The Sea Devil's Eye - Mel Odom [81]
"What do they want?" the captain asked.
Jherek shook his head, then a ghostly whisper trickled through his mind. Jherek, you must come with us. The voice wasn't the same as the one that had contacted him days ago.
"They want me," the young sailor said.
"How do you know?" Tarnar demanded.
"They just told me."
The captain looked at him as if he'd gone mad.
"You can't hear them?" Jherek asked, amazed that the man could not.
"No."
Jherek, there is not much time remaining. You must accompany us.
Fear and wonderment touched the young sailor's heart. Even days ago when he'd felt the pull and heard the whale song and the voice, he hadn't been as moved. Gazing out at the scavenging birds, he felt the world close in around him.
"Why do they want you?" Tarnar asked.
"I don't know," the young sailor answered.
The sapphire whale swam alongside the caravel, bumping gently up against it. Steadfast bobbed in response.
Come, Jherek Whalefriend. Come and learn.
The young sailor peered down into the whale's eye, seeing the intelligence there.
"What are you going to do?" Tarnar asked.
Jherek clung to the railing, squinting against the wind in his face. "We have no choice. I don't think they'll let the ship proceed unless I find out what they want."
Tarnar was quiet for a moment. "If you go into that water, you're taking your life in your own hands."
"Aye." Jherek nodded.
"We're carrying Cormyrean dried pepper seasoning as part of our cargo," Tarnar said. "I can have the men ready the ship and dump a few pepper barrels into the water. It'll burn those whales-chase them away and give us a chance to run. The wind favors us."
"No." Jherek bent and pulled his boots off. "We've come all this way following the whale song. To try to leave without finding out where it led would be a waste of our time."
"Then I'll come with you."
"And leave Steadfast without her captain?" Jherek gazed at the man. "What kind of decision would that be?"
Tarnar looked out to sea. "You're talking to a failed priest, Jherek," he said. "If these creatures aren't here for your life, then this has got to be some kind of… divine experience. I wouldn't want to miss out on that."
Alone, the voice whispered into Jherek's mind. He repeated the request to the captain.
Tarnar clearly wasn't happy with the stipulation. His face hardened. "Go then, but I'm not going to leave you out here on your own."
"Weigh the risk if it comes to that," Jherek said softly. "One man isn't worth your ship and crew."
"Mystra keep you in her graces." Tarnar offered his arm.
Jherek took the captain's hand and shook it. Barefoot now, his dagger sheathed to one leg and the cutlass through the sash at his waist, he stepped over the railing and dropped into the sea. He hit feet first and slid through the blue-green water. From under the surface, where the largest portion of the whale's mass was, the creature looked even bigger.
No fear, the whale urged him, bumping up against him with her rough body. You are the one to be known as Whale-friend.
Why?
We will explain what we may. Please, climb on my back and I will save you the swim. The whale sunk lower in the water and came close enough to Jherek that they touched.
Hesitantly, the young sailor hooked his fingers over the sapphire whale's dorsal fin and pulled himself aboard. Jherek didn't look back, concentrating on the birds before him.
The whale swam swiftly, skimming along the ocean's surface while the other whales and dolphins opened the path. As they neared the mass in the sea, the cries of the feathered scavengers reached a crescendo, a vibrant clamoring of hunger and rage. The young sailor recognized the mutilated remains of the largest whale he'd ever seen.
The dead whale floated just below the surface, buoyed up in death. The sea rarely hid her dead unless they went down in ships or the scavengers