Chronicles of the Dragon Pirate

by David Talon

  Arabella shared a smile with Pepper and released her hand as Jade’s voice spoke from a space beside me. “We have finished our patrol. All the Shadowmen have remained on the sloop except for Tommy, who appears to be hiding in one of the back rooms.”

  Redbeard chuckled. “Aye, I’ll bet he be hiding.”

  “Speaking of Shadowmen, the crewman hit with the arrow will be converting within the hour...and before you ask, Tomas, I cannot help him.” That sobered all of us, the group turning to look to where Whistling John was still curled up in a ball as Jade’s voice went on. “Outside, the village men have taken up positions around the entrance with gunpowder muskets, pistols, and steel blades. They seem to have learned their lesson, for most of them have set down their muskets for swords and axes, while those still using gunpowder have placed it in small packets. If you charge them, it will be a difficult fight.” Satisfaction entered her voice as she continued. “However, we do have an advantage they know nothing of.”

  “The golem,” I exclaimed. From across the table the others turned to look at me, Jeremiah smiling as he gave a nod of understanding as I said, “Jade can take over one of the ancient golems standing outside the building.”

  “It will take all the strength I have gathered from Tomas,” Jade said, “for that is the nature of Resin: it soaks up strength like a sponge, but holds the strength no matter how many times the dragon-spirit leaves and returns. It is also very strong and tough; not indestructible, but able to withstand a lot of punishment before breaking.”

  Arabella asked, “Can another dragon-spirit animate it if you have left the golem?”

  “She would have to be as old as I am,” Jade replied, “and almost as large. There are dragon-spirits in the world who are both, but none within a hundred leagues of here, at least. I also may be able to lock a small piece of myself inside the golem, so I will be the only one of my sisters who can use it, but I will not know until I actually get inside it.” Her voice grew sharp. “If I do this, it will take me a quarter of an hour or more to learn how to animate the golem, or whether the golem can be animated at all.”

  “I hope so,” Pepper said, “for all our sakes.”

  “As do I. Tomas, would you like for me to take over the dragon-golem, knowing it will take all my strength to do so, and it will be some time before you are strong enough for me to draw from you?”

  I glanced at the captain from across the table and he nodded, all of us turning towards the dragon statue visible through the entrance, the dragon-globe in its hand shining brightly. “Jade,” I said, “please take over the golem and when...hopefully... it’s ready to be used, you will find the captain and do as he commands.”

  “As you wish,” Jade answered. A moment later the black statue shivered, several cracks forming in the black painted plaster before the statue became still once more.

  Suddenly a familiar voice spoke from behind me. “Good...I hoped she’d take the bait,” and I stiffened as the muzzle of a pistol was pressed against my temple.

  I froze in shock as everyone whirled towards me, Jeremiah reaching for the Artifact pistol tucked into his sash then hesitating as a cold hand clamped itself on my shoulder like a vice. “Draw your pistol and Tomas dies,” said the voice I recognized as the Shadowman Tommy’s. “Move towards us past the table and he dies as well.”

  “What do you want?” Captain Hawkins snarled as everyone took their hands away from their weapons, the Mulatto and Claude continually glancing back at the entrance. “If you wish to trade him for William, I will gladly do so.”

  “You may keep Bill with my complements,” the Shadowman’s voice becoming mocking as he continued. “What’s the matter, Bill? Did it ever occur to you the rest of us might not want to be under a captain’s thumb again? That we might want a voice in where we go and what we do?”

  Black Pox Bill seemed to forget about the pistol aimed at his head as he pushed his way past Redbeard to stand next to Captain Hawkins. “Tommy, you...once thieving whoreson. This is betrayal!”

  “This is survival,” Tommy shot back, his voice returning to normal. “Captain Hawkins, Bill was right about one thing: Olde Roger wants us dead, which is why he tolerates Shadowhunters in the first place, and the only way we’ll make it back to Britain is if we’ve a Dragon of our own. We’ll find a tiny village in some isolated place and set ourselves up like we did here, only quieter.”

  Captain Hawkins stabbed his forefinger at my face. “Tomas is Dragon-sworn to me...”

  “...And the hand of fate will return him to you once we are dead; yes, brave captain, I know the legend as well. It’s superstition, just like a sailor’s luck.”

  Arabella winced as she walked up beside Pepper, who had moved to the edge of the table as well, looking frightened on my behalf. Arabella, however, was wearing a hungry smile. “It is not a legend, as you will see. But do as you will and I will see Tomas returned to his captain straightaway.”

  “Little Shadowhunter,” Tommy’s voice becoming mocking again, “How it must’ve pained you to feel our carnal embrace, thinking you’d soon see us dead. Instead, you get to watch us sail away to a place where you can’t find us again.”

  Arabella only laughed. “Vengeance is like I remember my mother’s cooking: never to be hurried, only anticipated. Captain Hawkins,” her eyes never leaving mine, “I will depart and return Tomas to you on the morrow. You should have no problem with the villagers once Jade has the golem up and moving.”

  At the mention of the golem, Tommy began pulling me backwards with him as Captain Hawkins glanced at Arabella. “How do I know I can trust you?”

  “You will know the strength of my word by the might of my actions. Until the morrow, aiddio Harry.” Arabella turned and slowly walked away.

  The Shadowman continued walking us backwards as Pepper called out, “Tommy, stop. I’ll go with you.”

  “No!” I yelled. “Pepper, stay with the captain.”

  Tommy pressed the muzzle of his pistol harder against my temple. “Shout in my ear again and I’ll teach you manners when we’re aboard the Rose. I’m sorry, my pet,” he called out as we reached the open doorway, “but the Dark Sisters told us you’re one step away from being permanently merged with a dragon-ghost, and I just can’t take the chance. Besides, you’re a member of the crew and I gave my word not to let any harm come to you.”

  Jeremiah looked ready to pull his pistol anyway, despite the threat to me. “If you let any harm come to him...”

  “I won’t,” the Shadowman said, “so long as he’s helpful. In time, he will even come to accept his life...much as Pepper did.” Pepper broke down in tears, her sobs piercing my heart as Maria rushed over to console her while Tommy moved us through the doorway into the darkness beyond.

  “Tomas,” Captain Hawkins called out, “cooperate for now, but remember you are still Dragon-sworn to me. I will have you back.”

  “You heard the captain,” Tommy said, turning me around so we could walk easier. We were in a wide corridor, free of any debris, and as he hurried us down it I heard the voices of the others echoing off the walls, blending together in a meaningless jumble of sound.

  Then the Mulatto’s voice rose above the others. “What about Whistling John? His eyes are already rimmed with red.”

  “I won’t have a Shadowman aboard my ship,” Captain Hawkins voice echoed, cold as the rain in winter. “John’s your man so do with him as you will.”

  The others had gone silent, and in the quiet I heard the sound of a pistol being cocked. “Mulatto, don’t do this,” I heard Whistling John plead. “I swear to you I’m fighting this...I mean, I’m trying to fight this. Please, I won’t be any trouble to you...”

  A roar echoed down the passageway. I covered my ears until the echoes had stopped, the pistol no longer pressed against my head as Tommy said cheerfully, “At least we won’t have another mouth to feed.” Through the doorway we were approaching I s
aw stars, and he said, “Pick up your pace: I want to be offshore when the dragon-golem wakes up.”

  We marched out of through the doorway into the mild coolness of the night, the scent of saltwater overpowered by the stench of dead seaweed and rotting fish mixed together on the stony shore as the restless sea carried in more. A grey-stone walkway led to a stone pier where a sloop was tied up. I saw pale men wearing wide brimmed hats and dark clothing on her deck, impatiently waving us onward from the stern of the ship, on which the words ‘Black Rose’ were painted in red, with a rose painted beneath it. As we left the walkway for the pier, the stone going from smooth to rough under my feet, I saw the sloop was less than half the Davy’s length, with a single mast holding a large sail aft, and a pair of smaller sails forward. Unlike the sails on the galleon, their canvas looked to be in good shape, flapping in the breeze coming off the ocean as Tommy pushed me towards the weathered gangplank.

  Fear rose up like a Black Strangler to choke me as I stepped onto the weathered wood, the gangplank creaking ominously as we trod up it and onto the greasy deck. Shadowmen surrounded us at once. “Our last Dark Sister told us you poisoned the other one,” one of them snarled, the brim of his leather hat leaving his face in shadow.

  I shrank back from him. “I didn’t poison her; I just let her draw strength, that’s all.”

  “We don’t have time for this,” Tommy said. “Everyone get to their posts so we can be underway.”

  The first one sneered, “Who died and made you captain?”

  Tommy knocked the wide brimmed hat off the Shadowman’s head, revealing a man with one eye sewn shut and a gaping wound in the side of his face, revealing part of his jawbone. “All of us,” Tommy growled, “if the dragon-ghost figures out how to animate the golem while we’re still here.”

  There were cries of alarm from the others, a grizzled oldster with a square-cut beard and a bolted plate seeming to keeping his skull intact saying, “You mean his dragon-ghost’s large enough to animate it? It was only supposed to keep her busy until her Dragon was aboard.”

  “Bill neglected to say just how large she is,” Tommy said as the one-eyed man picked his hat off the deck, giving Tommy a surly look as Tommy sneered back, “Just like he neglected to tell us a lot of things, like planning to make Harry Hawkins one of us so he’d be captain over both crews, as some of us didn’t believe.” The surly look was replaced by one of shock as Tommy turned to me, drawing the rusty steel knife from his belt. “Tomas, you need to give us the wind right now. If you balk, I’ll start severing your fingers, one by one, and eat the flesh off each in front of you until you agree.”

  He said it in the tone of a farmer discussing which chicken would have its head cut off and made into dinner, and I replied at once, “That won’t be necessary. But Jade’s my primary dragon-ghost: the others are small, and won’t be able to create large air-golems.”

  “Just have them do their best,” Tommy said as the Shadowmen began pulling the ropes holding the ship in place off her posts and onto the pier.

  Fearing I’d hear only silence, I said to the empty air, “Are you girls still with me?” Five little voices answered, and I exhaled sharply in relief as I held out my arms. “Take what you need to create the largest air-golems you can.”

  Coldness seeped into my arms as five pairs of fangs drew from me, and then the wind swirled a moment before five mermaid air-golems began forming in the air. Tommy smiled as he pointed towards the mainsail. “Get us far enough out to sea and we can catch an ocean breeze to spare your strength.” I nodded, directing the mermaids in a configuration suitable for the design of the sail, lining them up before letting them press against it. One of the Shadowmen yelled to hurry up and Tommy yelled back, “Patience. Or do you wish the canvas to rip?”

  Then the Black Rose began to move. At once the Shadowmen were all smiles, even the one with an eye sewn shut, and the grizzled oldster took the tiller as we headed out to sea. I looked back the way we’d come. The back of the building was in ruins for the most part with the doorway we’d left from the only usable exit I could see, the central archway broken by the collapse of part of the roof a long time ago, judging from the trees growing out of it. Suddenly I saw people pouring through the open doorway and Redbeard’s bellowing voice. “Hoy, Tomas! We’ll be getting you back, you’ll see.”

  The ship was too far away for me to yell so I waved, and Redbeard took his great double-bladed axe and waved back, Jeremiah brandishing his cutlass at the retreating ship in frustration. Tommy came to the deck rail where I stood and said in an oddly sympathetic voice, “All of you are still clinging to the old myth.”

  My gaze was on the pier, where Pepper had gone to the edge and stopped. “It’s the only hope I have left.”

  “A false hope, as you’ll soon see...”

  Suddenly I heard a sharp cracking sound coming from the direction of the building, and a moment later screams and the sound of gunfire. The men whirled, and I saw Captain Hawkins lead the others back towards the doorway, Maria speaking in Pepper’s ear before trying to pull her away from the pier. But Pepper shook Maria off, who seemed to call to Panther, the two women grabbing hold of Pepper’s arms. “Go,” I said aloud as she tried to remain where she was. “Go with the others and be safe. I’ll come back to you...if I can,” I added as I felt the familiar twinge. From the direction of the building drifted the sound of more screams and gunfire and Pepper finally let the other two women drag her away. A moment later the shore was empty.

  The Shadowman at the tiller turned the ship away from part of the island jutting out into the ocean ahead of us, and as the sloop sailed around it, a strong breeze sprang up in the direction the Black Rose was going. Tommy had me pull back the air-golems but kept them holding onto ropes, their tails fluttering like flags in the wind as the Shadowmen tightened the sails. Tommy put a cold hand on my shoulder. “Let’s get you settled into your new quarters down below,” he said, steering me towards the main hatch, where a makeshift set of stairs led down.

  The hold stunk like a charnel house. I gagged as we reached the lower deck, Tommy glancing at me with a smile as I looked around. The hold reminded me of the Dutch Flyte’s, a large open area with dragon-globes hanging from the ceiling in their rope baskets, providing light. But that’s where the resemblance ended, for instead of holding cargo, the hold aft of the stairs seemed set up for the Shadowmen’s leisure. A round wooden table held hand painted playing cards, set face down as if a game had been just interrupted, while a square table held a carved ivory chess set and a larger, rectangular table had a finely drawn map of the Olde World with delicate toy soldiers set up as if representing armies. There was also a man-sized wooden rack set upright in the shape of an X, with gore encrusted manacles and dark stains soaked into the wood.

  Strewn about the hold were discarded items, like a green dress, torn and blood stained, and a child’s wooden sword. Staring at it I felt a different kind of fear. “Bloody bones...do you have children aboard?”

  “Not anymore,” Tommy turning towards the forward part of the hold. “The holding pens are this way, but we’re only passing through them. I’ve got a much nicer cabin reserved for you.”

  The light was less in the forward part, illuminated by an occasional flickering dragon-globe in their rope baskets, just giving out enough light to see by. On either side of a makeshift passage running up the center of the ship were stalls like the kind horses were kept in, with a manacle and an iron chain attached to one of the support posts. All of the pens were empty except for one, but as we reached it I saw it held a large man in brown robes and I immediately stopped. “Brother Tristan?”

  I hadn’t given the monk a moment’s thought since I’d pulled the Black Strangler vine out of Andre, but the monk had obviously been thinking of me as he moved forward as much as his chain would allow. “Blessed be the Lord who answers the prayers of the unworthy,” he said with eyes wide and pleading. His sour sm
ell was worse and his face was bruised, with one eye swollen shut, and I lost my fear to pity as he clung to my hand “I was travelling up the grey-stone road, hoping to minister to the poor souls of Freehold when the Shadowmen caught me, to be sure.”

  “He was spying on us...to be sure,” Tommy added with a mocking laugh. “Draco Dominus likes to know what the Shadowmen are up to and whether there’s something worth attacking...or worth having,” he added as Brother Tristan let go of my hand and cowered, moving farther back into his pen. “When we caught him, the poor brother released all of his bird golems, used to relay news back to their fortress on the island of Jamaica.”

  “He could’ve been giving news to the head of his order,” I protested, “or perhaps Draco Magistris.”

  “He could have...but he wasn’t, were you?” Brother Tristan lowered his head as if he didn’t wish to meet my gaze as Tommy went on. “A Dark Sister can sense the truth when she’s got her claws into a human as well as any dragon-ghost, and it didn’t take long before Brother Tristan told us everything he knows.” His next words chilled me. “Draco Dominus knows... well, knew, you’re on Big Bluff, and that you’re a lot more unusual than they’d thought. Sebastian would’ve sent a warship after you, but it seems he’s having problems with the succession.”

  “Montejo was well liked,” Brother Tristan said quietly.

  The Shadowman made a casual gesture with his hands as if it didn’t matter. “In any event, Sebastian wanted to know if the renegades of Freehold posed any threat to the base the Draco Dominus wishes to someday build here, so he sent the poor brother off to spy on us.” He stepped into the pen and patted Brother Tristan on his pudgy cheek. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to torture you for sport. Instead, when we reach the Carolina coast we’ll have a ‘fare thee well New World’ feast, with you as our meat and mead, so to speak.” Brother Tristan shrank back from him, the Shadowman chuckling as he pulled me back into the corridor and we continued onward.