“But I bear the majority of the risks as well as most of die costs,” Jerick countered. “The ship is mine, the crew is mine. If we run into trouble, I’m far more likely to suffer losses. Five shares in ten would seem a reasonable cut.”
Ula and Trip shrugged at each other and kept out of the dickering. Shimmer remained silent.
“We both know that it’s experts that get shares on a voyage,” Mik said. “The harpooner gets abetter cut than the deck hand. That only makes sense. You have one expert, yourself, and perhaps two more-assuming your mates are any good. The rest are mostly ballast. I think two and a half shares out of ten is a good deal.”
“Ha!” Jerick said. “Maybe if you’ve been raised in Khur, far from the sea! I’m tired of haggling, lad, so here’s my final offer. Six shares out of ten, but you and your friends get the six.”
“And you’ll refund Trip’s money?” Mik said.
Jerick frowned. “That seems a bit unreasonable. You’ll pay your share of equipment costs?”
“Done,” said Mik.
The two reached over the table and shook hands.
The privateer captain stood and stretched. “I think that calls for another drink,” he said, whistling for the cabin boy once more. He went to his sea chest, cleared away the junk on top of it, and fetched out the fee that Trip had paid him.
He handed the purse to the kender and said to all of them, “I’ll let you know how much the expenses are.”
Mik nodded. “When do we leave?”
Jerick smiled. “We sail with the morning tide.”
Part III: The Lost Temple
Chapter Thirty-One
Trip leaned on Red Wake’s rail and gazed out over the clear blue sea. To the south, the wooded hills of Alarl rose from the gently surging waves. Trip imagined the thriving settlement of kender on the other side of the pastoral isle. He pictured meeting old friends, some of whom he hadn’t seen for years. Of course, there was no evidence that any kender he knew lived there. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help sighing wistfully.
“Anything the matter, Trip?” Mik asked.
“Just wishing I could go to Perch and find the treasure,” Trip said.
“I’m sure you’ll have a chance to visit the island some day,” Mik said, “after we find the diamond.” He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples and saw the blue-white gem once more.
Shimmer, working on the deck nearby, looked up. “Anything wrong?” the bronze knight asked.
“Just a headache,” Mik replied. “Nothing to worry about”
“Fast flee the isle of thieves, if I remember right,” Ula said, appearing from behind him.
“Fast quit the isle of thieves, actually,” Mik corrected her. “Past furthest spits of sand, As soul, not mind, believes, Forsake at last the land. And here, we quit the main archipelago and sail into the outer reaches.”
“To the island of the temple and the treasure?” Ula asked.
“Hopefully,” Mik replied.
“Do you trust Red not to double-cross us?” Ula asked.
“I trust him as much as I trust any former pirate who’s an old friend. I should check with him on our progress, I suppose.”
“I’ll go with you,” Ula said. Then, with a devilish smile, she added, “Your friend seems easy prey for my charms.”
“What man isn’t?” replied Mik. “Trip, Shimmer… coming?”
The bronze knight shook his head.
“I’m having too much fun sightseeing,” Trip replied.
The sailor and the sea elf turned and headed for the bridge.
Shimmer went forward and stood in the bow. The sea breeze tugging at his brazen hair made him look like a young god returning to his kingdom. His eyes, though, remained cool and distant.
Trip joined the knight, and leaned over the rail to snatch at the tiny rainbows in the spray kicked up by the ship’s passing.
Mog clung to Red Wake’s keel, his muscles aching from the tedium of the journey. Occasionally, he transformed into a shark and prowled the nearby seas for food. The effort of catching the ship again, though, almost wasn’t worth it.
Mog might have given up this tedious chore were it not for the presence of Tempest in the back of his mind. The tiny Turbidus leech attached to his spine wriggled at the thought of its dark mistress. Mog felt a tingling in his body and knew that the sea dragon sensed his thoughts as well. He muttered obeisance to her obscene majesty and turned his thoughts back to his task.
Tempest had other spies inside the Veil, handfuls of minion fish who had broken through the rupture when she assaulted the harrier, as well as others. Mog, though, remained her most faithful, reliable servant. None of the rest, not even the ravenous sharks, shared the dark mistress’ soul.
Bridle as he might upon occasion, Tempest had created the spawn with her own scales and blood. She imbued him with the power to change his shape. She gave him free rein to murder and feast as he chose, so long as he obeyed her.
If he failed her, though, she would destroy him utterly.
Mog clambered from the keel to the side of the ship, lurking just below the waterline. His steely claws bit deep into the wood, securing him against the rushing water.
Peering up out of the churning sea, he saw the kender leaning over the side.
“How simple,” Mog thought, “to snatch the little pest and drag him under.” Images of the kender’s warm blood running down his throat flashed through his reptilian mind.
Then he mastered himself once more. His job was to watch, and wait for the proper moment to strike. Wait for the orders from his mistress. Tempest burned in the hack of his mind like a hot coal.
Mog waited, confident his time drew near.
A day later, Jerick paced the bridge, his big boots making a clomping sound like the drums of distant giants. “I don’t mind telling you,” he said to Mik and Ula. “I’m beginning to think this is a fool’s venture. If I turn hack now, I might be able to recover me costs from what little cash you have on you.” He glanced at the jewelry entwined around Ula’s slender body.
“Turn back for what?” Mik asked. “Another day searching for wandering pirates? Or were you thinking of sailing beyond the Veil? Better booty out there, I hear.”
The red-bearded privateer scowled at his old friend. “With that dragon lurking about? Not likely.”
“Perhaps you should petition the Order of Brass to take care of Tempest,” Ula suggested.
“I’ve no love for them, either,” Jerick growled. “You think I haven’t seen their patrols overflying us, high up in the sky? They’re looking for something. I hope it’s not you lot they’re looking for.” He clomped around the deck again.
“We’ve sailed according to the Prophecy,” Mik said, reassuringly. “Where light anew is born, To battle divine hound, Before the second mom, Know the last torch is found. We’ve sailed east past the main archipelago, as it says, and sighted the War Hound constellation.”
“So, we’ve got to find this torch, whatever that is, within two days,” Jerick said.
“The torch is an isolated isle near the edge of the Veil, Ula thinks-the Isle of Fire,” Mik replied.
“Ula thinks, you think!” Jerick fumed. “The trouble is I haven’t been doing enough thinking. If I had, I’d never have taken this errand with you misfits. If we find that isle, and this supposed temple, how do I even know there’s treasure there?”
“When the keys were split,” Mik said, “the high temple vanished from the eyes of mortals. No one has seen it since the founding of the Veil. The fourth key will open it to us. From fire, wind, sea and earth, At land beyond the end, Of passage keys give birth, To treasure now ascend-The keys are the elements, and using them will lead us to the treasure.”