Chapter 5: Dead Air

The salty breeze coming off the water vanished, stranding the ship in the middle of Sanguine Bay. A heaviness fell on the air as the Hiraeth’s sails collapsed under their own weight to hang loose. An oppressive silence took over the ship, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. The only movement in sight was the two crewmates climbing the masts, rifles slung across their backs.

Power welled up in Jos, warming her from the inside out. She likened the sensation to a morning sunbeam caressing her insides. Not even rum felt this good. 

The first of the risen appeared at the bow of her ship, its misshapen and waterlogged serpentine head peeking over the railing. The undead krait looked around, a rotting grin appearing on its face as it realized it still had the element of surprise. Or so it thought.

Jos waved as she directed her energies. Purple, translucent duplicates of herself appeared on either side of the risen just as it was making its way over the railing. The dopplegangers solidified and resolved into complete illusions. The undead krait looked up and froze as soon as it saw the two clones. 

Yet, even with their weapons drawn, Jos’s clones didn’t attack. Instead, they smiled. The air rippled outward from them as the illusions fractured and shattered, ripping the lone risen to shreds. 

More distorted heads appeared at the railings on all sides of the vessel. Jos snarled and sucked in a deep breath. “To arms!”

Chaos exploded on the main deck. Weapons appeared in the hands of her crew, pulled from the ship’s niches and crevices. Risen attacks on civilian vessels was not uncommon, and Jos kept her crew ready.

Swords and axes clanged as the voices of the living called out against the rasping cries of the undead. A trio of daggers flew across the main deck, plunging hilt-deep in the chest of a risen asura standing on the port railing. The dragon-minion tumbled backward and fell to the murky water below.

Jos looked to where the daggers had come from. Her gaze landed on crewman Nahg. Another undead krait sprung up behind the charr, but a quick shot from Jos’s pistol put the monster down. Crewman Nahg glanced up and gave a nod before bounding off after more foes.

Something thumped on the deck behind the captain and she whipped around. A large, distorted krait slithered across the wooden planks, bits of its flesh hanging loose while other parts of its body bulged grotesquely. Sickly green eyes glowed with the remnant power of the dead dragon Zhaitan. The risen held a twisted, barnacled sword in one hand and a jagged, rusty dagger in the other. 

Jos cursed. At more than seven feet tall, this was no mere foot-soldier. She could feel the power emanating from this monstrosity. The risen’s mouth opened, revealing a burbling mass of seaweed and decayed flesh. When it spoke, the sound it made was closer to a gurgle than actual words. Yet, one word did come through.

“Death.”

The risen’s sword bore down with a heavy swing as the creature lunged forward. But Jos saw this attack coming and she leapt to the side in a dodge. Still, the dragon minion’s blade sliced right through the arm of her coat. The thing actually grinned. 

Jos snarled and lunged forward, she’d be damned if some veteran risen bastard was going to slice up her favorite coat and get away with it. The risen stabbed at her heart, but she knocked its blade away with her pistol. Another parry shattered the creature’s dagger. 

Dodging inside the krait’s reach, she unleashed a withering assault of slashes and jabs. Seawater and black slime oozed from every gash she gave the creature. But it still didn’t fall. 

The krait twisted and it’s heavy tail slammed into her chest, tossing her aside like a sack of grain. Jos flew through the air. Her back slammed into the railing and she collapsed to the deck. 

Pain thrummed across her body. Her heart pounded in her chest and she fought to get her breath. Her hands grasped at empty air and she cursed. As the risen moved closer it slithered right past her sword. Dark, death magic billowed from the krait like black smoke from its pores.

Jos mouthed the words to her spell as the monster bore down on her. 

The risen hoisted its sword over its head. Its eyes blazed and its mouth opened again, uttering that one word. 

“Death.”

And the creature brought the pitted blade down hard. 

Jos blinked and triggered the second half of her spell. Magic pulled at her body, swapping her with the clone she’d created. The risen’s blade sliced through empty air, shattering the illusion and sinking the sword deep into the railing. 

Jos rolled backward, her hand snatching up her sword along the way. She rose up into a stance and darted forward. Focused on pulling its blade free from the wooden railing, the risen seemed completely unaware of her. But the second she was close enough to attack, the creature’s sword pulled loose and it swung in a wide arc. 

Jos dodged under the swing and sunk her sword deep into the krait’s belly. With a twist, she cranked on her blade, rotating it within the undead krait’s innards. Then, with all her strength, she yanked up. Jos’s sword slammed into the monster’s sternum. Cartilage and bone shattered as her blade continued upward, opening her opponent from its stomach to its throat. 

The risen krait gurgled as its black, fetid innards spilled out all over Jos’s arms. The stench of rotting flesh mixed with seawater reached down into her gut and yanked. Her throat spasmed and her stomach twisted in an attempt to vomit, but she forced herself not to. 

Yanking her blade free, she stepped back. The undead krait’s dark, murky eyes rolled up into its head, and it fell forward onto the deck with a sick splat. Jos covered her mouth with a clean portion of her sleeve, but the stench persisted. 

Doing her best to shake off the smell, Jos looked around to find her quarterdeck clear of enemies.

Jos blinked, and in that second when her eyes were closed, the world rushed in on her mind. A few swords clanged below on the main deck, accompanied by the groans of injured crew members. Under the overbearing stench of death, she found the coppery odor of blood. Human, asuran, norn and charr blood. Beneath her feet, the deck felt unnaturally stable, as if the water and gone completely still.

When she opened her eyes, she peered over the railing and found her crew mopping up the last stragglers of the enemy. Her norn bosun, Jorg, swung the final blow with his axe, felling the last risen. His head sagging with exhaustion and his body covered in gashes and bruises, Jorg let the head of his axe rest on the deck. 

Finally, Hiraeth’s sails fluttered and filled with wind. The cool breeze washed over her, making her skin tingle with chilling sweat. A second later, the ship lurched forward.

Jos closed her eyes again and turned her face into the breeze when a familiar voice called out. 

“Tukk!”

Jos’s eyes snapped open and her gaze landed right onto Nexx. She found him kneeling near the prow of the ship. From her vantage point she could just see the tips of a tuft of white hair and one floppy, grey-purple ear splattered with blood.

Her heart skipped a beat. “Oh no.”

A lump formed in her throat. Jos didn’t really know her first mate’s nephew, but she knew Nexx. And while she cared about her entire crew, Nexx was like family. And that made his nephew like family too.

Pressing her lips into a grim, thin line, she made her way down to the main deck and her first mate’s side. “Nexx… I’m sorr—”

“Are you aware of just how big of an idiot you are, Tukk?” Nexx scolded. 

The younger asura coughed and groaned. “Yes, Uncle.”

Nexx let out a deep sigh. “You could have been killed. Then, what would I say to your mother? Did you think about that?”

“No, Uncle.” He groaned again and sat up. “It appeared as though… that risen quaggan was going to kill you.”

“A quaggan?” Nexx scoffed. He climbed to his feet and helped his nephew up. “Progeny, I’ve been at this long enough that one undead quaggan is no match for my superior intellect and skills.”

A ripple of relief ran through Jos. She caught herself in mid-smile and forced her face into a scowl. “Ahem. Nexx!”

Tukk and a handful of other of the newer crew popped to attention. Nexx merely sighed and turned. “Yes, Captain?”

For dramatic effect, she waved around at the risen corpses. “Get this mess cleaned up, I want my deck spotless.”

Several of the crew members eyes widened at her apparent callous tone, but her first mate just chuckled under his breath. “Aye.”

As she headed back toward the quarterdeck, she paused. “And get me a list of our fallen. We’ll need to prepare tributes for their families.”