34 Great Things

AFTER PUSHING THEIR WARGS to exhaustion reaching the coast, Asher Tone now found himself on the deck of a longship, holding the ameliorate device in his hands. The ruby at the centre of the concentric rings glowed with strength. He’d never seen it so bright, not since the day he’d first crafted it.

There were other longships on either side, all prows aimed for the southern coast of Adalalcas and the imperium, and moving at tremendous speed. Nephilim longships could normally reach speeds of up to 20 knots at their quickest, propelled by the strength of Nephilim rowers.

He didn’t know why it was working. He hadn’t done anything, but the king had been anxious they wouldn’t reach the Adalalcas coast in time. Ralan had shared that anxiety for he knew he had a purpose, a role to fulfil. Perhaps the ameliorate fed off of his desires, or his fears. Maybe both? The ship beneath him groaned and Asher was sure he heard a cracking sound. They were moving at least 43 knots, but the ameliorate wasn’t done. It seemed determined to pull them on faster. The rowers proved had unnecessary, of course, unable to keep up with such speeds.

‘What else does it do?’ asked Desool looming over him, casting a formidable shadow. ‘Apart from cutting our journey to half the time?’

Asher found he couldn’t look away from it as he answered. ‘I don’t know, to be honest.’ The ship groaned louder, and Asher thought he might soon be in for another swim. He prayed to the angels above, something he was not known for, that the ships held together long enough.

‘What did you mean it to do, when you created it?’

Asher shook his head, thinking back to his encounter with Adal on the sinking remnants of Atlantis. Of course, he now knew who the old bearded man had been. An angel, the greatest of them all, if not quite the oldest. He had laid a hand on Asher’s shoulder and told him he was needed.

‘When I made it, it just sort of ... happened. Everything I made before it had a purpose in mind, followed a specific design. But this, it wasn’t something I made with my mind, but rather with ...’

‘Your heart,’ the king of the Nephilim finished for him. ‘Then it is truly a great device meant for something incredible.’

The Atlantian looked up into that smiling warm face. For someone so big, so muscular and martial, armoured, and armed, Desool managed to exude comfort. Truly a great king, greater than either of their father’s had been, or than he might have been had things been different. ‘How do you know?’

‘Our greatest creations come from the heart,’ he said, patting him on the shoulder, in a manner eerily similar to Adal. ‘We are nearing the southern coast. Once ashore, you will be alone. I cannot spare anyone to watch you. Do your best to keep up, and then do whatever you’ve come to do.’

‘And,’ asked the former Atlantian prince, ‘if I don’t know what that is?’

That massive hand gave his shoulder a squeeze, the power in those fingers capable of crushing bone, and yet instead they gave him hope. ‘You will know, I think. I see a pattern emerging, and you are part of it.’

‘I’m sorry about your sister,’ Asher blurted, feeling like a fool. I should have kept my mouth shut.

However, the giant king just smiled, sadness in his eyes, but also, a determination. He had something to do and he would see it done.

A sharp crack followed by a deep groan snapped Asher’s head to starboard. Another longship, floundered in the waves, its prow split. Nephilim barely had time to rip off their armour before diving into the heaving waves.

‘We don’t stop,’ the Nephilim king bellowed. Then in a whisper only Asher could hear, he added, ‘We can’t.’

Asher felt as though something was guiding him, or rather someone. Was it Adal, or some more mysterious force. He’d often heard the Spectrum referred to as though it had an intelligence all its own. Perhaps it did, he didn’t know.

It was comforting in a way, to know that someone or something had a plan. All he had to do was play out his part in it. He knew he needed to find Threadfin Todder, to be near the undead mage, and he needed to do so with the ameliorate in his hands. What would happen, he couldn’t guess, but he had to trust that whatever it was, it was for the best.

The closer to Adalalcas they got, the brighter the ruby glowed, the faster the Atlantian prince’s heart thumped in his chest, and the louder the ships groaned.

‡

Just over a day later, the first of the surviving Nephilim ships had been dragged onto the stony beaches south of the Gulley. Thick smoke billowed in the distance as giants leapt onto land. It was nothing like the army Asher had heard stories of, the one that had attacked Byrsa years earlier. These warriors were all the king had left to him, and they numbered a few hundred. Still, a few hundred Nephilim was nothing to be sneezed at.

True to his word, Desool and his few did not wait for him, but rushed at speed up the slight incline and over the dunes towards the distant sounds of battle.

The ameliorate tucked safely into his belt pouch, Asher did his best to follow, but was soon left behind. There was no keeping up with a Nephilim running at full speed, but then he had to trust that he would arrive in time to play his part. He could only hope he would survive it.