Goss and Lakiri’s mangled stories, Tommison had been packing up the alchemical munitions and had made some kind of a mistake.
It was impossible to know exactly what that mistake was, but it had resulted in him joining a cloud of smoke that drifted down the hall.
He didn’t know if Lakiri had exaggerated the power of the munitions, because if they had really been capable of burning the island bare, he would have expected them to take the tower down. Maybe they were more incendiary than explosive, but he would be the first to admit that he knew almost nothing about alchemy and even less about demolition.
They had certainly been sufficient to destroy the back room and take any hint of Captain Tommison with them.
Calder wished Tommison had survived so that he could beat the man with his own hands.
Now The Reliable was no longer an option. Most Navigator ships could be launched without the captain, but not sailed far. He might be tempted to risk it if not for the giant fanged Elderspawn in the surf.
No, without the captain, the ship was no longer an option. And the munitions were gone, which he had planned to use to clear the way to the beach.
Now he was reliant on Foster and Urzaia to make a path for the rest of them.
Goss and Lakiri were all but dead weight now; they had been closer to the explosion than anyone else, and their hearing had still not returned. Goss was covered in burns, though they were all shallow. He would be fine, but he wouldn’t be much help in their escape.
Which meant that Urzaia, Andel, and Calder—with Foster’s support on the long guns—had to carry three passengers incapable of combat through a jungle filled with Elderspawn.
On the bright side, if there was a bright side, the sun was almost up and none of them had been torn to pieces by Slithers yet.
All six of the survivors were gathered in the main room as Calder addressed them. “This will be a dash for our very lives. Our only hope is to have Foster bring The Testament close enough to shore that I can make contact.”
He wasn’t sure how far away he had to be to contact the Lyathatan. He would prefer to be standing on deck, but that obviously wasn’t an option.
If he couldn’t wake the Elder from the beach, or if Foster and Petal couldn’t manage to get the ship close enough, they would have to do battle with the fanged worms using only what they had on them.
Which was possible, given Urzaia’s presence, assuming they weren’t attacked from behind by an army of Slithers.
“I’ve already signaled Foster.” The alchemical flares burned brightly from the top of the tower, and the responding flags had been flown from The Testament’s mast almost immediately. “He’ll be trying to bring the ship closer, but we have to meet him on the beach. That means running behind Urzaia and sticking close. I want us to be tripping over each others’ heels, do you understand?”
He waited until everyone nodded except Urzaia, whose gaze was drawn and fixed on the view outside.
That was as it should be; he needed the Champion focused on their goal, not on Calder’s words.
“No need to carry anything but weapons. We have provisions on the ship, and even if we didn’t, it’s better to lack food than to be food.”
He had expected a tense laugh, or maybe a look of agreement, but he got one only from Andel. At least he and the quartermaster had been singing the same tune recently.
The first pink rays of dawn were already sneaking through the barricade. Calder took a deep breath and readied the sword in his hand.
“Well, that’s enough talking from me. Does anyone have anything they’d like to contribute at this late hour?”
He still wasn’t certain Goss and Lakiri had their hearing back. They nodded again, but they’d nodded to almost everything he said.