The Leviathan - Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

The ruined fishermen’s village gave way to sandy beach, which curved round the coast and led to Aven town. Magus moved with care, seeking the node that could free him from his current dilemma. The town had faired considerably better than the fishing huts. Debris littered in corners throughout the town, scattered sea paraphernalia and wreckage of the harbour and seafronts blown in from the storm. Apart from the occasional broken shutter and rare insertion of a felled tree through the structure, most of the shops and houses of Aven would endure another day.

The land pulsed in mockery.
A pounding like thunder, except from underneath the earth.
The entire world had trembled for a second then was still, the only evidence of anything atypical in the continued ripples on watery puddles left by the storm. Magus had been quick to judge the town.
Nothing on Aven would survive the day, the beast lurked below.

Fear - chills down his spine drove Magus with desperate purpose into the town. The onyx shard was close, its vibrations giving mixed chills through Magus’s body. There between two houses, collapsed in rubble to form a new arrangement on the street, the beat of the onyx. Magus climbed, and then crawled, passing remains of walls and furniture. Everything that had made the building looked to stop Magus, collected rubble buckled under his struggling body in his attempts to reach the peak. Shoving aside the broken frame of a window, Magus looked down on the allusive gleam of black in the pit. His onyx, a piece anyway. Magus reached,

“I wouldn’t friend”.

Magus didn’t have time to find the owner of the warning voice. A moment later a figure landed on the opposite peak of rumble. Ocean blue armour on leather undergarments and the stance of a man trained for battle. His features were narrow, pointing nose, eyes far apart, one of the out-islanders – interesting.

“And Why should I abandon what is mine, at the words of a stranger”, Magus scorned at his guest.

The fighter laughed in his crude manner, “Sorry if it yours. Already tried to flinch your precious rock. Near burned the skin from ma hand”, he chuckled as he raised his left palm for Magus to see.

Raw blisters lined the grooves of his fingers and palm, a rough swath of cloth folded over to block out dirt. So even in pieces the node still burned with predicted sorrow. Ignoring the out-islander, he followed the contours of the onyx with his outstretched hand, careful not to physically touch it. His senses flared with clarity and Magus reached out across the island for his landship. It was close, only a short distance further into the town. After the fortune that had brought Magus into the storm on the eve of Aven’s death, Magus couldn’t believe his luck, his landship was within reach and he possessed a large enough fragment of his node to guide the ship away.

“You man, I seek my ship in that direction. It is large; you would not have missed it”

“That way, General’s got survivors scouring the town and harbour for materials. Plans to sail off Aven on rafts. If your ship there, he’ll of already found it. Follow me” the man jumped off the rubble and skirted past the buildings out of reach.

He moved like he was in his native jungles, what strange circumcises had led the man half way round the world, to a small island in the republic. He could wonder when he was safe. Magus had to move fast to keep him in view, causing him to fall head first down the slope of collected wreckage he was on.
Echoes of laughter reached Magus’s ears,

“Not too quick on your feet, are you Wizard man. Name’s Yurin. Got a joke, keep to yourself, Already heard them all. Part from that, we be good friends”

Yurin pointed down the street and dashed off again. Magus had had enough of the man’s laughter, and quaint speech, so continued with a dignified saunter behind him. His senses were still heightened from his search through the onyx, he knew where he was going, Yurin or no Yurin.
The buildings grew larger and more spaced apart. Ragged citizens darted to and fro, carrying broken timbers and tattered sheets of assorted cloths found among the rubble. On one of the wooden warehouses, on the sea-faring front, a considerable rock had crashed through. Leaving a soldering hole in the structure, ruined timbers continued to rain down on the harbour below, pelting the walkways. Magus thanked whatever higher power had left his landship whole. Though how he was to move it into the water, Was anyone’s guess? If he hadn’t been weakened from his night’s trials, and had hours to concentrate on the mass of stone, Magus wouldn’t have worried. But as if in link with his worried mind, the island rumbled as the Leviathan beat against the stone underbelly of Aven. Vibrations shook the whole town. Stray wreckage shuddered all around dislodging additional dust and debris into the square. Searching the busy plaza, Magus located Yurin talking to the clear leader of this rabble. The General was an ox of a man, raw muscles filled out his gleaming armour and his demeanour broke no argument. The first brushing of gray touched his short cut hair and Magus guessed his age to be in his fifties, here was a man that lived for his duties. The General discussed details with Yurin, while bellowing orders at anyone dim enough to stay within his view. Approaching from his rear, Magus caught the end of Yurin’s report.

“Only the wizard, no sign of Queen anywhere along Southern shores, General Horst Sir.”

Horst watched as Magus sauntered up, “You would be our mysterious wizard then”

“General”, Magus nodded in mutual respect.

“How is it, a wizard is on Aven? You are aware this rock is about to be fish food”

“I was a victim of the same storm that most likely washed up your rabble”

Horst ignored Magus to order Yurin, “Yurin, continue the search for the Queen. Don’t return this time without some sign. And you wizard, help my men collect supplies and you may take a place on a raft”

Horst held all the arrogance of one of the Heads of focus at the Order, Magus was tempted to check him for latent power. Instead he took a smug joy in revoking Horst’s order, “You expect to flee The Leviathan on bundled together rafts of broken houses and bed sheets. You won’t survive the first aftershock. Behind us, lodged in your crumbling warehouse is my Landship. You get your men to drag it into the water, send Yurin here to pick up my onyx and you may take a place.”

Magus crossed his arms and locked stares with Horst, a smug smirk on his face. Horst took on the composure of stone. The warm winds blew through the square in the wake. Finally his jaw unhinged,
“Yurin, select someone to pick up this ‘onyx’, then continue with your search. Anything else wizard?” his tenor didn’t broke more requests, but Magus was a wizard, failed and banished but a wizard all the same.

“There are two more fragments of onyx lost within the forest. My strength over the landship will grow, the more pieces I have”

“My men are already scouring the woods. I suggest we get started.” Yurin scurried off, while Horst led Magus to a group of huddled together guards, to relay his new orders.

In no time, rows of guards and servants hooped ropes around the mass of the landship and prepared to struggle it out of the warehouse. Magus watched slowly as the remains of his island emerged. Ragged tops of trees brushed against the remains of the warehouse walls, and Magus sighed. It would be a long time before his ship recovered from its ordeals. As the last edges surfaced, the greater mass fell and scraped along the cobbles of the harbour. If all their hopes didn’t survive on this task, Magus would have wandered out of range of the highly infuriating grating.
Finally the landship ground to a halt on the edges of the harbour shore. Despite all their exertions, the island wouldn’t move the last feet to the water. Horst wandered over to Magus’s space overseeing the undertaking,

“As you can see, we have a problem. I hope you have the means to remedy our predicament”

“It’s not ideal, but with all three node pieces I should be able to force the island into the sea”

“Follow me; the men should be finished in the forest”

Magus and Horst hurried out of the square, towards the tree line. Passing bewildered men and woman dressed more for a formal party, than the hardships of raft-building, Magus chuckled to himself. The lords and ladies of Aven we just like back home, remove their hordes of servants performing every step for them, and they were like newborn babes. Beyond the pampered peacocks, rows of wounded and dead lined the empty streets of Aven.

“I see not all your people endured the storm as well as your men”

“These are only the citizens that washed up amongst the ruins of our ship. Many are still missing, Our Queen numbers one of them”

“Nature takes no note of the titles we dress ourselves with”

“She seems to have spared you”, Horst retorted, before marching on.

The first of the men were emerging from the woods as they entered the open space separating man from nature. Various tree stumps littered the battleground where man had fought with tree in the past. Dirt streaked and unsavoury, Magus lost what little respect he had for Horst’s men. Yurin was annoying, but clearly the only washed man in the guard. Over twenty fetid men lined the General, and two prisoners. A woman and a man, Magus’s mind must be waterlogged; the man was in guard uniform and the woman in classy robes. These weren’t Horst’s men. Pirates or slavers or some other gang of thugs, it seemed three groups were dragged through the storms. Several of Horst’s guards approached from the town, but Magus counted only a dozen. Horst stepped forward,

“Release the Queen”, he ordered in the coldest tone Magus had ever heard. Well as least he’d found her.

One of the Slavers just laughed and stepped forward to confront Horst, “Not so fast Guardsman, you want your Queen, we want a ship. As soon as we’re off this rock, we’ll give you your queen”

“It you escape, We, including the Queen will be a feast for The Leviathan”

“Then we’ll take her with us, and you can hope she gets rescued and your sacrifice won’t be in vain”
They were deadlocked; both leaders just stared at each other. Typical, brains must save the day while brawns posture their muscles.

******************************************************************************

Two slavers still gripped Tay. Lucky they had lost a lot in the storm, Tay found his wrists untied and most of the slavers with only the clothes on their backs. If the chance arose, Tay was ready to tackle his captors and break free. He kept his focus on Diora as they dragged them into the sun, whatever happens he must get her to Horst. Horst and Eye patch had come to a standstill, neither side wanted to start a conflict. With their greater numbers, the slavers had the edge, but Tay had already proved the Guards held the superior skills in combat.

It was growing hot; at first Tay thought his nerves were getting the better of him, but the heat coming off his two captors was beyond natural. Sweat was forming on his face, running down within his eyes. It became so, annoying, of all things. Tay had the overwhelming urge to wipe his face, but the aggravated slavers still held his arms.

The shoulder pad of the left slaver burst into flames. Tay only got to watch the flames flicker for a moment, before they lashed out and consumed the entirety of the man’s clothes. The heat was impossible, in seconds the various miss-matched armours either dissolved into ash or melted and fused with the bubbling skin of the screaming man. A duplicate furnace blazed against Tay’s neck, singeing his hairs and scalding his skin. Tay rushed out of the dispersing grasps of the slavers. He feared for his life and had to cough out sickly black smoke before regaining his senses. The Man subduing Diora had like-wise been consumed in fire. Tay hustled over and grabbed her wrists,

“My Queen, stay on my tail”. Diora was dazed by this unnatural turn of events, but as Tay rushed towards the town, her wrist remained close.

Fighting had broken out all around, various skirmishes between slaver and guard raged. A ratio of three to one dominated the assorted brawls. A strong impulse to aid his men had to be suppressed, Tay had to save the Queen and weapon-less and exhausted, he would be next to useless. His man Pern parried back and forth with a big brute of a slaver, between Tay and freedom. Approaching, Pern preformed a lethal coup de grace on his bleeding rival. The slaver went down in silence and Pern scanned the battlefield for new sport. Tay called over, and grinning like a fool Pern turned and saluted Tay with his sword,

“Second, we wondered where’d you got to. Saving the Queen all on your own, eh”

Pern was one of the youngest Guards, but despite his adolescent demeanour and childish outlook on life, Pern was one the fastest men with a blade Tay had ever seen. And Tay trusted the man with his life,

“Easy Pern, help me escort the Queen to safety”

“Yes sir”, he grinned, blood spray dotting his cheeks.
Pern grabbed the downed weapon of his foe and tossed the handle at Tay. Great, another Cutlass. Scouting the battle, Pern led Tay and Diora through the carnage of blood and limbs, away from the trees and towards the town. Occasionally a slaver would break free and attempt to thwart them, but trying their concentration to the limits against Pern’s lightening fast sword blows, Tay had no trouble circling round. If Pern didn’t finish them during his playing, Tay launched a single blow to the spine and silenced them for good. Soon enough the carnage spaced out and the worse was past.

*******************************************************************************

The onyx burned into his chest. Magus had never tested its limits like this. He wouldn’t be surprised if molten fragments exploded into his flesh, so sudden and intense the powers he had channelled. Without the time to find his concentration zone, the magic had roared through the pendant raw and unchecked, but creating fire was the simplest feat a wizard learned. Finding the fabrics of the three slavers amenable, Magus had talked, soothed the material to listen. It was difficult without picturing all the steps, Magus had to clearly command the fibres to chafe. Constrict and contract, friction, friction, friction, let the heat build, let the water in the air displace, the rays of the sun blaze all the stronger. Convincing something to actually catch fire was the hard part; the onyx pulsed dangerously from lack of protocol, but spreading the furnace, that was simple. The first slaver barely noticed the initial lick of flame, before his whole body burned with a white glow, the others moments later. They were smouldering piles of white ash now; the other slavers were being driven onto the sword points of additional guards. Not long after Magus’s first strike, about a dozen more guards had crept from the forests, surprising the few slavers not staring in awe at the remains of their friends. One was unchaperoned, he spotted Magus. Either bravery or stupidity made him charge at Magus.

I’m a wizard, what does he think he’s doing.

The brute was too stupid to know Magus was helpless. If Magus tried to find his zone, he’d awaken with a bloody hole through his abdomen before he ever performed magic, and the onyx was beyond using. Even now he felt his skin sticking to the pulsing heat of the stone; all Magus had was the broken staff he’d borrowed from the fishermen village. Too late, a giant shelf of metal came flying at Magus. His arms took control and batted the blade with the wood. The following interval of battle became a desperate contest. Magus swung and prodded with the staff, fear lending speed to his defence. The slaver jabbed and slashed with his blade, desire warring with logic as he tried to gut Magus. Unskilled and overmatched, Magus held the slaver back with the greater length of his staff, but he was tiring faster and the blade continued to chip at the end of the staff of wood. Soon he’d have nothing, and then he’d be dead. It was a surreal thought, while the primary part of Magus warred with the terrifying monster trying to empty his blood, a second cold logical part mused on these sudden and strange twists of events. Events that had led Magus from one of the candidates for paramount wizard of his generation, to being gutted like a fish on the uncouth outskirts of Aven.
Both parts of Magus were growing resigned to his fate when, the slaver tensed and a shining point of metal protruded from his chest. As the slaver cried his last and plunged to the swelling floor of blood, Magus was greeted by the calm pose of Yurin wiping the gore from his sword,

“Think you should stick to fire in future, take lot of training for a weedy guy like you to best brute like him”
Magus was so grateful to still be breathing, he didn’t respond to the insult, “Think I’ll let the officials handle local trouble from now on”

The battle was winding to a close, the last slavers throwing down their weapons and pleading for mercy.

“Don’t know, can think a hundred rough goes, you’re fire trick come in handy”. Yurin grinned and held out his hand. Annoying little man, and soaked in all sorts from the scuffle, Magus still braved it and shook the man’s hand.

The battle finished, Yurin led Magus to a gathering beyond the worst of the sights. General Horst was tending to the Queen and the other freed prisoner,

“General, how fares my Racing Aven”

“Lost my Queen, the wreckage litters the eastern shores. But fortune has not forsaken us entirely; a Node Wizard was caught in our storm and has agreed to our passage for aid with his ship”

“To be fair, you’re people haven’t exactly completed their part of the deal”, Magus interjected.

“Queen Diora IV of Aven, Node Wizard...” Horst introduced.

“Magus, Magus Legena”

“It would seem I already owe a debt to my magical rescuer, How can the Head of Aven convince a member of the Order to give further aid?”

“Shall we call a debt to be recalled, perhaps?”

“You are aware my...powers shall be greatly depleted in any future meetings”

“Aah, but the debt of a Queen, even a homeless one, is a treasure few men can carry”

“You would have done well in the courts of Aven, Wizard Legena. Deal”

Diora turned to the prisoner. His uniform matched Yurin’s, though apart from the dried in mud decorating it, in a good deal better state.

“Second Taymous, accompany our Node Wizard. Handle any problems that arise”

“Of course, my Queen”. His voice was weary, but carried the strength of command. With Horst’s implacable stance and Taymous’s sturdy aura of command, the Queen had a strong left and right hand to turn to, it was a shame Magus would never see her play the courts at Illan.

Taymous was looking at Magus, “Perhaps we should secure your ship, Master Wizard”

Magus nodded and waved on Second Taymous. The two men hurried into the town. The remaining people of Aven were all hurrying to gather any supplies and hasten to the landship.

“Taymous, we must hurry. I’ve already felt the beat of the beast; we’re running short on time”

Taymous had stopped by the line of the dead. The wounded were already on their trip to the docks. The more seriously injured being carried on makeshift stretchers.

“My sister was on our ship, I can’t see her anywhere”

“We don’t have time to search the dead”, Magus declared, a last servant was running past holding bedrolls, “You, gather your cluster. My landship is spacious enough, load on the dead”

The man gaped at Magus, but a swift clap sent him running. His actions fell on deaf ears; Taymous continued to hunt through the deceased. In the end Magus left him to his morbid pursue and rushed to his ship. A ladder had been hung off his peninsula, but even still, Magus struggled to climb in the flowing winds. Clearly Yurin wasn’t in sight, no laughter greeted Magus as he rolled his legs indignity onto the peak of the landship. Everything was at a slant, Magus’s joyful strolls through his forest, turned into a dangerous ascent from tree trunk to tree trunk. Even with the devastation of the storm, Magus knew what trees had deep roots and climbed warily but safely towards the heart. Many guards and servants weren’t so lucky and fell to the dangling edges of the island, to cry and beg for aid. With every swipe from bushy branches and meddling twigs, Magus had to breathe out his anger; he needed to be calm to move the island. An iron will was required to keep the island intact. Magus reached the final trees. A pulley of ropes had been hung all around the heart space. Magus had to admit, Horst worked fast, When had he even ordered this?

Years ago in one of the annual parties at the king’s palace, a group of acrobats had entertained in the deep and vast halls of Hayin. Physically jumping through hoops and walking tightropes, while the lords and officials did the same on the single plane below. The battle stayed the same, half followed the Royals, and the others grovelled to the Order. Magus remembered his friends being bored of the spectacle raining up above. Lord something or other had just been caught cheating on four ladies of the court at the same time. It was more fun goading the righteous wife.

It didn’t seem so boring now as Magus reached for the first rope. Course fibres dug deep into Magus’s soft skin as he inched piece by piece towards the heart. Everything rocked with the first real strike of The Leviathan. Magus’s feet fell from beneath him and he held on for dear life, begging the shockwaves to still. A lifetime later, his landship stopped and Magus squirmed to regain his footing. Letting out a deep breath, Magus reached the last few feet with relief. Yurin was grinning at his struggles, his body resting against the tilted circles of the heart.

“You couldn’t have helped, Yurin?”

“An spoil all your fun”, Yurin smiled and held out a wrapped bundle.
This close, the sense of his node was sharp and clear. Magus accepted his onyx, “The other two pieces?”

“Boys picking them up as we speak”

Magus nodded and went to work. Clearing his mind was strange, strange that his body was hanging at an angle, but Magus reached his calm. All the events, starting with the storm, seemed to have drained Magus’s nerves dry. Within his zone, Magus joined with the onyx fragment and restored the link between node and island. A shudder not of the beast passed through the landship, and with the steady beat of stone the landship righted. People all around let out a collective sigh. Pushing his own powers into the onyx, Magus guided the island over the cobbles of the harbour into the waves of the sea. A crashing surge erupted all around, and then everything settled, Magus withdrew. The extra trials of magic had made the onyx burn brighter, the wrapping blowing off as ash in the day breeze. Magus couldn’t wait until he was far, far away from Aven, and he could touch his node without fear of scorching.

Waiting for the last people to climb onboard, Magus decided to test his limits. The menagerie of life on his landship needed time to heal and Aven was about to be ruin anyway. Magus reached out as far as he could, removing the people hurrying towards him from his sights, Magus linked with the plants, wildlife and buildings of Aven and pulled wasted energy. Splitting the Channel, Magus directed the power into himself and his node. Soon, refreshing vibrations, like hours of sleep in feathery bed ran through Magus’s body, and the worst of his weariness was displaced.

A jolt threw throughout Magus’s system. The beast, the great Leviathan, only for the barest of moments Magus had touched it. It was said the beast pulsed with a life-force greater than all of mankind. Magus had never sensed anything so...immense. Even if he could hold all the life on Aven and launch a concentrated attack at The Leviathan, Magus feared the beast wouldn’t even feel him. He was a piece of dust in a maelstrom against the monster.

“Your other rocks. Everyone on, time to go Wizard friend”

Magus just stared for a few seconds, before he noticed the two bundles resting at his feet.

“Time to go indeed”

Creating the link between the three fragments, the two bundles rose in sync with the primary node piece and packaging burning off, they began to circle in greater and greater rings around Magus and the node. Magus directed all the extra powers from Aven, and slowly at first, but rapidly increasing, his landship sped with all haste away from Aven, away from The Leviathan that readied under the waves.

*******************************************************************************

He hadn’t found Brienna, and now it was too late. Tay prayed that she was on the speeding island of the Wizard Magus. Tay was one of the last onboard and he desperately held onto his tree as the winds whipped past with savage pace. The waves were churning white with the speed they fled Aven, his island home for twenty six cycles was already shrinking in size. Something caught on the tips of Tay’s view. He had to turn into the wind to see, pain lanced and his eyes watered, but Tay couldn’t care. A giant mass of flesh was pouring out of the ocean. Skin lumpy and tougher than boiled leather, with an undertone of corpse gray interlaced with the throbbing red, rose towering over their tiny moving rock. The first tentacle of The Leviathan blotted the sun it’s width double, triple that of their vessel, and Tay was submerged in shadow as he raced through the trees to Magus.

“We’re heading straight for it. Turn, TURN” he screamed into the crowds of people, huddling round the straining Wizard.

“I KNOW, I KNOW, WE’RE GOING TOO FAST” Magus snapped.

Sweat poured down Magus’s face, two pieces of black stone sliced round him with terrifying speed. Magus groaned, and then lunged toward the centre piece of rock. The scorching of his flesh was so loud, even through the deafening winds. Tay winced before Magus could scream out, his palms smoking on the black stone. The whole island shuddered, then jumped to the right. Everyone but Magus was thrown, Tay crashed into the trunk of a tree, the crowds fell amongst themselves and the island built greater and greater speed. The mass of the tentacle slowly disappeared from Tay’s view through the broken tree tops. His heart still pumping furiously, Tay made his way out of the forest. More Tentacles had risen. At least thirty varying in size surrounded the prone form of Aven. As Tay sped to safety and an unknown future, weapons beyond mortal means crashed upon the Island of Aven.