by LeRoy Clary
Captain Jameson looked ready to ask another question and paused when Raymer laughed aloud. He was still looking at Anna. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I figure we will put the four of you on the bow, and we’ll see how determined they are to come near us.”
“I’ll let the others know.” He turned and left the raised area with the ship’s wheel.
Captain Jameson said, “That’s it? He knows what to do? What do you want me to do?”
“Head for the open water. If they let us go, sail past at your best speed. If they get in our way, put us as close to them as you can.”
He looked worried. “They will try to get close. They want to board The Rose.”
“I cannot be held responsible for their stupidity. When someone wants to do your work for you, make it easy for them.”
He shrugged and ordered to the helmsman, his voice loud and firm, “Come ninety degrees to starboard.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The helmsman spun the wheel, and the ship started a wide turn. It straightened and surged ahead like it had just awakened from a long nap. Anna’s people gathered on the foredeck, laughing and joking while they strung their bows and laid out arrows within easy reach. They acted as if they were going to a party instead of a battle.
Anna still stole glances at the Captain. He didn’t feel their confidence. He stood stiffly at attention, but a slight tremor in his hands betrayed him. A Captain should be concerned with his ship and people. Trusting a young girl had to be an alien experience.
She said for his ears alone, “I know what I’m doing.”
“We all hope so.” His voice was soft and dry.
“The Rose can outrun them. All we have to do is get ahead. Without archers, I have no doubt this ship with you as the master could evade them long enough to find a way past that ship ahead. A turn of the wheel, putting on more sail, or whatever. You only need one pass, and they will never catch up. With night coming on you’d be away by dawn.”
Captain Jameson glared at her as if she was the cause of the problems. “If you were not here, that is what I’d do, but never in my command experience would I direct my ship at the enemy. I would try to escape.”
“You would try to escape. I am setting up a circumstance that will promise escape.”
“So you say.” He looked away and watched the other ship growing larger as they raced to it.
So much for trying to make the Captain feel better. Instead of talking, she stood further to one side and waited. She glanced up at the top of the masts where more sail waited. If the Captain fully understood, she could remain quiet, but said, “If you would put men up there to add the sails when we break free it would help. And as we approach the other ship, if you would slow us down, our people will have more time to release their arrows.”
“Slow down? That’s what they want us to do. Are you going to tell those men at the bow what we’re going to do?”
“They know.” Instead of making her case further, she shut up. She had offered her advice, and he appeared to reject it, but finally he called out to three men and pointed to the top of the masts. They instantly leaped for the rope ladders and began climbing.
Anna could now make out men on the other ship. It sailed at an angle to cut them off, a curl of white water at their bow. A single look to the Dragon Clan revealed they knelt behind the capstan on a raised platform that lifted the anchor. It was large enough to hide all four. There were arrows laid out side by side in front of each man. When firing, they would not take their eyes off their targets as they blindly reached for the next arrow.
While they were good at archery, they maximized the impact their sudden appearance would have. Those on the other ship expected to overtake and capture a defenseless merchant ship without resistance. There would be a dozen men with grappling hooks and ropes, swords, knives, and clubs. They expected to throw the hooks and pull the ships together, then leap aboard, and they may have done it a dozen other times.
Most of them would be standing in the open where they had room to swing their grappling hooks before tossing them. Behind them, also in the open, would be the men with knives and cutlasses, waiting to leap across from that ship to The Rose.
A twinge of regret touched her. She shrugged it away. The other ship had the option of letting them go their own way. If they captured The Rose, how many of her crew would survive? She asked herself that question over and over, always drawing the same answer. Probably none would survive. The Rose would be sunk or taken for profit.
The two ships were closing quickly, the other ready to change course to run alongside The Rose, so the grappling hooks were close enough to throw. The men at the rails started shouting and waving swords and knives. They raised fists and screamed insults, all intended to scare the crew of The Rose, and their actions did. The men on The Rose looked terrified. She wanted to run into the open and shout encouragement to them but held back.
Her eyes caught sight of Devlin, who was at the very top of the spar holding the furled sails. He was in place to release them so the ship would speed ahead. He was watching Anna, and she turned slightly so nobody would see her raise her thumb to him in silent approval. He returned the gesture. She turned back to the shouts and threats, the waving and flashing of sun reflecting off the weapons, and her eyes found their wheelhouse.
Another captain stood beside the helmsman, giving his orders. She could not make out individual faces. But a quick glance at the bow of The Rose showed all but one of her men ducking low to avoid detection. Only Raymer peeked above, and she saw his lips moving, so he was telling the others what he saw. The last thing he wanted was to give up the element of surprise.
“They’re getting too close,” Captain Jameson muttered.
Anna watched the closing speed of the two ships. The faster they came together, the fewer arrows would fly. The Captain’s attention centered on the other ship and not the plan she’d lined out. “Sir, this would be the time to spill air from the sails and slow down, as if you’re surrendering.”
He appeared confused for a brief second, then reluctantly issued the order. The Rose reacted instantly, slowing so quickly Anna wanted to take a step forward to catch her balance. She saw others doing the same.
The shouting and cursing on the other ship turned into cheers. The men at the rails started twirling the grappling hooks, getting ready to throw them. Anna wanted to shout at Raymer. He did nothing but watch. The other ship sailed even closer, well within the range of the longbows, but still he waited.
The other ship was about to cut across the bow of The Rose and the first of the grappling hooks flew when Raymer stood and shouted at the same time. Raymer let the first arrow fly from a distance of only two hundred paces, and easy shot for a longbow. It struck the nearest man holding a grappling hook in the chest. The second man turned, confused as to what had happened and two arrows appeared in his chest. The third fell man with one arrow.
Pandemonium broke out on the deck of the other ship as the crew that had intended to board and kill were suddenly the victims of a hail of arrows. From the corner of her eye, she watched Raymer grab arrows, pull, and release, then repeat the sequence so fast it was a blur to watch. The other Dragon Clan were as fast as Raymer. Men fell with arrows in necks, chests, and legs, many with more than one arrow protruding from them.
The men still alive, and those few without arrows in them dived for safety behind anything large enough to hide a body. As the other ship drew past, Anna counted. Eleven men were either dead, dying, or had an arrow in them. If her original guess of fifteen fighting men remained accurate, and it appeared it was, only four or five survived the surprise attack unscathed.
Not a single grappling hook had reached The Rose. Anna turned to Captain Jameson, who stood wide-eyed and stunned. He had rotated his head as the other ship slipped past, watching the carnage that had happened in the space of a few breaths. “Captain? Do you want to order the topsails unfurled and a course change? I see
two more sails approaching directly behind us.”
The words snapped him out of his funk. He shouted orders and the men leaped to obey. Before the additional sails filled with air, he had ordered the lower ones tightened and had the helmsman turn further downwind, the direction where The Rose sailed fastest.
Anna kept watch on the ships behind, and in less time than she would have believed, they started to shrink in size and disappeared over the horizon. The ship that had attacked them looked as if it still floated, but in no particular direction. The survivors well enough to render aid to the others were probably too busy to steer a course until the other two ships arrived.
Raymer spoke to the others on the bow, and they went below decks while he strolled down the deck to stand in front of Anna as he unstrung his bow. She said, “I didn’t think you were ever going to give the order.”
“Surprise is a gift I do not give up lightly. What are your orders?”
She laughed, “I do not give orders.”
Raymer didn’t join her laughter. Instead, he showed her the respect he held for her. He said, “Most of us are hung over or tired today. I told them to sleep for now. I suggest that you call a meeting on the bow this evening.”
“What would I talk about?”
“Tell them how you intend to defeat a whole nation,” Raymer said.
Captain Jameson’s mouth hung open, and his eyes were still wide. But when Raymer glanced in his direction the Captain said, “I’ve questioned her decisions for the last time.”
Anna flashed her smile that displayed her dimples best, while meeting Raymer’s direct eye contact. In the sweet voice of one younger, she said, “But I’m just a little girl.”
Anna looked to the east where the Mystery river flowed and knew there was much to come, but with the people in The Rose, her confidence grew. Her job was not finished. She had barely begun.
Preview of Dragon Clan #7: Shill’s Story
(Coming this Fall 2016)
Shill had spent over a year listening to the stories of Breslau that the family messengers brought, tales of conquest, defeat, bravery, and of young girls who did all that men did, and more. He’d heard them all. Camilla, Raymer, Tanner, Carrion, Anna, Gray, Dancer, and others. People who left their families and fought to protect them. Brave people. The kind legends grow around.
Not at all like Shill and his poor family. They were a smaller division of the Dragan Clan Family living west of the Raging Mountain Family, on the dry grasslands of the rolling prairie. They had no permanent homes like most others, but lived in wagons as nomads isolating themselves from the few others who inhabited the wide, empty area.
In recent years, Shill had all but accepted his life as a wandering goat herder. He owned a small flock of sheep that followed the goats everywhere, and he had once traveled to Springtown where another branch of the Family lived, making their homes around a natural spring three days further west on the prairie. He’d gone there hoping to find a wife—and secretly a new life to go with her.
He found two young women of age and unmarried lived there. One wanted more than he could offer, and the other offered too much. Her desperate advances chased him back to the grasslands and his family. Lately, he had been thinking more and more about going to Bear Mountain in search of someone to share a life with. Dragons also lived there on the side of the volcano, and so did the Bear Mountain Family. Fleet and his father, Dancer, also lived there, but so did Camilla.
She was a few years younger than him, but from all he heard, she was the one he wanted. Her early life as a wildling told of her will to survive. Later, she evaded the King’s Weapon Master and Slave Master and all but made fools of them. Her stories raised the hairs on the back of his neck when he compared it to the little he’d done in his lifetime. In his entire life, he had felt the tingle of two dragons, and seen only one.
What use in being of the Dragon Clan if there were no dragons around? Living at the very edge of civilization, or as his brother often said, one day’s journey further west than the end, meant a dreary, uneventful life to look forward to living. That was fine for many, but Shill wanted more. He had decided recently that he would have more.
Lately, he spent his days talking with the goats while watching over them, rehearsing the words he would use with his family. He responded to all their inquiries and arguments, although the goats raised few objections and the sheep even less. He smiled to himself for the first time in days. Mind made up, his emotions improved and he sang a few old songs with the goats and sheep adding in their input where needed.
He would miss them when he departed. For years, they had heard most of his innermost thoughts and hopes. But the time had come. His family might object, but it was something he had to do. If he died in the process, it would be better than life as he knew it.
The young dog that had replaced Old Blue hadn’t earned a name yet, but what it lacked in knowledge, it made up for in enthusiasm. A whistle brought its attention to him. He waved one arm above his head and turned his back on the flock. The dog would bring them.
He didn’t hurry. His staff was his cane when walking, but today it reverted to a weapon. Remembering what his father had taught him before the illness, he gripped it in the center and slashed an imaginary opponent before it even knew what happened. He twirled to meet another, head on. After blocking the downswing of the sword, he jabbed the end of the staff into the attacker’s stomach. He’d won another encounter, despite the time since he’d last practiced with the staff.
After a fine dinner of a heavy mutton stew filled with carrots, onions, and turnips he washed his bowl and said, “I’d like to call a council meeting tonight.”
A stricken look fleetingly crossed his mother’s face, butt was gone almost as fast as it appeared. She sliced more carrots to add to the stew for tomorrow's meals, and said, “You’re leaving us.”
It was not a question. Her eyes were avoiding his, but she waited for the answer. “I have to go.”
“These people from across the sea are unknown, and they will not come across the grasslands to our home.”
“We don’t know that. But, even if that’s so, these people from Breslau will find and kill as many Dragon Clan as they can. They have Dragon Masters who teach dragons to kill ours. We wear the dragon mark, and to do less than we can help our family is wrong.”
His mother finished chopping carrots and scooped them into the stew, but did not stir it, yet. She diced turnips and added them. Then she said, “If there had been a nice girl for you at Springtown, you would remain and raise babies.”
“Instead, I raise lambs and kids. But you are right. I want a woman to share my life with and on my way to Racine, I will stop at Bear Mountain.”
“To look for a wife?” She sounded hopeful.
“Yes. There is one we’ve all heard of. Camilla.”
“Son, you may have set your sights too high. That one is known far and wide. I’ll bet there is a path worn through the forest by eager young men to her door. But, I will go tell Anson you’d like to talk to the family tonight.”
After she had left, Shill closed his eyes. That had gone better than expected. When he opened them again, he decided to gather and inventory his belongings. It didn’t take long. He would leave most of it to his younger brother, who would learn to watch the flock. Jammer wouldn’t be happy about him leaving, and even less so when he discovered, he would inherit Shill’s job of a herdsman.
Jammer didn’t like animals, at least not in the way Shill did. Jammer didn’t talk to them. He thought them stupid and only good for eating. Not yet ten, he had far too much energy to sit and watch animals eat all day long. Perhaps he could teach Jammer some moves with his staff, and he could work on learning them while watching over the animals.
But he would complain as he did about everything. Suddenly Shill didn’t care. He would be gone, off to find a wife if he was lucky, and to help his people and have adventures above and beyond any that a man in his family had in a h
undred years.
He would see Bear Mountain, dragons, Castle Warrington, and the Endless Sea. If he worked hard enough, tales would spread of his achievements, even to the grasslands of the far west. Defeating Breslau was important, and a goal he should set for himself, but his mind kept pushing it to the back. First and foremost, he was going to see dragons. See and ‘feel’ them. Maybe bond with one.
Finding a wife is a lofty goal considering what little he had to offer, especially for someone like Camilla, but seeing a dragon close up was a reality and possibility. He determined that the slopes of Bear Mountain would be his first destination. He might not meet and marry Camilla, or defeat Breslau, but there was that one goal he could achieve.
Failing to see dragons would make the entire trip, and his life, seem a waste. For a Dragon Clan member, the calling of him was beyond normal. It didn’t tug, it pulled at him, and had for over a year. It was as if one specific dragon was calling his name at night. Lately, the calling had been stronger, more intense. He hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, but when he woke each morning, it seemed real until it faded with the dawn.
He wouldn’t mention dragons at the council tonight. He’d think about them at the meeting and dream of them again tonight. But when he woke in the morning the dream wouldn’t fade this time. He would go find dragons, maybe a wife, and enough adventure to last a lifetime.
The End.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LeRoy Clary
I have never met a dragon. Never even seen one. But wish I had. They fascinate me, so I decided to construct a mental world where they coexist with people. Most of my books are about them, and I call the people the Dragon Clan.
A book called DRAGON! started it. While similar to the Dragon Clan Series, it set up the idea of how to live and survive in a world where dragons are part of the landscape without resorting to cartoonish dragons or creatures as intelligent and conniving as people. The next hurdle was to keep the stories coming fast enough to satisfy the readers.
