THE_REALM_SHIFT Read online

  Captain Bonifast gave his gunnery crews the order as the pursuing ships tried to slow and correct their headings. “FIRE!â€�

  All of the Maelstrom’s starboard guns lit up with puffs of gray smoke and flame. Multiple shells, including many of Bonifast’s special variety, hurtled into the hulls of the oncoming ships. The advance of the enemy ships all but halted now as they attempted to get out of range of the Maelstrom’s guns. She was still the largest ship in the harbor…at least until Mordred’s Man-O-Wars rounded the white cliffs of granite below the king’s palace.

  Ethan looked to the sky and saw a terrible battle raging between hordes of demons and the heavenly warriors from Shaddai. Though the angels were greatly outnumbered, none of them suffered defeat. The angels are keeping the demons occupied while we fight down here! Ethan realized.

  But with the larger warships approaching from the port side of the Maelstrom, at the other end of the harbor, the outcome began to look bleak for success. They had managed to cripple Mordred’s ships in the harbor, but many more ships had been missing. Mordred had baited them with a few dozen choice targets while using the others to spring the trap.

  Bonifast called through the ship’s internal megaphone system. “Portside gunners, Fire!â€�

  Another tremendous volley of cannon fire erupted from the Maelstrom toward the approaching Man-O-Wars, five in all. But the Man-O-Wars returned fire against the bare broadside of Bonifast’s ship. Cannon balls streaked through the air, leading trails of smoke.

  A wave of shells smashed into the side of the Maelstrom with tremendous force. “Hit the deck!â€� cried Bonifast as another wave of cannon shot tore across the deck. Ethan immediately realm shifted out of harm’s way. He stood there, watching as Captain Bonifast and Gideon threw themselves to the deck.

  Wood from the railings, masts, and other equipment shattered, spraying in every direction. The bodies of men from the gunnery crews on deck flew into the air or were smashed by iron balls traveling at high velocity.

  For Ethan, everything slowed down. He tracked the iron cannon balls through the air, like birds riding the wind on a summer’s day. His sight penetrated the smoke to find the enemy ships now surrounding the Maelstrom. They would soon attempt to board her.

  Ethan looked to the sky where the fight between angels and demons still raged. Ethan did not know what to do. The cannons continued to pound into the side of the Maelstrom. The enemy intended to clear their way of any resistance before boarding the old pirate ship. Ethan whipped his blade at a shot that would have killed Gideon and Bonifast, deflecting it into the sea. The sword reappeared in his hand a moment later.

  Most of the deck crew was dead or missing by now. Mordred’s Man-O-Wars glided in to take their prize. Their crews hurled grappling hooks across the span of sea between ships in order to pull alongside and get across. Ethan ran to Gideon and Captain Bonifast. They were both dazed and confused, lying face down on the deck.

  The air filled with smoke around the battered Maelstrom, but it did not prevent Ethan’s preternatural eyes from seeing the boarding party from the closest Man-O-War. Within moments, the enemy would cross over to the Maelstrom.

  Ethan, still in the spirit, grabbed the clothing of both men and hoisted them up onto his shoulders. He did not know how he had the strength to do so, but he was certainly glad for it. Ethan took his friends and ran down the stairs, taking them below deck.

  The hallways down below had filled with smoke and the floors and walls were stained with fresh blood. In some places, the walls had burst out from explosions caused by cannon fire. Ethan set Gideon and Captain Bonifast down on the floor and materialized in the physical world again.

  He shook them, shouting, “Wake up!â€�

  Groggy, the men began to recover. “Captain, we must escape!â€� Ethan hissed, hoping the boarders wouldn’t hear him.

  Gideon started to stand on his own. Captain Bonifast shook himself and said, “What’s happened, lad? Where are we?â€�

  “The crew on deck is dead. I’ve pulled you both down below. We have to find a way off the Maelstrom before it’s too late,â€� Ethan said.

  Just then, all three heard the heavy thump of boots pounding the deck above them. Hearts raced. “We’ve been boarded,â€� Bonifast whispered.

  SELF DESTRUCT

  Captain Levi Bonifast patted the wall where they were standing. “They’ll not have you my beauty,â€� he said to the ship as if consoling the glorious old girl over their predicament. Then the captain turned to Ethan and Gideon there in the half-light and said, “Come on, boys, we’ve got a job to do before we leave.â€�

  Normally, Ethan would have been smiling at the thought of doing a job of nearly any sort with Captain Bonifast—he was such an interesting fellow to be around. But the wild look on the captain’s face had transformed to one of desperation.

  It was the kind of expression that one might find on a mother whose children she is about to defend to the death in the face of overwhelming odds. It was the same face Ethan saw in nightmares when his mother pulled him and his sister from their beds—the same grim resolve to look death in the eye, then run headlong toward it.

  “What are we going to do?â€� Gideon whispered as the boys followed the captain down into the depths of the ship. Ethan followed, suspecting it would be terrible whatever it was. Captain Bonifast did not answer Gideon’s question.

  The captain had chosen a course of action. Nothing would deter him from what was about to take place. He grabbed two oil lanterns from the wall as they descended almost as far as was possible. The captain handed one lantern to Gideon, then with the other, he pushed through the door at the end of the hall.

  Gideon asked again, “where are we—â€�

  He stopped in mid-sentence as the door Bonifast had gone through swung closed before him. It read, Powder Room. Gideon turned with the lamp in his hand to look at Ethan. Ethan swallowed big, but the lump held firm in his throat. He hunched his shoulders at Gideon and waited for the warrior-priest to follow the captain. Gideon turned back to the door and proceeded through cautiously, his grip tightening on the lamp handle as he did so. It would not do for fire to drop in this room.

  When Ethan and Gideon went inside, they were struck by how many barrels sat stacked inside. “There must be a few hundred of them,â€� Ethan said.

  Gideon put another hand on the handle of the lamp he was holding. They saw the glow of Captain Bonifast’s lamp down a corridor through the barrels. It bobbed back and forth carelessly. Then the captain slowly crept back toward them and the door. Under his arm, he carried one of the smaller barrels. Bonifast poured a steady line of black powder onto the floor.

  “Back out the door, boys,â€� he said. They complied quickly. It was a bad idea to argue with a man holding twenty pounds of uncorked black powder under his arm and holding a glass oil lamp in the other.

  Captain Bonifast followed them out the door. He continued to pour the black powder line on the floor, over the threshold, and down the hall beyond. When they reached the end of the hall at the stairwell, Bonifast emptied the rest of the powder in a small pile and set the barrel down. “Listen, men, when we head up the stairs we’ll be going for the galley on the next deck. There’s a large window of stained glass coming out the rear of the ship. We’re going through it before this blows.â€�

  They heard the thump of boot steps above them again. “We’ve got to hurry, lads,â€� Bonifast said.

  Ethan and Gideon knew where the galley was. They ran ahead of Bonifast, leaving him on the stairs with his lantern in his hand. Levi Bonifast slid his palm over the wooden planks one last time, as though caressing the cheek of a dying wife. “Goodbye old girl,â€� he whispered.

  Captain Bonifast tossed the lantern down
where the mound of black powder lay on the floor in the hallway. The glass bell shattered, releasing the flame and igniting the powder. By the time the hiss of burning powder began to run down the hallway toward the fully stocked powder room, Levi Bonifast had already gone.

  Ethan and Gideon paused at the open entrance to the galley. The sunlight beamed through the stained glass window at the far end. “Where is he?â€� Gideon asked.

  No sooner had he voiced the question, than Captain Bonifast appeared in a hard run. “Don’t stop, lads! We’ll be lucky if it doesn’t kill us too!â€� He ran past them into the galley. The captain threw his body, shoulder first, into the window. It exploded outward, sending shattered glass and Bonifast into the sea below.

  Ethan and Gideon ran hard and leaped through the shattered window after him. Ethan shifted into the spiritual realm as he left the ship. He watched both Gideon and Bonifast hit the water below. The captain’s words pounded in his brain—“we’ll be lucky if it doesn’t kill us too.â€�

  Ethan shot downward into the sea and found his two friends dazed and struggling against the current. When the powder room went off, it would blow out the bottom of the ship first, causing a massive concussion wave in the water, killing anything in the vicinity.

  Ethan concentrated on holding them and grabbed the two men by their clothes. He surged forward—his body traveling through the ether while their mortal forms dragged through the blue water.

  Ethan focused on the white granite cliffs before him. They were still several hundred yards away. The water’s drag on Gideon and Captain Bonifast held back his progress as Ethan fought to get his friends to safety. Bonifast and Gideon held their breaths, unsure if it was Ethan pulling them.

  Only seconds had passed since they had entered the Azure Sea. Captain Bonifast still counted down in his head.

  The men of the boarding party, from one of the Man-O-Wars, descended steadily into the bowels of the wounded Maelstrom. They encountered several members of the crew along the way. Their captain dispatched them without mercy. He did not like prisoners.

  Presently, they heard the sounds of shouting and of glass shattering. They continued deep into the ship to investigate. A faint, flickering light caught the eye of the captain of the Man-O-War. He led his boarding party down the stairs to the lowest deck on the ship. The design and layout were unfamiliar to him. It was difficult to ascertain exactly where they were. Several of the men, with lanterns, came to the front and handed the captain a light.

  They descended into a dark hallway. A door stood at the far end. A flickering light outlined the doorframe, coming from the room beyond. The smell of cannon smoke hung in the air. The boarding party reached the door at the end of the hall and the flickering light. The captain held up his lantern to read the writing on the door. Powder Room. The Man-O-War’s captain screamed, “GET OUT!â€� These were the last words any of them would ever hear.

  Ethan pulled upward and his friends breached the surface of the water. Both Gideon and Captain Bonifast gulped air as they found themselves hauled like fish from the Azure Sea by invisible hands. Bonifast’s count ended—“two, one.â€�

  Ethan had managed to get his friends nearly 250 yards from the battered Maelstrom before the black powder ignited. KA-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! The explosion sounded like a hundred cannons trying to go off at the same moment.

  The Maelstrom bloomed like a fiery flower behind them before the sound ever found their ears. The old pirate ship erupted in every direction at once, sending flaming debris into the sky. A shockwave surged outward from the explosion like an invisible juggernaut, smashing everything in its path.

  The three Man-O-Wars, surrounding the Maelstrom, ripped apart as the shockwave hit them. Their sails were shredded and set on fire as the masts splintered, falling like trees toppled by a mighty wind. A fiery cloud engulfed the entire lot of them, as more explosions erupted from the powder stores onboard the enemy ships.

  When the shockwave hit Gideon and Bonifast a second later, it sent all three of them reeling. Ethan was pulled by their bodies as the blast wave tossed them all back into the sea. Ethan shifted back to the physical world after they hit the water. His friends quickly came back to the surface for air.

  Levi Bonifast watched as the black mushroom cloud rose from his ship. There was nothing recognizable about the old seabird now. Had it not been for the fact that they were all in the water, the two young men might have noticed several tears tracing down Bonifast’s stubbly cheeks. “I guess I’m a civilian now,â€� he muttered under his breath as the three men bobbed in the sea.

  SEWER RATS

  The Maelstrom was no more. Nothing but ash and burning debris remained. But Captain Bonifast, Ethan, and Gideon did not linger to watch it burn. Bonifast had a plan. “We’ll enter the palace ourselves and find your sister,â€� he told Ethan.

  “But how? How can we get inside from here?â€�

  Here was a good two hundred yards from the granite cliffs now towering above them. They were crowned at the top by the king’s palace, now the home of Mordred himself.

  “I’ve scaled many a rock face before,â€� Gideon said, “but it would take equipment we simply don’t have to get up that cliff.â€�

  “You’re not thinking, boys,â€� Bonifast said. “If you knew anything about the palace, then you would know there is a series of drains which lead away from it to the sea. Now, how do you suppose they drain into the Azure?â€�

  Ethan and Gideon looked at one another puzzled, then at the white cliffs ahead. “Through the rock?â€�

  “Precisely! We only have to swim over to where the rock meets the water, then find the drains. I’ve heard from old acquaintances that the drains will lead you right into the throne room if you know what you’re doing.â€�

  “People have gone through them before?â€� Ethan asked.

  Bonifast smiled. “Oh yes, they have. I’ve not been myself, but that’s the only direct way I know of.â€�

  They heard the sounds of a distant battle above them. “King Stephen must have already begun his attack,â€� Bonifast said.

  “Perhaps we should join him,â€� Ethan suggested.

  “He won’t be able to breach the walls,â€� Gideon said. “No, I think the captain’s suggestion is probably going to be our best bet for getting inside and rescuing your sister, Ethan. Besides, the battle with Stephen will have Mordred and his forces preoccupied. No one will expect us.â€�

  “I’ll go ahead while you two swim for the cliffs,â€� Ethan said. “I’ll have the best chance of finding the drain.â€�

  Levi and Gideon nodded their agreement, then began to tread water toward the pristine rock ahead. Ethan entered the spiritual realm again, floating up from the sea. He raced ahead of his friends toward the cliffs.

  Ethan watched the sky expecting to find the angels still engaged in battle, but they were gone. The edge of the demon cloud remained barely visible above the top of the cliffs. Ethan supposed the spiritual warfare must have moved over the battlefield where King Stephen fought to breach the city walls.

  Ethan soared upward as he reached the cliff. His supernatural eyes scanned every crevice of the white rock, looking for the drain coming from the palace above. It took him nearly twenty minutes of going back and forth to find it. The drain gate had been painted in white and grey to match the cliff and it was not as big an opening as Ethan would have hoped for.

  The gate was located twenty feet above the water level. This presented the problem of getting Levi Bonifast and Gideon up to the drain in order to enter. The drain tunnel was roughly three feet in diameter. It would be a tight squeeze. Provided it did not open up into larger tunnels higher up, this would be a long and tenuous climb to the palace.

  Ethan h
eaded back to his friends. They had swam closer to the cliff wall. He stopped above them and reentered the physical world. Ethan appeared out of thin air about five feet over their heads. Gravity dragged him into the water.

  “Did you find it, lad?â€� Levi asked as Ethan came up for air again.

  “It’s over there,â€� he said, pointing to their right, “about twenty feet up on the wall.â€�

  “Did you see any way for us to climb it?â€� Gideon asked.

  “None. But I can carry you up to the drain one at a time.â€�

  They swam the remaining distance to the wall. They could barely make out the drain opening from the water. “I’ll go up and cut through the gate, then come back for each of you,â€� Ethan said.

  Ethan liked knowing the plan depended on him so much. It felt good to be an integral part of what Shaddai was doing against Mordred. He felt like victory might be certain now. He was so close to fulfilling the prophecy.

  Ethan shifted to the spiritual realm again and shot up to the drain tunnel. He pulled the heavenly sword from his side, slashing at the bars of the drain gate. An orange streak of molten metal marked where his blade had cut through.

  Ethan used his armored foot to smash the two halves of the gate in. Ethan let go of his sword, willing it to his side. The supernatural blade obeyed, snapping back to his left hip.

  Ethan dropped down to his comrades still floating in the water below. They were only half expecting it when Ethan grabbed each of them under their arms, in turn, and hoisted them to the open drain gate. Gideon, then Levi, crawled inside the dark tunnel and Ethan followed, coming back to the physical world. “It’s going to be difficult without any light,â€� Levi said.