KANE

Death's Cove

Late Frostfall

Death's Cove takes no prisoners.

Words Kane Blackwater heard his father say many times when the Iron Jewel would sail too close to the ship trap. It was a treacherous place he'd never been, but one that had haunted him as a child, and even though the thought made his spine go rigid, the Iron Jewel sailed straight toward the dark waters.

Kane stood at the helm of his ship, one hand gripping the smooth blackened-oak handle of the wheel, the other holding a spyglass to his eye, searching for a safe spot to enter. The clouds above were as gloomy as his mood, growing darker by the moment. Death's Cove was a splotch on the map of anyone who sailed. It waited on the tail of the Silver Sea like a silent predator waiting for its prey.

Jagged obsidian sea-stacks sprouted up from the waves like daggers, sharp enough to rip straight through any ship that dared to tread close. Kane was used to sailing through the deep turquoise waves of the Sister Seas. From Crossbones, all the way to Sarva, the waters were the clearest and most beautiful of any others he'd sailed. The sea surrounding Death's Cove was nearly the black of kraken's ink. It's only because of the weather, he lied to himself.

"Death's Cove takes no prisoners," said a voice much different than the slurred rasp of Kane's father. Kane pulled his gaze away from the lens of his spyglass and glanced to his right. Flynn Gunnison leaned against a railing, the wild seawind blowing stray pieces of his dark blonde hair across his face and out of its tie. Two seasons ago, Kane would've decked Flynn for standing too close, but today, he was glad to not be alone. Today, he was glad to have a friend.

"We won't be anyone's prisoners," Kane replied, collapsing the barrels of the spyglass with a clap. "Not today or any other day."

Flynn slapped Kane on the back and chuckled. "Those sound like famous last words, Blackwater." The crooked smile slipped from his face for a moment. "I would rather not die today though. No offense mate, but I'd much rather have Csilla's face be the last thing I see, not your ugly mug." Flynn's love and newly crowned Queen of Bones, Csilla Abado, was back in Baltessa, the capital of the island kingdom of Cerulia, along with the Maidens and Lorelei Storm—a face that Kane found himself missing as the days and nights at sea blurred together.

"Remind me again why I brought you here?" Kane asked, pocketing the spyglass in his coat and grabbing the wheel with both hands. "It's become apparent that it wasn't to help man the ship as you're up here and not with the rest of the lot."

"You brought me to help search for Rove because there's a chance you might need my impeccable shot." As a reminder, Flynn drew one of his pistols from his belt and spun it over his fingers. The barrel came to a stop in front of his pursed lips and he puffed once like he was blowing out the wick of a candle. "Besides, is there really a need to for me to break my back over some sails? Your crew has beefed up pretty nicely over the past few moons. Plus, Arius and Borne are down there, so I'd say we're faring well."

"You say faring well, I say barely cutting it."

"You have always been the flask-half-empty type."

Kane was about to attempt a comeback against the captain of the Anaphine when something white caught the corner of his gaze. He turned to his left just as the shouts of the men on the deck reached his ears. From behind one of the largest sea-stacks, emerged the white sails of a fully-stocked brig. It slid out from behind its hiding place like it had been waiting there for them all along. Kane didn't have to pull out his spyglass to see the flag waving in the wind atop the brig's highest mast, and the emblem of flame and sword imprinted on the fabric.

"Incendians!" Kane yelled down to his crew. "Man your posts! Prepare for evasive maneuvers!"

His crew burst into action, some disappearing below deck while others prepared the ropes and pulleys for sail adjustments. Kane wasn't afraid to take on a brig. He'd sunk more than one with less men on his ship, but this was the worst possible time. He couldn't waste his energy and resources on these Incendians when he was this close to Death's Cove and the answers he sought in its shadows.

Kane was just about to tell his men to drop the sails and they'd sail full course through the sea of obsidian daggers, when a burst of light arched over the deck of the Iron Jewel followed by the scream of flames. Kane witnessed the ball of fire before it hit the sea with an angry hiss. Waves from the impact washed up onto the deck, coating the wood and making it even more slick.

"They have an emberblood on board," Flynn said, breathless.

Kane had forgotten he was even standing next to him. "It would seem that way," Kane grunted as he gripped the wheel harder, trying to keep his balance as the ship rocked from the sudden waves.

"If you can get us close enough, then I can take him out." Flynn was already staring down the barrel of his pistol, watching, waiting for his moment.

"There's no way you could—"

"You must've not been there when I shot a nectarine off Arius's head."

"I could do that."

"While blindfolded."

Kane huffed. He could get Flynn close enough for him to get a clear shot, there was no question about it, but there wasn't much time to ponder any longer as a second Incendian brig emerged from behind a sea-stack on the starboard side of the ship.

Shit.

He'd been following leads for two moons about Rove and where he might've been hiding since his disappearance from Crossbones. The whispers led him straight to Death's Cove, but it seemed those whispers reached the ears of the Incendians who were getting braver by the day.

A burst of flame erupted from the second brig and arced over the sea toward the Iron Jewel. The shot nicked the top of the ship with a crash and crackle of fire, taking the eagle's nest with it. Scraps of singed wood rained down on them. Another emberblood. They didn't stand a chance. They had to evade.

"We'll have to test your impeccable shot another day," Kane told Flynn as he spun the wheel, changing the angle of the sails.

The ship rocked to the right as the wind filled the sails and took the Iron Jewel's course to the southwest, narrowly dodging around a sprouted sea-stack. This move however, put them in line with the second brig, the wind pushing them straight toward the Incendians. Another burst of flame sliced through the air toward his ship, cutting close enough on the starboard side for Kane to feel the heat of the blaze. Two out of three shots missed by the emberbloods, but how many did they truly need in order to sink a wooden ship? Kane wasn't going to find out.

Turning the sails again would still bring them too close to the brig, close enough for the emberblood to cause catastrophic damage to the Iron Jewel. He had to turn faster, much faster.

"Take the wheel!" Kane yelled to Flynn, who shoved his pistol back in its holster and took hold of the handles. "We're club-hauling!" Kane leapt away from the wheel and down the flight of stairs leading to the lower deck.

"Don't rip a hole in your ship!" Flynn's yell was barely audible as another ball of flame arched over the ship.

This time the attack came from behind, where the first brig chased them, both the brigs beginning to trap them in. Kane shoved past the men who scrambled in front of him with ropes in their hands and ran forward, his boots slipping through the sea-slick as he raced across the main deck and toward the front of the ship.

He reached the forecastle deck and took the stairs two steps at time, then bolted to the portside. A knotted rope sat on a wooden hook, holding one of the portside anchors up on the side of the ship. Sea-spray whipped at his face, stinging his skin, but with one heave, he lifted the knot and threw it over the side of the rails ship, dropping the anchor down into the sea with it. He only had a moment to withdraw his sword before the rope tightened and the anchor hit the sea floor. The ship jerked like a play thing, sending men flying onto the deck, making a sharp turn away from the incoming brig.

Kane gained his balance and sliced through the anchor's rope in one clean sweep. As soon as they were untethered, Kane spun back around, leaping back down the stairs.

"Drop the sails!" he yelled as he raced back to the helm of his ship, the black sash at his belt flying in the wind behind him. "Full sails! Full sails!'

His men brushed themselves off and heaved at the ropes, sending them sailing at full mast. Kane wove through them, hoping to the Sea Sisters that Flynn could stay away from at least one sea-stack until Kane returned to the wheel. The wind was on their side, pushing them quickly against the angry currents surrounding Death's Cove.

Kane bounded up the steps to the poop deck and quickly pivoted back to the helm. Flynn stepped away and swept his wild hairs away from his face. Kane took a glance back watching as the two brigs raced toward each other now, the current of the sea and the wind in their sails pushing them forward until they crashed together in the middle. A sight that made the restless storm inside of Kane settle to a rolling thunder.

"Quick thinking," Flynn said, giving Kane a pat on the back. "You really outdid yourself there. I mean, the sheer brilliance of—"

"Will you shut up?" Kane growled, not needing any of Flynn's distractions. He had to get this ship into Death's Cove in one piece. If he had any hopes of finding Rove or what plans he had next, this is where they rested. He narrowed his eyes at the two foreboding obsidian peaks in the distance and the shadowed crevice between, the place where ships went to die, along with the secrets they held. Secrets that Kane was hell-bent on uncovering.