CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

‘You don’t have to do this, you know,’ Trick said, as the two men bound his torso to a post beneath the jetty. The sand around his feet was littered with bones, many of which were recognizably human. ‘You could always just let me go. Trust me, you’ll never see me again.’

The rat-faced henchman, Shiv, grinned. ‘We won’t see you again this way either. Cheers all the same, but this is much more fun.’

His friend, Clubb, yanked the rope tight, causing Trick to wince. Not for the first time, Trick wished he was back home with his dad. Everything had gone to hell since they’d arrived in Sea Forge. First the fight in the tavern, then getting separated from Toki, Mungo, Kazumi and Zuma. Had they all been bagged by the Skull Army and shipped off to the arena? Were they to fight to the death for the amusement of Boarhammer? And now here he was, tied to a rotten pillar under a pier in the night, about to be fed to carrion crabs, whatever they were. He was without friends or hope. All was lost.

‘Seems a shame to leave him to the crabs, mind,’ muttered Shiv. ‘Would’ve been nice to cut him up a bit first.’

Clubb grunted in agreement as he shambled out from behind the post now that the boy was tied firmly in place. Shiv whipped a ragged length of cloth out of his pocket.

‘Any last words?’

‘Help!’ screamed Trick, regretting it instantly as the thug punched him in the guts. He doubled up, hanging from his bonds, as the rat-faced thief tied the cloth round Trick’s mouth, gagging him.

‘That was a dumb last word, worm,’ said the man, crouching down to pick up a pair of femurs from the sand. He struck them together, and the bones made a ringing sound like a glockenspiel. ‘Dinner time, you horrible crustaceans!’

Trick lifted his chin and looked towards the sea. He saw shapes rising out of the brackish water beneath the pier, dark, barnacle-encrusted domes scuttling closer through the waves. There were three of them, each the size of an upturned wheelbarrow, their enormous pincers emerging from the foaming waves. By the moonlight he could see their twitching mandibles snapping together hungrily as they advanced up the beach towards their meal.

Shiv and Clubb were backing away, laughing, giddy with morbid excitement. Trick squealed, struggled, tried to shake loose the rope, but it was impossible. All the while the burbling chatter of the carrion crabs grew ever louder. They were less than three metres away now, all around the wooden posts as they closed on him.

‘So long, worm,’ said Shiv, turning to climb the stone wall of the docks. He took one step before something hit him from above. A shadowy figure landed on his shoulders and kicked him back down the beach. The rat-faced man flew, bouncing off the post beside Trick and hitting the sand, stunned. Clubb swung his fists at the assailant, but he was too slow as the other man darted beneath the flurry of blows. Trick looked back at the carrion crabs; the three of them were almost upon him now. He kicked out, striking Shiv on the head and making him holler in pain. One of the giant crabs turned towards the fallen thug, leaving two approaching the boy.

Clubb and his enemy were now locked in a vicious, spinning struggle. Clubb had managed to grab hold of the other man and refused to let go. He had him in his grasp now, squeezing hard and trying to crush the life from him. Trick saw the man well enough now: it was Kuro, the rogue who had seized him outside the Broken Shield. He was supposed to be with these men, wasn’t he? And yet now he was fighting against them? Trick might have spent longer considering Kuro’s change of allegiance if it hadn’t been for the pressing business of the giant carnivorous crabs that were about to cut him to pieces.

Shiv screamed as the monster crab jumped on him, its pincers snapping as they went to work. He raised his hands, trying to shield his face from the beast, but his fingers were soon tumbling, chopped into tiny, bloody morsels. Trick turned back to the other two crabs. He kicked again, his boot connecting with one of the monsters as it attempted to slice into him. Another frantic kick sent the other briefly retreating, before it changed its angle of attack. One was coming from the left and one from the right; there was no way he could keep them both back.

Clubb held Kuro tightly as he attempted to crush him against the wall. Kuro’s legs came up; he planted them firmly against the filthy stones and sprang backwards, launching the pair back down the beach. They landed in a heap, the wind knocked from Clubb as he relinquished his hold. Kuro wasted no time in rolling off the brute and dashing towards Trick. He jumped off the shell of the crab that was chopping up Shiv and landed behind the one nearest Trick. Seizing its shell, he strained, grunting, as he hurled it back to where Clubb lay. In a fluid motion, the ninja warrior withdrew his sword. The flashing blade severed both pincers of the third crab as it tried to grab Trick. The crab’s mandibles yawned wide as it staggered clear, squirting inky blood across the grisly beach.

Then Kuro was behind Trick, sawing through the rope that bound him to the post. Trick collapsed forward, but Kuro caught him before he hit the sand and threw him over his shoulder, dancing between the wooden pier pillars as he made for the dock wall. They passed Clubb, wrestling in vain with a carrion crab as it turned his face into a hideous mask. Kuro accelerated, almost running up the stones, unhindered by the burden on his back. He landed with a thud on the docks, letting Trick slide off his shoulder, as they heard the dying cries of the two henchmen left behind on Blood Beach.

Trick wriggled clear as best he could, his hands still bound at his back, the gag still over his mouth. Kuro raised his hands.

‘I’m not going to harm you, Trick Hope. I saved you for a reason. What you said down there, in the Thieves’ Guild – did you mean it? You would help the disadvantaged, the weak and deprived of this city rise and topple Boarhammer?’

Trick nodded warily, his eyes narrow with suspicion.

‘Then I shall help you, Trick Hope. Your quest is mine.’ Kuro’s face was hidden behind his mask, but Trick had to wonder if he was smiling, as his eyes twinkled under the light of the stars. ‘Now let me help you with those bonds.’

Kuro moved a hand forward, but it never reached Trick. A spear flew out of the night with expert, deadly precision, striking his arm and pinning him to the ground. He let out a shocked grunt, looking up and around them, as did Trick. A figure stood on a rooftop above them, silhouetted by the moon. A mane of long blonde hair fluttered out from beneath the stranger’s domed helmet. Holding a shield in one hand, her other hand moved to her sword, sliding it out of its scabbard silently.

‘Make another move, ninja, and it will be your last,’ said the woman, her voice deadly serious. ‘The boy is mine.’