The Heart of Alchemy by James Wisher (i like reading books txt) 📗

Another burst of lightning was followed by a huge crash.

Axel skidded to a stop beside his brother.

“It’s dead,” Otto said. “You can relax now.”

“Dead. How?” Axel forced the words out between gulps of air.

“It’s just a beast. A big one to be sure, but still an animal. My lightning exploded its heart as easily as it would a human’s. Besides, no way was I losing another man.”

Axel straightened, his heartrate back to a normal, and studied Otto’s team, now one short. “What happened?”

“Even I can’t kill something if I don’t see it coming. We were taken by surprise. Another lizard, smaller than yours, but still big, came out of the water and snatched Cord. I was focused on the jungle and missed it. Not a mistake I’ll make again.”

“Well, it looks like you found the water and we’ve got the meat. Shall we head back?”

Otto nodded. “The sooner we’re off this wretched island, the happier I’ll be.”

“Lord Shenk!” Cobb said. “The ship.”

Axel and Otto both whipped around. Five winged creatures circled the Sea Star. Axel guessed their wingspan measured fifty feet minimum.

A bolt of lightning shot out, singeing one of the giant birds and sending it flying off.

“Corina can’t hold that many off by herself for long,” Otto said. “We need to hurry.”

Chapter 33

Corina paced on deck and watched the beach. How could he have left her behind again? She was supposed to be his apprentice. She couldn’t learn anything if her master left her on the ship every time they arrived somewhere. She swallowed a curse, not that Corina imagined the sailors would be offended, not after she heard them in the galley when they thought she wasn’t around.

The pounding stopped and she turned to look at the side of the ship. They’d put the final plank in place and were smearing tar all over it. A single whiff of the stuff when they first brought it on deck had sent her as far from the job as the ship allowed. Whoever had to make that stuff surely earned their coin.

A gust of wind blew her hair across her eyes. She brushed it aside and looked up.

The biggest damn bird she’d ever seen flew across the ship, its shadow blocking out the sun as it passed. The beast flew low enough that she could count individual gray feathers. It opened its beak and let out a squawk that hurt her ears.

Another cry prompted her to turn around. Two more birds of the same sort were winging their way toward the ship. More squawks from the opposite direction made a total of five giant birds.

Panicked shouts from the crew mingled with the birds’ calls. The combination of noise and fear made her pulse pound in her ears.

Why was it every time she complained about her master leaving her behind, something horrible happened? First bandits in Colt’s Land and now giant birds. Assuming she lived through this, Corina swore she’d never complain again.

Captain Wainwright ran over beside her. “You can stop them, right?”

“I can try. Have everyone go below deck. We don’t want one of the sailors getting turned into bird food.”

“Right.” The captain hurried away, shooing his men ahead of him like a shepherd with his flock.

Now Corina needed to avoid becoming bird food herself while figuring out how to drive off the beasts. Lightning would probably be best, but she didn’t know if she had power enough to kill them. Another shadow passed over the ship. Not to mention what might happen if one of them crashed into the ship. Visions of broken masts, shredded canvas, and snapped rigging filled her imagination with her furious master laid over it all.

No, caution would definitely be the order of the day.

Corina put her back to the main mast and sent out a targeting thread. It passed through the bird easily enough. When she felt its heart, she loosed a bolt of lightning.

It took only moments, but by the time she released her spell, the target had moved and she ended up only singeing its tail feathers. The bird squawked and banked away from the ship, soaring back to the island.

Not what she had in mind, but it was gone, so she’d take it.

The ship lurched about thirty degrees toward the front. Corina staggered, caught herself on the mast, and peeked around it.

One of the birds had landed in the forecastle. It cocked its head and met her gaze before letting out a weird squawking growl.

Corina ducked back out of sight. She needed to deal with that one before it—

The ship shuddered and thrashed.

Corina looked again. The bird was trying to force its way around the front mast.

Something cracked.

So not good.

Her targeting thread shot out. As soon as it passed through the bird’s flesh, she fired a second lightning bolt.

This one hammered home and the smell of burnt feathers mingled with pained squawking. The bird staggered back and splashed into the ocean.

That was two down.

There was a rush of air. The remaining three birds dove out of the sky and splashed down beside the one she killed. The sound of tearing flesh filled the air as they fed on their former companion.

Corina shuddered, but better they eat their friend than attack the ship. All at once the feeding frenzy went silent. She should really take a look and find out what was happening. Corina told herself that three times before the message reached her feet.

She had barely taken a step when the sound of boots on the deck prompted her to turn back. Her master stood beside the rail. Hans was busy climbing up behind him. Relief such as she had never known flooded through her. She ran over and hugged him.

A gentle hand on her head wiped away the rest of the fear. “You did well.”

Corina smiled and stepped back. That was the best praise possible. “Thank you, Master. When those birds showed up, I feared for our safety, but my magic worked on them fine.”

He nodded. “They’re