The Hollow: At The Edge (5 page)

“But you can’t weave.
So what good are you? If I’m a mere pebble, then what are you?
Dust?”

“I am the movement of
continents. The shifting of realms. I am the potential that waits
under the earth for its time. And one day, I will be the mountain
that overshadows the world. My... stilted abilities are but a
temporary setback. A tiny blink of the eye. It won’t last.”

“Well that’s a relief.
Because while you were down here, being a movement, people were
dying. Did it occur to you to at least try to help.”

“The ether doesn’t
exist at our beck and call. It isn’t there so we can do tricks. Let
the rest of these self-proclaimed
dogs
,” he said it with a
dismissive wave, “run around, swinging their swords and pretending
their short, irreversible mortality is worth something. I have more
important things to contemplate. To wit, if there is nothing else
you wish to gibber at me, I will bid you goodnight.”

Serrel stared at him as
the man fell silent again. “And people think
I’m
the useless
one?”

Through sheer
exhaustion, Serrel fell asleep. That night, for the first time in a
long time, he dreamt about the girl he had left behind. The girl he
had been
forced
to leave behind.

He dreamt of the day
they went swimming by the lake, which incidentally was the day she
had told him how she had really felt about him. That had been a
good day. And in hindsight, he should have realised it would never
have lasted.

In this dream, though,
he watched as Daphne Kraeter swam through the clear blue water like
a mermaid. Then a huge red mass of tentacles and hunger rose up in
the water beneath her. In a spray of water and a cut off scream,
she was gone. When Serrel dove down, frantic and terrified, he saw
her in the kraken’s grasp. She was pale and still in her death. And
she wasn’t alone. He saw them all. First his family, then his
childhood friends, and at last he spotted Kaitlin Astral’s
distinctive blonde hair, spread through the water like a halo. All
of Pond Scum were there with her, and they were all beyond
saving.

Serrel could only drift
in the dark water and watch as everything he cared about was
carried away from him.

He awoke to the sound
of his name being called, to find Holly standing over him, shaking
his roughly.

“Hawthorne? You all
right?”

“Wha?”

“You were talking in
your sleep.”

“Just... Just a bad
dream.”

“It’s your turn on
deck.”

“All right, I’m
going.”

Serrel slid
ungracefully from his hammock. He glanced over at Morton, and found
the broken mage still sitting on his chest, not a care in the
world. Serrel shook his head, took his staff and went off for
lookout duty.

A few moments later he
stomped back, went over to Morton, and shoved him viciously in the
chest. Morton’s eyes went wide with alarm, he flailed his arms
around frantically as he lost balance, before he slid backwards off
his chest and thudded painfully onto the deck.

“Ow...”

“Yes,” agreed Serrel as
he walked away. “You’re a mountain all right.”

After the events of the
day, everyone on the ship was on edge. Serrel could guess that
nearly everyone in the flotilla was feeling the same way. At least
some of the troop transports were large, and armed. The cargo ship
the Hounds travelled on was frightfully small and vulnerable, and
had sprung a few leaks during the fight with the krakens. Now the
Hounds were taking turns to keep watch on the surrounding water,
just in case they had any surprises in the night.

Serrel stood at the
starboard rail, and swept his eyes across the featureless water.
Brant was at the port rail, and Snow stood by the helm to
“supervise”. The sky was clear, and the stars and a half moon lit
everything with a soft glow. He could just make out figures on one
of the nearer ships pacing back at forth, also on lookout. He tried
not think about his horrible nightmare, but the images wouldn’t
stop springing up in his brain.

Then he noticed the
green light in the water.

It was tiny at first.
But then it was joined by another, and then another. By the time he
called the others over, the sea was lit from beneath the surface by
undulating green light.

“What now?” he
groaned.

Snow turned to the new
captain. “Ever seen anything like this?”

The new captain was a
dark skinned man named Merriman, and since his unexpected promotion
he’d been locked in a constant state of worry. He shook his head,
and looked ready to vomit.

Serrel stared at the
glowing lights. They were moving.

“Can I have a hook?” he
asked.

One of the sailors
passed him a hook on a long wooden pole. Serrel dropped the end
over the side and prodded at the glowing creatures. No one offered
him any help. After some failed attempts, he managed to slide the
hook into the strange thing and lifted it up onto the deck.

He dropped the
gelatinous mass on deck, and the group crowded cautiously
around.

The new Captain
Merriman sighed in relief. “It’s a jellyfish.”

It was about the size
of Serrel’s head, and somehow lit itself up with a brilliant green
light. Serrel prodded it with the end of its staff. It stayed
resolutely flat on the deck, not even bothering to go for anyone’s
throat.

“Is it dangerous?” he
asked.

“Not usually. The long
tentacles at the bottom are painful if you touch them.”

Serrel pulled his staff
back. He’d had quite enough of tentacles to last a lifetime, thank
you.

“Is it suppose to glow
like that?” asked Brant.

Merriman looked worried
again. “Sometimes. But not really like this...”

They looked out at sea
again, where the waters around and beneath the flotilla were
brightly illuminated. But only around the flotilla. The rest of the
sea seemed dark and unremarkable.

“Does it spew acid?”
Brant asked.

“Not normally.”

“Do they sprout legs
and scuttle around?”

“No.”

“Oh, I know. It stings
you, lays eggs in the wound, and then its young rip their way out
of your body.”

“Gods, no! What’s wrong
with you?”

“Are you telling me
that’s
all it does?” he pointed at the flat and seemingly
lifeless jellyfish as it lay squished on the deck. “I find that a
little disappointing.”

“Unless,” Serrel said
slowly. “Something big is going to come up and eat the jellyfish.
Like some... I don’t know, giant monster crab or something.”

They thought about
that.

“Clams,” said
Brant.

“What?”

“Giant clams. I read
those things can be real monsters. They grab your legs and never
let go.”

“Urchins,” said Snow.
“Three crowns says it’s urchins.”

“You mean, like...
orphan kids?” said Serrel in confusion.

“No, it’s like a
starfish, but with these big spines sticking out of it. I say
urchins. Three crowns. Any takers?”

“Sure. Giant crabs.
Three crowns.”

“Ravenous clams!” said
Brant excitedly.

“How can you people
find this funny?” asked Merriman in annoyance.

“It’s laugh, or go
completely loony,” replied Brant.

“All right, lads,” Snow
said with finality. “Enough fun. Get back on duty. Find me my
urchins.”

Serrel went back to his
spot. No one was going to say it aloud, but there was no doubt this
wasn’t natural. The way the jellyfish clustered around the
flotilla...

He looked up into the
starry sky. Because it was so clear, he knew what to look for. It
took a moment, but there it was: a few stars that disappeared from
view, and blinked back to life, one after the other in line.

“Sir!” he called to
Snow, pointing upwards. “It’s back.”

Snow followed his gaze.
“What is that thing? It’s too big to be a bird.”

“Dragon?” suggested
Brant.

“Dragon’s are
extinct.”

Brant quietly thought
for a moment. “Flying clams?”

“You deserve to lose
your money, Corporal. Good eye, Hawthorne. Watch it. If it comes
any lower, let us know, so we can shoot it down.”

“Bad luck to shoot
birds at sea,” said Merriman.

“Worse luck not to,”
replied Snow.

Serrel agreed. Weird
monsters started appearing, and then that thing was flying
overhead? Not a chance that was a coincidence.

The rest of the night
passed by uneventfully. By the time the sun rose over the horizon,
the jellyfish had disappeared back to wherever it was they had come
from, and all the sailors were visibly relieved. Serrel didn’t
share their optimism. He’d lost sight of the flying creature
sometime in the night, and it was nowhere to be seen at daybreak.
But he didn’t think the seas were through with them yet, so he
stayed on deck, even after he was meant to be relieved. As the day
drew on, he turned out to be correct.

“Sharks!” called out
Holly. “You owe me three crowns, Sir.”

Snow made a show of
patting himself down. “I left my gold in my cabin.”

“That’s all right, Sir.
You can pay me later.”

Serrel looked over the
rail to see numerous sleek grey forms cutting through the water.
They seemed small and inoffensive. As the day progressed, the small
sharks were replaced by larger ones. The large sharks were replaced
by huge, ugly, prehistoric looking sharks. Eventually Serrel caught
sight of a fin, coasting unperturbed through the water, belonging
to a shark as large as their ship.

He watched it swim by,
slowly and menacingly, and wondered, if this was what was in the
water, what was going to be waiting for them on land.

Apart from one gigantic
shark attempting to take a bite out of a troop ship, the day passed
without incident. When the sun set, and the sharks had all but
vanished beneath the waves, Serrel retired back to the hold. He
managed a few hours sleep, before he was again woken by Holly
shaking him.

“You need to go up on
deck,” she said. “You as well, Morton.”

Morton looked over in
interest.

When they emerged on
deck, it was to find the sky awash with ribbons of bright green
light that undulated across the heavens. Serrel could only
gape.

“So,” Snow said
conversationally. “I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I feel I
should point out that beneath this calm and collected exterior, I’m
blubbering like an infant. What is this?”

“No idea, Sir,” said
Serrel.

“Not the answer I was
hoping for.”

“To be fair, Sir, I was
still in training only a few days ago.” Serrel stared upwards in
thought. It was an amazing sight. Hopefully not a lethal one.
Something did occur to him. “It looks... Well, it reminds me of the
way some of my spells light up when I weave... It’s a discharge of
ether energy...” he realised.

There was a slow,
sarcastic hand clap from Morton. “Well down, tin soldier. You got
there far quicker than I would have thought.”

“Sod off, Morton.”

“This, ladies and
gentlemen,” Morton went on, ignoring him, “is the Aurora Ethereal,
the energy of the ether discharging itself over the Faelands.”

“I’ve seen the aurora,
Morton,” said Snow. “It isn’t this big. And maybe you’ve noticed,
with all the water and all, that we’re still at sea.”

“The Aurora Ethereal,”
Morton said, as if he hadn’t heard Snow, “is a natural discharge of
energy over the Faelands, in which, I’m sure you all know, the
ether flows with much less resistance into the physical world. The
walls of reality there are... thinner, I suppose you could say.
Sometimes the ether bleeds through as light.”

“This isn’t natural,”
said Snow.

“No. It isn’t. Someone
in the Faelands has tapped the ether, and is draining energy out
into our world at a remarkable rate.”

Serrel pointed at the
aurora. “Someone’s trying to weave the ether? And this is just
the... leftovers?”

“Indeed. Imagine the
amount of energy they must be utilising. It is... beautiful.”

“I don’t suppose either
of you can tell me what they’re using it for?” asked Snow
optimistically.

“I’m going to go with:
nothing good,” replied Serrel.

“There’s no reason to
suggest that this is in anyway harmful to us,” said Morton.

“Apart from kraken,
glowing jellyfish, and giant bloody sharks? Not to mention the
thing that isn’t a bird that’s been watching us?”

“Hawthorne’s right,”
said Snow. “Whomever, or whatever is doing this, is sending us a
message. They’re trying to scare us.”

“With respect,
Captain,” Morton said impatiently. “Someone with this sort of power
would have no need to play games with us. They would simply crush
us, like the insects we are. We would be better off attempting to
make peace with this person. Just imagine what we could learn from
them...”

“I’m not sure I would
like the lessons.” Snow stroked his beard. “Well, if this isn’t
going to destroy us all at once, I would suggest we all get some
rest. In a few hours time, we are going to be landing on the shores
of the Faelands. I want everyone ready.”

Serrel watched the
lights in the sky ebb and flow. He wasn’t even sure what it was he
had to be ready for.

Part 2
:
Until Blood is Drawn.

The entire flotilla was
in uproar as the shoreline of the Faelands finally began to come
into view in the early hours of the morning. The Legion prepared
themselves for battle, unstowing carefully packed weapons, honing
the edges of blades, and making sure supplies were distributed.

In the narrow hold of
their own ship, the Hounds were doing likewise. Serrel had not
unloaded the pack he had been given when he left Fort Amell, so all
he had to do was make sure all his belongings were together, his
staff was in his hand, the small flask of the Elixir of Vorkeph was
in its padded pouch on his belt, and that the bronze coin of
service was still around his neck, and then he stayed out of the
way as the rest of the Hounds pulled on leather armour and strung
bows.