creatures away, Dannyl caught his arm and halted him. Gesturing toward the leeches, Dannyl focused his will and pushed. The leeches scattered off the deck and splashed into the sea.
He met the sailor’s eyes, and the man nodded once.
“Why the siyo?” Dannyl asked as the man brought another pan. “Why not just push them off?”
“Not siyo,” the man said, discarding the paddle. “Yomi. Left from making siyo. Burns eyoma and stop coming back.”
The sailor continued to splash the liquid down and Dannyl kept pushing the creatures off. Then the ship shifted strangely in the water, listing slightly to one side, and the sailor cursed.
“What’s happening?”
The man looked pale. “Too many eyoma. If big swarm, ship be made heavy. If swarm on one side mostly, ship turn over.”
Glancing around, Dannyl saw that the captain and more than half of the crew had gathered on the low side of the ship, where the deck was black with the leeches. Thinking of Jano’s story, he realized the danger the crew faced. If the ship capsized and they fell into the water, they would not survive long.
“How do you stop them?” he asked, shoving more of the creatures back into the sea.
“Not easy.” The sailor hurried away to draw more liquid from the barrel, then returned to Dannyl’s side. “Hard to get yomi on hull.”
The ship listed farther. Dannyl picked up the paddle the man had discarded and handed it back. “I’m going to see if I can help.”
The sailor nodded. Striding down the deck, Dannyl found his way blocked by scattered sea leeches that had evaded the sailors. He saw black shadows wriggling along ropes, in corners and on the railing. Raising a magical barrier about himself, he walked past them, flinching as they leapt at him. A slight sizzle followed as they met the barrier and fell away. Satisfied, he continued on.
Before he had reached the captain, a familiar voice called from the door to the common room.
“What’s happening?”
Seeing Tayend peering out, Dannyl felt a stab of alarm. “Stay downstairs.”
A leech dropped from a rope and landed near the door. Tayend stared at it in horrified fascination. “Another one.”
“Close the door!” Dannyl focused his will and the door slammed shut. At once it flew open again. Tayend leapt out.
“They’re in here, too!” he cried. Dodging the leech near the door, he hurried to Dannyl’s side. “What are they?”
“Eyoma. Sea leeches.”
“But... you said they were a joke!”
“Obviously, they’re not.”
“What’s the captain doing?” Tayend asked, his eyes widening further.
Looking up, Dannyl caught his breath as the captain strode into the thick blanket of leeches covering the port deck. The man ignored the creatures that wound up his legs. He held the end of a hose in one hand. The other end was attached to a barrel. Leaning over the railing, the captain aimed the hose at the hull and barked an order. A crewman began turning a handle set into the barrel. Soon liquid was spurting out of the hose in the captain’s hands.
Though crewmen splashed yomi at the captain’s legs, more leeches quickly replaced those that fell away. Within a few minutes the captain’s legs were streaked with blood from the eyoma bites. Dannyl started toward the scene, Tayend following.
“Stay here,” he told the scholar.
Looking at the leeches covering the deck between him and the captain, Dannyl hesitated. He took a deep breath, then waded into the slimy blackness. Sizzling surrounded him as they met his shield. He felt the creatures burst as they were crushed beneath his boots.
Reaching the captain’s side, Dannyl touched a leech that had climbed to the man’s shoulders. It fell away, leaving a circle of small puncture marks. The man turned to stare at Dannyl, then nodded gratefully.
“Go back,” Dannyl ordered.
The man shook his head, but not in refusal. “No kill too many or ship go over other way.”
“I understand,” Dannyl replied.
The ship was listing alarmingly now. Leaning over the railing, Dannyl considered the hull. It was almost invisible, only the occasional ripple of light showing in the darkness. Creating a globe light, he sent it down to illuminate the creatures. He caught his breath. The hull was a wriggling mass of leeches.
Gathering power, he released it in a spray of stunstrikes. A shower of leeches fell back into the sea. They would probably survive the stunstrike, but he did not want to risk using forcestrike or firestrike on the hull. As more leeches fell away the ship slowly righted itself, then began to tilt toward the other side.
Crossing the deck, Dannyl leaned over the railing on the other side. Once more he forced the leeches to loose their hold, and the ship straightened again. As he made his way back to the port side, Dannyl noted that the sailors had turned their efforts to cleaning leeches off the deck. One man was roaming about dealing with the ones that had curled around ropes or slipped into cracks or corners.
The sense of danger had passed, but the grim work continued endlessly as the leeches kept climbing onto the ship. Soon Dannyl lost count of the times he had crossed the deck. He refreshed himself with Healing magic, but as the hours passed his head began to ache from the constant mental exertion.
At last the onslaught lessened and dwindled, and only a few sluggish leeches remained. Hearing his name called, he straightened and turned to see that all was lit by the faint light of dawn. A small crowd had gathered around him. The captain raised his arm, then a cheer rose among the sailors.
Surprised, Dannyl smiled, then joined in the cheering. He felt exhaused, but also elated.
From somewhere a small barrel was produced, and a mug was passed from sailor to sailor. As Dannyl accepted the mug, he smelled the familiar tang of real siyo. The mouthful sent warmth spreading through him. He looked around for Tayend, but the scholar was nowhere in sight.
“Your friend sleeps,” one of the sailors said.
Relieved, Dannyl accepted another mouthful of siyo. “Do you encounter eyoma often?”
“Now and then,” the captain said, nodding. “Not like this.”
“Never seen swarm so big,” another sailor agreed. “Good that you passenger. If not with us, we be fish bait today.”
The captain looked up suddenly and said something in Vindo. As the crew moved to the ropes, Dannyl realized that a mild wind had risen. The captain looked exhausted, but pleased.
“You get sleep now,” he suggested to Dannyl. “Helped us good. May need help tonight.”
Nodding, Dannyl made his way to his cabin. He found Tayend asleep, a frown creasing the scholar’s forehead. He paused, concerned to see dark circles under the young man’s eyes. He wished that he could heal his friend, then considered administering a little Healing power while Tayend was asleep.
But to do so would be a betrayal of trust, and Dannyl did not want to risk ruining this new friendship. Sighing, he lay down on his own bed, closed his eyes and gave in to exhaustion.
11
Unwelcome Arrivals
Sweet juice filled Sonea’s mouth as her teeth broke through the skin of the pachi. She held the yellow fruit between her teeth and turned the pages of Poril’s book until she found the right diagram.
“There it is,” she said after taking the fruit out of her mouth again. “The blood system. Lady Kinla said we had to memorize all the different parts.”
Poril looked down at the page and groaned.
“Don’t worry,” she assured him. “We’ll work out some way to help you remember. Rothen has shown me
