“My plan is to attack under cover of night,” Beqai said. “We’ll blanket the ocean in mist to hide our approach until we reach the island. They’ll suspect our coming, but it’s simply a distraction to have our strongest swimmers and best Augmenters reach the island. This is our fight, but we must be diplomatic if at all possible.”
“Diplomatic?” Jonnik snorted. “You called us here to have tea with these fuckers?”
“We will offer them the opportunity to surrender Horix, Cadrin, and the Depthless Dream. Should they spit in our face, then we’ll open their gates and lead an attack into the courtyard. Ethan, you and your companions will be responsible for apprehending Horix and the trident.”
“And what of Labu?” Kumi asked quietly. “If he survived and still fights on their side?”
“I’ll offer him a chance to surrender,” I said in reply. “That’s the best I can do for him.”
Beqai nodded his satisfaction. “It’s a plan that I believe fits with all I learned as a general, but I know that my judgement has been dulled of late. So, if you see a problem with it, speak now before the tide carries us away.”
“What if Horix has unlocked the power of the trident?” I asked the king. “You said he would need the storms to pass, and the skies have been clear for a day now.”
Beqai’s expression darkened. “A day will be insufficient to gain its true power. The Depthless Dream takes time, precision, and quiet in order to properly master. We will ensure our enemy has none of these. In a still ocean, all things may be realized. In a storm, one can lose themselves. And I intend to bring a storm against my old friend.”
“Just give me the blood of these fuckers, Beqai,” Jonnik said. “That’s all I want.”
The Wild chiefs growled their assent. The Qihin commanders nodded and bowed to the superior experience of their king.
Beqai turned his gaze on me. “You have some experience and have proved your wisdom in war. What do you think?”
“I’m not exactly a general, but it’s the best plan I can see,” I said. “As we would all expect from one of the Emperor’s own commanders.”
“Then get to the boats,” Beqai said. “Dusk will fall soon, and we should be ready to strike.”
I took Kumi’s arm after the group split off and steered her down the dock.
“I want to be the first one through the doors of that guild house,” I said. “And I want people with me I can trust. Are you in?”
“Of course.” She smiled at me. “There’s no one I would rather stand beside in this fight.”
“Great. Now, we just need to find the others.”
“I think I know where to look.” Kumi led me through the crowd toward a small eating house. “It’s dinner time on the verge of a battle, and Kegohr asked me yesterday about good places to eat.”
We arrived at a dockside inn. Sure enough, my friends sat by the window next to a table piled with food. Veltai and Kegohr sat at one end and feasted on thick tuna steaks. They leaned in close to talk to each other. Yo Hin was building a tower of sushi rolls next to them and occasionally took a break from his construction to nibble on one of them. Vesma and Faryn focused on eating steamed buns across from him and engaged in bursts of stilted conversation.
I grabbed a couple of rolls off the top of Yo Hin’s tower and wolfed them down. It had been a long day, and the sight of food had made me desperately hungry.
“Are you all ready for war?” I asked. “Because it’s kicking off tonight.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Kegohr said. “Just gimme a minute to finish this.”
Veltai slammed a fist into the palm of her hand. “At last, stomping time.”
I glanced out of the window. The sun sank rapidly toward the horizon and turned the sky from blue to blood-red. The fleet was mustered in the delta, but no one would make a move until darkness had fully fallen.
“You know what,” I said as I waved for the innkeeper, “we’ve got a little time. Let’s eat first.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Night slid over the Diamond Coast like a blanket of silver-studded darkness. Boats of all shapes and sizes moved almost soundlessly through soft waves as the Wild forces approached the Guild House of Resplendent Tears. Siege hulks, rowboats, and troop-carriers alike glided over the water toward our target.
Qihin Clan warriors disembarked the boats into the surrounding water as the Wild Augmenters channelled a thick mist that rose from the lapping waves. The water barely rippled around them as they descended into the dark waters off the coast of Horix’s island fortress.
The island disappeared as the night and magic mist hid it from view.
The fishfolk waited in a silent row of mostly submerged heads and watched the leading boats near the guild’s weathered docks. I nodded to them and turned to my companions. We were an eclectic band of Augmenters, from the hulking Kegohr to the diminutive Yo Hin. The boats that pulled up to our flanks carried the elite of the Qihin royal guard and King Beqai.
Beqai was as quiet as the rest of us, but he somehow seemed to fill that silence. He was a still center of power with such looming significance that he needed no noise to proclaim his presence. All eyes were drawn to him even as the drifting streamers of mist played around his royal barge.
He raised a tentacle on each side of his body and stared into the fog. The men around him waited for his signal. I didn’t know if the king’s connection to the water let him see through the mist or if he was just waiting on some subtle sign. Beqai dropped his tentacles in a sudden and decisive movement.
The swimmers shot immediately from their places. They darted through the sea with all the deadly agility of
