Chapter 24: The Worst Boat Ever

The broodmother stopped chewing on Draven’s shoe. She tilted her large eyeless head to the side as if she were thinking his question over, and then she spat the shoe out, and it hit the wall with a wet thud and slid down to the floor.

"I think that’s a yes," Kai said.

"That wasn’t a yes," Mira said. "That was a shoe."

"Kai," Garrick said. "We’re riding her?"

"We are riding her," Kai said.

"Through a mine and into an underground river," Garrick said.

"Into an underground river," Kai said. "And then into a normal river, where we catch up to eight barges and save Millbrook. It’s simple."

Garrick rubbed his face with both hands, like a man who had known Kai long enough to see another dumb decision coming.

[Your plan has a 4% chance of success]

"That’s the highest you’ve ever given me," Kai whispered.

[That is because your other plans have been worse]

Dagna walked up holding her gaff hook in both hands, and she hadn’t said a single word since Draven left.

"My home is in Millbrook," Dagna said. "If she can get us there before those barges do, I’ll ride her naked."

"You don’t have to ride her naked," Kai said.

[Your heart rate just increased]

"It did not," Kai whispered.

[Yes. It did. Are you scared, horny, or humiliated?]

"Yes to all of those. Get out of my head," Kai whispered.

Elowen walked over to the broodmother and placed her hand on her face, and the broodmother made a low rumbling noise and nuzzled into her palm.

"She is gaining light," Elowen said. "It is still small, but she trusts him."

"She trusts the guy with the glowing butt," Mira said.

"My butt is very bright," Kai said.

Brekk cleared his throat while staring at the spot where Sister Kaia used to be, and his eyes were tearing up.

"I’ll stay here," Brekk said. "Somebody has to take care of the miners and the cages down below. Oh, and Father Oswin is still in the pantry."

"Oh, right. Father Oswin," Kai said.

"We all forgot about Father Oswin," Brekk said.

"Brekk, if Draven comes back..." Kai said.

"He won’t come back today," Brekk said. "He’ll ride to the city and tell everyone he can about this. Men like Draven love to talk." He looked down at his boots. "You told me that when you were in my room wearing a dress."

"Yes, I did," Kai said.

"You also told me I had pretty eyes," Brekk said.

"That was a lie," Kai said.

Elowen’s sword lit up, and everyone looked at the sword and then at Kai.

"Okay, I wasn’t lying about that," Kai said.

Brekk smiled for the first time since the glamour broke.

[Faith update. Hallard Brekk: 27%. Status: Loyal (Recovering).]

Tam was sitting on a bench by the door with a blanket over his shoulders, and Dagna knelt down and held his face in her hands.

"I’m going home," Dagna said. "I’ll come back for you."

"Maybe use a boat next time," Tam said. "Not that."

"No promises," Dagna said.

"We need something to hold on to," Kai said, turning to Garrick. "She doesn’t have a saddle."

"She doesn’t have a saddle, reins, a bridle, or anything else," Garrick said, already eyeing the chains hanging from the lift. "Give me ten minutes."

It took fifteen, but Garrick made a harness out of the lift chains and fastened it around the broodmother just behind her head, with five loops to hold on to, and he hammered each loop flat so it wouldn’t dig into their hands. His blessed hammer glowed gold the entire time he worked.

The broodmother lowered herself to the floor, and Dagna climbed on without a second of hesitation. Elowen went next, holding the chain in one hand and her sword in the other, and then Garrick climbed on, and the broodmother sank a few inches under his weight.

Mira stood next to Kai, staring at the massive white blob.

"I used to be a noble," Mira said. "I slept on silk sheets and had a maid named Petra."

"And now you’re riding a blob," Kai said. "Character building."

Mira glared at him, but she climbed on anyway.

Kai went last and settled in behind the broodmother’s head, holding the front chain with both hands. She was cold and jiggly beneath him.

"Okay," Kai said. "How do we steer her?"

Nobody had any idea how to answer that.

[She follows light]

"I know she follows light," Kai whispered.

[Then give her some light to follow]

Kai thought about that for a second, and then he smiled.

"Minor Light," Kai said, pointing at the hole in the floor.

The orb shot out of his hand, flew backwards over his shoulder, and stopped right behind Mira’s head, and the broodmother spun around to follow it and nearly threw them all off.

"KAI!" Mira screamed.

"I’M SORRY! I KNOW WHAT I DID WRONG!" Kai screamed.

He let the orb fade, twisted around in his seat, and pointed right at Mira’s face.

"Minor Light," Kai said.

The orb shot forward, away from Mira, and stopped above the hole in the floor, and the broodmother turned to follow it.

[Reverse aiming. You have learned to aim]

"I’ve learned how to aim at things I shouldn’t," Kai whispered.

[You are still aiming]

Then the broodmother dove headfirst into the hole.

It was like falling down a well on the back of a giant slug. The light dropped down the shaft they had ridden up the night before, and the broodmother followed it, oozing down the walls more than climbing them, while Kai’s stomach rose into his throat. Mira was screaming, Garrick was praying, Dagna was laughing like a lunatic, and Elowen sat perfectly calm, holding the chain with one hand.

"How are you so calm?" Kai screamed.

"I cannot see how far down it is," Elowen said. "It is very relaxing."

They splashed down at the bottom of the Black Seam, and the broodmother didn’t miss a beat. She sped past the burned-out guard post and the cages of baby maws, who shrieked with happiness as their mother flew by.

The broodmother followed the light into the darkness at the far end of the cave, where Elowen had sensed the void the night before. The ground began to slope downward, the air turned damp, and then Kai heard rushing water.

An underground river ran through the rock, black and fast, and the broodmother slid into it without slowing down. The current picked them up, and the broodmother tucked herself in and swam with it like a fish, faster than any boat Kai had ever been on, while the walls rushed past on both sides.

"THIS IS AMAZING!" Dagna screamed.

"THIS IS TERRIBLE!" Mira screamed.

"BOTH!" Kai screamed.

They flew through the darkness for what felt like hours, until a gray glow appeared ahead and they came shooting out of the side of a mountain, fell about twenty feet, and splashed down into the river below.

The sun was out, trees lined both banks, and the mountains and Draven’s fortress were far behind them.

"Syraphim, how far behind them are we?" Kai whispered.

[The barges left at dawn, and it is now noon. You will reach them by sunset]

"And Millbrook?" Kai whispered.

[They will reach Millbrook by sunset tomorrow. However, there are two smaller towns between you and Millbrook, and the barges will reach the first one tonight]

Kai’s heart sank all the way down into his boots.

"Use your voice," Mira said from right behind him, her silver hair plastered to her drenched, furious face. "Tell them to run."

"Most of those people don’t believe in me," Kai said. "They won’t hear it."

"Millbrook believes in you," Mira said. "Tell Millbrook, and they can send boats upriver to warn the other towns."

"That’s actually a really good idea," Kai said.

"I have lots of good ideas," Mira said. "Nobody ever listens to me."

Kai closed his eyes and thought of Millbrook, of the crooked halo on the chapel wall, of Tobin and Wren, and of all the fishermen who had cheered for him on that wobbly dock.

(Millbrook, this is your god. Please hear me. Draven has sent monsters down the river on eight barges, and they will reach you by sunset tomorrow. Tell everyone to get away from the water, and send boats upriver to warn the other towns. Please)

Far down the river, old Tobin fell out of bed for the fifth time in two days, and this time he got up and ran. He ran all the way to the chapel and rang the bell until his hands bled. At the toll chain, Pell dropped his spear in the river, jumped in after it, and swam to shore to blow his horn. And beneath Kai, the broodmother rumbled, because she had heard it too.

[You spoke the truth again]

"I’m starting to get used to it," Kai whispered.

[It is a good habit]

[Faith update. Millbrook followers: 31. Status: Alert.]

The sun was setting behind the trees when Elowen sat up straight.

"Kai," Elowen said. "There are men ahead of us. Many men. And something else, many small lights grouped together."

Kai squinted down the river and saw that around the bend, eight barges floated in a line, each one carrying five cages covered in black cloth, with black knights standing at the front and back of every barge holding long poles.

One of the black knights on the last barge turned around and saw a monster swimming towards him with five soaked people on its back and a small light leading the way. He didn’t shout, because black knights never shouted. He simply signaled the barge in front of him, which signaled the barge in front of it, and so on down the line.

One by one, the black knights began pulling the cloth off the cages.

"Kai, what are they doing?" Dagna asked.

Kai watched as the first black cloth came off.

"They’re releasing them," Kai said.