The Dove of Death sf-20

by Peter Tremayne

  ‘What do you intend?’ Heraclius asked Bleidbara.

  ‘I intend to go to Er Lannig, an island called the Little Heath, which guards the entrance to the channel. We won’t feel the strong pull of the incoming tide there. That would be the closest point where the Koulm ar Maro can wait for the turn of the tide. If they are not there, I’ll start to weather up to Gavrinis, the Isle of Goats, and then move up the channel, keeping the Isle of Monks to our starboard. Unless I am a bad sailor, we’ll find our sea-raider somewhere in those waters.’

  Bleidbara sounded confident enough.

  ‘And when we do meet up with them, what then? What if they want to fight?’ asked Eadulf. ‘I’ve never been in a real sea battle before.’

  Bleidbara smiled grimly in the semi-darkness and looked towards Heraclius.

  ‘We have the wild ass already in place at our bow. Then we will see if that little invention is what it claims to be. If it is not, it will be a contest to see if our bows are stronger than their bows, our arrows more powerful than their arrows.’

  ‘The wild ass?’ Eadulf peered at the bow, but in the darkness all he could see was the curious canvas-covered wooden frames that had been brought aboard the previous afternoon.

  Heraclius touched him on the arm and pointed at the covering.

  ‘The onager is a form of catapult used by the Roman legions. They called it the wild ass because, when the projectile is released, the engine that fires it kicks back like a mule,’ he explained. ‘I have trained some men to use it, and I’m hoping that we don’t have to come to close quarters to fight the enemy ship. The range of the weapon is about three hundred to three hundred and fifty metres.’

  ‘You hope to hole the ship by throwing rocks at it?’ Eadulf had heard that the Romans had used such engines in siege war, but never on shipboard.

  Heraclius just smiled mysteriously and shook his head.

  Eadulf, during the period that followed, had cause to feel regret that he had come on such a voyage. He was not the best of sailors and now the excitement of the first part of the chase began to wear off, he realised the stark truth: he was on a vessel, ploughing across dark waters, en route to engage a ship that would obviously fight back. He was anxious but knew that showing anxiety would not be advisable; at this time he must feign the same indifference that Bleidbara and Heraclius appeared to be displaying. He had never seen two ships engage one another on the sea before, and he anticipated that it would be fierce and bloody. His calling as a religious would not protect him in this battle. He wondered whether he should ask Bleidbara what he should do when the attack began, but them compelled himself to refrain from comment.

  The vessel was moving along at a fast pace now as a south-westerly wind, coming off the land, caught the sails. A white ribbon of sea foam was spreading on either side of its bows, almost phosphorescent and clearly visible in spite of the darkness. But the darkness was now vanishing. The moon was still well above the horizon but had become a pallid white orb, a wispy blob of sheep’s wool in the pale sky. The coastline of the peninsula was close to their portside, a dark, impenetrable line of trees and hills. To the starboard, the humps of islands were now rising out of the early-morning mist that hung across the Little Sea. The helmsman appeared to know the waters well even in the darkness, skilfully moving the helm a point or two to avoid submerged rocks, judging his distance from points Eadulf could not even see.

  Bleidbara suddenly shouted an order and one of the men leaped agilely to the rigging and went up to the top of the main mast. After a few moments he called down and Bleidbara’s mouth tightened a little at his words.

  ‘The trouble is,’ he confided to Eadulf, ‘we have the dawn rising at our backs. They will see us coming if they are directly ahead of us — and before we ourselves get close enough to see their sails. I have put a man up there to see if he can spot any sign of them.’

  Eadulf knew enough to realise that the height of the mast gave an advantage in sighting a vessel across the water that would otherwise be hidden from those on the deck.

  They sailed on in silence for a while, the tension growing among the crew. There was a cry from the masthead.

  ‘There’s Er Lannig now,’ grunted Bleidbara. ‘We’ll keep it to port and come north-west of it.’ He gave a sharp order to the helmsman. ‘We have to steer clear of the southern tip — there are submerged standing stones there.’

  As the ship swung further north, Heraclius explained: ‘The island seems to have been a centre of pagan worship. I have come exploring here before. There are the remains of two stone circles. Do you see them?’

  Eadulf could just see the silhouettes of jagged stones, curving into the sea.

  ‘One circle is entirely submerged, but one of the stones remains very dangerous. Local fishermen call it the blacksmith’s stone,’ Bleidbara went on. ‘It could tear the bottom out of a ship like this.’

  Now the dawn had become a reality, not with rich reds and golds but with a pale watery hue that seemed to foretell rain to come. The sun was well hidden behind a growing pack of pale clouds, but it was now clear enough to see for some distance — and all eyes swept the sea around them.

  ‘We’ll turn for the Island of Goats,’ called Bleidbara, pointing ahead.

  Another shout from the masthead made them all look up.

  Eadulf did not understand what the lookout was saying but his arm was thrust out more to the north of them. He looked but couldn’t see anything.

  Bleidbara slapped his thigh with a grin.

  ‘There she is, just where I expected her to be. She is heading south towards us.’ He glanced up at the sails. ‘But we should have the wind with us. Take a care for yourselves, my friends, as we will soon be upon them.’

  There was now a shout from the maindeck and Eadulf turned and saw a ship materialising across the water. Her sails were fully rigged but they hung almost useless in the prevailing wind. The ship was pitching and moving without elegance as it sought to make headway.

  It seemed that they had been spotted, for there was movement on the oncoming ship. Its bows seemed to move as if it were trying to turn away.

  ‘They are wearing ship,’ muttered Heraclius. ‘Trying to turn,’ he added for Eadulf’s sake.

  Indeed, the ship was jerking idly backwards and forwards. It seemed that those on board had been surprised by the appearance of Bleidbara’s vessel moving rapidly towards them, heaving and plunging as the wind grew stronger. The water was gushing under her bows; the plumes of white froth spreading more widely as she raced across the gap towards the sea-raider.

  ‘Time to get ready!’ Bleidbara shouted to Heraclius.

  The young man nodded, and with a quick, ‘Good luck,’ to both Bleidbara and Eadulf, he made his way for’ard to where the wild ass was being uncovered by some of the crew.

  Eadulf had never seen a machine like it before. At first it seemed to consist of a triangular frame of dark oak whose base was fixed firmly on the deck. At the front end was a vertical frame of solid timber; through this frame, Eadulf noticed an axle that had a single stout upright spoke inserted through a skein of twisted rope. At the end of the spoke was a leather thong or sling. The axle or horizontal barrel was rotated by a crank which forced the vertical spoke backwards almost to a horizontal position. He had heard something about these Ancient Roman engines. A stone would be inserted into the sling and the vertical arm released, usually by the person in control, using a mallet to knock out the securing pin, which held the arm. Thus released, with such pressure provided by the tension of twisted rope, the arm went up and would throw the stone or rock for a considerable distance.

  He could see Heraclius examining and checking the engine. Then he said something to one of his men. Two of them disappeared below decks and came back carrying the wooden box carefully between them. It was obviously heavy and they placed it cautiously by the engine. Heraclius bent down and opened it and extracted one of the large clay balls that Eadulf had seen in the apothecary’s sto
ne hut.

  Bleidbara gave a warning shout to Heraclius and pointed to the oncoming ship.

  Now, in the early-morning light, Eadulf could see archers lining the decks near the bows. He saw the familiar lines of the ship, the carved figure of the dove on its prow. It was, indeed, the Koulm ar Maro, The Dove of Death, that had attacked the Barnacle Goose. There was no disputing its lines as it turned for the attack. But Bleidbara was in charge of no undefended merchantman. His warriors were already lined up at the side with their own bows ready.

  Nervously, Eadulf edged towards a position where a spar might afford him some protection from the onslaught of arrows that would undoubtedly fall on them. He had presumed that Bleidbara would run the ship alongside the Koulm ar Maro. Now he realised that Bleidbara was heading bow first towards the vessel as if to ram her. Heraclius and his companions had lifted one of the large clay balls into the sling and the young man seemed to be sighting his curious weapon as if measuring the decreasing distance between the two vessels.

  ‘Heraclius won’t knock a hole in that vessel with those clay balls,’ Eadulf called to Bleidbara. ‘Hasn’t he got some heavy stones to inflict more damage?’

  Bleidbara glanced at him and smiled reassuringly.

  ‘Keep your head down, Brother Eadulf. We shall open the battle when we are three hundred metres from her.’

  The Koulm ar Maro was no longer trying to turn but also coming bow first towards them in spite of the wind being entirely with Bleidbara’s vessel. It was only now that Eadulf realised that the enemy’s main deck was higher than their own, so the archers on the Koulm ar Maro had the advantage of shooting down while Bleidbara’s men would have to shoot upwards. Eadulf knew enough about warfare to be aware that this was not the best position. With a dry mouth he watched the dark strip of water closing between the two vessels.

  Suddenly Bleidbara shouted to Heraclius.

  The young man bent forward. Eadulf saw the mallet in his hand and heard it strike on the wooden peg. He could feel the vibration through the entire vessel as the pole with its sling released the projectile under extreme pressure. The clay ball arched upwards across the space between the two vessels, and Eadulf was bitterly disappointed to see it hit a jutting spar on the Koulm ar Maro and fall back into the sea, breaking into pieces as it did so. Then he gasped in astonishment, for even as it fragmented he saw a glint of fire — and next thing there was a patch of blazing water where the pieces of the ball had fallen in the sea. He could not believe his eyes. The seawater was on fire!

  Heraclius and his team were already winching the pole back into position and another of the curious clay balls was being placed into the sling.

  Bleidbara was grinning at him. ‘Heraclius calls it pyr thalassion in his own language. He translates it as liquid fire. He says that his father Callinicus was developing it in Byzantium. It gives us more advantage against these sea-raiders now.’

  Eadulf was speechless. Fire that could not be put out by water? It was terrifying. Barbaric. No wonder Heraclius had been guarding the secret so closely.

  There was a strange whistling sound through the air as the enemy archers released their first salvo. The range was closing and several arrows embedded themselves into the ship.

  Once more Eadulf heard the bang of the hammer striking the pin and felt the slight shudder of the ship beneath him as Heraclius’ infernal weapon was released.

  This time the clay ball fragmented on the forward deck of the oncoming vessel, and it erupted in flame. He could hear the cries of alarm from the enemy, saw men running forward with buckets of water. But even as he watched, he saw how the water merely pushed the flame here and there, and made no impact on dousing it.

  Bleidbara’s crew let out a cheer. A sharp word from Bleidbara and they fell silent; another command and the archers lining the portside of the vessel took aim and, as one man, released their flight of arrows. Screams echoed across the water, showing that some of them had found targets.

  For a third time Heraclius and his men made ready their onager and released it. This time, the terrible contents of the clay ball fell in the centre of the main deck and that was soon ablaze.

  Six of the clay balls had been brought onto the deck and already Heraclius was superintending the loading of a fourth in his machine.

  Bleidbara shouted to him: a call to pause. Stepping to the rail, and using his hands as a trumpet to project his voice, Bleidbara called across to the vessel where the flames were catching hold of the timbers. Eadulf presumed it was a call for the Koulm ar Maro to surrender. The answer came in a shower of arrows, one of which struck a crew member, and even as he fell, Eadulf saw he was beyond assistance.

  Bleidbara signalled to Heraclius again. Once more came the ominous shudder and the projectile could be seen striking the stern of the vessel near the helm before the area erupted in flame.

  Bleidbara was shouting to his own helmsman who pulled the vessel over, edging it near the burning Koulm ar Maro. Once again, he was calling on his enemy to surrender — without response. Eadulf peered into the mass of flame now spreading over its decks, trying to search out the slight figure in white that he remembered so well. There was no sign of him among those running to and fro on the deck, trying to put out the flames that roared inexorably around them. There seemed to be no one in command, for the enemy crew appeared in confusion. Some tried to put out the flames while others wielded swords in futile gestures towards the closing vessel. Others still tried to shoot their bows, seeming to get in each other’s way.

  Eadulf was gazing in horror at the terrible inferno. Suddenly an awesome thought came to his mind.

  ‘Trifina! What if the lady Trifina is a prisoner on board?’

  Bleidbara stared at him aghast, his face white despite the reflected glow of the flames. In his battle fever, he had forgotten about Trifina.

  Bleidbara shouted again, yet another demand for surrender, but an arrow whistled by his face and embedded itself into a spar nearby. Had Eadulf been standing closer, it would have found a target in him. Heraclius had released yet another of his terrifying clay balls into the ship, where it burst against the central mast, the flames roaring upwards as if racing to get to the top of it.

  The entire deck of the Koulm ar Maro was a hungry sea of flames. Here and there, some men were jumping overboard, some with their clothes alight — which were not put out even when the unfortunates struck the water.

  Bleidbara turned to his helmsman with a swift order and the helm went over.

  ‘We are hauling off from her,’ he explained to Eadulf. ‘This fire is too much. We must save ourselves from her flames.’

  Eadulf could still see men jumping from the decks of the sea-raider. But he saw no sign of the slight figure in white that he was hoping to spot. He prayed that Trifina was not a prisoner on that dying ship. Some of Bleidbara’s crew had brought out long wooden poles and were using them to push the ship away from the sides of the burning vessel. They swung free, their sails filling again as they clawed across the waves, distancing themselves from the blazing inferno. Within a few moments they could see little resemblance to the fighting ship that they had approached. The hungry flames were all-consuming; decks, bows and the entire hull of the vessel seemed to be one pyre of crackling flame.

  Having secured the remaining clay balls below deck, Heraclius came trotting back along the deck to join Eadulf. There was a strange, rather sad expression on his face.

  ‘So that was what you didn’t want us to find?’ Eadulf commented dryly.

  ‘It is something my father developed for our emperor, Constantinos. It is something that I hope no one else discovers.’

  ‘A terrible weapon,’ Eadulf agreed heavily. ‘No one could stand against that.’

  Then: ‘Look!’ cried Heraclius. ‘Look at that!’

  Everyone stood watching in silence. There was a strange gurgling sound. As they stood, fascinated and unable to tear their eyes away, the gurgling grew louder and the flames suddenly ceased
. Against the darkness of the island there was nothing to be seen, not even a glimmer of fire, just a pall of smoke rising above the waters and dispersing in the breeze. The sea-raider had sunk with such abruptness that it was as if the vessel, even blazing as it was, had simply vanished. Swallowed into the hungry maw of the sea.

  Bleidbara was calling orders and the crew swarmed up the rigging to the sails while the helmsman put the tiller hard over.

  ‘We are putting the ship about to see if there are any survivors,’ Heraclius explained.

  ‘From that?’ Eadulf shook his head sadly. Surely there was little hope.

  Amazingly, contrary to his expectation, some people had escaped unscathed; they were dragged from the water. Soaked and demoralised, they were brought aft to be questioned by Bleidbara.

  ‘Ask them if the lady Trifina was on board,’ Eadulf reminded him, although such a reminder was unnecessary.

  Only one of the prisoners answered Bleidbara — and that only in monosyllables. Bleidbara struck him twice across the face, making Eadulf wince. He hated such brutality but had to admit that if it forced the man to speak, perhaps it was justified. Even so, the man was still defiant and his expression was one of hatred.

  ‘He says there is a woman on the other ship,’ Bleidbara interpreted.

  ‘What other ship?’ demanded Eadulf. ‘The Barnacle Goose?’

  The prisoner shrugged and Bleidbara was shouting at him again. Eadulf could not understand what was being said although a word that sounded like ‘looverdee’ was repeated several times.

  In fact, Bleidbara grew quite violent with the man at this, grabbing him by the throat and thrusting his face within an inch of the prisoner’s own. He shook him like a dog might shake a rabbit, and Eadulf could hear the man’s teeth rattle.

  The prisoner was still defiant but responded, repeating the word ‘looverdee’. Bleidbara turned to Eadulf.

  ‘He says the other ship is hidden on an island called Enez Lovrdi, which means the Leper’s Island.’