“Someone else… who?” Asked the boy.
“Not who but what.” Answered Talyat. “Tell me what you remember about being wounded.”
“I remember that someone was knocked out and lying next to me and there were two puppies in here with me. Then I heard someone come down the steps into the cabin but it wasn’t anyone I know; he smelled sour like he had not bathed for days. Then I heard his voice and he sounded off, like a foreigner. I felt him cut me and then one of the puppies was licking my face. That is all that I remember until I woke up and could see again.”
“What was licking your face was not a puppy.” Talyat said.
“What was it?”
“A tiny baby dragon.” Talyat spent the next hour explaining to the young harper about dragons and bonding and that the dragonet had bonded the boy in order to try and keep the child from dying. He also explained that what the boy could see was actually what the dragon could see and that his own eyes were not working and that he was actually seeing through the dragon bond.”
After the injured child had gone back to sleep Talyat walked out onto deck and carefully explained to Captain Tarian what was happening to his nephew. Captain Tarian listened intently and then asked. “So the dragon saved the boy’s life by bonding with him and that gave Devron his sight back?”
“Not precisely,” Talyat answered. “The dragonet did save Devron’s life through bonding with the child. The boy’s sight has not returned though it is possible that even blindness may someday be healed through the bond. What the dragon does is shares what he sees with Devron so that while the human eyes are not working the child still has vision through the dragon. If the dragon stays close to Devron, the boy can see around himself.”
Jolss then spoke. “There is a story in one of my books about this kind of dragon. The dragon likes dark and shadow and tends to be awake at night and also likes caves and tunnels. The dragon can find minerals and things underground. It also shares whatever it can see with its bondmate and often bonds with those who have been blinded.”
Shira added. “That dragon has always liked to rest in the shadows and even rides on the backs of the other dragons to sleep in the day time and is awake all night.”
“I see,” said Captain Tarian.”
Over the next few days the boy recovered enough that his harping lessons with Talyat resumed. Everyone fell into a rhythm with Veer being the most active as he constantly trained in weapons on the deck. Pelinar was teaching him the elven battle dances and Cyerant often joined in for some of the training. Jolss spent hours engrossed in his magic books. Shira showed an interest in all things concerning boats and spent a great deal of time learning about the sailing of the Gardenia. Talyat and Pelinar began to have peaceful conversations. Myalnar observed everything and everyone and carefully studied the dragon book which he borrowed for a time each day from Jolss. Every day the non-bonded little dragon stood on the bow railings of the boat as if he were showing the way. And far in the distance the foreigners followed always watching but never again getting close. Most of the dragons just lounged around in the sun on the deck and went hunting or fishing each morning and evening and occasionally just jumped into the water for a swim.
The towns continued to grow larger as the Gardenia and her crew drifted south. The towns were spaced out so that the current would carry a boat to the next town by half a day so that the boat would leave one town and drift by another at midday and then reach a town to spend the night by sundown. Captain Tarian had explained that coming back up the river was much slower and so the towns which were half a day apart while going downriver were a day apart when coming upriver against the current. Boat traffic on the river increased and in the second week of travel they started to encounter the large barges moving grain and other food down river to the great city which served as the capital of the Kingdom of Hwandor.
As the boat drifted down the river day after day the companions and crew continued their daily rhythm. Into the river fog before dawn, run with the current all day and dock at nightfall. The nights were growing colder, not as cold as the northerners and elves were accustomed to feeling this time of year but cold enough to tell of the approach of winter. Even some of the days had a bite of chill in the air. Still the small dragonet sat on the prow of the boat every day while travelling. To those on other boats and in the towns, it looked as if some sailor’s bird sat on the front of the vessel.
One evening Captain Tarian said. “That little dragon sitting on the bow of the boat every day reminds me about the custom on sea going ships. There are not many sea going ships because the seas are so rough and dangerous but there is a custom that all of them need to have a dragon carved onto their prow. A sailor won’t step foot on a ship without a dragon’s been carved on her. It’s bad luck to pull a rope or an oar on a ship if there is no dragon.”
Jolss said. “In the dragon book there is a tale of ships from over a thousand years ago. Back then the dragons on the front of the boat were real and they helped t read the winds and the currents in the shifting seas.”
“I recon that makes good sense then,” said Tarian. “If you aint got real dragons for luck anymore then you’ll need to carve them on. Sailors are full of traditions and customs about what is lucky and unlucky. I recon that most of the customs have good reasons for being followed.”
Shira asked. “I’ve heard you, Dalnt and Cralnar talk about things on a ship being bad luck. I wondered why you never step on or over a rope on the deck, you never step over a fishing line or pole, you never stand near the mast if you are not working on something there. Dalnt told me that it was bad luck to pass between a person and the railing if he is within a few feet of the railing. A lot of it seems like superstition.”
“I recon that it does look like superstition to those who aren’t accustomed to boats,” said the Captain. “But they all have a reason for being considered bad luck. For instance, you never stand around near a mast because day after day it may seem safe but if anything in the rigging ever breaks, well that is where it is going to fall or even worse swing down like a hammer. So eventually sailors just say that it’s bad luck to stand near the mast. Same for stepping over a rope, you can do it a thousand times and be fine but if you are ever astraddle a rope that has slack and the wind shifts hard it could snap tight and over you go. Same thing for a fishing line or pole, it can suddenly be pulled by a fish and trip you. And passing between a person near the side of the boat and the railing is just plain dumb.”
Veer said. “It sounds like common sense more than superstition.”
Captain Tarian looked thought full for moment and then said. “I guess you could argue how uncommon good sense really is but yes our sailing and boat customs have good reasons behind them.”
Occasionally some of the humans would go ashore in the towns for supplies or to sit in a local tavern for a while. A few evenings the elves slipped through the town in their cloaks and hoods and walked the forests beyond for a few hours early in the night. Veer learned an impressive number of the elven battle dances and he was becoming quite formidable with many weapons. Cyerant was also learning some of the elven sword work to add to his own training.
Jolss spent his days reading his magic books and he committed quite a few spells and lessons to memory. He also learned a great deal about the relationship of dragons to magic. From time to time when there were no other boats around to possibly see, he would practice some of his spells. One day he created a waterspout on the river for a few seconds and another day he turned a section into ice thick enough for a man to stand on. One day under the cover of a gentle rain he threw a small lightning bolt at a stone on the shore. Many evenings he would go ashore in the towns to buy spell components and he was starting to carry numerous pouches of components from his belt and hidden away in his clothes. Jolss was becoming quite a good mage and bolstered by his bond with the dragon he was able to unleash some powerful spells.
One evening Veer went into a town to buy some yew
bow-staves in order to make himself a new bow. His old bow had been new at the start of summer but it was now far too easy for his strength. He made a new bow which was stronger so that it took all of his strength to pull it. No one else on the boat even had the strength to string it and much less had they the ability to pull it. He also had to make new arrows which were stronger and would not snap as they came off of the string of the new bow. Even the bowstring had to be strengthened in order to not snap. He gave his old bow to Dalnt and started teaching the sailor how to use it. None on the boat had ever seen a bow as thick, heavy and strong as the new bow that Veer had made and which only he had the strength to use. A few evenings after docking Veer went ashore to find an open field to test the bow and even the elven bows could not reach the distances he was able to send an arrow now. Pelinar showed Veer a couple of things with carving and fletching that the elves did in order to lighten their arrows while maintaining strength so that the arrow would fly farther and have better accuracy.
Myalnar taught Cyerant to play an elven game of strategy and they played numerous games of it daily. Some evening Myalnar would withdraw and sit with his hands on the stone around his neck communicating with the other High Council Elves. From time to time he would share news of what was happening back in the Elder Mountains. One evening he gathered Talyat, Pelinar and Cyerant together and spoke to them. “The High Council has waited until the first snows in the high mountains for our efforts to begin. The snows have started and the foreigners are starting to be slowed by them. The battles have begun and the dwarves are also getting involved now.”
Cyerant seemed surprised. “Elven armies are starting to fight the foreigners?”
“No,” said Pelinar. “The foreigners have been working in small search parties based in a few larger camps. The valleys and passes are all small so no large army can manoeuvre. Our dancers will be working in small teams appearing out of the snow for moments at a time. And the dwarves, well they have their own manner of fighting. We elves strike like a precise arrow the dwarves are like rolling a boulder downhill.”
Talyat added. “Often the dwarves do roll boulders downhill.”
“Actually,” Myalnar continued. “The foreigners have begun to send many troops into the western edge of the mountains. Now that they have someone who has bonded a dragon and they have captured a few other dragonets so they are certain that dragons live in the mountains. It seems that a cross-mountain slave trader found some dragon eggs and sold these to the foreigners and now they are starting to search in earnest and with thousands of soldiers. They are bound to capture more of the dragons now and so we are at war with them. But the High Council does not, any longer, view all humans as the same and we see the humans to the west as being a problem and we will try to negotiate with your people here to the east.”
Pelinar said. “Myalnar, I would like……”
Myalnar held up his hand silencing the younger elf. “You will remain with this mission and we will return as soon as we have negotiated with the human king.
Pelinar nodded.
“Cross-mountain slave trader?” Asked Cyerant.
“Yes,” said Myalnar. “There have always been a few of them. The westerners like eastern slaves so some eastern traders gather children in the east, especially pretty children and take them through the southern passes and sell them to the western buyers for a great deal.”
“Slavery is not legal in the kingdom.” Cyerant said.
“We believe that there is actually a noble somewhere in east who shelters these traders for a portion of the profits.” Myalnar said. “We elves are disgusted by the practice of keeping slaves.”
Over the next week Pelinar made it a point to teach Cyerant an elven dance known as the dance of armies which the elves use to teach large group battle tactics. Another dance was used to teach small group battle tactics. Pelinar insisted that Cyerant master these two dances and many hours were spent in the evenings with Pelinar explaining the applications of the dance movements to Cyerant. Talyat actually also knew many tales which taught strategies and tactics and he started to teach these to Cyerant nightly. It seemed to Cyerant as though the elves had decided to educate him to be a general over armies.
Talyat spent his days teaching Devron to play many of the elven harping tunes and listening to the boy play human songs which often were variations of music which Talyat already knew. Devron was trying to grow accustomed to being able to see through the eyes of the dragon which he had named Xave and which sat on his shoulder much of the time giving the boy a view that was very close to the view that he would have from his own eyes if they still had sight.
Shira, had taken an interest in all things about boats and was learning to ties knots, understand currents and read the water. She also learned about the rigging of the mast and sails. She understood the need to keep the decks wetted down to maintain the swelling of the wood to keep the joints sealed. Before long she was able to handle the rudder oar quite well. Dalnt in particular enjoyed teaching the young woman about boats and sailing. Cralnar would also teach her things but did not seem to have the same interest that his brother showed.
The journey was going to end up taking a week longer than expected simply because the barge traffic moving southward was starting to slow things a great deal. The Gardenia often had to run out of the central current in order to slip passed barges and large supply boats. And always in the distance the few remaining foreigners followed and watched but never got close enough to pose a threat of any sort.
After what was an uneventful end of the journey a day came when around midday the companions noticed that the barges were not moving and were being tied to poles along one side of the river. Captain Tarian explained. “Verat City is a day and a half away now. We will be there just before sundown tomorrow. All of these barges are being tied off here to wait their turns getting into the offloading docks. They won’t have all of these barges unloaded until the first weeks of winter. We’ll stop for the night tonight and get an early start.”
Very early the next day Captain Tarian started steering the Gardenia through the heavier traffic on the river and late in the afternoon a small boat met the Gardenia. The boat contained a representative of the dock master who was meeting boats and barges and assigning them docking locations after collecting docking fees. “Well, we have a docking birth,” Captain Tarian said. “The river will split into the East River and the West River. These barges will all be going to the East river where the large warehouses and storage buildings are. All of the smaller boats like ours which carry people or market goods take the West River which is a bit smaller and shallower than the East River. The river gets very wide and slow before it splits. There are lots of inns and taverns on the West Bank of the city.”
Verat City had been the capitol of the Kingdom of Hwandor since before the Great Upheaval. The massive West Garee River was divided by the island on which Verat City had been built. This island was actually an ancient stone outcropping around which the river divided and flowed. The stone outcropping rose thirty feet above the normal level off the river and so Verat city never flooded. The island was long and narrow as it had been shaped by the flowing waters, so at its widest Verat city was about a mile wide but the city was nearly nine miles long and so it was an enormous city; by far the largest in the kingdom. At the heart of Verat City sat the Old City where the original walls of Verat surrounded what had become the heart of the modern Verat City as it grew, over the generations, to cover the entire island. In the Old City could be found most of the buildings of government and the oldest structures in the kingdom. On the highest point of the island of Verat stood the Palace of Verat, at the heart of Old City.
Because Verat City was surrounded by the waters of the river, all traffic in and out of the city was by boat. There were docks built all the way around the city and to those docks thousands of boats came and went. There were many boats at the docks which were actually the homes of families of river people who lived out t
heir entire lives on those boats. There was, in fact, a second city surrounding Verat Island – a second city which floated. It was said that one could walk all the way around Verat Island using the docks, barges and boats and never have to step a foot on land. Officially this was all part of Verat City but commonly this outer floating community was known as River City. There were even small floating inns and taverns which had been built on barges. There were floating markets where the market stalls were actually boats and one could buy anything that was sold in the markets on shore. There were small boats which navigated the waters and offered all of the normal services and goods such as hot meals and knife sharpening; there were even floating laundries and butchers. All of the things needed for life in the city could be found on the waters of River City.
The inhabitants of River City were often called River Folk and half the people of River City had the tan skin, dark eyes and black hair of the Gypsies. It was said that these river Gypsies had once been regular Gypsies who had traded their caravans on land for house boats on the water. They had built a life on the waters of the West Garee River. The river Gypsies had been part of the life of Verat City for centuries now an there were those living in River City who had descended from many generations of River Gypsies living on the same boats; in the same waters. The River Gypsies usually lived in floating neighbourhoods of boats sharing docks and these neighbourhoods were usually also made up of the members of the same Gypsy Tribe, of which there were many. For all Gypsies, land or river born, their identity was very closely aligned to the identity of their tribes and one without a tribe was no longer even considered a Gypsy by many. Even the standard Gypsy greeting used with other Gypsies translated as ‘Whose are you?’ which was really asking what tribe you were from. A Gypsy’s full name was made up of tribe then clan followed by family and finally personal given name. Among the River Gypsies many of the older people still often spoke a form of the Gypsy language to one another.
Dragons of Summer Tide (The Dragons of Hwandor) Page 36
