“Indeed he did.”
“In addition to the whisky, the Crimson Moon was carrying silk. We could rip up half a bolt and use it as bandages. Plus, Kal will be in our debt if we make her delivery to New Portsmouth.
“Not only that, but think of what it will do to the morale of the guild! Their best ship, not only beaten in battle, but taken by a merchant’s crew and Gaeceric’s right-hand man utterly humiliated! I say we take the ship, kill as many of the crew as we need to, and send Donegal and the survivors off in the lifeboats stripped naked!”
Karinga turned and stared out of the large window at the rear of the ship. “Edge, do you think it will work?”
“If they are drunk, as Tanner says, we’ll slaughter them. I’ll inform the crew to strike at the side of their heads instead of overhand. Their peripheral vision should still be all messed up,” replied the Jimmy-legs.
“Captain!” a voice shouted from outside. “Guild ship off starboard bow! It’s the Intrepid! It looks like they want to ram us!”
Karinga stood for a second, still pondering, and then a huge, confident smile crossed his face. “Break out the weapons and the scarves! Prepare to repel borders!”
Within seconds, the deck was alive with commotion. Men darted back and forth, getting ready for the fight, tying the green scarves on each of their arms, marking them as members of the Waverunner’s crew. Twenty archers stood against the starboard rail as the large ramming boom that doubled as the jib mast inched closer. David went with Karinga and Fyke up to the helm.
Karinga stared through his looking glass at the ship. “Wow, they really are drunk. A couple of men are even losing their breakfasts over the side. As they get closer, turn to port so they coast up next to us.”
Fyke tapped Karinga on the shoulder. “Let’s have a look-see, Jax.” Karinga handed the glass to his first mate. “It seems as though they have a ballista mounted on each side. They are taking a shot!”
The bolt landed a good 40 legs from the ship, causing David to smirk. He had been right.
The Intrepid bore down closer to the Waverunner. “Okay, helmsman, hard to port.”
The helmsman spun the wheel to the left, but instead of turning, the rope that ran over the helm, down through the bilge pump room to the ship’s rudder fell limply down one of the small holes, having been cut.
“Holy balls!” Karinga screamed. “Dunkirk, Fyke, Tanner, get down there and get that rope fixed! Now!”
“Aye, Captain,” they all said, and bolted down ladder to the main deck, then down the stairs to the bilge room. David reached the room first as his boots splashed down into almost knee deep red-tinted water. Floating face down in the bilge were the three bilge pumpers. David made his way over to one and turned him over, revealing his throat had been slit.
David heard two splashes behind him. “God’s wounds!” Fyke said. “What the bloody hell happened here?”
“They’ve been cut ear to ear!” David replied.
Dunkirk fished one of the ends of the rope from the water. “David, run up to the helm. When I hand you the rope through the right-side hole, loop it over the helm and drop it down to me through the left. Then come stand by the stairs so you can relay to the Captain when we’re done.”
“Aye, sir,” David replied. He darted up to the helm, pausing to look at the Intrepid. They had a little over a minute before they would be rammed. He could hear the shouts of the enemy crew.
A piece of rope stuck through the left-hand hole, which David grabbed. He looked at it for a brief second. It had been cleanly cut. He quickly looped it over the wheel and threaded it down the other hole. The wheel spun as Dunkirk pulled the slack. David ran down and stood atop the stairs. The jib ram drew closer.
A deck hand came to David and presented him with his knuckle dagger and saber. “Cap’n said to fetch these for ya, sir!”
“Good job,” David said to the young lad, who he estimated was about the same age he was when he came on board. “Gather two other deck hands. After you hear me yell, run down into the bilge room and start working on those pumps or we could sink.”
“Aye, sir!” The boy ran off towards the front of the ship.
David tied his sheath belt around his waist. The Intrepid was almost upon them. This was going to be close.
“Now, Tanner!” Fyke shouted.
“Now, Captain!” David replied.
The helmsman turned the ship hard to port, but the jib ram had already passed over the rail and tangled in the rigging. Ropes snapped and lashed down onto the deck as some of the sails tore and others flapped free in the wind. The Waverunner was at about a 45 degree angle when the ram struck the main mast. David grabbed hold of the ladder as the ship was pushed and tilted. All around, men slid down the deck towards the port rail. Those that could find something to hold onto stopped their slide. Others hit hard on the rail.
The main mast began to splinter and crack as the Waverunner continued to be pushed. It was a good thing their hold was filled with ingots and weighed down or surely they would have capsized, David thought.
Suddenly, the ram slipped off of the main mast as the Waverunner turned parallel to the Intrepid. The ship lurched to starboard. The momentum snapped the main mast, which fell through the rigging onto the deck of the Intrepid, pulling down sails and their rear mast. Both ships were crippled.
David released his white-knuckled death grip from the ladder. Already grapples were grabbing on to the remaining rigging as the guild sailors prepared to swing over.
“Battle stations!” Karinga screamed.
David drew his weapons and braced himself in the fighting stance Edge had shown him as men from the other crew started to swing across amid a small barrage of arrows.
One of the enemy was headed straight for him. David stepped to his left and swung hard with his saber as the man passed. It bit deep into his abdomen, spilling his guts on the deck as David yanked his sword free. He spun around as one of the other crew landed hard on the deck and stumbled to his knee. David swung, removing the man’s head from his shoulders. Sounds of battle echoed around him as he engaged another enemy.
David looked into his eyes and could tell he wasn’t drunk or hung over. Most likely an officer, he thought. David parried the hard, straight down blow, knocking the man’s longsword to the side. David countered and stabbed him between the ribs with the dagger he held in his left hand, and then kicked him hard between the legs.
The enemy officer let out a short scream, which ended abruptly as David’s saber sliced into his left lung.
A large bolt slammed into the deck next to him. He glanced up and saw three men reloading the ballista, the gunner’s eyes on him.
“Tanner,” Karinga shouted down to him. “Take two men over there and disable that ballista!” He was immediately set upon by another opponent.
David, while sheathing his weapons, picked out two of the crew who had just finished gutting their opponents. “You two, with me!”
The three men ran across to the bow side of the main deck. A scream came from one of the men as a bolt punctured his thigh. David and his other companion didn’t slow down. They reached a spot that would put them on the forecastle of the Intrepid. They grabbed some discarded grappling hooks, took hold of the rope, and threw them. David’s caught on some rigging while the grapple the other crewman had splashed into the sea, having missed its mark. He began to reel it back up as David climbed to the rail and swung across.
He landed gracefully against the hull of the larger ship and climbed to the rail, jumping over it.
“Hey!” an unarmed deck hand a few years his junior said, running over to him.
David pulled out his knuckle dagger and punched the younger boy in the sternum, following up with a roundhouse punch to the temple. The deck hand dropped like a sack of potatoes.
He walked quietly to the foredeck rail. The ballista men were unaware of him. David drew his
saber and propelled himself over the rail onto the deck below. Before they could turn around, one of their heads fell to the ground. David sliced through another’s abdomen as the man was drawing his weapon. The final gunner took a hard swing at David, which he sidestepped. Looking into the man’s eyes, David could tell he was still sloshed. He swung sideways, the sword biting into the man’s temple before he ever saw it coming.
He motioned to Karinga who waved back to him. The battle seemed to be going well. Very few men with green scarves were down.
David made his way towards the stern of the ship, a wary eye out for any other crew left behind. He tested the door to the Captain’s quarters. They were not locked. Donegal was an overconfident fool. He kicked the door open, imagining the image he projected. The Commodore would see an armed silhouette with sunlight pouring in behind him.
Donegal sprung up from behind his desk.
“Guild filth, I demand your immediate surrender!”
“Tanner?” Donegal said. He quickly glanced around for his sword, which lay about 3 legs from him.
David took a menacing step forward. “Reach for it… Please!”
For a few tense seconds, Donegal considered his options. Those impertinent plebes would die for this. He decided to feign surrender. His crew would come to his rescue and slaughter Karinga’s men. He faked a sigh and put his hands up. “I know you won’t kill me, Tanner.”
“I don’t have to kill you, Commodore.” David punched the guild captain right in his temple with his knuckle dagger. While not knocking him unconscious, Donegal was stunned and disoriented.
“Where is Captain Armstrong?” David demanded.
“He… got away.” It was difficult for the Donegal to put a sentence together. “Stole 150 platinum… Took a lifeboat.”
David put away his cutlass and grabbed Donegal by his hair. “Come on,” he said, putting his dagger blade to the Commodore’s throat. He dragged the staggering man out into the sunlight.
They were greeted with a loud cheer from the crew of the Waverunner. Bodies, guts, and limbs of guild sailors littered the deck. Edge had been right. It was a slaughter.
“Tanner’s captured Donegal!” someone screamed. The crew erupted into a few round of cheering.
David smiled. “Alright, Commodore. Strip.”
* * * * * *
As the rest of the crew cleaned the bodies, blood, and guts off of the deck of the Waverunner, David surveyed the hold of the Intrepid. The ships had been lashed together so more damage wasn’t done by the tangled rigging, and they were adrift. David figured they would head to the closest port, New Portsmouth, as the current would carry them in that direction before the ships could be somewhat sea worthy again.
The merchandise they had sold to Lady Malceour was here, although the guild sailors had made quite a dent in the whiskey. Still, a vast majority of the supply was here. The idiots hadn’t set the silk up out of the bilge, so it wouldn’t be of any use other than to Quenton as bandages. The aloe would fetch a handsome price in New Portsmouth with the Snakepox epidemic.
David moved through the dark hold, checking the contents of the other crates. Donegal had been busy. Timber, dried meats, weapons, cider, medicines, poisons, Iberian nightshade, even a case of dreamdust was in the hold. That he would recommend Karinga dump overboard, as it was an illegal commodity. Traders had made fortunes on it, only to have their entire livelihoods ripped away when they were caught.
Some men came down the staircase carrying lanterns. Fyke was with them. “Hey, David! We’re just here to get the silk and some aloe for Quenton.”
David motioned to where they were. Fyke picked his way through the crates over to the young Yeoman.
“I spoke to Karinga. Once we get the ships refit in New Portsmouth, he is going to use this ship as his main transport. Makes sense, I suppose.” Fyke took his hat off and ran his fingers through his tangled hair. “I’m buying the Waverunner from him.”
“Oh? You can afford that much?”
“Aye. You’ve made us very wealthy, David. In fact, I want you to stay aboard as my first mate.”
David stopped rustling around in the crate. “Are you serious?”
“Very serious. You have a keen mind, and while you’ve taught me enough that I could get by on my own, I’d much rather have you at my side.”
“I’ll have to think on that, Cor.”
“Of course. When you are done here, the Captain wants to see you.”
Fyke turned and picked his way back through the cargo. David sat down on an unopened and unmarked crate. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the changes that had just been thrust upon him. He had never considered that the crew might someday break up before he was ready to leave. He liked the way things were. He was only responsible for the financial aspects of the ship, and he liked it that way. Being first mate, he would have a lot more responsibility. Sure there would be more gold, but would the change of his quality of his life be worth it? It would be over a week before they made it to New Portsmouth, so he had time to make his decision.
* * * * * *
Gabriel and Eleenia were waiting in line to get into New Portsmouth. They had encountered quite a bit of hostility, as Jolina had told them to expect.
“It is hard to accept that David might be alive,” Eleenia said. “The only reason I can think of that he hasn’t contacted us is that he is in hiding. Bishop Malachi believes that the attack was to wipe out our family lines.”
“Whatever his reasons, he will have us to protect him now.” Gabriel kicked at a small snake that slithered towards him.
Eleenia rolled her eyes. “Gabriel, if he has been out in the world alone for the past four years, I’m sure he has learned how to take care of himself. I highly doubt he will need us.”
Gabriel nodded. “Perhaps you are right. However, it will be good to have him with us. At least he will be there to keep you out of trouble if I am ever sent away.”
Eleenia laughed. “You must not remember much about me and David being together.”
Gabriel smiled with fondness. “Yes, you two brought quite a bit of punishment upon yourselves with your antics. Especially when we were with the Branvolds! And with Liam living in Avonshire…”
“Liam has changed. Although seeing David might help him snap out of the malaise he’s been in.”
The guard at the gate motioned for them to come forward. “What’s your business here, Churcher?”
“I am escorting this healer from Avonshire. Word has reached us that you have a plague of Snakepox,” replied Gabriel.
The guard nodded and gestured for them to go inside.
This was the first time either of them had been to New Portsmouth, in spite of it being so close to their childhood home. The first thing Gabriel noticed was the pattern of the almost random streets, far less ordered than the carefully planned grid streets of Lystra and Avonshire.
“Are you hungry, El?”
Eleenia nodded. “We should go deeper into the city. Inns by the gate and those by the harbor will most likely charge more and have lower quality food.”
“Good idea,” Gabriel replied. “I’ll ask someone.” Gabriel picked a person who was fairly well dressed who didn’t have purple pock marks on him. “Excuse me, sir, what inn serves the best food in New Portsmouth?”
The man glanced down at Gabriel’s cross emblem on his tunic that marked him as a Holy Defender. “That would be the Randy Lass down by the docks,” he said with a smirk.
“Thank you, my good man.”
As they walked, Eleenia studied the people they came across. Several of them had Snakepox, but she noticed that the beggars and lower-class people generally didn’t. The merchants and wealthier people often times did. ‘I wonder if there is a connection,’ she thought. Several of the stalls along Market Stre
et were empty.
She pointed one out to Gabriel. “I wonder if the owner of that stall caught Snakepox. Why else would it be empty on such a beautiful day?”
Gabriel shrugged. “Possibly. After we eat, we’ll get you set up near the Eddington’s manor. I’ll find us a place to sleep, preferably close by.”
“Good. I am anxious to get to work.”
About two blocks from the docks, they found the Randy Lass. Gabriel opened the door for Eleenia and they went inside. It took a few minutes for their eyes to adjust to the darkness.
“Two, m’lord?” asked a woman in a low-cut blouse and short skirt.
“Yes, please.”
She took them over to a table near the unlit hearth. She cocked her head and stared at Gabriel. “Have you ever been here, m’lord? You look extremely familiar.”
“No, I haven’t. What do you have on tap?”
“Right now, we have some Gylinean dark beer and an Ulsterian stout,” she replied.
“Ulsterian stout and a sweet wine for my sister,” Gabriel said.
The tavern maid’s eyes lit up “Oh, your sister is she?”
El chuckled as Gabriel turned crimson. “Well, um, I mean, I’m flattered and all, but I’m a Knight of the Holy Defenders.”
She shrugged. “So? I was with a priest the other night. Here in Aragil, we don’t stick with those old high and mighty morals. So what say you, love? An after dinner tumble? I’ve always wanted to see how a church knight performed.” All eyes in the tavern turned to Gabriel.
El tried to hold in the laughter as her brother looked like he wanted to crawl under the table.
“Um, no, thank you. I will stick to my vows.”
“Your loss, sweetie!” she said as she made her way to the bar.
Gabriel leveled his gaze to the still-giggling Eleenia. “We could have gone to the Randy Dandy one block up, you know.”
“Oh, please. If someone had been that lewd with me, you would have gut them.”
An older man, arms covered in purple splotches, brought their drinks over.
Eleenia brought her hand up to her mouth and gasped.
“Don’t worry, its not contagious,” he said.
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