Death Dealers

The Storm

The ship rocked to the side. She had to dive to the deck to keep from going overboard. There was something unnatural about this storm. She could feel it. Despite being on the ship for more than a month, she didn’t truly have sea legs. Her training in the martial arts helped her adjust to the movements of the boat in normal times, but she couldn’t predict them the way most sailors seemed to do,

This storm was magical, but the magic was ancient. She could feel the enemy approaching. She noted that she wasn’t the only one to feel this difference. The ship’s wizard and the Magi were also stalking the deck. Guns would be useless in these winds that struck from three different angles at once.

The ship spun and rocked so violently that it nearly capsized. We can’t fight in this! She thought, struggling to get to her feet. A shadowy form jumped over the side of the ship. It was followed by scores more.

She screamed and threw up a ward of wind, and several of the creatures were thrown from the ship. “We’re under attack.” She screamed.

***

It seemed like an eternity, but it had only been less than an hour. The fighting was still furious on both sides. The Marines fought like angels, but too many of them were dead or dying. She worked to save who she could. Three triage units had been set up, one on the marshaling deck, one at midship, and one below decks. Five guards guarded the first two units, healers were forbidden to fight and were too valuable to lose. This gave them priority even in dire situations.

She was tending a gut wound when she felt the creature. It burst through the line of soldiers using its mass to push them out of its way. Its wickedly formed trident was aimed at Armisuous. She spun on impulse. A blade forming in her right hand sliced the head from the trident, and a second blade, held in a reverse grip in her left, sliced the head from the creature.

Decapitation shouldn’t be easy, the neck is heavily muscled and bone doesn’t cut easily, Her blade had instinctively passed between the second and third vertebrates. This was due to both her training as a healer and the skill she had gained under Gareth’s instruction.

Blood sprayed across her and the storm vanished. A quiet washed over her as she stepped from the ring of guards. It was like she was no longer in control of her body. The calm was not hers. She could feel herself locked into a corner of her own mind, but she didn't wish to escape. She knew one thing: this was her ship, her crew, how dare they face her. A tingling sensation ran over her body and she looked down. She was sheathed in glowing white armor. She didn’t take time to think. Her body was in motion and a primal urge to protect flowed through her.

She came to the first pocket of fighting and flowed into motion. Three marines held off six of the strange aquatic creatures. Her right blade removed a scaled hand at the wrist. Her body pivoted and her left sword took the lizard-like head from the creature. Moving with the swing, her body twirled, and she used the spin to launch a dagger that had replaced the longsword at the next creature in the arc. It pierced the eye, then vanished returning to her hand as she removed the head of the third creature and embedded her newly summoned blade into the chest of the fourth combatant.

Her fluidity stopped, the jab having ended the range of natural movement. The pause was only for a split second, but in that time the other two creatures were dispatched by the marines. “Form up, let’s get these bastards off my ship.”

The men formed up around her.

***

She sank to the deck, her chest heaving, she felt as if she had run for hours, the sea was now as smooth as glass. Black acidic blood covered her. It was mixed with the blood of humans and other matter she didn’t want to think about. What had she done? She had killed and not just once. A strong arm steadied her. She turned to see Nicoli. He had joined her some time in the fight, everything was a blur. Who was she...what was she?

Nicoli knelt and lifted her. “It’s okay...the emotion will sort itself out. You saved the ship.”

“I can no longer be a healer.” She said against his chest.

“Shsh, rest. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.”

“Where is Gareth, I felt him.”

There was a pause. She knew that she wasn’t the only being in spirit armor on the boat this night. “The other two saviors are not among us...they aren’t dead, but it’s like they were never here.”

“I need answers...Have a bath drawn for me and have the wizard and Magi summoned. I will see them as I bathed.”

“Still giving orders are we?” He said, amusement mixed with fatigue in his voice.

***

The wizard had summoned a proper bath. She lay back in the steamy water as the trembling acolyte washed her. “I need to understand what happened out there.” She stated to the other people sharing the bath. It wasn’t uncommon for males and females to share a public bath and everyone that survived the attack would need a proper bath. She was given the first shift and it was exclusive.

“From what I have heard, you were not acting, but something in you was responding to the stimuli. It is similar to possession, but I feel this was more a persona.” The Magi, an aging man replied. He sighed as a shipboy rubbed his shoulders. “Your lover was almost on the ship today. The soul bind is unique to each pairing...but you had something more…” He trailed off.

“I felt the vault.” The wizard said as an acolyte lathered her hair. She was in her middle years and pretty, but not beautiful. “I still feel the vault in you, but it was stronger during the end of the battle.”

The magi sat up quickly. “Are you sure?” He asked, his voice hungry with power.

“As sure as any scholar can be. I’ve never felt the vault before.” She replied.

“We thought Gareth may have found the vault, but could never prove it.” The magi stated.

She was silent for a moment. She knew that the vault had been discovered, she had studied some of the scrolls, but they were speaking as if the Vault were alive. Which she knew for a fact that it was.

“I transcribed the Scroll of the Living when I was ten…” a hush fell over the pool. “Gareth brought it to me, he called it a gift. I knew what it was and couldn’t resist. He studied other scrolls, that I will not name. I didn’t know that the vault was alive then, but I have learned much about the vault. Yesterday we received a third member. I can feel her, though I’ve never met her.” She pressed down a spike of jealousy. Only Gareth could bring new members into the vault, he was the key. Why did he choose a woman? Did he even have a choice? “Honestly, I don’t fully understand it yet, the only thing I am sure of is that it is more awake now.” She added.

“The power of the vault is ancient. It was lost around the forming of the empire, some believe the magi destroyed it, but I can’t believe that. The problem is more complex than that. While a physical place, the vault is also metaphysical and has some level of sentience. It is also thought that the vault needed three to seven vessels to be fully functioning, you and Gareth are vessels, and today we felt a third, an Elementalist…” The Magi answered. “It is unclear at the moment how much of what happened was the vault, how much was you, and how much was Gareth. The boy was always full of surprises.”

She stood. “We need some answers, see what we can find out. I killed today and not just a single creature. I need to mount a defense.”

“You acted honorably and for the empire, no matter what happens a place of honor will be reserved for you.” The magi stated.

***

Robes had been laid out for her, not the robes of her calling, but fine robes that would fit at court. The acolyte cast her eyes down. “I’m sorry…” she stopped before calling her by rank

“I’m Esrea...this is of my making not yours.” She said, but inside she was shattered. Being a healer was who she was. She wanted to curse Gareth, but couldn’t. Without him, she and this ship would likely have perished.

She allowed the acolyte to dress her and do her hair. At least the healers saw fit to honor her with an acolyte, that was something. She stepped from the cabin onto the deck and a roar of applause washed over her. For a moment she was stunned.

“Apprentice.” It was the first time anyone had called her by her rank and she turned towards Constance. “If you aren’t drained, I need your assistance.”

To her surprise, she wasn’t drained. She was tired, confused, and sad beyond explanation, but not drained. “I’m fine.” She replied starting towards the below decks.

Constance caught her arm. “No, the captain needs you. He is beyond what our magics can do, but maybe you can do something.”

The captain lay in his bed. His gut had been opened and his entrails were hanging from his body, this was a painful and slow death. She stepped into the room. Two surgeons looked up. “Pack the organs back in the body gently. We will work on that first.” She paused.

The scroll of life was in her head, she could see the body, the energy that flowed through it, and how everything fit together. She needed blood and a way to transfer it to the body. She formed an instrument from her soul blade. It was a narrow tube connected by two, sharp, hollow spikes. She looked at Constance, I need you to cast a spell of transmutation to match the blood on one end of the tube to the other. This tube” She said, holding up the right tube. “Will go into the captain, the blood entering the other tube, will need to be changed in the tube, to match the captain’s. I need a string of five donors, the two surgeons we have, and another gifted healer, besides yourself and me, and I need this an hour ago. You shouldn’t have let me bathe.”

Constance nodded and barked orders. She was watching Esrea closely, but at the moment she didn’t reprimand her. She had asked for assistance and she would take what she could get.

Esrea was too focused on what needed to be accomplished to worry about Constance at the moment. The captain needed her full attention and she needed to prove to herself and everyone else that she was still a healer.

***

The process was slow and tedious, but she oversaw it till the captain was stable. It would be days, if not weeks, before the man fully recovered, but he would recover. Esrea collapsed into a chair and a ship’s boy brought her some ale and gruel. “Madam, the third mate, I mean the second mate would like to speak with you if it pleases you.” She nodded and a few moments later Nicoli stepped into the quarters.

“He will survive.” She pronounced.

Nicoli shrugged. “How about you, how are you doing?” He asked softly.

“I need rest, but I am fine.” She replied

He pulled up a chair and sat. “The ship’s in shambles and I find myself in charge. It isn’t that I don’t have good officers, but in times like this...we need a leader. You claimed the ship today and held it. I want you to assume command of the Marines.” He stated.

She stood slowly and began to pace. “I’m a healer, not a warrior.”

“You’re both,” Constance said from the door. “Don’t be ashamed of what you are...apprentice.”

“Why do you still call me apprentice...the rest of the healers will hardly look at me?” Esrea asked.

Constance reached into a hidden pouch and pulled out a ring, which she pushed onto her finger. The ring bore the crest of the magi and it was crossed with the assassin's crest. “I named you my apprentice and like you, I have other gifts as well. We have the problem that others know of your actions, but that isn’t insurmountable. You are a healer, Esrea, but you aren’t limited to being a healer. I cannot speak for the council, but I’ve taken apprentices before who could never join our ranks.”

Esrea was staring at the ring. “There is much you don’t know, Esrea. Your true education starts tomorrow. Get some rest. Your belongings have been moved into the first mate's cabin. Until the Captain is fully healed, My nephew has this command. You are second in command.”