Free The Long Journey Home (The Legend of Vanx Malic Book 8) by M. R. Mathias Page A

the distance.
    “Leviathans,” the dog’s keen ears heard Chelda yell. “Two of them.”
    Vanx took in the words and then was assailed by a vision of the Goddess’s face glaring at him. He also sensed that Poops was not just smelling leviathans, but the exact scent of the one that had attacked them before.
    You must convince me that you have not lost the true nature of who you are meant to be
,
Vanx of Malic
, the goddess spoke into his mind. She was so beautiful he ached to please her. Knowing he had made her angry made him feel like a betrayer. It was she who had given him life, after all. He was her emerald-eyed champion.
    Or at least he used to be.
    Battling the Hoar Witch’s rotten evil, and the Paragon Dracus’s nearly insurmountable power had left Vanx jaded. He hadn’t thought about anything other than his selfish desire to get back to Gallarael and forget the rest of the world.
    Vanx saw them when the clouds broke and the reflection of the moon on the glossy ever-moving ocean revealed a pair of slight, but wide, wakes.
    The
Adventurer
slowed then and started turning to take up a course beside the creatures, but far enough away that they couldn’t just lunge at the ship.
    Vanx supposed if the creatures dove, they could come up underneath either craft, and the
Adventurer
responded by easing just a little closer to them. Either the two giant sea beasts were unconcerned that they’d been detected, or they were just obliviously following the other vessel, which was slowing now, its momentum lost because it was no longer under tow.
    Vanx saw that Chelda and Ronzon were getting a harpoon launcher ready on the open deck of the
Ada Rosamond
.
    “What are we doing?” Master Ruuk asked.
    “I’d like to know, too,” Zeezle said, having joined them on deck.
    “My goddess is testing me,” Vanx told his friend.
    Only Zeezle knew of Vanx’s goddess and that he was supposed to serve as her champion. Zeezle indicated he’d never really understood such a notion, but he hadn’t made fun of Vanx. In fact, Zeezle had confided once that he sometimes wished his life had such a purpose.
    “You’re sure?” Zeezle asked, shooing the sea mage and the Zythian wizard away from the conversation.
    “I am.” Vanx gave him a look. “Can you go over there and keep those two from shafting the creatures? I mean, unless it becomes necessary. I’d like to avoid a confrontation here altogether.”
    “I can.” Zeezle nodded and then motioned for Master Ruuk to come cast the spell. “What are you going to do?”
    Vanx shrugged and pulled off his shirt. Then he took down his britches so that he was in naught but his small clothes.
    “Going to scare it off with your sea monster, are you?” Zeezle asked jokingly.
    “You are one to talk.” Zeezle had recently been chased across three leagues of turf while completely naked. It was an image Vanx was still trying to shake from his mind. He met Zeezle’s eyes then. “I’m going for a swim.”
    He had decided the goddess wouldn’t want him to just kill the two leviathans, so he climbed up onto the rail and balanced there. The
Adventurer
held herself as steady as the sea would allow.
    “He is serious?” Master Ruuk asked.
    “He’s one of a kind.” Zeezle shrugged. “Send me over.”
    Vanx dove into the water. He then reached for the crystal hanging at his neck and gave the creatures a warning.
    Leave us be
, Vanx said.
Leave us be for your own sake. I can kill you as I please, but that is not what I wish to do
.

Chapter Twenty
    Some days it is easy
.
    Some days it is hard
.
    Some days the luck
    just isn’t in the cards
.
    S aint Elm’s Deep had been boring since Chelda and Vanx had disappeared through the tower. Moonsy spent her time drilling with King Longroot’s personal guard, keeping them sharp and ready for when the baby king eventually grew into his boots.
    She missed her Chelda and wondered if she was safe nearly every moment of the day. One afternoon, when a pair