The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) (52 page)
Read The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) Online
Authors: Mark Whiteway
Tags: #Science Fiction
Slowly, determinedly,
Annata’s Reach
came about and headed into The Great Barrier of Storms.
~
It was unlike anything Shann had ever experienced before. The colossal tempest assailed her senses. Rain lashed against her face, obscuring her vision. Cracks of blue lightning blinded and deafened her. Wind buffeted her small body like a dozen mailed fists. Before long, it felt to her as if she were surviving on willpower alone.
It was impossible to tell if they were making any progress. Beneath them, the Aronak Sea lifted up their tiny ship on waves the size of mountains before dropping them just as suddenly into valley-like troughs in between. She fancied she could hear Lyall yelling encouragement, but the maelstrom immediately ripped up his words and threw them away contemptuously.
Above the cacophony of sound, Shann had the impression of a high pitched whine below. She glanced down to see Boxx on the foredeck. It seemed to be pointing aft. She hazarded a look over her shoulder. Through the mist and rain she saw the unmistakeable shape of the carrack. Sails trimmed to beat against the gale.
Bearing down on them
.
A sudden concussion
–but this time it was not lightning. The sea burst ahead of them as the lodestone cannon overshot its mark. Again Lyall shouted something. She could not make out what he was saying, but she got the message clear as crystal. The Prophet’s ship was no longer trying to cripple their vessel. It was trying to sink her.
There was another impact just off their larboard quarter. Shards of timber blew out as their ship listed violently to starboard, then righted itself. The wooden hull creaked in protest. Lyall shouted and pointed downwards.
Shann nodded and adjusted her neck control, withdrawing the bronze and partially extending her lodestone layer so that she drifted downwards to where Boxx was waiting patiently. As her boots made contact with the rain-slicked deck, she was already tearing at the straps of her harness. She tore it free, letting it fall to the deck, and raced to the port rail, with Boxx behind her. Leaning over the side, she saw shattered timbers floating on the sea. The side of the ship was now marked by a dark gash.
They were holed just above the waterline.
Shann had barely had a moment to survey the damage when she heard a loud retort followed by a terrible rending of wood and canvass. As she peered into the mist and spray, she saw the pursuing vessel heeled violently over to larboard. The titanic storms had slapped it like a petulant child, toppling the mainmast and snapping the mizzen mast in two. The flame symbol of the Prophet still fluttered boldly as the ship was blown onto its side by the howling winds. Crewmembers jumped or were thrown into the turbulent waters. Shann realised with a sickening feeling that there was nothing she could do to save them. Slowly, the Prophet’s ship began to capsize.
As she watched the death throes of the carrack, Shann found that she was unable to tear her eyes away. The stern was gradually swallowed by the enveloping waters, causing the prow to rise up in one final gesture of defiance before finally slipping beneath the waves. In a few moments, the sea had closed over the once proud vessel, so that there was nothing to mark its passing.
Shann jerked herself back to reality. They had to do something about the breach in their hull, or the
Reach
would soon be joining the other vessel at the bottom of the sea. She started back to where Lyall and Keris were still straining, pulling their battered cog through the storms. Then she saw it. A shaft of light burst through the whirling clouds, revealing a sliver of azure blue sky beyond, like a flash of hope. Suddenly an immense wave crashed against the starboard side of the ship. The deck lurched under her and she was flung backwards in the flood of seawater. Boxx was tumbling towards the ship’s rail. Shann lunged at the creature, grabbing it round its midriff just as a second wave burst over the side. She was hurled back again. Then the world exploded as her head hit the rail and she was tossed over the side of the ship, still clutching the Chandara. Shann experienced an instant of freefall before hitting the water with a splash. Her ears were instantly muffled as she felt herself sinking below the waves, and gradually her consciousness slipped away.
~
It began with a merest suggestion of warmth. Slowly, the suggestion became a sensation and the sensation moved outwards from its birthplace.
Spreading. Growing
. Its tendrils insinuated themselves, enlivening and animating all that they touched. Slowly the warm feeling changed colour and intensified, becoming…
pain
. Slowly, determinedly, Shann opened her eyes.
There was a round head above her. Its eyes were closed and its mouth quivered oddly. The head had a name.
“Boxx.”
The creature opened its eyes and the sensation of warmth faded. “You Are Awake,” it said.
Shann’s head felt muzzy. Her back ached and she realised she was lying on something hard. She tilted her head to her left. Smooth round stones stretched away into the distance. There was the sound of water, lapping gently.
A beach
. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again.
“Wh-where is this?”
“This Is Beyond.”
“Beyond the Great Barrier?”
“Yes, Beyond.”
“Lyall…Alondo…where are they?”
“Gone.”
“The ship?”
“It Is Gone.”
Shann’s mind kicked in, replaying her most recent memories. They were pulling
Annata’s Reach
through the storm barrier–the other ship fired–they were hit–she saw the Prophet’s ship go down in the storms–a wave struck them–she clung to Boxx to stop him being swept overboard–then…what?
She struggled to sit up. Her salt-stained clothes had partially dried in the warmth of the suns and they felt stiff.
“How did I get here?”
“The Tree–It Bore Us.”
It indicated a large timber laying half out of the water–from the
Reach’s
smashed hull. She got to her feet. Her muscles protested loudly, but she ignored them. The sky looked peculiar–a deep cerulean blue, unbroken, save for a few wisps of cloud. Ail-Mazzoth was gone–lost somewhere beyond the distant horizon, where the Great Barrier brooded like an angry frown.
She turned and walked up the stony beach. Ail-Kar was chasing Ail-Gan towards a line of hills to the east. The beach gave way to a shelf of grey rock, strewn with boulders. There were strange patches of white powder on the ground. Shann bent down to touch one. It felt cold–colder than anything she had ever felt before. Curiously, she scooped up a little of the powder and held it in her hand. It seemed to be made up of tiny crystals. She watched in fascination as the crystals turned to…
water
. She raised her hand to her mouth and allowed the drops to fall on her tongue. They were deliciously cool. She scraped up a handful of the stuff, ignoring the growing numbness in her fingers. Soon, she had slaked her thirst.
Boxx had climbed onto a small boulder and was watching her patiently. As the suns began to set, she felt the air grow colder. Shann began to shiver. The light was fading rapidly, and the sky was gradually turning darker and darker, blue into black. Suddenly, a bright point appeared. But it was not one of the streaks of light that appeared regularly over the skies of her home. It hung motionless overhead. Shann gasped as another appeared near it…and then another. Soon the blackened sky was filled with twinkling points of light, like diamonds on velvet, filling her vision. The words of Alondo’s tale back at the Calandra came back to her.
“It was a land of the darkest dark, where the sky is bright, but there are no suns.”
Her mind reeled.
It was true–Arval had been here.
She turned to Boxx. The Chandara was perched on its rock, its upturned face illuminated by the myriads of tiny lights. “What are they?” she asked.
Boxx’s high pitched voice was charged with reverence.
“They Are Called Stars.”
— End of Book One —
Book Two
:
The World of Ice and Stars
Science Fiction
by Mark Whiteway
Published by Mark Whiteway
Kindle Edition
Copyright 2011 Mark Whiteway
***
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission, except for brief quotations to books and critical reviews. This story is a work of fiction. Characters and events are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Book Two: The World of Ice and Stars
List of chapters