Sarabande: River of Falcons Book 4

23. Lifting the Wreck

"Here, Old One. The new version of the chant," a wrinkled elder said, pulling a scroll out of her billowing black cloak and handing it to Nautilus.

"Hmm," Nautilus said as she reviewed it. "I hope you've got it right this time." She handed it back.

In the background, Magus snorted. Clearly he was doubtful of Nautilus's assistants.

"We re-read the old scrolls about animaldominus spells, and added some new lines to make the instructions clearer," she said, ignoring Magus. "And we used that scroll you took from June about invoking the Hephastian Spirits."

Magus turned from his work supervising a team of men who were erecting a tall board covered with rune-carvings. "Hephastian Spirits? Why would you want to do that? They control the heat deep within the ground. What could that possibly have to do with raising a ship?"

Nautilus smiled. "We're going to bring heat up underneath the vessel. Hot gasses will bubble up under it, lifting it off the seabed. Then the whales will be able to get under it and lift it the rest of the way. That was the problem last time. They couldn't get their noses under it. All they did was bump it around. I dove later and had a look at it. It's partially buried in silt. But the big trunk you seek is still there. I could see it through a crack in the hull."

Magus nodded. "Gasses might work. Worth a try anyway. I'll just finish up with these stabilizing runes and then I'll join you in the boat. Go ahead and push off. I'll fly out in a minute."

The sailors who had been conscripted into service leaned on their long oars and eased the fishing-boat away from the beach. It was calm and the boat drifted gently out. "Will we need the sails, Ma'am?" one asked. "If so, we'll need to drop the centerboard."

"No. Just row us over to the buoy that marks the site," Nautilus said.

"Very well," the sailor replied, and he and his companions leaned into the six big oars. The boat began to pick up speed. On shore, Magus was supervising the erection of another plank covered with runes by a team of sorcerers and apprentices. "There," he said, "that should do. Remember to keep an eye out for intruders. If any suspicious birds fly over, shoot first and ask questions later."

"Yes, Master."

Magus pointed his staff down at the beach and called up a large boulder from deep in the sand. It rose under him, raising him in the air. He jumped off it, shifting into a black Peregrine Falcon, then he flapped out to the boat and came in for a landing beside Nautilus. "I hope your chants work this time," he snapped. "We need to obtain this source of power and learn how to use it quickly. It will be Fallowmoon in just a couple moons."

Nautilus frowned. "Whatever this is," she said, "it seems to be even more powerful than the runestone I found here fifty years ago. It could be an even larger stone."

"Or something else entirely," Magus replied. "Are your witches ready? We're almost over the site. They should begin to call the whales now."

Nautilus nodded at a group of a half-dozen women in dark capes who were standing on the deck in front of them. "Now," she said.

The women began to chant, and soon the spouting of whales could be heard all around them. The chanting grew louder as the whales closed in. Nautilus held up a hand to indicate that the women should pause, then she and Magus leaned over the scroll and recited a summons to the Hephastian Spirits. Soon hot bubbles began to break all around them. The whales seemed startled and began to swim away.

"Now!" Nautilus commanded. "Send them down to the wreck before the bubbles stop."

The women began their chanting again, and the whales all dove at once, their broad tails slapping the water and splashing everyone on the boat.