Fear's Union

Chapter Nine

—Kantal—

Kantal owed his life to the captain of the Mithras. That was annoying. The man was a smug bastard. This boat was the only one still floating, saved by the foresight of the cursed sea captain. The others were now burning shells, skeletal beings of gaunt angles and distressed lines. Just like his ambitions. The sky was smeared with the grey haze of defeat; his defeat. A few wisps floated over the city, signs of how close he had come, but close wasn't good enough. It never had been. Many had come close, but all had failed. He was another mark on that list.

How?

He leaned against the aft rail, watching his defeat settle in the distance. He had escaped, taken swiftly by his horse to the sanctuary of this ship, but others had not been so fortunate. Many others suffered.

The enemy masses – and they were masses – were spreading over the horizon, descending to the edge of the estuary. Why were they here? They should have been at the borders, embattled. That was the plan. Had the Mikaetans betrayed him? No, that wasn't it. There was no point in that. But the enemy had arrived, and his faithful men were dying.

Some of his men were wading into the water, pleading with him to return and save them. But he couldn't. He had to leave them to their fate, and it was all because he'd failed. They were being dragged under by their heavy armour, and they were doing it willingly. His men would rather die than be prisoners of the Mandari heathens. But he couldn't go back for them. They were dying for his failure, and so he would watch. He recognised a few faces, even at distance, and recounted a few stories. They were good men, lost to some treachery. Yes. Lost to treachery. It must be treachery. It must be. There was no other way his plans could have failed.

What were they doing in Altunia in such numbers? The place should have been empty; a ghost town. But no. The damned Mandahoi monsters were flaunting themselves upon the ramparts. Not just any mandahoi either, but Keles his damned bloody self! The greatest for a generation, a man who should have been patrolling the embattled fringes of the country, and instead he was here. What was he doing here?

"Ouch." He was clawing at the wooden rail, and his nail bent back. He grimaced, and looked into the water, at his disturbed reflection in the wake of the ship. At his failure. He had spent a lot of his king's money, and he had failed. It would be hard to tell his king, and he wasn't sure he'd survive that meeting. They had a strong relationship, but was it this strong? He wasn't so sure.

There was a cough, and he turned. The bastard captain was right next to him.

"Has exit been secured? I was not aware this was a return journey."

The words scalded him, and he jerked towards the man, grimacing. Threatening. No, he couldn't. This bastard was his salvation. He smoothed over his reaction, easing up and putting a hand to the small of his back. He grimaced, pretending pain. It was not hard. His body was a rich feast of the stuff.

"I fear that nothing is certain now. Act on the assumption that enemies will be at every corner. I suspect we have been deceived." That was the truth of it too. He had paid his way through the door, and smoothed every possible crack. It had been underhand, devious, and brilliant, and yet it had failed. It was a double-cross, a bloody double-cross. It had to be. All that planning; all that effort; all that money. Gone. It was the Enabler. It had to be. That was a relationship with an alarmingly lacking basis.

The captain nodded, a sneer at the corner of his mouth. He was regretting his earlier arrogant behaviour, such as it was. But he'd been so confident. It was the perfect plan, and it had failed. And now he had to rely on this man to take him to his king. That was no pleasant prospect.

"I will tread carefully. And oh, by the way. A gull arrived."

He froze. What was this? News of some sort, and probably too late. He grunted in response.

"It was from Nazalia. It appears that two dragons made a grand appearance there, wreaking all sorts of havoc. Remarkable, huh?"

He shivered. "Indeed. What fortune." The captain toyed with him, sneering. "And?"

"The dragons are dead. It appears that the enemy have a dragon-slayer in their ranks."

The captain walked off, leaving him to his simmer. It was the Axis. It had to be. Who was he? He was a freak, that's what he was. Keles was the greatest Grey of a generation, and yet this man was something else entirely. It was the Axis who'd undone his precious plans. The Axis and the Enabler.

He called out to the captain. He needed at least a tiny victory, and he captain duly turned.

"They were sendeté, not dragons."

It was semantics, but it was all he had. The Axis and the Enabler had relieved him of the rest.