The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock (42 page)

“It's another loophole,” said Vashnas. “This disk
was designed by the Mechanical Goddess. If I can lodge it in
Tinkar's neck, it will cut his head off. She infused it with some
of her godly energy; therefore, if I can hit Tinkar with it, it
should kill him as easily as if he were a mortal.”

Malock shook his head. “This is insane. Won't Tinkar
see this coming? I mean, he is the God of Fate, after all. How do
you know he hasn't already come up with a plan to stop you?”

“He hasn't,” said Bifor, sounding disgruntled. “You
see, whenever a mortal is under the protection of a specific god or
goddess, that mortal is invisible to Tinkar's eye. Tinkar knows the
fate of all of mortals, but he cannot know the fates of his fellow
gods or his own fate. In essence, we chosen mortals are treated
like gods. That is why he sent me.”

“And you,” said Malock, pointing at Bifor. “What's
your story? I thought you were a follower of Xocion.”

Bifor chuckled. “Oh, I never followed that god.
Learning how to conjure ice cubes or make snowmen always seemed
like a frivolous pastime to me. Why do that when you can learn what
the future itself holds in store for you? When you can learn what
your destiny is?”

“Why did you wait so long to strike?” said Malock.
“You could have killed me at any point in this voyage. In fact, you
could have sunk the entire ship without any of us ever knowing it
was you, I'm sure.”

“But I
did
try to kill you,” said Bifor.
“Several times, in fact. Did you ever wonder why you lost nearly
all of the fleet on the first leg of this voyage?”

Malock took a step back in horror. “So you sunk
those ships? All four of them?”

“I didn't sink them all personally,” said Bifor.
“The only one I really sunk was the ship I was originally on,
Our Beloved Lady
. I blew up the gunpowder in the hold. I
miscalculated, however, and almost ended up drowning myself, but
luckily I was rescued by the crew of this ship. I decided to wait
after that, however, for a sign from Tinkar that would let me know
when the time to strike was right.”

“So you didn't sink the other ships, then?” said
Malock.

“No,” said Bifor. “But I imagine Tinkar must have
manipulated fate in order to make sure that only your ship made it
this far south. This way, it would be far easier for me to kill you
and Vashnas. For that, I praise Tinkar. He is truly a glorious
god.”

Malock wished he had a weapon on hand to defend
himself with, but he had not been expecting a fight tonight. He
could only hope that he could keep Bifor talking long enough for
him or Vashnas or someone outside the barrier to come up with a
plan to save them, as unlikely as that was.

“I didn't want anyone to suspect that I was up to no
good,” said Bifor. “So I continued to pretend that I was a good,
loyal sailor, one who would never think of betraying you. I worked
hard every day to prove my loyalty and usefulness and I believe it
must have worked because not even Vashnas suspected me of being
anything other than what I pretended to be. Isn't that right,
Vashnas?”

“Correct,” said Vashnas. “If I had been
smarter—“

“If you had been any smarter, Vashnas, you would
have never tried to seek a vendetta against Tinkar at all,” Bifor
replied. “There were many close calls for a while there, but I knew
in my heart of hearts that someday Tinkar would call me and tell me
when to strike. And just earlier this evening, while I rested, I
received a vision from him, telling me that the time to strike was
now because of the party that the crew was going to throw, the
party that would distract everyone from what I am about to do.”

Malock couldn't believe his ears. “Even if you do
kill us, you'll have to deal with the rest of the crew. They'll rip
you limb from limb for your crimes. Just look behind you. They've
already figured out what is going on.”

Bifor glanced over his shoulder. By now, it looked
like the entire crew had gathered. The low glow of the torches
revealed that the crew was hitting the barrier with anything they
could get their hands on, even though none of them were making even
the slightest bit of progress whatsoever.

“You mean those uneducated bunch of sea rats?” said
Bifor, returning his attention to Vashnas and Malock. “Yes, like
the beasts they are, they would certainly rend me limb from limb if
they got the chance. But I already have a contingency plan in place
for just this occasion.”

“What are you going to do, jump into the sea and
swim away?” said Vashnas with a snort. “In your condition, I'm sure
that would be loads of fun.”

“Hardly,” said Bifor. “You see, I've thought long
and hard about this and have concluded that my time is at its end.
I cannot teleport away, nor swim, and I certainly couldn't fight
all of these sailors and hope to win even with magic. Death awaits
me no matter what I do; therefore, I intend to go out in the way I
want.”

“And how may that be?” Malock asked.

Bifor gestured at the deck beneath his feet. “Right
now, in this ship's hold, there is a ton of gunpowder ready for use
in guns and cannons. Using my limited knowledge of pyromancy, I
have set up a spell that will blow up the gunpowder when I command
it to do so. Thus, once I finish both of your sorry lives, I will
activate the spell and kill everyone on this ship, including
me.”

“You monster,” said Malock. “That's what you are. A
monster.”

“Monsters do not graduate at the top of their class
from North Academy,” Bifor said. “Nor do monsters get chosen by
gods to carry out their destiny. The real monster here is Vashnas,
for daring to think that she could—that she should—kill the great
Tinkar and get away with it.”

Vashnas's arm tensed. “I know why you want to kill
me, but what about Malock? What does Tinkar have against him?”

Bifor waved off her question like it was
unimportant. “How should I know? All I know is that Tinkar and Kano
have not gotten along well in recent years. It is not my place to
question the dictates of my god and master. All I am to do is
follow orders, no more, no less.”

“That is a foolish way to live and you know it,”
said Vashnas. “But what am I saying? You are a Tinkarian. You
idiots have always been the puppets of fate.”

“You cannot fight fate,” said Bifor. “Only live in
accordance with it. That is the most important lesson that I as a
Tinkarian have ever learned. If only the rest of the ignorant world
would learn it, then maybe things would be better.”

Then Bifor shook his head. Energy began crackling
around the tip of his wand as he said, “In the end, it does not
matter. I am done talking and telling stories. It is time for me to
do what I came here to do, which is to say, fulfill my destiny. It
is sad that neither of you will live long enough to fulfill your
own.”

***

K
inker was not sure what just happened.

Then again, he wasn't alone in that regard. What had
started as a happy party dedicated to celebrating the last leg of
the voyage had quickly turned into a confused gathering of sailors
around a barrier constructed by Bifor that separated the mage,
Malock, and Vashnas from the rest of the crew. It had quickly
became apparent that Bifor was trying to harm Malock and Vashnas in
some way, but why he was doing it, no one knew, and how they could
stop him was also a mystery.

It wasn't like they hadn't tried. Many sailors had
hit the barrier with stools, chairs, metal pipes scrounged from the
lower decks, swords, guns, and their good old-fashioned fists.
Others had taken to charging the barrier in groups, but that had
done nothing except give them headaches. Due to his old age, Kinker
had done little to help, mostly doubting that the magical barrier
could be breached through normal means.

Instead, he stood off near the mainmast, where one
of the torches was burning low, watching as nearly the entire crew
threw their weight into the barrier. It did nothing except cause
the barrier to become visible for a moment, but no cracks appeared
in its surface and it was obvious that it would only come down when
Bifor wanted it to, not before.

Jenur staggered out of the crowd of sailors toward
Kinker, rubbing her forehead with her hand. “Ow.”

“What did you do?” said Kinker.

Jenur continued to rub her forehead as she said,
“Hit my head against the barrier.”

“I'm not sure that's what they mean when they say to
use your head,” said Kinker.

Jenur shot him an annoyed look. “Ha, ha. Very funny.
Are you going to help or just sit there and snark?”

“I'm not sure there is much we can do,” said Kinker.
“Bifor's barrier is too strong. Maybe if we had another mage, we
could break it, but as it is all we can do is wait it out.”

Banika approached just then. For once, she appeared
to have lost her cool entirely. Her short hair was disheveled, her
eyes were wide with confusion and anger, and she looked just about
ready to sock anyone she didn't like in the face. She actually
looked a bit like Jenur, now that Kinker thought about it.

“Kinker,” said Banika, her voice far harsher than it
usually was. “Why aren't you helping the rest of the crew save
Malock?”

Kinker shrugged. “I was sitting here trying to come
up with an alternative way to break the barrier.”

“I don't care what you were doing,” said Banika,
pointing at the barrier like a general commanding an army. “You get
over there right now and help or the gods help me I will drag you
over there myself.”

“Hey,” said Jenur. “Don't talk to Kinker that way.
He has a good point, you know. That barrier really can't be
breached by normal means.”

Banika turned to face Jenur with the most terrifying
eyes Kinker had ever seen in his life. “And why aren't
you
helping? I know you hate Malock, but that doesn't mean you have the
right to abandon him to his death.”

“I don't hate Malock,” said Jenur, folding her arms.
“And I
was
just helping, Miss Tight Pants. I just was taking
a break to see what Kinker was up to and to rest my head, which is
aching like hell right now.”

“There is no time to rest when our Captain is in
danger,” Banika insisted. “We have no idea how much time we have
left until Bifor kills Malock.”

“How do you know that's what he's doing, anyway?”
said Jenur. “What if Malock is actually—”

Banika slapped Jenur across the face so hard that
Kinker was surprised the young woman's face didn't go flying off.
Jenur staggered to the side, almost falling over, before she
regained her balance and looked at Banika, rubbing the side of her
face as she did so.

“The hell was that for?” said Jenur. “Almost knocked
me out.”

“For daring to imply that Malock is up to no good,”
said Banika, holding her hand high like she was going to slap Jenur
again. “It's obvious that Bifor is holding him and Vashnas hostage.
Don't you dare imply otherwise or I will toss you overside like the
trash you are.”

Jenur straightened up, still rubbing the side of her
face, but Kinker noticed her other hand going for the knife at her
belt. “I've always thought you never liked me, Banika, but until
tonight I didn't know for sure. I wonder if an old bat like
yourself could even do what you said you were going to do to me.
Would be interesting to find out.”

Banika took a step forward, but Kinker got between
the two feuding women and said, “Hold on, ladies. This is no time
to be fighting amongst ourselves. Our Captain and our lookout are
currently being held hostage by someone who could kill them without
even thinking about it. We need to work together.”

For a moment, he was sure that the two were going to
beat
him
up because they glared at him like they were trying
to set him on fire with their eyes alone.

Then Banika's arms flopped to her sides and she
said, in a half-defeated voice, “What are we supposed to do? None
of us know any magic, so we can't pierce or break Bifor's
barrier.”

“And even if we could, I doubt any of us could stop
him from killing Malock and Vashnas,” said Jenur, glancing at the
crew that was still gathered around the barrier. “Even with all of
us working together, we might not be fast enough.”

Kinker stroked his beard in thought. He had no
ideas, either, until without warning he noticed exactly where
Bifor, Malock, and Vashnas were standing. He had a terrible
flashback just then, remembering how he shot a cannonball into the
Tusked God's mouth. It was terrible because he recalled the exact
look on Deddio's face when he was snatched up into the Tusked God's
mouth, but he forced himself to ignore it because he had no time to
break down and cry.

“I think I know how we can save them and defeat
Bifor at the same time,” said Kinker. “But it will undoubtedly be
dangerous, might even not work depending on how strong the barrier
is and how far it extends below deck.”

“I don't care how dangerous your plan is,” Banika
said. “Tell me what to do and I'll order the others to do whatever
you need them to do.”

“All right,” said Kinker. “Gather round, you two,
because we will need to do this quickly. There's no telling how
much time we have until Bifor decides to finish them off.”

-

“They're running away,” Vashnas said.

Her observation snapped Malock out of his
concentration on Bifor's wand, which was still crackling with
energy. He looked around the large mage and noticed that Vashnas
was correct. The entire crew had backed off entirely by now; in
fact, most of them seem to have disappeared entirely, like they had
gone below deck. The only one left was Jenur, who was standing at a
distance and doing all kinds of strange hand signals that Malock
couldn't read.

Bifor didn't look over his shoulder, perhaps because
he didn't want to give Malock and Vashnas the chance to escape. “I
imagine they must have given up by now. They probably think that
there's nothing they can do to save you or stop me. And they would
be quite right in that regard. At last the unwashed masses show
signs of intelligence.”