“Your father wanted to talk to you,” Adelgis said, dragging me out of my thoughts. “But he struggled with the words, and he’s afraid of how you’ll react.”
Wraith swished his wolf-like tail from side to side. “If you haven’t much of a history, what’s the harm in speaking with him? I think you should.”
“Perhaps it’s best if you just ignore this,” Luthair said. “You don’t need any undue stress.”
“Well, I agree with Wraith.” Fain got off his hammock and walked around the crates until he was closer to my corner. “Family is important. You should speak to him.”
Family.
Illia and Gravekeeper William were my family.
But perhaps Fain felt jealous. He had no family to speak of, not even an adopted one, yet here I had two. Squandering this opportunity would probably seem like a mistake to him. And I somewhat agreed. When I had been younger, I’d had a million questions for my father—now I could have resolution.
“Adelgis,” I said. “Where can I find my father?”
“His quarters are next to the captain’s. Down the hall and then turn left at the stairs.”
“Thank you.”
I stood and headed for the door. Luthair followed me as a shadow at my feet, offering no further advice on the subject.
Adelgis, Wraith, and Fain said nothing as I exited the storeroom. I walked the long hall to the captain’s quarters, my head buzzing. Although I knew I was about to speak to my father, I wasn’t sure what I would ask. I hadn’t expected to see him—ever. A piece of me had written him off as dead, or at least so far gone that we’d never meet again.
I took the left turn and walked a narrow hall with three doors. One was labeled Boatswain, another had the word Quartermaster, and the last had nothing. The unlabeled door was the only one with light shining out from under it, and when I listened hard enough, I heard someone pacing, every second step heavy, as though the person’s gait were uneven.
“Should I wait in the corridor, my arcanist?” Luthair whispered.
I shook my head. “I’d rather you were with me.”
“As you wish.”
I rapped my knuckles on the door, a chill running down my spine as I did so.
The pacing stopped, but no one said anything.
“Hello?” I asked.
But how was I supposed to follow it up? It’s me, your son. The one you haven’t seen in over a decade. The one you abandoned because you’re a murderer. Hope this isn’t a bad time to speak.
I gritted my teeth, hating even the idea of saying my name. Should I introduce myself as Volke Blackwater so that he’d know who I was?
Perhaps fate decided I was taking too long, because in the next moment the whole airship shuddered. I glanced around the empty corridor, wondering what could’ve caused such a tremble, when the ship quaked a second time, nearly knocking me to the floor. I braced myself on the bulkhead. The harsh clang of a bell sounded from above deck.
“Let’s go,” I said to Luthair.
I stepped into the shadows and moved through the darkness at a quick pace, slithering over the steps and reaching the deck of the airship in a matter of moments. I couldn’t breathe when I shadow-stepped, but I had long become accustomed to holding my breath for the short trek between locations.
My body burned after the use of magic, however. It was a lingering side effect from being second-bonded to Luthair, but it was one I was overcoming. I shook away the dull aches and took stock of my surroundings.
Thunder rumbled from the dark clouds below the airship. The night sky, still as wondrous and beautiful as before, was now filled with the jittering bodies of birds. A couple dozen swarmed around the Sun Chaser, their flight irregular and their noises bizarre. Between the caws and the shrieks, I heard giddy laughter and manic howling.
I reached for the shadows, intending to pull out my sword, but nothing came.
My sword had broken—shattered during the queen’s assassination.
When one bird flew close, I got a better look at it. A grifter crow—a mystical creature with low levels of magic, the kind that specialized in parlor tricks and sleight-of-hand. But it was riddled with the arcane plague, and the terrible sickness had warped its body. Instead of two wings, it had five—four functioning wings, and one deformed baby wing that hung off its chest like a wart or mole. Its eyes bulged out of its head, gray and jiggly, akin to a dead fish.
It laughed as it dove for one of the deckhands. She gasped and drew a flintlock pistol. The crack of the gunshot disappeared into the breeze washing over the deck. She had missed the grifter crow, even though the beast was the size of a small dog. They were slippery creatures.
As the deckhand tried to reload her weapon, the crow slashed at her with its razor talons, slicing open her forearm from her wrist to her elbow in one deadly cut.
I lifted my hand and evoked terrors. The crow screamed, tormented by unseen fears, and then it fell from the sky. It hit the railing of the airship and tumbled over the side, falling into the dark clouds below.
The deckhand didn’t need any instructions. She ran below deck, holding her injured arm the entire way.
“My arcanist,” Luthair said.
He moved to merge with me, but I held out a hand.
“No,” I said. “Just help protect the crew.”
Luthair formed as a suit of black armor next to me, his cape fluttering in the wind. He lifted a gauntlet and willed the shadows to lash out at any crows who drew near, his use of magic precise and without hesitation.
Technically, we were stronger when merged, but…
I feared somehow infecting him.
Of the dozens of plague-ridden monsters, four of them flew toward Luthair. They extended their claws—some had more than two feet—and they tried ripping at Luthair’s cape.
But none came for me.
“Luthair,” I said. “Stay back.”
One wrong attack and Luthair could get infected with the plague as well. Since he was a mystical creature, the plague would affect him more thoroughly—and faster. I couldn’t let that happen.
Luthair hesitated for a moment before melting back into his shadow form.
Fain and Wraith emerged from below deck. They stared up at the sky, their gaze unfocused, even though there were tons of birds swooping in close. They couldn’t see in the dark, and the feathers of the crows rivaled the darkest of coal.
I dashed over and put my hand on Fain’s shoulder. Master Zelfree had taught me about augmenting magic—granting my abilities to others for a short period of time—and I gifted Fain my dark sight. Then I touched Wraith and did the same.
“Thank you,” Fain said.
Once they could see, they ran across the deck, trying to keep the birds from attacking anyone.
A few grifter crows went for the sails, tearing at the canvas and clawing at the masts.
“Dammit,” someone shouted.
I glanced over my shoulder and spotted four individuals—Captain Devlin, Karna, and a man and woman I didn’t know. They had come up from the officer’s stairway, and the moment the captain could, he evoked the most powerful burst of wind I had ever felt in my life. A gale-force blast sent the grifter crows flying away from the airship, but it also sent Fain and Wraith collapsing to the deck. I shifted through the shadows to avoid losing my balance, but I could still feel the residual breeze of the attack for moments afterward.