Little Shadow//Shadow & Bone

three

I follow Alina into Nikolai's cabin.

"Did Mal tell you to alter course?" Alina asks.

"No, that would be your captain," Nikolai tells her.

"Why?" Alina questions.

"It's a brief change to make use of an Eastern wind," Nikolai explains. "We'll make better time. Your tracker wouldn't say why, but of all of the islands, he believes the Sea Whip is here." Nikolai points to an island on the map on his desk. "You want to explain that?"

Alina shakes her head. "No."

"What's this about?" Nikolai asks.

"I'm the client," Alina reminds him.

"No client of mine has ever made such demands," Nikolai states.

"No client of yours can do what I can do," Alina argues.

"Well, fair enough," Nikolai admits. "But that's not what this is about, is it?"

"What do you mean?" Alina asks.

"Trust is a tricky needle to thread for both of us. You need to trust that I don't have some ulterior motive, and I need to trust we aren't chasing a myth," Nikolai explains. "The difference is you behave like somebody who's already been betrayed. And that puts you in a tight spot for the task ahead. You can't do it all on your own. You need me."

"And you need me if you're going to get your money," Alina tells him. "We both know that's only as long as I remain valuable to you."

"Well, you are very fancy cargo, it's true," Nikolai says. "But do you really understand why? It's not just because you'll destroy the Fold. It's because you're a symbol. You're not just sunshine, sunshine. You're hope for the future. Seems it's not me who needs convincing of that. It's you."

Tamar walks into the room. "We're close."

Nikolai smiles widely as he grabs his jacket. "Time for my favorite part!"

Nikolai calls everyone together.

"Thanks to navigation from our Summoner's tracker friend here, we've traversed the Bone Road to the island of Jelka," Nikolai states. "As for the Sea Whip, we have some storybook drawings, no telling what it really looks like. Rule of thumb for the unknown." Nikolai pulls a cord and reveals a wall of weapons. "Come prepared!"

"Are all pirates this well-armed?" Mal asks.

"Privateer," Nikolai reminds him.

"I don't know the difference," Mal tells him.

"The difference is I have a license," Nikolai explains. "And a healthy love for innovation. Gadgets, marvels, things that go boom. Anything pique your interest?"

Mal nods. "Yeah."

"Well, take it, for our excursion," Nikolai tells him. Mal steps forward and picks up a harpoon gun. "Fabulous choice. You have excellent taste in weaponry, Mal. The cable's Fabrikator-made. Tensile strength of 80,000. Yield, 50."

"Impossible," Mal insists.

"When people say "impossible," they usually mean "improbable."" Nikolai states.

Mal Laughs lightly. "Not me. It's incredible."

"I designed it myself," Nikolai informs us. "In fact, my inventions are all around you. You just have to know where to look. So, we'll go in quietly, on Miss Starkov's orders, to injure it for your death blow."

"I'm not killing it," Alina states.

"You have to kill it, to claim its power," Tamar insists. "That's how amplifiers work."

"It wasn't with the Stag," Alina explains. "I think I can do it without killing it."

Nikolai scoffs. "As... As lovely as that sounds, I'm not sending my crew in to tame a mythical beast with nets and good intentions."

"This is the job you were hired for, privateer," Alina reminds him. "We capture it. Alive."

One of the crew walk into the room. "We've reached the island."

Everyone heads up topside. There's a large storm looming over the island.

"Well, that's not foreboding," Nikolai remarks.

"Could be anywhere in there," Tolya says.

Mal points to a cave on the cliffside. "We enter through that one."

"You sure?" Tamar asks.

"There's a frequency. I've heard it before," Mal explains. "It's in there."

"You heard him. We're going ashore!" Nikolai shouts.

While I don't particularly want to go searching for a mythical amplifier on this island, I won't leave Alina to do it with Mal and a crew she doesn't know.

We wade through the knee-deep water in the cave. Everyone stops when we hear a splash.

"That could be it."

"Grevyen, tell me. Anything in the water?" Nikolai asks.

Grevyen sticks his hand in the water causing ripples. I realize now that he's Grisha.

"There are holes in the cave floor," Grevyen tells Nikolai. "So be careful where you step. Otherwise, no."

"No, you can't tell, or no, there's nothing in there?" Mal asks.

"Whichever makes you feel more comfortable," Tolya offers.

"Comfort's overrated," Tamar states.

Suddenly I hear a high-pitched sound like an animal. I scream as I see the Sea Whip descend form a hole in the ceiling and grab the man from beside me.

"Drop the nets!" Nikolai shouts. "Aim to kill!"

"No! Don't!" Alina protests.

"I couldn't see it. It's toying with us," Nikolai says. "Conserve your ammo or we'll be dry by the time we need it."

Suddenly the Sea Whip grabs another sailor.

"It can camouflage," I state.

Mal pushes Alina out of the way as the Sea Whip lunges at her. The Sea Whip growls as it disappears again.

"It sounds like it's everywhere," Nikolai states.

The Sea Whip shows itself once more. Tolya swings his blade at it. The Sea Whip grabs hold of Mal's speargun. Alina hits it with a stream of light killing it.

"It's dead," Nikolai states.

After talking a few of the Sea Whips scales we return to the ship.

"We hold ourselves bound to this mission. To ensure that our fallen crew did not die in vain," Nikolai says. "And we honor the ultimate sacrifice that they made in our quest to find the Sea Whip. Let us bow our heads for the crew lost today. Let the sea carry them to a safe harbor, and may the Saints receive them on a brighter shore."

"May the Saints receive them," everyone says.

Tolya and Tamar each place a scale down on a barrel.

"Alina, we're ready," Nikolai tells her.

Mal grabs Alina's hand. "Ready?"

Alina nods her head. "Yeah."

Alina steps forward. The Zemeni woman from earlier fuses one of the scales to Alina's wrist.

"Are you all right?" she asks.

"I'm fine," Alina tells her. "Second scale, please."

She fuses the second scale. Light starts to glow through Alina. Light starts to pour from her hands.

"Get back!" Nikolai shouts.

"Alina! Alina! Alina!" Mal shouts.

Finally, Alina comes back to herself as Mal hugs her and the light disappears. The two kiss.

Nikolai clears his throat. "Well then, where to now, Summoner?"

"East Ravka, then the Fold," Alina tells him.