Harvest of Dreams (The Gods' Dream Trilogy) (44 page)

The last few steps brought him eye-level with a terraced area—the source of the ray. The light, white and sharp, blinded him, and he threw up an arm to cover his face, in the process realizing he still carried the stone. In the press of battle, he’d used it to batter a reaver who’d pushed too close to his side, but then Thaddis practically forgot the primitive weapon was in his hand. Now the rock seemed far heavier than it should, weighing his arm down. But his othersense wouldn’t let him drop the burden.

His eyes watering, Thaddis squinted against the glare, careful not to look directly at the light. To move against Ontarem’s force took all his willpower. Thaddis stepped onto even ground paved with stone. The ray streamed from a protuberance of the mountain.

A shout and rush of feet gave away the presence of the enemy.
Foolish of them to alert me.

“There are guards! Wenda get back!” Thaddis yelled. Eyes slitted, he threw his stone in the direction of the footsteps, hoping he could make contact and buy himself a few seconds to adjust to the light.

A thud and cry of pain was his reward.

The rocks his companions had carried flew past him, striking some targets.

With his eyes finally adjusting to the brightness, Thaddis saw his first opponent rush toward him, sword outstretched. He lunged to engage the man.

Several more reavers swarmed after the first one.

Sadie and Meleda hurried to flank him.

Thaddis had only a second to hope Philan still protected Wenda and then he was engaged in fighting.

The world narrowed to a blur of thrusts and blocks as they pushed back the defenders. Although the seadogs fought with desperation, they were no match for the elite fighters and soon lay dead at their feet.

Panting, Thaddis glanced around, relieved to see Sadie and the others were unharmed.

Sword in one hand, Sadie ran to him.

Deftly avoiding her blade, Thaddis gave her a brief one-armed hug around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head in gratitude for her safety.

The strength of the beam dimmed. He looked up to see Wenda, wearing only a sleeveless tunic, knee britches, and ankle boots, had removed her robe and covered the front of the crystal with the garment.

The faint rosy blush of dawn paled the blackness of the night and muted the stark whiteness of the beam, making viewing his surroundings easier. Now he could see the human-made setting, almost like a giant ring, set on its side, with the crystal as the jewel. A walled terrace or balcony, possibly a lookout, sheltered the top of “ring.”

Thaddis glanced around, needing a spot to hide Wenda. If more pirates made it here, she could be killed out of hand, injured, or captured. Besides wanting to protect her for her own sake, he couldn’t risk losing their only priestess.

Why didn’t we bring more than one?
He answered himself.
Because I thought we’d be staying on the ship. Because I didn’t want more noncombatants to take up room and have to worry about.

Seeing stairs set into the side of the “ring,” leading to the balcony, Thaddis strode over closer, careful to keep his gaze averted from the light. “Up here, Wenda,” he ordered. “Stay safe and out of sight.” Sheathing his sword, he helped the priestess begin the climb.

Taking care not to cross the beam, Thaddis approached the light from the side. Up close, he could see the ray flowed from a giant crystal, the point aimed at the SeaGod’s prison. He searched for a rock, scooped one up, and banged the stone against the side. But the pounding didn’t scratch or dent the glassy surface. He tried again, smashing the stone with all his might. All he did was send pain radiating along his arm.

Sadie moved to his side. She picked up a rock, and raised it, about to aid his attempts.

Thaddis made a negating gesture. “We can’t destroy the crystal,” he said bleakly.

Meleda fingers worked at the fastenings of her uniform. “Wenda’s robe is blocking some of the ray’s intensity. What if we all shed some clothes…?”

Thaddis dropped the rock against the side of the crystal. He struggled out of his sweat-dampened uniform jacket, relieved to remove the clammy garment, and just wear the silk shirt underneath.

“Why don’t you wear armor of some kind?” Sadie tossed her stone next to his. The rock took an odd bounce away from the crystal.

“Up until this last year, all our fighting was done on ships.” Thaddis dropped his jacket over Wenda’s robe. “Armor isn’t worn at sea.”

The light dimmed slightly. With dismay, Thaddis sensed Ontarem’s power seemed as strong as ever.
Maybe if we pile on more
. He motioned Meleda to add her uniform top to his, which she did.

With quick moves, Sadie dropped pulled at her top and it on the pile.

Philan tried to take off his uniform top and winced. For the first time, Thaddis noticed a bloody slice across his shoulder. The wound didn’t look deep, but must pain the Seagem warrior.

Sadie helped Philan off with his jacket and tossed the garment on top of hers.

This time, Thaddis felt a slight lessening in the flow of Ontarem’s power. With a spurt of hope, he glanced around. No other soldiers had followed them to the terrace. Just as he was about to order Meleda to collect some of the fighters to shed some of their clothing, he noticed a line of smoke curled up from the clothing, followed by the smell of burning fiber.

This isn’t going to work.

~ ~ ~

Once she’d dropped her uniform jacket on top of the crystal, Sadie stepped back and took deep breaths to replenish her air and calm her beating heart. She avoided the bloody bodies sprawled around them, sure a closer look would make her nauseated. At any moment the fighting could surge up the stairs, and she’d be plunged back into a nightmare. A part of her awareness stayed alert, listening for the sound of pounding footsteps on the stairs. Thinking of the battle she’d just experienced, the sight of Adama’s death, the sickening feel of her blade sliding into the pirate, made her gorge rise and her hands shake. She tried to banish the image, to focus on the crystal.

Philan’s uniform aided in dimming the light.

Sadie felt the flow of the Evil One’s power diminish, and relief flowed over her.
We’ve done it!
She exchanged a
thank goodness
glance with Meleda, whose silvery curls were slicked close to her head with sweat.

The smell of burning fabric brought her attention back to the crystal. With dismay, Sadie saw the smoldering uniforms. She could only stare at the crystal, her mind scrabbling for ways to stop the fire.
Water?
Her gaze darted around, searching for a pool, a stream, any possible source, but couldn’t find any. “What else can we use to block the ray?” She called to the others. “Something that won’t burn.”

Off on the side of the crystal, Meleda bent over and picked up a cone-shaped object. “Here! This must have been used when we were on the ship to make us think the ray wasn’t powerful.” She knelt and fitted the cover over the point of the crystal.

The light faded, and Ontarem’s power ebbed, but not entirely. Somehow, probably bolstered by the immense strength of the Evil One, the energy continued in a line down to the ocean.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Thaddis held his breath, waiting to see if the intensity of the beam of light would fade, but it didn’t. He strode to the edge of the clearing and studied the water around Yadarius. As far as he could tell, the ray still held enough force to keep the SeaGod a prisoner. Disappointed, he turned back to the others. He shook his head and watched the hope fade from their faces. “It’s not enough. We have to find a way to block the crystal even more.”
Should we use the bodies? They’ll burn, too, but slower.
He crouched to grab the leg of a seadog and drag him to the front of the crystal.

Cheta whined. The dog trotted to one of the loose stones and picked it up. The weight was too much for the animal to raise her head, but she managed to carry the rock over to the crystal and set it against the side. Then she sat back on her haunches and gave Sadie an intense stare.

Thaddis stood. He exchanged an amazed glance with Sadie, then stooped to push another rock into line with the first.

Philan picked up the rest of the stones, and shoved them in front of the crystal.

“You three scrounge for more.” Thaddis jerked his head in the direction of the stairs. “I’m going to grab some from the soldiers.”

The women hurried to obey.

Sword in hand, Thaddis rushed down the steps.

His soldiers had pushed the seadogs back around the curve of the mountain, but the shouts, the clash of blades, and the screams of the wounded told him the fighting persisted.

Thaddis moved down several more stairs, yelling to attract the attention of the sailors and weaponless soldiers bunched in the middle. He waved for them to come up. The first, a lanky barefoot sailor shouted a command and dashed toward him.

Seeing the group follow, Thaddis sheathed his sword and hurried up the stairs. In the clearing, he saw the three had managed to assemble a stack of lava rock in front of the crystal. The top of the pile reached just below the edge of the metal cover. He moved to make way for the others climbing behind him and reached out a hand to the nearest sailor. “Give me one of your rocks.”

The man complied.

“Everyone, cover your eyes,” Thaddis ordered. He raised his free arm level with his nose, judged the distance between him and the point of the crystal, and did an underhand toss of the rock, aiming to land on top or near the pile. Once he released the stone, he immediately raised his arm and buried his face in the crook of his elbow. Even shielded, he could see the sparks fly, although he didn’t feel any heat on his body.

Gingerly, he lowered his arm. The beam looked the same.

“This is what we’ll do. Men, line up into rows of five.” He fired orders in rapid succession. “On my count, first row, toss your rocks in front of the beam, then everyone cover your eyes. Once you’d done so, move to the side and scavenge for more rocks.”

With some jostling, the sailors lined up next to the crystal and followed his orders.

Thaddis continued to coach the group until the pile grew into a wall. The strength of the light dimmed until the faint beam finally snuffed out. This time Thaddis knew better than to prematurely rejoice in their success.

Have we done enough to free Yadarius?

~ ~ ~

The noise in the clearing paused as everyone waited with bated breath to see what would happen with Yadarius. They crowded to the edge of the mountain, staring at the ocean.

Wanting to be close to Thaddis, Sadie wiggled through the mass of men to reach his side.

He took her hand and entwined their fingers.

The sun rose. The golden light glinted off the shiny surface of the water, except for the place where Yadarius was trapped. There, the water foamed white, seething and boiling with the SeaGod’s struggles.

“Ready your energy,” Wenda called from her perch on the lookout. She stretched her arms to the sky, curly red hair haloing her head.

Sadie took a deep breath and centered herself, reaching out with her othersense to join with Thaddis, with Meleda, with the soldiers and sailors around her—both the ones she knew and the ones she didn’t.

Wenda, appearing to Sadie’s othersense as a pillar of translucent emerald, grabbed their energy—the orange of Ocean’s Glory, the green of Seagem, the white of Zacatlan, and Sadie’s golden contribution—and merged the power into one channel. Then with a mighty shove, the priestess pushed the stream toward Yadarius, where the energy seemed to meld with the water and sink into the SeaGod.

The ocean churned and frothed. Sea creatures sent up a cacophony of shrieks and squeals, both encouraging and heralding the emergence of their God. Their energy joined with that of the humans.

Pressure built in Sadie’s chest, an echo she knew, of what Yadarius was experiencing in His watery prison.

A fist bigger than the seadragon breached the surface, clutching part of a trident.

Cheers broke out up and down the mountain. Some men hugged, others from Seagem wept with joy.

Philan whooped. He cleaned off his blade on a handful of long leaves and snapped his sword into the sheath in the manner of a job well done.

The snapping sound of breaking chains shot through the air.

Yells of fear from below told Sadie the pirates had seen what was happening with Yadarius.

Gradually, the SeaGod rose from the water, appearing as tall as the palace in Ocean’s Glory, an immense figure made up of waves and light, His expression a thundercloud of rage. Yadarius lifted His broken trident, a piece in each hand, and the strength of His fury propelled everyone back a few steps. He raised his arms and jammed the two halves of the trident together. They fused into wholeness.

Thaddis grabbed Sadie and shifted, ready to take the brunt if they fell. But they dance-stepped and managed to remain on their feet.

The sea creatures surfaced in the ocean all around Yadarius, then beelined toward Him, swimming and leaping and wiggling to reach their God.

Yadarius gave His creatures a joyful greeting that even the humans could hear, then ordered them to dive.