Cloak of the Two Winds (15 page)

"Eben's right," Karrol said. "If she were so mighty a witch, she could just melt the ice and we'd be on our way."

Lonn said nothing. He wanted to have faith in the witch's magic as Draven did, but the aching in his arms and the banks of ice about the ship seemed to argue for skepticism, at least.

Presently the Larthangans hauled themselves down from the ship and began to chop and hammer in their methodical manner. The Iruks paused to stand at one of the stoves and eat their breakfast. Lonn observed Amlina at work, crawling about in her coat and scarf, her gloved hands scooping chips of ice out of the way of the axes. She moved clumsily and slipped more than once while Lonn watched, yet she kept going. It was hard to tell if her presence inspired the Larthangans or not. Mostly they seemed uncomfortable, embarrassed to have the witch before them on her hands and knees.

The work that third day was a growing agony. The Iruks' vitality had been sapped by the two previous sessions, and their progress was slow and halting. Often their blows would miss or the axes slip in their sore hands, falling with a force that wrenched shoulders and backs. Cramps returned, sharper than yesterday, and the Iruks joined the haggard groups of Larthangans who spent more time around the stoves than at work on the keel and runners.

The weather turned harsh in the afternoon, cold wind gusting from the south. By evening flakes of snow were flying on that wind. Lonn sensed futility building in the hearts of his klarn.

"Another storm like yesterday and we're finished," Karrol declared.

Eben began a chant to the Spirit of Winds, begging that the storm blow away from the ship and leave them untouched. Soon all the Iruks were singing with him quietly, amid the wind and gathering dusk.

For a while it seemed the Spirit of Winds had heard them and was kindly disposed. The wind slacked off to a light breeze, and the Iruks were able to finish cutting loose the aft runner.

Now only the keel remained to be freed, and most of the Larthangans had been working on it all day. Lonn began to hope that in a few more hours they could make another try at dragging the ship out.

But then the wind picked up, laced with sleet and snow. From a long way off Lonn could see the squall approaching, sweeping over the ocean in waves, blotting out the sealight. Soon the snow was swarming thick about the trapped coaster, piling over the diggers' feet and against the keel. The sealight was smothered and the oil lamps, hastily lit, glowed dimly in the blinding storm. Snow-ice clung to the Iruks' furs, melted on their eyebrows and the men's beards, then refroze. Raw wind stung their faces.

By the time the snow was ankle deep the Larthangans had had enough. A few of them strode to the captain and shouted at him, shaking their heads and gesturing with their tools. Troneck relayed their pleas to the witch who acquiesced somberly. She could not force them to work in this weather and did not try. The crewmembers gathered their equipment and hurried to the ladders.

"What are we waiting for?" Karrol started in a grumble but her voice cracked at the end. "This is hopeless."

Blizzard winds howled about the Iruks and Larthangans as they pulled themselves up the slippery ladders in the dark.

"We'll never chop free now," Karrol declared, leaning over the port rail.

It was mid-morning and the klarn had come out on the main deck to verify what they had guessed from their window in the stern. It could hardly have been worse: fully one third of the hull had been buried by the blizzard.

"What do we do now?" Eben asked.

"I don't know," Lonn said. "What can we do?"

"Since there's no hope of digging free," Karrol answered, "I think we have no choice but to pack our furs and take to sea on our skates."

"We tried that once," Draven said. "Remember?"

"Wait," Eben held up his hands. "Maybe Karrol's right. If we stay, we'll probably be stuck here till we starve, and who knows what will happen to Glyssa? According to Troneck' s charts we're not that far from the southernmost Tathian island. We could probably skate it in three or four days and make our way to Kadavel from there."

"Even if we made it to Kadavel," Draven argued, "how would we find Glyssa and save her without Amlina's help?"

"We could try," Karrol replied. "It's better than staying here and rotting."

"I'm not counting on rotting," Draven said. "I'm counting on the witch to get us out."

"No doubt you'll still be counting on her when the thaw comes in First Summer," Eben told him angrily. "But we can't wait that long."

"It's not a decision to make in haste," Brinda said. "I suggest we get some breakfast, then go back to our room and have a meeting."

With shrugs and frowning nods the klarnmates expressed their agreement.

Descending the steps in the forecastle, they heard Amlina's voice coming from the galley below. They found her standing beside the great iron stove, speaking to the Larthangans. The whole crew was present, slumped on the narrow benches or leaning in the doorways that led off to pantries and sleeping quarters. Amlina looked over as the Iruks reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Good morning. I'm glad you're here. I was just telling the men that much of the snow is not yet frozen. A few hours of hard shoveling now will save us many hours of ice-chopping later."

Staring dumbly, the Larthangans obviously shared none of the witch's enthusiasm. The Iruks made no comment, only walked to the wide iron stove and picked up bowls.

"After we've cleared the snow we should rest for a full day," Amlina said. "And have extra rations."

A milky stew of mashed roots and varied fish ends bubbled over the fire. The ship's cook had stubbornly refused all the Iruks' suggestions on how to prepare the wild provisions gathered on Windbock. Instead, the surly old man had insisted on adapting Larthangan recipes, with increasingly awful results. The Iruks winced as they spooned the stuff into their bowls.

"Extra rations cooked this way would be no boon," Eben told the witch irately.

The Iruks chuckled grimly or else glowered at the cook who stood nearby, bony arms crossed over his chest, frowning with sour dignity. Draven reached past him for the wineskin while the others got cups. The klarnmates sat at the only empty table, the one where Amlina stood.

The Larthangans had all finished eating, yet they did not stir to get their tools. Utterly drained by the three days of chopping in the cold, stunned by the depth of snow that had buried the ship in the night, the crewmen simply could not motivate themselves to face the cold again. Lonn sensed all this in one of those instants of illumination that had come to him occasionally since being initiated by the witch. He knew that Amlina sensed it also.

"Captain Troneck," she said quietly. "It's time to work."

Troneck sat near the far end of the stove, disheveled in his shirt and trousers. He stared at Amlina through watery eyes.

"Lady, I know it's time. But ... the men are tired. The digging seems hopeless."

"It is not hopeless," Amlina raised her voice for emphasis. "No one must think it so. This design must be believed in: that we will soon be sailing free. Everyone of you must envision this whenever the question comes to your mind."

"It is hard," Troneck muttered. "Lady, we must rest from the cold today."

A few of the crewmen summoned the energy to nod or voice their support of this idea.

Amlina shook her head. "It is imperative that we dig while the snow is still soft. Remember, you have all sworn your lives to my service. Do not force me to use threats."

"Listen to her," Karrol grumbled in Iruk. "I'm glad she never got a hair from our heads."

Amlina stared at her, seemed to read the tone if not the meaning of her comment. "I know you Iruks agree with me," the witch said, turning to Lonn, "that the snow must be cleared without delay."

Lonn stolidly returned her gaze.

"Of course we do," Draven declared. "We'll be down on the ice right after breakfast."

"No we won't," Karrol said in Iruk.

"We have to stick with the witch," Draven answered. "We need her help."

"We don't need her," Karrol said.

"We're undecided," Lonn admitted to Amlina's inquiring look. "There's been talk of our leaving the ship and trying to reach land on our skates."

"You'd be foolish to try that," Amlina responded. "This ship will reach Kadavel long before you could find your way there on your own. Even if you got there, you'd have little chance of finding your mate without my help."

Lonn stared into Amlina's eyes and knew that she was right. But could he trust this knowledge, or was the witch using some charm to persuade him? Anyway, he could not decide for the whole klarn.

"We'll have to meet and talk it over," he said.

"There's no time," Amlina replied angrily. "The snowfall is hardening while we stand here and debate."

"She's right," Draven tossed down his spoon and stood. "Let's break out the tools."

"No," Karrol said. "We're going to have a meeting."

"We can meet later," Draven said. "First the snow."

Lonn found himself standing. "Draven's right. If the meeting votes for skating, we will have wasted only a few hours by digging now. But if the vote goes for staying, we will have left ourselves much worse off than we need to be."

"I won't do it," Karrol said.

"Let me suggest a compromise," Eben offered. "We stay and work for three more days. If it doesn't look like the ship's going to get free by then, we go on skates."

"Fair enough," Lonn said. "Brinda?"

She lifted a shoulder. "I'm with Eben."

"That's three of us." Lonn looked at Karrol.

"I think it's a waste of three days," she said. "But all right."

Draven shrugged. "I don't like the idea of skating at all. But I'll go along."

Most of the klarn's discussion had been in Iruk. The witch had waited, watching intently.

"We're ready to work," Lonn told her. "What about these lazy sea rats?"

Amlina surveyed the roomful of Larthangans, most of whom refused to meet her gaze. "These Iruks and I are going to shovel the snow from about the ship. I will not force you to join us. But think on this: if we do not get free and sail on to Kadavel, there's no telling who may end up possessing the Cloak of the Two Winds or what damage they may inflict on the world with its power. If you give up now, you may be giving up not only your own lives but your loved ones, your country, the whole human world."

Saying no more, Amlina led the Iruks toward the galley door.

Grudgingly, Troneck pushed himself away from the stove and followed. "Come on, men."

In twos and threes the crewmen dragged themselves after their captain. Amlina smiled fiercely as the Larthangans gathered at the lockers where the axes, mallets, and shovels were stored.

"I thank you for your courage."

The
Plover's
company was crowding up the spiral steps when the hull gave a loud creaking and shifted its tilt. Lonn clutched the rail as the clamor of bewildered voices mingled with a second shuddering groan.

"Go up," Amlina waved him on excitedly. "Go!"

Lonn rushed up the steps and flung open the door to the main deck, his mates and the Larthangans behind him. The coaster gave a third heaving groan then settled, rocking gently as if in water.

Clouds of steamy vapor rose on all sides of the ship. Lonn stumbled to the nearest rail and peered through the mist. His senses had not been lying: the ice and snow entrapping the hull were gone. The ship was floating.

Below, dark bulky creatures swam amid slabs and blocks of ice.

"Fire turtles!" Eben spoke with awe at Lonn's shoulder.

"It is done," Amlina murmured. "The Deepmind is setting us free."

While they watched, one green reptile head surfaced, glittering with the dripping sealight. The turtle gulped air, then breathed a jet of yellow flame that licked and melted the ice still clinging to the aft runner. To left and right other heads appeared and other flames. More hissing vapor lifted about the ship.

The whole ship's company hung watching from port and starboard rails as the fire turtles dissolved the last of the nearby ice, leaving the
Plover
afloat in a pool of bright water hardly wider than the ship itself with runners down. Then the giant turtles took breaths of air, long breaths to fill the enormous lungs beneath their shells, and disappeared beneath the surface.

Lonn marveled at the strangeness of it. A score or more of the turtles had surfaced for air at just the right place and had lingered to free the icebound ship. Brute reptiles, they had acted as if with intelligent purpose; solitary beasts, they had come together to carry out that purpose— a miracle.

"Amlina did it!" Draven shook Lonn by the shoulder. "I told you not to give up on her!"

Lonn roared with glee, then hugged his mate, bending back and lifting Draven in the air until both fell still embracing into the snow. Across the main deck Iruks and Larthangans alike reacted with the same unabashed elation. Some hugged, some leapt and capered, some sank to their knees in the snow and wept with joy and relief.