Chapter 34
The greatest horrors are at the middle of all things
Between order and chaos
~Creston Brown
I hung a lantern above the table as Mullins laid out the map. It covered the entire surface, weighted by bronze ingots from Addison’s supplies. We hadn’t referred to it in a while, but heading into unknown territory required planning.
Dahlia, myself, Mullins, and Nazario all stood inside my cabin on the Storm Weaver, staring over the markings on the chart, most of which were put there by my father. I pointed at a small island near the Broken Promises, a mere speck compared to the islands surrounding it.
“We’re here,” I said, stepping aside so that Dahlia could look at the map more closely. “Here is the North and our volcanic island chain. Can you tell me where Theloch is by looking at this?”
Her eyes wandered the many locations, reading each one. Placing a finger on the thick parchment, she traced a line from the Isle of the Black Water to the east, pausing momentarily at Port Devlin and then sliding her hand even further until there was no more parchment for her to refer to.
“Here,” she said, tapping her finger on the table where no map could indicate a location.
“What’s there?”
“This is the way you need to go,” she pointed at a vast area of ocean where I knew from experience the waters were beyond most sailors’ ability to navigate.
“Hunters and sailors alike avoid that place. It’s deadly, and not just because it’s filled with monsters.”
She nodded. “There is a jagged peak there. It’s small, but at low tide, more is revealed. It’s a city, made of stone and obsidian. Half always submerged, the other half surfaces when the water lowers. That part is the temple. That is Theloch.”
“I’ve heard stories,” Mullins said. “Thought they was just stories.”
“Pirates talk about the Teeth of God,” Nazario added. “They say that place is full of treasure, but no one returns to say whether or not it is true.”
“Aye, I’ve heard of that story,” Mullins said.
“There may very well be treasure,” Dahlia said. “It’s a sacred place. It used to be, anyways.”
“And why do we need to go there?”
“Because. Humans have libraries and churches. Kroans have Theloch. The oldest histories will be there. From our priestesses. Our philosophers. Our warriors. Our scribes”
“Philosophers?” Mullins scoffed. “Sirens have philosophers?”
“Hundreds of years ago, we had cities. Societies. And then it all stopped. We abandoned the temples. We took up blades instead. And Theloch, a place full of history and spirituality, was all but abandoned. But I think we’ll find it there.”
“Find what?” Nazario asked.
“A way to kill him.”
“A way to kill a god,” I said, leaning on the table with my fists. “Now we just need to figure out how to get there.”
“That is easy,” Dahlia shrugged. “Go north and east.”
“We can’t just go northeast, love. I need more than that.”
She smirked. “You still believe you’ve tamed the ocean and can travel upon it freely. You do so because it lets you. Go northeast. There is a fog bank called the Myre. You call it Daughter’s Pass. No one sails there, but now we must.”
“The water pulls too hard there,” Mullins said, shaking his head. “It’s impossible to sail. It’s a ship killer.”
“When the water begins to pull, let it,” she explained. “Theloch is too lonely a place not to bring us to it.”
“That’s unsettling.”
“If we survive the jagged rocks, the fog, and possible starvation, it will open to us.”
“Excuse me?” Nazario said.
“I jest, of course.”
No one believed that…
I glanced up at Nazario, raising a brow. “We haven’t left yet. Your ship is still anchored just outside, but once I leave this island, I am not turning back, whether you’re onboard or not.”
He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared down at the map. He could go anywhere and still, after everything, I would not blame him if he left.
“Impossible odds,” he said, stroking his chin. “And no one will ever hear a thing about it. If we die, that is the end of it.”
“Yes,” I nodded.
“But…” he continued, leaning on the opposite side of the table to mimic me.
“If I leave now and I take my crew and I never hear of you again, I will forever live with the fact that you could not do it without my skill and expertise and…” He shook his head with a frown. “The guilt would be very hard for me.”
I sighed, a slow grin forming on my lips as I inclined my head toward him.
“First thing we need is supplies,” I said. “We will not be dying of starvation after all we’ve been through.”
“Gilly Pine is small and would not attract much attention,” Nazario suggested. “And it’s on the way.”
“We’re wanted there,” Mullins pointed out. “Had a bit of a scuffle not too long ago.”
“Right. Treson Harbor is nearby,” Nazario pointed to the map. “I know it is—"
“We killed their governor,” Dahlia added. “In Gilly Pine.”
“He was a prick,” Mullins said under his breath.
“Wonderful,” Nazario nodded. “Thorpes, then.”
“We know that place will have goods. I don’t want to risk getting caught in any other town like we did in Dornwich.”
“Right,” Mullins said, heading for the door. “I’ll get the men up to speed.”
“My crew should be finishing up,” Nazario said. “We’ll have the weapons and loot from the Amanacer loaded onto your ship soon enough.”
“Addison has been set up rather nicely on deck to continue her work,” I added.
“Once everyone is outfitted with a bronze blade, she’ll be making slugs with all the scraps that remain.
Boil and Billy have harvested a healthy amount of hemsbane from the island.
Everyone is to drink tea on the daily from here on out. ”
Dahlia wrinkled her nose at the idea. Already, the ship smelled of it. I was certain she and the other two were hating it.
“It’s being kept in the hold,” I told her.
“I’ll tell the others to avoid it,” she said, turning to leave.
I followed her out onto the deck where the crew was moving around from job to job, preparing the ship for the journey. I reached out, taking Dahlia’s wrist.
“When we get to Thorpes, we’ll be supplying the ship with an abundance of things we need. Do you and Meridan need to feed again?”
“I may,” she said, her eyes searching for more like she knew that wasn’t my real concern. “What is it?”
My attention drifted briefly to the cage sitting at the front of the ship, the contents of which was waiting to be stored back in the hold where she could sleep next to the hemsbane. Her eyes were rooted to the back of Dahlia’s head as I spoke with her.
“What use is Lyla to us without a tongue?” I asked.
Dahlia glanced back at her sister. “I don’t know yet.”
“There are a lot of nervous men aboard this ship, half of whom aren’t hunters. They’re pirates. I imagine accepting three sirens as part of the crew was challenging enough, but they’ll start asking questions and men with questions… well, they end up like Uther.”
“We’ve been killing each other for generations. There will always be reservations, but hunting Akareth is not just for me, Vidar. It’s for us all. Giving free will back to the Kroans could change everything.”
“Wars do not stop overnight. A snake still writhes without its head.”
“But it eventually stops.”
I couldn’t help surrendering my mouth to a proud smile. “Aye. It does.” I pulled her toward me, lifting her chin with my knuckle. “I knew you were fearless from the first day we met. And somehow, I forgot that you were also merciful.”
“I am not as merciful as you think.”
“Perhaps. But tell me again why you freed me from your mother’s cage as a boy?”
“Because I saw myself in you. Someone with hate and violence forced upon them.”
“Now tell me why you want Lyla alive.”
Her eyes flitted back and forth between mine. “Because I see myself in her, too,” she whispered. “Asleep, I wandered many corners of her flawed mind and…” She paused.
I nodded. I already knew what her answer would be. “Then she will remain alive while she is on this ship.”
“You must know, that if anything happens and it is her life or the life of anyone else on the Weaver, I will choose this crew every time. We are sisters by blood. This crew is my family by heart.”
I lifted her hand up between us, pressing my lips to her knuckles.
“I know exactly the monster you can become when you need to be.” Looking up over Dahlia’s head, I could see Cathal and a few other men from the Amanacer climbing up onto the ship to start unloading a boatful of supplies.
Immediately, Lyla’s eyes made a subtle shift in his direction like an eagle spotting a fish too close to the surface of the water.
“What is it with her and that man?” I asked.
Dahlia turned with a sigh. “Either she wants to eat him or she wants to play with him first. Either way, he’ll probably benefit the most from her staying in that cage. I know what obsession looks like.”
“Obsession can mean a great deal of things. For years, I was obsessed with wanting to kill you. Now I am obsessed with doing a great number of other things to you.”
We shared in a heated look for a moment before we both went our separate directions.
I began to patrol the ship, helping where an extra hand was needed and making sure everything and everyone was in order.
The new crew members were integrating, finding places to sleep and corners to put their few belongings.
Addison had set up her armorer’s kit next to the longboat and was already preparing to continue her work making and repairing weapons.
After what happened in Dornwich, she seemed overly eager to make herself useful.
Things seemed to be in order, but they often appeared that way at first. Chaos was soon to follow. Any sane man knew that.