Born of Darkness (William King) - William King Page 0,2
He pulled the elder sign from under his tunic and wrapped the chain around the pommel of his sword where it emerged from the scabbard.
I will do that, a flat voice whispered inside his head, so small as to almost make him think he was imagining things.
“Hurry,” he said. She raced back to the prow.
***
Left. Lost in a world of fatigue, soaked to the skin, Kormak responded to the voice in his head. His arms ached from forcing the great wheel into motion and from clinging to it when the giant waves swept over the ship. The cracked mast hovered over him, threatening death if it should topple.
Enough. Hold her steady. We’re heading into another wave.
He forced himself to grip the wheel, even as the ship fought him, the rudder trying to swing in the rip of the current.
The wind froze his flesh. The wheel fought his control. His hands were frozen into claws.
Hold her steady. The lights are closer.
Kormak opened his eyes just in time for more spray to set them stinging. He did not want to take his hands from the helm to wipe them so he squinted into the rain. Was Rhiana right? Was there a glow on the horizon? Or was it just a storm lantern swinging in the wind?
Where were the sailors? Why did Zamara not get up and help him? He felt as if he was sailing through some cold hell on a ship crewed by the dead with only the voice of madness in his head for company.
The wind howled and roared and gibbered like an insane god. Perhaps the ship was cursed. Perhaps some taint left over by the Quan had doomed them all.
Hard left!
Kormak swung the wheel. It fought him with the strength of a demon. The damn ship had a will of its own. It was determined to doom them all. He pushed as hard as he could, throwing his weight to one side. Inch by inch, the rudder moved, and the ship’s prow swung onto the new course.
Enough. Hold her there.
His fingers slipped. The wheel spun with irresistible force. The wooden handle hit him on the forehead, the force of the blow like a punch from an orc. His legs threatened to give way. Instead, he willed himself to reach out and grab the handles again.
What are you doing? Hard left! Hard left now or we will be swamped!
Throwing every remaining ounce of strength into the struggle, he fought the wheel around.
Look up!
Kormak saw a distant golden light breaking through the storm clouds.
It is the sunstone atop the Palace Imperial. We are on course.
Kormak tried to hold course for the distant light. How much longer could he keep this up?
CHAPTER TWO
KORMAK GRITTED HIS teeth and gripped the wheel. Salt spray stung his eyes. Cold water swirled around his feet, shifting Zamara’s body. The captain’s eyes opened. He gave a sick grin then felt at his head.
“You look as if you could use some help,” he said as he used the rail to pull himself to his feet.
Zamara shaded his eyes with his hand and squinted into the distance. “By the Holy Sun, man! What have you done?”
“What now?” Kormak managed to force the words out of his numbed mouth.
Zamara slapped his back. “You’ve taken us into Trefal Harbour. If we can just get past the Wizard’s Isle we are safe.”
The realisation hit Kormak. Over the past few minutes, the sea had become less rough and the ship ran much smoother.
Zamara bellowed orders. Men pulled themselves out from below decks. The captain strode over and put his shoulder to the wheel.
“Not much further now.”
***
The Wizard’s Isle jutted from the sea. Its thousand windows blazed with light as they scudded past.
Beyond the tower lay a wide bay where the sea was far less rough than beyond the jaws of the headlands. A massive rock, like a sawn off mountain, rose above the city. On it perched the Palace Imperial. Above its highest roofs loomed a mighty tower. At its tip a golden glow pierced the night, like the first light of the sun peeking over the horizon at dawn.
Rhiana raced up the stairs to the sterncastle without stopping to ask the captain’s permission. Ahead of them, the harbour was full of the masts of ships, clustered together like a herd of beasts in a snowstorm. Apart from the main body was another smaller group of much larger ships.
Kormak unclenched his fingers from around the wheel and staggered to the guardrail. Rhiana