“It requires that a team go over there and set the fires,” Captain Higgs replies. The sea elf turns to Luke and drops his voice to a whisper. “It might be a little dangerous, though. As I said, something about this doesn’t feel right. The hole in the hull looks like it was done with precision instead of by a random rock. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was an attack that was made to look like a storm wreck. A very nice cover up if my assumption is correct.”
“In that case, I request to go over to the other ship with Nimby and Fritz,” the forest tracker says, standing at attention.
The captain waves away Luke’s offer. “Thank you, but this is sailor business. You and your friends can rest for now.”
“If this is a trap then it’s best that we go over there,” Luke counters, desperately hoping to have some excitement. “I can fight better than any of your sailors, so it will be less of a danger for me. Nimby will have my back while we are in there and he can keep an eye out for traps. I’m sure Fritz can set the fires with minimal instruction. We are the best people to send over to that ship. If anything goes wrong, you will have Fizzle and Aedyn to protect you.”
“You make some good points,” Captain Higgs says with a smile. “I assume that Nyx is out of action. Do you know how she’s doing?”
“Aedyn told me that she should be fully healed by late afternoon. I overheard Aedyn telling the ship doctor that she tore at her flesh after she fell asleep. They found her bleeding in the middle of her room this morning, which set her recovery back a few hours,” Luke reports. He pauses to wave at Nimby and Fritz, who nod and begin gathering their gear. “From everything Aedyn told me, that spell she cast in Hero’s Gate caused severe mental trauma.”
Luke checks his sabers and tightens the sheaths before continuing, “Honestly, I think Nyx will be the one to tell me how she is really feeling. I plan on asking her to stand guard with me tonight. It will give me some time to find out how she’s doing and get her some fresh air under supervision. Of course, I can’t do this until we get the ship moving again.”
“Myilia! Give Warrenberg those four burning bags over there and prepare him!” the captain orders the halfling sailor. He puts a hand on Luke’s shoulder before the half-elf can leave. “I should tell you what to do with the oil bags in case something happens in there. Due to the water, we can’t just set the structure on fire and let it burn. The oil allows us to burn the ship down without issues and we clear the underwater remains. Just spread the oil around the rooms that are just above the water level. Go for support beams to weaken the structure.”
Luke watches the sailors preparing one of the escape rafts. “That sounds easy.”
“That is the easy part. You will have to search for survivors beforehand, which will be more of a pain in the ass than difficult,” Captain Higgs says, carefully observing the wreck and thinking of every possible warning to share with Luke. “I would think that the survivors would have already left this shipwreck since it has been here for a few days. Although, you can never be sure, so do a quick check to be safe. The slope of the ship means that it’s in an underwater sinkhole. Your footing won’t be the best since it won’t be level ground in there. Expect a lot of water and don’t be surprised if you find some drowned bodies.”
“So, I should run around the ship looking in every room?” Luke asks, bending down to tighten his bootlaces.
“Make enough noise when moving around the ship to stir things up. If you hear any splashing that is too loud to be regular water movement then you will find somebody or something. I would not recommend opening doors unless you have a reason. A wreck like that has water in every room at this point,” the sea elf warns him. The captain takes a deep breath to steel himself for what he has to say. “Opening a door could lead to a body floating out to you. That is unless the person died under some heavy objects and drowned while trying to get out from under them. Those you will find by tripping over them. There is also the chance that a room flooded entirely and the door was locked from the outside to protect the rest of the ship, so a body could be against the door. Some of them continue to hold onto the knob even after they die, which is just creepy. One guy I found was like that after weeks of being in a wreck. The rushing water pushed the skin off the body as soon as I opened the door. It’s a disgusting way to die.”
“That’s enough of that,” Luke interrupts, his face looking a little pale. “Is there anything else that I should know, which doesn’t involve finding bodies?”
“Only that I wish you good luck,” he replies, shaking Luke’s hand.
The forest tracker smiles before vaulting over the railing to the deck below. He sees that Nimby and Fritz are already waiting on the escape raft. Luke takes a cautious step onto the simple craft and signals for the sailors to start lowering them into the river. His stomach lurches almost immediately after the current starts to pull the raft towards the wreck. A hard gulp keeps Luke from throwing up and he takes one of the long poles that were strapped to the floor. Fritz steers with the rudder while Luke and Nimby stand ready to push them to safety with the long poles. A simple shove is all it takes for them to keep the raft a safe distance away from the muddy coast.
“Keep up the good work, guys,” Fritz says as the raft comes around the side of the River Scout. “The current is on our side, so we should be there in a minute.”
“This is just what I needed after Hero’s Gate. I can finally stretch my legs and get some abandoned loot,” Nimby announces, his face beaming.
“I think I’m going to vomit,” Luke groans. He leans over the edge of the raft, putting his face a few inches from the water. Luke’s face is drenched as the water suddenly rises up to hit him.
“You’re helpless on the water, Luke. After all this time, I would have thought that your stomach would have adapted to the motion of the river,” Nimby claims. He pushes the raft away from a tree with all of his strength. “Have you been taking the ginger pills?”
“Yes, but this kind of travel is a lot rougher when on a small raft. How close are-” starts Luke.
Luke tumbles into the water as the raft is suddenly washed against the capsized ship. He splashes about and sputters while his friends go about securing the raft. A heavy stone with a chain tied around it is quickly shoved into the water. The other end of the chain is securely fastened to a bolt on the side of the craft, which Luke grabs before the current can drag him under the wreck. Fritz takes his time picking up the oil bags and Nimby helps him hop to the shipwreck. They carefully climb their way to the hole in the side of the shipwreck and are about to enter when they stop for a second as if they forgot something.
“What happened to Luke?” Nimby asks, looking around.
“I thought he went on ahead as soon as we landed,” Fritz replies, adjusting the oil bags on his back.
“I don’t think he went ahead of us,” the halfling contends.
Fritz scratches his head and sighs. “I stopped the raft, tossed over the anchor, and he was gone when I turned back around. He usually leaps in without waiting for the rest of us. Still, he would normally say something.”
“True. I wonder where he went,” Nimby nervously mutters.
“He could have fallen off the raft because nobody warned him that we would be hitting the broken ship,” grumbles a voice from behind them.
“I doubt that, Fritz,” Nimby says with a friendly laugh. “Luke is too agile to fall off the raft. He might be a little sick right now, but that would just be embarrassing for him to tumble into the water because of a minor jostle.”
“I didn’t suggest that scenario,” Fritz admits.
“I did,” Luke growls. Both of them turn around to see the half-elf standing behind them on the raft. He is drenched and looking very angry. Nimby gulps while Fritz tries hard not to laugh.
“We’re sorry,” they say together.
“I’m sure you are,” Luke snaps, joining them on the wreck. “I want both of you to prepare the ship for burning while I will search t
he ship for survivors. Maybe I can find a clue as to what happened here. Captain Higgs thinks it might have been an attack.”
Fritz nods and makes a swift salute. “We’ll call for you when we’re ready. Myilia told me that I have to set up a path of oil to this hole. This way we can light it and not have to run out of the ship.”
Three feet of cold water meets them when they drop through the hole into a room fringed with dense shadows. Scraps of wood and various articles of clothing are floating on the surface of the still water. All of them feel the slight incline of the room as they wade their way to the door. The hallway is even darker than the room with no torches or lanterns to provide light. As their eyes adjust, they can see a few pale bodies floating facedown in the water at the lower end of the hallway. Luke is about to light a torch when Fritz pinches his leg. The gnome points at his nose in order to get Luke to sniff the air.
“I smell oil,” Luke whispers.
“Does this mean we should light it up and leave now?” Nimby asks, disappointed that his looting was stopped.
“We should check the ship for survivors just in case,” Luke says, letting his eyes adjust to the gloom of the hallway. “You two go back out to the raft and move it away in case the oil ignites by accident. Only one of us should stay in here because it will be very hard for us to escape in a group. I want to be able to get out of here as soon as possible if things go wrong.”
Fritz begins throwing the oil bags out of the ship. “Why do you have to go?”
Luke sighs as he turns to his friends. “There are many reasons. Most importantly, I don’t need a rope to get through that hole in the hull like you two. Just get moving and I will tell you the others later.”
“I hate it when he uses our height against us,” Nimby grumbles. He uncoils a rope from his shoulder and ties on a grapnel. With little effort, the halfling throws and hooks the grapnel to the hall.
Nimby and Fritz head back to the raft as Luke makes his way down the watery hall. The smell of oil becomes stronger as he reaches the far end of the ship. He gingerly moves around one of the bodies before stumbling away from a quick moving form hiding underneath the corpse. The river shark disappears into another room as Luke allows his heart to calm down. He bends down to examine the body and finds that the sailor’s tight face is stuck in a horrified scream.
“That’s strange. It looks like he was paralyzed and then he drowned where he stood without putting up a fight,” Luke whispers, standing up and scanning the hallway. “Captain Higgs was right. This was an attack.”
A suspicious splash to his right catches his attention. He waits patiently until he hears it again from the other side of a closed door. Luke slowly drops into a low crouch until he can draw his swords under the water, which muffles their sound. He begins to move toward the door when he feels his foot sink into a rotting body that was hidden by the dark water. A shudder of disgust runs up his spine as he continues his slow advance. The sound repeats itself once he reaches the door. Luke pushes on the door to find that it has been locked from the other side. He takes a deep breath as he steps back and kicks at the door.
Luke’s foot bounces off the solid wood and stumbles back. “Damn.”
“You aren’t getting in here, monster!” yells a man from the other side.
“I’m not a monster,” Luke states, stepping to the side of the door. “My ship found this damaged vessel and sent me aboard to look for survivors.”
A crossbow bolt soars into the hallway and hits one of the floating bodies. “I’ll shoot you again if you don’t back away.”
“You missed, sir. By a lot,” Luke says, trying to hide his irritation at being shot at. “There is oil all over this ship and a single spark could turn it into an inferno. Please, come with me and you will be safe.”
“How do I know that you aren’t trying to trick me into coming out and then you will kill me like the rest of the crew?” the man asks.
“If you can fire a crossbow bolt at me then that means you have a hole that you can see me through,” Luke responds, his patience coming to an end. “Just look at me and you will see that I’m not a monster. I’m a half-elven forest tracker and a harmless looking one at that.” The sound of splashing and the moving of some furniture meet his words.
“Prove that you are human. Cut your hand and show me the blood,” the man demands, his voice clearly shaking with terror. “The monster didn’t have red blood.”
“This is ridiculous. Here,” Luke says. He cuts the back of his hand with his saber and holds it up for the man to see.
A minute passes before the man claims, “I can’t see it.”
“Of course, you can’t see it!” Luke shouts. He sheaths his sabers and leans against the wall. “There’s barely any light out here and I’m betting it isn’t better in there. How did you survive in there with no food and clean water anyway? For all I know, you could be a monster trying to catch me off-guard.”
“You won’t trick me that easily,” the man proudly declares. “This is the pantry and some salmon were trapped in here after I closed and locked the door. The river water is fresh and clean in here. There is no oil in the water like you’re claiming. I’m on to your lies, monster! You won’t use your tricks to get my flesh.”
Luke groans and runs his hand through his hair. “Forget this. As much of a paranoid jerk as you’re being, I have to clear this ship of survivors before we burn it. I’m going to look for more people and come back for you. Don’t go anywhere. I’ll tell you my name so that you will know who to ask for when I get back to you. My name is Luke Callindor. I’ll be right back.”
“No point in searching. I’m the only one alive. I saw that demon kill everyone else,” the man says. Luke can hear him fiddling with the crossbow, but he can’t tell if the man is reloading or putting it away. “It couldn’t get into this room after I barricaded it. Then, the ship hit a rock and the monster ran away. I watched it leave through the porthole as it ran into the forest.”
“If you knew the monster ran away then why did you think I was the monster,” Luke growls through gritted teeth.
“You could have been a friend of it,” the man innocently contends. “Now that I know your name, I can trust you. A monster wouldn’t be smart enough to use the Callindor name. My name is Tyler. I’ll come out now.”
Luke is about to breath a sigh of relief until he sees a skinny, young man with black hair step into the hallway. His nobleman clothes are torn and soaked. A few pieces of fish are scattered about his red shirt and in his short, graying beard. Luke ignores all of the expected signs of a man who has been hiding in a pantry for several days. The object that holds his interest is the blazing torch that Tyler is holding.
“Why do you have that thing?” Luke slowly asks. He is tempted to make a grab for the torch, but he doesn’t want to scare the jittery noble.
“I told you that the water in the pantry was clean. Now that I’m out here I can smell all the oil you were talking about,” Tyler answers in a tired, condescending tone. “There is an easy way to fix this. I just have to toss the torch back into the clean room.”
“Wait!” Luke shouts.
It is too late as Tyler throws the torch back into the room. Bits of flame fall to the water as it soars toward the far wall. Luke doesn’t wait to see what happens as he grabs the young man and begins sloshing his way toward the exit. A sudden rush of heat on his back makes him move even faster through the water. He shoves Tyler in front of him and tries to run against the resistance of the waist-high water.
“Damn it!” Luke shouts as he continues to push Tyler ahead of him. “The oily water already began to mix in with the clean water as soon as you opened the door. That fire is going to start building up strength as it barrels down the hallway. I’m guessing you’re a pampered noble.” The fire is starting to move up the hall and quickly gains speed as Luke tackles Tyler into the room where Luke entered the wreck.
“I beg your pardon. I have done many things that are con
sidered dangerous,” Tyler sputters, the taste of oily water in his mouth. “I have gone bear hunting and griffin riding. Why, I probably have more dangerous stories to tell than a child like you.”
“You ever fight a Hellfire Elf, an army of spadix, a giant cyclops, a griffin in aerial combat, and a Lich in a single day?” Luke asks, grabbing Tyler by the knees and hoisting him toward the hole.
Tyler looks slightly stunned as he utters, “Uh, no.”
The fire begins to seep into the room as Luke helps Tyler out of the ship. The noble lets out a girlish scream before he slides down the side of the wreck and into the cold river water. Luke shakes his head as he stretches his fingers to the hole. A rumbling starts to ripple along the ship and he looks back in time to see the growing reflection of an immense fireball running along the oily water’s surface.
“Second time in my life that I have to outrun a damn fireball because somebody sprung an oil trap!” the forest tracker shouts. He grabs the edge of the hole and yanks himself up, kicking off the wall for a boost. He flips himself out of the wreck just as a blast of fire bursts into the room and follows him through the hole. Luke rolls down the side of the wreck with fire on his legs until he splashes into the L’dandrin’s embrace.
“Watch out, Luke!” Nimby yells from the raft.
“A little late for. . .” starts the half-elf. He turns in the water only to get hit in the face by the edge of the raft. Fritz and Nimby drag him out of the water as Luke holds his bleeding forehead in pain.
“I said watch out,” Nimby innocently claims.
“He did. I heard him,” Tyler chimes in.
Luke gets to his feet and grabs a pole to help push the raft toward the waiting sailors of the River Scout. They are pulling the raft against the ship when Luke notices Nyx, Kellia, and Aedyn are standing on the deck. Nyx is timidly clinging to Aedyn’s arm while Kellia is leaning over the railing. Luke waves to them before grabbing Nimby by the shirt and tossing him onto the deck.
“You shouldn’t be so mean to your servants,” Tyler says, shoving his way ahead of Luke to climb onto the ship.
Legends of Windemere: 02 - Prodigy of Rainbow Tower Page 27