Maquesta Kar-Thon Read online

Faster, the morkoth urged her.

  Faster, she answered inside her head.

  Maquesta had just about succeeded in breaking one of the welds when she felt herself flying backward through the water, pushed by two strong arms. Tailonna thrust Maq away from the cage, propelling her down to the coral ridge, and slamming her into it, knocking the water from Maq's lungs.

  You don't understand, Maq's eyes tried to tell Tailonna. My friend the morkoth must be free.

  Tailonna grabbed Maquesta's head and brought her own face down to within inches of it. "Listen to me," Tailonna said. The tones sounded bubbly and distorted through the water. 'The beast has hypnotized you, just as it did Hvel. As it did to Ilyatha in its tunnel-lair. Fight it!"

  Maq blinked and tried to focus on the words, on the sparkling blue-green elvish eyes before her. Tailonna roughly shook her.

  "The morkoth," Maq mouthed. "The morkoth lulled me!" Maquesta pushed off the ridge, away from the Dimernesti and toward the cage, fire in her eyes replacing the red specks. She brought the pommel of her dagger down on the top of the cage to get the beast's attention, then she narrowed her eyes and glared at it.

  Maquesta stood on top of the cage and pointed her hand up, in the direction of the Perechon. Then she motioned to Tailonna, indicating she should go to the ship. The sea elf shook her head fervently, perhaps unsure if Maquesta was herself. But Maq pointed again, and then pointed at the cage.

  Tailonna understood. She was to go to the ship and bring down a cable. The sea elf waited for several moments, until the bullshark moved on, then her powerful legs kicked off from the sea floor and started her toward the surface.

  Maquesta watched the Dimernesti rise, feeling envious of her ability to swim so strongly and move so gracefully beneath the waves. Then a shadow fell across Maq's line of sight. She blinked and looked up, initially fearing another bullshark. Squinting her eyes, she saw the movement again. One of the rocky columns amid the sunken ships was quivering, as if it might fall down.

  Then column began bending, contorting. At first Maquesta thought the image was a trick played by the currents. But as she continued to watch, she saw the other columns start to move, too. She glanced at the morkoth. It was still. Its tentacles were at rest, though its wide eyes glared back at her malevolently. Not an illusion created by the morkoth, she guessed. Tailonna was too far away now to see what was transpiring. Maquesta could see only the tiny reflection of the sea elf disappearing at the top of the sea, climbing up to the Perechon's deck.

  The wavering rocks bothering her, Maquesta pushed off from the cage, trying to get above the sea floor and get a better look at the living columns. As she rose, she saw that the rocky columns were attached to a larger rock, one that sat in the middle of the graveyard. Her stomach began to churn as she realized it wasn't stone she was watching, but a living creature, a leviathan rising from the sea floor. A pair of large eyes opened on the bulbous, rocky-looking body, and Maq's mouth gaped wide.

  A giant octopus! Her mind raced. This was why the ships lay broken all around. They weren't the victims of the Blood Sea imps—they were the victims of this hideous monstrosity! And this was the reason there were so few fish. The bullshark was insignificant next to this thing. As the creature moved, barnacles and algae, the parasites that had clung to its tentacles, fell away, revealing smooth, green-black skin. The mantle of the octopus, its bag-shaped body, was larger than any of the ships that lay broken about it. Eyes wider across than a man is tall blinked at her from the base of its body. Eight tentacles, longer than huge sea snakes, writhed and whirled, stirring up sand. The undersides of the tentacles were much lighter in color and sported hundreds of small cups. As the tentacles wiggled above the sea floor, Maq glimpsed the creature's gaping mouth on the underside of its mantle. As she watched, the creature's color began changing, becoming lighter to nearly blend in with the sand and ruined ships.

  The thing must have been sleeping for weeks, Maquesta realized, to have accumulated so much algae on its skin. What had awakened it? She glanced down at the morkoth and saw its eyes were practically glowing. A single tentacle flexed toward the giant, like a beckoning finger.

  Maquesta shot up through the water, her legs pumping fiercely. She had to get to the Perechon, had to get the ship out of here. Retrieving the morkoth had just become too costly. She refused to jeopardize everyone on board.

  A stream of bubbles trailing behind her, Maq saw the light growing brighter ahead, signaling that she was nearing the surface. Ilyatha! her mind called out. Make them raise the anchor! Make them… At the edge of her vision, Maq saw a mammoth tentacle wrap itself about the anchor chain. Like a child with a toy, the great beast began to pull, and she saw with anguish that the Perechon rocked in response.

  Changing her tactics, Maquesta angled herself beneath the ship. Her side ached, but she pushed herself harder, faster. She was nearly under the ship now, near the chain. She groped about on her belt and discovered that her dagger was gone, forgotten somewhere on the sea floor. But her short sword was with her. Pulling it free, and swimming more awkwardly with it in her hand, she finally reached the chain.

  Hear me, Ilyatha! she continued to concentrate on the shadowperson, hoping he would pick up her thoughts. You've got to get the Perechon away from here.

  Wrapping her legs about the anchor chain, so that she was head down and pointed toward the octopus, Maquesta pulled herself closer to the tentacle and lashed out with the sword. She sliced halfway through the tip of the tentacle that held the chain, then drew back her weapon to jab at it again.

  I'm here, Maquesta. The voice inside her head was Ilyatha's.

  A giant octopus! Maq shouted back to the telepath. It has the anchor. I'm cutting it free. Raise the anchor! Tell Kof to get the Perechon out of here!

  We'll throw a rope to you, Ilyatha communicated, an urgency to his telepathic voice.

  Don't worry about me! Maquesta concentrated. The ship. Save the ship. She lashed out at the tentacle again, this time successfully cutting through the rubbery thing. Dark red blood, almost black, poured out into the water like a cloud. She felt the tension loosen about the chain. Move the ship! That's an order. Tailonna can direct you around the Blood Cup! Maq realized that with those thoughts her father's life had finally, irrevocably, slipped beyond her grasp. Without the morkoth, there would be no antidote for Melas. There would be no freedom for Ilyatha's daughter. But staying over the Blood Cup jeopardized the lives of everyone on the Perechon. She could not justify that.

  Releasing herself from the chain the moment she felt it start to surge upward, Maquesta decided to buy the Perechon some time. Swimming at another tentacle, she thrust forward with her sword, stabbing at the rubbery mass. Myriad suctionlike cups wriggled at her, but she kept out of their way, hovering just at the end of the tentacles' reach. Withdrawing the sword, she plunged it in again and again. Then the world turned black around her as the water darkened like the midnight sky. She twisted her head all about, but it was pitchblack everywhere. Not even her sensitive vision permeated the darkness. Then her eyes began to sting, and she realized the octopus had released an inky substance, turning the water black.

  Maq was disoriented, not knowing which way was up, which way to the ocean floor, where the octopus might be lurking. Kicking her legs, she began to move, guessing that she was rising toward the surface. She held her sword tightly, and waved it back and forth in front of her to keep any tentacles at bay. As a jab of pain shot through her leg, she realized a tentacle had found a way around her flailing weapon. Perhaps the leviathan could see through its dark cloud. The octopus tightened its grip, and Maq gritted her teeth, trying to block out the aching sensation. Twisting in the black water, she continued to flail about with her blade, hoping it would connect with something.

  Again and again she dragged the sword through the water, until at last it met resistance. Jabbing there, she felt a rush of bubbles against her body. She must have hurt the leviathan. Stabbing again, she cringed as a tentac
le found her sword arm. It gripped her tightly, but she kept her fingers wrapped about the blade's pommel, refusing to let go. With one tentacle also still holding her leg, the tentacles began to move away from each other—the octopus intended to tear her apart!

  Maquesta fought back a wave of pain and groped out with her free hand. She felt the tentacle about her sword arm, and she fumbled frantically until she felt her captured hand and the pommel still held tightly within it. Grabbing the sword, she started sawing through the tentacle with it, trying to free her captured arm. The tentacle tugged more strongly, nearly wrenching her shoulder out of the socket, but she persisted. The tentacle tugged again, and Maq screamed, though no sound came out, only a stream of bubbles. She cut faster, and at last she was rewarded when the tentacle about her arm writhed away. Doubling over, she felt about her calf, at the tentacle still firmly holding her there. Again she started cutting. This tentacle released her quickly to avoid being severed, and she kicked her legs to propel herself away from the creature.

  She felt herself rising, and she kicked harder. Maquesta knew that if this giant octopus was like its smaller cousins, it would be able to regenerate its rubbery limbs. But it would take several weeks, and she and the Perechon would be long gone. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest, the thundering sound filling her ears and increasing her terror. Her feet churned, and she felt out of breath, dizzy, but at last her head broke through the surface of the water and she started breathing air. She coughed, spewing out the saltwater that had been in her lungs. Blinking furiously as the light of the morning sun hit her full in the face, she turned about in the water, looking for the Perechon.

  The anchor dangled from the ship, which was a little better than a hundred yards from her. As she watched, the sails reached the top of the masts and began to billow with air. Sheathing her sword, Maq started swimming toward the ship. No use trying to fight the giant octopus when she couldn't see it for all the inky water, she decided.

  "There's Maq!" It was Fritzen's voice. "Wait for her!"

  Don't wait for me! Maq's mind scolded, hoping Ilyatha was still reading her thoughts. If I reach the ship on my own, all right. But get out of here before… Her last thought trailed off as she saw a giant tentacle rise above the water and drape itself over the bow of the Perechon.

  Panicking, Maquesta swam faster, taking great gulps of air into her lungs and watching as the sailors ran toward the rubbery mass that threatened to capsize the ship. As she closed the distance, the water began churning in front of her, bubbling like Lendle's soup caldron. An enormous, bulbous head broke the surface of the waves. The leviathan had risen, seeking to add another ship to its trophy collection on the sea floor.

  "You'll not take the Perechon!" Maquesta seethed. "You can't have my ship."

  The great beast seemed not to notice Maq, it was so intent on the ship. Waving another two tentacles in the air, it dropped them across the deck, one between the mizzenmast and the mainmast, and the other over the aft section. The giant octopus began to rock the ship wildly, and Maq saw Vartan and Hvel get pitched into the water.

  On the deck of the ship, Koraf gave up trying to steer the Perechon. He drew his sword, grabbed a belaying pin, and rushed at the tentacle that lay between the masts. The rubbery tentacle had broken the railings on both sides of the deck and, like a snake, had begun to constrict about the center of the ship. The minotaur grimaced as he heard the wood groan in protest. Motioning wildly, he directed the bulk of the sailors to join him. Gathering on both sides of the thing, they began hacking on the leviathan's tentacle, cleaving into the thick tissue and trying to dislodge it.

  Fritzen had grabbed hold of the tentacle on the aft section of the ship and was trying to pry it loose. His muscles bulged, and the veins stood out on the side of his neck. Wrapping his left arm about the tentacle where it tapered on the port side, he reached to his waist and his fingers closed about the hilt of his dagger. Drawing the weapon, he pulled it back behind his head, and then let it fall, stabbing deep into the beast's flesh. Dark red blood spurted out, making the deck slippery. It was all the half-ogre could do to keep his balance. Then the tentacle turned on him.

  Releasing the deck, where it had splintered the wood, and leaving a gaping hole open to the galley, the tentacle rose up into the air. Like a snake, it came down and coiled about Fritzen. It picked him up from the deck and shook him as a baby would a rattle. The halfogre concentrated to keep from dropping the dagger. As the thing flailed him about, he stabbed into the tentacle repeatedly.

  A great cry erupted from the leviathan's wide mouth. Fritzen and the others were hurting it! In anger, the giant octopus hurled Fritzen at the mizzenmast. The half-ogre flew through the air until his back soundly struck the mast halfway up. The wind knocked out of him, he plummeted to the deck, near where Koraf and the others had just managed to sever the tentacle that had been wrapped about the ship's middle.

  The half-ogre groaned and shook his head. For a moment it looked as though there were two minotaurs, two of everyone. He shook his head again, and his vision began to clear. Stumbling forward, he fell against the tentacle and began pushing the severed part into the water. The stump that remained started thrashing about maddeningly. Koraf ordered the sailors to back away, lest they be beaten by the thing. As they complied, the flailing stump hit the mizzenmast, cracking it. The tall beam teetered for a moment, then the top half of it snapped off and crashed to the deck, pinning two fleeing crewmen, and covering the rest with the collapsed sail.

  Tailonna and Ilyatha struggled against the tentacle at the bow of the ship. The sea elf hummed and concentrated, while the shadowperson struck at the rubbery mass with his barbed staff. Violet darts flew from Tailonna's fingertips, striking the tentacle and causing it to rear back in pain. As the tentacle pulled back, it struck Ilyatha, knocking him into the water.

  Maquesta saw the shadowperson fall. Tangled in his voluminous cloak, he flung his arms about, but couldn't stay afloat. Maq swam toward him, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Hvel and Vartan had grabbed on to a section of the railing that was floating in the water. Panting, Maquesta finally reached the shadowperson and started pulling the sodden cape from him.

  "I know the sun will hurt you," Maquesta gasped. "But you'll drown with all these clothes on." Letting the cloak and hood float away, she grabbed Ilyatha about the shoulders and swam with him toward Hvel and Vartan. Shouts from her crewmen on deck, and the cacophonous screeching of the octopus, filled her senses.

  "Maq!" Vartan called. "We thought you were dead."

  Maquesta pushed the shadowperson into Hvel's arms. "Hold him," she huffed. "I'm going after the octopus. If we can't beat this thing back, we'll all be dead."

  She dived beneath the surface, breathing deeply of the water again, thankful that Tailonna's potion was still working. Maquesta angled herself away from the ship and under the octopus. From beneath its body, she saw its limbs waving wildly and noticed that two had been cut in half. Dark blood poured from the frayed edges. The creature's mouth was open, and its long, pointed tongue, covered with two rows of jagged teeth, wriggled back and forth.

  As Maq swam toward its underside, short sword raised in front of her, one of the unharmed tentacles brought a struggling sailor to its mouth. She kicked her legs faster to close the distance, but the octopus stuffed the hapless sailor inside its beak, using its tongue to cut the man into bits before Maq could even discern his identity.

  Maquesta closed her eyes for but a moment, not wanting to see the sailor's grisly end. Opening them slowly, she saw the octopus's beak open and close, chewing its meal. She thrust herself forward, slipping between a pair of tentacles and jabbing at the bulbous body from underneath. Again the octopus screamed, but this time the cry was louder than before. The leviathan pulled its tentacles away from the Perechon and started swirling them about its body in the water, looking for its attacker.

  Struggling to keep herself away from the tentacles—and staying beneath the giant oct
opus where its eyes could not see—Maquesta drove the sword in again. Almost instantly she was surrounded by the inky blackness. Undaunted, she withdrew her blade and stabbed forward, certain that the great beast could not have moved far.

  On deck, Fritzen and Koraf lowered a rope ladder to Vartan and Ilyatha. "Hurry, please!" Vartan called. "The thing got Hvel. Dragged him under. We'll be next!"

  Tailonna jumped over the side and helped Ilyatha to the ladder. The shadowperson's eyes were closed, and he tried to draw his webbed arms about his face to fend off the sun's rays. Vartan leapt ahead of Ilyatha, climbing up several rope rungs then extending an arm down, indicating Tailonna should hand up the shadowperson.

  After she was certain Ilyatha was all right, Tailonna dived beneath the water, searching for Maquesta, who she guessed must be somewhere in the cloud of blackness. She mumbled a few words, and a globe of glowing blue light appeared in the palm of her hand, cutting through the inky haze. She spied Maq beneath the giant octopus's body. Maquesta was quivering, and Tailonna noticed the leviathan's toothy tongue was wrapped around Maq's left leg.

  The sea elf gasped, realizing the octopus must have released its nerve poison into the water, one of its last defenses. Maquesta must have hurt the creature badly, Tailonna mused as she swam toward the octopus's mouth, hoping she would be in time.

  Maq felt her fingers growing numb and had to keep both hands about the hilt of her short sword so she wouldn't drop it. Shocks of hot and cold chased up and down her frame, and she felt a tingling in her leg where the tongue had grabbed her. She bit her bottom lip, hoping the pain might help her concentrate. Focusing, she stabbed forward with her sword, piercing the octopus's tongue.

  The beast let go of her, and its tongue flapped wildly, her sword still embedded in it. Maquesta, weaponless, looked about and saw Tailonna swimming toward her. The sea elf had a dagger strapped in her belt, and Maquesta numbly swam toward her, motioning for the weapon.