Can't Look Back (War for Dominance Book 1)

by Chris Kennedy

  “You’re not leaving, are you?” asked the Sergeant of the Watch. “We need you here!”

  “We have to go meet the last member of our group,” said Dantes. “Hold the walls until we get back. You can do this.”

  “I can?”

  “Yes, you can,” said Dantes. “There are a lot of people counting on you. Do your best.”

  As the companions jogged off, Dantes shook his head. It was obvious that the soldiers had never trained to defend the wall. They were running everywhere, and nothing was prepared. It was going to be a slaughter, whether they stayed or not. Everyone in the city was going to die.

  “Who said to close the gates?” asked a loud voice.

  The group turned to find that the dark knight had arrived. Without a word being spoken, all of them charged him. Seeing the group coming at him, the dark knight turned and ran off the other way. He reached the corner of a building and was quickly lost from sight. “Stop,” said Dantes. “Let him go. There’ll be another time to kill him. He’s a distraction. Let’s get to the port.”

  Lady Ellyn was the last to turn back to the port, watching where the knight had fled in the hopes that he would return. The knight was evil and needed to be dealt with. When he didn’t return, she sighed once more and turned to follow her companions. She knew she would meet him again.

  Chapter 41

  “I was wondering when you’d turn up,” said Fitzber, materializing next to Dantes, causing him to jump. He looked like a turtle with a giant shield strapped to his back, and he had several large items in his arms.

  “Even now you have to do that?” asked Dantes, resisting the urge to strike down the little gnome as his heart rate returned to normal. “Can’t you ever stop?”

  “Stop what?” asked Fitzber with a smile. “Showing up with presents?” He gave the load he was carrying to John. There was a wrapped package, as well as a short sword and a dagger. “I guess I could, but I thought it would be better if John were armed and armored, at least a little. And I also knew I owed the good Father a new shield for the one he lost coming to my defense, sure’n that’s the truth.” He climbed out of the shield and handed it to Father Telenor.

  “We need to be going,” said Fitzber, sobering. “If there’s one thing I noticed, it’s that this city is ill-prepared for its defense. I do not believe the walls will hold for more than 30 seconds, maybe not even that.”

  “You’re right,” said Dantes. “They’ve probably already fallen, and we need to get going. I’ve been here before. The port is just over this hill; hopefully, we can find transportation there.”

  As the noise of the city diminished behind them, the group could hear shouting and screaming coming from the other side of the hill, in male voices as well as female, and in young as well as old. The group hurried to the top of the hill. Reaching the crest, John saw a winged creature headed away from them. It was enormous and colored a dark red that tended to brown in spots. As they watched, something fell from its claws and cartwheeled down almost 500 feet to impact the surface of the bay. John realized with horror that it was a man. He hit with an enormous splash and didn’t resurface.

  “Dragon!” Fitzber yelled, the first to recognize it, and the group ran down the hill to the port. If the dragon heard him over the screaming, it gave no indication as it made a lazy turn over the harbor to survey the results of its attack. Apparently it was pleased, as it continued its turn and headed out to sea, winging off quickly to the south. The devastation in the harbor was nearly complete, the group saw. Most of the ships had been sunk at anchor and now rested at the bottom of the bay, with only the tops of their masts above water. Only one ship was still afloat.

  On a good day, that ship would have been beautiful. A three-masted xebec, its foremast leaned slightly forward, while its main and mizzen masts leaned slightly back. Each of the masts was built to carry a large triangular sail on a yard that was at a 45 degree angle to the mast. A long prow projected from its bow, giving it a look that implied speed.

  Today wasn’t a good day, however, and the look was greatly diminished by the fact that more than half of its main mast was broken and leaning overboard, causing the ship to list to starboard at a large angle. A number of crew members were working on the mast.

  “I think our choice of ship has been made for us,” said Dantes.

  “Were it whole,” said Father Telenor, “that looks like it would be a fast trading ship.”

  “Or a fast smuggler,” said Dantes, catching sight of the vessel’s name. “Ghorza, does that ship say what I think it says?”

  Ghorza shook her head in disgust. “Yeah, it does,” she said. “It’s the Pole Dancer.”

  “Ghorza and I have had dealings with its captain in the past,” said Dantes. “He styles himself to be a merchant while in port, but at sea he is also known as a pirate and a smuggler. That ship suits his life style; its speed and design help him to outrun what he can’t outfight.”

  “A pirate?” asked Lady Ellyn. “Surely there is someone else more respectable that we can get to take us to Salidar.”

  “Look around,” said Dantes. “Do you see any other ships available? We would have to go through the elven lands to the Commonwealth of Forgol to find another ship that could take us. That would take weeks, even if we could get safe passage from the elves. Then, we would start out further north, and the journey would take even longer. Who knows what the enemy forces would do with the extra month? They would certainly make it to the Mountain of Frost before us. Not only that, but finding someone that will take us to Salidar, especially now, is going to be extremely difficult. With the forces of Salidar already moving, no respectable captain in his right mind will want to go anywhere near there. I suspect that we will need someone that is a little more...notorious...if we hope to reach our destination.”

  “I would like to accomplish this as quickly as possible,” said Lady Ellyn, “so I can get back to the defense of Norlon. If doing so means using that ship and that captain, then that is what we shall do.” Although she agreed, her face looked like she had swallowed something sour. “Who is the captain?”

  “The man’s name is Philip Meyer,” said Dantes. “Captain Meyer is a professional scoundrel. He only participates in things that make him money. He is successful at what he does, and he always pays his crew well, so his crew is one of the best around. Ghorza and I had to interview him as part of a case we investigated. Captain Meyer wasn’t guilty of the crime, but he did transport goods that he probably knew were stolen and shouldn’t have accepted.”

  The group jogged down the hill and through the port toward the pier that the Pole Dancer was tied up to. Mayhem reigned throughout the port, with fires burning in several places. People shouted throughout the port as they coordinated rescue efforts to pull people from burning buildings or the bay. In many cases they were already too late; rescue often became recovery as people that couldn’t swim drowned.

  “Shouldn’t we be doing something to help?” puffed an out-of-breath John.

  “Ordinarily, yes,” replied Dantes, “we would stop and help.” He could see in the eyes of Father Telenor and Lady Ellyn how much it pained them to keep going when every fiber of their being wanted to stop and help, to ease the misery of the people they were passing. “In this case, no,” he added lowering his voice. “Not only are we on an urgent mission, but the forces of Salidar are right behind us. It won’t be long before refugees come streaming over the hill, looking for a way to get out of here. With only one ship left, there will be a panic, and the ship will likely be overrun and swamped. As much as it hurts, we must not stop and help, or we will be trapped here, and our quest will be unfulfilled.”

  Dantes led the way onto the pier, stopping at the Pole Dancer’s gangplank. The activity onboard the ship was as chaotic as the port in general. “Ahoy, the Dancer,” Dantes called. “Permission to come aboard?”

  A harried sailor looked down at them from the ship’s railing. “Permission denied,” he said, see
ing the official looking party. “We’re too busy at the moment for inspection.”

  “We’re not inspectors,” said Dantes. “We have an offer of employment for your captain that we’d like to discuss.”

  “He’s not taking visitors at the moment,” replied the sailor. “Come back later.”

  Dantes snapped his claw, and a flame sprang up on his palm. He looked at the flame to focus the sailor’s attention on it for a couple of seconds and then said, “Your captain will be even busier if I set the ship on fire. It is urgent that we speak to him, and that we speak to him now.”

  The sailor looked back over his shoulder as if looking for someone of a higher rank to take responsibility for the visitors, so that the decision wouldn’t be his. “Stay there,” he ordered, seeing no one. “I’ll go get him.”

  The sailor left the rail.

  “Pole Dancer?” asked Father Telenor.

  “Yeah, he named it after his last wife,” said Dantes. “Don’t mention it; he’s very sensitive.”

  No more than a minute later, another head appeared over the railing. The new person had long curly hair, which poured out from under a swashbuckler hat. Where the first sailor had been missing teeth and generally looked somewhat rundown, this person appeared to be a man of some wealth. At almost six and a half feet tall and nearly 250 pounds, he was a big man who had an equally large air of authority. “Who is it that’s threatening my ship?” he roared. He rested a crossbow on the railing. Although it wasn’t pointed at the group on the pier, it wouldn’t have taken much effort to aim it down at them.

  “Good to see you again, Captain Meyer,” said Dantes. He nodded to Ghorza. “I’m sure you remember Ghorza and me. It looks like you’re having some problems at the moment that you need to attend to, so I will come straight to the point. We are not here in an official capacity, but we would like to make you an offer of employment.”

  “You’re not here in an official capacity? Wonderful, then you can piss off because I’ve got nothing to say to you. You couldn’t pay me enough to do business with you.” He turned to leave.

  “Before you go,” Dantes called, “I think it important to tell you that even though I don’t intend to destroy your ship, it will be destroyed within the next half hour if you don’t hear me out.”

  Captain Meyer turned around. “Oh? In what manner will it be destroyed?”

  “Trust me when I tell you that you don’t want me to yell it out,” Dantes replied. “Come down here, and I will tell you all about it.”

  Captain Meyer raised an eyebrow. “Really?” he asked. “Come down there where there are six of you and only one of me? I don’t think so. Why don’t you just go ahead and tell me.”

  Dantes turned to Lady Ellyn. “Can you promise on your word that he won’t be hurt? We’re wasting time we don’t have.”

  Lady Ellyn nodded and stepped forward. “Captain Meyer,” she said, allowing all of her goodness to shine through. John was once again reminded of the sun shining. “Surely you recognize me as a paladin, whose word is bond. I give you my solemn vow that if you come down, I will do everything within my power to protect you and restore you to your ship unharmed. I will not allow anyone to hurt you or take you captive while you are under my protection.”

  “Paladin, eh?” Captain Meyer asked, trying to fight the effects of her aura. “If you’re giving me your word, I guess I can spare a minute or two.” He came to the gangplank and walked down. “Now, what is all of this talk about my ship being destroyed? I take it you mean something else beyond what has already befallen the shipping in this port?”

  “Aye, indeed I do,” said Dantes. “The city of Harbortown is about to fall; the army of Salidar is at its gates.”

  “The gates are strong,” replied Meyer. “How do you know they will fall? Are you a military expert now, too, as well as a policeman?”

  “I am an expert,” interrupted Lady Ellyn, “and I tell you that the city will fall. The mayor has already switched sides and has a dark knight as his counselor. The gate was open as the army of Salidar approached. We got it closed, but the army here is criminally unprepared to fight. They have neither the equipment nor the training required to turn back an army of this size. If the combined might of the Silver Swords couldn’t stop them, there’s no way that the Harbortown rabble is going to. I don’t know what the enemy’s plan is, but I know that the assault will not be a straightforward one. When they captured Norlon they purchased the contracts of several mercenary units, which switched sides in the middle of the attack and opened the gates for the enemy to enter. Once the hill giants and trolls were inside the gates, it was a slaughter.”

  “And you think they will do something similar here,” said Meyer, chewing on his lower lip.

  “Think? No,” said Lady Ellyn, “I know they will do something sneaky. It is how they think and how they fight. They might have more people on the inside, they might have tunnels already dug under the walls; I don’t know. All I know is that they’ve been planning this for a long time, and they have a plan that will work to capture the town.” She paused, looking him in the eye. “When the town falls and the rout starts, where do you think the citizens are going to go?”

  Captain Meyer looked nervously in the direction of the town. Several pillars of smoke could already be seen. The attack had commenced. “They’re going to come here,” he said. “And when they do, they will swamp the only ship they still see afloat.” He nodded, as if accepting the logic, even if he didn’t like it. “Okay, that answers the question of my ship being destroyed. You mentioned employment. You can’t seriously want to employ the Dancer. You see the condition she’s in, right?”

  “Yes, we can see it,” replied Dantes, taking back the conversational lead. “You’re going to have to cut loose the main mast and put to sea. We are on a quest from the queen and need transportation. Let’s focus on getting underway before the mobs get here. We can discuss our destination and your terms once we’re at sea.”

  “No businessman I know ever made a profit by discussing terms once he allowed armed soldiers aboard his ship,” replied Captain Meyer. “In my experience, that is a good way to find yourself held hostage on your own ship.”

  “We. Don’t. Have. Time. To. Argue,” said Dantes. In counterpoint, a woman screamed from the shore where she was gathering goods that were floating in from the ships that had been sunk. The group looked and saw her pointing at the crest of the hill where a dark knight holding a large saber sat astride a large, black horse. It was the same knight from the mayor’s audience hall. The first group of Harbortown’s civilians crested the hill at the same time, giving the knight a wide berth. As they looked down into the harbor, all of them turned to head straight for the Pole Dancer.

  “Time just ran out,” said Dantes. “We can help defend the ship until we get to sea, but you’ve got to go now!”

  “Aye,” said Captain Meyer. “Indeed I do.” He turned and started up the gangplank, stopping suddenly as he made a decision. “Come along,” he added. “I’ll take you where you need to go.”

  “You heard the captain,” said Dantes, “let’s go.” He started up the gangplank.

  “No,” said Lady Ellyn, “not this time. I have overlooked much in this quest so far, but this I cannot abide. That knight must die.” She strode down the pier.

  “Be right back,” said Father Telenor as he broke into a run to catch up. “This won’t take long,” he yelled back over his shoulder. “I hope.”

  Dantes looked up and saw that the black knight had begun killing the fleeing civilians. As he watched, the knight caught up with a man that was running down the hill away from him carrying two long loaves of bread. The knight’s saber flashed as he passed, and the man’s head was separated from his shoulders in a spray of red.

  “I challenge you by the one true god,” called Lady Ellyn, reaching the shoreline. “Come and fight me!” Somehow her voice or her presence carried to the dark knight; he wheeled his horse in her direction and c
harged. Lady Ellyn held her ground as the knight galloped down the hill, building speed.

  “She’s dead,” said Ghorza, who had witnessed such charges before. Ghorza turned away. She didn’t want to watch.

  “No!” said Dantes. “Look.”

  Lady Ellyn had chosen her position for a reason; a broken piece of spar from one of the ships had come ashore where she waited. With only seconds until impact, she bent down and grabbed the six-foot long piece of wood. As big around as her forearm, the spar was jagged on one end where it had been broken off the ship. The other end was smooth, and she slammed that end into the ground and braced it with her boot. She tilted the jagged end toward the charging knight at a 45 degree angle.

  The knight’s horse saw the improvised pike at the last second and tried to shy away to the right, but it was too late. Instead of impaling itself in the chest, the spar lanced into the horse’s left shoulder, stopping the majority of its momentum and catapulting the dark knight over its head. The knight somersaulted through the air to land on his back in about six inches of water, momentarily stunned.

  Although it broke the knight’s charge, the spar wasn’t up to the task of stopping the horse completely, and it snapped. The upper piece was driven into Lady Ellyn’s chest armor, and she flew backward through the air to land in the water also. Neither knight got back up.

  “M’lady,” said Father Telenor as he ran up, “are you all right?” He lifted up the visor of her helmet and saw that her mouth was open and she was gasping for breath like a fish out of water. “Ostium Mortis,” he said, casting his Death’s Door spell to determine her condition. He was relieved to see that she was not near death.

  “Just...got...wind...knocked out...of me,” Lady Ellyn said. Father Telenor could see a three inch dent in the center of her chest armor; she was lucky to have only had the wind knocked out of her. It could have been much worse.

  “Look out,” yelled Dantes.

  Father Telenor looked up to see the black knight rising from the bay, water streaming from his armor. Father Telenor started to cast a Hold Person spell on the knight.