"Out of the Deep" was originally published in the anthology Masters of Fantasy, edited by Bill Fawcett and Brian Thomsen. The publisher has made the DRM-free story available on their official website (baen.com): "Out of the Deep".
The story takes place "decades" after Vanyel died, and Alain's great-great-grandmother was Elspeth the Peacemaker.
Cover of the anthology Masters of Fantasy
Overview[]
A young Prince of Valdemar thinks his Animal Mindspeech Gift isn't useful... until it saves his life.
Characters[]
Characters appearing or mentioned in the story
Main character[]
- Herald Alain
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
- Herald Stedrel
- Companion Lovell
- Savvy
- Matt Runyan
Referenced characters[]
- Consort Felice - daughter of a baron, she made an arranged marriage with Chalinel and birthed twelve children, in batches of twins and triplets
- Crown Prince Tanivel "Vel" - oldest male child
- Princess Lavenna "Vixen" - oldest female child, Tanivel's twin
- King Chalinel - King of Valdemar, great-grandson of Elspeth the Peacemaker, and father of twelve children, all Heralds
- Princess Alara - Alain's twin, half a candlemark older
- Princess Kristen - one of a set of triplets a year older than Alain, who fell ill and missed a year at the Collegium
- Prince Kole - one of a set of triplets a year older than Alain, who fell ill and missed a year at the Collegium
- Princess Katen - one of a set of triplets a year older than Alain, who fell ill and missed a year at the Collegium
- Elspeth the Peacemaker - famous long-reigning Queen of Valdemar, Alain's "great-great-grandmother"
- Vanyel - the Last Herald-Mage, who sacrificed himself for Valdemar "decades ago"
Places[]
Terminology[]
- Evendim longhouse
- Landwalker - Bright Leaper term for humans
- Deep-Speaker - Bright Leaper name for Alain
- Weeps-On-Shore - Bright Leaper name for Alain's Companion Vedalia
- Bright Leapers (Wave-Wise)
- Animal Mindspeech - Gift
Summary (WARNING! SPOILERS!)[]
Prince Alain, the youngest of King Chalinel's twelve children, ponders his family life and his internship circuit.[1] He wishes he had a more useful gift than Animal Mindspeech.
When they reach a village there is a huge commotion. Raiders have attacked a fishing village down the coast while its' men were out on the boats: taking the women, killing the young and old, and burning the buildings.
Herald Stedrel comes up with a practical plan to hide goods and people, then sends Alain one way along the coast while he goes the other way, to prepare more villages.
The raiders land and take Alain - he wakes tied up on their boat. He mindspeaks for help, and the water creatures answer. The raiders throw him overboard, and the Bright Leapers buoy him up and chew off his restraints while calling for the Deep One.
The massive creature rises almost to the surface, picking Alain up on its' back. It exacts a price from him: Alain must never reveal its' existence. It carries him on its' back until they get to the raiders' ships. The raiders have slaughtered Leapers, angering the water creatures. The Deep One leaves Alain with the Leapers, and proceeds to leap out of the water and smash down on each of the ships, one by one.
The Deep One then picks up Alain and continues across the huge lake towards shore. It looks forward to returning to the ships to devour the men. It mindspeaks with Alain. "Speak with me, Walker. Tell me of your life. I have never met one who could Speak to my thoughts, and I have lived long . . . long." It is aware of humans, but asks about Heralds and Companions and life beyond the fishing villages. Alain realizes it is his Gift of Animal Mindspeech that saved him - the Deep One could hear strong Mindspeakers, but imperfectly.
Nearing the shore, the Deep One leaves him to the Leapers so it can return to hunt. The Leapers tow him landward, encountering the boats coming out to meet him. He is pulled from the water onto the lead boat.
The fishermen bow and call to the Leapers, which they call the Wave-Wise. Some believe they are reincarnations of drowned fishermen, so they never harm them, and always treat them with respect.
The Leapers mindspeak with Alain again, telling him where the raiders' captives are, and most of the fishermen take off to rescue them. As Alain is ferried to shore, Herald Stedrel asks about the creatures, thinking they are fish. Alain speculates that they must be like a Pelagiris-creature, like a kyree. The fishermen say that Alain will be telling this story forever. The Wave-Wise have rescued fishermen before, but never like this one.
Alain says, "I pray that no one ever meets the sort of things I did last night."
Publication history[]
- Masters of Fantasy, edited by Bill Fawcett and Brian Thomsen, 2004 (non-commission link)
- Swords Against Darkness, edited by Paula Guran, 2017 (non-commission link)
- Grandmaster, 2025
The links do not give us a commission, they are included for convenience only.
Again, multiple sources for Masters of Fantasy can be found here.
Most significantly, the publisher has made the DRM-free story available on their official website (baen.com) at "Out of the Deep", A Valdemar Story.
For a more detailed history see the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) entry, Out of the Deep.
See also[]
Notes[]
- ↑ There is a slight fudging of the Collegium timeline. Due to his relationship to Elspeth, King Chalinel had to have predated King Kiril, who founded the Heralds' Collegium and the practice of graduating internships. However, the first The Collegium Chronicles book, Foundation, was published in 2008, four years after this story. A fan theory is that Kiril is one of Chalinel's unnamed children.