Chapter 16
“This is fucking awful.” I grimaced as we huddled beneath a tree to wait out the storm.
There was basically zero visibility out here with these howling winds and torrential rains, which had made swimming to shore very difficult.
Iannis had conjured a glowing light over the river to ensure that we stayed together, and we’d eventually crawled onto the banks.
Once we’d accounted for everyone, we erected a dome-like magical barrier beneath a tree ten yards from the river to keep out the storm.
We’d also dried ourselves and started a little fire to keep warm, but it was still pretty damn miserable.
“You’re telling me,” Henning agreed gruffly, staring into the fire. His expression was bleak, and my heart sank for him—as the pilot, he had to be taking the loss of the aircraft harder than the rest of us. “We could have been in Leniang Port by morning if not for this damned storm.”
“How is it that the aircraft was unable to withstand the storm?” Iannis asked sternly. “Didn’t you claim it had been tested several times?”
“Ah, yes, but now that I think back, the tests were always done in dry weather,” Henning confessed. He glanced nervously at Garrett, who was scowling. “I guess it’ll be back to the drawing board for the next prototype.”
“This weather is likely a remnant of a typhoon, like the one we hit on the way in,” Director Chen mused.
Her arms were folded over her knees, which she’d drawn to her chest, and she stared out at the frothing river.
“We’re lucky that we weren’t badly hurt by the crash landing, or separated.
You did a good job, Henning, considering the circumstances. ”
“I suppose we’ll have to find the nearest town tomorrow morning, and secure transport,” Garrett said.
He sat cross-legged, his hands curled into fists atop his inner thighs, and he looked a bit like a wild man with his hair sticking out every which way.
I didn’t even want to know what my own hair looked like—we’d dried off, but we hadn’t concerned ourselves with grooming, and everyone else around me was dirty and disheveled from our battle with the river.
“Any idea how far we are from our destination, Henning?”
“At least three days’ ride on horseback,” Henning said glumly. “If we had horses and found a road southward.”
“That’s too long.” Garrett’s features tightened. “The Minister will have our heads if we’re not back in time.”
“He will do no such thing,” Iannis said calmly.
Of the five of us, he looked the least ruffled—his pale skin was clear of smudges, his dark red hair tied back from his stern face with a tie he’d procured from that magic sleeve of his.
I wondered if he kept any blankets in there, and if so, why he hadn’t produced one yet.
“Your hysterics are not helping the situation, Director Toring, and are unbecoming of a mage of your stature.”
Garrett’s eyes narrowed, and I stiffened at the ire rolling off him. “I refuse to be spoken to as a child,” he said stiffly.
“Then stop acting like one,” Iannis said. “We will do as you say and head to the first town to find proper transport. Director Chen, are there any trains passing through this area? Surely that will be faster than horseback.”
“There might be. I will ask the locals in the morning. One of them will be able to point us in the right direction.”
We all settled into an uneasy sleep after that, taking turns at the watch so we could ensure no one snuck up on us.
The fire wasn’t quite enough to keep out the chill of the storm, so I changed into panther form and cuddled close to Iannis.
The sound of his heartbeat, and his hand gently stroking my fur, lulled me into a dreamless slumber that I didn’t wake from until Director Chen called my name to wake me for my watch.
Wanting a better vantage point, I climbed up into the tree and perched on one of the branches.
The rain had finally let up, and the barest hint of dawn had touched the horizon, giving shadowy shape to a range of mountains that we had been very lucky not to crash into during our landing.
The river had begun to calm, and now that it wasn’t pitch dark, I was astounded to see that it was at least a mile wide, and seemed to stretch on forever in either direction.
I turned my gaze east to see how far along I could follow it with my gaze…
and caught sight of a junk sailing our way.
“Iannis,” I called in mindspeak, my voice urgent. “We have company.”
It was a moment before he answered. “What are you talking about? I don’t see anything.”
I growled, swishing my tail in agitation as I watched the ship approach, too rapidly for my liking. “I guess you wouldn’t from your position. There’s a ship approaching from the east.”
“A ship? Not a river boat?”
“Looks like a ship to me. It’s got sails and everything.” I watched the ship steer toward the river bank on our side. It sported black sails rather than white, which sent a bad feeling shivering down my spine. “Are you seriously not seeing this?”
“I see them now—cutthroats from the looks of it,” Iannis confirmed my impression. “I’m going to alert the others, and extinguish the fire. Perhaps they haven’t spotted us. Keep a lookout up there.”
“Aye, aye, boss,” I said, narrowing my eyes on the junk.
I forced my tail to stop swishing around—I didn’t want the motion to draw any attention.
The dawn light grew stronger, and as the ship drew closer to the riverbank, I was able to get a good look at the men on deck.
My heart sank a little as I noticed their scruffy appearance and the large, curved swords they wore at their hips and on their backs.
Many had shaved heads, and I picked out what looked like tattoos on quite a few.
A man in slightly nicer clothes than the rest, wearing a large, oddly shaped hat, came to the deck railing with a spyglass in hand.
He trained it in our direction, then grinned and said something to the man next to him, pointing at us.
“Don’t look now,” I said, dropping to the ground in the middle of the clearing and startling the other mages. “But I think we’re about to be attacked by pirates.”
“Those certainly look hostile,” Chen said, unruffled, as Iannis relayed my warning.
The others got to their feet as the ship dropped anchor in the river, and the pirates began descending via a rope ladder.
Several had their swords drawn, the tips of their blades gleaming in the early dawn light.
One of them jabbed their sword in the air and shouted something in Garaian at Chen.
“We should be able to torch the entire crew between the five of us,” Henning said, magic glowing at his fingertips as he raised his hands. “What do you guys say?”
“Hang on,” Iannis said, placing a hand on Henning’s shoulder, and I was surprised to see a positively devious smile on his face. “Let’s not be too hasty.”
Annoyed that I couldn’t interject myself into the conversation, I changed back into human form.
Just as the light was fading from my eyes, I watched Iannis blast the group of approaching pirates—about ten of them—with a burst of ice-blue energy.
The pirates froze mid-step as the blast hit them, and two fell over as they had just been raising their feet.
Their knives clattered to the packed earth, of no use to the immobile pirates now.
“I thought you said not to be too hasty?” I shouted as the other pirates, who’d been watching from the safety of the ship, let out cries of rage. I swallowed hard as I watched them draw swords and descend from the ship, en masse. “Why the hell are you drawing them all out at once?”
“Because,” Iannis said, calling more magic to his fingers as he turned back to face the pirates. “I want that ship, and I don’t want to accidentally destroy it when we get rid of them all.”