Dragon Choir (16 page)

Elrin hailed the captain of
Templestone
, which had docked
closest to
Juniper
. “About time. He’s close to death! So’s the damn
ship!”

“
Who are you?” The captain was perplexed. He paused scanning
the decks for someone. “Is Trentin out of action too?”

This was a
test; the captain was trying to catch him out. He only had half a
chance of guessing. If he gave the wrong answer it would send the
whole plan to the bottom of the bay.

“
What?” Elrin feigned being unable to hear the man.

“
Trentin? Is he injured? He’s engaged to my sister, you
see.”

“
Sorry! I didn’t get the last bit. Trentin what?”

The captain frowned and reassessed
Juniper
, squinting up at leaning
masts. High in the nest the osprey landed on the spotter’s arm with
a cheerful call.

“
What is going on? That bird is not regulation.”

“
Ah, well, of course it isn’t. It’s a gift.”

“
A gift? For who?”

“
The High Priest if you have to know. Commodore Pelegrin
wishes to keep it a surprise.”

The captain
crossed his arms. “That doesn’t sound like him.”

Elrin was
stuck. “He has an ivory cage ready too. Very generous is our
Commodore.” Nathis help him out of this one.

A gust of wind
picked up, lifting Elrin’s hat off. He grabbed for it and pulled it
down over his black hair, but it was too late, the ruse was
over.

“
You’re a damned shiner! What ha—” An arrow shot through the
air and lodged in the captain’s neck. He keeled overboard and into
the sea, grasping at the shaft, choking on his own
blood.

There was no time for Elrin to contemplate shock. As soon as
the captain’s body hit the sea, a volley of hooks launched from the
water and lodged on the rails of
Templestone
and
Fearless
. Drakkin hauled out of the
water and overpowered the marines patrolling the decks.

A platoon of
shankakin sprung from below the southern docks. They emerged from
the water brandishing blades and ran up the gangplanks to assist
the drakkin. The embedded crew on both galleons took their chance
as Elrin had guessed, pitching in with the shankakin and drakkin,
using makeshift weapons to subdue the marines and officers that
remained to guard each ship.

Each rebel
platoon moved with silent death. They didn’t scream battle cries
and declare their intent. They moved fast and spoke with their
blades, disarming and subduing those they could and ending the
lives of those that hindered the assault.

The healers’ elite guard had already boarded
Juniper
and were
marching towards the officers’ quarters when they noticed the
attack on the
Templestone
and
Fearless
. They went for their swords
too late; rebel blades were at their necks, leaving the healers
prone to attack.

The poacher
priests received special treatment, for the rebels must have
dreaded what magic they might wield. Six crossbowmen covered them
while they were bound, gagged and forced to their knees. The men
binding them moved with haste born of fear, backing away as soon as
their task was complete. None wanted to be sapped to a husk by
sacrificial magic.

The bucket brigade had already descended through the hatch,
headed for the bilge. They would have been weaving through the
bowels of the ship before they realised
Juniper
’s crew were the enemy. Just
as Delik had said, the prisons would be brimming with Jandans. The
tide had turned for Hurn; he’d be enjoying his time as
jailor.

While Elrin could only guess what was happening to the bucket
brigade below decks, his position at the wheel on the quarterdeck
gave him a perfect survey of the wider battle from all directions.
Rebels attacked with swift cohesion, working so efficiently
together they must have rehearsed. Each fighter knew their task and
if one fell another was there to follow through. Drakkin warriors
broke the Jandan resistance with blunt force while shankakin
fighters overwhelmed them with furious speed. The mutinous crew
of
Templestone
and
Fearless
were not as precise or battle hardy as the rebels, but they
made up for it with enthusiasm.

The crew’s
treatment under the Jandan authority must have been poor. They
issued forth with conspicuous delight, serving revenge on
particular officers and marines. It made Elrin uneasy that men
could justify all kinds of cruelty. Revenge was not a good reason,
though he doubted any reason would end up being good enough.

The captain of
Fearless
suffered a painful death when the crew swarmed
him, pummelling his body with boot and fist. The brutality ceased
only when Tikis boarded the ship and separated the bloodthirsty
crew, setting them to prepare the sails. If Tikis had not
intervened the captain would have been nothing but a bag of meat.
The crew would have kept on striking the dead body until they were
spent.

Templestone
and
Fearless
cast off while the muffled
racket from the battle still issued from inside the ships. Each
crewman worked with a motivation they had lacked when they docked,
setting the ships to sea before the rebels had seized full
control.

Without blood smearing
Juniper
’s deck, the Jandan rescue
contingent had been put down. The ship was secure and the crew
looked to their new command.

“
Bosun! Weigh Anchor!” Delik called from the quarterdeck.
“Stabilise this ship and set sail!”

Elrin was
relieved when a crewman approached the wheel.

“
Old Selmet here will navigate,” said Delik. “You can release
the wheel from that death grip, lad.”

Elrin hadn’t
realised he was clasping the wheel as though it would fly away. He
let go and stepped aside for Selmet, a spry old sailor with a
weathered grimace and awkward squint. He tipped his threadbare cap
to Elrin and took the wheel.

On each deck, every spare hand set to shifting the cargo back
while
Juniper
eased away from the pier at an awkward angle.

The marines on
the docks were slow to realise the mutiny and theft of their
vessels. The officers in command had their attention set on
securing the docks from a threat on land. There was a harsh call to
about-face, which was countermanded, and an argument erupted
between two officers in the middle of the docks.

In the confusion, many of the marines hesitated to charge
their own ships. The line of command was in disarray and couldn’t
coordinate an effective response. The more disciplined squads
charged back across the docks. A score of marines reached the
southern pier just in time to get aboard
Templestone
and
Fearless
, but in short measure they
were repelled and flung overboard. The water darkened with the
blood of the dead; laden with armour they sunk into the
deep.

With the element of surprise spent, rebel archers on each
ship shot at the Jandans. Minni raced up to
Juniper
’s poop deck, leading a squad
of marksmen. They first targeted the officers on the docks, then
sent volleys of arrows and bolts into the marines. Minni commanded
her bow with a sure, fluid motion, picking through the Jandans with
such calm calculation, Elrin wondered if any of her shots
missed.

The marines broke ranks and retreated behind crate stacks,
carts and loading bays. The officers from the outer perimeter
rallied their men as it dawned on them they were losing their
ships. They organised a second charge of marines to attack with
crossbows, but released just two volleys before
Templestone
and
Fearless
had pulled out of
range.

Several drakkin dove over the side of
Templestone,
arrows protruding from
their scaled hide; with such large bodies they were an easy target
without cover. The rebels continued to shoot back, enjoying the
advantage of better range and elevation, the archers decimated the
Jandan crossbowmen, halving their number and painting the southern
pier red.

When
Juniper
approached an even keel, Delik gave the command to come about
and prepare the cannons.
Templestone
and
Fearless
kept behind the headland,
out of the view of the other two Jandan ships anchored at sea
beyond the bay.

Meanwhile, the
fringes of the swamp south of the docks came alive. Drakkin rose
from the mangroves and reeds, covered in mud, pelting the marines’
unprotected flank with stones. Jandans crumpled to the ground
clutching their heads and nursing their battered arms and legs; the
slings of the drakkin were primitive but lethal.

Again the
Jandan officers were taken by surprise as the perimeter they had
just held secure was assaulted by an organised enemy. Commands
lashed across the Jandan ranks, ordering the troops to protect the
southern flank against the drakkin. The marines were doing their
best to hold behind any kind of cover, sheltering against stacks of
crates and pressing around warehouse corners while the barrage of
stones stormed down without relief.

Elrin didn’t
know if the drakkin had been laying in wait at the edge of the
mangroves all this time, or if they had crept up on the Jandans in
camouflage; their scaled hide blended perfectly with the
surrounding environment. The drakkin slings were in range of the
whole dock area, lobbing missiles in high arcs that struck at those
stuck behind meagre barriers and those on the northern side of the
docks. The troops from the northern flank rallied to engage the
slingers from the south.

Marines
holding their position at the south of the docks broke cover and
charged the drakkin in the swamp. The charge failed, their thin
line of attack ripped apart by a volley of drakkin javelins. The
Jandan defence could not retaliate with ranged weapons of their own
because all of the surviving crossbowmen were pinned on the north
and south pier without officers to pull them in to counter the
drakkin’s constant onslaught.

The ragged
southern line broke just as the fresh marines pressed in from the
north. A second volley of javelins swept into the confusion and the
Jandan forces panicked, tripping over each other to get away. The
officers lost all control of their men.

Routed, the
marines knocked each other over and trampled the injured to get to
safety, all discipline lost, all morale to dust. Zealous officers
refused to call a retreat. They rallied a squad on the North Road,
cutting down any marines who attempted to flee to Rum Hill.

Marines dived into the bay, taking shelter under the northern
pier, desperate to escape the hail of stones. Others tried to fight
their way through the drakkin to escape. They were ill prepared to
fight in the swamp and were given no mercy; drakkin warriors
clubbed and chopped, ending those who faltered in the mire with
brutal effect. Elrin watched on from
Juniper
with a deep hollow in his
gut, as the ambush fell into a slaughter.

“
Wheel her around Selmet,” Delik’s eyes were grave, his mood
as grey as death.

“
What are you doing, Delik?” Elrin was uncomfortable in the
Jandan uniform. The blue overcoat was oppressive in the heat and
itched.

Delik pushed
past and leant over the quarterdeck rail, yelling to his man on the
main deck below. “Load the grape shot! Broadside the docks!”

“
No, you can’t. Delik what are you thinking? We’re away
there’s no—”

“
Are they your Jandan brothers?”

“
No. It’s just—”

“
Hot lead will sear through their damned souls.”

Juniper
lined up her starboard guns
with the docks. Elrin had a sick churning in his stomach from all
of the killing. They had taken measures to preserve the life of the
soldiers on the ships, but the battle on the docks was tainted;
thick with revenge and darkly disproportionate to the Jandan
threat.

“
Don’t do it, Delik,” Elrin pleaded. “You’re better than
Pelegrin.”

“
This plan is long in the making lad. The docks have to go and
those Jandans are just in the way.” Delik watched the battle with
empty eyes.

“
Then your plan is flawed,” Elrin removed the blue Jacket; it
was too oppressive in the heat.

“
Destroying the docks will weaken the Jandan hold on Rum Hill!
It’ll cut supply lines to North Eye.”

“
No, you’re wrong. It will strengthen the Jandan hold. When
trade grinds to a halt, the people of Rum Hill will turn against
you. They will lose their livelihoods. When the Jandans repair the
docks the rebels will have gained nothing.”

Delik’s cheeks
flushed, his eyes were damp.

“
They defiled her! They murdered her!” Delik slammed his fist
down on the rail. “They all deserve to die!”

“
If you fire the cannons, the two ships out to sea will hear.
You will lose any chance of surprise.”