The Dragon's Breath

by James Boschert

Then the steersman Umayr called out fearfully and pointed at the sky behind them. The huge mass of roiling storm clouds was now almost overhead, and a column of rain had appeared and was now moving at speed directly for them. The captain remained calm, but he ordered a small shift of direction and then shouted to the crew to stand by.

  Abruptly a blast of cold air struck the ship. The sails filled like stretched skin and Talon could have sworn the after mast bent a little. The blast of wind almost knocked him and Reza off their feet, causing them to clutch at anything that came to hand just to remain upright.

  A high, keening sound rose as the wind howled through the rigging, followed by a wall of rain. It washed over the men on the decks of the ship in torrents, lashing at exposed skin, soaking them to the bone within seconds. A flash of lightning nearby startled them all, and it was followed almost immediately by a clap of thunder that deafened the men on the afterdeck and made them cower.

  Turbans were blown off and men were lifted off their feet as the squall hammered at the ship and forced it to heel over to port. The crew struggled to keep their footing, hanging onto anything they could to prevent themselves from being washed overboard. The awning that covered most of the after deck was torn into strips, the remaining rags flapping wildly against the frame that had supported it.

  “We need to find rope to lash ourselves to something, or we might go overboard!” Reza shouted in Talon’s ear. He nodded agreement; but just as suddenly the squall was gone, and in the ensuing quiet, dripping people looked at one another with wide, fearful eyes. The sea, however, had turned an ominous darker shade of green flecked with black, while the crests of the waves began to foam. The sun disappeared altogether, leaving behind a menacing diffuse light; streaks of lightning and the ripping, tearing sounds of thunder bellowed overhead. The ship righted itself and continued, but now they were being buffeted by waves that marched in serried ranks up from the South. The entire sky became an unhealthy yellow color. Even the air around them smelled of something unpleasant, almost as though it was burned.

  “Be warned, that was only the beginning!” the captain called over to them. He glanced behind him apprehensively. “If you have to stay on deck, which is madness, then tie yourselves to something. You cannot steer, so stay where you are.”

  Talon and Reza hastened to comply. They wrapped ropes around their waists and then tied themselves to fixtures near to the mast. They saw the steersmen do the same, as did the captain.

  “We are useless up here on deck!” Reza said, swiping the waster away from his face. “But I would rather be up here seeing what will befall us than down below.”

  “It will be very unpleasant for the others, but up here it is far too dangerous for them,” Talon agreed. Just as he said this, the wind descended upon the boat, and once again Talon was reminded how insignificant man became once he ventured out to sea.

  The storm hit with a force which made the entire ship shudder as though struck with a monstrous hammer. It brought with it slashing rain and lightning that hissed into the sea around them, followed almost immediately by numbing crashes of thunder that shook the air and made their bones vibrate. The ship shuddered and yawed, and then began to rise and fall with the waves. The captain had at least been able to alter their course so that they were going with the wind, wherever it took them. The men at the steering point were thrown about as they struggled with the beam and tried to keep the ship from yawing and rolling them over.

  The wind screamed and howled as though a thousand demons were at work, their one intent to sink the vessel and claim all the lives on board. The waves had in the shortest space of time gone from a couple of paces high to mountains of foaming water that formed deep valleys and tall hills all around the struggling vessel. Talon could barely breathe, the air around him was so full of water. He hung onto the ropes, knowing full well that had he and Reza not tied themselves off they would have gone overboard a long time back.

  The ship would nose into a wall of water that would bury the bowsprit and then pour over the bows and forecastle in a foaming rush, and then very slowly the forward part of the ship would begin to rise. Water poured off the decks in torrents as they climbed out of the valley between breakers, so that they seemed to be pointing at the sky for one moment; and then they would crest the wave to descend sickeningly into yet another deep valley of water, being pushed from behind by the foaming crest of the wave they had just run over.

  The spume and spray from the waves added to the torrential rain which washed over the decks, stinging faces with such force that men who still had their turbans took them off and wrapped the soaking material tightly about their faces and heads, leaving only the eyes exposed. Within minutes Talon felt numb with cold and could tell from Reza’s expression that he too was suffering. They looked at one another and could read the fear in each other’s eyes. Reza’s lips were moving as he prayed. They crouched against the thick trunk of the mast, trying to avoid the worst of the weather, watching the captain and the steersmen fight the sea.

  As the ship rolled from side to side it would take on the sea, and the men on the waist deck would be up to their waists in water, in danger of being swept away; then the ship would begin to roll in the other direction. Anything that was not lashed down properly was taken overboard, and Talon, watching this happen, was filled with a dread. He remembered only too well his tragic voyage from France on his way back to the Holy Land.

  They stayed where they were, fastened to the deck by ropes, while the captain and his steering men fought hour after hour to prevent the ship from foundering. Those of the crew who needed to be at hand on the waist huddled tightly under the overhang of the deck above, miserable, soaked and cold.

  The only consoling thought Talon had was that they were well away from land, hence could use the vast space of water without fear of being run ashore. However, the sea and the tearing, grasping wind seemed to have combined in a determined effort to swamp the ship. He stared out at the darkened sea, watching as the waves crested and the wind tore those same crests away, reminiscent of the dunes he had traversed not so many months ago. There really was a comparison to be made between the two, he reasoned. The only difference being that with the one you could die of thirst, while with the other you could drown. Small comfort in either case.

  And lo! on the wing of the heavy gales,

  Through the boundless arch of heaven he sails;

  Silent and slow, and terribly strong,

  The mighty shadow is borne along,

  Like the dark eternity to come;

  While the world below, dismayed and dumb,

  Through the calm of the thick hot atmosphere

  Looks up at its gloomy folds with fear.

  —William Cullen Bryant

  Chapter Ten

  The Wreck

  During a lull in the rain, darkness descended upon them. When the wind abated somewhat, Talon and Reza untied themselves and made a dash for the lower deck and shelter, leaving the captain and his men to their exhausting task of maintaining the ship on some kind of course. Reliefs were changed over every two hours, but the captain stayed at his post, constantly examining the elements for change and squinting up at the rigging to make sure that there were no weak stays that might snap or a boom that might break and put their lives in jeopardy.

  Talon wanted to make sure that the others were holding up, while Reza accompanied him to find some dryer clothing. Peering into the gloom, Talon was shocked by what he found when they entered the main guest room. Everything had been flung about, and anything moveable had careered along the floor to smash against one wall or the other. The hanging lanterns, which were not lit, swung in crazy arcs as the ship wallowed from side to side or rose and fell with the huge waves. There was a distinct smell of oil in the cabin which worried him; some had spilled on the rumpled carpets. There was also an unpleasant odor of vomit.

  Rav’an was wedged in a corner holding a frightened Rostam, with Jannat looking as pale as a ghost nearby.
Rav’an was trying to console with soft words one of the servant girls who was on the edge of hysterics. The other servants were clustered nearby, seated in a terrified huddle, and some of them were fervently praying.

  The men were accompanied into the room by a gust of wind from outside that had followed them down the stairs. They stumbled in, dripping water from head to foot.

  All eyes in the cabin turned upon them and Rav’an gave a gasp of relief. “It sounds terrible out there!” she exclaimed. “What is happening?”

  Reza gave Rav’an a smile and a wave of encouragement to Rostam, who was clutching at Rav’an, then crouched next to Jannat. “Are you all right, my Jannat?” he asked gently, while he dripped water all over the floor.

  “Allah be praised, I am all right, but you are so wet, Reza! You should change out of those clothes or you will catch your death!” she said shakily as she reached out for him. He took her hands and said, “It is bad out there, and although it might not seem so, you are safer in here. Have courage.”

  Talon knelt by Rav’an and reached out to touch her cold cheek, then ruffled Rostam’s hair. “How are you doing down here?” he asked them with a smile.

  “You should change too, Talon. Can you not stay with us now?” Rav’an asked him, almost pleading.

  “No, my Love, I cannot. The captain is on deck, and as the owner of the ship I cannot do any less. I shall change and then go back up. We will need to find some food in a few hours, as the cold is sapping our strength, and his. I think he is very tired.”

  “There is nothing to be done about the food until the storm abates. Then I shall see to it, if there is any to be had, but you must be very careful, Talon.”

  Talon nodded agreement but didn’t say anything. It was a formidable tempest and he was very worried, although the ship seemed to be holding its own for the time being. His faith in ships at sea in rough weather was not great. Not for the first time he wondered why he had wanted to make this journey. The closed atmosphere of the cabin was making him feel nauseous. Surprisingly he had not felt sea sick at all while on deck. He marveled that Reza had not been ill either, as his friend had no real experience of the sea.

  Talon and Reza went next door to change and put on warmer clothing.

  “I am glad we are going back up on deck, Talon. I was very close to being sick in the women’s cabin. I didn’t feel too bad while on deck.” Reza said as he changed clothes and put on an oilcloth cape. Talon grinned; for Reza that was quite an admission.

  Talon took extra capes for the captain and the steersmen; then, after a drink of water, they went back onto the heaving deck. It was dark when they put foot on the waist deck, without a glimmer of light anywhere. They had to feel their way to the stairs. For Talon it was a terrifying experience; he could barely see the foaming water as it came aboard, but he could feel it slosh up his legs and tug at him, trying to pull him into the dark sea. He and Reza clung to one another as they fumbled their way up the ladder to the afterdeck, gripping at any solid structure at hand. The sea seemed to be level with his eyes, or even higher, as it slid by, foaming, malevolent and spume-covered. They made it onto the top deck, their change of clothes already soaked, and then they struggled into the full brunt of the wind to get close to the captain.

  He acknowledge their return, but he was forced to shout over the keening wind and the crash of water at the bows to be heard. “God preserve us, but we are not out of this yet, and the next hours are going to be very difficult. Insha'Allah we will survive the night. Should we do so, the morning will tell us how much longer this storm will last.” He donned the cape gratefully and then called to his weary men to pay attention to the rise and fall of the waves behind them, which they could not even see; if they did not pay attention the ship could move sideways to the waves and they would be swamped.

  His main concern was how much water the ship was taking on, but in the darkness it was impossible to tell. “We will have to inspect the hull and to find out how much the cargo has moved when it gets light,” he bellowed.

  “If this gets much worse, we will have the unpleasant task of jettisoning some of our valuable cargo!” Talon shouted back. He didn’t like the idea at all. He had invested a lot of money in that cargo. If they had to jettison it, he would be broke with only a ship to show for his hard-acquired investment, and perhaps not even that, if things got worse. He shook his head; being a merchant was not all it was cut out to be.

  *****

  Below their feet in the master cabin, Rav’an and Jannat huddled in a corner, braced against the crazy tipping and veering of the cabin, which seemed to move about in impossible ways. What low tables there had been were now a pile of sticks in a corner with the brass trays and pots piled on top of them, clinking and rolling about as the deck heaved in this or that direction. Salem had joined them, along with the maid they had hired in Oman; both had been flung into the corner, almost on top of Rav’an and Jannat, by the gyrations of the vessel. It was impossible to stand or even crawl while the ship heaved and twisted in the raging seas.

  Rav’an held Rostam close to her. His head was buried in her cloak and his arms were tight around her neck, and she murmured words of encouragement in his ear. It was all the more terrifying because they could not tell what was going on above them. Despite being tightly closed, the shutters at the rear of the cabin were leaking and water was sloshing around the floor, having soaked the carpets and cushions into a soggy mess. They had all been sick at one time or another, which made the air foul and difficult to breath without feeling nauseous all over again.

  Her greatest fear however, was for Talon and Reza out on the exposed deck above. Even in the half-darkness they had looked exhausted and hollow-eyed when they had come down to see them. Despite their encouragement she could see that both men were very worried. She had even detected fear in Talon’s eyes. She had never seen that before, and it frightened her.

  On occasion she could hear the men above shouting, but it was unintelligible, their words blown away by the wind. Somehow she understood that Talon had experienced this kind of storm before, and by his demeanor she guessed that it had not gone well that time.

  In a haze of exhaustion her thoughts drifted to what kind of man he had become. In the relatively short time they had been together again, it was clear to her that he had changed from a youth to a man. Not just any man, but a hardened warrior; also, inexplicably, a rich man. She had no idea how he had accumulated enough to buy the ship and hire the crew, and Reza had not been able to enlighten her on that score. He had simply shrugged and told her that the Jews in the bazar had been extremely polite and had given him as much cash as he had needed.

  She sensed also hardness to him that she could not remember from before, but she realized that it was not a cruel hardness; more a tempered strength, as though he had seen more than his share of the hardships of life. There was a certain guardedness that was new; secrets buried deep within that one day she resolved she would hear about from his own lips. There was a set to his jaw and mouth which, along with his old scar, made him seem intimidating to his son. But they were getting along well, she reasoned. Talon spent as much time as his duties permitted with his son, and she had seen them together at the front of the ship deep in conversation.

  She knew that Rostam had initially been scared of this stranger who had come from nowhere and had been introduced as his father. She had been pleased that gradually the fear had been replaced by a wary respect and the beginnings of warmth, although Talon smiled less these days than she remembered. When he did, in their private moments, it was more with his eyes, and she could remember with a flood of warmth the Talon she had known before. Fariba, the ever wise Auntie Fariba, had told her that she should be patient, as Talon had not had an easy life while away and he was haunted by many ghosts; but under the slightly gruff exterior he was still their beloved Talon. His tenderness towards her, Rostam, and their companions left her in no doubt as to how much he loved them, from which she drew much c
omfort.

  Rav’an sighed. She wished that they were all back with Fariba and Haddad in Muscat, warm and together in the scented garden. While she understood that Talon and Reza had been seduced by the lure of riches and adventure, she hoped that it would not end here, in the middle of the ocean. She pulled Rostam closer still as the ship lurched and twisted.

  *****

  The storm abated somewhat near midnight, although the men on deck had little respite. A particularly strong gust of wind took away the after sail. Talon and Reza heard a great crack above them, followed by a tearing sound; then without warning streamers of the sail whipped at them. There was another loud snap above them and they could tell that the rest of the sail had blown away, and the sheet and the boom that held the sail fell to the deck. It shattered the wood awning above them into matchwood, its rollers narrowly missing both men, who were cowering against the trunk of the mast, only just protected by the frames around its base.

  The tackle struck the deck with an ugly thud, followed by another smaller one, and they found themselves entangled in ropes and pulleys, as well as being under the boom itself. Reza had the presence of mind to seize the small tangle of ropes and pulleys and tie them off to prevent them from being dragged overboard, but there was nothing else they could do in the dark.

  Worse was to come. As the ship wallowed, barely making headway now that they only had the jib sail keeping the bow downwind, an enormous wave rose up on the starboard side and swamped the men at the steering bar; Talon felt the water rise up to his knees then rush out behind him, even this high!

  There were cries of fear and then pain in the darkness, but Talon could not make out what had occurred until he heard his name shouted by the captain.

  “Master Talon! Help! We need help here, God protect us!”

  He realized that he had to go and assist the men, but the danger of crossing that wave-swept deck was cause for hesitation. However, he could hear clearly that they were in trouble. “Reza I must go to him!” he yelled, and hurriedly untied himself, then staggered across the six paces to the steering men.