The Shattered Islands: Part One: The Rakam Read Free Page B

stairs protruding from the wall, part of the shell, part of the original carved design. I take them down and reach a door that does not lead to a private cabin or deck. It is guarded by two crewmembers playing a popular game, Shells and Stones. It's a betting game, and they have a small pot of coppers piling up between them as they toss their shells and stones and pray for luck to guide them.
    The bushy haired thin man looks up when I approach. He has a long goatee growing from the center of his pointed chin, the rest of his cheeks smooth as a child's. Bits of colored cloth are woven into his dark beard, with matching bits tied into his hair. He raises an eyebrow when he sees me. "You from the other ship." It's a statement, not a question.
    I nod. "I think I got myself turned around looking for a place to piss."
    The small round man with him guffaws and looks to his partner. "Man's got to piss, Mal'Ruu?" He turns back to me. "Ain't you ever heard of pissing off the side of the ship?"
    His words are slurred, as if he's had too much sea swill while on duty.
    "I'm a private man," I tell him.
    "There be a latrine near the fluke," Mal'Ruu offers. "If you can't wait, there's a bucket in the kitchen. Tel'Ruu here just took a dump in it, so it be nice and fresh for you."
    Neither man has moved from his seat, but I feel the tension in the air thicken when I don't immediately leave. "What's behind the door?"
    Tel'Ruu sighs, seemingly annoyed, but Mal'Ruu smiles and leans forward. "We recently came upon a nest of drakruu," he says quietly. "Caught a youngin."
    My eyes grow wide like a child's on drowning day. The blue shadow, the sapphire scale, the winged reptile that, when fully grown, can carry a man or woman over the seas, lies behind that door. They are born black, but once they feed on the sapphires deep within the ocean their scales begin to turn blue. A merchant once told me the beasts cost more than a small island, and only a few have ever seen one up close. Seen one and lived, that is.
    I grin, sheepishly. "You think I can—"
    "Sorry," says Mal'Ruu, raising a hand to his bearded chin. "But no one goes in. Not even us. You understand."
    I nod and turn to leave.
    "Hey," says the tall man. "Mind keeping this to yourself? Some men feel the gold calling when they hear of drakruu, yes?"
    I think of people like Clam and nod again. "Be at ease, searunner. I shall tell no one as I search for that bucket."
    The men chuckle and return to their game as I drift back down the hall I came from, my hope of finding the mysterious girl with blue eyes lost for the time being.
    But knowing there are drakruu on board piques my curiosity. This crew is like me. We are both full of secrets, and we are both lying.

6
SEA SWILL
     
     

     
     
    When I return to the great shell, I'm not surprised to find a section of the surface covered with dead rakam. In life they are fierce, deadly, terrifying. They do not lose their awe in death. If anything, they are more terrifying, their ever unblinking, unclosing white eyes still staring at you as if the fight isn't finished and they will prevail.
    They are brutal hunters, first impaling their victim with the tip of their spear-like mouths, usually in the gut. As their victim bleeds out, releasing intestines in the process, they begin to feed, slowly. Some say, you die from the pain before the wounds.
    But this time, the rakam are the dead ones, lying in small pools of water as crew members from both ships strip the beasts of their skins and mouths for use in weapon and clothing-making. The meat is saved for rare stews and broths—said to give a man a pair of fighting balls if eaten raw—and the useless bits are tossed back into the sea as food for other species.
    The smell is strong, the stench carrying with the winds. I step away, letting my eyes fall back to the injured kiasheen. It's resting peacefully in the water, the healers doing their work to give the great whale its strength back as they use ancient