Chasing the Prophecy - 03 by Brandon Mull

Author:Brandon Mull
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Published: 2013-03-12T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

SWORDS IN THE NIGHT

Nobody had come to wake Jason yet, but the commotion could not be ignored. Heavy footsteps outside his cabin combined with shouted exchanges on deck had him rolling out of bed and tugging on his boots. He recognized panic and dismay in some of the exclamations. Jason strapped on his sword, picked up his shield, and bolted from the room.

Outside his cabin Jason nearly collided with Corinne, who was still buckling her sword belt. “What is it?” she asked.

“Not sure,” Jason answered.

Drake appeared beside them. He looked grim. “Good, you’re up. We have an unwelcome visitor.”

“Who?” Jason asked.

“Come see.”

Corinne and Jason followed Drake up to the deck. The sails hung limp. The Valiant had been stuck in a calm since yesterday morning, with only the sweeps and the faint currents to nudge the ship along.

The upside was that the same calm would be hampering their pursuers. Three days ago they had made a clean escape from Windbreak Island, and they had not sighted an enemy ship since.

Except right now everyone was crowded to the starboard side of the deck, staring out at the water. Jason moved into position for a look. Corinne stayed beside him. She had not vomited since leaving Windbreak Island.

The night was still, the water nearly flat. A bright moon diminished the stars around it and left a gleaming trail on the tame ripples of the dark sea. Backlit by the moon, a tenebrous personage walked on the water toward the ship, holding a pair of swords upright, the silvery blades glinting in the moonlight.

“Oh no,” Jason whispered, his insides constricting as chills of terror tingled across his shoulders. Two swords meant it was here to duel somebody. What would they do? They needed Galloran for this.

“A lurker,” Corinne gasped.

The black figure did not hurry. Each measured footfall caused almost imperceptible ripples on the water, as if the sea were nothing more than a wide, shallow puddle.

Unable to look away, Jason stared in terror. The lurker was here to kill someone, and there was nobody to stop it. Anyone who intervened would die as well. Who had it come to kill? He tried to deny the awful certainty, but he knew. It had come to kill the person who needed to reach Darian. It had come for him. He was going to die.

Jason turned to Drake. “What do we do?” he asked quietly.

“We can’t outrun it,” Drake replied. “Probably not even if we had wind. You’ve seen how they can move when they choose. Unless we attack it, a torivor bearing swords can only duel one of us. Our only option might be to play its game.”

“I can feel its mind,” Corinne said. “It isn’t being clear about who it wants.”

Jason fingered the charm necklace Rachel had given him. Was there a way out of this? “What if we all hit it at once?”

Drake shook his head. “Then we open the door for it to kill us all. We can’t take that chance. Our errand is too crucial.

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