Worry lines creased Heglan’s brow. ‘Why are you talking like this? A moment ago you were chastising me.’
‘I changed my mind. You were right. Nothing will be the same after this,’ he said, sombrely.
Heglan grew fearful as he saw the fatalism in his brother’s eyes.
‘You are coming back, aren’t you?’
‘I hope so.’
‘You have to come back. Father is dead, mother too. You are my only family, Nadri.’
‘And you mine, Heg.’
They embraced awkwardly, Nadri’s armour unfamiliar on his body and getting in the way.
‘Keep it secret, Heg,’ he said.
Heglan was weeping. ‘Dreng tromm, Nadri…’
Nadri held him behind the neck, pressed his forehead to his brother’s.
‘Karinunkarak,’ he murmured.
‘Karinunkarak,’ Heglan replied in a choked whisper.
It meant ‘protect and endure’, but words were not shields or armour.
Detaching himself from his brother’s embrace, Nadri met Heglan’s gaze one last time and then left the workshop.
The door slamming after him arrested Heglan from his reverie. He turned to regard the airship, a masterwork waiting for its artisan to finish it.
Seizing a hammer that he’d spilled onto the floor, he locked the door to his chamber and went to work.
Onkmarr had wasted no time in getting Forek and his retinue on their way. They didn’t leave the dock and certainly had not been granted admittance to the Sea Hold itself. Instead, as the high thane and regent left them, the Everpeak dwarfs were guided by the rough-looking captain to where his ship was berthed.
It was a massive vessel, engraved with runes along its hull and festooned with rows of sweeps along either flank. A vast paddle sat at the stern that could pivot back and forth like a rudder, but there were no masts, no sails to speak of. It was armoured in plates of metal, the heavy wood of its structure thick and well lacquered. Three bolt throwers, one at the prow where Valaya’s effigy looked stern in her warrior aspect and two more to port and starboard, provided obvious protection but in addition to them were racks of crossbows and harpoons that Forek could see jutting up above the bulwarks from below. A crew of leather-skinned, weather-beaten dwarfs hoisted barrels and other provisions up a ramp onto the deck. They too were armed.
‘A mission o’ peace never looked so tooled up, eh?’ the captain remarked over his shoulder as he led his passengers up another ramp. The swarthy-looking dwarf grinned, revealing several gold teeth, as he noticed Forek looking at his missing foot. ‘Ah, don’t let that bother ye, lad,’ he said in a gravel-thick voice. ‘I needs hands to steer a ship, not feet. And as you can see, I have both of those.’ He patted a broad black belt, a rune axe looped on one side, spyglass on the other. The dwarf sea captain gave a shallow bow. ‘Nugdrinn Hammerfoot. I’ll be the zaki taking you across the Great Ocean.’
Halfway up the ramp, Forek shook the dwarf’s proffered hand and felt whale grease and spit between his fingers.
‘This is your ship?’ he asked, for want of a better reply.
‘Aye, the Azuldal,’ he said proudly. ‘Come aboard.’
Up on deck, the Azuldal looked even more fortified. It was a keep, just one that floated on water.
‘There are no sails?’ Forek asked, noticing a hooded figure sitting at the ship’s forecastle. He faced in the direction of the sea, clutching an ornate staff in both hands.
‘That’s right, lad. Paddles, oars and solid dawi grit is how we’ll make passage.’ He jerked a thumb at the mysterious passenger. ‘Oh, and a little rhun won’t hurt us either,’ he added in a conspiratorial whisper.
This must be Thorik Oakeneye, Forek supposed, the runelord who would break the veils clouding Ulthuan.
‘How many times have you travelled across the Great Ocean before, Captain Hammerfoot?’ Forek asked, still beguiled by the runesmith.
‘Never.’ He was already shouting to his crew, getting them to make ready for depature. With a creaking refrain, the paddle at the ship’s stern began to turn and the long sweeps pierced the dark water as they started to pull.
‘Then how do you know you can successfully navigate it?’ asked Forek urgently.
Nugdrinn scratched under his patch at his missing eye.
‘I don’t, but that’s where the adventure comes in, lad.’ His good eye narrowed as he caught on. ‘You look concerned. It’s not the navigating that should worry you, it’s the blood-hungry creatures of the deep.’ He laughed, loud and hearty, stomping towards the helm.
Forek watched him go, only vaguely aware of Gilias Thunderbrow’s warriors making ready behind him. He felt a hand upon his shoulder.
It was Gilias. The hearthguard’s eyes followed Nugdrinn limping up every step of the helm until he reached the ship’s wheel.
‘Thorik Oakeneye will guide us, but he will keep us afloat. Don’t worry.’
‘I’m not worried,’ said Forek, unconvincingly.
Gilias laughed. ‘Of course not.’
Nugdrinn was pointing at the horizon with a grubby finger.
‘We’re under way!’ he cried, ‘To the land of the elgi with all haste!’ He looked down at Forek. ‘You should tie yourself down, ufdi. It’ll be a rough passage, I’d warrant. Ha, ha!’
‘He’s mad,’ he hissed to Gilias.
‘He’d need to be to venture where we’re going.’
‘Aren’t you concerned?’ he asked the hearthguard.
‘No,’ he said. ‘I am more concerned with what happens if you fail.’
Forek could find no argument with that, and as the Azuldal pulled out of Barak Varr and drove towards the Black Gulf, he wondered what would await when they arrived on Ulthuan.
If they arrived on Ulthuan.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Hunted
Heavy rain peeled off the hood of Sevekai’s cloak, teeming in rivulets of dark water that pooled at his already sodden feet. Brooding clouds overhead showed no sign of abating and an ever-present thunder promised worse weather to come.
The skull-headed rock seemed to glower down at him, presaging darker times ahead. Sevekai glared back,
