by Don P. Bick
Chapter 42
A cold rain fell as the tired group of adventurers finally reached the warehouse and dock area across from Serpent Isle. The last few days of travel had been difficult. The terrain in many places was steep and heavily overgrown. Each night they would make camp and go immediately to bed out of pure exhaustion. Fortunately, they had no other major problems since encountering the crab a couple of weeks earlier, other than two minor animal incidents. Those animals were small and easily eliminated before they could reach anyone and cause any injury. They had seen several other animals in the distance but they had posed no threat to the group.
Twice they saw large crabs moving slowly along the beach, looking for food on the rocks far below them. One day they even debated on whether or not it would be worthwhile to go hunt one for dinner. Even though they would have liked to have had another crab dinner they decided not to take any chances with their safety, and so left them well enough alone. They also thought it lucky Eagle didn't see them.
The warehouse and docks were empty except for a handful of workmen. It was their job to watch the area and coordinate the outgoing shipments. They also unloaded and stored the weapons brought over from Serpent Isle, until they were picked up by the overland caravans. The caravans would bring in orders for the Vulcan then return carrying the weapons. Their overland route was quite a bit inland from the route the seven took on the way to Serpent Isle. They thought it best not to take any chances encountering trading caravans along the way, since there would be no way of knowing who among them, if any, might pose a threat.
Even the workmen on the docks and those in the warehouses never saw the Vulcan, except occasionally from a distance, and then always at night. They would dock a ship of weapons then return to the Isle by way of a smaller ship. The fully laden ship would be unloaded and reloaded from the warehouses during the following day. The next night the smaller ship would return to pick up the larger ship and take it back to the Isle.
The Isle was clearly visible out in the water, not more than a couple of hours travel by ship.
The worker that Camran talked to didn't know when the Vulcan would be returning with another ship. He said it could be that night or a week from that night. No, he said, there was no way to summon them, either; you just have to wait for them to show up. He said they weren’t expecting any incoming shipments for a few days yet so most likely the Vulcan won't be returning for the next couple of nights. As Camran continued talking with the man, he discovered that he had been working on the docks for some time and had never seen a Vulcan up close. He had only glimpsed one in all that time, and that was from a distance, and it had been after dark. The Vulcan would always leave instructions with the ship when they brought it over. Camran asked if there were any rooms where they could spend the time waiting. The worker said no, no one ever stayed there. The overland caravans came in and the carriers were reloaded and left immediately. And they would always choose to camp a few miles down the road instead of near the wharf.
He, as well as the other workers, kept eyeing the large bird that was obviously with them, although Eagle stayed in the air most of the time. As he left the worker, Camran asked him to pass the word that the bird was not to be harmed. The worker had no doubt that Camran and the others, especially the Saturnian with the golden staff, meant business.
The seven companions had no choice but to camp and wait. Camran had hoped to get some sort of a room so they could get out of the rain. It had rained for the last two days and they were all tired of being soaking wet. Not too far away from the docks the seven set up camp, spending some extra time making sure they had enough area covered above them to stay dry and warm. As they went about their business, the workers stared at the group, especially the bird that found a perch nearby. Camran didn't know whether or not they had ever seen a bird that large before. He didn't want to tell them Eagle was only a baby.
Eagle had learned to fly fairly well by the time they reached the Vulcan docks. In fact, as they traveled, he spent a lot of his time in the air circling or waiting a short ways up ahead for them to arrive, then he would fly farther on. That may have been one reason they had few problems with animals. Eagle, undoubtedly had been scaring some of them off. Although he spent a good deal of time in the air, he never ventured very far from Druc. At times he would fly back and circle to make sure everything was all right.
The days were long as they waited for some sign of the Vulcan. After three days of waiting there still was no sign the Vulcan were going to bring a ship over any time soon. Camran and the rest of the group talked about ways they might be able to go out to the Isle by themselves, but decided against it for the time being. If they had to wait much longer then they would have to try something else. They really hated to lose the time they were wasting just sitting around.
On the fourth night the Vulcan finally brought a ship across to the docks, for all the good it did them. As the dock workers tied up the ship, with the lines thrown to them by no one they could see, the smaller ship began, almost immediately, to head back to the Isle. It had followed the larger one and somehow transferred the crew off the stern onto the smaller vessel without being seen.
Even though they missed the Vulcan that night, they were due to come back the following night to retrieve the ship. It was not allowed for anyone to be near the ship when the Vulcan returned. More than one person had meant their fate by trying to see the Vulcan up close, or to talk to them by waiting on the ship or near it when the smaller vessel returned. It was said the Vulcan possessed great powers, the likes of which had never been seen by any other race in the world. Foolish was the man who remained on or near the ship for the Vulcan to discover.
This was Druc's mission, so before the day turned into evening he gathered everyone together and told them he was going to wait on the ship by himself. There was no other way that he could figure to approach them that made any sense. He said he wasn't at all concerned for his safety. He had no doubt he would be okay, the staff would be his ticket to the Isle. There was some disagreement by the others, even though they knew it was the only way. They hadn't forgotten the last time they waited for Druc to reappear after passing through the rock door.
Druc went to the person in charge of the docks and told him he was going to wait on the ship for the Vulcan that night. The man started to protest, saw Eagle flying a short ways above and the golden staff in the Saturnian's grasp, and thought better of it. "It's your funeral," said the man, and walked away.
Druc said farewell to his friends, they all gave him a hug. He then climbed up onto the ship to await the arrival of the smaller one. It wasn't quite dark, so he had some hours to wait before he thought they would show. Eagle alternated sitting on the masts, on the railing, or flying around above the ship.
Some hours after dark Druc heard, rather than saw, the smaller ship coming into the docks. It had begun to rain again and the night was darker because of it. Eagle nervously paced up and down the railing not too far from him. He had never flown at night that Druc had ever seen.
Not too long after he first heard the sounds of the smaller ship it pulled astern of the larger one. Druc's heart beat fast as he waited for a rare glimpse of the Vulcan when they came aboard. Eagle was beside himself, squawking and pacing along the railing.
Druc's mouth dropped open as he watched the first hooded figure come over the railing. He hadn't climbed anything; he just floated up and over the rail in some form of levitation. He could make out nothing of the dark cloaked figure. It was too dark and rainy.
The last thing Druc saw was a blue fire ball, about a foot in diameter, flying toward him.