The Forlorn Dagger Trilogy Box Set

by Jaxon Reed

  But in the spirit of solidarity, everyone overlooked their differences and enjoyed the meal of bread and roasted goat together.

  At dusk people began wandering back through the magical entry to Greystone Village. Greystone himself came out looking for her. His eyes lit up when he saw her.

  “I’d be delighted if you stayed tonight, Mita. I think you’ll find my manor a nice change from that drafty old castle. My ulterior motive is to see if I can find out more about that mind monster vexing you. I never had one, you know. Not powerful enough to warrant it, I suppose.”

  She thanked him and agreed to stay, and followed him along with the crowd into the village.

  -+-

  A small percentage of Mita’s consciousness remained present in her dream as she drifted off to sleep. Vaguely she became aware of purring.

  When she opened her dream-self eyes, she found herself face-to-face with Deedles. They were in a featureless room with white walls, ceiling and floor.

  A movement to her right caught her attention, and she looked over to see Greystone standing nearby.

  “Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just here to observe. Like Deedles.”

  He gave her a lopsided grin.

  “My dreams used to be private,” she grumbled. Then a series of images and people swam through the room, popping through one wall and exiting through another. Her conscious-self receded.

  Hours went by as the night progressed. She had long but soon forgotten conversations with Oldstone and her mother that took odd twists and turns without her conscious-self there to anchor things to reality.

  Oldstone kept trying to drag Greystone into the conversation, but the blond wizard refused. Later Mita only remember bits and pieces of their argument. She could remember Greystone insisting he would not discuss things with a dream fragment.

  “You’re not even real,” he said to Oldstone.

  Evidently this deeply offended her dream version of Oldstone, who became quite hostile toward the dismissive Greystone. He reached back to cast a spell, then disappeared with a pop, like a soap bubble.

  Cookie and Cutie made brief appearances, too. Cookie kept trying to make her eat. Cutie appeared as an ugly humpback, hurling insults at Mita before dissolving in a freak rainstorm.

  Then her conscious-self lost all track of the dream, completely receding into sleep.

  Shortly after midnight, an unseen force pushed its way into the room and slammed her down, the malevolent presence snarling in her ear. Her body bounced on the mattress in Greystone’s manor, and she jumped back into her dream body fully alert.

  An invisible creature held her down on the ground, squeezing her neck. She choked, her hands grasping and pulling, but unable to move the unseen claws wrapped around her.

  Deedles and Greystone both drew near, watching intently. To them, it appeared Mita lay on the floor holding her hands tightly gripped in front of her face.

  “Fascinating.”

  Mita glanced over at the wizard and annoyance shot through her.

  “Help . . . me . . .”

  “Oh, no,” Greystone chuckled nervously. “It’s your dream. You’re in charge.”

  Deedles purred, and sent forth a single thought: You can control your dreams!

  She turned back to focus on the unseen beast atop her, and something clicked inside her. She realized what the cat said must be true.

  If I can control my dreams . . . then I can control everything that happens here.

  She concentrated, applying power to her hands. Instead of focusing on magic, though, she focused on the dream.

  Phoom!

  A bright flash of white light accompanied her shockwave, sending the beast flying out of the room and out of her dream.

  Carefully, Mita pulled herself off the floor. Her body felt sore, and claw-shaped bruises quickly formed around her neck back in the real world. But in the dream world, the monster was gone.

  She turned toward Greystone and Deedles, panting for breath, bending over with hands on her knees.

  The wizard grinned from ear to ear. He said, “Very good! I think you’ve discovered a new power.”

  Chapter 9

  Three days after capturing Lightfish, the crew aboard Wavecrest scrambled to prepare for port. Despite his recent promotion, Stin still had little to do. After breakfast with the other officers, he wandered aimlessly, watching the men scurry about their chores.

  Eventually he strolled by his old quarters. He found Veeroy in the bunks, folding linens and cleaning the sleeping berths. At first, the lanky pirate seemed tense, perhaps owing to Stin’s new rank. But after several minutes of conversation, he loosened up and slipped back into a more familiar repartee. Stin decided to press him for information.

  “Everybody’s acting like landfall is imminent, Veeroy, but there’s no land anywhere. I’ve looked in all directions, and we’re still out in the middle of nowhere.”

  Veeroy grinned and said, “You ain’t never been to Corsairs Cove, has you?”

  Stin admitted that, in fact, he had not.

  “It’s a hidden island. Nobody can find it, ’cept the cap’ns of pirate ships. They say one of the first wizards set it up for Gloomis, the great legendary pirate of old.”

  Awe and respect for Gloomis, patriarch of pirates everywhere, crept into Veeroy’s voice.

  “No one knows why the wizard did it for him. Some say ’twas a gamblin’ debt. Some say it were for th’ love of a woman. Anyways, the wizard done it, and Gloomis founded Corsairs Cove. You’re gonna love it there, Steck. Anything you want, with enough gold you can buy it!”

  After lunch, Stin came into possession of more gold. The ship’s purser handed out shares of loot from Lightfish to the officers first. He gave Stin six gold, explaining that amount remained after his debt to Cessic for damages to the ship was paid.

  Stin smiled and thanked the man, and slipped two more coins off the pile when he wasn’t looking.

  After lunch, the rising levels of expectation were palpable on the ship. Most of the men walked around with packs over their shoulders, their belongings all bundled up. Nervous energy seemed to pulse everywhere. Everyone seemed to be smiling and laughter broke out often, with boisterous horseplay often accompanying the mirth and bonhomie.

  Stin wandered by Quent’s quarters, and found the ship’s healer busy packing books and bottles from his apothecary. Stin asked him what he knew about Corsairs Cove.

  Quent said, “This marks the twenty-first piratical voyage I’ve been on. Each time, the captain brings us to about the same general area, or at least he heads in the same general direction: west. I’m no expert at nautical navigation, but I know we’re about 500 sea miles west of Refugio at the moment.”

  “And only a captain can find the island?”

  “Mm. Only a captain can get us to the island. I don’t understand much of that either. But I know for centuries the navies of Coral and the Ageless Isles have searched for Corsairs Cove in vain. Whatever magic hides it has held up well over time.”

  “You would think they could have a few warships hang out in the general area and intercept anybody coming or going.”

  “Mm. You would think. But that’s the funny thing. I’m not sure it matters where exactly the ship is before the captain opens the gate. And there are tales of Coralian vessels in hot pursuit, the pirate ship disappearing on them, and the gate closing too quickly for the hunters to follow.”

  Quent pulled tight the straps on a rucksack filled with books, then looked up at Stin with a smile and said, “You’ll get to see it soon for yourself. If our little adventure with the Lightfish didn’t convince you to become a pirate, Corsairs Cove will.”

  Stin said, “The island is that grand?”

  Quent nodded. “You can obtain anything you want there, with enough gold. For me, I buy books with my share of the loot from each voyage. They have bookshops with titles one cannot find anywhere else. And that is why I have not seen my brother, lo these many years. Unfortunately, that�
�s something he will never appreciate.”

  Stin caught a hint of sadness in the healer. He said, “A man can only buy so many books.”

  “Mm. True. I keep telling myself that. Perhaps this will be my last voyage. I do need to catch up on my reading. On the other hand, there’s a certain shop in the back corner of the marketplace. It’s magical somehow, like the entire island. The proprietor always seems to have something you really need. Something that requires all your gold. For me, every time I visit, he has an extremely rare book. It’s always something I will never find anywhere else, or ever again. I have to buy it, each and every time.”

  Quent smiled self-consciously. He said, “You’re probably not a book lover, but these are extraordinarily rare. Things like the first Oldstone’s diary, before he became Oldstone. Books that are one of a kind. Books that, if I don’t buy them, I almost certainly will never see them again.”

  “So the shopkeeper takes your gold, and out you go on another run to earn more.”

  Quent nodded and said, “Exactly. And the same thing happens to anyone who enters that shop. They’ll find something they can’t live without, and they give up all their gold for it.”

  “That’s a nice setup. I wouldn’t mind having a share in it.”

  Quent laughed. “There’s some kind of magic with the old man. I’ve heard old timers say he hasn’t aged a bit since they first entered his shop as young ’uns. He certainly doesn’t spend the gold on improving the appearance of the place. You’ll know it when you see it. Maybe I’ll take you there myself.”

  Quent tightened the laces on another rucksack, then carried both of them to a pile of belongings near the door.

  “What about you, Steck? What’s your passion? What are you most interested in obtaining on your first visit to Corsairs Cove?”

  “Gold.”

  Quent chuckled and said, “Still smarting from paying off the damages to Wavecrest?”

  Stin nodded. “At least I got something out of all this. But, not nearly enough. I’d like to obtain a large amount of gold and see about finding passage home.”

  “Mm. No one who experiences it ever truly leaves Corsairs Cove for very long. I think you’ll find everything your heart desires there. It’s a magical place. You’ll see.”

  “If I find gold, then maybe I’ll stay. But from what you are saying, people find their gold through piracy and go back to Corsairs Cove to spend it all.”

  They heard a commotion outside the door. Stin stepped out to find several men running toward the bow. He saw Plinny lumbering by, a big smile plastered on the giant’s face.

  He said, “What’s going on, Plinny?”

  “The Cap’n’s come out to open the way home!”

  A crowd quickly formed near the prow. Stin stepped in behind Plinny, who moved people out of the way effortlessly. Cessic stood behind the Wavecrest’s figurehead, a woman with arms to her sides, hands out flat, appearing to fly over the water.

  Cessic stood waiting, watching. Stin poked his head around Plinny’s side and stared off in the distance, too. All he could see was water, an uninterrupted horizon of ocean all around.

  The men quieted down in expectation. A minute passed, then two.

  Cessic straightened, turned his head slightly as if looking at the water from another angle. Then he nodded to himself. He thrust his right hand up in the air and a tiny ball of light flew out over the water ahead of the ship. It exploded into a much larger globe of bright white light, which rapidly expanded until it grew wide enough for Wavecrest and Lightfish to sail through side by side with room to spare.

  A cheer went up among the men, and Stin imagined he could hear distant jubilation from the Lightfish, too.

  Through the doorway over the water he could see land.

  -+-

  Somebody rang a bell from a hilltop church facing the bay. It seemed the entire town came rushing down to the docks to greet the arriving ships.

  Stin felt surprised at the size of the town, which appeared to hold a few thousand people. Warehouses lined the docks, where half a dozen other large ships were berthed along with scores of smaller ones. White stone streets were lined with red-tiled houses snaking up the hillsides, and on distant mountaintops he could make out fine manors with sunlight glinting off windows and looking glasses evidently aimed in their direction.

  People streamed out of homes and buildings to swarm the docks. Several men jumped into tugboats, manned the oars, and set out to meet the ships in the middle of the bay. When they got close enough they shouted cheerful greetings to those onboard, and caught ropes thrown to them. A few tossed bottles of rum back to the pirates, who cheered in approval. Then they paddled furiously for the docks, towing the two big ships into port.

  The crowd erupted in cheers as Wavecrest tied up to the docks, then again as Lightfish pulled up nearby.

  Somebody threw down a wide plank connecting the ship and dock, and men began to disembark. A crowd of women Stin took for ladies of the night, based on their scanty dresses and bold behavior, lasciviously greeted each man as he made his way down the plank. Somebody brought a horn and began cheerfully tooting it as each pirate stepped onto the dock.

  Ta-tah! Ta-tahhh!

  Quent slapped Stin on the back and said, “Mm. Strumpets and trumpets. Come along, Steck. Let’s get you a room.”

  -+-

  Quent headed straight for Widow Raynora’s house. On the way, Quent explained her husband had been a captain who had the misfortune of being captured and hung by Keel himself, back when the King of Coral was still a prince. In order to make ends meet, Raynora began letting out rooms in her house to officers needing a place to stay.

  “Raynora loves to talk to us about the sea and our voyages. I think she misses her husband, and we help make up for his loss somewhat. But she’ll do most of the talking. You’ll see.”

  Quent led Stin into the nicer part of town, and the houses appeared to grow larger. Many had courtyards behind their high walls, Quent explained. All were made from the same off-white stone, as opposed to the plain wooden buildings closer to the docks.

  Stin made a curious inquiry about the stone.

  “Mm. Comes from mountains in the middle of the island,” Quent said.

  Raynora herself opened the stout wooden door at Quent’s knock. Stin found himself greeting a petite woman in her late sixties or early seventies, with a bun of gray hair on top and bright, cheerful eyes.

  “Why, land alive! Quent are you back again? It’s so good to see you. I left your room alone, it is exactly the same. Nobody has been in it and nobody has touched your books. And who did you bring with you? Why, aren’t you the pleasant sort? Come in! Come in! I’ll have supper on soon, and now I know to have an extra plate out on the table. Well, there’s plenty of food. Plenty of it! And we will be so delighted to have a new person to talk to and hear all about your voyage. How did you get to be onboard the Wavecrest? You didn’t start out with her when she left here, did you? Oh dear, did some poor sailors die on this voyage? You boys will have to tell me all about it.”

  She quickly led them inside, and informed Stin she had a vacant room for him if he wished to stay. She informed Stin about quite a few things. She would not stop talking.

  After some discussion about rates, Stin paid her a gold doublet. He would get some meals from Raynora’s kitchen, but not all of them. He felt a little unsure as to which meals were not included, but ultimately he decided he could ask Quent about it later.

  He also felt uncertain as to how many nights were covered by the doublet. The little old lady hardly let him get a word in edgewise. Ultimately he gave up and let her keep talking uninterrupted.

  At last someone else knocked on her front door and she broke off the conversation to go answer it. He placed what few belongings he had on the bed of his modest room and promptly left to find Quent again, who had somehow sneaked away from the discussion when nobody was looking.

  Quent opened the door to his room at Stin’s knock
, letting him in. Stin found the place filled with books. Literally. He wandered through a narrow passageway among piles and piles of books stacked on the floor. Some of them went, precariously balanced, all the way up to the ceiling.

  In the back, near a window facing the courtyard, enough floor space had been cleared for Quent’s bed, a small table, and a chair. Stin took a seat in the chair while Quent settled on the bed, and leafed through what appeared to be a very old and worn journal.

  Stin said, “I’m no expert on books, Quent, but I imagine you have a small fortune here. If you ever made it back to the mainland, I’m sure you could exchange these musty old piles of parchment for a bucket of gold. There are people who buy these things, you know.”

  Quent peeked over the top of the journal and gave Stin a sharp look.

  Stin grinned and said, “Well, never mind. I guess you are one of those people.”

  -+-

  Following supper with the Widow Raynora and four other officers from a different ship, Stin said he wanted to explore the city. Quent wished to return to his books. So Stin set out alone, and wandered through the neighborhood aimlessly.

  Most of the shutters were closed, and few people were out on the streets at this hour. He kept walking, and gradually the buildings grew less fine, and wood structures soon outnumbered stone ones. The sun sank lower, and night took over day. The closer Stin came to the docks, the worse the neighborhood grew along with the fading light. He found himself heading sharply downhill toward the water, and sounds of merriment came drifting up from public houses lining the docks.

  In the distance he heard Plinny’s gruff laughter boom up the hillside.

  “Bahhaha! Bwahahaha!”

  Stin smiled. The giant must be winning at bone cards, he thought.

  “I say, good fellow!”