by Allan Joyal
“Ron and the others won’t talk,” Lenoir said. “No trade if Seres harm me.”
“But the Seres don’t know that,” Pultarc said. “You should find another way to get to Isla Oerste, that would protect you. I could handle that and show you the goods we have to trade.”
“I’ve seen the islands,” Lenoir said. “And heard of the goods. Kaven and Panalope can handle trades Daytona needs. Most will be with Lava lands. Gems, Metals good for us to trade with dwarves.”
“Dwarves?” Pultarc asked. “They are legend.”
“Lenoir said that her people trade with a dwarven colony in the mountains. But one of the other members of their group handles most of those,” I replied.
“How did she give you that much detail?” Pultarc asked.
“One member of her group can use magic. She made it so that Lenoir spoke and understood our language perfectly for about a day,” Panalope answered.
Pultarc stepped back causing the canoe to rock alarmingly. The rowers in his boat grabbed him and pulled him down holding him in the boat as it settled.
The other boat was finally close enough for me to extend the boat hook to catch it. “Kaven?” I heard Jezibal ask.
“Its me,” I said. “We survived and returned to look for you.”
“Pultarc grabbed Kara and me the morning just two days after you left. Sere Komptan arrested Thus later that day. We heard that Garnge was executed,” my sister said. “Um.”
“Come aboard,” Ushcail said. “Lucis, Hadlor, help them.”
My fellow sailors moved between Panalope and me. They stretched their arms out as Jessop and I used our boat hooks to hold the canoe in place.
Kara was the first to board. She took a step towards me and then looked over at Panalope. “I’m too late, aren’t I?”
Panalope rushed over to hug the former tavern wench. “You’ll find someone,” my wife promised the young woman. “But for now, lets get you sitting near the stern. You’ll want to stay out of the way while the crew handles the sails.”
“How did it sail?” Marrisey asked as he leapt from the canoe and landed on Gypsy’s deck. “Any strain on the sails? How easy is this ship to turn? I want to hear. Did you really find the lands of the empire?”
“The empire is gone,” I said. “But we found that there are some people living near the coast. And we stumbled on a harbor. The buildings were ruins, but the harbor itself offers shelter from storms and an area that’s already set up to build ships.”
Marrisey looked hopefully. “So, wood isn’t a problem?”
“We just traded away a bunch of planks,” I said. “Lenoir’s people appear to have plenty of wood and some skill at making planks and shafts. They have already said they will help us get established in the harbor if we’re willing to trade.”
Marrisey looked over at Pultarc. “He will get what he wants then.”
“I can’t say. We’ll definitely trade with him and if he plays straight with us, we’ll try to make sure that he always has priority in trades as long as he’s willing to make fair trades,” I replied.
“That works for me,” Pultarc shouted. “I’ll try to get a messenger to either Isla Oerste or to the Lava Lands.”
“The currents we ride back from the continent seems to lead us directly to Mont Cors, so I’d leave a message at Gwerton,” I replied.
Pultarc smiled. “That’s a good place. They have a number of trade brokers there. I can be sure that a message left there would be delivered.”
Pultarc sat down in the canoe. His rowers immediately began paddling the canoe towards the island. A moment later I heard Ushcail shout. “Release the canoe and get on the anchor. We need to get going.”
Chapter 36: Sere Chasterman’s Last Play
The addition of Marrisey and his two assistants helped with the sailing. Marrisey was a bit slow, but the two assistants were enthusiastic about learning to sail. I found that I spent much of the next two days helping Kara and Jezibal get used to life on Gypsy.
Ushcail had us navigating a wandering path. He was worried about running into any more galleys as we headed towards Isla Oerste. We were heading westward between a couple of smaller islands when I heard Jessop curse.
“Ships ahead to both port and starboard!” the old sailor shouted.
Everyone ran to a railing and looked out over the ocean. There was another pair of islands just on the horizon to the west and a line of galleys between us and the new islands. I tried to count, but gave up after I saw at least nine ships to port.
“Captain?” Lucis called.
“They’ve set up a good box,” Ushcail said. “The wind is from the north west, so we’ll have to tack either full north which will allow the galleys to starboard far too much time to close or we turn to port and try to ride the breeze.”
“The breeze has been dying down this part of the day,” Jessop said worriedly. “We might still get caught.”
“Might get caught is a better option than surrendering,” Ushcail replied. “Everyone prepare to tack to port and then raise the extra foresails. We need all the speed we can muster to break out of this trap.”
“You won’t break out!” rang out. The shout came from our port side and was surprisingly close. Everyone on Gypsy turned and found a large galley emerging from behind the island. We were just close enough to see a row of archers standing at the starboard railing of the galley.
“Chasterman!” Ushcail shouted back. “I knew you were a swine, but all this for one ship!”
“It’s the principle. I should own that ship,” was shouted back from the galley. We could see movement and then a dozen arrows were launched by the archers.
“Everyone down!” Jessop shouted.
I grabbed Panalope and pulled her to the door to the captain’s cabin. I pushed her head down so that we were behind the stairway leading to the stern deck of the ship.
The arrows rattled down on the ship. A pair fell down to land next to to Panalope and me. There was no force left in them and I risked peeking over the edge of the stairway.
Ushcail was shouting. “Dishonorable again! You want us to surrender, but you give us no time to do that before you try to kill us.”
“Fire!” someone shouted to our starboard. I stood up to look and recognized the strange galley we had encountered a few days before. A fireball was rising from its bow. It took a moment before I realized that the fireball was going to soar over us and land near Chasterman’s galley.
“That’s Molnam’s ship!” Panalope said in shock.
“We’ll help you break free!” a voice shouted from Molnam’s ship. “Just remember Sere Molnam when it is time to sell the first ships Marrisey makes. If you can find him. Rumor says Chasterman has him locked up.”
“He tried,” Marrisey said quietly. “Fortunately, one of his guards warned me about the plan to arrest me. I got with my assistants and left the island before that happened.”
“Everyone stop talking and tack to port!” Ushcail shouted.
“Port?” Lucis asked.
“We need to cut ahead of Chasterman’s galley. Otherwise they will eventually be able to trap us between their galley and the ones to the west,” Ushcail said.
“They’ll probably try to shoot more arrows,” I said. “Jez, there’s a spare sail in the hold. Get it and drape it over the area between the two stairwells. Then you and Kara stay there.”
“What about you? And Pana?” she asked.
Panalope jumped up. “I’m on the tiller. Kaven is on the sails. We need to get this ship turned so that Chasterman can’t capture us.”
I ran to the bow where Hadlor was working with one of Marrisey’s assistants. “Great!” Hadlor said as I ran up. “Take the port lines. Verlop doesn’t know which lines to move yet.”
“I’m trying,” Verlop protested.
“We know,” I said as I started to loosen lines. “Hadlor the tack is going to push the sail to port. I’ll follow your lead as we tie off the lines.”
/> “Tack now!” Ushcail called. “Panalope turn as hard as you dare.”
The deck tilted frighteningly. Verlop cursed and grabbed at the railing as Hadlor and I rushed to move the lines. We were making sure the sail was catching the breeze as another flight of arrows peppered the side of Gypsy.
“Ha!” Lucis shouted. “They weren’t prepared for how we turn.”
“That’s good,” Ushcail shouted. “Bring the tiller back to the centerline.”
Gypsy rolled back to vertical. We could hear shouts of surprise coming from our port side. “How!” a voice shouted.
“Ramming speed!” someone shouted from Chasterman’s galley. “We can’t let them make for the passage.”
“Ushcail, we can’t help out if you run away from us,” someone shouted from Molnam’s galley.
“I can’t worry about them,” Ushcail said quietly. “Jessop how close will we be to Chasterman’s galley.”
“Hard to say,” Jessop said. “It will be close. I don’t think they’ll get into grapple range.”
“Faster!” someone shouted. “Before Sere Komptan’s ships get involved.”
I looked forward and noticed that two galleys were lying in wait directly ahead of us. The rowers were idly sitting on the benches.
“Captain, the Komptan ships are rested,” I shouted out.
“I can see. We’ll have to tack to starboard once we’re clear of Chasterman’s ship!” Ushcail replied from near the mast.
“Incoming!” Jessop shouted.
I looked up to see another flight of arrows arcing across the distance between Gypsy and Chasterman’s galley. The archers were preparing to shoot again when a strange cracking sound echoed out. A moment later the closest archer crumbled to the deck of the ship.
Lenoir let out a high-pitched howl of triumph. I looked over to see her whirling what appeared to be a cloth over her head. She snapped her hand forward as another crack sounded. This time I could see a small round object fly between the two ships to strike one of Chasterman’s archers in the shoulder.
The archers were now scrambling back trying to find cover. Several fell onto the rowers causing the oars on the starboard side of the ship to falter. The ship turned towards us as it lost speed due to the disruption.
“Nice job!” Panalope called out.
A couple of archers jumped back to their feet and fired. Lenoir jumped down into the hold with a cry of fear as one of the arrows clipped her ear. The other caught one of Marrisey’s assistants in the thigh. The young man collapsed to the deck.
“Girls!” Jessop called out. “I know you aren’t able to help sail, but move that man to cover.”
“Where?” my sister asked as she scrambled across the deck to reach the injured sailor.
“Move him to the hold,” Ushcail said. “But be careful. We’re going to be making some violent turns and the ship will roll with the waves when we do.”
“What?” my sister asked.
“Just get him down there for now,” I shouted. “We’ll explain once we escape this trap.”
“If,” Kara said unhelpfully.
“When,” I replied. “Gypsy is faster, easier to turn and moves with the wind. The galleys will tire out eventually.”
“Captain, the blocking galleys are all moving to intercept,” Lucis said.
“Are any moving to block each other?” Ushcail asked.
“Ushcail! What demonic weapon have you installed on that ship! And what was that voice? No man sounds like that!” roared out from Chasterman’s ship.
I turned to look more closely at the nearby galley. The disruption to the starboard side oarsmen had caused the ship to turn enough that they were going to pass well behind Gypsy. The crew was trying to get back on course, but they had lost enough speed that we would escape their ram for the moment.
“We’re going to have to sail as close to the wind as we can,” Ushcail was saying. “And we won’t have the momentum to tack to starboard without getting caught by the wind. This is going to be close.”
“At least they don’t have the passage blocked,” Jessop said.
“But what about the galleys that are moving to cut us off?” Panalope asked.
“That’s the problem,” Ushcail admitted. “I’m not sure how much speed they have. They might be able to grapple us.”
“The boat hooks are ready,” Jessop said.
I took a moment to slowly scan the ocean. Molnam’s galley was already falling well behind our position. The ship had its oars out of the water as we raced away.
Chasterman’s ship was desperately trying to turn enough to get an angle to ram us. They had made up some of the momentum lost after Lenoir’s attack, but they were still going to pass just to our stern.
Komptan’s ships had decided to join the fight. Both galleys were moving forward. They were angling directly toward Gypsy and would have had no trouble trapping our ship between them should we attempt to enter the passage they guarded.
The chaos of the other galleys left me unsure of what was happening. Several had made hard tacks to their starboard and were moving to block the passages ahead of Gypsy. Others were aiming directly at our ship as the dozen or so ships entered the fight.
“How do we survive this?” I asked as Hadlor and I moved to check on the various lines. A couple had been clipped by arrows and we were making sure none would break.
“Trust Ushcail,” Hadlor said as he unwound one rope. There was a large gash in the line.
“Ushcail! You can’t escape!” the captain of Chasterman’s ship shouted.
Another pair of arrows flew by over our heads. One hit nothing, but the other ripped into the bottom of the foresail.
“They are going to try to rip up the sail so we can’t maneuver,” Marrisey said worriedly.
“Jez, there should be a large bundle of cloth in the hold. Its toward the bow of the ship,” I shouted.
“What? And where is the bow?” Jezibal shouted back.
“Towards the front,” I said. “Find that bundle and move it to the hatch. It’s an extra foresail.”
“We’d never get it raised in time,” Hadlor said as Lenoir climbed back onto the deck. She immediately began whirling her cloth strap.
Chasterman’s archers immediately ducked back down. The ship was going to be close and we could see several heavily muscled men standing on the deck holding grapples.
“Kaven, Lucis! Get boat hooks and run to the stern. If they throw those grapples, we can’t let them bite into the ship,” Ushcail said.
“I’ve got this,” Hadlor told me as he pulled a knife and cut the damaged rope.
I scrambled towards the stern. Gypsy had been bouncing in the increasingly rough water and the deck was slippery. Jessop handed me a boat hook as I reached the stairway to the stern area.
“I haven’t had this much fun in years,” the old sailor said.
“This is not fun, its serious,” I replied before rushing up the stairs.
Ushcail was standing at the top of the stairs and looking out to the starboard side of the ship. “Three of those galleys are already abandoning,” he said absently.
I had no chance to answer because the first of Chasterman’s crew lunged forward and with a mighty underhand throw launched his grapple towards Gypsy. Rope streamed behind the metal hook as it arced over the ocean.
It fell early. The hook missed the railing and smacked into the hull of the boat just below the deck. The crash of metal on wood was muffled by the roar of the crew. That roar quickly became a groan once they realized the hook was continuing down into the ocean.
I held the boat hook in both hands. One was near the head, the other as far down the shaft as I could manage. My thought was to catch any hooks on the shaft and them drop them over the stern. I was still figuring out if this would work when two more grapples were launched by Chasterman’s crew.
One had been poorly aimed and I could see it would land in the water. The other arced high up. I lost it in the sun for a
moment before spotting it sailing over my head and headed for the stairway.
“Kaven, get that one!” Lucis shouted as I turned and ran in pursuit.
I could see that the grapple would reach the deck before I could catch up to it. Desperately I pulled my hands to the butt end of the boat hook and swung it from right to left. The hook rang out as it hit the grapple just before it could hook into the railing for the stairway.
The grapple tumbled to port. It bounced off the railing one last time and then fell into the ocean.
“Shoot him!” someone shouted from Chasterman’s ship.
I turned to see two archers rushing to the bow of the enemy galley. They were looking right at me as Lucis used his boat hook to deflect another grapple thrown by the crew.
“We can’t do this forever,” I said.
The bow of Chasterman’s ship was now directly astern of Gypsy. The two archers were setting up when Lenoir jumped up onto the crowded deck and launched another stone from her weapon. This one caught an archer in the temple. As he crumpled to the deck the other archer ducked out of sight.
“How did you get so good?” Panalope asked. “I haven’t seen you miss.”
“Years of practice,” Lenoir said. “I told you that I do a lot of hunting for Daytona.”
“You’re speaking quite well suddenly,” Ushcail pointed out.
“A potion that I had. It mirrors Shaylin’s spell for a quarter of a day. I only had two so I was saving them for emergencies,” Lenoir said as she slipped another stone into her weapon.
The grapples had stopped flying. Lucis and I stood next to Panalope and glared at Chasterman’s ship as the galley passed behind Gypsy. We could see the captain in an argument with a soldier as they stared back at us.
Ushcail must have been paying attention.
“We’re clear. Everyone get in positions for a hard tack to starboard,” he commanded.
“Starboard?” Panalope asked. “But that means we’ll be going the same direction as that galley.”
“The only two passages in that direction are the one we entered this area in and one that would take us directly past the old Imperial Bastion on Isla Banzier. There are functioning catapults in the bastion,” Ushcail said.
