Chapter Fourteen

The boat approached the shore, and Mercury and Garrett could hear the sounds of swords clashing with other swords and hammers. Mercury jumped out of the boat to halt its advance, quickly restraining it and planting his feet firmly in the ground. The boat’s swift forward movement stopped within moments and Garrett and Viktoria leaped nimbly to the dry ground. Mercury tied the boat to a nearby pole and followed.

As they approached the main camp the mages had set up, Viktoria returned herself to as human a form as she could. The few people who were in the camp were too busy to pay attention to the two people who carried all their hopes. They paused once to ask where the Master Mage was, and were met with a questioning on their identity. Once they had their information, they headed towards the front line of the battle.

Near the end of the camp was a large tent within which a torch was flickering. At the tent’s door was a stake with a flag on it. Mercury stepped into the tent. Within moments, there was a knife at his neck and a hand was pulling at his hood. Another moment later, Garrett had tackled the aggressor and wrestled him to the ground with a grunt. Yet another second after, Mercury had pulled Garrett off the figure of the Master Mage.

“Are you all right?” Mercury asked, kneeling beside him.

“Yes, yes, find,” the Master Mage said. “Quite a defense you put up there.”

“Why thank you,” Garrett replied jokingly.

“Well? Did you find it? Are we safe?”

“Not quite,” Mercury answered quietly. “It’s in the Old Quarter. We just came to let you know where we’re going. How’s the battle coming?”

“We’ve managed to destroy the portal, but the Trickster’s forces are already massive. With the additional forces we received during the past four days, we’ve managed to surround his forces on all sides, including the sea. Of course, he couldn’t get away by sea anyways, but better safe than sorry with the Trickster.”

“How many of… ours… are dead?”

“Over one thousand. Those are ours. I don’t know about the City’s casualties.”

“I’m going to go visit the other side as well,” Garrett said. “We need to see if they’re holding out as well, because this might take a while to find.”

Mercury agreed, and they took their leave of the Master Mage. Viktoria was waiting for them outside the tent.

“So?” she asked.

“We’re going to go see the other side to make sure we have enough time to look for this,” Garrett replied, pointing at the parchment in his hand. Viktoria nodded and they began to walk out of the mage camp. Suddenly, Mercury dodged left and a dagger whizzed through the spot he had just been in. He whirled around in time to see a dark shape disappearing into a tent.

“Mordak,” he muttered right before sprinting to the tent. Garrett ran around the other side. Inside was Mordak, sprawled on the ground with an arrow protruding sickly from his back. Mercury stood over him, looking out of the tent, trying to find the enemy. Garrett was looking down on Mordak with an air of surprise about him.

“What did you see?” Garrett asked, stepping forward.

“Nothing.” Mercury replied simply. Garrett and Mercury stood there for several seconds, then both left, abruptly and at the same time. They rejoined Viktoria and the three continued towards the sea in complete silence.

As they approached the ocean, the quiet, soothing sound of the waves reached their ears… mixed with the guttural, ill-pronounced sound of apeman speech. The two thieves pulled out their swords and Garrett gestured Viktoria to the side. The small forest they were in – more like a grove – gave way to the wide beach… and a boat where there had been none before. Standing knee-deep in the water were two apemen.

Mercury had gotten used to apemen. However, the fact that they were in the sea froze his blood within his very veins. He rubbed his eyes several times, and the fact that they were still there made his heart pound faster to try to move the frozen blood through his body.

With a yell, Garrett leaped ahead. Mercury followed a moment later, and the two surprised apes were quickly cut down. Once the bloody work was done, the two looked at the two filthy apes, and, a moment later, the bodies sizzled and disappeared. Garrett gasped, and Mercury looked grimly on.

“How were they in the sea?” Mercury asked.

“What?” Garrett answered, not understanding Mercury’s question.

“According to Cray, the sea is infused with a magik so that evil cannot enter it. How were the apes able to go into the sea?”

“The Trickster has learned to get around the magik.” Viktoria said, stepping out of the trees. “During the time he had the Keeper medal, he managed to uncover some spells; that was one of them. He found a way to get around it after he arrived here.”

“Wait a minute,” Mercury said, “how do you know about the Keeper medal?”

“Foolish thief, do you think I am an idiot?” she asked. “I didn’t tell him right away that I was no longer on his side. First I made sure to know as much as I could about his return.”

“Hey, we can discuss this on the way to the warships,” Garrett interceded. Viktoria got into the boat, and Mercury and Garrett pushed off. Then, as they began to row, Mercury continued the conversation.

“So you mean he can send out troops to surround the Mages and the City’s citizens?”

“That is exactly what I mean,” Viktoria agreed. “And it may present quite a problem.”

“Not if we warn them,” Mercury said. “Then they’ll be ready.”

“Maybe so, but without reinforcements, the effectiveness of their assault will drastically drop if the Trickster’s forces get around.” The boat continued to slice through the clean water as Mercury looked thoughtfully at its smooth, marble-like surface. The smooth water was soon wracked by ripples, which then turned into small waves. Mercury looked up to find his vision dominated by the large, sleek figures of the warships. Garrett yelled to the sailors to throw down a ladder, and a rope soon fell from the side of the ship. Viktoria stayed in the small boat as the two thieves made their way up the long rope.

As they arrived at the top, they got on the deck, where the captain of the entire fleet was waiting for them, cloaked in the traditional black of a Mage of Shadow.

“Mercury, Garrett. Welcome back. Did you find the information? Come, I’m being impolite. Come to my cabin,” he said. They followed him straight to his cabin. Inside, there was a short man clad in red, a Hammerite priest, if Mercury remembered correctly.

“Captain!” he exclaimed as soon as the captain entered. “Captain, the most terrible news. We have caught sight of the fiendish ape creatures in the sea! I beseech thee, explain what is happening! Thou mayst very well lose if we do not know what is occurring!”

“Calm down, Priest,” the captain said. “You have caught sight of nothing. You know very well the Trickster’s minions cannot enter the ocean. Stop speaking foolishness.”

“But… ‘tis not foolishness! I saw it with mine own eyes!!”

“Captain,” Mercury intervened.” It is no foolishness. Garrett and I slew two apebeasts that were knee deep in the sea. They dissolved soon after we killed them.”

“Preposterous,” the captain said. “Apebeasts can’t do that or my name is not Ahab!”

“Ahab?” Mercury asked. “Your name is Captain Ahab?”

“That is correct.” To the bewilderment of those present, Mercury burst out laughing. Once his laughter was subdued, he excused himself, and, after several futile attempts at explanation, just waved his hand and gave up.

“Never mind,” he said. “Let’s get back to the topic at hand, shall we?”

“That we shall,” Ahab said, “that we shall. You saw apebeasts in the sea? How?”

An associate of min said the Trickster has found a way around the spell. Apparently, during the time he had the Keeper Medal, he broke that spell. Or, at least, he found it. He broke it while he was here.”

“Then we are not as safe as we believe. I will send the news on to all the ships. The size of the night watch will be doubled. We will try to stay more alert. The transports should return with more reinforcements soon. We will take some of them onto the ships and send a message back that more ships must be constructed.”

“One more thing. We know for sure that the information on the Trickster’s destruction, if it exists, is in the Old Quarter. It may take a while to find it.”

“Thank you for the news. It’s probably saved the whole attempt to destroy the Trickster once and for all.”

Garrett and Mercury quickly exited the room and went down the ladder… to the boat that wasn’t there. In the distance, they saw a limp figure being thrown off their boat by a strange beast.

“Viktoria!” Garrett yelled. He leaped into the water and began to swim towards the spot where the body had been thrown overboard with powerful stroked.

“Garrett!” Mercury called. “Damn,” he muttered under his breath as he began to swim quickly towards Garrett. His tall body moved quicker than Garrett’s slightly shorted frame. Mercury quickly caught up to him.

“Garrett, there are Norlafish in these waters! You could get killed, and Viktoria’s probably already dead! You’re carrying a bow, a sword, and sundry arrows, all of which are weighing you down. Let’s go!” Garrett turned violently and his eyes were filled with hate.

“The Trickster’s dead meat,” he snarled.