He even revisited the coastal town where he’d last seen Alus and Arek.
They’d moved on.
Flying would have quickened the journey, though Saer had been truthful when telling the Twins he wished to remember Neyu, and he did best when wearing his human guise.It was not a choice which would have pleased Lucifer, and that almost made him cling to it more.
Months passed before he heard even a whisper of the lake of a thousand lightning strikes.
A whisper was all it took.
When Saer migrated from a more dignified society and meandered into seedier dwellings, lips ran looser, tales raised taller, and sparks of madness abounded.
In hindsight, it made perfect sense that the Twins would have learned about the lake in such a place.
Inside a public house on the docks, he overheard a crew mate ofThe Salty Maidregaling an equally disreputable and buxom lady about a bay southwest, across the great sea, said to be touched by the heavens hundreds, nay thousands of times from sunset to sunrise.Anyone who drank this water would cure every ailment, years returned to their lives.“Gi’me tonight, Sweetheart, and I’ll bring you back some once me and me Cap’n return from the voyage.I’ll be bottlin’ up as much as I c’n carry!”
The lady turned the sailor away once she’d realized he had nothing of true value to offer.
Saer had pinned him down and demanded an audience with Captain Wretch.
The Salty Maidwas an impressive rig with three masts, a thick hull, and plenty of space for storage of both legitimate as well as more ‘adventurous’ cargo.The ship boasted a topless temptress as the figurehead, carved lovingly from smooth lumber.Pelham ‘Wretch’ Fletcher, captain ofThe Salty Maid,was arguably more cantankerous than Saer and certainly had the fouler mouth.With tattoos of sea monsters, mermaids, thorny branches, and constellations covering both his burly arms, chest—and one apparent kraken tentacle sliding up the side of his neck to his jawline—the good captain invoked trepidation.His thick and disparaging voice had roughened with whatever he happened to smoke on any given day through his scraggly, black beard.Captain Wretch commanded respect, but if he couldn’t have that, fear would do nicely.
Perhaps it was why he and Saer got along so well.
Saer kept his head down, performing to the best of his station, and sniped at anyone who got in his way or did something to slow their progress.Captain Wretch appreciated when he saved him the trouble of pointing out idiotic mistakes made by the greener members of the crew.
Thus, he and the company ofThe Salty Maidembarked on the sixty-day voyage, bound for a shoreline Saer hadn’t set foot upon.As each day passed, rather than waning, revenge sang in Pride’s core, thrumming so loudly he had trouble paying attention to anything else.The more he heard the sea dogs trading accounts of their fabled destination, he knew, in his sinew and bones, it was where Errshek hid.
The fire in Saer’s blood had never burned more hotly than when he heard the barrelman holler from the crow’s nest, “Land ho!”
Together, the sailors on the upper deck turned to look in the direction the man pointed.Cries of delight and back slaps exchanged amongst the lot.A few dared to clap Saer on the shoulder and for once, he allowed it without an irritated glare or barking growl.Staring into the western horizon, the setting sun glaring off the water, he could see the thinnest strip of green land.Beyond that, darker periwinkle clouds hovered.
And lightning.
The Salty Maidcoasted past a handful of smaller islands lush with greenery.The ship drifted into a crescent-shaped bay as the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky with vibrant washes of coral and fuchsia.Along the coastline, patches of trees with golden trumpet-shaped flowers stole the attention of many of the crew mates.Fewer, arenaceous plants sprouted from the sandy shoreline.
Saer’s eyes focused on the dark clouds flickering with blazes of ivory in the closing distance.Extending his heat sense as far as it would go, Pride caught no familiar signatures other than his immediate shipmates.
Captain Wretch stepped next to him on the portside deck and lit his pipe, then shook the remainder of the match out.He spoke sideways between teeth clenched around the mouthpiece.“Ye’ll return a rich man based off how much fuckin’ water I’m sure ye can carry.”Inhaling enough to bring smoke in his mouth, Wretch held it, then blew out through lips and nostrils.When Saer didn’t reply, he lifted a bushy sable eyebrow and turned halfway to observe his intent expression.“It’s thanks to ye we got here quick we did.Ye know yer way about a fuckin’ boat.”
Staring into the glimmering and thunderous distance, Saer answered absently, “I know.”
Compliments were not often doled out by Wretch, so while he may have expected some modicum of respectful acceptance, Pride’s response threw him into a subdued guffaw.“Aye, that sounds ‘bout right.”Slapping Saer on the arm, he moved off, muttering, “Staring at it won’t make theMaidget there faster.We’ll pull ashore soon enough, mate.Meantime, go rest.”
Saer didn’t respond as the captain lumbered away, nor did he move off the deck.
The bay narrowed to a thinner conduit of water, wide enough for their vessel to slip through, but not much else.Beyond that channel rested the lake they came for.The roll of thunder sang non-stop.
The boat would pull to land in that slimmer connection, and they would travel on foot to collect the lake’s water.Or rather, the rest of the sailors could collect the mythical liquid at their own peril.Saer had no interest in any quest other than his own.
The Salty Maiddrew close enough that every few seconds, he sensed flares ofsomethingamongst the lightning, yet the bolts obscured any effort he made to try and home in on that otherness.It might have been Errshek.He couldn’t be sure.
Gritting his teeth, Saer dug his fingers into the deck railing and did everything he could to focus with more intensity.
Lightning bolt.
Bolt.
Bolt-bolt.
