Dragonhammer: Volume II (20 page)

I take another look at the creature as the crowd disperses and a word involuntarily escapes from my lips.

“Nasty.”

The Blackbrine

H
ardly any of us sleep the remainder of that night.  We may as well have marched out of the marshes but I didn’t want to take the chance.  I had concluded, because we had seen none the day before, that they are nocturnal, and we’d be much safer during the day.

For the sake of time, we bury the dead by dropping them in the water.  I hate to leave them in such a state, and in such a horrible place at that, but we have no time to do otherwise.

The horizon becomes blue in the distance.  Our pace quickens, though the marshes worsen, and soon we come to Gull’s Landing.

Seagulls are everywhere.  A titanic flat rock, much like Highrock Lookout, sticks out of the beach and partway into the ocean.  Jagged outcrops guard its edges and sides, but a small path leads directly up the back and safely down onto the landing.  The shore is rocky and gray, but the ocean water is clear and inviting.  Much to my delight, a ship lies docked a little ways from the landing.  Two small rowboats rock on the water, tied to one of the many boulders on the shoreline.  Captain Alastair steps down from his perch on a rock, where he had been gazing at the sea, and comes forward to meet me.

“He’s a little creepy,” Nathaniel mutters.

“Dragonhammer,” the captain says.  “I much prefer this meeting to the one we had only a fortnight ago.”

“As do I,” I reply, shaking his outstretched hand.  “I don’t like sneaking around everywhere I go.”

“Yes.”  He strokes his clean-shaven chin and says, “This is more men than I thought you would bring.”

“Is that a problem?”

He thinks for a moment and takes a breath.  “No,” he says.  “We’ll just have to squeeze.”

“Good,” I reply.  “I’m not about to turn any of them back.”

“But there is the matter of my payment,” he says.  “Do you have it?”

“You shall have it when we are in the city,” I reply.

“Then why should I take you to the port?” he asks with a sarcastically concerned expression on his face.

“Because then you won’t get it at all,” I reply coolly.  “And this will have been a waste of your time that you could have spent travelling to a more… wealthy city.”

Alastair grimaces.  “Don’t remind me.”

“We have a deal, then?”

“I believe we had a deal when you left me in Amnigaddah,” he replies coldly.  “Let’s get this done with.”  He signals his men on the rowboats and says to me, “I’ll ferry your men to my ship a few at a time.  The shore is too treacherous to get my ship in close enough.”

I watch as the rowboats go to the ship and back, to the ship and back.  Then I ride last, with Genevieve and Captain Alastair.  As we climb the ladder onto his ship, the captain announces, “Welcome to the Blackbrine.”

“Raise anchor!” he calls as he climbs the steps to the landing on top of the first cabin.  Several other nautical terms follow, but I do not understand them.  The crew follows whatever orders they are given, the sails billow outward, and we start to make way for Balgr’s Fall.

“There’s room for your soldiers below deck,” Alastair says, “in the cargo hold.  It’s not the most comfortable place, but it will suit your purposes.”

“How long should the trip take?” I ask, standing next to him while he ties the wheel into position.

“The wind is with us,” he answers.  “It should only take us two days if it keeps up.”

“Good,” I respond.  “That keeps us on schedule.”

“Indeed,” he says softly, looking upward at the drifting clouds.  “You’ll want to get your soldiers below deck.  It’s not likely Ollgorath will have spies looking over the water, but he might… and I’ll need them out of my mens’ way anyway.”

I nod and direct my soldiers to move below deck.  One of Alastair’s sailors opens the door to the cabin, and the soldiers tramp down the ensuing stairway into the lower levels.  I follow them down with Nathaniel, Percival, James, Aela, and Genevieve.

As the boat rocks I almost lose my footing on the stairs.  James trips and clings to the railing for his life.  “Whoa,” he says softly.

“Well this is cozy,” Percival declares sarcastically, nestling in between two barrels.  Ullrog grunts and joins him, dropping his pack on the wooden floor.  The boards creak and always the boat rocks.

“It’ll do…” Genevieve says quietly.

Crates and barrels sit everywhere, making the cargo hold extremely cramped.  Some soldiers make themselves comfortable on top of the larger barrels or stacks of crates.  I notice a pile of what appears to be fishing equipment, but the hooks are huge and placed on shafts like harpoons.  A mess of ropes and nets lies underneath them.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” James says, clutching his stomach and collapsing onto a crate, his back resting on his pack.

“Please don’t do it down here,” Nathaniel pleads.

“Agreed,” I add.

He moans.

“Top deck,” I urge.  “Just make sure to get it over the side.”  He nods and makes to go up, but I stop him, “Take off your armor.  We shouldn’t need it, and if any spies see it you’ll give us all away.”

He nods and shakily removes his armor, as all of the soldiers are doing.  I join them and breathe a sigh of relief when my sweat-soaked shirt contacts the humid air, though it provides little reprieve.  “I want some fresh air,” I explain to the others.  “It’s too dark and stuffy in here.”

Aela follows James and me up.  I walk behind James; about every two steps he threatens to topple in a random direction, and I’d rather I was there to catch him.  Even so, he manages to get up the stairs by clinging to the rail desperately.  Once on top in the fresh air, he immediately makes for the side.  Afraid he is going to plunge into the sea, I escort him there and he leans heavily on the short wooden rail.

“You okay?” I ask.

He nods, his face devoid of color, and his eyes roll a little; he says nothing.  “Alright,” I say, patting his shoulder.  “You need anything, let me know.”

“Okay,” he pants weakly, sweat lining his forehead.  As I walk away I hear him retch.  I stop and look back, but he waves for me to continue.

Aela’s eyes close as she inhales the salty air deeply, and they open again as she exhales through her nose.

“Have you seen the ocean before?” I ask.

“You mean aside from in Amnigaddah?” she asks.  “Yes.  Why do you ask?”

“Only wondering,” I answer.  “Did your hunting adventures bring you to the gulf?”

She blinks deliberately.  “No,” she says quietly.

“Then what brought you out here?” I ask.

“It wasn’t the gulf,” she says.  “It was…”  She falls silent and her eyes narrow.

“Where?” I urge.

“I was so small,” she replies.  “I do not remember.”

She looks up at me and I can tell that she is most definitely lying about something, but she has hidden it within truth.  There’s one detail she does not want me to know for one reason or another.

“Did it have something to do with the orphanage?” I ask.

She gazes out at the rolling ocean, leaning on the wooden railing.  “No,” she answers.  “It was before that.  I was with my parents.”

I nod solemnly.  “Do you remember anything about them?”

She shakes her head with equal solemnity, and says nothing.

I pause before asking, “What was so bad about the orphanage?”

She shakes her head.

Slightly irritated, I stare at the horizon and, despite the small mount of fervor inside, ask calmly, “Why all the secrecy?”

“I just don’t want to talk about it,” she states.

“Fair enough,” I respond.  “It seems like it would help to get something off your chest.  It’s not fun to carry something like that with you wherever you go.  Especially…”  I decide that it may not be best to continue, given that I might hurt her by bringing up her lost friend at the bridge.

She nods and looks down, but says nothing more.

James retches over the opposite side and I can’t help but feel sorry for him.

Ullrog paces impatiently in the bottom of the boat.  Sailors give him odd looks, but always leave him alone.  The last thing anyone wants to do is offend him.

Percival sits in his spot, fingering the amulet Serena had given him.  He stares at it like he can see the face of his lover within:  wistful, with an air of passion and serenity.

I sit next to him and he quickly stuffs the amulet back into his shirt.  “You miss her?” I ask.

He nods.  “I wish I could have a picture of her.”  When I don’t respond he continues, “You’re lucky to have her here with you.”

I raise an eyebrow and ask, “What do you mean?”

“You don’t see it,” he grins.

“See what?”

He shakes his head, still grinning.  “Apparently nothing,” he answers.

I shake my head.

“Is James still up top?” he asks.

“Yes.  He just stays up there now.  He’s getting better, but he’ll be the happiest of us all to finally get off of this ship.”

Percival chuckles.  “Wonder why he’s taking it so hard?”

“He’s always had a weak stomach.  Remember that time when he ate the bug and threw up before he even got it down?”

Percival laughs.  “That had to be seven or eight years ago.”

“That’s not really that long,” I comment.  “When you think about it.”

Percival shakes his head.  “Makes me wonder where we’ll all be in another seven years.”

“Not here,” I reply.  I notice Aela sitting close by, her eyes flicking between us as she eavesdrops on our conversation.  She looks away as soon as she detects my gaze, and continues to draw with her charcoal and pad of parchment.  I wonder how she can keep her hand so steady in spite of the rocking ship.

“Not here,” I repeat quietly.

It’s difficult to sleep aboard the ship.  The rocking is soothing, but at the same time seems a little unnatural.  James especially has a hard time, but it seems he has gotten over his seasickness.

“How close are we?” I ask Captain Alastair the next morning.

“Very,” he replies.  “The city will come into sight very soon.  I would suggest keeping below deck.  We can’t risk anything that would give you away.

“Do they conduct cargo searches?” I ask.

“Sometimes,” he says.  “I’ll see if I can convince them otherwise.    Many of you I can disguise as my own sailors; that’s the reason I kept a relatively small crew on this trip.  However, there are some of you that I cannot disguise.”

“Such as myself.”

“You are too recognizable.  As are the orc and the commander.  Most can hide in the bunkrooms.  Pretend to be asleep.  Let us hope I can keep them from searching for you.”

“How will you let us know when it is safe?”

“I will send someone down for you,” he responds.  “Don’t worry.  All will be well.”

All of us go below deck.  Any that can pass as sailors go to the bunkrooms to feign sleep, as they will look a little suspicious standing on the deck without knowing what the dingflies they are doing.

I hate the suspense.  Not knowing how fast time passes.  Not knowing when we reach the harbor.  Not knowing whether the guards will conduct a search, but knowing it could happen at any second.

There are no words spoken, but I hear everything else.  The creaking boards of the ship as it rocks in the waves.  The persistent squeak of some stowaway rat.  The lanterns swinging slowly on their perches.  The clomping footsteps of men on the floor above.

The heartbeat of a hundred men.

I almost jump out of my skin when Captain Alastair opens the door to the cargo hold and says, “We have made port.  The way is clear.”

“Did they try to search the ship?” I ask Alastair later in his quarters.  He sits at his desk, probably figuring something in a ledger of some sort or another.  I sit across from him with Genevieve.

“He said because the scheduled time was made at such short notice that there was to be a short search to simply ensure the accuracy of the shipment.”

“How’d you talk him out of it?”

“Told him I didn’t want him searching through my perfectly good merchandise and if he wanted I could go to someone who trusted me a little more.”

I smile.  “What did he say to that?”

“Nice doing business with you.”

I nod approvingly.  “Well done, Captain. You have kept your word.”

“Time for you to keep yours,” he interrupts, looking up.  “I’ve kept my side of the bargain.  Where’s my money?”

“With Jarl Hralfar,” Genevieve replies smoothly.

Alastair’s eyes narrow.  “You sneaky soldiers.  I knew this was a bad idea.”  He stands and slams his ledger shut.  Genevieve twitches the tiniest bit but I don’t budge.  “Tell me how I’ll get my money if you don’t win your battle!” he commands.  Then he shakes his head and sits back down roughly.

“We will win this battle,” I reply.  “And your best bet for getting your money is to stay here and help us win by any means necessary.”