The storm was on their heels as they sailed into the little lagoon just in time. After a windy night, the crew prepared to row ashore. Saiyun fought back a yawn as he perched carefully on the back of the Ijose Turtle. Tsen stood tall, swaying back and forth as they moved towards the beach.
“How is it?” Saiyun asked.
“More stable than most aquatic summons,” Tsen mused. “But slower too. There’s always a tradeoff.”
Saiyun sighed, biting back envy. Learning the Ijose Turtle had taken him months of practice. Tsen had mastered it in less than a day. There was something truly strange about him. But those thoughts did him no good now. “How long do you think this will take?”
“Not long,” Tsen shrugged. “You had eleven days under my careful supervision to master the Jado doll. It’s as close to perfect as it will ever be.”
Saiyun looked down at the doll resting on his lap. It was long and narrow, with a bulbous head, six legs hanging off the side, and a long whip-like tail. Behind him, there was a splash as the crew lowered a longboat into the water. "Maybe we should have offered to pull them," he said.
“Bah, they know how to row,” Tsen said with a wave of his hand. “I want to clear myself of this obligation as quickly as possible. It is bad enough Bill is already holding one over my head.”
The turtle reached the island's beach with a gentle thump. Saiyun hopped off, careful to keep his pant legs dry. "Should we go into the forest?"
Tsen shook his head, pointing to a circle of fallen logs further up the beach. “No, there is plenty here to use. They just need to be piled up.”
“Let me—“ Saiyun began, stopping when Tsen grabbed one of the logs and lifted one end like it was a feather.
“Depending on the summon,” Tsen said as he finished making the pile. “You may have to be particular about what kind of wood you use. Some will only work on living wood, while others are restricted to a certain species. Jado has no such restrictions.”
Saiyun nodded, tossing the doll up and down in his hand. It was one of the reasons why he chose Jado. Versatility would be important, especially if he was limited to a handful of summons. “I’ll give it a try,” he said.
"Not yet," Tsen said, holding up his hand. "You are only practiced with a liquid medium. The visualization stage calls on you to imagine your summon rising out of the water. This is not effective on a living medium like wood. Form an image in your head of the summon growing like a flower out of the ground."
Saiyun took a deep breath, focused, and threw the doll onto the logs. He willed power into the wood through the doll, but nothing happened. The power dissipated like scattered clouds before the sun. "I'll try again," he said, picking up the doll.
“Focus your mind on growth, not emergence. Changing mediums is no easy task,” Tsen said, watching with his hands folded behind him.
Saiyun closed his eyes, remembering the drawing in Tsen's manual. Shiny green scales, thick pads on each toe, and a hard beak at the front. He tossed the doll again and again, but nothing happened. "I can't afford a delay," he groused, looking over his shoulder. Other members of the crew had reached the shore in longboats and were carefully unloading empty water barrels. "What am I doing wrong?"
Tsen tapped his chin, eyes locked on the log. "I believe your visualization is flawed. When I said to imagine your summon growing out of the ground like a flower, I did not mean suddenly. It must develop slowly, growing outwards. Picture the core in your head, then the limbs, heads, and tail slowly pushing out and forming."
"Yes," Saiyun nodded, gripping the sand-covered doll. After he got over the ridiculousness of the mental image, he tossed the doll in a long slow arc. When it landed an explosion of sand blinded him. "Did it work?"
“See for yourself,” said Tsen, dusting himself off.
After he spat out a mouthful of sand and cleared out his eyes, Saiyun beheld Jado. Just like the illustration, it had a long slender body covered in shining green scales. Its six legs ended in three-fingered hands tipped with flexible bulbs. Even though it was long, Jado was short, barely coming up to Saiyun's waist.
The summon twisted its head around, reptilian eyes perched just behind a short, thick beak. A long, whip-like tail darted back and forth, making a gentle whistling noise.
"It's perfect," Saiyun marveled.
“It is passable,” Tsen said, running his eyes up and down its length. “Give it a command.”
Saiyun opened his mouth, only to close it. Verbal commands were not needed, they were a crutch for novices and people handling more than one summon. With a few firm thoughts, Jado began to pace a circle around both men. "Easy. Now look through its eyes,” Tsen replied.
“What?” Saiyun asked. “I only just summoned it. I’m not ready for that.”
“Nonsense,” scoffed Tsen. “The difficulty is perpetually overstated. Now is the right time, when the connection is fresh. Have it look at me, and then see through its eyes.”
Saiyun had Jado stop and focus its slit orange eyes on Tsen. “I’ve never even done this with Ijose,” he muttered.
“Because you never had the need,” said Tsen as a strong wave washed up on the beach and lapped at his feet. “Seeing is the simplest thing in the world. Command Jado to close his eyes and see what he sees when he opens them. You know what I look like, it is not hard.”
Jado's scaly eyelids shut in time with Saiyun’s, and he took a breath, remembering Tsen's exact pose. When he gave the command to open its eyes, a riot of unfamiliar colors raced through his mind. "What was that?" Saiyun gasped, his own eyes shooting open. The colors vanished as his perspective snapped back into his own skull.
"Did you not expect a creature with different eyes to see differently than you?" Tsen sighed. "Again!"
Saiyun closed his eyes, this time prepared for the rush of color as he cast out with his senses. The rest of the world was a dull blur, but Tsen was in sharp focus. Saiyun could see every fold in his clothes and wrinkle on his face. "It works!"
“Of course it works,” said Tsen. “It is an easy skill to learn, but a difficult one to master. Distance and distraction will increase the challenge exponentially. But you have begun. Our bargain is fulfilled.”
“Thank you so much, I never could have...” Saiyun began, but Tsen was already walking away to join the rest of the crew. Saiyun followed suit with Jado in tow.
Bill stepped out of the group, grinning from ear to ear.“I love it when I make the right bet,” said Bill. Most of the crew was with him, save a handful back on the ship. “You and that thing are coming along with us.”
Saiyun nodded. “Very well. It will be an excellent chance to test my control.”
“Listen up!” bellowed Bill. “Aven, Ji, Yazwa, Saiyun, Batro, Cai, with me. We’re going to follow Ru Talas to the ship. The rest of you, fill these barrels with spring water and get them back onboard. Keep one boat at the beach in case we need to leave fast. Tsen, do whatever you want because you don’t listen to me anyway.”
Saiyun glanced over at Batro and the bandage around his leg. The red-haired swordsman said his wound from the Governor was fully healed, but Saiyun wasn’t so certain. “Are you sure you should come with us, Batro?”
“He shouldn’t,” grumbled Aven.
"I am fine," snapped Batro, stomping his injured leg up and down on the ground. "If I have to spend one more second cooped up in that tiny cabin I will lose my mind. Besides, how can I miss a chance to see one of the treasure ships up close?"
“Lead the way, Ru Talas,” Bill said, pointing at the hills.
A well-worn path led into the hills, stopping next to a deep, clear spring halfway up. Half the crew stayed behind to fill the barrels while Saiyun and the others carried on. At the summit of the hill, they saw the whole island laid out before them. A ring of hills surrounded the shore of the island, save for the east. The shore around it boiled with froth as waves washed over unseen rocks below the surface. The center of the island was like a bowl and it was densely packed with trees. "Where is the ship?" Saiyun asked, shielding his eyes from the sun.
Ru Talas pointed to a hill on the other side of the island. “Way over there. Don’t bother looking for it. I didn’t see it until I was almost on top of it.”
The way down the slope was covered in thick vegetation. Blades of all kinds came out as the crew hacked its way down until they reached the shade of the trees. Saiyun hung back and a thought crossed his mind. The trees were tall and thick, easily large enough to support Jado's weight. With a quick command to take to the trees and watch for danger, the summon scurried up the nearest trunk and disappeared into the canopy. A giggle almost made it out of Saiyun's mouth before he bit down on it. He was happy about his new summon, but that was no reason to embarrass himself.
-
Yazwa raised her arm high and brought the blade of her palm down onto a branch that stood in her way. She grunted in frustration as it failed to give way, leaving her with a bruised hand. “Why won’t it work?” she grumbled to herself.
“Move,” said Batro, pushing her out of the way and hacking through the branch with his sword. “If you’re not going to help, get to the back.”
Yazwa stood still as the others passed her by. Activating her sight, she stared at her hand. The white glow was completely gone. Reaching to her side, she pressed her hand against the pouch of marked obsidian blades hanging on her belt. After a few careful breaths, she felt a familiar shudder as essence transferred from the blade to her hand. The white glow was not as bright as Ca Diro's, but it was still there. A recently-cut vine fluttered in the wind, and she swung at it, but the white light snuffed out the second she made contact. "Why isn't it working?"
A long-suffering sigh drifted in from behind her, and a flare of temper shot through her. “Do you have something to say Tsen?”
The old man kept walking, passing her to catch up with the rest of the crew. “There are many things I would like to say.”
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Yazwa squeezed her new staff tight. It was just an oar from one of the longboats, so it was off-balance, but it would do until she could get a proper one. "Let me rephrase. Do you have anything helpful to say?" she asked, walking alongside him.
“What are you offering?” he replied.
“You know I don’t have anything to offer,” Yazwa snapped. “Just tell me what I’m doing wrong.”
“That is not the way of the world,” Tsen said. “If I am to give, I must receive.”
Yazwa opened her mouth but thought better of it. No point in getting upset over Tsen, it was just how he was. The sound of branches being cut and bushes being trampled came to an abrupt end. They had reached a wide, shallow creek that weaved through the forest.
“First landmark,” Ru Talas said, jumping into the ankle-deep water. “We follow this until it meets with another creek, then we have to keep going north. It won’t be far past that.”
Cai jumped into the water, a dozen pistols rattling in his bandoleer. "I never dreamed of a score this big."
“Me either,” said Batro, taking care to keep his bandages dry. “My cut could be all I need to secure a marriage.”
Yazwa followed behind, making sure to keep the hem of her dress out of the water. Above them, the trees rattled as Jado scurried along the high branches. "Is it really that big a deal? I've never even heard of these treasure ships."
Batro stopped and spun around. “How could you not have heard of the Treasure Ships of the Haodei Emperor? They were the greatest vessels ever made, the first ever to cross Vath’s Ocean and return.”
“Good?” Yazwa tried.
“She’s never been to sea,” Cai said, chuckling. “Now hurry up, you’re falling behind.”
“The treasure fleet is legendary back in Ankuvan,” Batro said, sloshing forward once more. “A fleet with hundreds of ships, so packed with riches they used gold bars for ballast. If it is untouched, we’ll be rich beyond measure.”
“Don’t get too excited,” Cai said, stepping around a fallen tree. “The easy part will be getting it back to the ship. The hard part will be getting it back to Hilt without anyone finding out and taking it for themselves.”
Yazwa frowned. She had heard that name somewhere before. “Hilt? Where is that?”
“It’s an island to the far west, the furthest outpost of my people,” said Batro. “More than half of all trade crossing the ocean changes hands there. It’s a place where fortunes are made and lost in a night. Ships from all over the world dock there, even the Vathlanri.”
“Are we going there?” Yazwa asked, almost stumbling over a root in the creek bed at the sudden mention of the Vathlanri.
"We'll have to if this is what we think it is," replied Cai. "There's nowhere else that could handle that much precious metal flowing in at once. Bill might even give up on his secret mission."
Yazwa wracked her brain, trying to remember everything Aven had told her about the Vathlanri all those weeks ago. “But there are Vathlanri there? Their uh, their uh, their groups dock at Hilt?”
“It’s one of the only bits of dry land a Vathlanri ata will stay at for more than a day or two, why?” asked Batro.
“I need to find one particular Vathlanri and it sounds like Hilt is a good place to start,” Yazwa said.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Cai said, climbing up onto the bank of the creek and offering his hand. "There's a lot of space and a lot of bullets between us and Hilt. Worry about getting there before you make too many plans."
Yazwa pulled herself up, lost in thought as the rest of the crew started hacking through the undergrowth once more. She looked down at her feet as she followed the rough-cut path. If the score from this was as big as everyone thought, buying a cure wouldn't be a problem. Finding it would be. She'd need to ask Aven about what he knew again and make a plan. If she had enough money, there would be time to wait. Would it be better to go looking instead? How far had Aven said these ata traveled? The whirlwind of thoughts whipped through her mind over and over until-
“Heavens above!” shouted Saiyun.
Yazwa's head snapped up, and she took in the behemoth in front of her. It was the largest ship she had ever seen by a tremendous margin. It was even longer than most buildings back home, looking more like a wooden wall than a vessel. Its sterncastle rose four stories into the air, while the front of the ship only had two levels. A dozen masts peppered the wide deck, looking like barren trees. Vines and moss had taken root on the sides of the ship, but dull red paint could still be seen on the side. In the middle of the ship, a large crack snaked up halfway to the top deck.
“See,” Ru Talas grinned, enjoying the shock. He pointed to a faded brass nameplate, writing on it still barely visible. “I told you I found the Emerald Arrow.”
“How?” asked Yazwa as Cai and Batro let out cheers. “How could a ship this big be here?”
"Who cares?" said Bill, slapping Ru Talas on the back. "It's ours, that's all that matters!"
"It must have been an Ekavis," Aven said quietly, looking at the ship from back to front.
“A what?” Yazwa replied.
“It’s a Vathlanri word. Means death wave,” said Aven. “Sometimes giant waves will appear out of nowhere on the horizon. Big enough to swamp something like this. See how the prow is facing the hill? I bet the wave caught it just right and carried it inland. No wonder nothing was ever found of it.”
Everyone started to talk very quickly and at the same time until Bill let out a sharp whistle. "Theories later! Split up! Tsen, Yazwa, Saiyun, and I will check out the above decks. Cai, you take the rest into the hold and see what you can find. Don't try to light the torches until Yazwa's up."
By the time Bill was finished speaking, Tsen had already climbed the side of the ship.
“Is it safe to walk on?” Bill called up.
Only the noise of the forest and rapid footsteps answered him.
Bill snorted.“Well, I didn’t hear him scream. Let’s go.”
Yazwa grabbed one of the vines and started to climb up. The wood of the hull was soft, but not spongy, holding up remarkably well. She hauled herself up hand over hand while Saiyun hitched a ride on his summon. “Wait for me!” she called, clambering up over the side only to be confronted by the snarling face of a wolf.
She almost lost her grip, but managed to hold on as she looked into the mouth of a beautiful cannon. "Wow," she gasped as she pulled herself to her feet. Saiyun and Bill were gathered around it too, scratching years of moss off the surface. It was long and made of thick bronze. The mouth of the cannon was decorated with a lifelike wolf's head. More cannons stood ready at the edge of the deck, all decorated with detailed animal heads at their mouths. There were holes in the deck where other guns had fallen through the rotten wood into the bowels of the ship.
"This," Yazwa breathed, running her hands over the wolf's ears and tracing a circle on her forehead. "This is amazing craftsmanship. Stunning."
“You can still read the inscriptions on it,” Saiyun said, scrubbing off a patch of moss. “Date of casting and foundry. There’s something on here about the Emperor’s enemies feeling his bite.”
“A battery of bronze cast canons like this could blast Lai Zeng or Channan Harbor into submission in a day,” Bill said, patting the wolf on the head. “Emperor Haodei wasn’t messing around.”
“Are we going to replace the fake guns with these?” Yazwa asked.
Bill shook his head. "Even if we could get them out of here, we can’t afford the hassle. We have to hope for more portable loot. Let's go see if Tsen has found anything he'll be willing to part with."
Yazwa stepped carefully as she made her way across the deck. The masts loomed above them, sails long rotted away. The old wooden boards creaked but held firm as they climbed up to the highest cabin at the rear of the ship. Even after all these years, the room looked grand. At the very center was a massive table with elaborately carved legs. Faded murals adorned the walls, all of a richly dressed man sitting on a throne. “Tsen, what are you doing?”
Tsen was crouched over a cabinet that ran the full length of the room. Made of dark wood, it had as many carvings as the table did. “Hush,” said Tsen, gently knocking on the top and shuffling a step to the left. He stopped and pulled up a cover, hinges screaming in protest. “Yes, here it is!”
They all rushed over to Tsen’s side as he revealed a compartment lined with brass and filled with brass tubes. “What is it?” asked Bill.
“Are they filled with coin, gems?” Saiyun asked.
"Better," said Tsen, taking out one of the tubes and laying it on the table. He unscrewed the top and pulled out a rolled-up sheet of paper. "Double-sealed in bronze to prevent damage from the sea air. These are the original manifests and orders the ship was to carry with it across the sea."
“Oh, those will sell well,” snorted Bill.
Tsen ignored him, gently unrolling a scroll filled with neat calligraphy and what looked like tables. “Consider this my share of this venture. I will spend the rest of our stay here. Alert me when you are prepared to sail out.”
“Won’t argue with that,” Bill shrugged. “Let’s dig through the rest of this thing, Might be coin hidden away.”
“Wait,” Yazwa said, looking at the door of the room.
“What is it?” Saiyun asked as his summon looked in the same direction.
A faint, muffled scream made itself heard over Tsen rustling in his bag. “Someone’s screaming,” Yazwa said, running for the door. They all bolted out of the room, moving as fast as they dared on the rotten floorboards. Panic turned to relief when Yazwa realized they were happy screams.
Batro came out of the crack in the hull first, holding up a lantern that snuffed out quickly. Then came Aven and Ru Talas, struggling to carry a wooden chest together. The chest was rectangular with a flat top, made of dark wood and bounded by brass edges.
“Come down! Come see what we found!” Batro called.
Bill jumped over the side and landed with a splash, reforming and looming over the chest. Saiyun hitched a ride on his summon, holding on for dear life as it crawled down the side. Which left Yazwa alone to climb down the vines. “Wait for me!” she called, descending as fast as she dared.
“There are chests like this everywhere,” Batro said. “Piled six high. We broke some open and found a lot of rot. Must have been tobacco or cloth. Some are filled with these little bottles that I think used to be full of paint. Nothing valuable, but then we found these,” he said, throwing open the top. Inside were neatly stacked bars of silver, all with a symbol stamped into the tops. “Full of silver bars with an imperial mint mark.”
“How many chests?” Bill said, bouncing up and down on his toes.
“Chests?” Batro snorted. “Cai and Ji are back in there trying to figure out how many rooms are full of these. It’s at least three.”
Yazwa flinched as Bill let out a squeal far too high-pitched for a man of his girth. She frowned, something didn’t seem right about the bars
“Saiyun,” Aven said, beckoning him over. “Can you read the mark on them? I don’t know the script.”
"Let me see," Saiyun said, crouching down and lifting up a bar. "That's an Imperial Mint mark. The rest aren't words, they're numbers. The date they were cast, the number of the bar, and purity. Wow, this is over 90% pure silver."
“I think we just became the richest people on the sea,” Aven said with a grin as Bill, Ru Talas and Batro danced around in a circle holding hands.
“Can I see the bar?” Yazwa asked. When Saiyun handed it over she turned it over in her hands. It was lighter than it should have been. She tapped it against the metal box and got a dull thunk rather than a clear ring.
“What is it, Yazwa?” asked Saiyun.
“Wait,” she said, grabbing both ends of the bar and pressing the middle against the edge of the chest. She pushed hard and the bar gave a little, letting out a high-pitched crackling sound. “This isn’t silver, it’s tin.”
The dance of joy abruptly stopped. "What did you say?" asked Bill, still holding Ru Talas and Batro's hands.
“This isn’t silver, it’s tin,” Yazwa repeated, holding up the slightly bent bar. “Looks the same, but I can tell.”
Just then Cai ran out of the crack in the hull with Ji close behind. “Six!” he cried, waving the snuffed lantern around his head. “Six holds stuffed full to bursting with silver!”
“Cai,” Bill said, holding up his hands.
“I am going to buy a manor on Hilt and never leave it!” Cai cheered, spinning the lantern around his head.
“CAI! Yazwa says they’re not silver. They’re tin,” Bill shouted.
“What?” Cai said, the lantern slowly spinning to a halt. “No, it…what?”
"It's too light and doesn't sound like silver," Yazwa said sheepishly, unable to meet the old man's eyes. "It has to be tin."
A gloomy silence fell over the crew until Ru Talas spoke up. “That can’t be right. Why would anyone set sail with a hold full of tin?”
"To barter with the Vathlanri," Aven said, taking a close look at one of the bars. "The islands they live on have no mines, so they have to trade for it. Mercenary atas will take payment in iron bars and bronze ingots rather than gold or silver coin. For what it's worth I think Yazwa's right. This doesn't have the same shine as silver."
“Yeah,” Yazwa said, tapping her makeshift staff on the ground. “Sorry.”
“Brighten up,” Bill said, clapping his hands. “Tin might not be worth as much as silver, but it is worth something and we’ve got two days to haul as much as we can back to the ship. Ji, run back to the ship and tell them what we found and to start making sledges big enough to hold two of these at once. Break up barrels and crates if they have to. Rest of us will start hauling these chests out.”