The Warrior's Tale

by Allan Cole, Chris Bunch

  I'd deliberately turned the discussion to Cholla Yi. If he had any ability to lead, beyond his talent at chicanery and brutality, he'd best show it now. Finally, he forced composure, breathing deeply. I knew he was more angry than any of us not just because all rogues fancy themselves perfect judges of character, even though they're mostly the quickest fooled; but also because he must've been counting on The Sarzana's invitation to join his banner for loot and gold. Cholla Yi growled, and plucked at his beard, but the ruddiness faded somewhat from his cheeks, as he thought.

  'I see nothing good,' he finally confessed. 'No shining strategies open before me, save one, and that I won't mention, since it's barely worth laughing at.'

  'No one will laugh,' I said. 'We are all equally fools, it appears.'

  'Very well,' the admiral said. 'My only thoughts are these: what are the chances of The Sarzana making it safely ashore, to a friendly isle? If what you said is right, Captain Antero, and your suspicions sent signals to him, although I must wonder how in the hell you, of all people, managed to slip free from his incantation; he must've fled before he planned, which suggests he might not have ended at his planned destination. Perhaps he fell on a lee shore, or, better, in the company of cannibals.' Cholla Yi tried, and failed, to look hopeful.

  'Damned doubtful,' one of the other captains, Kidai, put in. 'I've never known a scoundrel to do anything convenient.'

  Cholla Yi nodded soberly. 'Maybe, Captain Antero, you could prepare a spell with Gamelan's help, and confirm whether or not...' his voice trailed off. 'No. Forgive me. I wasn't thinking. Even I know that'd be like lighting a beacon in a mist. Forget I spoke of that. Let's do nothing that might attract that demon's sorcerous eye.' He thought again, then brightened. 'Maybe I've put too harsh a face on things,' he said. 'Perhaps no one'll find out we loosed this scourge until we've somehow found our course back towards home.'

  Gamelan shook his head. 'I wish I could sustain your hope, Admiral. But that's not very likely. We've got to assume Konya has wizards as powerful as The Sarzana, since they were able to topple him. When someone with his power suddenly reappears, there'll be many conjurations made, and all of them will be trying to find out how he broke his bonds. No, we can't assume we'll not be netted with the blame, at least not for very long.'

  'Suppose we turn back now,' Polillo tried. 'Could we resupply back on Tristan, and then sail due east, towards familiar seas? Maybe sail a little to the north, in the hope we can avoid those reefs and volcanoes that blocked us, in the hope of striking familiar land, Jeypur or even Laosia, whose coast we could follow back to Orissa?'

  Both Stryker and Gamelan started to say something, and Gamelan indicated the captain should speak first.

  'I sure don't want t' throw them dice,' he said. 'You can figure it'll be a long damned sail. On seas we don't know more about th'n a half-a-copper whore knows gold when she sees it. If we had charts, maybe. But th' way she lays, I susp'ct the men won't hold firm fer long.'

  I knew what he was thinking and agreed - these officers held their commands by force, luck and consensus. Mutiny could never be further away than one order that rang false to these disgruntled seamen. These rootless freebooters might easily overthrow their officers, murder us, and hoist the black flag. They might think they were as likely to find fortune as pirates here as back in more familiar waters around Orissa. Besides:

  'Even if they would,' I said, 'would we be able to find Tristan again? Wouldn't the same spell The Sarzana laid to keep the Konyans from finding the island, assuming he spoke truth, work against us, since we're surely now his enemies?'

  'It would,' Gamelan said. 'That was just what I was about to say. No. We can't turn back.'

  'We sure as hell can't just sail on blindly,' Phocas, Cholla Yi's sailing master snapped.

  'Of course not,' I said. 'We have the stick map, and now we know, since we've seen other islands, it's a true model. If we could manage to decipher it fully, we wouldn't be sailing blind.'

  'Still ain't good enough,' Stryker said.

  'No,' I agreed. 'But I don't see anyone having a better plan. I suggest this - we sail on, south and west. We should look for the most civilized island we can find. We sail in, boldly, and tell the truth - or at least a bit of it. We claim to be an exploratory expedition that lost its way. We come from a great mercantile empire, and seek to open trading routes with the west. It would be of great benefit for someone to aid us and give us directions back towards our own lands. Also we can hint it'd be dangerous to obstruct us, since our country has powerful magicians who'll seek revenge if harm comes to us. Maybe we can get a spell from one of their wizards, or better yet, since there'll be less possibility of our part in The Sarzana's escape being discovered by magic, sailing directions from a navigator or ship's captain. Perhaps they've got Guilds for deepwater seamen, as Redond does.'

  There were mutters of approval. Stryker hissed, a noise that I thought signified support. Cholla Yi looked at the other sailors, and nodded his great head.

  'Possibly,' he said. 'Possibly. At least your plan is a bold one, and we won't have to slink around until we're found out. Not at all bad, for a woman, and not dissimilar from what I myself had been about to suggest.'

  Corais and Polillo stiffened, but showed no other sign of resentment. It didn't matter at all to me if Cholla Yi wanted to hog credit for this plan - if my vague idea could even be given that much of a name. I also chose to ignore the jab about it coming from a woman. Cholla Yi would never change.

  'The most important thing,' I went on, 'is we'll have to move quickly. I sense Gamelan's right - sooner or later, our role in unloosing The Sarzana will be discovered. It'd be best if we were long gone from these islands they call Konya before that.'

  So it was agreed. We'd sail on. Any landfall would be compared to the stick map, to see if we could begin triangulating our location and start drawing our own map of these seas and islands.

  When we returned to the ship, Gamelan drew me aside. 'I think you did come up with the best idea, Rali, even though it's far from perfect, as you said. There's but one problem we haven't considered.'

  'The Sarzana,' I said.

  'Yes. I don't need any magic to know he'll begin working to regain his throne as rapidly as possible, by blood and spells, which is another reason for us to be out of this region quickly. Also, there is the blood-debt we've incurred in unleashing him.'

  'I know.' That weighed heavily on me. There was a stain on us all, even though we committed our crime unknowingly, under the influence of sorcery. 'How'll we make recompense? Or, at least, be shriven?'

  'I don't know,' Gamelan said heavily. 'I don't know. But I do know it will have to be paid.'

  As our ships set full sail once more, Corais joined me on the quarterdeck. I noticed she had a strip of brightly patterned silk tied around her biceps. 'You've sworn an oath?'

  Corais nodded. 'I tore this from one of the robes The Sarzana left behind. It'll remind me how I was shamed by that bastard. I vow, Rali, to you, to Maranonia, to Te-Date and to my own hearth god, that when next we meet... and I sense we aren't free of him yet... that I'll pay him back in blood for what he did to me!'

  For several days we saw little civilization. The isles we passed were small and rocky, and the few villages we saw clinging to their sides would hardly give us either the magician or navigator we sought. A few times we chanced hailing fishing boats, and bought fish for our supper with a gold coin. A few coppers would've been sufficient, but we wanted information as well. I invited them on board, and casually chatted about their lives to lead into questions about what we really sought.

  There was little to be learned. Each island was independent, and had little contact with another, or with what one fisherman called 'the men of the lights' further south and deeper into the archipelago. Sailing was hazardous beyond this island group where the sea was open, with little land except the reefs and ship-rending stacks known as the Giants' Dice, where the ocean currents pulled your vessel into the
ir embrace.

  They explained why they never dealt with the Konyans further south. Neither had anything the other wanted. No, they knew of no noted sorcerer, and were most grateful they didn't. One fisherman said he'd heard stories of a great war between lords and magicians some time gone, one that had ended in the defeat of the wizards. He told us, and swore it was true, sea demons had been raised to bring them down. I guessed he'd heard tales of The Sarzana's defeat. The only diviners he knew about were the village witches, which were all they needed to call the fish, and maybe provide a bagged wind to drive a boat safely home or, failing that, a little weather-luck to keep boats from getting caught in the storms.

  As for navigators skilled with map, astrolabe and compass, they had no place here with these fishermen. A man didn't need to sail far beyond his own village. Haifa day out, half a day back at most, and any boy knew how to read the sea close to home long before he was permitted to stand behind the rudder. If a boat was caught by a storm, and driven out to sea, well, the fishermen shrugged, if the gods were good he might find his way home. Otherwise ...

  We were told we'd likely find what we were seeking further south, beyond the Giants' Dice, which had been cast there by monstrous beings ages before, after they'd gambled and lost with men - the stakes being these fishing islands. But we'd best sail carefully, and perhaps wait some weeks, until the summer storms that were brewing blew past. But we had no time to spare.

  We sailed on, and as the tiny dots of land grew fewer and fewer, the seas became stronger, green rollers that seemed to have travelled through many waters, building strength as they went.

  The way was rough and wet for our small galleys, but I'd learned by now a small, light boat like these could ride out almost any tempest. Besides, we'd survived the storm of the Archon, and those great waves that came with it. And so, unworried if a bit queasy, we bore away from all land, still questing towards the heart of Konya.

  One morning, just after dawn, a lookout sighted a sail far ahead, just on the horizon. One, then three more, as we overhauled them. We conferred hastily. Should we avoid them? Should we close? Cholla Yi said we should proceed boldly. We outnumbered them more than two to one, probably had speed on them, and if they were hostile, well, his men at least were eager to wash the salt from their swords in blood, particularly if there was loot in the offing. Perhaps this might be a way to test the situation rather than sail blindly into some harbour where we could be trapped.

  We altered course towards the four ships. When we did, our ships began rolling even more. Now we were sailing almost due east, with the wind on our starboard beam. The seas grew heavier as we sailed on, the wind rose in ferocity, and rain began sheeting down in intermittent squalls. It was mid-morning, but it might just as well have been a grey, dark twilight.

  ‘I’m thinkin' we'll be comin' to a blow,' Stryker said. "Pears to me them fishermen weren't tale-tellin' when they said th' summer storms be damned fierce.'

  Duban drew him over to the staff our long weather glass was stapled to. I followed. Stryker tapped the glass, eyed the level the liquid within had sunk to, and whistled.

  'Aye,' Duban said, having nearly to shout to make himself understood over the wind's roar. 'Dropped 'most a fingerwidth in less'n three turnings of the hourglass. We're in for it, Cap'n.'

  'That we be,' Stryker agreed. 'Turn out the watch below. Make certain all's lashed down. 'N have th' galley fire quenched. Double-lash th' boats, and secure th' oars.' He turned to me. 'Cap'n Antero, if you please. Could I have a work detail of yer Guardswomen to help secure th' cargo below? I'll detail mates to supervise.'

  I shouted for Corais, and told her to follow Stryker's orders. She nodded, then looked over my shoulder, and her eyes widened in amazement.

  I turned, and I, too, gaped. As the storm built, I'd momentarily forgotten the Konyan ships. Now, we were within a few hundred yards, and even through the rain, could see them clearly. Three of them were smaller, about twice the size of our galleys. Each had three masts, with lateen sails, and were high-decked, with a single poopdeck running from amidships to the stern. It was the fourth ship that made us marvel.

  It was a galley, but one such as I could never have imagined. I thought it about ten times the length of our ships, and as wide as it was long. It had but a single row of oars, but those oars stuck far out into the water. They disappeared into oarholes on a lower deck, so I couldn't see how many men it took to work each of them, but thought there must've been at least five or six to each bench. Above the main-deck was a shelter deck that wasn't much smaller than die main, and, above that the topdeck. Perhaps it was this that gave the ship its amazing appearance, since it was set with three cabins that were roofed like houses on land, with each roof uptilted like so many sun bonnets at the corners. I could see the ship's timbers were covered with elaborate carvings. All of die cabins had huge round portholes, as did the main structure on the deck below. Heavy railings lined the decks, and the ladders leading to each level were more like stairs. It looked, in short, like a two-storey villa, or a small country temple had been magically given a hull and sent to sea. There was a single mast set in the middle of the ship, and one square sail, now with a double goose-wing reef, hung from a yard that must've been turned from a huge tree.

  'Damned thing's a wooden water-beetle,' Stryker said, and so it appeared as the long oars flailed at the seas, sending up nearly as much spume as the wind.

  'Surely hell to navigate in a storm like this,' Duban said. 'Look at how it's bein' driven downwind, an' the full storm ain't struck yet. Must be near flat-bottomed like a barge.'

  It didn't take any expertise on my part to know he was right -1 could see ten, no fourteen men bending mightily at twin tillers that led to the monstrous rudder I saw for a flash when the ship pitched into a swell, burying its bow in a wave and sending its stern pointed skyward. More sailors swarmed around the shrouds.

  'What is it?' Polillo asked.

  'Can't tell,' Stryker said. 'Unhandy vessel like that, I'd say she might be some kind'a inshore merchantman. But look at them workin' parties they got crawlin' all over th' pig. Too damned many sailors fer a merchantman's profit. Maybe she's a warship. But how does she fight, dammit? Ifn she's got her ram - 'n she's wallowin' like she do -I can't see how it'd do any damage, 'less she was a'ter somebody at anchor. Hell, maybe these Konyans get cross-eyed drunk 'fore they go to battle and try to run down anythin' they spy. Probably, though, they just pull up alongside each other and go at it 'til they run out of heads to chop off, and there be the winner, by damned.' He grew thoughtful. 'It'd surely be interestin',' he said, 't' see what we could do against such a ship, considerin' the amount of prize cargo she might bear.'

  I, too, was thinking in those terms, but caught myself. Was I becoming as great a freebooter as Cholla Yi's men? There was a purpose for ships, after all, besides war and booty. But still ... I thought of four or so swift galleys, harrying such a behemoth, like direwolves taking down a giant bear. I set the thought aside, to ponder and develop at a more placid time.

  The three smaller ships were obviously escorting the fourth. When we approached, they'd been in a vee-formation in front of the galley. Now they'd changed course, and all three were between us and their charge.

  'Damn' protective, ain't they,' Duban said. 'I'd surely give a year out’ve my life to root around in them holds for an hour or so, playin' keepsies. Pity we've got other business with 'em.'

  Signal bunting fluttered to the tops of the escorts' masts, which we couldn't read, but was, no doubt, challenging us, indicating what waters these ships of an unknown type hailed from and asking what was our intent. I looked at the flagship to see what reply Cholla Yi was making. He'd bent on a single large white banner, evidently figuring that would be taken for peaceful intent even in these foreign waters. I told Stryker to do the same.

  Perhaps it meant something else here, or perhaps we weren't being believed, for I saw armoured men fight their way out on deck into positions by t
he rail, and two light catapults on each of their foredecks were cleared for action.

  'Stryker,' I ordered. 'Signal Cholla Yi to stand off. They think we're attacking.'

  'Not in this weather we ain't,' he said, but shouted for the mate on watch.

  'We'll try to stay within eyesight of them,' I decided. 'When the storm's over, we'll approach them again with a single ship.'

  'Signal from Admiral Yi, sir,' the watch mate ordered. 'All ships... proceed independently. Run SSE before wind. Will reassemble ... that's all I can make out, sir.'

  Now there was no time to worry about these foreign ships as the storm closed around us. The air was heavy with spume. The wind had grown into a steady scream. I counted one, two, only three of our ships visible through the murk, then lost them. The Konyans had already vanished into the storm.

  'How's the glass?' Stryker asked.

  'Still dropping!'

  Stryker swore. He snapped a stream of orders, and working parties fought their way forward along the storming bridge, and put a double reef on the foresail, leaving only a scrap of canvas to steady us. The mainmast and yard were lowered, and I heard Stryker cursing Duban for not bringing it down an hour earlier. I had a moment to wonder whether Klisura's murder might not punish us further, since it was evident from Stryker's treatment of the new master he had nowhere near the regard for Duban that he'd had for Klisura.

  I ordered my Guard below. Polillo, who was looking distincdy pale, pulled me aside and swore she'd rather be washed overside than be stifled in her sickness below. I took pity, and ordered her to tie herself to the port rail, and stand by to help the steersman. Stryker had already detailed two men to the tiller, but even they were fighting to hold the ship on its course. I went below and told off Dica and two others to take care of Gamelan in his cabin, and also quiedy gave them the harsh order that in the event of complete disaster their lives were less vital than the wizard's, and they should act accordingly. They understood and took no offence.