Velar Tidemark's Arc

Chapter 13 of 6

The thing under the ice did not rise that night. By dawn Velar had hauled the sled off the frozen lake and down to open water, where his barge waited. He stepped the frostnut mast into its socket and lashed the harpoon to its mount on the bow. The frost tide was near. But he still did not know how deep the leviathan swam, or when it would break the surface. He could not throw a harpoon at water he could not read. "You need it to come up," Veska said. She stood at the stern, spear across her back. She did not soften the problem, as was her way. "Then you need to know when." Velar remembered the silkfin. The leviathan had chased the run before. He gutted a basket of silkfin and threw the chunks over the side. The pale flesh drifted down and vanished. They waited. The water stayed black and still. Then the barge shuddered. A red glow spread far below, two crimson lines running the length of something vast. The leviathan rose. Its charcoal plates broke the surface. For one breath the whole beast cleared the water, gliding through the air as if the low gravity made it weightless. Velar saw the dorsal fin, high and dark, and he fired. The heavy toggle head struck. It drove through the dorsal fin and punched out the far side. The barbs spread. The braided line snapped tight and screamed through the mount. "It's hooked," Velar shouted. "Hold the line." The leviathan dove. The barge lurched forward and spun. It cut across the lake, dragged by the line, water peeling white off the bow. Veska braced her feet and gripped the rope beside him. The mast groaned. The cord bindings held. "Give slack when it dives," Veska said. "Pull when it tires." They worked the line together. When the beast sounded, they let the rope run. When it slowed, they hauled. The barge circled the lake twice. The crimson channels along the leviathan's flank dimmed as it weakened. Its breaches grew lower. Velar's arms burned. He did not let go. At last the beast turned toward a low shore. Velar steered the barge behind it, driving it in. The hull scraped stone. The leviathan thrashed in the shallows, then lay still, half out of the water. Its red glow faded to a dull ember. Velar climbed down onto the shore. The beast was longer than his barge. Its armored plates were cold under his hand. He had landed it. The hunt was over.