Dragon Choir

by Benjamin Descovich

  Delik ducked into the officers’ quarters to get out of view. Elrin would need a word or two of encouragement to carry this off. It was a fine way to decide what his caper was without jeopardising the mission.

  Elrin walked out of the great cabin into the officers’ quarters wearing a fresh uniform.

  “You stink like the bloody swamp,” said Delik

  “But he looks the part,” Minni picked a pill of lint off Elrin’s blue coat. “They aren’t going to smell him across the water.”

  “Why do I have to wear it?” Elrin asked Delik.

  “Not sure if you noticed, I’m a slip too short for the thing.”

  “Surely there is someone else in your, er, group that could wear it.”

  “Yes, but you’ve made yourself our only option since you know how to work the magical light-message contraption.” Delik sat on a bench with smug satisfaction.

  “It’s not a contraption! Together, the seal and transcribing tablet are brilliantly designed. It’s called a solargraph,” said Elrin, trying to educate them.

  “See! Delik’s right, you’re perfect for the task. You even know what it’s called.” Minni repositioned Elrin’s cravat a little and straightened his white waistcoat.

  Elrin gave her a curious look. “I think I’m dressed fine now. Thanks.”

  “You’ll be doing the talking, lad.” Delik handed Elrin the spyglass, the magical seal and the tablet. “Just stay at the helm and do as I say. When they get within earshot you’ll be on your own for a whisker. We want to keep them on the far side of the ship, so get them to double up and dock over there.” Delik jabbed his finger in the direction of the neighbouring pier. “You ready?”

  “No.”

  “Good. Head up to the wheel and follow my directions. Can’t be simpler.”

  The reluctant young Calimskan left the cabin and made his way up onto the quarterdeck. Delik followed, sneaking behind barrels and crates as he went. Both ships were in full view now, tacking into the harbour together at a steady pace.

  Pulling an oilskin over his head and hunkering down behind a barrel, Delik dictated another message to Elrin. “All haste to south pier. North pier under repair. All troops to disembark and secure dock perimeter. Vulnerable to rebel attack. Reserve units to disembark and proceed with haste to Juniper’s bilge. Redeemers to board and proceed to great cabin. Healing required immediately.”

  With quivering hands, Elrin sent the missive and held the seal aloft, ready to receive a return communication. After a moment, flashes beamed across the water from the leading ship and he translated the signal, calling it back to Delik. “Proceeding as directed.”

  Even from his sheltered position, Delik could see Elrin looked nervous, and so he should be. This was going to be quick and bloody if things went their way. But, if the rebels failed, a slow agonising death was the best Jando would offer. He hoped the lad handled the pressure if the fight came to him. If he really was green with a blade he’d need help, and if it was an act, then Delik would keep an eye on the lad anyway.

  Either way, he’d not be left alone. May as well keep the lad alive and see what he was really after. If Elrin was an agent of Calimska, a dead letter was the perfect cover to get in bed with the rebellion. That humble, innocent runaway act had to be all bluff, Delik saw right through it. No matter, he would play along for now.

  Delik wondered if the Jandans were playing along with his own grand bluff. Would they get in close and spring out their cannons? Or were they so self-assured by their military strength that they didn’t even question Elrin’s communication? Delik knew the ignorance of Jandans. They thought themselves superior to all—the Lord’s chosen ones. The Council were so high and mighty they couldn’t grasp the roots of the rebellion. They only cut the shoots back, and with every cut the roots grew stronger, deeper. Spring would come and there would not be enough blades under the sun to keep the rebellion from blooming.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  To Sea

  Elrin stood squarely behind the wheel, trying his best to look like he was in charge of the situation. The two galleons headed to the north pier as they had been directed. First came Templestone, her figurehead a dour cleric holding a holy book under one arm and a corner stone under the other. Templestone navigated downwind before coming in to stand off the pier. The crew dropped all of the sails and the captain wheeled her around into the wind. Templestone slowed and slid in, docking snug with the pier.

  Back home in Calimska, Elrin had been impressed when he saw this manoeuvre at the docks on the Lake of Tears, but the ships that traded up the River Tash to the Lake were half the size of this. The precision was a marvel to behold. While Templestone had her lines secured, Fearless came around and docked in the same way. Her figurehead was a knight in full plate, carved to attention and layered with enough silver paint to reflect the morning light like polished steel. She gave a gentle nudge to the pier, her forward momentum diminished by the drag of the water and wind.

  Both ships were bigger than Juniper and to Elrin’s relief they kept their gun ports closed. They appeared to have every intention of following the orders Elrin sent on the solargraph. If the Jandans had other plans, the rebels would be slaughtered.

  A tall white robed figure stood on the main deck of Templestone, shadowed by another shorter figure in red. Both wore identical white cowls, emblazoned black with the holy star of Jando’s foreign god. These were the redeemers come to heal the Commodore, nothing but sly poachers stealing essence to fuel their corrupted magics. Barbarous practices like that were outlawed in Calimska long ago, only true sorcery was allowed. Elrin caught himself in his own naivety. What did it matter that the Guildmaster was the greatest sorcerer since Calim himself? It didn’t stay his power against an innocent. Elrin had to be wary of man and magic.

  The Jandans had arrived with both in force. Five units of marines stood armed and ready on each deck. Elrin tried to grasp their numbers estimating three Jandans for every rebel. Delik and Minni must be insane to try and fight this many men. There was no hope against a force of these proportions, even with the extra men who had volunteered to help the rebels.

  About thirty marines and crew had formed bucket brigades. One in each brigade cradled a timber hand pump and the rest carried pails, ready to relieve the bilge.

  While the dockers assisted in securing the ships to the pier, the Jandans poured down the gangplanks in pairs, surging along the pier onto the main storage area of the docks. They formed a tertiary perimeter then pushed forward again, extending the defensive line to prevent anyone getting into the area. Access from Rum Hill and the headland was cordoned off and units took positions watching over the swamp and wilderness to the south.

  As the soldiers secured the docks, the so-called redeemers were escorted by a small troop of elite marines carrying longswords and dressed in chainmail. Their shields carried the Jandan crest; a black star on a sea of blue. Pulling behind them, the bucket brigades jogged down the southern dock and around to board the listing Juniper.

  The Jandans left a small unit of marines on Templestone and Fearless, patrolling the decks and ensuring the crew continued to follow orders of the commanding officers. Elrin fancied the crew on board the galleons were waiting for something. The rebels had dosed Juniper’s crew with their own men to execute the mutiny, so it made sense for them to have done so for Templestone and Fearless too. They would need to have a surprise to overcome this formidable enemy.

  Elrin hailed the captain of Templestone, which had docked closest to Juniper. “About time. He’s close to death! So’s the damn ship!”

  “Who are you?” The captain was perplexed. He paused scanning the decks for someone. “Is Trentin out of action too?”

  This was a test; the captain was trying to catch him out. He only had half a chance of guessing. If he gave the wrong answer it would send the whole plan to the bottom of the bay.

  “What?” Elrin feigned being unable to hear the man.

  “Trentin?
Is he injured? He’s engaged to my sister, you see.”

  “Sorry! I didn’t get the last bit. Trentin what?”

  The captain frowned and reassessed Juniper, squinting up at leaning masts. High in the nest the osprey landed on the spotter’s arm with a cheerful call.

  “What is going on? That bird is not regulation.”

  “Ah, well, of course it isn’t. It’s a gift.”

  “A gift? For who?”

  “The High Priest if you have to know. Commodore Pelegrin wishes to keep it a surprise.”

  The captain crossed his arms. “That doesn’t sound like him.”

  Elrin was stuck. “He has an ivory cage ready too. Very generous is our Commodore.” Nathis help him out of this one.

  A gust of wind picked up, lifting Elrin’s hat off. He grabbed for it and pulled it down over his black hair, but it was too late, the ruse was over.

  “You’re a damned shiner! What ha—” An arrow shot through the air and lodged in the captain’s neck. He keeled overboard and into the sea, grasping at the shaft, choking on his own blood.

  There was no time for Elrin to contemplate shock. As soon as the captain’s body hit the sea, a volley of hooks launched from the water and lodged on the rails of Templestone and Fearless. Drakkin hauled out of the water and overpowered the marines patrolling the decks.

  A platoon of shankakin sprung from below the southern docks. They emerged from the water brandishing blades and ran up the gangplanks to assist the drakkin. The embedded crew on both galleons took their chance as Elrin had guessed, pitching in with the shankakin and drakkin, using makeshift weapons to subdue the marines and officers that remained to guard each ship.

  Each rebel platoon moved with silent death. They didn’t scream battle cries and declare their intent. They moved fast and spoke with their blades, disarming and subduing those they could and ending the lives of those that hindered the assault.

  The healers’ elite guard had already boarded Juniper and were marching towards the officers’ quarters when they noticed the attack on the Templestone and Fearless. They went for their swords too late; rebel blades were at their necks, leaving the healers prone to attack.

  The poacher priests received special treatment, for the rebels must have dreaded what magic they might wield. Six crossbowmen covered them while they were bound, gagged and forced to their knees. The men binding them moved with haste born of fear, backing away as soon as their task was complete. None wanted to be sapped to a husk by sacrificial magic.

  The bucket brigade had already descended through the hatch, headed for the bilge. They would have been weaving through the bowels of the ship before they realised Juniper’s crew were the enemy. Just as Delik had said, the prisons would be brimming with Jandans. The tide had turned for Hurn; he’d be enjoying his time as jailor.

  While Elrin could only guess what was happening to the bucket brigade below decks, his position at the wheel on the quarterdeck gave him a perfect survey of the wider battle from all directions. Rebels attacked with swift cohesion, working so efficiently together they must have rehearsed. Each fighter knew their task and if one fell another was there to follow through. Drakkin warriors broke the Jandan resistance with blunt force while shankakin fighters overwhelmed them with furious speed. The mutinous crew of Templestone and Fearless were not as precise or battle hardy as the rebels, but they made up for it with enthusiasm.

  The crew’s treatment under the Jandan authority must have been poor. They issued forth with conspicuous delight, serving revenge on particular officers and marines. It made Elrin uneasy that men could justify all kinds of cruelty. Revenge was not a good reason, though he doubted any reason would end up being good enough.

  The captain of Fearless suffered a painful death when the crew swarmed him, pummelling his body with boot and fist. The brutality ceased only when Tikis boarded the ship and separated the bloodthirsty crew, setting them to prepare the sails. If Tikis had not intervened the captain would have been nothing but a bag of meat. The crew would have kept on striking the dead body until they were spent.

  Templestone and Fearless cast off while the muffled racket from the battle still issued from inside the ships. Each crewman worked with a motivation they had lacked when they docked, setting the ships to sea before the rebels had seized full control.

  Without blood smearing Juniper’s deck, the Jandan rescue contingent had been put down. The ship was secure and the crew looked to their new command.

  “Bosun! Weigh Anchor!” Delik called from the quarterdeck. “Stabilise this ship and set sail!”

  Elrin was relieved when a crewman approached the wheel.

  “Old Selmet here will navigate,” said Delik. “You can release the wheel from that death grip, lad.”

  Elrin hadn’t realised he was clasping the wheel as though it would fly away. He let go and stepped aside for Selmet, a spry old sailor with a weathered grimace and awkward squint. He tipped his threadbare cap to Elrin and took the wheel.

  On each deck, every spare hand set to shifting the cargo back while Juniper eased away from the pier at an awkward angle.

  The marines on the docks were slow to realise the mutiny and theft of their vessels. The officers in command had their attention set on securing the docks from a threat on land. There was a harsh call to about-face, which was countermanded, and an argument erupted between two officers in the middle of the docks.

  In the confusion, many of the marines hesitated to charge their own ships. The line of command was in disarray and couldn’t coordinate an effective response. The more disciplined squads charged back across the docks. A score of marines reached the southern pier just in time to get aboard Templestone and Fearless, but in short measure they were repelled and flung overboard. The water darkened with the blood of the dead; laden with armour they sunk into the deep.

  With the element of surprise spent, rebel archers on each ship shot at the Jandans. Minni raced up to Juniper’s poop deck, leading a squad of marksmen. They first targeted the officers on the docks, then sent volleys of arrows and bolts into the marines. Minni commanded her bow with a sure, fluid motion, picking through the Jandans with such calm calculation, Elrin wondered if any of her shots missed.

  The marines broke ranks and retreated behind crate stacks, carts and loading bays. The officers from the outer perimeter rallied their men as it dawned on them they were losing their ships. They organised a second charge of marines to attack with crossbows, but released just two volleys before Templestone and Fearless had pulled out of range.

  Several drakkin dove over the side of Templestone, arrows protruding from their scaled hide; with such large bodies they were an easy target without cover. The rebels continued to shoot back, enjoying the advantage of better range and elevation, the archers decimated the Jandan crossbowmen, halving their number and painting the southern pier red.

  When Juniper approached an even keel, Delik gave the command to come about and prepare the cannons. Templestone and Fearless kept behind the headland, out of the view of the other two Jandan ships anchored at sea beyond the bay.

  Meanwhile, the fringes of the swamp south of the docks came alive. Drakkin rose from the mangroves and reeds, covered in mud, pelting the marines’ unprotected flank with stones. Jandans crumpled to the ground clutching their heads and nursing their battered arms and legs; the slings of the drakkin were primitive but lethal.

  Again the Jandan officers were taken by surprise as the perimeter they had just held secure was assaulted by an organised enemy. Commands lashed across the Jandan ranks, ordering the troops to protect the southern flank against the drakkin. The marines were doing their best to hold behind any kind of cover, sheltering against stacks of crates and pressing around warehouse corners while the barrage of stones stormed down without relief.

  Elrin didn’t know if the drakkin had been laying in wait at the edge of the mangroves all this time, or if they had crept up on the Jandans in camouflage; their scaled hide blended perfectly w
ith the surrounding environment. The drakkin slings were in range of the whole dock area, lobbing missiles in high arcs that struck at those stuck behind meagre barriers and those on the northern side of the docks. The troops from the northern flank rallied to engage the slingers from the south.

  Marines holding their position at the south of the docks broke cover and charged the drakkin in the swamp. The charge failed, their thin line of attack ripped apart by a volley of drakkin javelins. The Jandan defence could not retaliate with ranged weapons of their own because all of the surviving crossbowmen were pinned on the north and south pier without officers to pull them in to counter the drakkin’s constant onslaught.

  The ragged southern line broke just as the fresh marines pressed in from the north. A second volley of javelins swept into the confusion and the Jandan forces panicked, tripping over each other to get away. The officers lost all control of their men.

  Routed, the marines knocked each other over and trampled the injured to get to safety, all discipline lost, all morale to dust. Zealous officers refused to call a retreat. They rallied a squad on the North Road, cutting down any marines who attempted to flee to Rum Hill.

  Marines dived into the bay, taking shelter under the northern pier, desperate to escape the hail of stones. Others tried to fight their way through the drakkin to escape. They were ill prepared to fight in the swamp and were given no mercy; drakkin warriors clubbed and chopped, ending those who faltered in the mire with brutal effect. Elrin watched on from Juniper with a deep hollow in his gut, as the ambush fell into a slaughter.

  “Wheel her around Selmet,” Delik’s eyes were grave, his mood as grey as death.

  “What are you doing, Delik?” Elrin was uncomfortable in the Jandan uniform. The blue overcoat was oppressive in the heat and itched.

  Delik pushed past and leant over the quarterdeck rail, yelling to his man on the main deck below. “Load the grape shot! Broadside the docks!”