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her scarlet cloak on a belaying pin and regarded the six creatures which
swarmed across the deck at her heels.
Ropy, lean and blackened like clotted shadow in the dark-ness, the
Gierj-demons scuttled round her boots. Their eyes glowed pale and lambent as
sorcerer's candles. Emien shivered despite his interest. Often demon races
left unbound, the Gierj were most dangerous. Spurred feet scraped against
planking as they moved, furtive and quick as weasels, and formed into a
circle. Their bodies appeared to melt into a single form as they lowered
narrowed heads into a huddle.
"Distribute jackets to the crew," said the captain to the mate. The sweat on
his brow was not entirely raised by heat; his thick hands trembled as he
accepted his own cloak from the cabin steward.
The Thienz whuffed loudly and barked. Tiny as toys, the Kielmark's first
ships rounded the massive shoulders of land up the straits. Emien snatched up
his cloak. Wool prickled his skin as he pinned it snugly about his neck. But
watching in starved anticipation as the ships rounded the point, the boy
forgot to scratch.
The Kielmark's captains maintained position with seaman-ship unequaled the
breadth of Keithland; precise as clockwork, each vessel swung before the wind
for the run down the straits. Lacking a ship's glass, Emien could only guess
their size and rig; visible only briefly, the enemy craft jibed neatly and
steered just inside the shore, for a few brief minutes escaping the backlit
cast of the moonlight. Once clear of the land's shadow, they came head on in
formation. The outline of the first ship became hopelessly muddled by those
following behind.
Emien smiled. Against human foes, the Kielmark's tactics would be powerfully
effective. Yet with Gierj on board, the enviable skill of his crewmen served
only to aid his defeat.
On the quarterdeck, Tathagres licked pale lips. Bracelets clinked on her
wrist as she touched the captain's arm. "They make it easy for us," she said,
amused by the man's discomfort. "Closely bunched, those boats will burn like
Koridan's Fires, you will see."
But her complacence felt misplaced to a man who had twice battled the wiliest
sea dog on Keithland and been defeated. The captain anxiously checked the
heading over the quartermaster's broad shoulders time and again.
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With the wind in their favor, the Kielmark's fleet bore down with startling
speed. Tathagres plucked her cloak from the rail, cast it over her shoulders
with languid grace. The Gierj began to chant. The leadsman called the three
fathom mark over an unsettling quaver of sound. Men dashed to the sheets
asMorra came about once again. Emien crossed the forecastle and settled
against the starboard rail. Slowly the ship clawed away from the shoreline.
The demons' incantation rose and blended into a single flowing note which set
Emien's teeth on edge. No longer could he pretend to be comfortable with the
creatures onMorra's quarterdeck.
"Captain, shorten sail and heave to." Tathagres stepped into the circle of
demons and carefully fastened her cloak.
Sailhands swarmed up the shrouds to reef canvas. The Gierj chant ascended in
pitch, ringing across the sea like a discordant shrilling of flutes. Emien
covered both ears with his hands and wondered how men in the shrouds could
bear the sting of that inhuman sound.
Tathagres spoke in an alien tongue from the quarterdeck. The Thienz replied,
gestured with scrawny arms, then lowered its bulk down the companionway. No
longer were its powers of observation required; lined up like sheep for
slaughter, the Kielmark's ships sailed to their doom.
The Gierj shifted pitch. Their song flung screeching discord across the
waters. Inured to their presence, the grizzled quar-termaster swungMorra's bow
into the wind and steadied the helm. The flagship drifted in the current,
balanced like a moth in a draft, while enemies closed on both quarters. The
wail of the Gierj warbled, abruptly descended and became a bare whis-per of
sound. Tathagres placed her fingers lightly against her neckband. She spoke a
sibilant word and around her the tem-perature plunged into winter.
Air burned with startling cold in Emien's lungs. He gasped, knifed to the
marrow by chill so intense his cloak stiffened like paper across his [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]