Mags! Where are you? Cale projected as he rose. He had neither seen Magadon nor heard the thump of arrows from the guide's bow.
Cale looked to Jak and Evrel to see the troll knock Evrel flat and loom over the prone captain, fanged mouth wide. Jak darted in, drove his dagger into the troll's chest, and sank his short sword to the hilt into its side. The creature emitted a squeal of agony and struck out with a backhand strike at Jak. The blow hit Jak in his stomach and sent blood spraying, but the little man held his ground. He pulled his short sword free and drove it home again. The troll gave a final squeal and collapsed atop Evrel. The captain, covered in black blood, rolled the corpse off and stood.
"Cale?" Jak shouted, staring at the globe of darkness.
"Here, little man," Cale said, and emerged from the pitch.
Jak grinned, wincing a bit at the pain in his stomach.
Erevis, Magadon finally answered. It calls itself the Source. I think I can take what it's offering and use it to help us.
Cale looked across the deck and saw a troll bodily lift a sailor to its mouth and snap off his head with a single bite. The neck stump sprayed blood onto the creature's face, and the troll eagerly slobbered it up. Two more crewmen lay dismembered on the deck. Cale did not see that any trolls had been felled other than the two he and Jak had put down.
Do it, Mags. They're being slaughtered.
A hesitation. Then, I will pay a price, Erevis.
That gave Cale pause. He scanned the deck for Magadon and finally spotted him standing alone in the darkness near the mainmast. The guide's white eyes were wide, distant. Cale could see the sweat on his face.
What price, Magadon? he asked, his mouth forming the words his mind asked.
Another crewman screamed. The trolls roared, charged the survivors. The sailors fell back, slipping on the blood-washed decks. Three of the trolls looked across the deck and caught sight of Cale, Jak, and Evrel. They charged and their clawed feet tore divots in the deck boards as they loped across the ship.
Jak and Evrel stepped to Cale's side, blades bare.
"Come on, you ugly bastards," Evrel muttered.
It's mine to pay and I'm willing, Magadon said.
Before Cale could respond, white light flared around Magadon's head. The trolls charging toward Cale aborted their charge, clutched their heads, and screamed in agony. Blood erupted from their noses, their eye sockets, their ears. They fell to the deck, writhing, bleeding, dying. Their lives were over in five heartbeats.
"Trickster's hairy toes," Jak breathed, eyeing Magadon.
Cale could only agree. He saw the strain in Magadon's face. The veins in his brow were as pronounced as those in the trolls' arms. A trickle of blood dripped from Magadon's nose.
Stop, Mags! Cale ordered. "Stop now!"
Magadon shook his head and white light flared again around him. The trolls on the other side of the ship began to die. Blood poured from the creatures' faces. They fell to the deck, squirming in agony. Their heads were softening; brains and blood leaked from their noses. The surviving sailors jumped on those who fell and hacked them to pieces.
Erevis, Magadon said, and Cale felt the pain in his mental voice. Riven and the slaadi have changed form and have gone underwater. The ship is safe. Go after them. It's the Source they want. It's on the bottom, Erevis.
Cale hesitated. What about you?
I will be all right, Magadon answered, but Cale thought he heard the lie in it. I will keep the mindlink open.
Cale stood unmoving, torn.
Go now, Magadon said, and Cale nodded.
"Little man, let's go," he said to Jak.
Both of them hurriedly stripped off cloaks and armor, keeping only trousers, shirts, weapons, belt pouches, and holy symbols. Jak used a spell of healing to close the wound in his stomach. The wounds in Cale's flesh caused by the troll had already healed.
"Where are you going?" Evrel asked.
"Under," Cale said.
The captain was too dumbfounded to speak.
"We will return," Cale said.
Evrel only nodded.
"I've got the pressure and swimming," Jak said.
"And I have warmth and breathing," Cale answered.
Both cast simultaneously-one spell, then another, then another, each including the other in the effect of their spells. In moments, both were insulated against cold, free to move easily even in water, able to breathe both water and air, and safeguarded against the pressure of the depths.
"And one more so I can see," Jak muttered, and he made a last plea to the Trickster.
When he finished, Cale asked, "Ready?"
Jak grinned, actually grinned. "As ready as I can get. I hate the sea. Give me a calm lake every time."
"Follow me," Cale said, and he sprinted toward the bow.
Magadon had said that Riven and the slaadi had changed forms. No doubt they had transformed into aquatic creatures that could swim fast. Even with the assistance of spells, Cale and Jak would not catch them unless....
In the bow sat one of the four anchor lines aboard Demon Binder. Cale used Weaveshear to cut the thick rope. He took hold of the anchor. Even with his shadow enhanced strength, he found it hard to bear.
"Take hold of me, little man," he said, and Jak did.
Cale pulled the darkness around them, eyed the waters near the slaadi's ship, and made the shadows move them there.
They materialized in the open sea perhaps a bowshot from the slaadi's ship. Cale had only a moment-he thought he saw trolls aboard, it, too, and they were also clutching their heads and dying-before the anchor pulled them under.
Sound fell away. Light disappeared. The sea enshrouded Cale and he took comfort in the darkness. They sank like a stone into the deep.
CHAPTER 13
THE SOURCE
The water swallowed them. The surface fell away. Cale held his breath out of instinct and it took a conscious effort of will to inhale water. When he did, the fluid stung his nose as it rushed into his lungs. He could not control a reflexive fit of coughing. It passed soon enough, and after only a few deep breaths, inhaling water felt as natural to him as breathing air, save that his chest felt heavier.
Strange sensation, he said to Jak, and the little man nodded as they fell.