Of Wings and Things

Hello everyone. Not a whole lot to update you with right at the moment, since it's the same old story: I'm still working on both Taloner: Wekthusia and the revision of Nethbane. But while things are a little quiet, I thought you'd enjoy an excerpt from Book 9.

Exhaling softly, Lotus closed her eyes; it was easier to concentrate when she wasn’t looking at anything. Reaching within herself for a particular spell that she and Rhozu had been developing over the last several months, Lotus summoned the energy forth. Through her eyelids, she saw a flare of light.

Shivering from the slight tingle on her back, Lotus opened her eyes and turned to inspect her work, then sighed when she saw the feathered pair of white wings on her back. They glowed with faint luminance, lighting up the deck where she stood.

After having traveled so much with the lore drakes a year previous, Lotus had felt inspired to devise her own method of flight. It had helped to speed her in her travels across parts of Siege, especially over rocky terrain.

Lotus turned a half circle and flexed her wings, “feeling” them through the sensation of magic in her veins. Were she to reach out and touch them, they felt soft and real, but if she pressed hard enough, she could slide her fingers right through the beautiful pinions. She twitched them up and down just for fun, watching as silvery hues flashed along the magical limbs.

As someone who bore the title of Light Caller, Lotus had discovered that she had a particular bond with spells that were connected to light. Usually these were just in the form of illuminating an area or altering her vision so that she could see in the dark, but sometimes her magic extended to far more tangible points.

Facing the nearest of the ship’s three masts, Lotus focused, then jumped off the deck. Her wings thrust and propelled her upward, and a second later, her boots touched down on the lowest limb of the mast. Lotus grabbed the main trunk quickly as she caught her balance, smiling. She was no lore drake, but she was becoming more and more familiar with the spell each time she used it.

Looking up, Lotus readied herself and jumped again, going to the next limb up. She repeated this until she was balancing on the topmost part of the mast, her wings flexing around her to keep from falling. The lookout in the crow’s nest nodded to her, his mane rippling in the breeze.

“Fine evening,” he said, and Lotus nodded back.

“How do things look?” she asked, her hair slithering over one shoulder.

“Pretty quiet tonight,” the lookout said. “I’d say you’re safe for a flight.”

Thanking him, Lotus turned her attention to the dark ocean and prepared herself. When she was ready, she walked out to the end of the mast limb and leaned forward, falling away from her perch. Her wings caught the air with nary a sound as she glided forward, momentarily leaving the safety of the Hammerwing.

Wind rushed over her ears as she flew, and Lotus couldn’t stop the wide grin that appeared on her face. Oh, how exhilarating it was to fly! The fact that she could fly all by herself made it even more enjoyable, since she was no longer dependent on anyone to ferry her around.

Curving gently and flapping, she willed her magic to buoy her across the face of the sea. She had found that she couldn’t actually sustain full flight like a bird could, but she was able to cross limited distances without trouble.

A shout came from somewhere behind her.

Twisting with some difficult to look over her shoulder, she could just see the lookout on the Hammerwing waving, but with the rush of the wind over her ears, she couldn’t make out anything that didn’t sound like garble. What was he trying to say?

Abruptly, her leisurely flight was interrupted as something large and cold slammed into her. Lotus’s startled protest was cut short as she plunged into the cool water, closing her eyes as salt stung them. Her concentration broken, she felt her wings disappear from her back.

Giving a powerful kick born of adrenaline, Lotus broke the surface of the water and coughed, sucking in warm air. She tried to look around and see what had hit her, but was again driven down into the dark water. This time, she was farther from the surface. The blue moon wavered overhead, surrounded by a halo of light. Lotus kicked and fought against the water, losing her breath as she was hit in the side and spun around.

Stunned, Lotus blinked painfully and tried to see through the water. Something large writhed against the darkness, inspiring terror to the struggling human. A massive head loomed out of the deep below her, and Lotus suddenly found herself rocketing upward and into the air as something hard and cold clamped down around her chest and one arm. Sputtering, panicked, Lotus gasped and looked down at what held her.

A long, serpentine body extended away from her and disappeared into the ocean, its dull gray hide blotched by dark spots of rust. Her stomach lurched when it turned and dove back into the water, slamming her against a surface that felt as hard as earth. Lotus tried to scream, but all she achieved was swallowing a mouthful of brine.

Whatever was holding her twisted and turned, taking her closer to the inky depths. Now truly frightened and desperate to escape, Lotus aimed her free hand toward the creature and focused with all her strength. A beam of brilliant white and gold light plowed through the water, creating a flurry of superheated bubbles. A dull clang sounded as her magic struck home, but the thing that held her still refused to let go.

Someone help me! she thought, unable to speak with her mouth. Was she going to die?

The creature holding her jolted and a series of metallic booms traveled through the water. Lotus felt the pressure on her chest disappear as she was released. Frantic, she paddled her way toward the surface. It seemed so far away.

Something bright and shiny flashed through the water, and then Lotus felt strong hands grab her arm and shoulder. Her sluggish pace tripled as someone pulled her up toward the barrier between water and precious air.

Again, she felt her head break the surface as she coughed up water, sucking in a breath and coughing some more. She floundered and looked to see who had rescued her. The curved, beak-like hook of a lore drake mask met her gaze. To her start, she recognized Seraphim holding her above the waves.

“Your wings!” the lore drake cried. “Summon your wings, paladin!”

Beyond him, the water churned. An elongated head lifted and rushed toward them, jaws opening.

Lotus hurried to comply as the creature in the water closed, but her mind had been effectively scattered. All she could think about was that huge, lunging mouth.

Seraphim snarled something in Laeren, then shoved her violently to the side. Lotus felt herself being sucked backward as the huge thing—whatever it was—slid within inches of her back and submerged. Afraid that she was going to do the same, Lotus fought with all her might to stay above water.

“Paladin!”

Wet hair in her eyes, Lotus squinted and saw an airborne shape descending through the air. Six broad wings spread around a single figure and pushed against the night as blue hands grabbed Lotus. She latched onto Seraphim and felt herself yanked out of the water and borne skyward.

Behind her, the water swirled and made a sucking sound. Lotus looked in panic as a set of jaws longer than she was tall came toward her. Her eyes scrunched shut and she screamed as the maw clanged together and tore her sodden cloak.

A blast of lightning lit up the night, followed almost immediately by a thunderclap. As they flew higher, Lotus was finally able to see just what it was that had been trying to kill her. A sinuous shape that seemed to extend endlessly rose from the water in humps, and Lotus recognized the sea serpent as another lightning bolt struck it. The casters on the Hammerwing were fighting to distract the monster while Seraphim carried her to safety, his six powerful wings pumping and blasting her with cold air.

A grinding, metallic groan cut through the air and made Lotus grit her teeth. The sea serpent was lurching toward the ship, but it had clearly sustained some damage from the magic being thrown at it. The Hammerwing was veering sharply toward it, and as Lotus watched, the large blade on the front of the ship collided with the serpent. Several magic users at the front of the ship fired devastating spells down into the water, and with a final ear-rending groan, the sea serpent was caught under the ship and disappeared.

When her feet touched the firm wooden surface of the Hammerwing’s deck, Lotus collapsed, cold and suddenly very weak. Shivering, she looked up to make sure that the sea serpent had gone, then looked at Seraphim. The turquoise lore drake was standing over her in concern, his wings dripping water.

“Are you alright?” he asked, and she nodded.

Lotus coughed again, spitting up saltwater, then eyed his wings. They were almost … translucent.

“You have six wings?” she blurted, unable to comprehend what was going on. Just how much salt water had she swallowed?

She began to choke again. Seraphim thumped her on the back as she spit up more water.

“At times,” he said. “It’s a gift from a very generous priestess I helped a while ago.”

Now that she didn’t feel as if she were on the verge of death, Lotus was able to study the wings more carefully. All six of them looked identical and somehow ethereal, as if they had been carved out of bluish ice. A faint glow was coming from them.

“Captain, that serpent may be coming back up,” one of the crewmen warned.

Seraphim nodded to his men and started issuing orders.

“I want magi on all points of the ship. Do everything you can to boost our speed and get us the blazes out of here! If that thing knocks a hole in us before we can sink it, we’re going to be limping for a long way.”

“Aye, sir!”

As his men hastened to obey his orders, Seraphim reached down and helped Lotus to her feet. With a sighing noise, his wings flickered and vanished, leaving behind the single pair he regularly sported.

“Come—we’d better get you dried off.”

Lotus was still staring at his wings, her head spinning like a top. Six wings? Sea serpents? What had she gotten herself into?

“You and that Nethbane seem to be magnets for trouble,” Seraphim grumbled as he opened the hatch and escorted her into the hold. Behind them, the wind had suddenly picked up and was blowing into in the Hammerwing’s sails with a vengeance.

“What do we do now?” Lotus asked.

Seraphim waved a hand. “Ah, don’t worry, lady. They’ll sink that thing before it can cause any more damage. It’s not the first serpent my men and I have dealt with. I’m more concerned about you staying safe, in the meantime.”

“I’m sorry, Captain,” Lotus said as they approached the place where her cot was crammed. She was beginning to feel very stupid about her short flight. “I didn’t mean to stir up trouble.”

“It’s not your fault,” Seraphim told her. “Now, get out of that armor. I’ll have an extra blanket brought down to you while you dry off.”

Resisting the urge to sigh, Lotus rolled her eyes. She certainly hoped that the rest of her journey wasn’t going to go like this.

All content (c) 2020 W. A. Johnson