Page 262 of The Cradle of Ice

The sisters entered with far more grace and alacrity.

Saekl greeted the others arriving outside. “Hurry.”

“Help us get him inside,” Tykhan said.

Kanthe’s head and torso wiggled through the hole. His face was pained, feverish, his dark hair plastered to his pale skin. The sisters helped him, as did Cassta, who climbed in after him. Tykhan and Saekl followed and shifted to the seats at the front. One of the sisters pulled a hinged door over the hole.

“Get ready!” Saekl called back.

Beyond the window, another fiery ship fell past the Hyperium’s bow.

Kanthe groaned as he was strapped into one of the seats. Frell winced at the savage wound, blistered and blackened, seeping blood. The drudge had not been mistaken about the cruel damage done to the prince.

Kanthe blearily noted Frell’s attention. “Seems my brother and I are determined to whittle each other down piece by piece.” He let his head fall back to the seat. “I took his face, and he took my arm. Not sure who got the worst of it so far.”

Then they were off.

The lampree’s legs retracted and the tiny craft fell away from the lower hull. A moment later, the forge ignited, and they blasted away from the Hyperium. Saekl aimed them toward the northern forests of Tithyn Woods. The path to Kysalimri remained too dangerous, guarded over by two Hálendiian warships and, farther ahead, the Klashean blockade.

They sped as fast as their little craft could manage.

“Get us as far away as possible,” Tykhan warned. “No one’s witnessed the force of a Madyss Hammer that size. When the Hyperium blows, we don’t want to be anywhere near here.”

Kanthe lifted his head, his eyes pinched with confusion and concern. “What … the ship’s going to explode?”

Frell explained, “We lit the fuse on the Hammer and locked it in its hold.”

“What?” Kanthe twisted, staring out the tiny window at the back. “But my brother…”

Frell saw the pain squeeze Kanthe’s face. Even after all of this, the prince still could not let go of some hope for Mikaen, some future redemption where amends could be made and a brotherhood regained.

“I’m sorry,” Frell said. “It’s either him … or lose most of Kysalimri.”

* * *

MIKAEN RAGED ACROSS the wide deck, ignoring the seven bodies of his Silvergard, all torn by some daemon or witchery tied to his brother. Terror still fired through him, which only made him more furious.

Thoryn paced with him as he circled the carnage.

Liege General Reddak stood in the midst of the bodies. He had been drawn from the Hyperium’s wheelhouse, come to see if what had been told to him was true. “Where have they gone?” he challenged his second-in-command.

“We’re still searching,” Master Ketill answered crisply. “Someone spotted a strange craft jettisoning away from our starboard flank. It vanished into the smoke. It could’ve been them.”

Mikaen lunged closer. “Then we must go after them.”

Reddak ignored him, turning a shoulder and continuing to address his second-in-command. “No matter, Master Ketill. We stay the course. Alert the Vengeance and the Wraith to forge ahead. We’ll break through the Klashean cordon and exact our revenge upon their shores.” He set off across the deck. “Then we’ll head home.”

Mikaen pursued him, shaking off a restraining hand from Thoryn. “Lend me a ship, and I’ll go after my brother.”

“A fool’s errand,” Reddak scolded. “We don’t know if Prince Kanthe was even aboard that craft. And even if so, they’re already well lost. I’ve allowed you your petty, malicious fun, but no more. We have a battle to finish.”

Mikaen clenched his fists, ready to argue.

Before he could, a trio of crewmen came running up with wild eyes and flushed faces.

“What is it?” Master Ketill asked curtly.

Panic stammered them until one caught his voice. “A drudge, sir. Showed the armory brigade. Some strange alchymy clamped to the Hammer. Four of ’em, all glowing and vile.”