by Bianca D’Arc
She had been told of his tragic past, of course. How he had lost his wife and dedicated his life, from that point on, to bringing the pirate Fisk to justice. When she’d heard the story, at first, she’d scoffed about how long it was taking Captain O’Dare to get Fisk, but then, she’d retracted her scorn as she’d learned more about Fisk and the magical means by which he’d been concealing his trail for so very long.
Once she had realized the true depths of what Liam—she could no longer think of him by any other than his first name, now that she had slept in his bed—was up against in chasing Fisk, she had changed her opinion. She realized he must have loved his wife dearly to spend so much of his time and effort to bring her killer to justice. The fleet Liam had managed to build was a thing of beauty that had already come in very handy in protecting the land of Draconia from Fisk and his kind.
It had been thanks, in part, to Liam’s fighting fleet that only the single book had been stolen from the wizard Gryffid’s tower. And that book had been returned, thanks again to Liam’s support of the recovery efforts. Just that single page remained abroad to threaten all good people, everywhere, and Liam was working harder than anyone to retrieve it. She admired his single-minded focus. Not many men would dedicate themselves to a quest and follow it through, no matter how long it took. She liked that about him, too. In fact, she was discovering there was a great deal to admire, and not much to complain about, where Liam was concerned.
Finding the missing page would also mean finding Fisk. Rivka knew that was probably a large factor in Liam’s motivation, but when it came down to it, Rivka didn’t think it mattered why Liam was doing this…only that he was doing it. He was risking greatly for the chance to fulfill his own quest while aiding in protecting everyone from the horrors that might be unleashed if that page and its spell was used where it could do the most harm.
She would chase Fisk all the way across Draconia and the Northlands, if she had to. She was a warrior of her people, and she had sworn to this quest. She would see it through, no matter what. Right now, that meant partnering with Captain O’Dare. He was the closest anyone had come to finding Fisk, and he knew the pirate and his habits better than anybody.
She had hitched her wagon to Liam’s and would remain with him as long as the partnership proved worthwhile. That she would be spending a great deal of time with the handsome and attractive captain was something she’d just have to deal with.
*
“Cap’n, there’s a ship on the horizon,” the man in the crow’s nest called down to Liam on deck where he’d been talking over their next moves with Mr. Benyon and his mates.
Liam immediately pulled out his spyglass and concentrated on the distant horizon. They’d been chasing the sun all day, heading westward toward the great port city of Tipolir. Sure enough, far in the distance, he saw a ship—not under sail but, seemingly, at anchor, far from shore. Strange.
Liam compressed the spyglass back into the smaller cylinder he habitually carried in his coat pocket and turned to Benyon. “If it is Fisk, he’s anchored in a strange place.” The implications troubled Liam. He would have expected Fisk to dock in Tipolir, not anchor his ship far away from any support from ashore.
“Have the watch keep an eye on that ship as best we can until the sun sets. We’ll make for it and prepare the men for a possible hostile boarding,” Liam ordered.
“Aye, aye, Cap’n,” Benyon replied briskly and set to work dispersing Liam’s orders to the right people.
Liam busied himself on deck until suppertime. They slowly gained on the ship, and the closer they got, the more it looked like Fisk’s Thorny Nettle. Liam had always thought the ship was aptly named because it had been a thorn in his side for decades. Others just called it the Nettie, for short, but Liam knew better.
Liam went back to his cabin when supper was served, instructing his steward to leave the tray outside while he checked on the dragon. He knocked at the door gently, not wanting to disturb Rivka, but also wanting to offer her the evening meal. She answered his knock with a soft come in, so he opened the door and went in, carrying the tray.
The cook clearly hadn’t known what to do about a dragon on the ship, so he’d simply sent up two large portions of the captain’s grub. Tonight, he’d been served a small game hen with sides of potato and roasted peppers. The same dish had been prepared for the guest, which would probably have been totally inadequate for a dragon but seemed to suit Rivka, in her human form, quite well.
“Oh, that looks delicious,” she enthused as Liam set the large platter down on his desk and lifted the covers off everything.
He served her first, clearing a spot on the opposite side of his desk for her to use. She didn’t seem to mind the make-shift accommodations, for which he was grateful. He knew women liked, and often expected, certain niceties which were scarce on a ship like his.
Liam filled her in on the ship they were approaching over the meal, and she asked pointed and intelligent questions about his plans and contingency plans. She decided she would take her dragon form to help, as they neared the ship. In fact, she decided she would take a short flight over, to look at the other ship, just after dark.
“Is that wise?” Liam asked, not wanting to argue with a dragon, even if she was in human form, right now, but compelled to point out the possible dangers. “We know Fisk has blades that can pierce dragon scale.”
“If I wait for full dark, it will be very hard to see me,” she insisted, dipping her spoon into one of the slices of pie that had been included on the tray for their dessert. “And I’ll be careful.”
Liam didn’t like it, but when it came down to it, she wasn’t under his command. He had no say in what the female dragon shapeshifter did or didn’t do. The best he could do was support her should she come to harm.
It was quite a change from the way he was used to dealing with females. Women, in his experience, had always been more fragile, in need of his protection. Rivka, by contrast, was well able to take care of herself and look after her own safety. She was more the protector than the protected. She was a warrior, in her own right. A magical being with powers he probably could never fully comprehend.
But she was also a beautiful woman. Something about her appealed to him on almost every level, which hadn’t happened to him in more years than he could count. Not since his wife had he met a more intriguing female. And that was a thought that made him pause in his steps.
After losing the love of his life, he’d thought he would never meet another woman he could find the least bit attractive. Then, Rivka flew into his life and upset all his notions about attraction and the kind of woman he could find himself drawn to. Something about her stirred him in ways he hadn’t been stirred in too long a time to countenance.
It was impossible, though. Liam would never love another, and aside from the attraction, he knew he would not shame his wife’s memory with some loveless encounter with a substitute female that could never be his Olivia. He’d vowed never to love again, and he was old enough to appreciate that sex without love was merely a physical act without meaning. He’d had the best. He would never go back to mere passion. That would dishonor both himself and the memory of his lost love.
No. No matter how attractive he found the lovely Rivka, Liam would not indulge his baser instincts. What would such a woman want with him, anyway? He was merely human, whereas she was a shapeshifting dragon, for star’s sake. Such a mismatch wouldn’t stand a chance and, Liam knew, neither would he. Thanks be to the Mother of All.
He wasn’t in the market for a fling, or even a roll in the hay. Such things were over for him, now, and he was better off without all those passionate emotions getting in the way of his true mission in life: to kill Fisk.
Retrieving the page of the book was a new mission, but it dovetailed nicely with his raison d’etre. Get the page, kill Fisk. It was all one purpose, now, since Fisk had the blasted page.
“Don’t scowl so, Captain,” Rivka’s voice came to him, rem
inding him that he wasn’t alone.
Had he spent so much time stewing in his own thoughts, of late, that he no longer knew how to keep up his end of a conversation? Yes, he realized. That was probably the case.
“My apologies, milady. I was thinking about our shared mission.” He hoped she’d accept that at face value and let it be.
Rivka eyed him warily for a moment, but then just shook her head gently and looked down at her plate. He realized they had consumed the meal, and he should probably take the plates away. Normally, he would ring for a steward to clear the table since Rivka was a guest, but nobody but Liam knew she was a shapeshifter. He merely collected the plates himself and placed them back on the tray he’d brought them on. He’d take it with him when he left the cabin, again. For now, there were plans to discuss.
CHAPTER THREE
Discussing his plans with anyone sat odd with Liam. He’d been on his own for so long. Master of his own fate…or doom. He hadn’t consulted with anyone on his course since before he’d lost his wife. He’d worked long and hard to become his own man, beholden to no one on his ship or in his business.
He’d turned over a lot of the authority for the business on land to Livia and certain trusted managers in various ports of call, but on the high seas, Liam sought no one else’s counsel. He knew his ship, his capabilities and his mission better than anyone, but he was forced to admit, Rivka, by her very nature, knew more of magic and magical things than he did.
Fisk was using magic, the blaguard. Liam would have to learn—or seek counsel of those who understood such things in ways he could not—if he was to catch the murderous bastard once and for all. Rivka had come into his life at just the right time, it seemed. She was a magical being who might have more of a chance of finding Fisk’s trail than Liam did, he was sorry to admit. She was also a ranking member of the secretive Jinn Brotherhood. She had connections on land that he lacked. Particularly inland.
Liam’s own network was thick on the ground in port towns and even along the coasts of other countries, but he had never bothered to build connections inland anywhere. Liam was a man of the sea, after all. Fisk was a pirate. A seaman, as well. Never had Liam imagined Fisk would flee over land where Liam could not easily track him. He’d assumed the chase would be from port to port or over the waves, not over mountains and through farmlands and deserts.
Liam hated land. Horrible things had always happened to him on land. But, if a land chase was his fate, then so be it. Liam would do everything he had to do to catch Fisk.
“The ship lies at anchor here,” Liam told Rivka as they sat together after he’d cleared away the dishes. He pointed to a spot on the map he’d unfurled and lay across the table. Liam had spent many years perfecting and modifying it with his own hand.
“It seems an odd place,” she said, looking thoughtfully at the map. “What are these lines?” She pointed to a feature he’d drawn in blue ink.
“Prevailing currents, as far as I could detect them. I’ve made a study of the shoreline all the years I’ve been at sea,” he explained.
Rivka paused, looking up at him. She seemed impressed. “I had no idea you could detect such detail from the surface, but then, I’ve never spent much time on or near water. Except the occasional lake, of course.” She smiled, her final words playful, and Liam found himself almost grinning. One corner of his mouth lifted, and it was an odd enough sensation that it startled him. It had been a very long time, indeed, since he had smiled.
“I have spent almost my entire life at sea,” he said, hearing the gruffness in his own voice, but he couldn’t help it. “Such things are important, particularly when storms come,” he finished, knowing he sounded a bit abrupt, but damned if he could change it. He wasn’t good with people, anymore. And, furthermore, he didn’t really want to be.
“There appears to be no real advantage to anchoring his ship in this spot,” Rivka observed astutely. “Why do you think he’s done it?”
“It doesn’t make sense. It’s too far for easy access to the mainland by boat. It’s not near anything in particular. He’s also on the edge of a shelf that drops off into very deep water. It’s about as far from shore as he could go and still get a solid anchorage,” Liam said, frowning at the map. What was Fisk up to, now?
“How close are we?” Rivka asked, still studying the map.
“We will not be near enough to see much before nightfall,” he admitted.
“Perfect.” She looked up at him, a daring glint in her green eyes. “I’ll go out after dark and take a look.”
Liam grimaced and her gaze narrowed even more. “I know I have no right to tell you your business, but Fisk is well known to use diamond-bladed bolts and arrows. It’s not safe for you—even under cover of darkness.”
Rivka shook her head, smiling slightly. “I appreciate your concern, but I assure you, I know how to be careful. The Black Dragon Clan is full of spies, you know.”
*
Rivka had enjoyed teasing the handsome captain. She thought about their earlier discussion as she winged her way under cover of darkness toward the faint silhouette of a tall ship, not too far distant. Liam’s ship was still sailing this way at top speed, but he would not arrive for an hour or more. That gave Rivka time to investigate on her own.
Although, she suspected that she wasn’t completely alone. She caught the occasional glint of light off highly-reflective dragon scales beneath the water below her, keeping pace with her flight easily. It looked like those sea dragons could really move, when they wanted to. She’d sensed a sea dragon nearby most of the day.
The sea dragon in question hadn’t made any attempt to communicate with her, so she assumed it was following Liam’s ship out of curiosity. She didn’t know if Liam was aware of the sea dragon or not. She hadn’t asked, and he hadn’t volunteered the information, if he had it.
Still, if this sea dragon was going to investigate Fisk’s ship with her, perhaps she would introduce herself. First, though, she had to see what she would find at the ship. If things stayed quiet, she would observe and perhaps have time to talk to the sea dragon about any observations it could make from below. If she flew into a hail of arrows, she would fly right back out, again. Anything else, she’d deal with as it came. She was prepared for just about anything.
Except finding the ship completely abandoned.
Rivka circled the ghost ship, unable to detect a single living soul on board. Finding it safe to land, she perched on the crow’s nest, high above the deck, peering cautiously downward as the sea dragon’s head rose from the water.
“Greetings, milady. I am Skelaroth, leader of the sea dragons in these waters.”
Well. At least he had good manners. “I am Rivka of the Black Dragon Clan. It is good to meet you, Lord Skelaroth,” Rivka addressed the colorful and huge sea dragon below.
“This ship reads as empty from below,” Skelaroth said without further pleasantries.
“It seems empty from up here, too,” Rivka agreed.
She leapt down onto the deck in her dragon form, then changed swiftly to her human guise, quickly drawing the twin curved blades she carried on her back. She neither knew nor cared how the magic worked, but whatever she was wearing in human form went with her into her shifted form and came back when she shifted back. She had been wearing her blades, along with other weapons still secreted about her person, when she had taken flight to find Liam.
“I’m going to look below,” she said out loud to the sea dragon. He didn’t reply, merely nodding his massive head as he tread water beside the ship.
Rivka made short work of her search. She looked into each compartment and the hold, finding everything empty. Not even a ship’s cat or the rats they were meant to chase was left on board. It was odd in the extreme. She went back to the main deck to find Skelaroth still there, watching from the water.
“The ship is completely empty. Not a bail or button left in the hold. Not even a mouse,” she reported.
“This seem
s highly improbable,” Skelaroth mused. “Humans always leave something behind, in my experience.”
“Yes, we do. But this…” Her thoughts trailed off.
“This seems almost like magic was used,” Skelaroth said in her mind.
Rivka blinked, then blinked again, looking up at the mighty sea dragon. “That’s not beyond the realm of possibility. We know Fisk has used magic in the past to foul his trail. But why leave his ship anchored here? If he was intent on leaving it for good, why not cast it adrift?”
“Perhaps he does not want to let it go entirely. Maybe it remains here, as a backup plan,” Skelaroth said, craning his long neck out of the water to look over the rail to the deck, inspecting the ship closely.
“That’s got to be it,” Rivka agreed. “It’s the only thing that makes sense, but I have to say, it’s damned spooky.”
The sea dragon chuckled, but unlike his land counterparts, no smoke rings billowed up from his nostrils. Sea dragons did not generally flame the way land dragons did. The laughter, without the accompanying tendrils of smoke she was accustomed to, brought home the differences between land and sea.
This dragon was mighty by any standard. Much larger than herself, of course. In general, black dragons were the smallest of all dragons, but they were also the only dragons that could shapeshift into a human form. They were, quite literally, half and half. Half human and half dragon. Born of the great wizard, Dranneth the Wise’s line, to rule over both humans and dragons, in harmony.
Rivka wasn’t an historian. She didn’t really know where the sea dragons fit in. She supposed someone, somewhere, must know the full story about how land and sea dragons came to be, but that wasn’t really important to her, right now. No, what mattered most, at the moment, was whether or not this particular sea dragon—Lord over all the dragons who swam these seas—would lend his aid to her quest. Not one to beat around the bush, Rivka asked Lord Skelaroth straight out.