Chasing the Prophecy (Beyonders) (33 page)

Nia opened the shutter twice for a few seconds each time, then twice quickly. A moment later four quick flashes answered from farther out to sea, just right of their current heading.

“See that?” Nia called.

“I saw!” Aram answered. He shouted steering instructions.

“Corinne and Farfalee?” Jason asked.

“Together with Bat and Ux,” Nia replied. “Four flashes means they’re all there.” She grinned at Drake. “We pulled it off.”

“Your people were spectacular,” Drake said.

“We lost some on the wall, and Gaw was killed on our way through the harbor mouth. Any lost life is tragic, but our losses could have been worse. Should have been worse.”

“They were as surprised as we had hoped,” Drake said. “Several ships will be totally lost. It will take months to repair the piers. News of this hijacking will shake up more than this region. An interceptor is a serious prize, and we torched their waterfront as well. Many across
Lyrian will hear the tale. Word of this victory should help Galloran as he recruits for his revolt. Tonight the empire looks vulnerable.”

Jason hadn’t stopped to consider how the hijacking might bring hope to Maldor’s enemies. Drake was right. Any bully looks less tough after somebody stands up to them. Jason tried not to dwell on the drinling who had fallen to the deck or the warriors who had died on the wall. Tonight was a big victory, a major step toward fulfilling the prophecy. Maybe they could actually pull it off!

“Maldor will demand vengeance,” Nia said. “He’ll want to make an example of us.”

“We’ll have his full attention going forward,” Drake agreed. “It was the price we paid for transportation to the island. With imperial troops behind us, and the Maumet before us, I have a hard time imagining how the oracle saw any of us surviving to seek out Darian the Seer.”

“Don’t write us off yet,” Jason said, feeling emboldened by their success. “We have a fast ship and lots of good fighters. We’ll find a way to finish the mission.”

“Such reckless optimism,” Drake said dryly.

Jasher came up behind them. “We have another advantage. The emperor can’t be certain where we’re going. Even if he confirmed our identities, our destination would be difficult to guess. The Inland Sea is large. We will not be easy quarry.”

“The oracle saw a way for us to survive,” Jason added. “We just have to find it.”

CHAPTER
8

N
ia burst into the small bedroom. Jason jerked his head up and squinted at her, tense from being startled awake.

“Are we under attack?” he blurted.

She was smiling. “No, it’s good news! The
Valiant
has been spotted on the horizon.”

“About time,” Jason said, relaxing. The ship was three days behind schedule. Everyone had been getting really antsy. He blinked and wiped his eyes.

“Sorry to disturb you,” Nia said. “I thought you’d want to know.”

“I’m glad you told me.” The room had no window, so he lacked outside light to help him gauge the time. “Is it morning?”

“Not quite daybreak,” she said. “You can go back to sleep if you want. In fact, you probably should. Tonight is the night!” Nia exited, closing the door.

Jason sagged onto his side and closed his eyes, but he failed to sleep. Eventually he went and found some breakfast. There was a new energy among the drinlings. Concerns had been expressed that the
Valiant
might have been diverted because somebody had caught wind of the planned hijacking. Every day their strike force
had remained in hiding had increased the chance for somebody to discover them. But now it looked like all would proceed as designed.

Jason stewed all morning and into the afternoon. He spent a lot of time on his feet—testing the weight of his new sword, aiming the crossbow Aram had given him, foraging for snacks, listening for news. Pacing. Fretting.

Tonight’s endeavor would be like nothing he had ever done. Hijacking a ship in the middle of the night? This was a big town, surrounded by high walls. The ship would be guarded. There would certainly be fighting. If he and his friends messed up, they would all die.

Nobody expected much of him. According to what Jason knew of the plan, he was basically cargo. After the ship was secure, Drake and two drinling escorts would hustle him aboard. But so much could go wrong. What if they ran across a stray patrol on the way to the ship? He would have to help them fight their way clear. If an alarm was sounded before they boarded the ship, soldiers could come rushing to the waterfront, and he might end up in the thick of the battle.

Jason had practiced for months so that he could contribute in a fight. But since learning to use a sword, he had never confronted an opponent with his life on the line. That test might come tonight, meeting an enemy in combat, no blunted edges, no practice gear . . . no second chances. Skill would be involved, as would composure, as would luck. Either he or the opponent would survive. The prospect sent nervous thrills tingling through his body.

Jason knew he would not be fighting alone. Drake and others would probably be there to bail him out. But anything could happen. Worst-case scenarios could leave him alone in a sea of
enemies. No matter how he tried to distract himself, he could not stop anticipating the possibilities.

Not long before sunset, somebody knocked on his door. Jason had his sword out, dueling imagined enemies. He hastily tossed it aside. “Come in.”

Aram entered, still small, and glanced from Jason to the sword on his bed. “Restless?”

“Not too bad,” Jason lied.

Aram smirked. “My room is directly below yours. I could hear you clomping around.”

Jason was not one to blush, but the sudden warmth in his cheeks hinted that this might be an exception. He looked away from the undersized half giant. “I was just doing some exercises.”

Aram plopped down on the edge of Jason’s bed. “Truth be told, I’m a bit edgy myself.”

“Yeah?”

“This is a major operation. With so many people involved, I can hardly believe we haven’t given ourselves away already. These drinlings deserve a lot of credit. They have discipline.”

“Think we can pull it off?”

Aram hesitated. “You know I used to work as a smuggler.”

“Right.”

“I’ve taken plenty of chances in my day. Risk was part of the job. But the risks were carefully measured. Thanks to my precautions, the chances of getting caught remained low. I stayed in situations where nine times out of ten, if I did get apprehended, I would be able to bargain my way out of serious trouble. Even among the officials appointed by Maldor, most consider smuggling necessary to some extent. The service fills a need. I was careful about where and when I operated. I was careful about who I worked with. Careful about what goods I moved. Careful about who I bribed.”

Jason could see where Aram was headed. “And now we’re rushing into something crazy?”

Aram shook his head. “Not necessarily. Not overly crazy. This could work. How do I put this?” He stared down at his clasped hands. “During my career, I occasionally came across opportunities for a really bold mission. A job that might produce a mountain of money overnight or really enhance my reputation. A big score—a chance for glory, riches, or both. These types of jobs almost always involved harming the interests of the emperor in one way or another. Or else they had the potential to draw his attention.

“I created workable plans for several of those missions. I devised strategies that made the projects feasible, kept the risk within reason. But the price of failure in those instances was much too high, so I played it safe. I never implemented those plans. Chasing the big score gets greedy men killed.”

“But tonight . . . ,” Jason prompted.

“Tonight we’re going to hijack an interceptor. Among other duties, it will be my responsibility to captain the ship. I have the most experience at sea, so the job fell to me. I’ve drilled the drinlings on procedures. They mastered their knots and lashings with shocking ease! They’re highly adaptable. Every man knows his role. But most have never sailed a ship like the
Valiant
. For good or ill, our success depends largely on me—whether I trained them right, whether I lead them effectively.

“I love the sea. I’ve captained before. I’ve dreamed of becoming shipmaster of an interceptor, Jason. There is no finer vessel afloat. The basic design came from the Kadarian warships, but Maldor perfected it. To captain the
Valiant
will be a thrilling privilege that I never expected to actually experience.”

“But you’re also nervous?” Jason guessed.

Aram shifted in his seat. “I’m discarding years of good judgment. Our actions tonight will publicly insult the emperor and all those in his service. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been in tight spots before. Things have gone poorly, and I’ve fought my way free. But I never sought out such situations. This hijacking will have every imperial agent on the Inland Sea after us. It will draw the personal attention of the emperor.”

“Is the plan good?” Jason hoped.

“Superb. They won’t be expecting anything this bold. They couldn’t possibly anticipate the amount of manpower we’ve assembled. This hijacking is daring enough to fall completely outside of their expectations. The
Valiant
made port today. Most of the crew will be carousing and enjoying the inns tonight. Those standing guard in the middle of the night will be disgruntled and careless. What could happen to an interceptor moored in a port firmly under imperial control? These soldiers haven’t seen real action for years. In combat situations surprise means a lot, and it should be entirely on our side.”

“So you’re more worried about afterward.”

“I’m worried about everything. Too much could go wrong. And if things go wrong, they will go very wrong. If our surprise is somehow foiled, this could end disastrously. If our enemy takes more clever or effective action than we’ve anticipated, we could be massacred. And even if we get away, it is only the beginning. We’ll be sailing to an island nobody has survived, with every soldier in the region after us. Not a favorable scenario.”

“Wow,” Jason said, feeling he now had a better grasp of why he should be freaking out.

“This is the sort of scheme you devise as an idle fantasy, and then lay aside.”

“But we can’t lay it aside.”

“If we’re determined to get to Windbreak Island, this is probably the only way. No better alternative exists. The prophecy claims we have to get there. Greedy or not, we’re being forced to pursue the big score. It goes against my instincts, which makes me edgy.”

“I’m pretty wired too,” Jason admitted. “I think I get what you mean. I’ve spent most of my time in Lyrian trying to avoid danger. Tonight we’re charging straight into it.”

Aram rubbed the sides of his nose with both hands, partially hiding his face. “Truth be told? My instincts keep telling me to run. And listening to my instincts has kept me alive so far.”

“You think we should run?”

“Not all of us. I was speaking about myself.”

Jason felt shocked by the admission. “You don’t really want to ditch us?”

Aram gave a weak smile. “I definitely
want
to run. I’ve never liked sitting still. I almost took action yesterday, before the
Valiant
had been sighted.”

“You almost left?” Jason gasped. “Really?”

“I wouldn’t bring it up if I meant to actually do it.”

“Then why bring it up at all?”

“I thought it might mean something for you to know that the thought of you helped keep me here.”

“Me?” Jason asked.

“I had to ask myself how committed I was to this cause. I had to confront whether I was willing to go all the way, to venture into dangers from which I had little chance of returning. I knew Jasher and Drake wouldn’t give up. The mission would go forward without me, and I could picture my presence making little difference whether it succeeded or failed. But then I thought about you. I thought about a young man who didn’t belong to this world,
who had managed to make a difference without many of the skills I might have supposed were necessary. And I realized that if a stranger like you held true, a man of Lyrian like myself had no right to depart.”