Heart of Black Ice

CHAPTER 31

Yes, she would take the head of the Norukai king. That would be her new trophy, her new quest, and Adessa considered it a worthy one.

She felt alive again with a purpose, a true morazeth purpose. The sack with the wizard commander’s head bumped against her hip as she sprinted along the river with Lila beside her.

The severed head had fallen silent, and Adessa was glad not to listen to his taunts, not to look at his rotting face. Maybe the Keeper had silenced him for good. What worried Adessa, though, was that Lila didn’t seem to hear the wizard commander at all.

When the young woman explained what had happened to Ildakar, Adessa felt the solid ground of her life drop out beneath her. She had asked herself repeatedly whether killing Maxim was enough of a purpose, in and of itself. And now that he was dead, what did she have left, other than carrying the head back to Ildakar? A city that no longer existed.

Even that had been taken from her. The emptiness was a void filled only with Maxim’s mocking laughter, but now Lila had given her a new mission. Bannon meant nothing to her, but Adessa did care for her morazeth sister. Therefore, Lila’s quest was her own quest. Besides, she liked the idea of killing King Grieve.

The two women could run for hours with only brief rests. Lila had insisted on the need for speed, because although the Norukai would stop to anchor at intermittent times, the serpent ships moved swiftly along the Killraven. In order for their plan to succeed, they had to get ahead of the three vessels so they could lay their trap.

The game trail turned into a footpath, then an actual road as they reached the outskirts of a tiny fishing town. The two women gave it a wide berth, because encountering people would only delay them. But when they stumbled upon a hunter trudging back to his home with a small gutted deer over his shoulders, the man was so startled to see the morazeth running toward him that he dropped his kill and grabbed his bow. The two barely paused as they raced past him.

Lila called over her shoulder, “Warn your village! Norukai ships are coming, and they will kill your people, burn your homes. Get everyone to safety.”

The man gaped at them, but they had already vanished into the forest. Adessa pointed out, “This means we must be ahead of the raiders. Otherwise that village would have been destroyed already.”

Lila pushed on with greater speed. “We have a chance to set up an ambush, if we find the right place to do it.”

By late afternoon they came upon an elbow of dry land that jutted into the river. Lila paused and looked around with a critical eye. She smiled. “We can build a bonfire here where the Norukai ships are sure to see it. We will taunt them and bring them closer.”

“I will challenge them.” Adessa responded with a predatory grin. “If he is not a coward, King Grieve will face me.”

As sunset approached, knowing the raider ships were coming, though they would anchor when night set in, the two morazeth moved through the underbrush breaking off dead branches and hauling dry marsh grasses, which they piled out on the spit of land to prepare a big fire.

Adessa found a fallen tree with a hollow interior that would make an adequate drum. Together, they dragged the hollow log to the edge of the water, where Adessa could sit in front of the bonfire and make loud, rhythmic pounding. One way or another, she would command the attention of the Norukai.

The two women waited as darkness fell and the river sounds grew louder, more sinister. Adessa stared out at the empty river, penetrating the gloom with her eyes, listening intently. She smiled at her companion. “Can you hear it?”

Gruff voices carried on the water, along with the creak of wood.

Lila tucked her dagger into its sheath, checked the small agile knife at her side and Sturdy strapped to her back. “I will get ready. Give me the diversion I need, and I’ll save Bannon. That is our mission.”

Adessa responded with a wolfish grin, then a glance at the sack. “We will keep their attention, don’t worry.”

Lila sprinted off along the riverbank to take her position in the bushes, while Adessa ignited the bonfire. The flames quickly caught the reeds and grasses, burning fast and hot. The signal blaze rose high, demanding the attention of the serpent ships.

As she moved to the hollow log, a muffled voice came from the sack at her side. “The Keeper wants you.”

“The Keeper will have all of us in our time. I wish he would take you now.”

“Poor Adessa…” Maxim said in an oily mocking voice.

“Silence!” Adessa’s shout echoed across the river, and she heard surprised responses from the Norukai vessels.

She sat cross-legged next to the hollow log and hammered on the trunk with a wooden branch, pounding out a loud drumbeat. When Maxim’s head continued to mock her, she just beat the stick louder, drowning him out.

When the fearsome serpent ships came closer, attracted by the blazing fire and the pounding beat, Adessa stood and went to the river’s edge. Her silhouette would stand out clearly against the bright flames. From the ships she heard taunting jeers, burly raiders pointing at her as if she were a fool.

She shouted loudly enough to be heard over their catcalls. “I am a morazeth from Ildakar, and I challenge King Grieve to a fight. I mean to kill someone tonight.”

Cloaked in the last light of dusk, the serpent ships approached closer in the main river channel. Raucous shouts came back over the water in response to her challenge.

Adessa stood her ground, calling back to them. “Is Grieve a coward to face me himself? Very well, let him send a lesser Norukai, or two, if you think that is what you need to fight a morazeth.”

A smaller boat dropped into the water from the lead ship. Two barrel-chested Norukai, their faces slashed into permanent hideous grimaces, rowed to where she waited on the spit of land by the bonfire. Each man carried ominous weapons, which Adessa ignored. She had her short sword, her dagger, and her agile knife, which was little more than a rune-marked handle that no Norukai would recognize. She also carried the bloodstained sack with the head, refusing to relinquish her trophy. Maxim would come with her.

She waded into the shallow river to meet the landing boat. Adessa glowered at the Norukai greeting party as if their presence were an insult. “A disappointingly small escort. The Norukai don’t fear me enough yet.”

The raiders growled, as if incapable of normal human speech. She climbed into the boat even before it came to shore, then sat imperiously at the bow while the Norukai rowed toward the serpent ship. She turned her back to the men and cradled the stained sack on her lap.

Norukai crowded the rail on the upper deck, watching her with strange curiosity. From the waterline, Adessa scanned their faces, trying to determine which one was Grieve.

She saw a scarred, white-skinned man poking his head up and down, scuttling sideways to get a better view. “My Grieve!” The albino cocked his head at the burly man beside him, who wore a thick chain around his waist and had bone spines implanted in his shoulders. “My Grieve, King Grieve! Make her grieve.”

With the sack secured to her waist, Adessa left the landing boat and climbed a ladder up the side of the serpent ship’s hull. She showed no fear as she stood among the raiders.

“Death is in the air,” Maxim whispered from the sack. “Someone will die. Who will you fight? Who will you kill, or who will kill you? Best prepare yourself, Adessa.”

“Be quiet.” She climbed onto the deck and planted her feet firmly on the scrubbed wood. As the Norukai crowded around her, she drew her sword, standing defiant. “Is King Grieve brave enough to face me? I want his blood.”

The raiders guffawed. Grieve stepped forward, a truly hideous man. “Why would I waste my time fighting you? If I need practice, the Norukai are more worthy sparring partners.”

“You’ll fight me because I want to kill you,” Adessa said.

The Norukai laughed at her audacity, and even Grieve chuckled. “A woman doesn’t always get what she wants. I have disappointed many who lusted after me.”

The scarred sailors snickered. Adessa stared at him without answering. Grieve looked at the bloodstained sack at her side. “What is that? A gift for me?”

She set the sack on top of a barrel and pulled down the cloth to reveal the rotting head.

The albino shaman capered in delight. “The axe cleaves the wood. The sword cleaves the bone!”

“Quiet, Chalk.” As Grieve leaned closer, his scarred mouth drew down in a frown. “Who is this? Why would I want such a gift?”

“It is not a gift for you. This is Wizard Commander Maxim from Ildakar. I was ordered to take his head.” She remained stony. Now that her hands were free, she touched her short sword. “I intend to take your head as a second trophy.”

The Norukai crowded closer, amused by the impending fight. As the darkness thickened, they brought lanterns to illuminate the open deck, clearing an area for combat. Grieve held his wicked war axe in his right hand.

“All right, let’s play,” he said.

The two faced off.