When Ravens Call: The Fourth Book in the Small Gods Epic Fantasy Series (The Books of the Small Gods by Bruce Blake (books under 200 pages txt) 📗

They're attracted by my blood.

The realization yanked the prince from his distraction. He raised his chin, looked toward Rilum and Bryder.

The sailor had released his captain's head, and the skipper blustered and coughed, spewing equal parts seawater and profanity from his lips. As he watched them continue their pointless struggle, fear rose in Teryk, filling his chest and flowing into his limbs. He jerked his hands out of the water, setting the raft rocking.

If blood attracts small fish, what else might it attract?

His head filled with an image of the God of the Deep rising out of the waves to sink the Whalebone and his breath caught.

"Get out," he said, the fear in his chest turning to terror and squeezing his lungs so the words came out but a gasp.

He swallowed hard, cleared his throat and opened his mouth to warn them again. A shape broke the ocean's surface behind Rilum and Bryder a mere three horse-lengths from them. Sunlight flashed on smooth, gray skin as the coil of a monstrous serpent pulled through the water. It ended in a pointed tail flicking droplets of sparkling spray into the air before disappearing beneath the sea.

"Get out," Teryk screamed, finding his voice. "Get out now!"

The two men ceased their watery squabble and directed their attention toward their companion. He waved his arms, frantic to get them moving and out of the water. He didn't know if they'd find safety on the raft, but it must be better than being in the sea with whatever monstrosity lurked beneath the surface. Despite his efforts to make them realize the danger, they both merely stared at him.

"Something's after you," he shouted, beckoning them.

Bryder half-smiled and waved a dismissive hand, as if to say a land-bound stowaway didn't understand what the sea held. He'd captained a ship since before Teryk took his first breath. But the captain hadn't seen the slick, gray coil, nor the way the smaller fish so greedily consumed his lifeblood. Might the ocean around this foreign place hold things a seasoned sailor never dreamed of?

Rilum appeared to take Teryk's warning at face value, or he no longer wanted to be near his skipper. He drew one hand out of the water, threw it over his head scattering sparkling droplets in the sunshine, then plunged it into the brine, stroking toward Teryk and the chunk of ruined deck.

"Coward." Bryder splashed water at the other man the way Teryk might have done to his sister as children playing in the river.

The captain leaned back, floating atop the salty sea with his eyes directed upward to the cloudless sky. The panic in Teryk's gut coalesced with a familiar frustration he'd felt so often when speaking to his father. How many times had he wanted to tell the king things, only to experience dismissal the same way he did now at the hands of the captain? More than he'd ever hope to count.

Rilum reached the edge of the last surviving bit of the Whalebone, leaned against it. Teryk flattened himself against the wood before realizing he'd need to help the man out of the water. The prince inched back toward the middle of the piece of deck, got to his knees and held out a hand. The sailor grasped it, using the assistance to leverage himself up and onto the raft. It bobbed and rocked under his weight but Teryk kept his position. With Seaman safely aboard and the chunk of wood settled, Teryk clambered back to the side.

Bryder continued floating in the same place, gazing skyward without a care in the world. For an instant, the prince's frustration waned. The captain had lost his entire crew; the prince couldn't imagine how it must weigh upon the man. If anyone deserved respite, Captain Bryder did.

Beyond the captain's prone form, the water swelled.

Teryk's eyes widened and panic flooded through his body. He waved his arms above his head, opened his mouth, but his voice refused to issue the warning perched at the back of his throat. The swell moved toward the skipper, the smooth coil closing in on him without his knowledge. The prince slapped his hand against the water, hoping to draw Bryder's attention. It didn't work, but it brought Rilum to the edge of the raft.

The chunk of wood tilted under his weight, making Teryk think he'd plunge into the sea with the beast stalking Bryder. Rilum Seaman stopped short of the side, a man used to where to place his feet when afloat on the ocean.

"Bryder!" he called in a deep and booming tone.

Teryk watched the captain turn his head the direction of the sailor's voice. A shadow fell across the prince and he knew without looking Rilum had raised his arm to point at the creature. The swell lengthened, grew, drew closer to the floating man. Bryder looked to the spot where Rilum indicated, saw the ridge of water moving toward him, and rolled onto his front, stroked for the raft.

The prince got to his knees, the chunk of deck tilting precariously. Rilum shifted to keep his footing, placed his hand on Teryk's shoulder, no doubt expecting the normally land-bound lad to have trouble staying put. Truthfully, if the man hadn't steadied him, Teryk would have ended up in the sea with Bryder.

The captain splashed in the water, legs throwing droplets high in the air. The block of wood he wore as a foot proved an ineffective flipper, slowing his progress toward the chunk of the Whalebone's deck. Rilum crouched, held his arms out to his captain.

"Hurry. It's closing on you."

Teryk glanced passed the struggling man. A snout broke through the surface of the water at the leading edge of the swell. Two black eyes stared out of the