Vampirates 3: Blood Captain (3 page)

4

DARK JOURNEY

As the mist cleared, Grace saw only empty ocean.
The Nocturne
had disappeared. She felt a shiver along her spine. There was no going back now. Glancing first at the captain, then at Lorcan and Shanti, she wondered what challenges lay ahead for each of them before they next returned to the ship.

“
Now
what do we do?” asked Shanti.

“It’s really very simple,” the captain said. “Now, we climb the mountain.”

“Well
yes
, but where are our mules? And lights? Surely, they’ve sent someone to guide us and carry our bags?”

Grace hated to find herself in agreement with Shanti but she felt these were all fair points. Nevertheless, it came as little surprise to hear the captain’s whisper. “We’ll make our own way. Everyone makes their own way to Sanctuary.”

Shanti struggled to take this in. “But how? It’s pitch black. We can’t. We don’t even have a map, do we? My shoes . . . Lorcan will never make it.”

Lorcan sighed. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he muttered. Through the darkness, Grace reached out her hand and squeezed his.

“Well, it’s true!” Shanti continued, undeterred. “We’d be much better off waiting for daylight.”

“You’re forgetting,” said Lorcan. “I cannot walk in the light. The captain is the only one of us — the only Vampirate — who can do that.”

Shanti didn’t miss a beat. “If you’re already blind,” she said, “what more harm can the light do to you?”

This was a vicious barb, even by Shanti’s standards. Lorcan had no answer for it.

“Let’s talk no more about this,” the captain said. “We’re wasting time.” With that, he strode off along the path, his cape sparking against the trees on either side.

Shanti looked to the others for support. “This is madness,” she said. “Don’t you see? We’ll never make it.”

“You might well be right,” Lorcan agreed despondently. It was as if Shanti’s sharp words had stripped him of any remaining shred of confidence.

“We have to try,” Grace said, with grim determination. “We can’t give up before we even begin. I don’t think the captain would have embarked on this journey if he didn’t think it was possible.”

“What do
you
know?” Shanti said. “What do
you
know about
anything
?”

Shanti was so bitter, so angry with Grace. Grace knew that she blamed her for Lorcan’s blindness and for the fact that he had stopped taking Shanti’s blood. And though it made Grace uncomfortable to admit it, it was true that Lorcan had been blinded trying to protect her. So she did feel responsible for what had happened. But there was nothing to be gained by standing around blaming one another or apologizing again. The captain had said that Lorcan’s best chance of a cure lay at the top of this mountain. That was the one truth they all had to cling to.

“I’m going to follow the captain,” she announced. “Before we lose sight of him.” She turned to Lorcan. “Are you coming?”

He nodded.

Grace paused for a moment. It was an awkward question but she needed to ask it. “Do you need a hand?”

Before he could answer, Shanti looped her arm through Lorcan’s. “If anyone is to help him, it will be me,” she said.

But Lorcan shook his head and removed Shanti’s hand. “I can walk by myself,” he said, stepping forward. In spite of the bandages around his eyes, his steps were firm. “Grace, you lead and we shall follow.”

Shanti’s face flushed scarlet and Grace could see she was thinking of some fresh complaint.

“Come on then,” Grace said. “I can still see the flicker of the captain’s cape along the path, but we’ll lose him if we wait another moment.”

It was strange, thought Grace, how quickly you adapted to the darkness. The shimmer of light in the veins of the captain’s cape was not as bright as normal — just enough to tell her where he was, but insufficient to illuminate the way. And so she simply walked in his wake. Occasionally, a stray branch brushed her face or the top of her head, but already her other senses were making up for the lack of vision. She noticed how her hearing had grown more acute, as if the volume had been turned up on her footsteps on the path. It was strange how easy it was to distinguish her own steps from Lorcan’s heavy but firm tread and Shanti’s brisker pace. Try as she might, however, she couldn’t hear the captain’s footsteps ahead of her. She knew he was there from the constant flicker of light, but how come she couldn’t hear his footsteps?

She could smell the musty coat Lorcan was wearing and, behind him, the trace of Shanti’s perfume — quite incongruous against the mountain air. Grace walked on, her feet marching out a steady rhythm, her mind in a meditative state. Suddenly she heard a cry from behind her.

“What was that?” Shanti’s shrill voice pierced the air.

“What was
what
?” Lorcan asked.

“Something wet and furry just ran past me,” Shanti said. “Didn’t you feel it?”

“No,” said Lorcan, unable to keep a note of amusement out of his voice.

“Oh, yes,” Shanti said. “It’s very funny, isn’t it? Climbing up a mountain path so dark we can’t see a step ahead of us, with wild beasts running among us.” Her voice was spiraling higher and higher into hysterics.

“There, there,” said Lorcan, calmly. “Don’t trouble yourself, Shanti. If you did feel a wild creature, remember that this mountain is their home. I reckon it only came out to take a look . . .”

“
This
time,” Shanti said. “Next time, it might attack.”

“It was probably just confused,” Lorcan said. “On account of your coat.”

He couldn’t restrain a laugh. Grace tried to resist joining in, but failed.

“Yes, yes,” Shanti said. “You two have your joke. You enjoy yourselves. But you’ll see that I’m right. This journey will be the death of us.” She paused, then continued even more pointedly. “Those of us who aren’t dead already.”

Her words echoed around them, turning the mood dark once more, reverberating in the chill night air. It had grown colder, Grace noticed. At first, she had thought she was simply becoming better at dodging the low-hanging branches, but now she realized that the vegetation was growing sparser on either side. They were moving into a more exposed area.

She noticed too how the path was steadily becoming steeper, requiring more effort to climb. Her legs were feeling the strain. It had been a long time since she’d embarked on physical activity on this scale. If only I’d gone on the morning runs at Pirate Academy, she thought wryly. Looking ahead, she saw the captain had come to a stop. Why? She wondered if he was finding it difficult, too. She caught up with him and waited for the others.

“The path grows steeper here,” the captain warned. Saying no more, he began walking on. The others followed. As the path turned, a shaft of moonlight illuminated the mountainside.

Shanti gave a small cry. Grace just shook her head. The light was meager, but it showed the path continuing right up the mountain on a cliff face so steep that the track had to zigzag back and forth. The path was cut into the rock and was barely a footstep wide, with a perilous drop.

“He cannot be serious,” Shanti moaned.

“Is it bad?” Lorcan asked.

“It’s steep,” Grace said, looking up at the sheer, exposed rock-face. Her own heart was beating fast. She was okay with heights — unlike her brother — but this was something else. She had to agree with Shanti. This challenge could well be beyond them. And yet she had absolute faith in the captain. She couldn’t believe he would have led them here to fail.

“It
is
steep,” Grace repeated, “but we can do it. We’ll just have to be very careful.”

“It’s a sheer drop!” Shanti said. “And the wind’s getting up, too. Can’t you feel how cold it is? My face is numb.”

Grace didn’t think it would be helpful to point out to Shanti that as she was the only one dressed in fur, the others were feeling even colder.

“We can make it,” she said instead. “The captain wouldn’t be leading us this way if he thought we’d fail.” Her words were gentle but firm. She looked ahead, realizing that the lights from the captain’s cape were now growing faint. She wondered why he had walked on so far ahead of them. Why didn’t he stay to help them?

“Come on,” she said. “We can do this. Lorcan, do you want us to hold on to you or would you rather walk alone?”

“Let’s try to carry on as we are for the moment,” he said. “If I need you to guide me, I’ll say.”

“All right, then,” Grace said, turning to Shanti. “Do you want to lead for a bit?”

“
Lead?
” Shanti seemed surprised.

“Yes,” Grace said. “One of us needs to go ahead of Lorcan and one behind. Which would you prefer?”

Shanti shook her head. “I can’t do it, Grace. I can’t climb that path.”

“You don’t have a choice,” Grace said, still calm. “I’m taking Lorcan up that mountainside because the captain tells me there’s a chance he’ll be cured of his blindness up there. Not a certainty, but a chance. And yes, it
is
my fault that he’s blind and so yes it
is
my fault that he isn’t sharing with you and that you’re growing wrinkly and old.” She couldn’t stop the rush of emotions and words. “All of this is my fault, Shanti — not yours,
mine
. But at least I’m trying to make it better. If we can just get to the top of this mountain, I think we can sort this out. So for Lorcan, and for you — though I really don’t like you very much — I’m prepared to give this a try. Now, either you come with us or we leave you here, but as long as Lorcan is willing to climb with me, I’m going on.”

Shanti was speechless for a moment.

“I’m willing,” Lorcan said.

“Then I’ll lead,” Shanti said, stepping past Grace and striding up the path.

“Good work, Grace.” She heard the whisper in her ear, realizing with a start that it was not Lorcan but the captain who was speaking to her. How could he hear her from so far up ahead?

In some ways, Grace thought, it was a blessing that it was so dark. You could block out the fact that the path was bordered by nothingness on one side. You
had
to block out that fact, as much as you could. As long as you kept focused on the steadiness of your footsteps, and remained alert to the turning points, it really wasn’t so bad. Shanti was taking the responsibility of leading very seriously and calling out to Lorcan every time he needed to turn. The captain had slowed his pace, too, so that he was never very far in front.

Once more, Grace found herself totally absorbed in the rhythm of her movements. She lost track of how far they had come, how high they had climbed. All she knew was that they had to keep going. For however long it took. It was strange making a journey that seemed to have no end point but, in a curious way, it was also a relief.

A noise ahead of her drew her back from her musings. Alarmed, she saw that Lorcan had tripped. He had fallen on the path, thank goodness. But his feet had sent rocks tumbling down the mountainside.

“Are you okay?” Grace asked, reaching out a hand to him.

“Yes,” he said, gathering himself on his feet. “I don’t know what happened there.”

“It’s my fault,” Shanti said. “The path is narrower and more broken up here. I should have said.”

“It’s okay,” Lorcan replied. “No harm done.” Grace could see his smile in what little light there was.

“Oh,” moaned Shanti. “I can’t see the captain. Has he gone on ahead? It’s so hard to keep up!” She hurried along the narrow track, practically running to keep sight of the captain.

“Be careful!” Grace cried. “Not so fast!”

But Shanti wouldn’t heed the warning. She was determined to catch the captain. As Shanti disappeared around the corner, Grace told Lorcan, “I’ve got to catch up to her, to stop her. Wait here!”

“All right,” he agreed, relieved to catch his breath.

Grace pressed on ahead. She hadn’t got very far when she heard a cry, followed by something that sounded very much like crumbling rock. She felt a wave of dread even before she heard Shanti’s strangulated cry. “Help!”

“Shanti!” Grace cried, striding ahead.

As she turned the corner, the sight that confronted her confirmed her worst fears. Shanti was suspended over the side of the mountain, a sheer drop beneath her. The path had given way around her and all that was keeping her from falling into the abyss was a precarious-looking shrub. A shrub that, by the looks of things, could uproot itself at any moment.

“Shanti!” Grace cried once more, crouching down and extending her arm. “Take hold of me. I’ll pull you up.”

Grace had never seen such raw terror as she saw now in Shanti’s eyes. “No,” she rasped. “Grace, I can’t. You’re not strong enough.”

“Oh yes I am,” Grace said, though really she wasn’t all that confident. She and Shanti were of a similar weight. What if Shanti dragged her down rather than Grace pulling her up? Grace had to shut out the thought. She was going to do this. They were both going to be all right. She reached out her hand. “Come on, Shanti,” she said. “All you have to do is let go of that plant and I’ll catch you.”

“I can’t!” But as Shanti spoke, the shrub began to move. The ground was loosening again and, as Shanti closed her eyes and prepared for the worst, Grace reached out and grabbed her arm. “I’ve got you,” she said. “I’ve got you.” Now, all she had to do was pull her up onto the solid patch of path.

But as Grace began to pull, she had the grim realization that she was
not
strong enough. Now what was she going to do? There was no sign of the captain and there was no way Lorcan could get here without someone leading him. She felt a rising panic but was determined not to transmit it to Shanti.

“What’s wrong?” Shanti asked. “I was right, wasn’t I? You’re not strong enough! We’re both going to die!”

Now Grace faced a terrible dilemma. Either let Shanti fall into the void alone or be dragged down with her. She looked down the brutal drop. There was no way either of them could survive such a fall.

Suddenly, Shanti’s weight became lighter. Grace wondered if she had managed to summon some unknown resources deep within herself. Then she saw that another pair of hands were reaching out to hold Shanti. Grace turned and saw a young man crouching beside her on the path. He was dressed in the robes of a shepherd.