The End of Time (19 page)

“Overheard where?” Hap said. Sandar and Sophie looked at him with growing confusion, and he didn’t blame them.

“Back home,” said the whistler.

“Home? Where is this home? Do you come from . . .” Hap bit his lip. “The same place as Lord Umber?”

The whistler gave Hap a curious stare, and a hint of a grin appeared. “Now this is getting interesting.” He chuckled to himself and got gingerly to his feet. “Ah, well. Does it really matter what I tell you now, anyway? Your friend Lord Umber is in a world of trouble, I think, so it probably doesn’t. When I say
home
, little boy, I mean the place I come from. Across the sea.”

“The Far Continent?” Hap asked. Sandar stiffened at the mention of that hostile land and looked ready to seize the whistler by the collar again. Sophie took a half-step back.

“That’s what
you
call it. We have another name for it. A new name, in fact.” The whistler stared at the towering spires of the palace. “This is quite a city you people built. A mighty kingdom, this has been. But things are about to change. Sooner than you know.”

Sandar was a head taller than the whistler, and he loomed over the man, glaring down. “I think the boy’s first question deserves a better answer.”

The whistler tugged his dusty tunic back into place and ran a hand through his hair. “Oh . . . about that song? Why, a man I know likes to whistle that tune. He’s a very powerful man. The most powerful in the world, in fact—or soon to be. It was he who sent me here.”

“To spy on Lord Umber?” asked Hap.

The whistler lifted his chin and scratched his neck. “Well. I’m not sure I like that word, spy. I’m an observer, really. And don’t you think Lord Umber is worth observing? It’s curious. How can one man be capable of so many accomplishments? The inventions, the medicines, the ship designs, the music, hmm?”

Sandar stared at the whistler with his jaw twitching sideways. He looked at Hap and seemed about to ask a question, but a commotion near the palace drew their attention. The crowd was buzzing anew, but with a different tone this time. Voices rose, and panicky shouts pierced through the din. Then Hap heard the thunderous sound of many feet in sudden motion.

Sophie was closest to the larger path that cut through the market. She stepped back for a clear view of the palace, and her mouth dropped open. “The king’s men are shooting at the crowd!” She hurried back into the narrow lane to avoid the first of the people dashing into the market, running from the flying arrows. A group of men turned into the lane, seeking shelter among the tents. The whistler saw his chance and shoved Sandar, catching the bigger man by surprise. He swung his arm and clubbed the side of Hap’s head as he passed, and Hap dropped to his knees with his ear burning and his eyes squeezed shut. When he blinked them open again, he saw Sophie holding a reddened cheek and grimacing. The whistler was gone, lost in the stampeding crowd.

Sandar hooked his arm under Hap’s and hauled him to his feet. “All right?” he asked, and when Hap nodded, he turned to Sophie. “Did he strike you?” Sophie nodded and dabbed her cheek with her fingers, checking for blood.

“If I see that spy again, he’ll be observing my fists,” Sandar muttered, with his breath snorting out of his nose. “Come, you two—let’s get you back to the Aerie before the king’s army takes to the streets.”

They used the narrow passages between the merchant stalls to head for the harbor, avoiding the wider lane that was filled with the rushing crowd. Before long they heard horses thumping nearby, and new cries of fear. From the alleys Hap caught glimpses of mounted soldiers, waving swords and scowling at the people.

At the bottom of the market district, the narrow lane ended near the great harbor wall. In their race to get away from the palace and the deadly arrows, the crowd had run down the sloping roads and gathered there. But instead of heading for the safety of their homes and other buildings, they stood frozen, staring across the water.

“What the devil,” Sandar whispered.

Dozens of familiar ships flew into the harbor under heavy sail, racing for the docks. At the prows of the incoming craft, sailors waved shirts and hats and pointed back at the open sea.

Sandar shielded his eyes from the sun with one hand and ground his teeth. “There’s the
Bounder
—and the rest of our ships! Why are they coming back?”

“Something’s happening out at sea,” Sophie said quietly. “They’re running for safety.”

Hap stared at the mouth of the harbor. On both sides of the harbor’s entrance, the land rose up steeply. Signal towers stood on both of those hills, and plumes of smoke rose from each.

“Something is coming,” Hap said, and all the warnings of approaching doom reappeared in his mind.
Something strange in the sea, to the west,
Nima had told them.
Boroon heard it . . . a constant roar of thunder in the water, thumping like a heart
. He remembered Burrell, the terrorized sailor.
Fire monster,
Burrell had called the thing that had destroyed his ship.

As he stood thinking of all those omens, the thing appeared. At first it was only a dark edge, creeping into view from behind one of the tall shoulders of land.

“It’s here,” Hap said, and his mouth was suddenly dry.

 
CHAPTER
24

Even with a mile of water between
them,
the thing looked immense. It glided through the sea with dark smoke wafting from its innards. Its side faced them, revealing a fierce golden eye at the front of its dark bulk. At first Hap thought it might simply pass by, across the wide mouth of the bay, but then the thing turned slowly, bringing its head to bear on the inner harbor.

“The fire monster,” Sandar said, using the name that rumor had given it.

“But it’s not a creature at all,” Hap said, narrowing his eyes to sharpen his sight. “It’s a ship.” Its blackened sides were sleek and straight, and it was blunt in shape, except for where its nose narrowed to slice the sea. The glowering eye had been painted on, to make the craft all the more fearsome. The smoke came from a pair of conical chimneys on its back. Behind the ship Hap could see water frothing, churned from below.

“Listen,” Hap said, cupping his hand behind his ear. The strange ship was making a sound: a dull mechanical rumble that rose and fell. It suddenly announced its presence with a shrieking, unnatural whistle, accompanied by a plume of steam that shot up from its stern.

“A ship?” cried Sandar. “But how does it move without sails—there’s no leviathan beneath it, is there?”

Hap shook his head. “I don’t think so. . . . I think it’s a machine.”

“But who could make something like that?” Sophie said.

Hap shook his head. He could imagine only one answer: Someone else from Umber’s world was here, and it was probably the same man who’d sent the whistler to spy on Lord Umber and the city of Kurahaven.

“I want a closer look,” Sandar said, clamping his teeth. He led them through the open gates of the harbor wall and to the docks. The ship was halfway into the bay, and it was obvious that it would dwarf even the greatest ships of Kurahaven. Hap saw men prowling on its broad upper deck, and others coming up through metal hatches from the vast interior of the craft. Many carried objects made of wood and steel, tall as spears, but wider at the bottom. Other structures on the deck of the ship were obvious now: Long, bulky tubular things that angled up, pointing toward the city. The look of them filled Hap with unease.

“There will be a fight,” Sandar said, gesturing toward the berths in the center of the harbor, where the royal navy was docked. Sailors and soldiers were on the ships, and two of the vessels cast off their lines and slid out into the harbor. The ships had oars as well as sails, and the oarsmen rowed furiously while archers lined the rails.

Hap felt a shiver run across his skin as he remembered the fate of the ships that had encountered this intruder. “They shouldn’t go out there,” he said quietly.

“What choice do they have? A hostile ship is in our harbor,” Sandar said, but he plucked at his lips and shifted from foot to foot, watching anxiously.

The royal warships glided toward the intruder. Officers stood at the prows, calling out to the strange craft through speaking trumpets. Hap couldn’t hear the words, but Sandar explained. “They’re telling the fire monster to stop where she is and explain herself, or prepare to be attacked and boarded.”

Hap shook his head. The ships looked so small next to the beastly vessel they were approaching. The intruder was twice as tall, three times as wide, four times as long. On the side of the monster ship, panels slammed open, hinged at the bottom, revealing dark rectangles. Hap squinted into the black interiors. His gifted eyes adjusted to the contrast between sunlight and shadow, and he saw long, dark cylinders within.

A man on the deck of the monster ship shouted back at the captains, and more words were passed that Hap couldn’t hear. His lungs ached, and he realized that he was holding his breath. From the cylinders within those dark rectangles came an explosion of fire and thunder, so loud it made the bones in Hap’s chest hum. Sophie jolted, and Sandar staggered back, stifling a cry with the back of his hand.

Hap caught a glimpse of small shapes flying through the air, out of the smoke. Ragged gaps appeared in the hull of the royal ship that had ventured closest, and it was torn to splinters from within by an unimaginable inferno. Smoke obscured the scene, and then the breeze pushed it away, and when the royal ship could be seen once more it was in shreds. Flaming sections bubbled and sizzled into the depths, and blazing sailcloth fluttered into the waves. Not a single living man could be seen amid the wreckage.

“What . . .
how
?” moaned Sandar. He sank to his knees and clutched his stomach. “All the men on that ship . . . five hundred or more!” In the harbor, the second ship of the navy had been ready to join the attack, but it turned hard, away from the intruder. The monster ship chugged on, closer to the docks.

A horn sounded behind them, and Hap turned to see soldiers atop the harbor wall, calling to the people who had lined the harbor to watch the battle. The harbor wall had numerous tall arches that allowed people and wagons to reach the docks, and the doors that could block those passages were swinging shut to form a solid barrier against invasion. “We’ll be trapped,” Sophie said.

Sandar rose unsteadily to his feet and took a deep breath to collect his wits. He mumbled his instructions. “Hap, go with Sophie, before all the doors close. Run back to the Aerie. My ship is here; I have to see what happens.”

Hap and Sophie exchanged glances, and Hap knew they were of the same mind. “We’d rather stay with you.” If necessary they could reach the Aerie in a tiny boat, making the journey at night when Hap’s nocturnal sight could guide them.

The intruder was nearly an arrow’s flight from the docks when it swung its vast bulk to the right. It was not made of wood at all, Hap realized—or at least, its hull had been plated with dark metal scales. Now that its side faced them, he could see how the thing was propelled: there was an enormous paddle wheel at its stern, like the one that powered the Aerie’s lift. As the wheel turned, the ship was thrust forward.

“Vanquisher,”
Sophie said quietly. Hap realized that she was reading the word painted in silver letters above the golden eye, arching like an angry brow. The demonic ship had a name.

The thumping roar inside the ship fell to a low thrum, and the
Vanquisher
slowed. The wheel stopped churning. Hatches clanged open at the bow and the stern, and a grating, ratcheting sound was heard as anchors dropped and sank under the surface.

From this distance Hap could clearly see the men on the deck of the
Vanquisher
, forty feet or more above the waterline. One seemed to be in charge: a lanky, silver-haired man with thick eyebrows and a prominent nose. He stood on a raised platform, as calm as a statue. The others on the deck would come to him, drop to a knee while receiving orders, and dash off without looking him in the eye.

Hap, Sophie, and Sandar watched as a small boat on the deck of the
Vanquisher
was swung over the side and lowered into the water with two dozen men lining its seats. The silver-haired man stayed on the
Vanquisher
, watching like a falcon perched high. Next to him a pair of men appeared with an enormous conical object, which they aimed toward the shore, not far from where Hap and the others were standing. Hap’s heart clenched. He wondered if this was another weapon designed to blast fire and death at them; but then he saw that the cone was hollow, and it served only to project the voice of the man who stood behind it.

The voice carried across the water, and everyone fell still. “People of Kurahaven. You have seen only a hint of what this ship can do. Do not tempt us to show the
Vanquisher
’s true might. Our envoy is on the boat that approaches. Send your highest authority to meet him. Do as he says, or countless more of you will die.”

By the time the small craft was rowed to the docks, most of the people had fled. Hap heard the last door of the harbor wall slam shut. It seemed like a waste of time to him; the
Vanquisher
’s weapons could blow those wooden doors into sawdust if they desired.

The men from the
Vanquisher
stepped onto the dock. A small group was there to meet them: Hap saw one fellow who must have been an officer in the king’s navy, and another man who looked like a knight.

“Stay here and hide among the crates,” Sandar said, and he headed for the dock. Hap and Sophie ignored his orders and followed, earning a stern backward glare.

Someone else was approaching the dock where the meeting would happen. Hap felt a flush of anger when he recognized the whistling spy. He saw Sandar’s hands turn to fists. The spy was many paces ahead of them, and he reached the group first. There he was greeted by the thick-chested, black-bearded envoy, who seemed to know him well.

Sandar stopped a short distance away, behind a stack of barrels. They were close enough to hear every word, and Hap could see what was happening through a gap in the cargo.

The naval officer stepped ahead of the others to address the envoy. His throat bobbed up and down, and he dabbed sweat off his forehead with his fingertips. The envoy waited, looking disinterested and picking at the fingernails of one hand with his thumbnail. Behind the envoy, the rest of the men watched with wolfish looks, holding those strange long objects. If they were clubs, Hap thought, they were unwieldy ones, with narrow metal rods at the top fused to thicker wooden handles at the bottom.

“Tell me your name,” the envoy finally growled, barely glancing up.

“Admiral Horner,” said the officer.

The envoy sniffed. “Admiral? Not exactly the highest authority, are you? Here is what you’re going to do, Horner. Tell your king to come to this very spot, within the hour.”

“Within the hour?” cried Horner.

The envoy stared without expression. “If he is not standing on this very spot by then, we will do to his palace what we just did to that ship.”

Horner looked over his shoulder at the palace, looming at what appeared to be a safe distance. He turned back, and disbelief colored his expression.

“I can see you doubt me,” the envoy said. He raised his fingers and snapped them. Behind him one of the men raised a flag and waved it high in the air to signal to the
Vanquisher
. A moment passed, and then another deafening roar and a cloud of smoke shot out from the ship, this time from the great cylinders of metal on its deck. Sophie screamed and clapped her hands across her ears. Something whistled high overhead. After a moment of silence, when even the gulls ceased to cry, there was an eruption of fire and smoke in the building next to the palace. Hap knew the place: It was a theater that Umber had designed and funded. Half of it had been reduced to rubble.

Horner stared with his jaw hanging slack. “I . . . I shall go at once,” he said. He cleared his throat. “May . . . may I ask why you require the king’s presence?”

“Of course not,” the envoy said. “And tell the king to leave his entourage behind; he may bring one servant or advisor only. Also, bring his crown and scepter with him.” The spy stepped up beside the envoy, who bent his head to allow the spy to whisper in his ear. The envoy nodded and turned to Horner again. “One more thing. Make sure the king brings Lord Umber with him. Do you know the man I speak of?”

Sophie gasped and clutched Hap’s arm. Sandar turned back with goggling eyes, and mouthed the name
Lord Umber
.

“Every man, woman, and child in Kurahaven knows of Lord Umber,” Horner said.

The envoy yawned and examined his fingernails. “Then you’ll have no trouble bringing the right man.” He waved Horner away, and the admiral walked toward the palace as fast as a man could walk without breaking into a run, signaling for the men on the harbor wall to open a door so he could pass through.

Hap saw the spy talk quietly to the envoy again. Hap fumed, touching the tender ear where he’d been struck. The envoy nodded, and to Hap’s dismay he glanced in the direction of the cargo they’d hidden behind.

The spy stepped to the front of the group and called out between his hands. “Happenstance! Come out from hiding!” Hap and Sophie stared at each other, and then the spy called out again, guessing their thoughts. “Yes, I know your name. I’ve been observing you for many weeks. Now get out here, and bring those two with you. That’s right—I saw the three of you hiding there.”

Sandar stood up first, and the men with those strange metal-and-wood clubs did a strange thing: They leveled the narrow ends directly at Sandar. Hap and Sophie stood on either side of the captain.

The spy put his hands on his hips and looked at them with his head angled to one side. “Come over here, my green-eyed friend. We’re curious about you; you always seem to be at Umber’s side. But your friends must go; I don’t like the way that tall one is looking at me. Hurry, you two, while that gate is open. And don’t loiter here, or that will be the end of you.”

Hap looked up at Sandar, whose chest swelled with barely contained fury. “Captain Sandar, go on. Take Sophie back to the Aerie.
Please
.”