Treading water, the divers scoffed at their trainer, “We are wishpearl divers! Women throw themselves at us.”
Loren glared back. “Not if I spread the word that you all have the scabby disease.”
Appalled, the divers swam off toward the nearest sunken wreck in a rush to join the dismantling crews.
The brass alarm gong rang out from the bluff above the Sea Mother, cutting through the harbor activity. Even with the pounding of wooden mallets and the clang of armor plate, a hush fell across the waterfront. Nicci stared toward the lookout on the top of the bluff, who was waving his arms. “Is it the Norukai? Do we have to fight again?”
“No, not Norukai.” Loren cocked his head to listen. A percussive beat rang out three times, then paused, then three times more. “Just cargo ships. Three of them.”
“Three? Why would merchants sail together?” Nicci asked. “They are competitors.”
Loren still sat cross-legged on the dock, baking in the sun. “I have not seen it before. This must be something unusual.”
Before long, as the ships sailed through the narrow mouth into the sheltered harbor, Nicci learned that they had come up the Phantom Coast all the way from Renda Bay.
And that they carried Nathan, Bannon, and others from Ildakar.
*
Captains Mills, Straker, and Donell anchored the ships near the tall carving of the Sea Mother and dispatched rowboats to bring representatives to the docks.
Though she covered it well, Nicci felt as astonished as a little girl when she saw the erudite wizard with long white hair aboard the first boat. He wore a ruffled shirt, long cape, and vest. Behind him sat the ginger-haired swordsman Bannon Farmer and the morazeth Lila in her distinctive black leather. Nicci had never expected to see them again. She couldn’t guess how they had come to Serrimundi, on the other side of the Old World from where she had last seen them.
Nicci could see that Nathan had never expected to see her either. As the rowboat pulled up to the dock, Bannon lurched to his feet, rocking the boat and waving vigorously. “Nicci! I can’t believe you’re here.”
Lila grabbed the young man’s wrist to steady him. “I would be angry if you fell overboard and drowned now, boy. I’ve worked too hard to keep you alive.”
When the boat was tied up, Bannon sprang onto the dock, unable to stop himself from giving her an enthusiastic hug. “I missed you, Nicci! We’ve been through so much. I know you were worried about me.”
“Not overmuch.” Despite her words, Nicci was glad to see him, too. Her voice caught in her throat, and then she let herself embrace him, a hug that he gladly returned. “I am pleased that you’re alive, but I’ve been otherwise occupied building defenses, fighting Norukai, even clashing with General Utros.”
She extricated herself from the hug, but had only a moment of relief before Nathan also swept her into an embrace. “So have we!” the wizard said. “Much has happened, and the war is right on our heels! I am so glad we’re reunited. We have a world to save.”
“And with all of us together again, we have a much better chance of doing it!” Bannon said.
Nicci’s stern resolve melted with relief, and she stopped fighting it. “I was indeed concerned about you both. I thought we were separated forever. I was sure you must be dead by now, or at least trapped beneath the shroud of eternity.”
“We thought you might be dead, too. I’m so glad you’re alive!” Bannon grinned at her, and Lila gave him an annoyed sidelong glance.
“I see we have many stories to tell,” Nathan said. “Renda Bay is destroyed, and so is Cliffwall. General Utros and his army marched across the land from Ildakar, and we couldn’t stop them.”
Bannon blurted out, “The Norukai fleet struck Renda Bay at the same time, more than a hundred ships. They are sailing northward to ransack the coast, and General Utros will be marching along the imperial roads. I’d wager they all intend to strike Tanimura.”
The observers crowded around them reacted with alarm and dismay. “How can we possibly fight them?” asked Harborlord Otto.
Nicci realized that Nathan, with his scholarly experience and his knowledge of the language of Creation, might be able to help her with Richard’s mysterious bone box. She felt the cold grow more intense in her heart. “This is what I’ve been waiting for all along.”
CHAPTER 67
Rowboats brought the gifted passengers from the three ships to the Serrimundi docks, but the Renda Bay refugees remained aboard, waiting to find a new home. Harborlord Otto sent boats loaded with supplies, water barrels, and provisions, but his city simply couldn’t absorb thousands more refugees.
While Nicci and Otto planned a public meeting to discuss the alarming new information, Bannon took Lila to explore the edge of the harbor and the headlands. Past the docks, they walked along a gravel path toward the high bluff at the mouth of the harbor. He stared at the towering stone carving of the Sea Mother that loomed high above the sea at the mouth of the sheltered harbor.
“This figure is famous even on Chiriya Island,” Bannon said to her with a grin. “I never thought I would see the great Sea Mother of Serrimundi with my own eyes.”
He turned to Lila, hoping she would share his sense of wonder. Her facial bruises had faded now and she looked beautiful?.?.?.?in the way a finely honed knife was beautiful. Ever since their escape from the Bastion, she had remained close to him, never letting the young man out of her sight. She insisted on protecting Bannon even as they slept together in a narrow cabin aboard Captain Mills’s ship, although when he held her, Lila was hard rather than soft. Regardless, he would not have wanted any other companion.
“You often speak of the Sea Mother, usually when you intend to swear,” Lila said.
Standing beneath the imposing carved figure, Bannon craned his neck up the bluffside. He tried to imagine sculptors hammering away at the dark sea rock to reshape the natural formation into the beautiful and intimidating woman. “I’ve never seen the actual Sea Mother myself, but it was said in times long past that she appeared like a goddess in a silvery form.”
“She is beautiful,” Lila admitted grudgingly. Her tone carried more resentment than admiration.
The giant feminine face looked benevolent, and the huge blank eyes stared beyond the harbor toward the sea. The Sea Mother was there to protect Serrimundi against all enemies, although she had not batted an eyelash when the Norukai came. Bannon knew that Nicci was the one who had saved the city.
Walking along, he was pleased to rest his hand on the finely tooled leather scabbard and the ornate sword that Nathan had given him. Never in his life had he imagined owning such a magnificent weapon. He had been so proud of Sturdy, which he’d purchased with his own coins. He had trained hard, holding the leather-wrapped hilt in his hand. He doubted that any other weapon would ever feel so natural, but he had to admit that Nathan’s sword seemed nearly as perfect.
Happy for this respite before the next horrific battle, whenever it might come, he was glad to walk with lovely Lila. He felt like a different person, no longer a young cabbage farmer who had escaped from a dreary existence on a backwater island, someone whose father had beaten him and murdered his mother?.?.?.?someone whose best friend had been abducted by Norukai slavers.
No, that was the old Bannon. Now he had traveled widely and fought in great battles; he was filled with wonder and hardened by experience. Now he had clean clothes, a full stomach, a fine sword that was worth a fortune, and a beautiful woman, his trainer, his lover, who refused to leave his side. He could barely believe it himself. Bannon looked up at the majestic carving and muttered, “Sweet Sea Mother.” He smiled at his own words.
Lila interrupted him with a bitter undertone, “You consider her too beautiful, boy, just like you fawn over Nicci.”
“What?” Bannon blinked at her. “I fawn over Nicci?”
“I have seen you. Your heart beats faster when you look at her. She is attractive, I admit, but so am I. Is my hair not blo
nd enough? Her breasts are larger than mine. Is that what you desire?” She tensed as if ready to attack him.
Bannon didn’t know what to say. A long time ago, he had indeed been smitten with Nicci. He flirted with her, even brought her flowers in hopes of winning her heart—only to learn that those flowers were poisonous. Nicci had scoffed at his intentions, and when he didn’t forget his silly crush, she had threatened to kill him. He chuckled at the memory. “Nicci? She terrifies me!”
Lila drew the sword from her hip and with her other hand she took out the agile knife. Bannon knew full well how it could deliver surges of impossible pain. “Do I not terrify you, boy? Defend yourself, and maybe you’ll learn your lesson.”
She lunged with her long blade, and it was all he could do to yank Nathan’s ornate sword out of its scabbard in time to counteract her blow. Steel crashed against steel. Previously, Bannon had practiced with the new sword, fought in a shadow dance against imaginary opponents, but now Lila was serious. She struck again, backed away, then slashed hard across his abdomen. She would have gutted him, but he leaped back at the last instant. The swish of the blade’s point kissed the fabric of his shirt. “Lila! What are you doing?”
