Lord of the Libraries by Mel Odom

about the evils in the world (or at least along the mainland), Juhg had grown up in the midst of them.
    You have strength, the Grandmagister had told Juhg on more than one occasion. You have an inner resolve that I have seen in only a few.
    The memory flitted through Juhg’s mind and he felt the guilt that rushed through afterward. He and the Grandmagister had not parted on good terms before the Grandmagister’s capture by the goblinkin and Aldhran Khempus. The brief meeting aboard the goblinkin ship hadn’t counted because the Grandmagister had been too busy providing instruction and helping Juhg escape.
    Scream! the voice inside his head commanded. Scream! It is almost over!
    Staring at the sea, which now filled all of his vision, Juhg realized that the voice wasn’t his. He wondered where it was coming from. He stopped screaming and worked on taking one last good breath before plunging into the ocean. You can find your way back up, he told himself. Natural buoyancy will bring you up.
    Something bit into his right leg.
    Startled, Juhg looked at his leg, seeing the rope that coiled around his calf twice more then pulled taut. He stopped in midfall, hanging less than twenty feet above the heaving ocean.
    Gazing along the rope that held him, Juhg saw that it led back to One-Eyed Peggie. At the other end of it, Craugh stood pulling the rope back in. Small green sparks, like flying embers from a cook fire, danced through the twisted hemp of the rope.
    One-Eyed Peggie turned her prow more into the lee side of the wave. The rope moved accordingly, and the wizard ran, still hauling on the rope, like he was bringing in a large fish.
    The sea below Juhg exploded. A maelstrom of salt spray drenched him as the bearded hoar-worm rose up from the depths.
    You’re not a fish, the voice told him. You’re a tantalizing little piece of bait. Scream before you die.
    The monster opened its huge maw. Juhg saw himself reflected in the enormous black eyes that were bigger than he was. Fangs taller even than Craugh with his hat on filled the cavernous mouth. The creature’s breath was horrible, so strong that it burned Juhg’s eyes.
    Tasty morsel.
    Juhg put his hands out before him and grabbed the bearded hoar-worm’s upper lip.
    You dare put your hands on me!
    It isn’t like I have any choice, Juhg thought.
    I heard that. Like a dog trained to do a trick, the monster flicked its head and knocked Juhg end over end into the air, then readied itself to catch him in its teeth when he came back down.
    Juhg reached for the monster’s lip again, hoping to save himself, but he couldn’t span the distance. He dropped—and just as suddenly rose into the air.
    The bearded hoar-worm’s fangs gnashed together without their prize. Glowering at Juhg as he flew backward through the air, the monster dived beneath the ocean and disappeared again.
    Flailing and struggling, feeling the rope chafing his leg terribly, Juhg tried to bend up and grab the rope so he could lessen some of the pull. Unfortunately, he couldn’t. Hallekk and a handful of dwarven pirates reeled him up toward the ship as it dropped into the trough at the bottom.
    Juhg hit One-Eyed Peggie’s brine-soaked deck and sprawled inelegantly. He hurt all over and the wind was knocked from his lungs. Before he could recover, Hallekk had jerked him to his feet.
    “Are ye all right then, Juhg?” the pirate captain asked anxiously.
    Juhg tried to answer but couldn’t. He didn’t have his wind back.
    Hallekk beat him vigorously on the back, nearly knocking him to his knees. “Stop. Please.”
    Grinning mightily, Hallekk stepped back. “He’s all right, Craugh. Just some’at shook up.”
    Juhg nodded, hoping he would be left alone.
    “By the Old Ones,” Hallekk said, chucking Juhg under the chin, “ye are a brave one, aren’t ye?”
    Just then, One-Eyed Peggie hit the bottom of the wave trough. Brine splashed over her, drenching her deck and everyone one on her.
    “Gotta see if I