This all came naturally to me as I did a stint in the Coast Guard after high school. During that time period I learned all I could about nautical history, from ancient Greece and Rome, to China, Korea and the Mongols. There is a rich history of naval warfare since the recording of history. For example, back in the 1400’s this time period, China had a treasure fleet with over four hundred ships, some as large as modern day aircraft carriers, that means, that right now that fleet is probably sailing somewhere around Africa or the Indian coast. Here I am, just building my first riverboat, with stolen harquebuses. I shook my head and cleared it of that train of thought, it could only lead to futility, instead I went with the age-old adage of, a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. I was on step one.
“So, from now on I am Captain Law. The position of First Mate assigned to Billy, he has prior sailing knowledge and river boat experience. Gunners Mate is Patty, as he knows how to work the guns best. Ships Shaman is Cunning Wolf, I may be War Shaman, but he is a real Shaman, more than I’ll ever be. His duties include spiritual and physical healing, head to him with your issues.”
I gave Cunning Wolf a gotcha look, and he responded with a scowl but said nothing, just nodded in acceptance.
“Silent Mouse you are Head of Recon, I’ll send Freak with you when you go ashore on scouting missions, but when you’re on the boat you are up the mainmast in the Crow’s Nest, that’s that perch up there.” I said, accentuating my command by pointing up to the position.
All eyes followed my hand and a chorus of audible swallowing could be heard.
“Up there?” Silent Mouse said, louder than I’d ever heard him speak before and punctuated with a loud squeak at the end.
“Aye, c’mon ya sissy biter, get on up!” Billy teased.
“I can get someone…” I started saying.
“No, no, I’ll head up.” Silent Mouse said interrupting me.
The tiny young man took a few deep breathes to steady himself, the rest of us were quiet as we watched him gather his courage. Then, without warning, he took two quick steps and leapt up grabbing onto the spars on the mainmast and began climbing like his namesake. In seconds he was up and over the side of the nest and looking down at us, eyes wide but a smile splitting his face from ear to ear. All of us cheered the man, and when it quieted down, I cleared my throat.
“Now, come back down just as fast!” I called up to him, roaring in laughter with everyone else as his face fell from elation to mortification in a moment.
Although, to his credit, he hesitated only a second before hopping over the side of the nest and scrambling down the mast as fast as he could. Much to my surprise, he made it down quick as a whistle. Even though his face was pale white on his olive skin, everyone cheered him once again and patted him on the back and shoulders. When things quieted down again, I continued.
“The rest of you are assigned to different positions on board, Patty and Billy will fill you in on your duties.” I paused, turning as the sun broke the horizon, glorious burning orange rising and pushing away the darkness. It was beautiful, it was as if the gods themselves were blessing our first voyage. I waited a moment as we all watched then turned back to the gathered crew. “Go and finish whatever odds and ends you have to do, then be back, we launch in an hour!”
The crew cheered and then filed off the boat to complete their last tasks. I paced around the deck of the Enterprise, thinking, while I waited for everyone to return. I sent a mental command to Freak and he raced off with a growl to get some personal time in, doing whatever it is he did, usually tormenting small woodland critters. Workers came on and off, with various hellos, as they dropped off dried meat, vegetables, fruit, and other rations for our journey, including plenty of the weak beer like drink.
The hour went by quickly and everyone returned, not only them but the whole tribe, even the newcomers had gathered around the boatyard. There were so many people, that I had to make room around the boat, so we could launch. A couple quick orders and the crowd moved back, and we began the launch.
“Good luck Law.” Walking Coyote said, reaching his handout for a shake.
“Thanks, good luck while we are gone. You have much work to do. Surprise me again old man.” I replied, ignoring his hand and grabbing the man in an embrace. We let go and I clapped him on the shoulder. “We will be back before you know it.”
Snagging a mallet, I had set by the dock earlier, I walked to the bow of the boat and turned facing the crowd. Glancing around, I saw expectant faces full of enthusiasm and wonder. My crew was on the boat and the tide was high. I lifted the mallet high and swung down with all my strength, knocking the wooden beam that was holding the boat on the dock. The beam shattered, and I reddened a bit, too much strength Law, but the result was the one I was looking for.
The boat slid down it’s ramp and hit the water with a splash and began bobbing up and down until finally settling on the now calm river. The crowd cheered, myself along with them, and with a final salute to Walking Coyote, I ran and leapt off the dock and onto the deck of the Enterprise, covering the ten feet with ease, landing nimbly and turning to face the crowd.
We waved for a few more seconds, as the current took the boat out to the center of the river, then I turned and looked at my crew.
“Let’s get this show on the road, or river so to speak. First Mate, if you please.” I ordered.
“Aye Cap’n. Ok, you lilly-livered, land lubbing, tossers! To your positions, let’s move!” Billy called.
A ragged chorus of aye, aye rang out, we’d work on it, and get better, I thought, as I walked to the bow and did a Captain Morgan on the railing, grinning as we turned slowly, the boat catching wind as the sail dropped, and the wind took hold. This was so dope!
TRACK 27 – BEAST AND THE HARLOT – AVENGED SEVENFOLD
MOON FLOWER
“So, what do we have here, Wendigo?” I asked.
“No sister. I do not know.” Night Star replied.
“Teihiihan?” I asked.
“No sister, I do not know.” She replied again.
“Well, what the fuck is it?” I whispered exasperated.
My sister looked at me like I was the dumbest being she had ever met. Her eyes rebuked me with her silence before she spoke again.
“I… Do… Not… Know… Sister!” She hissed, the words quiet but with the force of curse words.
It took my sleep addled mind a moment to get going but I finally understood. She didn’t know what it, or they, were.
“Sorry sister, I just woke.” I said.
“I am sorry as well, I am on edge. These, whatever they are, are just shadows in the weak moonlight, I can’t tell what they are. I can tell though that there are a lot of them.” She replied.
I nodded, then turned back to the camp, where all the Riders were waking and silently arming and armoring themselves. Whatever was out there, was obviously not our friend, as they would have approached and said something if they were. They knew we were here. There were a lot of them. We could wait and hide and see if they attacked and try to surprise them, but I didn’t think that was the best idea. Our strength was in our weapons and fort. I made a snap decision and snuck back to the center of camp, where all the Riders were almost ready.
“Dancing Lion, get the Riders to the walls, get all the torches lit. We’re are going to dare these things to attack us fully prepared.” I ordered in a low voice.
She responded with a nod and turned, heading to the Riders and giving out orders in a terse whisper. It was a shame we couldn’t use our horses in our first battle, but it would be a good test of our arms either way. In a few minutes the walls were fully manned, with torches interspersed around the fort lighting the area for a dozen yards in every direction.
“Make those fires big!” I yelled, smashing the silence with my command.
Each corner of the fort had a large fire pit on the wall. All five fires burst up, along with torches spaced every five feet. The effect was immediate, and
I was able to make out the monsters, and monsters they were, with more detail. By the light of the fire I was able to see that the creatures were small, smaller than Teihiihan by a foot or so. The next thing I noticed was that they were ugly little bastards. Either green or grey, I wasn’t sure because of the firelight, pointed ears, glowing red eyes, and bald little heads completed the picture.
Not only that, there were a whole lot of them. They hung back at the edge of the firelight, using scattered boulders for cover, so it was hard to get an exact count. As I walked around the fort though, I could tell we were surrounded, there were at least a hundred if not more of the little monsters. I made it around the fort once and stopped back at Night Star, who was joined by Dancing Lion, Ice Blossom, and Stone Fox.
“There is a shite load of pig fucks arse faces.” Stone Fox said, as I walked up. She had taken a liking to the way the cousins, William and Patrick talked, especially there curses and swears, even if she didn’t quite know the meaning.
I smiled at the woman, and at her attempt to match the cousin’s vulgarity and accent, then glared out at the swarming monsters. My periphery started to flash slightly, and I accessed the information with a thought.
NIRUMBEE (LEVEL 2)
A race of goblin like creatures from Crow legend. They are short, only knee to waist high, and have bulbous heads and shirt spindly limbs. Nirumbee, or Little People as the Crow call them, have pointy ears, greyish green skin, almost no neck, a wide mouth with razor sharp shark like teeth, slanted beady glowing red eyes, and a flat almost nonexistent nose. Nirumbee are excellent hunters, always moving in packs, using stone head arrows and bow, also crude stone spears and knives. They breed like rabbits and once you find a Nirumbee warren be sure an infestation is sure to follow. They are very strong, can lift a deer or an elk, and are known to steal children, food, or anything else they can get their grubby little hands on. Nirumbee have been known to tear the hearts out of animals as a warning and show of strength.
“They are Nirumbee, similar to the Teihiihan but more vicious and cunning, plus they can use bows and spears. Oh, and they are strong as fuck.” I said, dismissing the window.
“How could you possibly know that?” Dancing Lion asked incredulously.
“The goddesses told me.” I replied. Which was the truth, to me at least. Law had tried to explain it all and had gotten extremely technical, talking about quantum physics, game law, and other things that I didn’t really understand. I just listened politely and when he was done, chalked it up to the gods and goddesses.
A chorus of nods answered my statement and it was dropped. Our attention turned back to the monsters, which we now knew were Nirumbee, kept shuffling around and shifting between rock formations all about fifty to sixty yards out. That was well within our arrow range, but we had a limited amount and I didn’t want to waste them on misses and hit the rocks by mistake.
“Down!” Night Star yelled, the cry taken up around the camp.
The buzz of hundreds of bees swarming over loaded my ears, as I crouched behind our newly built barrier. Rapid thumps sounded as the Nirumbee arrows punched into the earthen berm, the heads punching through, one coming just inches from my face. They all didn’t penetrate, but some did, a testament to the monster’s strength. Guess there was no chance of saving our own arrows, not if we wanted to stay alive. I could always send a runner or two back to The Springs to retrieve more, if we survived.
“Return fire at will! Activate Flame Arrow! Pick your targets girls, don’t miss!” I yelled, as I popped up from my cover, bow in hand and arrow nocked. With a quick thought my Fire Magic flared, igniting the tip of my Fire Steel Arrow, I picked out a target, not difficult since there were so many, and fired.
Screeches pierced the night, as monster after monster fell to our burning arrows. There were nineteen of us, and we could each fire an average of five shots a minute, or one every twenty seconds, some of us faster than others, some slower. After the first two minutes we had fired one hundred and ninety arrows. I paused and took stock of the battle. Burning corpses littered the area, lending their gruesome light and noxious smell to the area. One thing they did do was give me a better view of the situation.
“Holy fucking shit, there’s a lot of the fuck sticks.” Stone Fox breathed.
I nodded in agreement. Even though our arrows had downed over a hundred of the Nirumbee, I could now see that my first estimate of their numbers was a little off. There were hundreds of them. I could see them hissing and scrambling around their dead. We didn’t have enough arrows to kill them all. It was time to change plans. Judging by the way they were massing and that they had stopped firing arrows, I would need to do it soon.
“What’s the plan?” Ice Blossom called, between firing arrows. “My quiver is half empty.”
“Same here!” Dancing Lion yelled.
“Hold the wall, I have a plan!” I called, shouldering my bow and leaping off the wall.
I ran around the fort, snagging a Rider from each side of the wall, while calling out orders nonstop. I took my four Riders and had them go to the horse corral and start saddling the horses. Winston gave me a look and whinny, I sent him mental commands to keep the other horses calm and get ready. He tossed his head in response and neighed in the affirmative. It still blew my mind that I could understand him. I ran back to my original position and leapt up next to Ice Blossom and the others, who were still firing their rapidly diminishing supply of arrows.
“Dancing Lion, Stone Fox, can you use enough Earth Magic to blow out this wall?” I asked the two women, while I began firing arrows at the monsters that popped out from cover. The little bastards weren’t stupid, they used the rock formations well. After our initial salvo, they had began keeping behind their cover more and more.
“No problem.” Stone Fox yelled.
“Can do Moon Flower but wouldn’t that give away our defensive advantage?” Dancing Lion called out.
Eerie horns split the night. The sound grating my ears and causing me to shiver involuntarily. I cringed, then shook my head, looking out in time to see the Nirumbee all leave their cover as one and began rushing towards our fort, their little legs pumping, it would have been comical, if they weren’t coming to rip us all apart.
“Just trust me, on my command.” I called out. “Ice Blossom, Night Star, you two with me.”
I leapt off the wall, confident my sisters were behind me, and ran back to the center of camp and the corral. All the horses were saddled and ready. I called out orders for everyone here to mount, doing so myself, then spun round and taking in each section of wall.
Time seemed to slow as I turn, taking in all the details I could, this must be what my fiancé felt like. He had tried to explain it, but I could never really understand, now I did. Everything was crisper, clearer, as my gaze took in each wall. They each had two defenders left, each still firing arrows as fast as they could. The center of the fort was higher then the rest of it, and on top of Winston I could see over the walls, and it was as I expected. The Nirumbee were streaming across the ground like a flood, they had already covered half the distance, it would be seconds before they hit the walls. The same scene repeated itself in each direction, good.
“Riders positions!” I called out at the top of my lungs.
A rider from each team grabbed each of their teammates horses and rode to their assigned walls, horses in tow, while each woman on the wall fired a last arrow and turned leaping down off the wall and landing on ground at the base. Then, placed each hand on the earthen wall before them.
“Now!” I called, raising my spear high in the air. While Winston reared and whinnied, raising me higher yet.
The Nirumbee were at the base of the wall, just as the Riders at the walls base each channeled their full Earth Magic into it, as one the wall of wood, rock, and dirt, exploded outward, in a cloud of debris, knocking down the all the monsters within ten-feet of the wall, then my vision was obscured by dust and dirt. It didn’t matter, I wheeled Wi
nston around facing north, the direction of the Crow village.
“On me! Ride, don’t stop, spears at the ready!” I cried, as Winston landed and took off, I gripped hard with my free hand on his mane and with my thighs. I spared a glance behind me and watched as all the riders who had blasted the walls, were mounted, and everyone was following in my wake. “Crush them beneath your hooves!” I raged.
Winston and I hit the cloud of dust and I couldn’t see, but I could feel and hear. The screams and cries of the Nirumbee sounded around me from the explosion of the wall. Then, newer higher pitched cries joined as Winston’s hooves smashed and squelched monster after monster beneath him, as he rode over them like a terrible god. A moment of this passed and then we broke through the cloud and ring of monsters.
My Riders followed along behind me as I rode down the hill, luckily the moon became high and bright, and the ground could be seen easily. I guess we’d be visiting the Crow earlier than expected, I just hope the Crow were still there to talk to, I thought, as the arrows and the screeching of the Nirumbee were left behind in the night.
TRACK 28 – (NOTHING BUT) FLOWERS – TALKING HEADS
That first day was tough, I won’t lie. It took all the patience I had, plus some of my, yet to be firstborn child, to make it through the ordeal. Other than that, the day was awesome! The boat worked perfectly, once we got over our incompetence, some things can only be taught by doing. The comedic effect wasn’t lost as it took us over an hour to turn the boat around when we launched, so the whole village got to see us flail around like amateurs, and the added bonus of hearing Patty and Billy swear like champions.
We started with the oars, which took the better part of four hours, just learning to turn, go forward, reverse, tread water, and spin in place. After hours of that, we switched to the sail, which took just as long, and everyone single one of us ended up in the water at least once, by accident, not by choice. But, by midafternoon we were cruising down the river at a brisk twelve knots. I knew this because when we finally got the boat going at a good clip and were moderately effective seamen, a screen appeared.
I Am Gamer II Page 15