“I’ve seen two fish today,” she said, as he approached. “One of them ate the other.”
“Looking for lives of excitement and adventure? Join the Navigators!”
She smiled out of the corner of her mouth. “At least it looks like rain today. That’s the only difference from yesterday.”
“And we won’t even get wet.” He leaned against the railing next to the wheel, watching her. “What do you think of Mr. Valette?” he asked, voice low.
“Reclusive and shady, like every other Watchman I’ve ever known. All of them. No exceptions.”
“No wonder they kicked me out. So you don’t want to know what’s happening in Silverreach?”
Jerri looked out over the sea, her eyes narrowed. She began to tap her fingers, drumming a rhythm on the ship’s wheel. Just when Calder was about to break the silence, she spoke. “I’ve…read about Silverreach before. Somewhere.”
It wasn’t too surprising that Jerri would have read something he hadn’t, but he hadn’t thought Silverreach was that significant of a town. “Is it famous?”
Her eyes flicked to him and then back to the horizon. “Not famous. But if I’ve heard about it, something must have happened there. We should do some research.”
Calder thought about the pathetic four books they kept on the entire ship. “By ‘research,’ you mean…”
“We should steal Valette’s journal.”
That was more like Jerri. Rather than wasting time feigning surprise, he nodded. “How?”
“The easy way,” she said, flipping her braid over one shoulder. “Wait until he’s asleep, take the book out of his coat.”
Andel thunked a barrel down onto the deck loudly, attracting their attention. “I thought you should know we had a beetle problem. Half of the barley will have to be thrown overboard, and we’ll have to filter the quicklamp fluid.”
Calder nodded to the barrel. “Is that the barley?”
“The beetles,” he said. “They tried to mutiny, so I had to quell their rebellion. Show them who owns this ship.” The lid of the barrel started to surge upwards, as though something inside was pushing its way out, until Andel sat on it. Seated comfortably on the barrel of beetles, Andel pulled his hat off and began fanning himself. “So what’s this I hear about a theft?”
Calder and Jerri didn’t look at each other before they spoke. They’d worked together long enough that they reacted immediately.
“We were planning to rob you,” Jerri said.
Calder let out a sigh. “Wait until you were asleep, go through your coat, take away all your…valuables.”
Andel looked at them calmly from his perch on the barrel, still fanning himself with the hat. “Not my precious valuables.”
“Now that you’ve heard us, our plot has been foiled,” Jerri said. “You’ve beaten us again.”
Calder stared into the water, filling his gaze with regret. “We never should have opposed you to begin with.”
“That’s true,” Andel said. “Without me around, you’d be face-to-face with Kelarac before we ever caught sight of shore.”
It was common for sailors to reference Kelarac when referring to the bottom of the ocean, because everyone knew that was where the Soul Collector was sealed. But Calder couldn’t help a shudder. Ever since he’d actually met Kelarac, the phrase had become more than just an expression.
“And it’s good that you were planning to rob me, instead of our passenger,” Andel went on. “As we wouldn’t want the Blackwatch finding out we had any breaches of conduct. Not only would they feed us to Elderspawn, they wouldn’t pay us.”
The barrel under him shuddered, the beetles struggling to escape, but Andel didn’t seem to notice.
Calder forced a smile, but his hands were clenching on the railing. Whenever he started to get used to having Andel Petronus around, the man had to get in his way. Where was the harm in a little book-snatching? He’d been brought to trial for worse.
Andel reached into his white jacket, pulling out a palm-sized, tightly bound book of his own. He waved it in the air, then tossed it to Calder. “Fortunately for you, I don’t like sailing in the blind any more than you do.”
Jerri leaned over the book as Calder opened it. The first line read, “To my Guild Head, Bliss, from your servant Andrei Valette…”
From a quick scan of the page, it went on to describe his plan of action when he reached Silverreach, including his predictions about what The Testament’s crew would do on shore.
“You copied his journal,” Calder said. His forced smile had slipped away, replaced by naked shock.
“I used to work as a scribe for the Order. All I needed was a few minutes a day before and after I laundered his coat. He’s fastidiously clean.” Andel didn’t even look proud of himself. He sat there with an expression of absolute calm, even as the beetles surged underneath him.
Calder held up the book. “Well done indeed, Mr. Petronus. Please take the wheel while we study this in my cabin.”
“I’ve already read it,” Andel said. “So I won’t spoil the surprise. Surrender the helm, and I’ll see if I can bring us back on course.”
Walking past, Calder actually clapped him on the shoulder. “Thank you, Andel. Now toss that barrel overboard.”
“And waste perfectly good beetles?”
Andel hadn’t seemed panicked about the journal. He’d read it, and he hadn’t come screaming out on deck, demanding that they change course. In fact, he seemed to accept the whole thing without complaint.
Calder couldn’t understand why. They were sailing into a death-trap.
As it turned out, the journal wasn’t just Valette’s thoughts about his upcoming mission. It also included copies of his original orders, as well as the reports that led to those orders.
The reports, taken in tandem with Bliss’ commands and Valette’s notes, told a frightening story.
“Farmers in the region report sightings of what they describe as ‘ten-legged spiders’ running through their fields at night. These sightings are often accompanied by the usual signs: stolen livestock, missing books, strange signs cut into cornfields. When the community contacted the local Blackwatch chapter house, we responded with a standard investigation. However, it reached no conclusion…”
He flipped the page.
“In southern Izyria, we cornered a hive of Inquisitors. They had abducted the elderly and those of mental infirmity, taking them to a cave for a ritual preparation we believe was intended to invoke the void. Watchmen on scene were able to contain the Elderspawn, but this behavior suggests an uncharacteristic boldness. Inquisitors are usually content to watch.”
Every entry was something like this. These ten-legged arachnid Elderspawn, these Inquisitors, had become active all over the Empire. There were sightings from Dylia, Vandenyas, the Nire, even the Capital. Overall, it painted a disturbing picture. As one entry put it, “For Elderspawn to work with such coordination and precise timing suggests a greater intelligence at work. I think we all understand the nature of that intelligence.”
Most frightening of all were Bliss’ thoughts on the matter.
“The town of Silverreach was built on Ach’magut’s tomb. That seems like a silly place to build a town to me, so perhaps they deserve their fate. Except they didn’t build the town, their ancestors did. Anyway, they should move.
“The Inquisitors only act together under the orders of their lord, Ach’magut, and he’s dead. For now. If Ach’magut is alive again, it is quite possible that we are all moving according to a plan he laid more than two thousand years ago. You should travel to Silverreach and determine if the Great Elder has revived. You’ll be able to tell.