The young sailor launched his arrow, missing his mark by little more than a hand's width. The arrow thudded into the deck.
Glawinn stepped forward, striking the lead gargoyle in the face. Still in motion, he turned to the side, bringing his shield up and setting himself behind it as the second gargoyle hit him head on. The weight and speed of the creature staggered the paladin, but he held, turning the creature's momentum to one side.
The impact against the shield shattered bones in the gargoyle's arms and shoulders. It rolled across the deck, beating its wings futilely and howling in pain. As it tried to curl up and get to its feet, a nearby pirate ran at it and shoved a harpoon into the gargoyle's chest, driving it back against the starboard railing.
'They're going to overtake us,' Azla said.
Jherek swung his attention back to the approaching ship. It was a hundred yards behind them, closing fast.
'Was Iakhovas immortal when Umberlee took him as her lover?' Pacys asked.
Myrym released the locathah child from her hands and smiled as it finned back among its brothers and sister. 'Over the years they courted, the Bitch Queen gave him many gifts. Some merely of worth-gold and jewels and precious things-but many of them possessed powers that none but the gods had ever wielded before. When life began in the sea and took shape upon the dry lands, among the jungles and forests and swamps, Iakhovas was drawn to them. He wanted them to love him as Umberlee did.'
'He was filled with his own conceits,' Pacys said.
'Using Umberlee's gifts, he set about conquering the dry lands. There is a land where ferocious lizards still live till this day, unchanged for millions of years.'
'Chult,' the old bard said. 'I know of the place.' He had even visited there, seeing the dinosaurs for himself and carrying back tales of the adventurers who traveled there seeking fortunes.
'There Iakhovas caused to be built a huge palace,' Myrym said. 'They say it was more grand than any building on Faerun. A man could walk it, I have been told, from one end to the other if he planned for a full day's travel. While Umberlee was away on other planes, Iakhovas warred incessantly, pitting one kingdom against another. He sent thieves out to take powerful items mages created, going there and taking them himself when no one else could do it. His greed knew no boundaries, no satisfaction. All he knew how to do was consume.'
'And this was his true nature,' Pacys said, understanding.
'Yes. The nature of the Taker is that he must take. His world was first the seas, remember, and those who live beneath the water have to move incessantly to feed. He was the chief predator among all the lesser species.'
'What is he truly?' Pacys asked.
'Only the man who destroys him will know.'
'Do you know this man's name?'
'No,' Myrym said, shaking her narrow head, 'but it is his destiny to become known to all through your songs.'
'Can you tell me where to search for him?'
'No, but your path, his, and the Taker's will cross as surely as the limbs of a starfish have a common center. Learn what you need to.'
Pacys nodded. 'I have also heard it said that the Taker fell from grace with Umberlee.'
'Twice,' Myrym agreed. 'The first time, it was over an elf woman the Taker took as his lover. By this time, his harems contained hundreds of women. Remember, gluttony was a way of life for him.'
'Umberlee didn't know he had harems?' Pacys asked.
'The Bitch Queen knew,' Myrym said, 'but she didn't care. Physical relations were nothing to Umberlee, something to while away the time. What she wanted from the Taker was the way she felt when she saw her reflection in his eyes.'
'Adoration.'
'Yes. Nowhere else did she succumb to the draw of it. But she was gone too long to the other places she sought out for learning and conquering, and giving wasn't truly in the Taker's nature. His need was to take for himself. So he took this woman from his harem, and though he didn't truly care for her, he made it look like he did so that Umberlee would be jealous.'
'Why?' Pacys asked. 'Umberlee already loved him.'
'But not as he wanted to be loved by her,' Myrym said. 'Her love for him was natural and good, as things are meant to be, but there was nothing natural and good about him. His appetites ruled his life. When she returned, she found this woman in the bed she shared with the Taker, not one of the harem rooms. The Taker pretended the woman put the shine in his eyes that he showed Umberlee. So great was the Bitch Queen's love for him that she did not see the truth.'
Pacys listened to the story with sadness. He'd seen good love turn out badly as well.
'Umberlee killed the woman in a fit of rage,' Myrym continued. 'The Taker knew true joy as he saw in the Bitch Queen's face the pain and hurt her love for him caused. He thought he controlled her, then, and he mocked her for her weakness. Only he had no true accounting for how hurt Umberlee was. She'd never experienced pain like that before, and swore then that she would never experience it again. She lashed out at him, raking her claws across his face and ripping an eye from its socket, almost tearing the face from him.'
Discordant music emanated from the saceddar as Pacys envisioned the fight, and words already came into his mind to paint the scene for his listeners.
'Umberlee left him there in his grand palace,' Myrym said, 'broken and ruined, no longer ever able to be what he once was. She did not suffer to kill him, but it was a near thing. The Taker brooded and banked his hatred for a thousand years and more.
'He began to build again,' she continued, 'to make himself stronger than ever before. He scoured all of Toril for powerful items, devices that he could use to control elements and men and magic. He scarred his body with sigils of power that allowed him to reach into other planes. In his mind, he was more than he had ever been or ever could be.
'He sought out Umberlee then, to take his vengeance.'
Azla ran to the forecastle railing over the main deck and called, 'Ship's crew, stand ready to repel boarders!'
Black Champion's crew numbered twenty-seven, Jherek knew, and a handful of them were involved in steering and trying to salvage what they could of the sails.
At least forty men lined the starboard side of the attack craft as it sped forward. They manned the fore and aft ballistae as well as the one on the main deck. The sound of running water filled the air.
A desperate smile played on Azla's lips, and Jherek recognized it as reckless determination.
'Ballista crews,' she bellowed, 'prepare your shots fore and aft! Make them count or I'll have the hide from your backs!'
'Aye, Cap'n!'
'Fire on my command!'
Jherek spied Sabyna making her way up behind Glawinn. Skeins drifted protectively over her shoulder.
'Ballista crews, ready.'
'Ready, Cap'n.'
'Fire!'
The two ballistae sang basso thrums as they released within a heartbeat of each other. The ten-foot shafts sliced through the air. One of them thudded into the slaver's wooden hull only a few feet from the railing, frightening the crew back. The other missile struck the foremast and broke it cleanly. The forward sails toppled, raining down on the crew below.
A ragged cheer burst from Black Champion's crew.
'Belay that!' Azla roared as the caravel followed the next ocean rise down into a trough below the slaver's line of sight. 'We've won no battle here yet. That remains for you to take it from their teeth!'
Jherek's heart beat rapidly. Here in this battle, there was no confusion.
'Archery crew,' Azla called. 'Stand ready!'
