Stalking Darkness

the eastern horizon. A victorious cheer went up from his men.
    The throng assembled on the nearby shore echoed the cry, waving torches and shooting flaming arrows into the air over the cove. Drums throbbed out in the darkness.
    Even before being brought on deck, Alec was uneasily aware of changes in the ship’s routine. First, Mardus had foregone their walk that morning. Then the guards had brought Alec a long tunic, the first clothing he’d had since his capture. As the interminable day wore on, he felt the motion of the ship change and guessed that they were nearing the Plenimaran coast. He was proven correct that evening. When he and Thero were finally brought on deck, the
Kormados
was riding at anchor off a desolate shore. Desolate, but not uninhabited. There was an encampment of some sort, and he could see black uniformed men hailing the ship excitedly.
    On board, Alec sensed an air of expectation. Everyone seemed to be watching theeastern horizon as the sun set. Finally, the comet appeared with the stars, a red point of light clearly visible below the waxing moon, and the great shout went up.
    Standing under guard on deck, Alec leaned closer to Thero and whispered, “Look there. A plague star! Do you see it?”
    “Plague star for you, maybe!” Captain Tildus scoffed disdainfully. “For us great sign. Lord Mardus and
voron
had say there should be such sign tonight.”
    “What did Mardus say just now—‘Mederseri’?” Alec asked.
    “Met’ar Seriami.”
Tildus searched for the words in Skalan to explain. “It is ‘The Arm of Seriami.’ A very great sign, I tell you before.”
    “Seriami? What I call Seriamaius?” A vague sense of dread gripped Alec as Tildus nodded.
“Aura Elustri mal—”
    “Shut that,” Tildus growled, seizing Alec roughly by the arm. “Your madness gods don’t be here. Seriami eat hearts of the false ones.”
    No other prisoners remained. Alec and Thero had been given proper clothing before being brought on deck, and their hands were bound securely behind their backs.
    Thero moved like a sleepwalker, obeying simple commands, moving when ordered. Otherwise he remained motionless, his expression betraying nothing of what thoughts, if any, were going on within. The seamless iron bands on his wrists glinted softly in the torchlight as he moved, the unreadable characters incised into their burnished surfaces lined black with shadow.
    That’s the secret
, Alec thought, convinced that these, rather than the branks, were the source of their enemies’ control over Thero. If he could get those off somehow—
    There was considerable activity on deck. Irtuk Beshar and the other necromancers stood together at the base of the platform, talking quietly among themselves as their traveling trunks were brought up from below and stacked by the rail.
    Captain Tildus and a few of his men went ashore in a longboat, returning quickly with some news. Although Alec couldn’t understand what they were saying, it was clear that Mardus was pleased with Tildus’ report. When they’d finished, the captain shouted out a command and the sailors hurried to ready the rest of the ship’s longboats for departure.
    Mardus crossed the deck to where Alec and Thero still stood with their guards. “We’ll be continuing our journey by land fromhere,” he told Alec. “Thero is suitably restrained and I expect no difficulty from him. You, however, are another matter.” He paused, and the scar beneath his left eye deepened as he smiled. “You’ve already proved yourself a slippery customer and once ashore you will no doubt be tempted to escape. I promise you, it would be a futile effort, and the consequences would be extremely unpleasant, but not fatal.”
    “More unpleasant than having my chest hacked open with an ax?” Alec muttered, glaring up at him.
    “Immeasurably so.” Mardus’ eyes were depthless as the night sky, and as enigmatic. Turning on his heel, he strode away to oversee his men.
    Shivering in spite of his warm clothing, Alec looked back at the comet glimmering on the lip of the world. This might not be the night for the final ceremony, but it couldn’t be far off now. Whatever schedule Mardus was following, this comet was clearly a significant indicator.
    Somewhere on that dark shore lay their destination, and his death.
    It was only a short dash to the rail, he thought. If he moved quickly he could dodge the guards, take them by surprise, leap over.
    And then what?
Alec could