The Briny Deep, Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Accursed Waters

Charnaiz and Valeri were sitting together in the quarters of the king on board the Peregrine (the name of Rodion’s war frigate), discussing something that involved them but yet had nothing to do with them. The moon shone brightly over the vast expanse of ocean.
“We need to remain in this time because of a curse, placed upon Major Kazansky’s family by our most hated enemy, Arkadius Krovin.” said Valeri.
“Explain to me why we need to help his family?”
“Because he was an instrument of the Gondwanan prophecy – and if we do not help him now, he might never have been born – and the line of their family would have ended with this man, our host, the Admiral Rodion Kazansky.”
“Elaborate.”
“I have had visions of the curse while in deep meditation. Krovin’s Varangian army was defeated by the Tartars, fierce horsemen from the steppes and the ancestors of the Kazansky clan. Surviving the final battle, Krovin placed a curse upon the clan – that whosoever was to leave the saddle and swim in the waters was to be the last man of the Kazansky line.”
“This man – our host – is a seafarer. The first from the Kazansky family?”
“Most probably. Since he is still alive and well for now, he may very well be the one whom the curse speaks of.”
Suddenly, the two were interrupted by a sailor in a black uniform entering their cabin,
“The Admiral wishes to see you all in his cabin for dinner. We’ll be having shark for the main course.”
“Did you say shark?” asked Charnaiz.
“Yes, tiger shark.”
“You killed a shark?”
“Your Angliskiy is now very ah… slozhniy…” he said, closing the door.
“Ignorant Russian.” mumbled Charnaiz.
“Come, your majesty, let us prepare for the dinner.”

Krasnorussia, 2025. Voronov had called the Chinese high command and was getting from office to office through phrases from a little Mandarin phrase book that he kept just for this purpose. It took about a quarter-hour until the phone was finally given to Col. Wu Chou Fang – the Chinese officer who just so happened to save the butts of the Gondwanan “heroes” who were about to be turned into Swiss cheese by the Black Army; and this PLA officer spoke English.
“Wei?” said the Chou Fang over the phone.
“This is Dr. Voronov, comrade colonel. Krasnorussia needs your help!”
“If the People’s Republic isn’t involved, then I’m not interested.”
“Comrade Colonel, please hear me out!”
“You have five minutes until I hang up, you Krasnorussian pig-dog.”
“Major Kazansky’s been sucked into the wormhole generator!”
“So? How is that China’s concern? It’s your mess up!”
“Yes, I know, but—“
“But what? China is not a nation of janitors, major. We do not go around cleaning up the messes of our allies left and right.”
“You owe him a favor, and you know it, by God!”
A pause.
“I owe no one any favors. If anyone owes anyone a favor, he owes me!”
“The Gondwanan incident, comrade colonel? That was the defense of China! It could’ve been any other officer but the PLA chose you!”
Another pause.
“Touché, major.”
“Comrade colonel, do you remember the joint Krasnorussian-Chinese military exercises in Vietnam?”
“Yes… where’s your point?”
“You were commanding your unit through the dense jungle; you lost your footing and fell into a ravine.”
“How did you—“
“And then Major Kazansky separated from his Krasnorussian unit to help you out while your men panicked. You owe him for your life, colonel.”
“You get the Frenchwoman and her team – and that will be all.”
“That’ll be all we need, comrade. Now I owe you one.”

Rodion, Alexei, Natasha, Charnaiz, Kyurdin and Valeri were seated around a large oak table with the Admiral at the head of it. A spit-roasted shark lay in the center of the table, decorated with parsley garnishing and some seaweed here and there. There was also some other food, and it was about to fall off the table, since the shark occupied most of the space. There was some crab, caviar, slices of tuna and some fish sticks. Atypically, there was no rum to be found on the table or in the ship’s store rooms for that matter. These were Russian sailors, and they drank vodka.
The group was well into the dinner, and most had eaten their fill. They were now talking, with Alexei and Rodion doing most of the speaking, since the Admiral still did not believe he was related in any way to this strange man.
Everyone except Charnaiz was wearing different clothing, as their own uniforms and clothes were soaked and hung out to dry. The Major was wearing a privateer’s naval uniform, while Valeri was in a European-styled dress with a layered skirt; Natasha wore the same thing, which exposed her cleavage, leaving her eyeing Kyurdin from time to time. Kyurdin himself wore a blue naval uniform, while Charnaiz had dried his clothes by magic – of course, out of sight of the crew. By this time, Rodion was told that Charnaiz was a sort of mage-king-priest; that Valeri was a prophetess; and that Kyurdin was a warrior. He still did not believe, however, that he was related to Alexei Kazansky. Now Valeri spoke up,
“Admiral Rodion, there is something of a dire nature that I must tell you.”
The Admiral put his fingers together and said,
“Go on, prophetess, please tell all.”
“We are not from your time.”
A long pause.
“I don’t understand. Would you elaborate?”
“We are travelers from the distant future, come to warn you of a curse that will fall upon you…”
Rodion raised an eyebrow, took a swig of vodka, and raised his finger, saying softly,
“I think you’re all mad.”
“On the contrary, sir.” Valeri continued, “It is you who refuses to believe that you are in great danger.”
“Now who would want to place a curse upon me? I have wronged no one.”
“Not you, probably, but your ancestors…”
Rodion frowned, a little more receptive now.
“Keep going.” he said.
“Your ancestors are the Kazan Tartars, great horsemen, and raiders of the far north.”
“Yes…”
“Your ancestor once engaged in battle with a large tribe of Varangian warriors from the west – and won. They were led by an immortal, who still lives today. His hatred for your family fuels the curse that will befall the one who leaves the saddle and swims in the water.”
“Amusing tale, ‘prophetess’, but you forget one thing.”
“And what would that be, admiral?”
“I am here with you – safe, dry, and protected. Nothing has gone wrong since this morning.”
Suddenly, a sailor burst into the galley, panting.
“Admiral! Enemy ship sighted off the port bow! It’s flying a black flag!”
“Pirates? So soon? Well, this can’t possibly be the curse that lady Valeri here speaks of.” Rodion said, grabbing his pepperbox pistol. “The rest of you can either stay in your cabins or make yourself useful – if you think you can!”
As he said this, he walked out of the galley and onto the ship’s deck, shouting orders to his men as he went.
All of the guests then began looking at each other.
“Shall we?” asked Charnaiz.
“Let’s roll.” replied Major Kazansky with a smirk.
Kyurdin rose and drew his sword, walking readily after Charnaiz.
“I can help!” Natasha said, rising herself.
“Ohhh no you don’t.” said Kazansky playfully, “With what you’re wearing, darling, the only thing you’ll be able to do is give the enemy boners. That’s not going to help.”
Natasha sneered.
“Stay in your cabin, Krasnorussian.” Valeri said, staring seriously at her.
Natasha obliged, but gave the glorious and heroic finger to Major Kazansky before strutting away.
Meanwhile, on deck, Kazansky was shouting to Kyurdin and Charnaiz,
“Gentlemen! We’ve got these primitive bastards right where we want them! The plan is simple – Kyurdin, if you can, glue down the enemy ship with your gravity grenade. Charnaiz will cover us from the air while we board the ship. Do we have a plan?”
“We have a plan.” replied Kyurdin, tossing the gravity grenades in his hand.
“Enemy sighted!” a sailor announced.
The group went over to the side railing and beheld a monstrous sight. A gigantic blue ship approximately four hundred feet long sailed out of the mist, its colors – a skull and snowflake on a black field – flew on its main mast.
The odd thing about this ship was that it did not sail on the water – the water seemed to freeze wherever it sailed to – thus creating the impression that it was floating on a body of ice everywhere that it went.
“That’s not something you see everyday.” commented Kazansky.
“Indeed it isn’t, boy.” replied the admiral, stepping up beside him.
“How are you gonna deal with this?”
“I’m not sure – this ship looks… otherworldly, to say the least.”
“Aren’t you a bit scared?”
“Fear is something alien to me.”
“Good – ‘cause the last thing that I need is knowing that my great great great great granddad was a chicken.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Nothing.”
Suddenly, out of the mist, a deep voice called out – it sounded like the sound of a lion roaring,
“Kazansky! We finally meet! It was your family who cost me that great defeat on the Dnepr! And now, you yourself shall know how it feels to be drowned in frozen waters!”
“Who is that maniac?” asked the admiral.
“Some nut.” replied Kazansky, who knew full well that he was lying. This was Arkadius Krovin – the same evil entity who seemed to reappear after every defeat. The demon within him must have kept him strong through all of those ages.
“Excuse me, dedushka, but I need to get something – I’ll be right back.” said Kazansky, running back into his cabin.
“Don’t dawdle, boy! And never call me ‘grandpappy’ again!”
Charnaiz flew over the enemy ship and saw how insanely enormous it was. He had to be careful about this one – it would be considerably hard to take down a ship of this size.
Kyurdin was already working – he had thrown down enough gravity grenades to glue down a blue whale to the ocean floor. Strangely, though, none of them seemed to be working. He took his binoculars and examined the underbelly of the ship. To his astonishment, he found that,
“They’re being frozen! My gravity grenades are being frozen by the ship! Major? We need a new plan.”
A pause.
“Major? Where are you?” he said as he looked up from his binoculars. The major wasn’t there.
Suddenly, the Peregrine was rocked. The ship began to sway left and right, and Kyurdin had to hold on to the railing lest he lose his footing. The enemy ship had fired a cannonball into the side of the war frigate, and more were coming on their way.
A crewman rushed up from the gun deck, where the Peregrine was hit, and announced that they weren’t being hit by cannonballs at all – but by giant, fragmenting, explosive balls of ice!
“This is absurd!” said Charnaiz as he circled over the fight in the sky. Giant golems? Sure; time travel? No problem; bigass freak whose name spells “Dongon” backwards? Hell yeah; but ships firing snow cones? What gives, man?
Charnaiz swooped down like a falcon onto the deck of the enemy ship – his hands lit up with the power of the blue iris.
“Who wants a piece of this?” he said, arrogantly.
“I would prefer your heart, sir.” said a voice from behind him.
Charnaiz whirled around to find an old enemy – Arkadius Krovin – but he looked different – he actually looked older. White beard, silvery eyes, and blue armor. That was a first.
“You look… different…” murmured Charnaiz.
Krovin said nothing but raised his hands at Charnaiz, firing bolts of ice at him like nails from a nail gun.
The king dove out of the way just in time, a bit surprised, as Krovin never had any magical powers before.
“I didn’t know you could do that!” He said, astonished.
Krovin responded by extending his hands and firing a wave of ice at Charnaiz. It hit him and shattered against his body, bringing him to the ground.
“Congratulations, old man. You get the first hit!” Charnaiz said, leaping back up.
Krovin grinned and did nothing.
“What’s so funny?”
The former black knight pointed a finger, gesturing at Charnaiz to look behind him.
“Ohhh no, I’m not falling for that old trick.”
Suddenly, an ice cold, claw-like hand grabbed Charnaiz by the neck from behind. Instinctively, he took his opponent’s arm and attempted to throw him – except that – he only threw the arm onto the deck. He turned to face his aggressor, his expression one of confusion, and saw that a skull-faced Imperial Navy admiral stood before him.
“What circus did you come from?” he asked.
The undead admiral kicked him in the stomach, causing him to bend, and gave him an uppercut in the face with his left arm – the one that was still attached.
“I come from no circus, you ignorant foreigner.” he said, in a voice that sounded like the crackling of crushed ice, “I am Admiral Moroz – the scourge of the sea of Okhotsk and the rest of the seven seas – and this is my ship, the Sosulka.”
Charnaiz suddenly flipped back up and landed a kick in Moroz’s ribcage, causing him to fall sideways.
“Moroz – that means ‘frost’, doesn’t it? Well, it’s nice to beat you, Admiral Frost!” Charnaiz said, only to be answered by a discharge of ice particles from Krovin’s hands. They hit him in the back, and he fell, face down on the icy deck of the ship. Krovin ran up to him and stomped on one of the icicles in Charnaiz’s back, making it sink in deeper.
“A pleasure to meet you again, your majesty. My name as long as I am in this frigid form and the master of the admiral is to be Led-Krovin. I’m sure it’s a pleasure.” he said, stomping down again.
Suddenly, gunshots could be heard from the other side of the boat.
“Walk on the ice! Like duh!” said a familiar voice.
“I can’t believe you didn’t realize it sooner.” said a second, whose speech was followed by the sound of a sword swipe.
It was Kazansky and Kyurdin – and they had come on board by simply jumping down on the ice that Moroz’s ship made and climbing up onto the stern.
“Are there any more hostiles on this ship?” asked Kazansky, cocking his AK-47. The bodies of dead, scarf-wearing, fur-covered sailors littered the deck. Suddenly, they began to slowly get back up again.
“This could be… unfavorable.” said Kyurdin, backing up as the once-dead sailors now marched towards them. One of them had a loose scarf, and it fell, exposing his face – which wasn’t a face actually – but a skull! They were facing the undead!
“Oh this is so unfair.” Kazansky said, just before pumping a few more rounds into a few more sailors.
“There is still hope – look!” Kyurdin said, pointing to the deck of the Peregrine. Rodion and his marines had lined up along the side of the boat and were now aiming their muskets at the Sosulka, ready to fire along with the cannon batteries below.
While Charnaiz and Admiral Moroz were fighting, the Sosulka was being rocked back and forth by cannon fire from the Peregrine, which had temporarily succeeded in destroying the Sosulka’s gun batteries. Now Admiral Rodion was planning to release his own volley of cannon fire into the Sosulka in an attempt to sink it.
The cannon fire came, and it rocked the Sosulka violently, causing everyone on it to fall down or be thrown overboard – including, that is, Kyurdin and Kazansky. The two were thrown over the stern of the ship, into the icy cold water.
Charnaiz lay on the icy floor of the Sosulka’s deck, and gritted his teeth in agony as the spikes of ice pressed further into his back. But suddenly, the pain stopped! Charnaiz felt the weight of Led-Krovin’s foot disappear, and he turned over to see that the white-bearded antagonist was nowhere to be found.
He rose to his feet and looked over the side railing, where he could see Led-Krovin, sword in between his teeth, swimming violently towards the Peregrine. It was a miracle he could swim at all – that armor he was wearing was bound to weigh him down – but he was superhumanly strong, so this was probably nothing for him.
Suddenly, a little raft appeared from behind the Peregrine. A dark-skinned man dressed in a frilly pink suit was rowing it towards Led-Krovin. The monster ignored the little raft and kept swimming towards the war frigate, but the raft caught up with him.
The man on the raft then tugged at Led-Krovin’s arms and feet, trying to get him on board the raft. Led-Krovin responded by taking his sword and slashing at the man, who was quick to dodge his blows. It was hard for Led-Krovin to hit him anyway, since he was swimming in the water while swinging his sword at the same time.
The man was persistent, and apparently would not stop tugging at Led-Krovin until he was on the raft. The former black knight was annoyed – and he pierced the wooden raft with his sword, using it as a lever. He then boarded the craft, and to his astonishment, was received by a hug from the man in pink. The man hugged him so tightly however – and he was hugging his knees – that he promptly lost his balance and fell into the water, along with the man.
Charnaiz raised an eyebrow and muttered,
“That was weird…”
Just then, the ice began to melt on the ship, and the undead sailors behind him suddenly collapsed. Admiral Moroz himself was lying in a crumpled heap on the deck. Charnaiz then realized what was happening – the ship’s curse was being broken – since Led-Krovin was drowning! If this continued, the whole ship might actually sink!
Thinking quickly, he flew up in the air and made his way back to the Peregrine, where he saw Kyurdin and Kazansky safely climbing back on board. They were safe – at least that was good.
Kazansky tilted his head sideways and knocked the water out of his ears upon reaching the Peregrine’s deck.
“Dammit, dedushka, you don’t fire when you know when I’m on the ship!”
“I thought I told you not to call me grandpappy!” Rodion said, walking up to him and Kyurdin.
“Well, we showed him, didn’t we?” Kyurdin said, wringing his cloak.
“Yes we did.” Charnaiz replied, making a soft landing beside him.
“Are there any casualties, admiral?” asked Kazansky.
“A few are injured, but that is all. Zero casualties to report.” Rodion said with a smile. “They stopped firing at us.” he continued, “Why do you think they did that?”
“I can answer your question, admiral.” said Charnaiz.
“Please, tell all.”
“You see – I have found out that the enemy ship, the Sosulka, is under the control of a demon by the name of Led-Krovin. If severe bodily harm is caused to him, he will be forced to lose control of the ship and to spend the remainder of his energy on healing. The Sosulka, which is no more than a resurrected ghost ship, will have no other recourse but to terminate.”
“I see – and how do you know all this?”
“I fought against him – twice.”
“Ah, excellent. It’s nice to have an ally that knows our enemy well.” Rodion said, crossing his arms and smiling. “But we can’t stay here for much longer. That cannon fire must’ve been heard by other ships near here. If any of those ships are English or German, then we might be in serious trouble. We best return on course to Japan – to pick up my strike fleet.”
“Strike fleet? What strike fleet?” asked Kazansky.
“Oh, didn’t I tell you? I’m a privateer for the Czarina. What, did you think with this fancy dress that I could possibly be a member of the Imperial Navy?”
“But you said that you were from the Czarina’s Pacific Fleet!”
“Yes – I’m the head of his privateers.”
“Dammit!”
“Now, now, nothing to worry about. I’ll just drop you off in Japan and we’ll be going on the Philippine raid all by our onesies.”
“What did you say?”
“I said we’ll be going to the Philippine islands – on a raid.”
“No, no, not that – you said ‘onesies’. What the hell is a onesie?”
“You must be the stupid one of the lot – it means by ourselves, ergo, without you and without anyone to ruin the raid except us privateers!”
“Now hold on there –“
“We need to come with you.” interrupted Valeri.
“Why so?” asked Rodion, raising an eyebrow.
“Do you remember the curse I spoke of?” said the prophetess.
“Well, if you call that monster of a ship that attacked us the err… executor of the curse, then yes! But can’t you see? We’ve sunk it! It can be of no more harm to us than a dead wolf to a child!” said Rodion, proud of himself.
“That’s where you’re wrong – the man you thought drowned is an immortal. In hours he will be up again, and so will the Sosulka in all its ferocity.”
“So why do you need to go to the Philippine islands with us?”
“I know of a certain shaman there who can put a counter-spell on us and thus rid us of the curse.”
“And how did you know about this, woman?”
“We prophets keep in touch through ways of our own…”
“I… see…” Rodion said, frowning suspiciously. “But at any rate, you are aware that I will impress you into my crew, are you not?”
“I and my comrades have no problem with that.” she said with a slight nod.
“Excellent.” Rodion said, putting his hands together behind his back. “I’ll notify the quartermaster and we’ll set sail for Japan first. I’ll brief you on the way.”