Dragon Choir (13 page)

The remaining
sailors stood at around fifteen men. They were backed against the
bulwark without any officer to rally them. Not that an officer
would have offered a great advantage to the cornered men; the crew
were hungry for the fight, whilst the sailors were just trying to
stay alive.

Delik yelled
out to the remaining sailors. “Surrender you bastards! I can’t
control this crew otherwise.”

Some of the
crew were out for blood, despite Delik’s offer of mercy on
surrender. Most didn’t want to risk their own lives by going easy
on the sailors and hoping they would drop their weapons. Delik
couldn’t hold them back from the passions of battle once they took
hold.

The sailor
fighting Elrin dropped his blade and held his hands forward,
begging for mercy. A mutineer came up from behind, raising his
sword for the kill, but Elrin knocked it out of his hands before it
could come down on the sailor. The mutineer wheeled around and
grabbed Elrin, breaking on berserk, wide-eyed and red with rage.
Elrin took a fist full of the madman’s hair and brought the hilt of
his sword crashing into his crazed skull, knocking him out. The
surrendering Jandan fell to his knees, desperate for the melee to
be over.

Delik kept an
eye on Elrin. He handled himself well enough when the odds were
against the enemy, but if the tide of battle were against them,
he’d be blood on the deck. Delik pressed on at the front of the
fray, Elrin close beside him, disarming vigilante crew intent on
killing Jandans who surrendered. The lad might just fit in with his
freedom fighters—if he survived long enough.

In the last
moments, pressed by mutineers on all sides, there was no
opportunity for surrender. The final marine standing was disarmed,
only to be struck down from behind by a raging mutineer. Cold
blooded murder was all too often cloaked in the heat of battle.
Delik’s blood boiled in a fight like any other; many of the
uniforms deserved everything they got, but he wished there was more
honour in it. The disparity of justice afforded his people fuelled
a furnace of enmity he wrestled to dampen.

He bottled it
down against every raw impulse to paint their blue uniforms red.
“Take their weapons and round them up on the main deck. Get the
rest of the ship secure and separate the officers.”

Delik had expected more resistance; the fight could have been
more difficult. He took a breath to survey the decks, tallying the
number of blue jackets being rounded up. There were less than he
reckoned on and while the rebels had control of
Juniper
, the true battle had not yet
begun.

As planned,
his dockers had joined with a unit of rebel elite and pressed in,
supporting the mutineers and containing the fight on the frigate.
Though they came to battle in motley armour, these men and women
fought with formidable precision and discipline. They held the pier
and guarded each door and stair on the deck. There was no way past
them to escape; now Delik knew they stood a real chance for what
was to come. The warrior in charge of the force ran over to update
Delik.

The drakkin
was a welcome sight.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Signal

Elrin felt soft and
vulnerable standing before the burly drakkin warrior. The reptilian
was covered in brown and bronze scales with a sinister blade
curving from hip level, slung low and dangerous. The weapon was
less a sword and more a monstrous cleaver, keen and ready to
butcher anyone fool enough to make a challenge. A turtle shell
pauldron and a pair of cowry-studded vambraces were the only armour
the battle hardy brute required. While displaying a hulking chest
with naked pride, the drakkin was civilised enough to keep his
dignity covered with loose fitting hemp trousers that also made
room for a muscular tail, and were held up by a wide utility belt
crowded with pouches and flasks.

Delik showed
no apprehension whatsoever, beaming up at the reptilian and
grasping his clawed hand in a vigorous shake. “Bloody glad you
could make it, Tikis.”

“
This job is not done yet. There are many dogs still hiding in
the officers’ quarters and great cabin because Min–“ Tikis was
interrupted by Minni who snuck up behind the drakkin and slapped
his tail. Tikis jumped a little and swung his tail away; the
momentum snapped his body around to face her.

“
Locked them in.” Minni chuckled. “Beat you to it Tik
Tik.”

Tikis leant
over, putting his face level with Minni’s. “Tikis wants this job
done right, Min Min.” He chuckled; a sound mixed between a frog
croaking and a cricket chirping. “These ones are locked in, yes.
They say they have ten boltmen aiming at this door. This one and us
cannot advance without deaths.”

“
Let them wait Tikky Bik. There’s no rush.” Minni went to wrap
her arm up in his, but Tikis swatted her away.

“
Is rush. Very rush. Lookout man on headland sees sails
advance.”

“
What! Already?” Delik called down to a thickset man on the
main deck. “Coalman! Get me an eyeglass up here.”

Tikis pulled
his top lip back exposing hundreds of short sharp teeth to Minni.
“These dogs are barking. We and us have not replied. This headland
beacon repeats the signal. We and us saw this, yet do not know
these flashing light words.”

Minni poked
her tongue out at Tikis. “You don’t have to go on about it, Delik
doesn’t play favourites.”

“
Where’s the codebook, Minni?” Delik let the one-upmanship
slide. He took the spyglass from Coalman’s runner and put it to his
eye, sweeping it over Rum Hill and the headland protecting the
harbour. “We’ve got to reply or we’ll be under fire once those
galleons round the headland.”

“
It’s in the great cabin,” Minni crossed her arms.

“
What?” Delik collapsed the spyglass with a curt
snap.

“
I would have had it, if you’d let me blow a hole in the ship
like we planned. Remember the plan, Delik? I would have been in and
out before she sunk. Seems to me your gripe with Pelegrin got in
the way.”

Delik ignored
her dig. “What about the ship’s signal seal?”

“
The first mate didn’t want to let it go, so I had to persuade
it from him.” Minni pulled forth an elaborately sculpted ivory
dragon carved from a very large tooth. It perched on a brass tube
with a crystal seal mounted on the base. “The blood wiped right
off, so it should still work fine.”

Elrin had
never seen such a magnificent piece. “Is it from a real dragon?” He
reached out to touch it.

“
Whoa there!” Minni pulled it back and cradled it close to her
bosom. “You should ask a lady before you reach for her
treasures.”

Elrin
blushed.

Minni laughed
and Tikis swivelled his head around focussing on Elrin with a
movement so swift and smooth it was unsettling. Tikis flicked his
tongue out, tasting the air. Elrin was nothing but drakkin food, a
soft snack after a quick battle.

“
Is this one known?” A clear membrane blinked horizontally
across each of his staring eyes. He flicked out his tongue again.
“He tastes like—”

Delik cut in
with a shrill whistle. “Come on you two! Quit it. We have to get
those codes.”

Elrin was glad
for Delik’s intervention; Tikis put him on edge. This drakkin
warrior had a palpable intensity, a primal, brutal certainty. All
of which gave Elrin an idea.

“
I know how to get us through the door,” Elrin blurted, his
thoughts rushed forward. It would be easy.

“
How?” asked Delik.

“
Release the ogre.”

“
This one jokes,” Tikis bared his teeth and aspirated a choked
confusion somewhat resembling laughter.

Elrin readied
himself for some jibe from Minni. What was he thinking, saying that
out loud? The ogre would raise chaos if he went berserk on
deck.

“
What then, lad?” Delik asked, in sincere
consideration.

“
Return his honour,” said Elrin, surprised to be taken
seriously. “Ask him to fight the Jandans who enslaved
him.”

Tikis erupted
in more fits of strange laughter. “This Ogre? Honour?”

“
Honour or not,” said Minni. “The beast would be a perfect
shield.”

Elrin was
shocked. “He isn’t yours to sacrifice. I thought you were here to
free slaves. Give him his own shield, why have him sent to
slaughter? It’s senseless!”

“
Of course, that’s what I meant.” Minni shook her head with a
grin. “Listen to this one boys; half a day with the rebels and he’s
a zealot.”

He’d been
baited. Damn this woman, she was impossible!

Delik called
to several of his dockers. “Bring the ogre to us and make it
quick.” The men hesitated a moment before heading down through the
hatchway below decks as instructed.

Tikis quit
laughing once he saw Delik was serious and instructed his men to
unhinge the heavy door below the forecastle for a makeshift shield.
Some of the crew protested that their quarters would be open to the
weather, but once Tikis made his presence felt, their complaints
evaporated.

The deck vibrated as the ogre came up from below, his immense
form rising through the hatch, shackles rattling with each
shambling step. He kept his eyes to the deck as he was brought
before them. Elrin wondered if the ogre noticed his captors were no
longer in charge of
Juniper
.

“
Ogre, do you want your freedom?” asked Delik

The ogre
shifted his weight, but did not raise his head.

“
Do you speak?”

The ogre stood
still.

“
He’s too scared to speak. Or, maybe he doesn’t speak Jandan.”
Elrin walked forward, but Delik held him back, out of range of the
ogre’s muscular arms.

Elrin called
to the ogre. “Speak to us, you are free.”

“
Free is not free.” The ogre’s voice was like a storm
rumbling, a deep rolling power on the horizon. His lightning blue
eyes struck Elrin.

Elrin stood
tall, though inside he was a lone leaf clinging to a limb in a
storm. “We need your help to break down that door and subdue the
Jandans.”

The ogre swung
his arms apart with a low grunt. The chains between his iron cuffs
snapped taught then broke under the sudden strain. He flexed his
huge arms and rotated his shoulders.

Everyone
backed away, hands on their weapons, except Elrin. He stood in
shock with a leaden stomach, watching the ogre’s hands open and
close. He was about to be crushed by keg-sized fists. The young man
drew his arm up in a pathetic attempt to block the inevitable
blow.

It didn’t
happen. Elrin dropped his arm, feeling both relieved and
foolish.

With a
controlled thud, the ogre sat down and grasped the chains on his
leg irons. He rolled onto his back and heaved with his arms and
pushed with his legs. Thickset muscles bulged and after much
grunting and straining, a link in the chain gave way.

The ogre
slowly knelt before Elrin and the others. “Hurn Ga Kogh will help
now.”

Elrin didn’t
know what to say. Why hadn’t the Ogre broken his bonds earlier?

Delik called
to Tikis. “Right then, give the big fella that shield and let’s get
these bone baggers out of bed.”

Tikis assisted
a burly docker to lift the shield made from the door and carried it
to the ogre. The ogre took it with ease; sliding his arm through
the rope straps and gripping the improvised handle.

“
There’s a bunch of Jandans with crossbows in there, Hurn was
it? ... Can I call you Hurn?”

The ogre
towered over Delik in stony silence.

“
Anyway, give that door a tap and keep behind your shield.
Just stay put.”

“
Tikis, get that foul brew ready.” Delik called to the rest of
the rebels. “Spread out, everyone. Let’s take these bastards
alive!”

Hurn lifted
his foot and crashed it into the door. It shuddered, but held. The
second kick knocked the door off its hinges with a splintering
crash into the cabin. The ogre ducked behind his makeshift shield
as a volley of bolts took flight.

The wall of
missiles bit into the shield, and fanned out across the deck. Tikis
took cover against the bulkhead beside the open door and uncorked
two terracotta flasks, lobbing them into the cabin where they
smashed apart, spilling vile smoke. The men trapped inside yelled
and spluttered, beginning to choke on the gas. The fumes leached
out onto the deck, thick with the smell of putrefied eggs.

Another volley
of bolts thudded into Hurn’s shield. He grimaced and gave a snort,
but held his position. At such close range the bolts were just
breaking through, the sharp tips protruding like the spines of an
angry manticore. After the second volley, Minni dashed into the
room with her face covered in a strange black mask. Tikis retreated
away from the door and signalled Hurn to do the same.

Hurn backed
away while officers came tumbling out. One brave Jandan ran out
holding a handkerchief to his face, sword at the ready. Once he
took stock of Hurn looming over him and the rebels that surrounded
him, he threw his sabre to the deck and surrendered. Most staggered
or crawled out, retching as they went, gasping for untainted air.
They were easy to disarm and restrain.