The Fading Dream_ Thorn of Breland - Keith Baker [28]
Drix was oblivious to the threat, lost in his memories. “You follow the threads, search for the breaks, let your strength flow into the broken strands to bind them together …”
Thorn pushed Drix up against the shuddering wall. “Can you feel what’s on the other side of this?”
Drix looked nervous but he pressed his hand up against the hull. “Yes.”
“Can you feel those threads of magic?”
Drix closed his eyes. “Yes … but it’s strong. Bright. It’s not hurt.”
“I know. But you can touch those threads? Feel their strength?”
“Yes,” Drix murmured. The boat rocked again, and a cascade of sparks fell from the golden cage surrounding the elemental core.
Thorn was no artificer, but she knew a thing or two about magic. She thought about the lessons she’d learned, the techniques she used for breaking through mystical wards. “You know what it’s like when a thread breaks. Can you break the threads you see? Use your strength to tear at them instead of mending them?”
“That’s not the way it’s supposed to go,” Drix said. “It’ll hurt—”
“It’s the only chance we have,” Thorn said. “It’s hurting the ship, Drix. It’s going to destroy the ship and kill us all unless you can make it go away. Make it let go.”
Drix frowned and Thorn could feel his tension growing. His fingers twisted, clenching into fists. “I … can’t …” he said. “They’re too bright. Too strong.”
“Keep trying,” Thorn said.
Suddenly a hand gripped her shoulder, pulling her back. It was Essyn Cadrel. “There’s no more time!” He grabbed Drix and Thorn saw that there was a crack running down the hull. “Come on!”
He turned, tugging Drix with him as they headed toward the top of the ship. The cracks were spreading. There was nothing more to be done. By the time they reached the top hatch, the ship was shuddering and shaking. The crystal orb set into the wall by the hatch was half-filled with pale blue light.
“We’ve surfaced,” Cadrel said. “Quickly now!”
Throwing open the hatch, they stepped out onto the deck of the elemental ship. Salt spray filled the air, and the sky was a dim gray, the morning sun lurking behind thick clouds. Behind them, a ring of water rose from the surface of the sea. It was the extension of the elemental that propelled the ship through the ocean, and the elemental’s pain was plain to see. The ring contorted, struggling against invisible bonds. There was a lifeboat clamped down by the hatch.
“Careful!” Thorn shouted, grabbing Drix before he fell. The surface of the ship was slick, treacherous even if the vessel weren’t twisting and rocking. Cadrel pulled the tarp from the boat, and Thorn pushed Drix to it. “Just get in!”
Cadrel knew how to handle a boat, which was a good thing; it was all Thorn could do to keep herself and Drix from tumbling into the water. Soon they were free. “Oars!” Cadrel cried. “We need to get as far away as we can!”
The stricken vessel was just fading into the fog when the wards finally fell. The ring surrounding the ship snapped, two great tentacles of water rising into the air and flailing at the clouds. For a moment they stayed suspended in the air, waterspouts quivering in the light of early morning. Then they fell. As the ring collapsed, the ship burst asunder. The elemental core had broken free of its bonds and exploded in a torrent of water.
“Row!” Cadrel said.
Chunks of wood showered down from the sky, splashing into the water around them. Then the shock wave hit. The little boat was flung up on a watery cliff then slammed back down into the ocean. Thorn’s oar was torn from her grip, and for a moment she was falling toward the water. Cadrel caught hold of her arm and pulled her down to the bench.
Thorn wanted to sink onto the floor of the little boat, to just lie there and forget about the chaos of the past hour, the sacrifice of Captain Shaeli. She knew better. She drew Steel and looked at the ocean, searching for any signs of motion beneath the heaving water. “Stand ready!” she called to the others. “That breacher is still