Darkborn (Shattering of the Nocturnai Book 4) Read online

  Flashes of the night before ran through my mind. Abruptly, I remembered the empty spaces on the decks where smugglers had been thrown from the ship. More deaths on my conscience. My shoulders slumped.

  “How many did we lose overboard?” I asked.

  “Overboard?” she said with a smirk. “Is that what you think of my sailors, so green that they were tossed over the rail the moment the seas got a little rough?”

  I blinked, confused by her flippant comment. “Every time lightning lit the decks, people were missing. I’d assumed we’d lost them.”

  “Unfortunately, my crew might be sea-savvy, but some of them appear to have a problem with cowardice,” Caffari said. “I found five of my newer recruits hiding beneath the tarp that covers the lifeboat. Guess they figured they’d be guaranteed a spot if they got there first.”

  Not dead. Just hiding. My head was starting to throb. I dropped my cheek to my hand. “I was sure they’d been swept away.”

  “Well, they may wish it when they’re done with their penance,” Caffari said as she moved off and began coiling a line. “Today they’ll begin by cleaning the drains for the toilet.”

  I shaded my eyes as I scanned the water for Zyri’s Promise. She sat quietly at anchor between us and the shore. I spotted just one figure above decks, someone of small stature keeping watch from the crow’s nest.

  “Hey, Caffari? Any idea how far off course we are?” I asked, gathering my legs beneath me.

  Her coil finished, Caffari set it neatly on the deck and picked up another line. One arm’s length at a time, she ran it through her hands to check for frayed areas.

  “The good news is your compass is finally proving useful,” she said. “Needle points straight for Ioene. Just a few days if we keep clear of the worst storms… That tempest wasn’t natural. No more than these constant high seas.”

  “The storm season is arriving early. It’s Mieshk’s fault. I hope we’re not planning to drop anchor for long.” Planting a hand on the deck, I struggled to my feet.

  “We hope to sail by sunset. I thought you might want to catch up with your captain while we finish the repairs.”

  At once, cold gripped my chest. I’d have to tell him about Nyralit first thing. What was I going to say? How could I possibly find the courage to deliver the news that his beloved was dead?

  The pounding in my head suddenly felt like the impact of a sledgehammer.

  “Yeah. I guess I better do that,” I said.

  I shuffled across the deck to Raav and slid my arm around his waist. He smiled as he dropped an arm over my shoulder. The callused skin of his palm snagged on my shirt as he rubbed his hand over my upper arm.

  “Have a nice sleep?” he said with a smirk.

  I tried to smile but couldn’t hold it. My gaze wandered back to Zyri’s Promise. Raav noticed and sighed.

  “We’ll have to tell the captain,” he said.

  I swallowed. “I need to be the one to deliver the news. I was there. It was my plan that got her killed.”

  “But it wasn’t your fault, you know that right?”

  Mostly, but knowing something in your head and feeling it in your heart were totally different things. Since the moment the sword entered Nyralit’s belly, I’d known I’d carry the guilt forever. The best I could do was learn to accept it.

  Across the calm waters of the bay, a small cluster of figures emerged from the scrub onto the strip of yellow shore. After a few handshakes, three people detached and strode to the dinghy pulled up onto the sand. By appearances, Captain Altak had been successful in calming the locals. No small feat, I’m sure, given what I knew about Caffari’s skills as a smuggler and pirate.

  As the three figures pushed the boat into the water and started rowing for their ship, I sucked my lower lip between my teeth. After a deep breath, I said, “No real point in delaying, I guess.”

  “Will you let me come with you?” Raav asked.

  I nodded before calling out to Caffari. “May we have use of the ship’s dinghy?”

  She finished a knot to secure the coil of rope. “I’ll help you.”

  We followed the smuggler astern. As Caffari pulled the tarp from the ship’s dinghy, she clucked her tongue with disgust. She leaned into the boat and dragged out a rucksack left behind by one of the would-be deserters. When she opened the drawstring and examined the contents, the contempt on her face grew.

  “If they planned to abandon ship and leave us to our fate, they could’ve done better than pack caltrops, lambskin gloves, and lampblack. What good are thieves’ tools for a castaway?” she said, rolling her eyes. “Not only are they cowards, but they're also fools. I’m of the mind to leave them here. Let them scratch out a living as a sand farmer.”

  “I doubt what we find on Ioene will be easier to handle than that fate,” I said.

  Caffari’s mouth quirked. “Hmm. Good point. Always good to have a few expendable fighters. Ambush detectors.”

  I didn’t know whether she was joking, so I nodded politely as I climbed into the boat. After Raav had joined me, Caffari shoved the winch arm to swing the dinghy over the water. Working the crank, she lowered us to the sea.

  Raav took up the oars and started pulling for Zyri’s Promise. Our little boat rocked over the wavelets, wiggled and bounced when either of us adjusted position. As we neared the Vanished ship, the knot in my chest hardened. It was getting difficult to breathe.

  I squinted over the bay, glints of sunlight sharp against the backs of my eyes. “I’m not sure I can do this,” I said quietly.

  Raav nudged his toes against my calf. “You can. I’ve seen you do much harder things.”

  “Like destroying House Ulstat in a column of flame? This is different. Maybe we should wait to tell him until the fight for Ioene is over.”

  Raav narrowed his eyes at me. I knew what he was thinking. I’d never been good at telling the truth when a lie was easier.

  But it wasn’t just my cowardice that made me want to avoid this conversation. What if Captain Altak’s grief kept him from commanding his ship? What if there was another storm? We needed his experience at the helm.

  “If it were you,” Raav said, “I would want to know.”

  “But she’s already gone. Whether he finds out now or later won’t change the situation.”

  “Come on, Lilik. I know this won’t be easy, but you can’t lie to him. It’s just not what a friend should do.”

  I flinched. My family still didn’t know about my deception with the nightstrands, and I’d hidden things from Paono until it was almost too late. Deep down, I often worried that people would abandon me if they knew the truth.

  Just like now, I worried that Captain Altak would hate me for being there when Nyralit died. What if he’d always resent me as the person who delivered the news of her death?

  The truth was, if no one else knew about her death, I might not be strong enough to tell the truth. I might even let him search for her after we retook Ioene. All because I was too weak to face his grief.

  But today, I had no choice. He’d find out what happened on Araok Island from someone. It might as well be me.

  We reached Zyri’s Promise just minutes after the delegation returned from the meeting with the locals. Tkira dropped a ladder for Raav and me. The ropes swayed back and forth as I climbed, cordage dried by the salt air rough beneath my hands. When I climbed over the rail, Captain Altak’s wide grin filled my view. Holding aloft a jug of what appeared to be whiskey, he called out, “Figured I better rush this back to my crew after last night’s efforts. Welcome aboard, Councilor Boket!”

  Tyrak had been silent since I woke. But now, he brushed me with a tendril of encouragement. Swallowing, I planted my feet on the deck and looked around, only to stagger when a large hand clapped me on the shoulder.

  “Now that we have our leader back, I’ve no doubt Ioene will be ours,” Jet said.

  I turned to face the man I’d thought of as my general during the battle for Istanik. He
looked the same. Earnest and loyal. The only real difference was a slight pallor in his color. Like me he probably had, a tendency for seasickness after a life spent on land.

  “So, you’ve met Caffari,” I said. “What do you think of the Midnight?” I asked, my eyes flitting between Jet and Captain Altak.

  A small crowd had gathered around us, a mixture of crew members from the Nocturnai and new recruits. Tkira stepped forward, a scowl twisting the scar that slashed across her cheek and brow.

  “Glad to see you’ve made new friends,” she said. “But we thought you were dead, you know. Saw that rotted Ulstat schooner explode and sink. Just barely got clear when we glimpsed someone putting a torch to the fuse. Might have been nice if you’d found a way to get word to us.”

  If I hadn’t known Tkira, I might have bristled at her words. But the harsh scolding was just her way of showing she cared.

  “Nice to see you too, Tkira.”

  Smirking, I scanned the gathered crew for another face. Gaff, the second mate, was nowhere to be seen. He’d been injured in the same attack that had led to Nyralit’s capture by the Ulstats.

  As if noticing the growing worry on my face, Tkira stepped closer. “Gaff’s fine. Just recuperating and ordering people around with the butt of his crutch. Your mother and that old woman—grandmother to your Paono—are working with the Council to begin repairs and set up temporary leadership. And your mother has been hard at work caring for Istanik’s orphans. She’s quite dedicated to them.”

  Making up for the years she lost with Jaret and me. The memory still stung, but it was easier to handle now. Raav’s hand pressed against my lower back, urging me away from the rail. With the mention of Gaff’s injury, the question of Nyralit’s fate wouldn’t be far behind.

  My eyes met Captain Altak’s. Maybe something in my expression warned of the news to come. Or maybe he sensed it in another way. In any case, a curtain of doubt fell over his face.

  “We should speak alone,” I said.

  Eyes suspicious, the captain nodded. As he gestured for me to lead the way to his cabin, Raav fell in behind. I turned and laid a gentle hand on his arm. “I’d like to speak to the captain by myself.”

  Raav’s eyebrows twitched in surprise, but he nodded. “I’ll catch up with our other friends while I wait,” he said.

  My eyes flicked to the captain. Tension roosted on his frame. I needed to get this over quickly to spare him the agony of suspense.

  “Thanks,” I said quietly before leading the way to the cabin.

  We entered the small room, Captain Altak quietly shutting the door behind us. He still carried the jug of whiskey in one hand, and now raised it. “Why do I get the feeling I won’t be celebrating today?”

  Pressing my lips together, I stepped around the table and sat on the bench behind it. The wood was smooth and warm beneath my palms, but not slick. I remembered scenes from Zyri’s time, how the Vanished shipwrights had worked a particular resin into their wood planks. When fresh, it had smelled like licorice. More importantly, it protected the wood from decay. Zyri’s Promise was more than a thousand years old, yet her hull and furniture was as sound as the day she was launched.

  Captain Altak had taken the seat across from me. I raised my gaze to his face, taking in the week’s worth of stubble that forested his jaw, the lines etched by many years at sea, the row of gold earrings shining in his right ear. He blinked, and the knot of cartilage at his throat rose and fell when he swallowed.

  “Nyralit wanted me to tell you it gave her joy to know you escaped Trader Ulstat’s ambush.”

  His jaw worked while he nodded. The captain’s features seemed locked behind a mask just barely tacked in place. One slip and his true feelings would break free.

  “My guess is she was held prisoner aboard that schooner. Same as you. Got free before it sank.”

  There was no hint of accusation in his voice, but I felt it all the same. I’d been with her, and if she was gone, it meant I’d failed to protect her.

  “She saved my family, Captain.” I paused, curling my toes inside my shoes. “In Istanik Harbor, you asked me to call you Vidyul. I’m sorry I wasn’t ready to.”

  He blinked as he nodded. “It’s your choice.”

  I swallowed. “Vidyul, Nyralit was wounded during my family’s escape from the Ulstat manor house. An Ulstat guard got his sword past her defenses. The rest of us had to run, or they’d have captured or killed us all.”

  The captain’s face started to twist. His hands, thick fingers relaxed upon the tabletop, began to tremble. Outside, gulls shrieked. Pulleys in the rigging rattled against masts when a breeze knocked the ship.

  “But you don’t know for sure. You saw her take a sword and then…?” He trailed off as if hoping I’d finish the sentence in a way that would give him hope.

  “For a time, I didn’t know for sure. But I know now, Vidyul. I spoke to her. To her spirit, I mean.”

  The man’s eyes closed. Emotions crossed his face, one after the other. Sadness, grief, anger.

  “She loved you—loves you still. She has no doubt you’ll be together again. None of this makes it easier. I know that.”

  His jaw clenched as he opened his eyes. Eyes like the hard gray flint of the crags in the Outer Isles. “The Ulstats did this.”

  “It was Ashhi’s plot. She’s dead now, but her father still lives. I’m sorry.”

  He wrapped one large hand around the other and fixed his gaze on the tabletop. When he spoke, his voice was flat. “We need to be ready to sail before sunset. Please tell Tkira to see to our preparations.”

  A tear slipped down my cheek as I stood. “Captain—Vidyul, can I do anything for you?”

  He shook his head, eyes still locked to the table before him. “I’m glad it was you that told me. Nyralit cared for you deeply. She’d want you to deliver the news. But now I need time alone.”

  Hesitantly, I laid a hand on his forearm and squeezed before heading for the door. The glare outside set my head pounding again. For a moment, the ache in my chest was too much to handle. But I swallowed and stepped out in search of Raav. We had a war to win.

  Chapter Three

  THE FIRST TIME I’d crossed the night line, I was a seventeen-year-old girl trapped in a lie. I’d been afraid of being discovered. I was hiding the truth from my best friend and fighting a daily battle against my guilt. But I hadn’t regretted what I’d done. The Nocturnai had been an opportunity to drag my family from the gutter and to prove I was worth more than the traders claimed.

  I was naïve.

  But I was brave, even then.

  As the Midnight approached the night line, cresting heaving waves and sliding into their troughs, the sun plummeted toward the horizon. Ahead, a dark line crossed the sea as if a storm front hung low over the water. But the sky above was cloudless, and on the horizon, stars pricked the sky. Zyri’s Promise, her sail a glowing beacon over the black waters, had already crossed into the night.

  During our last crossing, the days had been growing short beforehand. Our journey into night had been gradual. Nyralit had explained that the transition to darkness varied with every Nocturnai. The unpredictability was a result of the first cataclysm, I now understood. During the times of the Vanished civilization, the coming of the long-night was always a gentle transition. But after Mavek’s Hands had shattered the balance between fire and aurora, bringing on storms and destruction, the change of seasons had become violent and unpredictable. Sometimes night fell without warning, arriving like a thunderclap. Occasionally, night and day fought for control over the land.

  I thought of the sudden nightfall on Araok Island. Together with Leesa Ulstat’s congregation of spirits, I’d cleansed the aether of the malice-filled Ulstat souls who had given darkness a foothold. But unless Mieshk was stopped, I had no doubt that night would win the Kiriilt Islands eventually.

  Despite what lay ahead, I felt a thrill of anticipation as our ship cut a course for the looming darkness. Finally, I would
end this. I’d join Paono, rescuing him after weeks and weeks of facing Mieshk alone. I’d have a chance to speak to Peldin, the Vanished spokesman. Zyri and I might finally communicate, not as before when her memories had filled my head, but as young woman to young woman. I could be a conduit for her reunion with Tyrak. And maybe with the living and the dead working together, we could restore Ioene to the paradise she had once been.

  As the sun winked out, its last rays kissing the top of the mainmast, I closed my eyes and probed the aether for contact with the nightstrands waiting ahead. But we were still too far from the island. Aside from my connection with Tyrak, only emptiness answered my call. The aether was vast and formless. Yet at the very fringe of my perception, I still had the sense—first experienced on Araok Island—that a great malevolence lurked.

  Unlike the Nocturnai’s voyage, where we kept the custom of burning only red flames, cheery yellow glow spilled from the ship’s lanterns when the crewmen set the wicks alight.

  Raav was manning the helm. I paused beside him, stood on tiptoes, and kissed his cheek. The smile he gave me warmed me from the inside out.

  Pulling my cloak tighter over the leather armor I now wore at all times, I turned for the ladder. As I moved about the ship, I was careful not to fiddle with the straps holding my armor in place. Caffari’s band had insisted on the extra protection, but they also laughed when I squirmed in response to its chafing. My discomfort might have been humorous at first, but it wouldn’t be now. Not with darkness surrounding us. The people aboard this ship needed a leader, not a novice who couldn’t handle sleeping in armor.

  Inside my cabin, Tyrak slipped the bounds of the dagger. His ghostly presence joined me as I sat on my bunk, a quiet companionship that demanded nothing of me. When I opened my hand, I felt his warm palm slide over mine, our fingers clasping.

  I’m worried I won’t live up to everyone’s faith in me, I said.

  I’m sure every leader in history has thought the same thing. But they kept going, and that’s what matters.