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Notch stood over the ruined king a moment longer, breath rasping in the hush. Even with the bracers lending him power, crushing the life from a murderous tyrant had not been without effort. He glanced down to the half dozen wounds in his fur; they continued to pour blood.
Or maybe it was the blood-loss that slowed him.
And yet, it was not enough to bring him down. He turned for the stairs, managing a few steps before he had to rest once more, lowering himself to one knee. Just a little farther and he’d reach the stair, then it was only a few rooms... Notch blinked. Was light from the crystal above dimming?
He fell forward now and his claws scratched into the floor, keeping him upright after a fashion.
Blood splashed onto the wood.
“No.”
He could not fall now. Sofia and Alosus, they both needed him. And just maybe... Casselli too? Confusion reigned. Had Tanere been lying? It was believable but that didn’t make it true... it had been a ruse, it had to be. Either way, Notch had to survive to find out. Just in case he did have a child... “Keep moving.”
But the warm glow from crystal continued to dim.
Notch was panting hard; he turned his head but the room had grown unclear; mere shapes of dark colour. Sound changed too. Everything was muffled now, his breathing especially but even the blood that pumped through his ears or splattered onto the floor.
He blinked again. How much time had passed?
Something thundered in the distance... footsteps? He lifted his head with a growl – a dim sound but one somehow as natural as speech, and a sound quite satisfying compared to the strange mix of pain and dullness that seemed to control his body now.
The thumping drew near – joined by a voice that rose up through the stone from below, someone calling his name.
“Notch? Notch!”
A large shape loomed over him, purple smears barely visible beyond the figure.
“I’ll slow the bleeding – can you carry him?” A woman asked the question.
“Of course. Where to?” That voice was Alosus.
Notch winced as he was lifted from the floor – when had he fallen? Somehow, his pulse did not seem to be raging, though it was still a battle to remain awake. “What?”
No-one answered.
“Follow quickly – there is another way to the Canalis, I believe.” Emisa.
“Can we hold them off if they come?” A third voice that had to be Milus, asked. The man’s tone sounded a strained from where he seemed to be following Alosus. “I have one of Tanere’s gauntlets to go with my new mask now but will you two be all right when I leave?”
Notch swallowed, groaning with the effort to speak. “Have you set... the decoy?”
“Rest, Notch,” Alosus said. “We will get you out of here.”
“I have,” Milus replied. “It’s doing a fine job so far but it won’t last forever. You know, I can’t believe you can actually talk.”
“Maybe... not... for long.” His vision had been reduced to mere streaks of colour but he clung to consciousness still.
“Chelnos is truly looking over you, then.”
“You’re leaving?” Notch asked.
“Soon. Lord Corvus hoped I could help in more ways than one, you see,” Milus replied.
Notch tried to nod. That had to mean succession? “General... Olidas?”
“Hey, you’re not so far gone after all,” Milus said, and it sounded like he was grinning.
“I guess not...” Notch replied, as darkness swept over him at last.
***
When he opened his eyes, the hallways were still indistinct. But now pain flowed across his body from every direction, as though hot pokers were being driven through his flesh and twisted, twisted deep.
He moaned, too weak to scream. Alosus still carried him it seemed – but the light was not blue.
“How does he fare?” Emisa was asking.
“He’s still drifting,” Alosus replied.
“We’re close to the entrance now.”
“Good, because I don’t know how much longer he’ll last – I can’t predict it at all but when he shifts toward becoming more of a lion, he nearly wakes. As a man, he fades away again.”
“The Fura Leones are sustaining him.”
“That I assumed,” Alosus said. “What I cannot know is whether he will reach the harbour even with such a boon. How fast is this Canalis?”
“He’ll make it.”
“How do you know that?” It sounded as though he frowned.
“Because he is a stubborn fool who has promised us both.”
Notch tried to grin over the pain, but the hallway and their voices slipped away once more, yet this time it was as though he were being cradled in a blanket of warm fur...
***
Once again Notch surfaced from the black – this time to the rush of cool air and the surging of water – only to plunge back into a haze of thick shadows where he clung to a vague sense of awareness. When he woke the next time, it was to the sound of angry voices and the creak of rope on wood. Sails obscured his vision of a sky scuffed by orange clouds; he lay upon a hard surface. Wood.
The scent of salt was strong, carried on a shifting breeze.
He rose, pain shooting across his torso – but while blood stained his tunic and pants, there were no punctures in his skin at least.
And it was skin, not fur. He had transformed, human again. The bracers had not overwhelmed him; instead, it seemed his acceptance was more complete than before. The Fura Leones had approved of his blood-soaked actions.
“Finally awake, are you?” A bearded man strode over.
Notch stood with a wince, and tried to smile. “Hello, Captain.”
“That had better not be all you have to say for yourself, you damn fool!”
Alosus and Emisa stood nearby – Alosus’ face was split between relief and worry, but Emisa was, as ever, impossible to read with her mask. Crowded around the deck of the Hawk were crew members. Like Marlosi, their expressions were far less welcoming. Most appeared to have dark lines beneath their eyes or had grown significantly thinner – though none were truly malnourished, at least.
But most stood with folded arms or glares, and some had hands upon scimitars or boat hooks.
It was time to gamble.
“Well, I have something else I can say if you plan to let me live,” Notch offered. “We are going to get you out of this city to a place to the east where you can not only sell those rainbow scales for a ridiculous amount of gold, but also sail home without fear of pursuit.”
The Captain’s expression did not ease. “What?”
Notch took a deep breath as he raised a hand, still not truly recovered. “It’s exactly as I said. The scales that fell from the sky when we crossed the oceans come from a Sea God. They can be used to make incredible items of power – like Greatmasks.”
Murmurs rose from the crew. Marlosi uncrossed his arms now. “By all the damn filthy Gods, is that the truth, Notch?”
“Yes.” He paused again to catch his breath, though his strength was returning. “I know I said you would be able to trade here but I was wrong. This city is ruled by Vipers obsessed with death – but we have stumbled across something far better. I’m sorry I have not been able to return to tell you before now.”
The captain scratched his beard, shells clinking as he glanced at Notch’s bloody clothes. “You certainly seem to have landed yourself in some trouble... but you know I’m going to need proof.”
“Then have someone fetch a scale – I’m sure Inquisitor Emisa will be able to confirm what I have said.”
Captain Marlosi nodded, then turned to wave to the first mate, whose arms seemed to be at least half the size of Alosus’. “Heiko, bring one.”
The fellow turned and strode for the nearest hatch, revealing a balding spot on the top of his head as he did, cheered on by a few of the crew members. Marlosi strolled back to his men and it seemed he was telling them to prepare to sail – only to do so with much stealth.
Notch glanced back to the harbour, which appeared as ‘normal’ since no-one was rushing toward the Hawk; goods were still being delivered, shouts and waving from all quarters, the bigger ships being unloaded by the bone of Os-Bellator or mute seeming Tonitora, many of whom bore lash marks upon their backs. “Bastards,” he muttered.
Farther beyond the glittering walls, the palace roared up over the bay but no signs of the turmoil that had to be afoot within were visible. Notch hoped Milus was faring well.
It was hard to know whether, or how much to trust the young noble but perhaps the fellow’s hidden motives had always been about helping Corvus, and never anything to do with the supposed betrayer. After all, Notch had now all but accepted it as something Emisa set up then abandoned.
“Medoro, what by the Gods are you doing?”
Emisa and Alosus had joined him.
“Getting us to the east – away from here.”
She lowered her voice. “How? With your magic scales? What are you even talking about?”
“It is true,” Alosus said. “When we crossed from Anasakar something below us shot scales into the air. They were not kind to the ship but the crew harvested many. I do not know if they are truly from a Sea God, however.”
“What else could they be?” Notch said, taking a moment to lean against the rail. “Whatever passed beneath us was no whale. And I’ve seen scales of a Sea Beast before.”
Emisa glanced between them. “But I don’t sense–”
“Here we are then,” Marlosi called as he approached, Heiko in tow. The captain held one of the scales – half the size of a human head. Even chipped, it was beautiful; glittering like a rainbow that had been confined to the pearly surface. “What do you say, Inquisitor?”
Emisa accepted the scale with a small gasp. Her mask glowed as she lifted the piece, and a hush fell across the ship. She turned the scale over in her hands and gripped it tightly, her arms trembling now. “This is exactly what he claimed it to be.”
A cheer rose from the crew – but Marlosi waved them into silence with a glare. “Enough! No point you fools tipping them off, now is there?” He gestured to Notch. “So we can really sell them, like he said? Or make things like your bone masks?”
“Yes,” Emisa replied, her voice softer. “In fact, in the east there are people called the Hanja who could fashion such things, if you did not wish to sell them. They would be more favourable trading partners than any here, to be honest.”
Now Marlosi was grinning broadly and he threw an arm around Notch’s shoulder, causing him to wince. “Now that’s exactly what I wanted to hear. Welcome aboard!”