Chapter 46

Katarina paid a visit to the Pavlenko trade offices. After sharing warm greetings with her parents, Katarina set down her requests.

"I think I'm going to need to get to Darnell quickly." She began. "I was hoping that I might take one of our ships, if there's one that's making the trip."

Bianka glanced at her husband before answering.

"That's something we've been talking about, dear." Rickard offered gently. "We have five ships that move between Begierde and our homeland, Ardeal. We usually don't make a trip to Darnell, though for you we could make an exception."

Katarina shook her head. "I don't need special dispensation, tati." She replied simply, using the affectionate form for father. He smiled kindly at that.

"If you don't make trips to Darnell, that's fine." She added quickly, and then frowned. "I don't understand- you said you were just discussing it?" She asked.

"Frankly, all of our ships have gone missing. None have come to port in several months." Bianka replied. "That's what we've been discussing."

Katarina nodded. "Nothing from Einsamkeit, then?" She asked, referring to the port city to the south.

Bianka and Rickard shook their heads.

"I'll go." Katarina replied simply. "Give me the names of people to talk to in Einsamkeit, and a list of ships to ask about. I'll take a boat down there and ask around."

Bianka's eyes widened. "Certainly not. You'll do no such thing." She retorted hotly. "As far as we're concerned, you're here for a rest, and that's exactly what you're going to do. There's no call for you to get involved."

Katarina brushed back the lock of golden hair behind her ear. "Mother, Father, I've been asked- I'm required, really- to go to Darnell. I need to go as quickly as I can, which is why I asked after a boat." She replied simply.

"But you've only just gotten here." Bianka objected, and Katarina nodded.

"Believe me, I'm not looking forward to leaving either. And frankly speaking, I'm not fond of them, but I need to get there as quickly as I can, so that means a ship." She replied. "I figured that since I'm heading that way I can ask around and send a letter back by way of Services." She finished.

Bianka and Rickard again glanced at each other.

"I think that'll be just fine." Her father agreed. "Will you need anything before you leave?" he asked, and she shook her head. "I'll need a boat down to Einsamkeit." She replied. "One that isn't shy of transporting horses." She added. He nodded. "I know just the one."

Bianka gave her husband a significant look, but he raised his hands and shook his head. She sighed, and nodded. "Our typical riverboat docks in bay three. Ask for Dorin." She finally said.

The trip to Einsamkeit was swift and without incident. Long before the Anglish Empire occupied the continent of Hesperia, the Kingdom of Nauders had dredged and widened the great river from Tannit all the way down to the bay of Einsamkeit, allowing large ships and riverboats to traverse up and down the river with ease.

As they slipped into the dock, Katarina observed the captain kissing his holy symbol as he watched a ship pull into the far side of the harbor.

"By the Goddess." He breathed as she stepped up to his side. "Would you look at that?" He prayed, pointing at the ship.

"I don't understand. What's wrong with it?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Hasn't been tended to." he replied. "No scraping. No resealing. Some of the planks are split. It's a wonder that it's still afloat." He observed, and his eyes widened. "What are they doing?" He wondered. "They're not slowing down!" He yelled suddenly. "They're goin'ta plow into the docks!" He yelled.

Katarina led her horse off the docks mounted up as soon as they were off the boat. She heeled her horse around and galloped across the nearest bridge to the far side of the harbor.

There was a groan of wood grinding against wood, creaking and snapping as the ship, hoary white with crusted seasalt, slammed into to other seafaring ships with a brutal crunch. From Katarina's spot, she could see the deck of the ship looked empty, just before the bow of the ship heaved upwards and came crashing back down as it bore the other vessel under.

Guards scrambled around, pulling short swords and gnarled clubs. One of them moved to wave Katarina off, but she shook her head and displayed her holy symbol. "I'm a Lady of the Church." She explained, and gestured at the ship. "I'm going aboard."

"We shouldn't be sending anyone aboard." the guard argued. "Not until we clear the docks, leastaways."

Katarina couldn't invoke her Witch Hunter authorities in good faith, given her situation with the church. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out her Inquisitorial Seal.

"I'm going aboard." She repeated, and the guard eyed it, and shook his head. "Talk to the sergeant." He urged, and gestured at a wide man who was eyeing the groaning boat grimly.

She approached the man, and showed him her symbol.

"I don't like it much, but if you wanna have a look-see, I'll allow it." He growled angrily. "We'll get a gangplank over."

Katarina eyed the gap.

"I think I can jump it." She remarked by way of reply. "Look after my horse." She backed up and dashed forward. As she leapt, her foot slipped a little in the puddles. Her leap carried her off the dock and she slammed into the side of the ship, a panicky grab for the rail saving her from a fall into the harbor.

She pulled herself up, smelling the dank smell of damp wood and sharp smell of rancid fish and sea salt. Once on deck she adjusted her hat and drew her sword, glancing around. There were no people on deck. No bodies.

She stepped quickly across the deck, heading for the stern. She didn't bother with the handle, she just drew her foot back and kicked it open as the people assembled on the docks watched.

Inside the doorway there was a short step down from the deck and a door opening to the captain's quarters. She kicked that one, but it was solid and sturdy. She grabbed the handle and tossed it open and stepped into an abattoir.

The cabin walls were splashed with dried blood. A couple of knives were scattered on the floor, as well as a bit of brass chain. The bed was tattered and shredded, the bedding spotted with mold. There were three bodies, or what was left of them.

"They look like they've been... gnawed upon." She muttered with disgust. She took a look at the log book. The captain had spared no detail in his disgust; Ardeal was a blighted land filled with blasphemous horrors that was frequently visited with a "storm wrought with malignance", a storm that rained black. They'd attempted escape, but the harbor had been partially blocked with wrecks from other ships. He made it clear of the harbor but sustained damage. She stowed the log book behind her belt.

A deathless chill suffused the air; Katarina whirled, but nothing was in the cabin but her. Katarina took up her holy symbol in her free hand and whispered a prayer to the Golden Lady.

She prayed, invoking the White Doctrine, a spell that consecrated the ground she stood on and provided healing. She struggled with her shock as the White Doctrine faded. Whatever horrors this ship had seen, it resisted purification.

Katarina was out of her league. The ship needed to be anointed and consecrated and purified, and she didn't have the materials or the skill.

"Stand fast." She whispered to herself to bolster her flagging courage. "Stand fast, be true, the Goddess is with you." She repeated in a low voice. Should she leave? Aye, she should. Her parents would need to be told. Before that, though, she needed to investigate. She needed to make sure this ship didn't bring with it some dark gift for Einsamkeit. The foulness of the ship pressed down on her with an almost tangible weight.

"My will is strong!" She shouted. "The Goddess strengthens the arm of the believer!" She shouted and held aloft her symbol. "You cannot stand against her!" She shouted, and her symbol began to glow with a warm light, the light of the new dawn, the warmth of sunset, the light from a campfire shared by comrades, the firelight that warmed a family after a day's honest labor. It stood for everything the wrongness stood against, light, love, friendship, compassion and kindness and mercy. Power seemed to infuse her. She stepped from the captain's cabin and descended into the crew's quarters, determined and furious.

The crew quarters were deserted, but scattered bodies littered a few of the bunks. They too had been worked over and chewed on.

"Light of the Goddess welcome you home." She murmured to each as she approached the cargo hold. She looked at the ladder dropping into the depths of the ships' hold with trepidation, but she grit her teeth and dropped through the hole in the flooring, and hit the bottom with a splash. The ship was taking on water.

Her eyes narrowed as she heard someone coughing and spluttering ahead. There was no light but what spilled from her holy symbol. She draped it around her neck and was comforted by its warmth. A warm halo of light appeared above her head, defiantly pushing back the shadow.

"My name is Katarina Pavlenko. I am a Witch Hunter in service to the Golden lady, in whose light we thrive!" She announced to the darkness. "If there be any who fear Her wrath, step forward!" She shouted.

"Pav...lenko?" A voice replied from further in, dry and papery as a whisper. "Ahhh." It breathed, the voice dry and sibilant.

Katarina slogged forward, sword raised.

"I know that name." It whispered conspiratorially from up ahead. "From where?" It mused. "Ah yes. How could I forget something so simple?" It asked. "That's my name. Durin Pavlenko." A dry chuckle followed this. "Ahhh. it gets so hard to think, sometimes." The ship lurched suddenly, knocking Katarina into a stagger as she struggled to keep her footing.

"Golden Lady?" The voice asked as she struggled forward. The water was up to her calves now.

"The Golden Goddess of the Dawn." Katarina replied haughtily, and invoked the White Doctrine again. Again it was resisted by whatever malignance possessed the boat.

"Goddess?" The man scoffed. "The Goddess is dead, Witch Hunter." the voice snarled. There was a scrape of boots as the owner of the voice rose to his feet. "She turned her face from us a long time ago!" He shouted angrily. "Now there is only the Black Rain and the thirst!" He shouted, and Katarina had a split second premonition; she ducked as a crate hurtled through the space where her head had been.

Katarina drew her gun and pulled the trigger; the gunflash was blinding; the man let out a high whistling scream in response.

She struggled forward, kicking small crates aside as she advanced. The man was a horror; he was slug-belly white and emaciated. He was so thin and wasted he looked like a bundle of sticks wrapped in skin. His eyes were bulging, rugose and bloodshot, his lips a bruised gash, and his teeth were rotting fangs.

Her bullet had taken him high in the chest, just over his heart. Strangely, he struggled in the water, trying to get his footing. Thick blackish blood pumped from his chest wound. Katarina drew back and swung her sword, severing his head at the neck. The body continued to flail about, the neck stump jetting blood. The head gnashed its teeth in a series of gruesome clicks. Katarina grabbed the head, deftly avoiding its teeth, and picked it up by its hair.

After several long minutes where Katarina waited impatiently for it to die, she sighed, turned around, and struggled back to the entrance of the hold. She tossed the head up through the hole and then climbed out herself. The ship had developed a cant, sliding over at an angle. She'd need to be quick. She picked the head up by the hair, and pounded up the stairs to the deck.

It was as she feared; the boat was going to sink. She ran for the side of the ship with all her might and timed her jump.

She sailed through the air, and hit the dock and rolled several times. The sergeant she'd spoken to eyed her.

"Find anything in there worth jumping around like a madwoman for?" He asked gruffly.

Katarina nodded, and held up the severed head, which gnashed its teeth angrily.

"Goddess!" He shouted and fell back on his ass.

"The ship has been befouled and must be destroyed." She commanded. "No one should go aboard. No one should attempt to recover the ships it's crushed or their cargoes; they've likely been tainted as well." She proclaimed. She set the head down on the dock and cast her mind back for the prayer she needed. She moved her hand in the proscribed way, and a beam of fire flashed out from her hand and struck the ship, setting it ablaze. She set the two ships it had struck ablaze as well.

She turned to the sergeant. "I need a box for this thing, and someone to send it on to the Church here in Einsamkeit." He nodded grimly. "No problem there." He replied, and started shouting orders.

"Who here has the authority to requisition a ship for me?" She asked, and he swallowed.

"Wha-" He began. "You do, My lady." She rolled her eyes. "I need to speak to someone who knows the ships and their captains." She replied. "I need a small, fast ship capable of crossing the Sea of Mirras. One that'll make the trip in days, not weeks." She added.

He let out a whistle at that.

"For that you'll need a Cutter." He advised. "There's a couple in port."

She nodded as one of his soldiers approached with a box. She grabbed a leather sheet and wrapped the head and stuffed it into the box, and then added the log book from the ship. "Put a lid on that and take it to the Church here." Katarina advised. "They'll know what to do." She requested a quill and ink and added a short note explaining who she was, and what the crate contained, where it came from, and where she was going- after it.

She pulled her saddlebags, pack, and bedroll off of her horse, and handed the sergeant a small handful of silver. "Take care for her. I don't know how long I'll be gone." He nodded. "Never you worry." He replied, and she set off down the docks looking for a cutter to take her to Ardeal.