Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe

by James M. Ward

  "Tupper and Condord, you've done this job before, you load up the scaffold while I instruct Halcyon here on the duty," Lieutenant Solvalson ordered as he carefully picked up a large brush and kept talking as he held the brush well away from his body.

  He dipped the brush in the oil bucket and then stroked the full brush against the inside railing made of dragon flesh. The scales started instantly swelling with the oil and took on a healthier-looking sheen.

  "We brush the skin of the dragon with this specially treated oil," Solvalson said. "Not only does it keep the skin from cracking, but the magical elements in the oil help the dragon grow and heal itself quicker. That's one of the reasons our dragonships of the line are larger than our enemy's version of the same ships. This oil also allows the creature to eat less and still grow strong, so we have to feed it only a third as much as our sea dragon counterparts found in the enemy's fleets. One coat of the oil on the outside of the ship does wonders for the big monster. You can hear how happy he is by those loud purrs. Any questions, Blithe?"

  Halcyon didn't see any problems with the work and said so. He did wonder why Hackle was filling an unusually large bucket with the oil. He couldn't imagine the lieutenant not ordering such work done by someone else.

  Suddenly, the main halyard line of the foresail revealed itself to him. Blithe was new to rope speaking but was getting a feeling about the condition of all the Sanguine's lines. He didn't know how he knew, but he just knew that the core of the halyard line on the port side of the foresail was weak with salt rot. Now that he was looking more carefully at the line, there was a blue glow revealing itself to his senses.

  "Get a move on, Blithe, this duty needs to be done before the moon sets," Solvalson ordered.

  "Sir, you're going to want to speak to the officer on deck. I can tell the foresail halyard needs replacing. It's cored with sea rot, it could snap at any minute," Halcyon advised.

  "Really?" There was doubt in Solvalson's voice.

  "I'm a rope speaker, sir. I don't know how I know, but I know that line needs replacing right now," Halcyon suggested.

  There was no doubting Blithe's sincerity.

  "I'll get the watch crew on that. You just do your oiling duty. Carry on," Solvalson ordered as he moved toward the forecastle steps.

  Tupper and Condord were already over the side and on the scaffold waiting for Halcyon.

  As he threw himself over the side and onto the platform, Tupper asked him a question. "Hal, have you ever had someone talk to you about Shidon the deity and his ways?"

  "That's an odd question, Tupper," Blithe replied. He got over the rail and planted his feet on the side scaffold. There was a bucket of oil and a brush on his end of the planking. The crew up above winched the scaffold down to where the last duty crew had stopped. There was a section of bright and oily scales and right beside that section the sea salt had clearly turned the green of the dragon skin white.

  Blithe started spreading on the oil. "Let's see, Shidon is the god of the sea. I've heard him called the protector of sailors and the bringer of fair and foul weather. He's not a deity most Arcanians worship, but most seamen give Shidon a small offering every time they leave a ship. Why do you ask?"

  As the scaffold was winched lower on the side of the ship, Tupper and Condord positioned oil buckets at the middle of the platform between themselves and Halcyon. There were big grins on their faces. They began brushing on the oil, but constantly looked over to where Halcyon was.

  Hackle was above them, bending over the railing of the dragonship. He shouted down to them, "Blithe, see where the other work detail stopped brushing on the oil. Begin there and get a move on."

  Blithe brushed faster, but had to stop as the dragon head came into view. The creature was awesomely huge, and while Blithe knew the dragon's training kept it from swallowing him in one bite, the huge beast still made him uncomfortable. The tingling on his skin increased the closer the dragon's head came toward him. When he was on deck or below, the nature of their dragonship of the line wasn't so apparent, but right here with the dragon's breath on his neck, the creature's great size was daunting.

  "Shidon's ways are strange to those not of the sea." Tupper started brushing on the oil at his position and was somehow able to ignore the huge sea-dragon head just a few feet away. The creature watched every stroke Tupper made on its side. "I'm sure your family wouldn't have talked about what happens to new crew members on various voyages around Arcania. Every ship has its Shidon traditions. When we sail down off the shore of Elese all the new crew members have to swim under the ship. It's a sort of birthing ceremony. There are lots of different Shidon things that get done to the crew as they sail in the different oceans of the world."

  Tupper was going on and on about Shidon tricks, but Halcyon wasn't paying attention, as the sea dragon was watching him intently now. The dragon's head was huge. It could eat him with one gulp. Blithe could feel his heart beating faster. He couldn't help himself, he had to constantly look over his shoulder at the dragon and wonder if the creature would eat him.

  "Not eat."

  Halcyon's head rocked back as the strange thought struck his mind. "Seaman Condord, did you say something?" Halcyon asked. However, the midshipwizard knew the answer. It was the dragon thinking into his mind. Halcyon's whole body tingled now, not just the parts touching the oiled cloth. When the dragon's thoughts hit him, Blithe felt himself in the mind of the creature.

  There was a big smile on Condord's face, but he shook his head.

  Tupper kept going on and on about Shidon things. The midshipwizard nervously babbled, but with a dragon not ten feet away, Blithe wasn't surprised.

  "Oil on head."

  Blithe glanced at the dragon to see it looking up to the deck above. Blithe tore his eyes away and looked up as well. He saw a slug of oil rush into his face, poured from above as Hackle shouted with glee and tipped over the huge bucket.

  Blithe slammed down on his knees, hitting the scaffold boards hard. He coughed out oil and tried to rub the thick liquid from his eyes.

  With a restraining hand, Haywhen made sure his friend didn't fall off the scaffold. In a sad voice, he told him what was happening. "It's called the oiling of Shidon. All new crewmen get it when they do their first oiling duty. Sorry, Hal, we weren't supposed to warn you."

  With his eyes tightly shut against the oil and his throat sputtering, Halcyon wasn't listening to Tupper. In fact, Halcyon wasn't in his body at all.

  "I tried to warn you," the sea dragon thought to Halcyon. The creature's dragony mental voice was much clearer and seemed to be speaking in full sentences now.

  Blithe found himself looking at the side of the ship. He could see Tupper, and Condord, and there was his body on his knees on the scaffold. The scene was all in different shades of sea green, which was just as odd as being able to look at himself from a distance.

  "The oil lets us share thoughts. I can go inside your mind and you can go inside mine. Right now we are sharing my body as yours is in pain."

  Blithe understood the sea dragon clearly. Looking at the ship, he saw the crew roaring with laughter on deck as they looked at his oiled body.

  "You won't be able to hear me very well when you aren't all oiled up. If you practice, our speech together will get better," the dragon advised.

  Blithe could barely think. The sea dragon's feelings and heartbeat were part of Blithe now. He could feel the dragon's fins working the water, its tail moving back and forth. He could feel its hunger and its sense of smell telling it there was a patch of floating seaweed just a mile away.

  "Olden and Griffon are nice, but they don't speak to me much. It's good to have another of your race to share minds with from the shell on my back," the dragon said.

  Halcyon had a dragon's perspective of the ship. It called the Sanguine its shell. Then Blithe could see Officer Wily gesturing from the deck, and Blithe's body filled with a blue glow. The oil left Blithe's hair and skin and splashed against another dry part of
the dragon's side.

  The sea dragon's tone of voice was sad now. "Please try talking to me, especially at feeding time. Your mind goes back into your body now, as the oil's influence goes away."

  There was a jolting shock in his mind and body, and his thoughts once more filled his own mind. The scaffold rose to deck level and crew helped him off and slapped him on the back in happy companionship.

  "Are you all right, Mr. Blithe?" asked Officer Wily.

  Opening his eyes fully for the first time since the oiling, he saw the friendly faces of the crew all around him. There wasn't a speck of oil on his body. "I'm fine, sir. Thank you for removing the oil, sir," Halcyon said.

  There was a strange cloth patch in Wily's hand. The patch was an image of the sea dragon. "You've become a member of an elite group, Mr. Blithe. With your dunking in the oil, you are now a member of the sea dragon brotherhood. Place this patch on your duty uniform with pride. Some people like to leave the oil on the crew member until it eventually rubs off. I think being clean after an experience like that is a better idea," Officer Wily said while handing the patch to Blithe.

  "Brother Dragon is small for one of my kind." The dragon's thoughts caused Halcyon to look up at its head.

  Blithe could see the dragon's head twisting to look down on the deck. Halcyon smiled and waved up to the creature.

  "Mr. Blithe, since you're up here for a moment, help with the changing of that halyard line. Lieutenant Junior Grade Alberta Fosentat is the watch officer for the foresail. Lend your skills to her," Wily said, giving the order and walking off to the quarterdeck.

  Blithe hadn't worked with Fosentat yet, but he knew who she was from wardroom meals. He stepped up to her and saluted. "Ma'am, Midshipwizard Blithe reporting for this duty."

  Fosentat was short, not more than five feet tall, but there was a commanding manner about her. "Excellent, Mr. Blithe. I hope you have fully recovered from Mr. Hackle's dousing. It's possible he takes too much pleasure in that Shidon tradition. To the point, I'm glad to have your rope-speaking skills aid us with the line. You take the lead on the rope as we raise the foresail and replace that line. The chanter will sing the beat."

  The duty was easy, as ten crewmen were at the halyard ready to pull and men were in the rigging ready to luff the sail.

  The chanter started singing and everyone pulled in time to the tune.

  Up jumps a crab with his crooked legs

  Saying, 'You play the cribbage and I'll stick the pegs

  Singing blow the wind westerly, let the wind blow,

  By a gentle nor'wester how steady she goes.'

  The deep voice of the chanter rang out clear in the moonlight. He started the second verse, and the men pulled on the halyard with a will, singing with him.

  Up jumps a dolphin with his chuckle head

  He jumps on the deck saying, 'Pull out the lead!

  Singing blow the wind westerly, let the wind blow,

  By a gentle nor'wester how steady she goes.'

  Halcyon was enjoying the tune and the work. He didn't mind the duty as the rope moved through his hands. He could sense the rope's entire length as it went through the block and tackle and moved up the foresail. He didn't know the tune, but started singing the chorus with the men after the chanter finished singing the first two verses.

  Up jumps a salmon so bright as the sun

  He jumped down between the decks and fired off a gun!

  Singing blow the wind westerly, let the wind blow,

  By a gentle nor'wester how steady she goes.

  He could feel the rope start to twist in the tackle. It would foul up in the next couple of pulls. He exerted his will on the rope and felt a power flow through his hands, into the rope, and up to the tackle, not allowing the rope to twist up as it pulled through the metal pulley. He never lost a beat in the song and the rest of the crew never knew he was helping with his power, allowing the work to continue moving smoothly.

  Up jumps a whale, the biggest of all

  He jumped up aloft and he's pawl after pawl!

  Singing blow the wind westerly, let the wind blow,

  By a gentle nor'wester how steady she goes.

  Up jumps a herring, the king of the sea,

  He jumps up on deck saying, 'Helms alee!

  Singing blow the wind westerly, let the wind blow,

  By a gentle nor'wester how steady she goes.'

  There were more verses to the song, but the chanter sang the ending yodel and the men stopped pulling. The rope threaded out of the sail and some of the crew members sat in the middle of the deck with the old halyard rope coiled all about them. They started unraveling the scans of its length to make smaller lashing. Nothing was ever wasted on board ship. Even rope with rot turned into smaller and still useful strands.

  "Blithe, fine work that. You were right. That entire length was filled with rot at its core," remarked the junior lieutenant. "I don't mind saying you saved us a bit of work there. Check out the length we are using to replace the halyard. It makes no sense to put a possibly bad line up after we just took a bad one down. Then I think you should take the rest of your duty and check out the lengths we have stored in the orlop deck."

  "Aye, aye, ma'am." He saluted and started looking over the new line. He didn't see anything there that was going to cause trouble. "Start threading the line. It won't give us any problems."

  Looking over the railing at the dragonship's side, he saw his friend Tupper and the seaman halfway down the side of the ship. Their oiling duty was going fast.

  The sea dragon watched the work and purred. It looked up once and winked one of its huge eyes at Halcyon. The midshipwizard now knew that the oil was giving the dragon energy and making it feel great. Up until then Halcyon feared the creature's size and power. Now he felt he'd made a new friend and couldn't wait to try mind-speaking with it again. He took a lantern from the side of the ship and went belowdecks. He hadn't learned illumination spells yet, but when he got down into the hold he wouldn't need light. His talent of rope speaking worked just as well in the dark as in broad daylight.

  Even from his position deep in the bowels of the ship, he heard another verse of the chantey and knew exactly what they were doing on deck as they used the new halyard to reluff the foresail.

  Up jumps a shark with his big row of teeth,

  He jumped up between the decks and shook out the reefs!

  Singing blow the wind westerly, let the wind blow,

  By a gentle nor'wester how steady she goes.

  The entire middle of the orlop deck held a huge mound of coiled rope in all sizes and lengths. He slowly walked over the lengths of line and could feel the rope telling him it was whole and strong. There was only one section of rope, located beside the port wall, that had a light dusting of mold all over its length. The mold hadn't done any damage and would probably blow off when the sun and fresh air hit it, but he would report it just the same.

  The idea of speaking to sea dragons was a new one for Halcyon. As he moved from rope section to rope section, he wondered if he could speak to land dragons as well. He'd seen such creatures flying high in the sky, but never dreamed he might actually be able to talk with one of the grand creatures.

  his majesty's articles of war: article vi

  If any ship or vessel be taken as prize, none of the officers, mariners, or other persons on board her shall be stripped of their clothes, or in any sort pillaged, beaten, or evil-entreated, upon the pain that the person or persons so offending shall be liable to such punishment as a court-martial shall think fit to inflict.

  A junior seaman stood on the quarterdeck at the ship's bell. He watched the hourglass slowly shifting down the grains of sand in the glass hanging by the wheel. In a few moments he would be ringing the bell six times to sound the morning watch.

  The Sanguine's blast-tube crews all stood at attention at their firing stations on every deck. Blast-tube practice happened whenever Master Andool Griffon felt like it, and she felt like it this
morning at dawn.

  By rights, Halcyon should have been tucked in his bunk after just getting off the night watch, but he stood at attention with the rest because there was no way he was going to miss his first blast-tube practice. Besides, he thought, who can sleep with tubes blasting all over the ship.

  Since this was his first practice, his bunkmates were groaning as five of them were at attention around his blast-tube. Normally, the midshipwizards spread themselves through the ranks of the blast-tube crewmen. They supervised and filled in when tube crew members fell with wounds or needed help. Since Blithe was new to the tubes, five of his midshipwizard mates had to serve on his battle station with him.

  Master Andool Griffon walked the quarterdeck shouting commands loud and clear. Her boots made crunching sounds as she moved up and down the sandy deck. She was the only one in boots; all the rest of the crew were barefoot. Sand lay all over each deck to help with footing.

  A tough commander, she had fiery red hair done in a long war braid down her back. There was a dagger sheathed and worked into that braid. Some said she came from dwarf stock, since she stood only five feet tall. No one said that to her face.

  All the rest of the crew stood at attention.

  Her words rang out over the crew. "We have one hundred and twenty-two long and double blast-tubes on this ship, and by the dark god that made me, they better all fire before that sixth bell tolling the morning watch or I'll know the reason why."

  A large double-bladed axe strapped to her back showed how she would meet an enemy boarding party. She wore the weapon only at practice or during combat. The handle of the thing hung down almost to the deck from the middle of her back. Blithe didn't have the slightest idea how she could effectively use a weapon that large. Her black blast-tube uniform fit loosely over her frame, but he could see well-defined arms and legs under the cover of the uniform. He didn't even allow himself a second to think about the fact that she was a woman. Blast-tubes and their workings were often the subject of Blithe family meals when his father, brothers, and uncles were home from the war.