Dragon Choir (31 page)

Elrin pushed
and nudged ahead. It was slow going in the press. He stood taller
than most of the crowd, his raven hair became a beacon in a sea of
blonde and brown, marking him the easier quarry. Elrin barged his
way behind some fruit stalls and tripped into the fish market.

The fish might
have been fresh that morning, but the sunny day had ripened them
enough to make him gag. He pushed on, trying to escape the stench
and the man who followed him. Skirting around the fishmongers, he
leapt across a rowboat onto a platform leading away from the
markets. The man was not behind him any longer, so Elrin pressed on
in a different direction, he didn’t want to be flushed into an
ambush.

After so many
different turns, Elrin was out of breath and lost. He ran up a
gangplank and across a wide deck broken by large hatches. The ship
had a lonely mast rising above a small timber cabin. The door was
painted black with golden wings. Elrin ran in and shut the door,
leaning against it to catch his breath. It was dark inside, but his
dagger emanated a soft glow, enough to discern a stairwell leading
down.

Elrin took the
stairs to the bottom. A dry hinge squealed and light flooded in. A
shadow moved above and Elrin ran from the stairwell, his footfalls
echoing through a dim corridor. The door shut and all was dark
again. The dagger lost its glow. Elrin held it in front of his face
and tried to will it to life. If anything, the blade appeared to be
blacker than the darkness around it.

With slow
steps and his hands waving in front of him, Elrin shuffled forward,
kicking into some crates and stumbling over a broom. Blood pounded
in his ears, covering any sound his pursuer might have made.

The walls of
the corridor opened out into a larger chamber. The air was thick
with rotting straw and dung. His eyes and nose watered in the stale
air. High above was a sliver of light. It had to be the hatches he
saw on the deck. He searched for something that would lead him up
to the light, arms swinging in wide arcs, desperate to bump into a
stairway and not his quiet pursuer.

Elrin’s hands
closed around a wooden rung. He scrambled up a ladder and onto a
landing, probing around for a door handle, anything to get him out
of the festering dark stench. He found a metal bar and twisted.
Nothing happened. He pushed and jiggled it, but it didn’t yield. He
pulled and it gave a little; the scrape of light grew. He heaved
down with all his weight and light exploded through the hatch. The
young Calimskan shielded his eyes from the sudden glare. It bit
down, splitting the darkness to reveal the pursuer, squinting
below.

Elrin was
trapped up on the platform. “What do you want?”

The man kept
walking forward. “You must follow me, I have a message from Jaspa.
Come down the ladder.”

Elrin edged
over the railing getting ready to jump. If he jumped and caught
onto the open hatch, he could pull himself out. Delik told him to
run, so that’s what he would do.

“
Don’t jump! You wont make it. I’ll just put the message down
here.” He reached into his coat and removed a scroll. “See, I’m
walking away.”

Something
moved in the shadows behind the man as he edged backwards. Minni
must have followed them. She would know if the messenger was truly
one of Jaspa’s allies. Elrin climbed down the ladder. She might
need some help restraining him if he turned out foul. The shadow
struck out and the man was knocked down and dragged into a dark
corner, yelling for help.

Elrin walked
to the scroll and picked it up. “Minni, I know you’re there. Don’t
hurt him, he might be one of Jaspa’s men.”

A wet
crunching sound came from the dark corner, something was feeding,
something ravenous. The shadows moved again and Elrin caught a
glimpse of fur and feathers, a monstrous beast. Its hooked beak
tore strips off the man’s body then it lifted its eagle head from
feeding to inspect Elrin. Intelligent eyes narrowed and it shrieked
with such furious intensity, the young man involuntarily screamed
back and bolted for the stairwell.

The beast
shrieked so loud, Elrin couldn’t judge if it had moved or was tight
on his heels. He didn’t want to check. The Calimskan put everything
he had into his legs and pelted up the stairwell and out of the
cabin. He doubled over, hands on his knees, lungs heaving. The
shriek sounded again, blaring out of the open hatch. Elrin raced
over and pulled the lever beside the hatch. The lid slammed shut
leaving the monster shrieking alone with its unfortunate meal.
Elrin ran from the ship, backtracking through Kobbton with anxious
looks behind him, worried the beast may break out and take to the
sky to hunt him down.

Delik was
waiting for him at the head of the pier where the guesthouse was
moored. “What happened to you? You’re bone white.”

“
The man chased me,” Elrin gasped for air. “I thought I’d lost
him after the fish mongers ... but he followed me into this ship
... It was too dark ... I got lost and I—”

“
Easy, lad! Take a touch to breathe. Let’s head back, I’ll put
on a brew.”

Elrin
recounted his story inside the safety of the guesthouse as soon as
his lungs allowed.

Delik slapped
the table. “So Kobb’s wrangled himself a griffon. What’s he up
to?”

“
It was terrifying, that messenger mustn’t have
known.”

“
Let’s hope his death was worth the message. Bloody fool could
have signalled us some other way.”

“
Here,” Elrin passed the rolled up paper.

Delik spread
it flat on the table. Neat black symbols were interspersed with
Jandan script.

“
What kind of writing is that?” asked Elrin.

“
The kind that confuses Jandans,” said Delik, running his
finger up and down, zigzagging across the page. His lips moved in
silent recognition of the coded text, scrutinising the message
hidden within.

Elrin leaned
over to get a better look at the code himself. It was a jumble
without any form he recognised. The cipher to unlock the meaning
must be complicated, yet Delik read it without any reference to
translate it.

“
Well? What does it say?”

Delik slumped
back in his chair and blew a puff of air, staring at the
message.

“
Delik, are you ok?”

“
Hmm? Oh, I’m fine, just thinking. We’ll have to work
fast.”

“
What did the letter say?”

“
My father says we must breakout tonight after
dinner.”

“
Can we do that? Where is he anyway?”

“
Kobb is keeping him safe. Pa has a plan, but we should have
one ready too. You stay here and wait for the others. Tell them
what we know. I’ll be back before sunset.”

“
Where are you going?”

“
I’m going to see what the locals have to say about Kobb.
Don’t worry, I’m not planning on riding away on your
griffon.”

Elrin waited
for the others to return, stewing over the messenger’s death. A
life wasted because he fled. Paranoia had spooked him; he had to
think things though. He had his dagger and next time he would stand
his ground.

Minni would be
out there, shadowing Amber and Hurn, keeping them out of danger. If
Minni had shadowed him instead, Jaspa’s man wouldn’t have been torn
apart. She would have intercepted the messenger before it got to
that. Why hadn’t she been paired with him?

Jealousy bit
him and he regretted it. Amber needed Minni looking out for her.
She was powerful, but still a child and Elrin was a man grown. He
was responsible for his own fate and had to focus on the quest to
see the bigger picture. Amber was the key to working the Dragon
Choir and without her he had no chance to help his father.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Family
Tiff

Fjhor and six
of his tattooed warriors escorted the companions to Kobb’s latest
extravagance. The festivities spread out through the town,
radiating from a hulking ship in the heart of Kobbton. Glowing
paper lanterns, vigorous music and well-lubricated cheer relieved
the fading day. Boards and trestles were draped in bright silks and
laden with a feast of fresh seafood and colourful fruits. Shells of
all descriptions decorated the tables, enormous shells Elrin had
never thought possible, some with spikes and others, pearlised
rainbows. Ribbons and strings of pointed teeth hung overhead, the
first stars of night shined high above, twinkling with the rising
mood of the party.

Kobb waved to
the band up on the poop deck and they bounced into a rickety jam as
colourful as Kobb’s outfit. The music ended almost as soon as it
began, rounding off with a flourish of percussion.

Kobb spun away
from the band and called out to all his guests. “Welcome your
heroes!”

A rowdy cheer
went up, tankards were raised and drained. Freed slaves, desperate
to express their gratitude mobbed the companions. Fjhor and his
warriors stood back, they made no move to hold back the crowd
pressing in. Elrin was overwhelmed by the intensity of emotion. Men
and women wept with joy and thanks, placing shells and tokens of
luck into their hands, tying plaited string bracelets over their
arms and embracing their rescuers.

Elrin blushed
with the undue affections of several different women laying kisses
upon his cheeks. This is what his father must have experienced when
he rescued villages from dragons and monsters. Elrin never had many
friends; without a name for himself he had no guild, no fellowship.
It was good to be a hero. He felt strong, worthy, ready to march
back to Calimska and claim justice.

Kobb was
cunning. How easy it was for him to win over the freed slaves with
his stolen bounty and welcoming act, gifting the rebel leaders to
them as idols of hope. Elrin thought himself a fool, luxuriating in
his swelling vanity. Minni and Delik had Kobb pegged. He was
manipulating them with fanfare, hoping to make them more pliable by
tethering them with guilt or pride. Elrin was ashamed for feeling
both.

The companions
accepted the welcome with grace, though Amber shrunk behind Hurn,
wary of all the attention. The freed slaves resisted pressing
around Hurn until a young boy ran out of the crowd and hugged the
ogre’s tree trunk of a leg, looking up at the towering hulk with
excited eyes.

“
Can I have a ride?” he asked.

Hurn knelt
down for the boy. He scrambled up Hurn’s sturdy arms and straddled
his neck. Hurn rose to his feet and the boy hollered with joy,
seeing the world on high like never before.

The boy’s
mother edged to the front of the crowd, her face a mix of terror
and meek resignation. Hurn knelt in front of her and plucked the
boy from his shoulders, placing him in his mother’s arms. The child
reached out and touched Hurn’s nose and laughed, showing his mother
and urging her to do the same. Instead she leant forward and placed
a kiss upon the ogre’s scarred cheek.

Kobb called
out to disperse the crowd. “It is time to let our heroes make merry
with me at our table of honour.” He sat himself down at the head,
with his back to the band and his eyes on the festivities. Fjhor
and his warriors took the companions to their seats, this time Hurn
had a cushion placed for him and Tikis had a strong stool to hold
his weight and allow room for his tail.

Fjhor’s men
left through the cabin door behind Kobb. They appeared again a
moment later, an extra pair of legs walking with them, two bare
feet standing out against the warriors’ sandals. They escorted an
older, bearded shankakin to his seat beside Kobb and opposite
Delik. The man was the image of Delik—he could only be Jaspa
Scrambletoe.

A tense quiet
stretched like a drum skin over the celebration. The silence
deepened in awe of who had come before them. A spark of whispers
coaxed the crowd into a fire of shouts and cheers. The crowd
chanted, “Scrambletoe! Scrambletoe! Scrambletoe!”

The freed
slaves approached Jaspa, hoping for an audience, reaching out to
touch the symbol of the rebellion in the flesh. Fjhor’s men formed
a tight circle around Jaspa pushing them back.

Kobb stood
upon his chair and shouted out into the crowd. “Let the feast
begin!” He waved his arms to the band and they took up a bouncing
tune.

Jaspa did his
best to greet all who pressed against the wall of guards, though
after their time in the Jandan prison holds, good food and drink
was temptation enough to lure them away. The crowd dispersed to the
lower feasting tables with renewed conversation and happy music
building their positive mood.

Elrin waited
for Delik and Jaspa to embrace, but they didn’t. Jaspa took his
seat beside Kobb and Minni opposite Delik. They appraised each
other, the tension between father and son souring the air of
celebration.

Delik broke
the silence. “Hail Father, good fortune has found you here. You’ve
become quite an idol again.” His voice cracked with emotion, though
his face could have been cut from slate for all the feeling it
showed.

“
I believe the good fortune is with these people. If it
weren’t for you, they’d be dead or worse. You did well, son,” said
Jaspa, nodding to Tikis and touching Minni’s shoulder, sharing a
tender smile. “You all did well. I thank you.”

Minni motioned
to Fjhor’s warriors. “Why all the guards? Have you been
attacked?”

Kobb
interrupted them, pouring wine into Jaspa’s cup, then Delik’s and
his own. He motioned to the table servers to fill the others then
stood upon his chair again, raising his drink high. “To
Freedom!”