After they had done so for a couple of days, Ference even followed them there. But instead of working, he relieved the supervisor and focused his attention solely on Griffin and his friends. In particular on the Klabautermann. He seemed to hold some kind of fascination for the little blue man. The pirates thought the danger was too great, so they stopped talking. They just kept working. Day after day. Eventually, Griffin lost count. He almost started to enjoy it, once his hands had become calloused enough for the work. It was calm, there was no immediate mortal danger and the repetitiveness made him drowsy. He began to forget about their plan and their intentions to escape.
The others were no different.
The work changed, from ploughing, to seeding, and then to harvesting crops from some of the other fields.
This continued on until one day a red streak of lightning stormed across the fields. Ference was giving Griffin a lecture on how to stop being worthless and start doing things correctly when the red lightning jumped at the old man’s back and clawed at his hair.
At first, Griffin just sat there on the ground watching Ference scream, trying to get it off. Then he recognized it. Her.
“Aestiva!”
The creature let go of Ference and jumped into Griffin’s open arms. She snuggled against his neck and purred contentedly. Griffin checked for any injuries, but she seemed to be just fine. She wasn’t even ill-fed. In their fear of her, the Falicians seemed to have taken really good care of his kitten. Her fur shone and was soft as always.
Ference panted, staring at Aestiva, shocked, with wide eyes.
“This is your little devil?” he asked.
Griffin nodded.
“Well I understand now why they call her a demon. You had better let her go. They have surely realized she has escaped and will come for her at any moment. If you want to live, you had better hide that she belongs to you.”
Ryo laughed.
“Oh, Ference, you have no idea! If they want to live, they should know better than attack Griffin when Aestiva’s around. The gal’s ferocious! Trust me, I know!”
“It is a cat. They put your dragon in chains; a little kitten won’t be a problem. All they have to do is throw a net over her and it is done. If she tried to escape, she would just entangle herself more. So you see, your little feline does not stand a chance.”
“Ye’re a naïve one, ain’t ya,” Balthasar chimed in. “Don’tcha think there’s a reas’n for them to call her a demon? Ye und’restimate what Aestiva would do for Griff’n. Ye yerself stood between her and him, ye felt part of her anger, didn’t ya? She’s a special kinda cat, our Aestiva.”
Ference looked thoughtful for a moment, then he and Balthasar threw themselves into a discussion about what kind of breed Aestiva could be, considering her extraordinary temper, character, intelligence, and ferocity.
Griffin only half-listened. He was more focused on the little ball of happiness vibrating, satisfied in his arms. Ference was right about one thing – they would certainly come looking for her. But Griffin also knew something else – Aestiva would rather die than let her Griffin be taken away again. She wouldn’t let that happen. But Ference had been wrong about something else: Aestiva didn’t belong to Griffin; it was more like Griffin belonged to Aestiva.
It didn’t take long. Just a few minutes later, a group of Falician women marched out onto the fields, shouting.
“They ask the demon to surrender,” Ference said dryly.
Aestiva didn’t bother to take notice of the approaching women. Instead, she began to lick Griffin’s face clean.
Keeping a distance of a few feet, the women halted in a half circle around them. Griffin’s friends tensed, as if getting ready to fight, but the women made no attempt to come any closer. They shot uncertain and slightly frightened looks between Griffin and Aestiva.
One dared to step forward – a little too close for Aestiva’s taste. She hissed at her, arching her back, fur standing up as though electrified, and sparks of anger flickering in her eyes as she glared at the woman. The Falician flinched back, startled, before saying something in her melodic language.
Ference nodded and turned to Griffin to translate, “She is asking whether you are the one who summoned the demon from the Nether.”
Griffin stared at him, then at the woman and then down at the again happily purring Aestiva.
“I didn’t summon her from anywhere. Selene brought her on board,” he mumbled.
Ference shrugged and conveyed this to the Falicians, who gasped before their spokeswoman replied. Ference furrowed his brow. A short, confused discussion followed. Then he turned to Griffin.
“You know Celeste?” he enquired intently, almost shocked. “This… Selene is her daughter?”
Balthasar nodded.
“Aye. Celeste was a wond’rful woman. Kind, beautiful an’ smart.”
Ference’s eyes seemed to widen even more. Quickly, he spoke to the women again, who replied – with a sidelong look at Aestiva – before retreating.
“You get to keep your precious kitten if you promise to keep her out of the Falicians’ way. They seemed rather glad to have an excuse to not fight with her anymore. And you.” Ference pointed at Balthasar. “You will now tell me everything you know.”
“Everythin’s a lot.” Balthasar grinned. “Ye sure ye wanna go through all that?”
Ference didn’t smile. He looked deadly serious.
“Yes.”
Ference shared some of his accumulated knowledge with Balthasar. Enough that he could give Zero some clues as to where Selene might be. Thanks to them, the shapeshifter was able to find her. Sadly, it was still not possible for her to see the rest of her crew, as she was kept close by high-ranking Falicians. She communicated her orders through him. There was a plan now. But Ference wanted in. Since he had been instrumental in reuniting her with her crew, even if it was only through a messenger, Selene decided that he would be allowed to join their escape. Ference knew most of the Falicia islands and drew a map for them. With Zero’s help, he indicated patrol routes and the places where he expected the Falicians to be keeping Ayalon and the ship. Ference was even able to provide them with some tools. He lived a privileged life on this island, it seemed.
There was just one more thing: how to escape while causing as little commotion as possible. It was the Klabautermann who came up with the idea of setting out at the darkest time of night. The Falicians wouldn’t be able to see and it would be late enough for most to have gone to sleep. This meant that only the night patrol would be in their way, but thanks to Ference and Zero’s information, that should be easily circumvented. They had also discussed taking along and freeing as many of the male slaves as they could, but when they offered their help, none of the other prisoners were willing to take the risk. Instead, the Bat’s crew carried on with their plan by themselves.
Griffin, the Klabautermann and Maco were chosen to go find the ship and get her ready. Zero, Balthasar and Ference were to go fetch Selene, while Joe, Skip and Ryo would look for Ayalon.
On the chosen night, Griffin lay awake in his stall in the shack, staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t relax. Blood was pumping to his ears and he kept imagining all the things that could go wrong. A million and one things that could interfere and make them fail. It was only Aestiva’s warmth on his arm that kept him at least somewhat calm.
When the time came, he heard Ryo quietly rustling while getting to his feet. Griffin followed his example, and a moment later, Ryo, Ference and Griffin stood at the door of the shack, nodded to each other and went their separate ways to unite with their groups. Griffin asked Aestiva to go with Ference so she might be able to help should they get in trouble, but the kitten stubbornly followed Griffin instead. He was forced to accept it; there wasn’t much he could do about it in any case.
He found Maco and the Klabautermann quickly and he was about to ask which direction they should go when the Klabautermann stopped him.
&
nbsp; He put his blue finger to his lips.
“Sssshhh, follow me.”
The Klabautermann closed his eyes and began to walk with certainty. Griffin and Maco followed. Baffled, Griffin shot a confused glance at Maco, who pointed to his chest and to the Klabautermann with a knowing grin. Griffin didn’t understand, but Maco seemed to trust that the Klabautermann was leading them the right way. To Griffin’s surprise, they reached the ship in almost no time. Maco stopped the Klabautermann before he left the cover of the bushes.
“Vere… are… guardf,” he whispered.
Maco was right. A couple of armed women were walking along the shore. The ship was anchored beside a boardwalk, across a little bay.
“I’ll cause a distraction,” Griffin said, an unexpected wave of courage washing over him. “The guards will come for me and you two can sneak onto the ship and sail it to the meeting point.”
“Are you crazy?” the Klabautermann asked, staring intently at the boy and shaking his head.
Griffin looked back at him, a strange knot in his stomach.
“You know what? I think I am.”
With those words, he rushed off, crouching, Aestiva close behind him. In the cover of some bushes he knelt down to let Aestiva jump into his arms. Then he stepped out, singing a song about Captain Black Shadow that his mother had sung to him when he was little.
He was crazy. He had to be. Where else had the courage for this stupid idea come from? He would die. He would get caught and killed.
But this was important. If he didn’t do it, they would all share that fate. This way, it might just be him.
The Falicians noticed him and came running his way. He didn’t have time to see whether Maco and the Klabauter-mann were using the opportunity to get to the ship. He dropped Aestiva and ran as fast as he could without ever stopping the singing. The shouts behind him got closer and closer. Griffin kept running. His breath was burning in his lungs, but he ignored it. A few times, he stumbled on the uneven terrain, but always managed to catch himself. He could barely see where he was going. The fear of who was behind him pushed him on, even when his legs felt that they could go no farther. He ran along the shore until he was almost at the end of the bay. Just ahead of him was a cliff. Should he jump? The impact might kill him quicker than the Falicians.
No, he liked living too much. No jumping for him. He cut a corner to run farther along the shore. The shouts seemed to be growing louder as the women gained on him. In the darkness his foot got caught in a root and he crashed to the ground.
It was over. The Falicians would get him.
He clambered back to his feet and dared to look over his shoulder.
The women were almost on him. He could already see their eyes glinting menacingly and their drawn weapons reflecting the moonlight. They were only a few feet away from him. No… No, no!
Then, a fluffy grey ball jumped into their faces, making them stumble backward, screeching. Aestiva. Griffin used this chance to get some more distance between himself and the Falicians before climbing a tree to hide. He was certain that Aestiva would join him any second. He was right. She jumped up the tree and took her place on his shoulder. She was getting a bit big for that spot, but she didn’t seem to mind.
Griffin waited for several minutes, but no Falicians came. Had Aestiva killed them? Had they returned to the village to get reinforcements?
He decided not to wait to find out. He rushed to the meeting point where Ayalon, Ryo, Joe, and Skip were already waiting. But neither the ship nor Selene and her escort were in sight. Griffin told his friends what had happened to him and Ryo slapped him proudly on the back.
“I always knew you were a brave one!”
A few minutes later, the ship finally appeared, gliding through the darkness. If it hadn’t been for Ayalon’s night-vision, they might not have even noticed.
Ayalon lifted them on board two at a time. Waiting for the remaining crew members, Griffin used the time to check up on all the repairs. After a short while, the last group arrived. Selene did not look like herself. The Falicians had put her in white garments adorned with golden embroidery and jewels. Only her expression looked the same, grim as ever.
“Let’s set sail. Ference, you will navigate us through the fields. This time, let’s use the map a bit better. Ayalon and Zero, I want you to be at the front like last time. Make sure you look out for rocks as well. Everyone else, go to your usual posts. Griffin, make some food. I’m starving.”
“So, uh, Selene, do we have what we came for?” Skip dared to ask.
Selene smirked.
“We always did. We just didn’t know,” she said, pulling out her pendant.
CHAPTER 12
Things had returned to normal, other than another person being on board. Ference had led them safely through the Rock-vortex fields and a few days of smooth sailing had passed since then. Ference and Balthasar seemed to find pleasure in debating all sorts of topics that held no interest to anyone but them. In his spare time, Ference joined Balthasar in the library, poring over everything he could get his hands on. As a consequence, when they finally reached the first island since the escape, where they had promised to bring Ference, he refused to leave the ship. There was too much research to be done on the ship, he said. He was particularly interested in the Klabautermann and Aestiva. He had never met a ship’s kobold before and Aestiva seemed strange and enticing to him.
Neither the Klabautermann nor the cat were particularly pleased to have the old man near them, so Ference was forced to conduct his studies from a distance, and from the safety of Balthasar’s library.
He thought himself superior to everyone, aside from perhaps Balthasar. The snobby attitude he had displayed on the island only became worse with time. At least he had enough of a sense of self-preservation not to act condescending in Selene’s presence. Around her, he acted perfectly civil.
Griffin didn’t escape Ference’s criticism either, although his complaints about Griffin’s food were kept to a minimum at least, except for grumbling when soup or stew were served. No one in the crew appreciated the old man’s presence and constant prying.
“Why does Selene not just throw him overboard?” Skip complained one evening, while shuffling the cards for another round of Hook and Sinker.
Ryo and Griffin shrugged.
“Maybe sssshhe feelsss indebted to him sssinsssse he helped free her,” the Klabautermann suggested.
Ryo snorted grimly.
“Selene? Feeling indebted to a guy like him? No way! The way she’d look at it, he’s indebted to her because she allowed him to get on the ship to get away from there. Nah, there’s something else going on.”
“Perhaps he is aware of some information about her mother. He did seem rather excited to hear about Selene being Celeste’s daughter,” Joe said, joining the conversation.
Griffin though about it for a moment. It did seem plausible. Ference knew so much about the Falicians, he was bound to know something about Selene’s mother’s past. Could that be it?
“I’m just curious about what exactly happened to the captain the entire time. She just won’t say a word about it!” Skip said, a note of frustration creeping into his voice.
It was true. Selene had not shared anything about her experience on the island, at least as far as Griffin knew. And she been wearing these strange clothes that did not look like something she would wear voluntarily. Griffin was curious, too, of course, but he wasn’t under any illusions. If Selene wasn’t talking about it, there was no point in asking. And she would definitely never tell him if he dared ask.
He sighed. Around him the others began their speculations anew.
All Selene had told them so far was that they had to find a compass now. A compass into which her amulet would fit, a special tool. Maybe that was what she needed Ference for. He seemed to be a man who accumulated knowledge, as a child would shells. If anyone knew anything about an artefact as extraordinary as t
his, then it was him. Of that much, Griffin was sure.
“I’m out,” he said, getting up. He had better get some rest before his double watch-shift that night. Skip had traded with him in exchange for having to take watch together with Ference. Griffin couldn’t stand being near the man anymore. He was just constantly looking down on everything anyone did or said. And after having been imprisoned in the same shed as the man for several weeks, Griffin felt he deserved a break. Luckily, Skip heard his plea.
Now Griffin lay in his hammock with Aestiva snoozing on his stomach. His thoughts raced each other in his head and he couldn’t find any rest. Thinking back to their last minutes on the Falicia Island, he realized that he had been a fool. A lucky fool. So many things could have gone wrong in his reckless plan to get Maco and the Klabautermann onto the ship. The Falicians might not all have followed him; they might have caught up with him; he might have run into more of them or into a trap; or he could have fallen down the cliff.
What a fool he had been. But he hadn’t thought about it at the time. The idea had been planted in his head together with the firm knowledge that it was what he had to do. So he had done it. And it had worked.
He could go on all night with thoughts like that. But at the same time, he knew there was no point. The past was past, and nothing could change what had happened. Nobody could know what lay in the future, either. But the present, that was where he could influence things. Of course, he realized that it was important to learn from past mistakes – his mother had told him that often enough when she’d made him study Jianlah’s history – but there was no point in dwelling on it.
Right. Sleep wasn’t coming. He sighed and got up again, carefully lifting the kitten off his stomach.
Ryo and Skip weren’t back yet, but Griffin didn’t feel keen to go back to playing cards and drinking. The library seemed like a much more appealing place to him. Maybe he could lose himself in a book for a while.
Captain Black Shadow Page 17