Savage Messiah

CHAPTER XIX

"It is time to bring them, Wulfgar, and to board them onto your Black Ships. Then only the coming of the ships' captains shall be required to launch your invasion. Bring the beasts now, and witness the majesty of their power. For they will destroy both the palace and the Redoubt of the Directorate, that vile seat of the Vigors. Load them onto the Black Ships, our son of the lower, lesser world. We will be watching."

Sleeping soundly, Wulfgar at first heard the words as if in a dream. Startled awake by the clear choir-voiced message, the Enseterat blinked open his good eye.

He immediately understood. Yesterday he had employed yet another of the Forestallments granted him by the Scroll of the Vagaries. It allowed him to conjure the great beasts into the world. As their gigantic shapes had taken form, even he had been awed by their splendor.

He rolled over in bed and looked into the face of his sleeping queen. Her dark ringlets were spread out across her pillow, and her face was the very picture of contentment. Beneath the elaborate quilt, he could see the swollen, impending promise of their child.

Serena, Wulfgar found himself thinking. How aptly she was named, and how much he loved her. He would soon be forced to leave her side. But this time he would return in triumph.

Wulfgar slid from the bed, put on a silk robe, and walked to the balcony. The day had broken clear and fresh, and the seabirds sang to one another as they coasted effortlessly over the waves below. Stretching the sleepy muscles in his back, he inhaled the bracing air.

He would indeed load the amazing beasts today, just as his fathers and mothers of above had ordered him to. Then he would perform the only other task remaining, and set out to make both Eutracia and the craft of magic his own.

"My love?"

Turning, he saw Serena had awakened. Propped up on one elbow, she looked at him lovingly as he stood there, the morning sun on his ravaged face. He walked over to her and sat down on the edge of the bed. He ran his good hand through the ringlets of her hair. He smiled again.

"Today is to be very special," he said softly. "The Heretics spoke to me in my sleep and told me that I am to load the beasts aboard the Black Ships. I shall need your help, for your gifts easily surpass those of Einar."

Serena smiled. "I will do all I can for you, my lord," she answered.

She rose. Placing one hand upon her abdomen, she sleepily padded her way toward the elegant washroom. Wulfgar went to the velvet pull cord and gave it a sharp tug, telling the demonslavers that he wanted breakfast. He then walked back out onto the balcony.

This would be an eventful day. holding Serena's hand, wulfgar walked his queen down the wide, marble stairway leading from their throne room. It was nearly midday. The sea winds were light; the ocean was calm. As they approached the terrace at the bottom of the steps, Serena saw Einar standing there. She smiled at the consul, and he bowed respectfully.

Wulfgar gazed out at his fleet of Black Ships. Their dark, majestic shapes lay peacefully at anchor. Each time he saw them he was amazed. He had been even more awed when the Heretics told him what these warships were capable of.

He looked over at Einar. "Have the beasts been gathered?"

"Yes, my lord," the consul answered. "I suggest that we begin promptly. My ability to keep them under control is not limitless. They are immensely powerful, and equally strong-willed."

Wulfgar nodded.

Looking out over the waves, he pointed at the nearest Black Ship. Almost at once they could hear the chattering of the vessel's anchor wheel as it began hoisting the chain from the sea. Dripping, the massive, black anchor soon followed. It finally came to a halt in its holding place, just below the bow gunwale.

Wulfgar lowered his arm, took a deep breath, and then pointed at the ship again.

The gigantic vessel slowly turned until her stern was facing them. Then she moved backward through the waves and gently beached herself. The rocks lining the edge of the sea were crushed like grapes beneath her weight. Finally settling herself, she listed a bit toward her port side.

At Wulfgar's next gesture, the huge trapdoor in the ship's stern lowered itself. Unopened for centuries, it creaked loudly all of the way down. With a final groan, it, too, came to rest upon the shoreline, leaving a dark, gaping portal in the ship's hull. Lowering his hands, Wulfgar turned to his queen.

"Do you remember your instructions, my love?" he asked her.

She nodded. "I am ready."

Wulfgar looked over at Einar. "Have the demonslavers bring them out," he ordered. While the three of them watched, seven creatures appeared from around the far edge of the shoreline.

This was the first Serena had seen of them. She gasped. The monsters were each at least ten meters high. Each had dark, leathery skin that looked much like the wrinkled pages of some old, charred book. They walked on all fours, and each bore a demonslaver atop its back. They strode ponderously toward the shore. Despite their plodding gait, their inherent strength was obvious.

Their curved backs arched upward, and then down again. Their bodies were long, tall, and very deep. The rather short four legs were huge and set wide apart. They ended in massive, cloven hooves that looked as if they could easily crush anything they landed upon. Each time one of them set foot upon the earth, Serena could hear a great stomping noise and feel the ground shake.

They had long, swaying necks with broad, flat heads and deep jaw lines. The glistening eyes were dark. An equally dark slit made up the mouth, and a long, dark horn protruded from each of the creatures' foreheads. As Serena looked more closely at one of the monsters, she realized that its deadliest weapon was not its horn but its tail: thickly muscled, at least as long as the rest of the body, it ended in a gigantic paddle that swayed back and forth with the creature's plodding gait.

Serena looked again to the demonslavers sitting atop the great beasts. They used no saddles, but held reins that led to bridles on their mounts' heads. Long whips were cracked liberally to keep the lumbering giants in order.

"What are they called, my lord?" Serena asked.

"Earthshakers," Wulfgar replied. "Or at least that was what they used to be called. Their kind has not been seen since the Sorceresses' War." The Enseterat smiled. "What a shock it shall be when the wizards of the Redoubt see them once again. Not to mention the Black Ships that have returned them to their shores."

Just then one of the things stopped dead in its tracks and looked directly at them. Serena thought that her heart might stop. The Earthshaker opened its jaws wide and gave a bloodcurdling cry.

The awful sound was something of a cross between the growl of a dog and the scream of a terrified woman. Raising its head angrily, the great beast cried out again. The noise hurt Serena's ears. When it opened its mouth she saw row upon row of long, pointed teeth. These creatures were meat eaters.

The rebellious Earthshaker stopped crying out, but the demonslaver atop it was having a difficult time getting it to move forward and enter the Black Ship.

Wulfgar looked quickly over at Serena and Einar. "Augment me," he ordered. The Enseterat raised his hands. Azure bolts shot from them toward the Earthshaker and its mount.

Serena and Einar raised their arms, but waited to see what Wulfgar had in mind. Azure walls sprung up, one on either side of the rebellious monster. The twin walls created a passageway that led to the stern of the ship. Understanding, Wulfgar's queen and consul added their powers to his own, reinforcing the walls.

With nowhere else to go, the Earthshaker walked through the corridor, stepped upon the lowered doorway, and entered the ship. As it did, Serena and Einar kept the azure walls in place. Wulfgar caused the ship's stern hatch to rise up and close.

Taking another deep breath, he sent the warship sailing back from the beach and out to its original position, where its anchor rattled back down into the Sea of Whispers. The Black Ship turned gently into the wind. She tugged hard at the anchor chain, then finally settled herself.

Wulfgar turned toward his consul. "It shall be your responsibility to ensure that enough meat and water have been stored aboard the Black Ships to sustain the beasts all the way to Eutracia," he said. "They must be strong and eager when we arrive."

Einar bowed slightly. "As you wish, my lord."

Wulfgar's eye narrowed as he looked proudly at the remaining line of Earthshakers he had conjured. He turned back to his queen and his consul. They both smiled at him.

"Today we board the Earthshakers. Then I shall call forth those who shall captain the Black Ships for me," he said. Thinking of the Jin'Sai and the Jin'Saiou, he turned his gaze back out to sea. "Nothing can stand in our way now."

Wulfgar raised his arms again and caused yet another of the Black Ships' anchors to clamber its way up out of the sea.