by Tom Gallier
Their window overlooked the main thoroughfare along the three hundred foot deep wharves. The inn butted up against the city walls that loomed over everything. They were watching the ships coming and going. Most were small, looking kind of like Viking ships to Alex, except they flew through the air. Helene knew what kind of ships they were and their nationality just with a quick glance. He was having a hard time remembering any of that information.
She shrugged. “I don't know.”
“You aren't curious?”
“I'm not paid to be curious, but we’ll probably sail around Qûm first. After that, I suspect the captain will just let the Trades take us wherever.”
Qûm was a triangular shaped land that Alex equated to the ancient Levant on Earth, where all of the important trade routes converged and passed through. There was so much wealth in that land that many referred to it as the Golden Triangle. According to Helene, it had been conquered and ruled by a barbaric lizardman tribe of horse warriors for the better part of a hundred years.
Kandos was a city-state, straddling the Pharra River, located very near the northern point of Qûm. Thus it controlled the major trade roads that ran along the Great Sea and deep into the Land. Helene claimed Alex's homeland of Jarn was so far north it wasn't on the map, but apparently near the eastern shores.
As yet, none of that information had proven helpful to him. It might, though, if he could figure out a way to get a job on one of those flying ships. Alex really wanted to fly in one.
“Ah, look,” he said, seeing a large group of soldiers marching up the street towards the royal barge. “More naked nobles.”
“You are so bad,” she laughed. “What is your obsession with clothes?”
He was wearing his pants, and nothing else. Helene was completely naked. She never hesitated to sit in the window naked, and no one really paid her much heed. Though, he noticed it was mostly just the nobles running around wearing nothing but jewelry.
“Where I come from, people are judged by their clothes,” Alex said. “No one would ever go out in public naked. Especially women.”
“It's cold in Jarn. I know,” Helene said. “One of the coldest winters of my life was the summer I spent in Jarn.”
Alex chuckled. As best he could tell, the weather in Kandos was pretty much like Southern California. It could get cool in the winter, but rarely did. It was just not as hot during the winter, with more rain.
“Oh my, it's your lady love, Princess Thaleia,” Helene teased. She wiggled her butt, grinding into his genitals. That caused a stir down there. “Look at those noble tits a-jiggling.”
Alex's breath caught. That was only the second time he's seen her out and about in the streets. As usual, Thaleia wore nothing but gold and faceted gemstones. Oddly enough, her nipples were not covered by golden pasties of some sort, but a white slit shirt was wrapped around her hips that fell to her ankles. That was a surprising show of modesty for a noble.
“She's almost as pretty as you,” Alex said.
He couldn't pull his eyes away. Thaleia’s skin was tanned bronze and shone with body oils. That really highlighted the play of muscles under her skin. He couldn't believe the abs that woman had, and her waist-length hair shimmered like polished black glass. Her hair, breasts, and buttocks bounced, wiggled, and jiggled so enticingly.
“Right. You don't fool me,” Helene replied, shaking her head and grinning. “Your man-sword is like a bronze rod right now.”
As the royal party neared, Alex looked around at the common people. They all stopped and bowed as she passed. Children looked upon her with awe. Soldiers guarding her glared up at him, but said nothing. Helene made no move to show deference, so neither did he. Thaleia never looked up.
A shadow moved over the street. At first, Alex thought it was from one of the rare clouds. But it was moving too quickly, and was too dark. Soldiers froze and looked up. For the first time, he saw the princess look up. She looked frightened.
Alex was instantly alert.
“Dragon!” someone cried.
Alex heard the whoop whoop of powerful wings. Helene squeaked and rolled inside. He reached inside the window, grabbed his hilt, and shook the scabbard off with a flick of his wrist. Alex found himself standing on the crumbling ledge, looking up and around, before he even thought about it.
A monstrous black dragon slowly descended. He had to be over a hundred feet long, from pointy snout to barbed tail. His eyes were ruby red, slit-pupiled, and fixed on Thaleia. Besides the two vast batwings, the dragon had two eagle-like talons. Even more surprising, a tall, muscular man was riding the beast.
“Holy crap!” he cried, eyes huge.
Chapter 9
“Beware! It's Lord Kalis!” a soldier shouted.
Alex looked back and forth between Thaleia and the descending dragon. A real live dragon. And it was a vicious looking beast, too. It appeared halfway between a bird and a lizard, with huge batwings, a long twitching tail, and two clawed talons. Its head was triangular, with blood red eyes and lots of sharp looking horns along the snout and jutting up from the top of its head. The monster's scales were shiny black, with a line of spikes down its spine.
“Protect the princess!” another soldier commanded as he pushed Thaleia to the ground. He stood over her, lifting his sword upwards at the threat. The surrounding soldiers all had spears that they pointed upwards. “Rally around –”
That's all he had time to say. The ginormous dragon swept its long, barbed tail around as it hovered above them. Alex didn't expect that. He was waiting for the beast to breathe fire all over them.
“Thaleia!” Alex cried, watching all of the soldiers swept away to leave her curled up on the ground. She looked at him and their eyes locked for a long second of bone-chilling intensity. Then the dragon dropped towards her. “No!”
Alex leapt off the ledge. He clutched his hilt in both hands, overhead, and aimed for the vicious dragon's vulnerable underbelly. Somehow, he knew exactly how to inflict the most damage.
“Die!” he cried, thrusting the sword into the soft belly.
The blade penetrated the thin, pale underbelly scales, while his weight and momentum drove it in all the way to the hilt. And then Alex held on while the sword sliced the dragon's belly open from mid-belly to crotch as he dropped to the ground. The huge monster bellowed fire as he shook his head back and forth in agony, and his intestines poured out onto the street.
“Stay away!” Thaleia screamed when Alex turned towards her.
“I'm here to save you, Princess!”
She looked doubtful, but the dragon let out its last gasp. Flames erupted, bathing the street with hellfire. That was the dragon's last hurrah, and he collapsed and lay still. Alex spotted the rider, who slowly turned to regard them with baleful black eyes. Alex noticed Thaleia appeared breathless, biting her lip, as she looked at Lord Kalis. And then she turned to Alex, giving him sizzling look.
Is she turned on? Alex thought. This woman is crazy.
“You better run, Lord Kalis,” Alex growled, sword presented and body ready to fight. “The king's soldiers will be here soon. It will not go well for you.”
“You better run, boy,” Kalis sneered.
He unfastened the dragon saddle's safety belt and slipped off onto the ground. Alex looked him over, judging what kind of opponent he'd be by his musculature and the way he moved. Kalis was definitely a warrior, with a sun-bronzed body to rival Alex's. He wore a traditional red leather weapon's harness crisscrossing his torso, with black leather pants, ornate silver bracers, and red boots. His long black hair was pulled back in a waist-length braid.
Alex grabbed his crotch, and replied, “I have your boy right here, ass-licker.”
Kalis tensed and froze when called “ass-licker.” Even Thaleia gasped. Alex grinned, wagging his brows. That was the local region's worst personal insult. He was so proud of himself.
“How dare you,” Kalis said through clenched teeth. “I'll skin you alive, barbarian.”
Lord Kalis bellowed in rage and charged Alex. The blond barbarian rushed to meet him, placing himself between the evil would-be kidnapper and the princess. Their blades clashed and scraped. The men danced around, avoiding thrusts and slices, parrying brutal blows with practiced ease. Alex realized almost immediately that they were evenly matched, so the fight could go either way.
Kalis snarled and pushed free. Then he pointed at Alex with a sneer curling his lip.
“Duck, Alex!” Thaleia cried.
Alex was so surprised by her command that he obeyed. Half a heart beat later a searing white ball of flames shot out and passed above him. He snatched up a handful of the powdery dirt covering the street and threw it in his foe's eyes.
“Aaiiee,” Kalis cried, stumbling back as he traced a figure eight before him with his sword.
Alex turned to Thaleia and shouted, “Run! I'll hold him here while you escape.”
“No!” Kalis cried, and thrust out a fist toward Alex.
“Ooff!” Alex cried when something invisible pounded into his chest.
The magical blow knocked his breath out and drove him straight back against a mud brick house. Gasping for air, Alex saw Kalis pull that fist back and thrust it at him again, this time with an angry shout. He dropped straight to the ground. The second blow blasted a hole through the mud brick wall, sending up a cloud of dust to engulf Kalis to Alex.
Alex couldn't see anything for a moment, eyes stinking from the thick cloud of dust. Kalis barked a laugh and Thaleia screamed.
“I vowed you would be mine, Thaleia,” Kalis said.
“Alex!” she cried. “Help me!”
A powerful series of whoop, whoop, whoop hit them. The dust was blown away as a second dragon landed. Alex struggled to all fours. He blinked away the tears to discover Thaleia struggling within her enemy's arms. Kalis looked quite pleased as he climbed into the reddish-brown dragon's saddle.
Before Alex had enough breath to speak, Kalis' dragon roared out a stream of flames, starting another dozen fires, and then leapt above the surrounding buildings and ships. A chill slithered down Alex's spine as he watched them fly over the wharves and away.
“Alex!” Helene cried, looking desperate. She was leaning out of her window waving for him to come to her. “Hurry!”
“Soldiers!” someone down the street shouted.
People scrambled away. Alex found it amazing that the citizens were more afraid of the king's soldiers than of the dragons. He grabbed his sword and stumbled across the street and into the inn. Soldiers were in the street below by the time he reached their room.
“We’ve wasted too much time,” Helene said, pulling on her knapsack. She was already dressed in the previous night’s clothes and weapons. “My fault. I wanted to squeeze in a few more hours with you.”
“So did I,” he said. “Now what? Find a ship for me?”
“That’s the plan,” she said.
“Where should I go?”
“Anywhere. Take the first ship out,” she said.
Helene quickly led him out into alley behind the inn. The opposite wall was the white-washed city walls. She moved quickly and stealthily through the alley, and eventually back onto the street. They continued to walk with all due haste, but not so fast anyone would think they were running in fear. She took him closer to the piers. The business of commerce hadn’t faltered during the princess’s kidnapping. So there was a completely different vibe there.
Even though most of the ships tied to the dock could fly, they landed in the water and he couldn't tell which one flew and which stayed in the water. Helene said that ships flew, boats and barges floated up and down the river.
“Do any of the ships sail on the seas?” he asked.
“Why would anyone do that?” Helene replied. She looked at him like he was crazy. “Do you know how rough the water is out there? Only fishermen are crazy enough to dare it.”
A huge, tall-masted ship flew low overhead as they neared the docks. Alex stopped to gawk. The thought of flying in one of those made his skin goose-flesh, and made his belly quake. How did magic keep them from dropping out of the sky?
“You make ships like that fly, right?”
“Yes,” she said, glancing up.
“Could I learn to do that?”
“Not really,” she said, shaking her head. “Can we discuss this some other time?”
“What other time?” he asked. “We'll probably never see each other again.”
She paused to give him an exasperated look.
“You have to be born a witch. It's a Gift everyone in my family has,” she said. “I was taught to do it, and only that, from a child. I don't know how to explain it to a non magical person. And, it's a secret.”
“What happens to the ship if you die or fall overboard?”
She shrugged. “Another witch will take over. My ship has three Lift Witches.”
“What if all three of you die?”
“What a question!” she said. “Fine. The magic will fade over time, but the ship won't just fall out of the sky. It'll drop lower and lower until it comes to rest on the ground or in the water.”
“Is there a way an enemy can make a ship stop flying, and just fall straight out of the sky?”
“Yes,” she said. Helene stopped and looked around with a smile. “We made it.”
Alex's breath caught. They stood at the edge of a twenty pier section of wharf. Two ships per pier, one on either side. He noticed tall, sturdy looking wooden cranes on those piers, lifting boxes and bales in and out of holds. Everywhere he looked it was packed with people and livestock. Horses, mules, and oxen pulled carts and wagons.
Two ships were starting rise out of the water before them. Tug boats had pulled them out away from the piers and about midstream in the river. The current took them down river a ways, giving them clear skies to lift up into. The first ship to lift out of the water had a red-painted hull, with lots of yellow trim. It was kind of gaudy. Alex could only see red paint on the other ships' railings.
He watched as the first ship rose up about a hundred feet before sails were deployed. The first sails were the smallest, and appeared to be for steering. The ship turned south, and then more sails were unfurled and filled with air. As it sailed away, the other ship deployed its steering sails, and set sail towards the south-east.
“How far away is the sea?” he asked.
“Half a day's walk,” she answered. Helene called out to a passerby, “Juur! My friend, do you know if any of the merchantmen are offering passage?”
Juur wasn’t the first non-human Alex had seen, but he was the most reptilian. Helene had told him about the non-human races, but he still wasn't completely prepared for the full-blooded lizardman before him. Juur stood about six feet tall, slim and basically human-shaped. The dark-green scaled being wore a dirty brown traveling robe and turban that only left his face, hands, and feet exposed. The lizardman had nostril slits instead of a nose, and a slightly elongated face. His eyes looked human.
Alex noticed he wore a scale-mail shirt under his robes, and a saber on his hip.
“Ah, Helene, I didn't see you,” Juur said. They paused to look each other over appreciatively, and their body language spoke volumes to Alex. Lovers? “You're looking good. How long before you set sail again?”
“The port authority gave us a late afternoon launch time,” she said. “Maybe next time.”
Alex cleared his throat.
“Oh, Juur, this is Alex of Jarn,” she said. “Alex, this is my friend, Juur du-Jac of Zeera.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Alex said offering his hand.
Juur shook his hand, saying, “Greetings, Alex of Jarn.”
“So, do you know of anyone offering passage?” Alex asked.
“For you?”
“Yes.”
The lizardman paused to think. “I can think of three captains taking on passengers. Whe
re did you want to go?”
“Anywhere,” Helene said.
“Today,” Alex said.
“Immediately,” Helene continued, glancing nervously back at a commotion halfway back down the wharves. “Do you know of anyone?”
“Trouble?” Juur asked.
“Perish the thought,” she said, but nodded.
“Ah, then see Captain Jacobi,” Juur said. He pointed to the far end of the wharves. “He is master of the merchantman Swift Wind. But you better hurry, he'll be sailing for Tymnos in Southern Qûm at any minute. The tugs are heading towards them now.”
Juur pointed at two boats in the river. They had about a dozen oars per side. There were no masts on them. The tugs were headed for one of the smaller ships. A small galley, if he understood what Helene had said about the different ships. Over the last few days she liked to point them out and tell him about them as they rose up on the horizon.
Swift Wind was a two mast merchantman of about fifty feet, oval shaped, and with a single deck. There was no fore or sterncastle. It was designed for trade, not war. The only paint was a black line about one foot wide just below the deck. Big white eyes with red pupils were painted on the bow, as well.
“Thanks, Juur! I owe you,” Helene cried, and took off running. “Hurry, Alex.”
They ducked, dodged, and wended through the bustling crowd, wagons, and carts. Alex worried they wouldn't make it in time. Men were unlashing the gangway as they arrived.
“Captain Jacobi!” Helene called. “Permission to board!”
“Why?” an elderly, rail thin man asked. He wore a mustard yellow tunic, with open brown robes over that. The ship's master looked like a very unsavory character to Alex. “The tugs are almost here.”
“I would take passage with you,” Alex said.
Captain Jacobi looked him over. “I don't need any more crew. Can you pay?”
“What is passage to your next port of call?”
That question led to some haggling, but Helene quickly agreed to a sum. And pulled a purse full of coins out of her knapsack. She paid the captain, and then pressed the purse into Alex’s hands.
