But someone had taken offense at them, clearly, I thought as we flew over demolished huts, blackened walls, and the small strips of gardens trampled to the ground. “Take us low, Crux – I want to see what caused this,” I said, and ever the show off, Crux flared his wings before diving downwards in a low swoop over the devastation.
It was horrible, even to my eyes – and I had been on raids before. But what I saw below was no raid. It was a massacre.
“Who did this?” Danu said.
Arrows littered the area, stuck in the sand, and in the bodies that lay scattered– but I also saw the demolished walls as if a great weight had been kicked through them.
“Crux? Can you smell any sign of dragons here?” I asked warily, remembering the Roskilde ship that had been attacked by the Torvald Dragon Riders.
“No dragon did this!” The Phoenix was indignant. “Why would we leave good meat?” He indicated a cluster of bodies, each with ugly little bolts in their backs. From crossbows, I recognized. The Sea Raiders nor Torvald used crossbows as far as I knew, and the holes that had been smashed through the wooden huts appeared, instead, to look like the sorts of holes left by cannon shot.
“The Sea Raiders also don’t have any cannons strong enough to bombard a village,” I said sourly. There was only one force in the Western Isles that could do that.
“Havick’s navy,” Danu agreed. “But why? Why attack these people – totally destroying them and their way of life?”
“Maybe he was searching for something?” I said. For me? Although I also knew that Lord Havick probably didn’t need a reason. “What was it that courtier said? That Havick was trying to push his control even onto the mainland? Maybe these poor people refused to follow his orders, or refused to pay his taxes…”
“Whatever the answer is, it doesn’t help them now,” Danu said through gritted teeth.
“No. Take us away from here, Crux,” I said, my heart feeling heavy. This was the man that I was supposed to overthrow. This was the sort of man that the West Witches wanted to support against “the darkness”—whatever that was, and if it ever came. I wondered—was it Havick himself?
We flew back south, skirting the edges of the Free Islands where we saw more smoke spires. If it was indeed the navies of Roskilde that had been along here, then it was clear they had done a thorough job. The sight of such destruction only leant urgency to my thoughts as we flew south, into the evening.
Please, don’t let Malata be attacked as well! We soared low over the dark waters, heading for the lines of Bonerock that broke the waters of the reef. The silhouette of the hulks, black against the still purpling evening skies stood tall and alarming, just as they always had. I let out a sigh of relief, but a shiver of unease rattled the Phoenix’s scales beneath me.
“What is it, Crux?” I leant forward in alarm.
“I hear shouts, and I smell fear,” he said, before closing his mind off to mine.
“Fly!” I urged him, as he swept up faster and higher over Malata. I was dreading to see the plumes of smoke emerging from my hometown as well, or hear the wails and screams of dying people – but no, what I saw from the harbor instead were the many dockside torches and lanterns, and the three great ships of the Raiders snug and safe.
“Then why are people afraid?” I asked myself, seeing the small shapes of the many sailors on the docks, apparently engaged in one of their large and informal discussions (which always broke out into squabbles and brawls by the end of the night, depending upon how much beer had been consumed). These dockside meetings, and their noise, was normal – but what wasn’t was for the Raiders to be afraid during them.
“What’s going on, Lila?” Danu asked me, finding the scene as worrying as Crux did, apparently.
“Dockside meeting,” I called. “Father and Mother only call them when they need to consult the whole community on something.” The whole community except me, I thought painfully. Why didn’t my foster parents wait for me? Didn’t they want me to be the First Mate of the Ariel?
I was still reeling from my hurt pride as Crux flared his wings into a loud flapping as he landed on the rocky headland over the harbor where he had elected to make his den while he was here. I saw the bearded faces turn to stare up at us as we landed – and I was sure that more than a few of them had grimaces and anger in their eyes as they did so.
“Uh, Lila – I’m not sure that they are happy to see us,” Danu said as we slid from the back of the dragon. His suspicions were only confirmed by my mother’s—foster-mother’s—Pela’s worried and pinched countenance as she hurried up towards us.
“Lila!” she called. “You had better come down and speak to them. The other Raiders… They’re upset.”
“Why?” I said, rushing over to give Pela a brief but fierce hug. It was easy to feel the warmth and love from her as she squeezed me in her strong arms, before letting me go and sighing.
“It’s the dragons. And Havick. The rest of the Raiders have got spooked, especially after the attack on Westhall.”
“Westhall’s being attacked?” I said in alarm. Westhall was another Free Island settlement – a village almost large enough to be a town. It was technically unallied (as all of the Free Islanders were) but it paid a tribute to Roskilde, and we traded with them. They had a mayor and a council, and even some stone buildings. In the years before, it had always been their nearness to our territory that had kept them safe – venturing too close to Westhall with an armored galleon would only mean an attack by my foster-father’s ships – but it seemed that in a matter of days, the old ways had well and truly died.
“But Westhall has never raised a fist to anyone!” I said out loud, as I jogged down the path after Pela, Danu clattering behind me.
“Maybe it is time that they should,” my mother said darkly.
We climbed down onto the stone docks to see that metal fire grates had been hauled out and used as impromptu firepits for the Raiders to argue and shout around. The loudest and largest such group (no surprise there) belonged to my foster-father, Chief Kasian.
“We have to respond! This is outrageous!” Kasian shouted at the Raiders as Pela drew me closer and we pushed our way through the crowd. She leaned in to me and hissed, “The Raiders don’t know what to do next. Your father wants to fight, but he’s a fool if he thinks that he can go up against Havick’s forces. Some of the Raiders who saw the dragon damage on that boat you found for them are scared about your great big dragon now, saying that it’s too much of a threat to us as well.”
“But that’s ridiculous!” I shouted, and my voice pierced a lull through the arguing pirates as my foster-father turned his attention to me.
“Ah, foster-daughter, I am glad that you have returned, at last.” The angry scowl on his large face lightened for the briefest moment before returning to its dark expression. “While you have been away, Lord Havick has taken it upon himself to launch an unprecedented campaign against us. Attacking our allies, friends, trading partners, routing out any friend we have up and down the Free Isles.”
“So I understand, Father,” I nodded gravely, with Danu nodding beside me. We had both seen the destruction that Havick was wreaking out there in the islands. The rest of the crowd continued to mutter and whisper amongst themselves, but I could also tell that they were eager to hear just what the cherished daughter of the greatest chief the Sea Raiders had ever known had to say for herself.
“We have to decide what to do. As you know, it is not the Sea Raider way to go to war,” my foster-father said.
“Well said!” one of the crowd bellowed. “I want to raid and to raise my family, not fight a bleedin’ navy!”
“Quiet!” my foster-father barked. “But we may have little choice if Havick keeps on pressing us this hard. We need a good, strong and wealthy raid in order to secure our provisions for the winter seasons. If we do not get it, then we will have to take to the islands during the winter storms.”
There was an ugly hiss from the crowd, and ev
en I shivered. It was madness to conduct full raids in the deeps of winter. You were more likely to get blown off course or get shipwrecked yourself than to win any prize, and there were far fewer trading vessels travelling the archipelago and the Broken Coasts at that perilous time.
“We cannot fight Havick!” another sailor hollered. “We just want one more raid, that’s all! That wrecked Torvald ship wasn’t enough!”
“Daughter – your dragon…” I tensed as the chief gritted his teeth. “This business of dragons is keeping you from your rightful place, here at my side on the Ariel.”
“But you were the one who didn’t want me coming with you!” My face burned with suppressed rage. “What choice did I have, but to try and find an answer to Havick on my own?”
“Daughter…” My foster-father looked down at his feet, and I knew my blow had struck home. But he was a proud man, and he couldn’t be seen to back down at a meeting – even to his own foster-daughter. “Enough is enough. I was wrong to place my trust in your dragon fantasy, and I have indulged you for too long. You must be at my side…”
“But the Dragon Raiders!” I burst out, even though the idea sounded hollow to even me, now. We didn’t have enough dragons or dragon eggs, and we had run out of time to train and befriend any more – and the stakes were far higher, if the prophesy was to be believed.
“Are a dream, child,” my father said heavily.
“A nightmare, more like!” one of the sailors shouted. I scowled and looked around to see if I could ascertain who it was, but all I saw was a sea of angry faces in the night.
“We must raid now. Tomorrow even. Before Havick completely closes off any shipping routes that we have access to,” Kasian said.
“But, Father…!” I said indignantly. What was he saying to me? That I couldn’t fly Crux anymore?
“Shhh.” He held up a warning hand. “I am not saying that your idea doesn’t have merit, but right now, given what has happened to Westhall and the danger right at our doorstop, we have to do what we do best. Which is raiding and fighting. Return to your dragon in the spring, when we have some breathing space…”
“If we’re still alive, he means…” a sailor’s voice said.
“Father! I fly a dragon.” I tried to stand my ground before him. Wave-rider, Air-rider, that is what Crux called me. “That is what I do. I can scout, and attack from the air…”
“Foster-daughter,” Kasian’s voice cut through mine, and the crowd around us fell silent. “I need you at my side.” It was as close as the large man came to begging as I had ever heard him. It broke my heart. Were things really that bad?
“Daughter,” Pela said to me in a mutter, holding my elbow affectionately. She pitched her voice so just I could hear. “Listen to him, for once. We fear for our way of life. We need to stand together if we are to survive…”
How could I refuse those large eyes of my mother and father – even if they were not my real parents? They were the only parents that I knew.
“Daughter?” Kasian cleared his throat and drew himself up to his full height. “Will you accept your place as First Mate to the Ariel, at my side?”
How could they ask me this? It didn’t feel right, like they were asking me whether I was Lila Malata or Lila Roskilde. I was both! Could they not see that I could be the first mate and a Dragon Rider, if I wanted to be?
But no, as I looked into their taut faces I realized that no, they didn’t see that at all. All that they saw was the danger that threatened them, and they did not want to face it alone.
“Of course,” I mumbled, before hanging my head. I felt like my heart was breaking, and knew that I would have to go and speak to Crux as soon as I was finished here.
“You are leaving me?” the dragon burst into my mind, all fire and fury.
No, not leaving… I tried to say, but I heard a shriek of anger from the hilltop above us, and an angry jet of flame burn the night sky. The sailors around me gasped and many ducked, making the hand sign to avert evil. Crux? Don’t be mad. I have to help my father – just until the danger is passed…
“The danger is all around you, Lila! The man who is not your father wishes to turn you into something you do not wish to be!” Crux almost shouted into my mind, and I heard the sudden crack of huge leather wings as the dragon took to the air. His dark shape obliterated the stars for a moment as he swept over Malata’s harbor, and vanished into the night.
“No!” I couldn’t help myself from calling out into the night.
“Shush, Lila – it’s probably for the best.” Pela patted my elbow, drawing me away from the dock meeting, and back towards the big house at the top of the village that I had grown up in.
But it didn’t feel like my home anymore, not when I looked out into the night skies. Somewhere out there flew my dragon. I belonged out there.
Chapter 27
Danu, dragon-friend
I couldn’t believe it. “Why would Lila decide that?” I asked out loud, hearing nothing in response but the wind. It had been a desperate race back up the path to Crux, but I had managed to get to the Phoenix dragon as he was shaking his wings and breathing angered flames into the sky, and convinced him to let me on his back before he flew off.
I couldn’t blame him for being annoyed – although not with Lila.
“She still thinks like a human,” Crux burst into my mind like an angry gale. “What those people who are not even her blood kin think of her. What she should be doing, rather than what she must…”
“How else is she supposed to think?” I said out loud, feeling myself get angry with the dragon. Ridiculous, I know – me, a small human angry with a dragon, and complicated by the fact that he was the only thing keeping me aloft right now!
Crux had flown high, so fast and strong that the wind caught at my clothes and made me shiver. I wished that I’d had a chance to seize my extra cloak before leaping atop him, but if I had stalled, then I would have to be stranded on Malata.
Everything was going so well – it seemed as though Lila understood just what we needed to do; together! I wondered if some of the dragon’s feelings were bleeding into mine.
“Of course, you are feeling the shape of my thoughts, Danu,” Crux advised me. “That is because you know, at least, that one thing is not one thing.”
“What does that mean?” I said out loud.
“Something that I was trying to tell Lila back on that island of witches and wizards. We are a part of each other. When a dragon chooses to share his life, they become one thing. You, Lila, me – we are the same now.” I could feel Crux’s annoyance shiver through his muscles. “That is why she is not just a human now. Why YOU are not just a human. A bit of you is dragon.”
“And a bit of you is human?” I pointed out.
“Hardly!” Crux roared, curling his wings to swoop down in a spearing arc that almost had me off the saddle, if I hadn’t been clutching onto his back tines at the same time. “Can a human do this?”
We were moving too fast for me to answer as he flared out his sail-like wings with a thunderous snap. We skimmed the surface of the waters, faster than a speeding hawk. It was exhilarating – and terrifying.
But I still had a moment to think about Crux’s words. If what he said was true – then there had to be a bit of the Phoenix dragon that was becoming just that little bit more like a human, and vice versa. That would explain why he felt so jealous when Lila decided to sail with her foster family and not fly with him!
“You know that you are her closest friend,” I managed to call out over the screech of the air. “Even I can see that!”
“Then why stay with those humans, and not fly with us, free?” Crux snarled in my mind.
Oh, Crux… I thought sadly. “Humans are complicated creatures, my friend,” I managed to whisper as I leant low over his neck, knowing that he would hear my words. “We do things that we won’t want to, and we say things that we don’t even mean sometimes, because we think it will make people happy.”
“Happy? Then what about making me happy? What about making herself happy?” Crux was heading north and west, far out of the reef around the Raider’s islands realm by now, and heading for the wilder islands where the dragons roamed.
I didn’t have an answer for him. I just wished that I knew the answer to that question as well. Still, as I closed my eyes and hugged the dragons neck, I thought that I could sense a grudging sadness from the Phoenix below me. He wasn’t really angry with Lila, he just wanted to spend time with his friend.
Chapter 28
Lila, Decisions
It wasn’t dark in my old room, but it still felt murky somehow. I could hear the excitable cheers and songs of my foster-father and his trusted captains through the floorboards from somewhere below, but I had left them to it and returned to the room that I had grown up in. It was their little ritual, before a big day of raiding: poke and prod their courage with watered-down ale and songs of past victories. Most of them would be the worse for wear in the morning, but they would all be at the docks before the rest of the crew were, and my father claimed that having a headache ‘gave him an edge in a fight.’
Well, I have a headache – and its name is you, Father, I thought as I kicked at a couple of my old training leather vests and a few linen shirts I’d left behind and never thought to see again. Those and my collection of small sea-wood carvings. I picked up the one that I was most proud of – a knot of wood that I had managed to carve into a snarling dragon’s head.
Oh, Crux… I thought, feeling the shape of the dragon in the corner of my mind. He was annoyed with me, I could feel it. He didn’t understand why I had to do this.
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