Heart of Black Ice

CHAPTER 51

The kraken-hunter ship cut swiftly across the sea, heading north toward Tanimura. With her gift, Nicci summoned fair winds that stretched the patchwork sails, with the added advantage that the breeze diminished the foul smell that clung to the vessel.

The Chaser was mostly empty, now that the refugees had been off-loaded at Serrimundi, and the captain used the opportunity to have his crew patch and scrub the vessel. “Peel off at least a few layers of dried slime. I want to see some of the grain in the wood.”

“Slime? You called it varnish before, Captain!” one of the shirtless men called back with a laugh. His voice whistled through missing front teeth.

“Indulge me.” Jared smiled. “We’ll cover it up with more kraken slime soon enough. If we see one of the beasts, I’m up for a hunt.” The rest of the crew cheered.

Nicci did not want any delay. “We must reach Tanimura with all due haste, Captain. No time for hunting.”

“We’ll get there before you know it, Sorceress.” Jared chuckled dismissively. “Remember, you were going to ride a smelly horse all this way.” The rest of the crew snickered, finding the suggestion ridiculous.

That night, Nicci joined the captain in his cabin for dinner, a slab of rubbery kraken meat. Jared devoured the meal with relish, and though Nicci found little about the food appealing, she ate anyway. “I’ve tasted worse,” she said, and Jared took it as a compliment.

The krakener had a crew of fifteen who had been together for years, unlike many other ships, whose crews changed at every port. Kraken hunting was a hard, dirty, smelly job, and usually thankless. The men who worked such ships kept to themselves even in the dockside taverns, where they were considered a lower class than the crews of cargo ships. Nicci could tell that the lingering aroma of the slimy creatures would not wash away even after repeated trips to bathhouses, so these men accepted their lot and enjoyed their labors.

Jared was immensely proud of how many kraken kills he had made, how many cargo loads he had delivered to cities along the coast. “Those who like kraken meat look forward to my arrival. We are greeted with resounding cheers whenever we come to port.” He gave his rakish smile.

“You are cheered by everyone who appreciates kraken meat?” she asked. “That can’t be a very large number.”

“They have discriminating tastes.” He cut a chunk of the gray meat and chewed on it with a look of satisfaction. He washed down his meal with a gulp of ale. Nicci found herself taking more and more drinks of the bitter beer to counteract the taste. “I’ll be glad to get back to kraken hunting, as soon as we defeat all these enemies you talk about.”

“This war won’t be over for a long time, and it’s about to get much worse. That’s why I need to get to Tanimura and rally the D’Haran garrison.” She bit her lower lip. “I only hope that by now reinforcements have arrived from Lord Rahl. I dispatched an important message to him the last time I came here.”

Nicci felt a pang to think that she was so far away from Richard, the man she truly loved. She and Nathan were doing this task for him, helping to spread the word of the D’Haran Empire, and now she needed Richard’s help. If he sent a powerful military force marching south to Tanimura as a defense against the double threat, Nicci knew their victory was assured. Richard had never let her down.

“Just get me to Tanimura, Captain,” she said, “and you will have done a great service for the war effort.”

When the Chaser entered Tanimura Harbor, Nicci regarded the whitewashed buildings of the city she knew so well. Houses were crowded against one another, forming uneven lines of streets and alleys. Banners rippled from rooftops, showing the colors of D’Hara and the stylized “R” of Lord Rahl. Fishing boats and cargo ships crowded the harbor, but most importantly she saw dozens of large vessels that had been refitted as warships for the D’Haran navy. The sight satisfied her greatly, showing that General Linden had heeded her warning and begun to build up serious defenses.

Tanimura Harbor was much larger than Serrimundi’s enclosed, sheltered harbor. Assisted by Nicci’s directed breezes, the krakener cut a straight line toward the docks. The Chaser cruised past the flat expanse of Halsband Island, which was separate from the main city although it had been connected by graceful bridges. The island once held the towering Palace of the Prophets, where Nicci had lived for many decades as a Sister of the Light and secretly as a Sister of the Dark. She had trained here and served here, and she had also served the Keeper of the underworld. Now the entire island was just rubble. By triggering the constructed spell that ran through the palace, Richard Rahl had brought down the gigantic structure.

Jared stood next to her, holding the ship’s rail. “Ah, Tanimura! I love the smell of that harbor.”

Nicci couldn’t smell anything beyond the fishy slime of the krakener. “It is good to be home,” she said, but her voice held no warmth. This place had too much darkness for her.

After the Chaser docked, Nicci disembarked quickly, intent on reaching the garrison. Captain Jared called after her as she walked down the gangplank, “My ship is at your disposal, should you ever need it again, Sorceress!”

“I’ll remember that. It was a fast ship.”

“With a good captain,” he said.

She didn’t reply as she worked her way through the bustle of dockside activity. Mules pulled wagons loaded with heavy crates; men stacked bales of hay and sacks of grain where merchants dickered over prices. Familiar sights and sounds brought back memories of when she had been an acolyte determined to serve the Imperial Order, because her mother had beaten those teachings into her. That upbringing had sent her down a dark path that had only worsened until Nicci finally reached a crossroads in her life in a man named Richard Rahl.…

Now, she moved through the streets toward the D’Haran garrison. Several weeks ago, General Linden had dispatched a rider up to the People’s Palace carrying her message and her request for help. Nicci knew Richard would believe her about the threat of General Utros. A large army of reinforcements might not have made the journey yet, but she expected they were on the way. She hoped Richard had at least sent a reply. She had not heard from him in such a long time.

Approaching the garrison, she was relieved to see soldiers patrolling the streets in chain mail and leather armor, with the officers wearing colorful capes. Word traveled swiftly as she walked at a deliberate pace, and by the time she reached the gates of the walled garrison, many soldiers had lined up, anxious to hear what she had to say.

“It’s the sorceress!”

“Nicci’s back.”

“Death’s Mistress!”

The anxious garrison soldiers parted as Nicci walked straight across the training yard and past the barracks to the two-story headquarters building. It had been built with fresh-sawn wood and only recently whitewashed to match the common architecture in Tanimura.

At their desks in the first offices, clerks looked up from writing notations in their ledgers, but she strode past them without a word. As she climbed the stairs to the second story, she had no doubt that General Linden would already be waiting for her.

Indeed, he sat at his desk, hands folded. Linden was a thin, thirtyish man, young for his high rank but promoted after so many officers had been killed in the previous war. A port-wine birthmark was prominent on his left cheek, and his crooked nose had obviously been broken more than once.

He gave her a serious nod of welcome. “I didn’t expect you back so soon, Sorceress. We are working hard to increase the city’s defenses. We built warships and refitted other vessels so we can secure the harbor. Our patrols have doubled on the water. Troop numbers have increased substantially, and we are getting stronger every day.”

“Good,” Nicci said. “General Utros is on the move, as I feared, and the Norukai are ravaging the cities on the coast. Serrimundi was attacked not long ago, as was Effren, and possibly Larrikan Shores. Things are about to get much worse.”

“Yes, we’ve received reports.” Linden tapped his finger on the desk. He had straightened the papers in front of him in anticipation of her arrival. “We dispatched aid down to Serrimundi after the last Norukai raid, and we are recruiting widely among the city people and the hill villages. I want to expand the army so that each large town has a well-armed defense force against other raids.”

She stepped forward to grip the edge of his desk. “Make no mistake, General, these are not just raids. The ancient army of Utros forged an alliance with King Grieve of the Norukai. Together, they will overrun the Old World. Did my message reach D’Hara?” she asked, realizing that was the answer she most wanted to hear. “Will Lord Rahl send the D’Haran army to defend us? If your courier traveled as swiftly as I hope, the troops should already be on the way. We will need them soon.”

Worry lines appeared on Linden’s brow. Subconsciously, he rubbed his birthmark with his thumb. “Lord Rahl did send a response. He says he would like to aid Tanimura and the threatened cities, but … it is not possible at this time. He and D’Hara cannot help you.”