Eleven
SILENCE DESCENDED ACROSS the deck as the ship sped toward the basilisk cave. Behind them, the Rakuuna vessel was rapidly approaching. Every crew member was either on deck, weapons strapped to their waists as they helped sail the ship into the cave, or down below, ready to row the moment the sails lost the wind. They’d lowered fishing nets over the sides, covering as much of the ship as possible to make it easier to trap any basilisks that might try shimmying up the side of the boat.
Charis had ordered everyone who was on deck, except for Orayn, Finn, and herself, to keep their eyes shut. She couldn’t risk a crew member meeting the gaze of a serpent and dropping dead.
Charis readied herself as the sea cave loomed closer.
It resembled a massive, hollowed-out mountain, with a copse of dark green trees growing up the sides and along the top, and thick, rubbery vines hanging across the closest entrance. The opening was just large enough to accommodate two small frigates side by side.
Charis’s body shook like a plucked string.
She didn’t close her eyes. She was responsible for supporting Orayn and Finn if they needed it and for keeping an eye on the crew to be sure none of them were in danger.
“Swimmers in the water!” Finn’s voice, tense with worry, echoed over the quiet deck. Several sailors opened their eyes to look at the Rakuuna who were diving off their vessel and heading toward Charis’s ship.
“They’re trying to reach us before we get inside where they don’t dare follow.” Charis spun toward the first mate. “We need more speed, and we need it now. Sailors”—her voice rose— “close your eyes and keep them closed, or the basilisks and Rakuuna will be the least of your worries. That’s an order.”
Finn cursed. “If we trim the main mast, we might get a bit more out of it.”
“Do it.” Orayn gripped the helm and stared at the approaching cave entrance.
The main mast flapped for a moment and then it caught a gust of wind and held. The boat picked up speed, racing toward the cave.
“There’d better not be any sharp turns inside that thing, or we’re going to smash this ship against the wall,” Holland said.
Charis shook her head and said nothing. She’d wanted Holland to stay down with the rowers, but he’d refused, and she hadn’t had time to argue.
The Rakuuna vessel was closing the distance between them. Four furlongs away.
Three.
She couldn’t see the swimmers. Even now, they might be under the ship, preparing to tear it to pieces.
Charis held her breath as Orayn adjusted the helm, and the bow pierced the curtain of vines at the cave’s entrance. A massive thud shook the bottom of the vessel.
“Rakuuna!” Finn called.
“Keep those eyes closed, sailors!” Orayn barked as the boat slid farther into the cave.
Sprinting for the helm stairs, Charis launched herself down their length, ignoring Reuben’s curses as he scrambled to keep up.
“Holland!” She hurried to the stern as the ship plunged into the murky twilight of the cave.
Lantern light revealed glistening, damp walls covered with clumps of algae and bits of moss. The rough texture of the rock had uneven cracks running in horizontal lines. In several places, jagged ledges jutted out from its surface. Charis glanced at the wall closest to the starboard side as the ship nearly brushed against it, and a movement caught her eye. Something uncoiled from the closest ledge, hissing as it rose.
Instantly, she jerked her gaze to Holland and called out, “There are basilisks on the walls! Finn, mind the depth reader and nothing else. Orayn, steer the ship but keep your gaze on the bow as much as possible.”
Holland reached toward the sound of her voice, his hand brushing her shoulder as he found her. “What is it?” His other hand was already on his sword. “Why did you call for me?”
Quietly, she said, “Go down into the hull. Make sure the Rakuuna who hit our ship didn’t damage it, or worse, tear a hole and climb inside.”
He reached for his sword, and she snatched the satchel of poison from her belt and pressed it into his hand. “If one of those creatures is on this boat, kill it.”
Holland took the satchel and raced for the stairs that led belowdecks.
A splash echoed in the muted silence of the cave as the ship slid farther in. They were moving much slower now without the wind to push them along. Orayn had already given the order for the dozen crew members who were manning the galley to start rowing.
“Snakes in the water, too,” she whispered, drawing closer to Reuben and keeping her eyes trained on his boots in case more serpents were rising from the ledges, trying to catch her eye.
The ship turned slowly, nudging along a narrow curve that took them northeast. Finn was calling depth readings up to Orayn from the one spot on the port side where they’d left an opening between fishing nets. It was impossible to see beyond the pale glow of the ship’s lanterns, but all around them came the sound of hissing and large bodies sliding across stone.
There were no more thuds against the ship’s hull. No creature was immune to the basilisk’s gaze, not even the Rakuuna. Had they given up pursuit before entering the cave?
Charis strained her ears to hear as the ship bumped against a wall, scraping its length along the rough surface before Orayn managed to turn them back toward the center of the channel. From behind them, far too close for comfort, came the sound of dry bones rattling.
“The Rakuuna,” she breathed to Reuben. “They’re talking to each other. They must be close. But that sounded like it came from outside the cave. Maybe they—”
A loud, wet thud sounded from the deck on the starboard side, and an anguished cry split the air. Charis whirled, her sword ready, her heart in her throat.
A basilisk had dropped from a ledge and landed on Joren. The young man’s red hair was covered in blood, and the snake was just withdrawing its fangs from his head.
Charis lunged forward, her weapon raised. “Snake on the deck. Blades up! Hold your positions and keep your eyes closed. I will tell you if one is close to you. Uriah, snake to your left.”
The man beside Joren opened his eyes, drove his dagger into the snake’s back, and tried to drag his friend to safety. The basilisk whipped its head around, and Charis looked at the deck as Uriah dropped, his eyes covered in white film, his bloodless lips parted. Beside him, Joren was convulsing as the venom spread to his heart.
“Get back, Your Majesty,” Reuben barked as he raced between her and the basilisk, his blade flashing. His weapon drove into the back of the snake’s head. Charis pivoted around him, whipped her sword through the air, and severed the head from the rest of the snake.
“Don’t look at the eyes.” She turned to assess Joren’s condition and found the young man lying dead, foam flecked around his mouth. “Just throw the head overboard, Reuben.”
A high-pitched scream pierced the air behind the ship, rising to a fever pitch that drove Charis to her knees in pain. The noise undulated, sending shivers over Charis’s skin. Something thrashed in the water close to the back of the ship, and more snakes slithered from the walls and plummeted into the water.
“I’m guessing a Rakuuna tried following us,” Reuben said as he returned to her side.
Her enemies wanted her badly enough to send soldiers into basilisk-infested waters to get to her. How was she going to get herself and her crew out of this alive? Her entire plan hinged on being able to deliver the poison to Verace so they could take it to Solvang and the armada Nalani was gathering. She couldn’t hide in the cave for long, and the Rakuuna would surely be waiting when they exited.
They were going to have to devise makeshift weapons with the moriarthy, and fast.
Holland entered the deck and came toward her, his eyes widening when he saw the beheaded basilisk nearby. “You fought one?” His face rose as if to scan their surroundings for the exciting possibility of finding another monster to kill.
“Close your eyes before you end up dead.” Charis’s voice was a whiplash, barely containing the furious panic that churned within at the thought of him dying at her feet. “Is the hull breached?”
“There’s a small hole.” Holland nudged the snake with his boot and then obediently closed his eyes as he reached Charis. “I patched it as best I could, but we’ve got a slow leak.”
She drew in a slow breath as the ship bumped its way around another curve and added “fix the leak” to the short list of life-or-death tasks that had to be completed before they sailed out of the cave.
The ship nosed its way through a damp curtain of vines and turned down another tunnel. Orayn muttered as he consulted his map by the light of a lantern. “There should be a wide opening soon, and then we take another series of tunnels west until we finally meet one that heads due south. That’s our exit.”
“How long will that take?” Charis asked.
Tracing a large finger over the map, he grunted and then said, “Most of the night would be my guess.”
“Then we’ll use that time to fix the hull and load cannons with moriarthy dust,” she said.
“If we put dust into the cannons, won’t it just spray into the air?” Holland asked. “We’d have to wait until the Rakuuna were right next to the cannons for that to be effective, and I assume they’ll just rip apart the bottom of the boat long before their ship is close enough for dust spray to hurt them.”
“Then figure out a better delivery system,” she snapped, though she knew it was unfair. It wasn’t Holland’s fault they were in such a precarious position. It wasn’t her fault, either. It was the Rakuuna’s—and somehow she had to fight off a ship full of the monsters without leaving any survivors.
A chill crept down her spine as the truth hit hard. If even one Rakuuna from the ship outside the cave survived, they would bring the news to their queen that Charis had moriarthy dust. She’d lose the element of surprise and give the Rakuuna ample time to come up with countermeasures to save themselves and destroy her people.
The tunnel expanded slowly, and then all at once it was gone, and they were floating in a lagoon half the size of Arborlay’s harbor. The crack in the mountain above became a wide fissure, allowing the faint glow of moonlight to fill the space, turning their entire surroundings a shadowy, ghostly blue. She hadn’t realized they’d been inside the cave long enough for night to fall.
“If we sail to the center of this, how far away are the basilisks, provided we don’t look into the water?” Charis asked.
Reuben immediately squinted toward the craggy walls that enclosed the lagoon before once more looking down. “A pretty sizable distance, Your Majesty. And it’s so dim that it would be hard to meet a direct gaze until we’re back in the tunnels.”
Charis considered their options for a moment, though really there was nothing to consider. The hull had to be fixed, and weapons capable of leaving no survivors had to be fashioned. However long that took was how long they would have to remain here.
Finally she said in a tone that projected absolute certainty, “Get us to the center of the lagoon and weigh anchor. We’ve got work to do.”