Weep for the morrow. .
Perhaps, he reflected, that was what he liked about the corsair ship-that here on the open waters he was far from the cares of the Rhonas or the fear of being brought into bondage. He had tasted the free air of the sea and felt the ship beneath his feet go wherever his mind willed his hands to take her. This was what a man was meant to be. . to master his fate, to be his own. .
Drakis froze.
A tall, robed figure stood silhouetted at the bow. Its face was in darkness, but its form was all too familiar to him.
And the magical Matei staff, its headpiece glowing a painful blue, was unmistakable.
“ALARM!” Drakis screamed, letting go of the tiller at once and charging down the central decking as he reached for his sword. “ALARM! ALARM! ALARM!”
He could hear the crew around him struggling up from the depths of their sleep. The deck beneath his feet rocked with the motion of the Sondau warriors clambering to get their feet under them. Their shouts grew, and the sound of their weapons being gathered filled the air.
“Hold, Drakis of Timuran!” the figure shouted at him, as the glowing head of the staff shifted.
Drakis realized there were two figures on the forecastle.
The Lyric! The lithe woman stood quivering in front of the Iblisi, her back turned toward him and his left hand on her throat. The blue glow of the Matei staff cast shadows across her frightened face.
Drakis came to a stuttering halt, his feet sliding awkwardly across the planking. The Sondau warriors hesitated as well, looking aft toward their captain. Drakis glanced back as well and saw Urulani, now standing silently on the afterdeck with Mala at her side.
“Well you should pause to consider, corsair,” the Iblisi called down the length of the ship. “One poor decision on my part could tear this ship from stem to stern-and I know that it is too far from land to swim, even for the much-storied Sondau.”
Jugar struggled up from belowdecks, his ax in hand. “Where’s the fight?”
“That’s what we’re about to find out,” Drakis said quietly.
Urulani stood so still that Drakis could not tell if she were breathing. “What do you want?”
“What I have always wanted,” the Iblisi snapped, his voice cracking. “What I have crossed continents and oceans to achieve. What has caused death and destruction everywhere in its wake. I want to speak with the slave Drakis!”
Urulani raised her hand. The Sondau drew back slightly. “You’ve come a long way to speak with a slave, friend. Who are you?”
Mala quickly made her way down the central deck to where Drakis stood. He tried to reassure her with a thin smile as she came to his side.
“Come far? I have come too far,” the Iblisi stated in contemptuous tones. “And my name is Soen. . just Soen.”
“What do you want. . Soen?”
“You, Drakis,” Soen replied from the folds of his hood. “You and your bolters have eluded me far better than any have before, I will grant you that, but I have found you at last.”
“Found us? You didn’t find us at all!” Jugar shouted. “You were led to us, you lying bastard elf! You would never have discovered us without traitorous assistance.”