The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (14 page)

“There was some on the hulls as well, to keep
the ships balanced, but a good portion of railing should be more
than enough,” Shade replied.

Nodding, Charm rose again. “For railing those
should hold. For the entire ship, I’m not sure,” he said.

“I’m really not insane. This will work,
Charm, I promise,” Shade said as he rose and dropped the hatch back
into place.

“There is a fine line between madness and
genius. I think you dance along that line Shade,” Charm said with a
smirk.

“Ahh, but I’m an excellent dancer,” Shade
replied with a grin and moved back toward his pilot seat.

“We shall see,” Charm said, quietly dropping
down into the co-pilot seat.

Shade gave a slight nod and smiled faintly.
“Yes, we will,” he mumbled and took the controls of his ship once
more, carefully guiding it over the wreckage. This was the touchy
part, getting the hooks to fall where he needed them to, despite
the current, and ensuring they caught hold firmly. Despite the
confidence he had used with Charm this was the first time he had
ever actually had his ship underwater. He doubted the rogue would
find that knowledge reassuring, though, so he kept it to himself.
Moving one hand slowly over the pulley control he eyed what
remained of the railing below and tried to take into account the
distortion of water as he released the hook. A loud grinding came
from the back of the ship as the heavy chain dropped. Frowning in
concentration, he moved the ship forward slowly and felt the hooks
catch. Smiling, he glanced at Charm and began to guide the ship up
slowly. The tension on the chains slowly increased and he felt the
drag on his ship push past what he had expected. The water began to
cloud more as the wreckage shifted in the silt.

“Here,” Charm said quietly and gestured
toward the view screen. Brighter light flooded the sea floor as a
mage light bloomed to life below them. “I’m not much of a mage but
I can manage that much,”

“You are more of a mage than you let on, but
I won’t push the topic. Thank you, Charm,” Shade said, his words a
bit broken with distraction. It was taking most of his
concentration to keep the speed of the ship slow and even. If he
pulled too sharply on the tow chain, the wreckage would likely
break apart. They were only about thirty feet from the surface now.
The tricky part would be getting it out of the water. By the amount
of drag he was getting off of the chain now he wasn’t sure his
chains would hold, airborne.

“Are we going to be able to get it out of the
water?” Charm asked, his thoughts apparently mirror to Shade’s
own.

“I hope so. I’m not really sure, though. I
think we have more than I had planned on hooking on the end of that
line. From the weight I think we have the entire
Stormrider
.
A low groan filled the air and Shade felt his muscles clench in
response.

“Was that the chains?” Charm asked glancing
back at the hatch.

“Uhh, no,” Shade said quietly, eyes searching
the view screen. The groan came again followed by a sharp tug on
the ship below. Cursing, Shade fought back on the controls and
added a bit of speed to the ascent. A loud crack filled the air and
the ship jerked violently.

“What the hell is that?” Charm demanded, one
hand clutched on his armrest as he stared back into the hold.

“That’s the serpent,” Shade explained his
voice a bit strained. Not many would recognize the sounds of the
beasts but he did. He had spent countless hours watching them off
the coasts of Sanctuary. Typically they didn’t come close to the
city but the groans and wails they used for communication carried
for miles. Another sharp pull on the chain came and he fought the
controls to keep the ship steady. He could see daylight filtering
down through the water, they were so close. “Ya like fishing,
Charm?” Shade asked with a nervous chuckle.

“Not in this fashion,” Charm replied, his
eyes still glued to the back of the ship as if he expected to see
the serpent bite through the thick metal at any point of time.

“Almost there,” Shade said, his voice rising
a bit. Another crack came from the water behind him and he felt the
pressure on the ship lesson. “Bloody hell, I think the bastard
broke my chains,” Shade growled as the front of his ship punched
through into the open air. Sheets of water poured off of the ship,
the bright sunlight turning the droplets into thousands of
sparkling rainbows. Intent on altitude, Shade kept the ship
climbing, hoping that by some miracle he had at least part of the
ship still. Another crash sounded behind them and he felt a heavy
strain on the ship again. With a flick of a finger he opened a
separate view screen showing the area behind the ship. Trailing on
a chain behind them swung a good portion of the
Stormrider
,
followed closely by an enormous green scaled head.

“Shit, oh shit,” Shade muttered and added
more speed to their climb. He couldn’t add too much without risking
losing the wreckage entirely but then if he didn’t add enough the
beast would likely pull them back under. He was a strong mage, but
not stronger than a serpent of that size.

“Oh bloody hell, why is it following us?”
Charm gasped, eyes flicking from the back of the ship to the view
screen and back again.

“They aren’t the smartest of creatures. The
ship moved, he thinks its food,” Shade said through clenched teeth.
His eyes were locked on the view screen mapping the serpent’s
progress. It was amazingly fast for such a massive creature. His
breath caught in his throat as the immense jaws snapped down on the
wreckage sending shards of wood scattering into the air. The
serpent twisted its head, breaking a large portion of the wreckage
away and let out a wail of frustration as it began to drop back
into the waves. Swallowing heavily, Shade watched it disappear back
into the murk and glanced at Charm. He gave a nervous chuckle and
smiled. “I really didn’t expect that,” He said quietly.

“I can’t believe it went after the wreckage
like that,” Charm said, his voice a bit shaken. With a shake of his
head, he leaned back into his seat and stared at the image of the
wreckage rocking behind them. “Now what?” he asked Shade.

“Now we get to the coast of Morcath as
quickly and quietly as possible and get this smelted down. I have a
few ideas of what I can do with Barllen and I think I know someone
who can help,” Shade said, his voice returning to normal. Letting
out another nervous chuckle, he shook his head ruefully and flipped
the controls for the chains. It was better to have less distance
between the wreckage and the spell hawk so it wouldn’t sway too
much as they flew.

“Who?” Charm asked cautiously.

“You are so paranoid and that’s bad coming
from me. I’m usually the most paranoid in a room,” Shade said with
a shake of his head. “There is a smith I know in Southern Morcath.
Remember, I told you I helped my father with a goblin issue a while
back? Well his village is one that I helped. He is a decent man and
he has helped me in the past. Actually he supplied me with most of
the parts for this ship.” Shade ran a hand across the dash of his
ship with affection and grinned at Charm. “Trust me,” he said, his
grin widening with the words.

“You say that far too often,” Charm replied
with an exasperated sigh.

“Almost as often as you say I’m insane,”
Shade agreed with a wink.

Sanctuary

“I’ve known Rose for about five years now.
She has healed at all of the Spring Games that I can remember,”
Wisp said over her shoulder as they headed up the stairs of the
large stone building. It was set just south of the Arena in the
center of Sanctuary and by the look of the building, the Healers
within did very well for themselves.

“Are you sure they are going to be willing to
work in my district?” Jala asked, her eyes trailing across the
shiny brass fixtures on the door and outside lamp. “And will I be
able to afford them?” she added, just before Wisp pushed the door
open and stepped inside.

“Rose herself won’t be going. This is her
building, but she said she had two apprentices that would be more
than capable of handling the work,” Wisp replied, pulling her cloak
off and hanging it on a wooden rack near the door. As usual, the
small Fae was dressed in tunic and trousers in the Faydwer house
colors of green and gold. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail
with only a few strands coming loose to frame her delicate
face.

“Ahh, I was hoping you would make it by
today,” a woman’s voice called from the back of the room. Jala
looked over from the painting she had been admiring and bowed her
head to the woman. While she didn’t look old by common terms, she
had a matronly appeal to her. There was no grey visible in her
short golden curls and her smooth face was wrinkle free but the way
she held herself and watched them, bespoke of age.

“It’s luck that we managed it. Jala is always
busy,” Wisp said with a smile and waved a hand toward Jala. “Rose
this is Jala, my friend I spoke to you about, and Jala, this is
Rose, the best healer in Sanctuary,” Wisp said in introduction.

“From what Wisp tells me, you could be a
formidable healer yourself. Repairing an eye is no simple trick,”
Rose said with a warm smile. “Follow me and I’ll introduce you to
the two I told you about yesterday”

“Thank you so much.” Jala bowed her head to
the woman and moved to follow as she headed down the well-lit
corridor.

The entire building had a pleasant scent to
it, reminding her of fresh country air - crisp and pleasant. The
hall was brightly lit with paintings on either side depicting
various landscape scenes. She glanced at various doors curiously as
they passed, but remained silent.

“It’s not often that I would let an animal
into my hospital,” Rose said quietly as she stopped beside a
brightly polished door and looked down at the Bendazzi. “I will
make an exception this time, however, just for the chance to see a
Bendazzi closer. They are such fascinating creatures, aren’t they?
Kali is truly a genius with her work if only she would try to do
more good.”

“I can barely stand to be away from him. I’ve
gotten so used to having him beside me that when he is gone it
feels as though a limb has been removed,” Jala said with a smile
and ran a hand through Marrow’s coat affectionately.

“He is incredibly clean too, never makes a
mess and hardly ever makes a sound,” Wisp added in smiling down at
Marrow.

The first one to say good boy and pat me
on the head loses a hand
, Marrow warned her.

“Are the apprentices inside?” Jala asked,
shifting the conversation from Marrow quickly. He had a fickle
sense of humor and it was difficult to judge when he was serious,
even for her.

“Yes, of course. You probably are in a hurry
aren’t you?” Rose nodded and smiled before pushing the door open
and waving them in.

The interior had the look of a study room
about it with large bookshelves lining two walls. In the center of
the room rested a table with two people seated there, staring down
at open books. At the sound of the door they both looked up and
bowed their heads in respect to Rose. One of them, a young man
whose true age Jala couldn’t begin to guess, stood and offered a
chair to Rose. He had reddish blond hair and a few scattered
freckles. A half-blood she guessed by the thick glasses that rested
on his nose. On others the frames might have looked awkward but on
him they seemed to lend a scholarly air. The other healer stood as
well, though more slowly. She was thin and dark of skin with her
dark hair cut very short. At full height she was taller than Jala
by several inches and built like a whip. Her features were perhaps
a bit too sharp to be considered beautiful but the combination of
her dark skin and pale grey eyes certainly made her exotic.

“Wesley, Kendry, I’d like you both to meet
Jala. She is the one we spoke of earlier, seeking help for the
Merro district,” Rose said sweetly. “Jala these are two of my best
students. Wesley has a natural knack for working with patients that
show fear and Kendry is very skilled in the more delicate
procedures. I’m sure the two of them will be a great help to
you.”

Wesley stepped forward with a smile and
offered a hand. “Nice to meet you and good that someone is finally
going to do something about the slums. The plague last year was
barely contained.” His voice was rich with a slight accent.

“I have to wonder why you are helping them,
though,” Kendry said, not moving from the table and eyeing Jala
with a bit of suspicion.

“Her bedside manner is wretched but she is a
good healer,” Wesley said with a grin before Jala could answer.

“I’m doing it for several reasons. The most
important reason being that it should be done,” Jala said, her
voice firm yet polite.

“The reason does not matter to us. What
matters to us is what she requires of our services,” Rose said
quietly, looking at Kendry with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“That would be a good thing to know,” Wesley
agreed, glancing at his fellow student with what looked like a note
of pleading.

“The first thing I intend to do is either
repair a building or build one, depending, to use as an orphanage.
There are far too many children living in the gutters there. I can
section part of it off to use as a clinic but I need to know what
you will require in the clinic to work,” Jala explained.

“I can write up a list of the most common
necessities,” Rose offered, and Jala nodded with a smile.

“That would be very helpful, thank you. That
will take me a day or two, I would guess, and then you both will be
able to work directly in the district. What kind of fee am I
looking at?” Jala asked, guessing there was no point in dancing
around the subject. It would be better to know in advance if she
could even afford to pursue this.