Voidhawk: The Elder Race

by Jason Halstead

  Dexter glanced at Keshira, only to find her sitting nearby patiently and peacefully. As always, she threatened to take the breath away from any man who looked upon her, but her servile nature ruined it for him. That and the fact that she was a magical construct, created for the pleasures of a paying customer. Since accidentally becoming bonded to him when they opened her crate in mid-voyage, she had come a long ways towards realizing her own worth and existence. Dexter could only wonder if it would be possible for her to continue that journey; she was forever bonded to him by the same magic that had awoken her, magic that was supposed to be invoked by her paying master.

  “Be a lot easier if they was all like her.”

  Dexter turned, seeing Rosh staring at Keshira as well. “Maybe,” Dexter offered, “but there’s a lot to be missing out on too.”

  Rosh shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. All the fighting and worrying and distractions.”

  Dexter glanced about, desperate for something to change the conversation. Rosh, of all people, was not the man he expected to share any meaningful conversations with. “Seems like fighting’s what your good at.”

  Rosh looked sharply at him, then glanced away. “Seems like it,” he muttered, then shrugged. “Ain’t no matter. She’s better off without me. Tried to tell her that.”

  “What you’re needing is a hobby,” Dexter said in a tone far cheerier than the one he felt. “Something to keep you busy when there’s no heads that need knocking.”

  Rosh looked at him again, then saw the serious look on Dexter’s face. “A hobby? I ain’t good at much, never have been. Don’t think I’ll be knitting any blankets for your birthday.”

  Dexter laughed in spite of himself. The thought of Rosh making a blanket or doing needlepoint had never occurred to him, yet the image was definitely something he would have to share with Jenna. His laughter faded as the Captain mindset returned. “You and Willa going to get on okay? Don’t need no squabbling on the ‘Hawk.”

  Rosh nodded but said nothing. The silence stretched on for a few minutes until some excitement burst out on the other side of the small village. Dexter rose up, trying to see, and then clearly made out Jenna’s voice through the throng of natives.

  “Let’s go, Xander might have tried bedding one of the natives, they seem uppity.”

  Rosh let out a chuckle and stood up to follow behind. He glanced back and saw Keshira was with them as well, a pleasant expression on her face. “That smile on her face is starting to creep me out,” he muttered to Dexter as they walked.

  Jenna and Xander met them halfway there with a small line of native’s in tow. “Dex, they say it’s forbidden land, they can’t go up there.” She burst out upon seeing him.

  “Woah, what? You can talk to them now too?” He asked, surprised and a little overwhelmed by the sudden attention.

  Jenna breathed a sigh of annoyance through her nose. “No, Captain, that’s what Xander said.”

  “They know the way, but it’s a place of spirits and ghosts, they said, none of them will go there,” Xander explained immediately.

  “How far?”

  “A day’s hike, but it’s a hidden trail,” the wizard added.

  Dexter cursed under his breath. “We got little more than that, if they won’t be guiding us, then we need to be pointed in the right direction.”

  A woman pushed through the crowd and spoke excitedly. Dexter could not be sure but he thought she might be the healer that had offered to help Rosh earlier. A glance at his crew confirmed it.

  After several rounds of conversation between her and Xander, as well as the other natives that spoke up angrily at one point, the wizard turned to Dexter. “She will take us,” he said.

  “Thought this was forbidden?” Dexter spoke the words for Xander, but he stared at the healer as he said them.

  She spoke in return, though it might have waves crashing against rocks for all Dexter could have known. “Only a… I think she said a spirit talker? Spirit walker? Someone who walks among spirits… I don’t know. Only a few special people are allowed to go there, I think. We’re not from this place, so we can go. She’s one of those special people, so she’ll take us.”

  She kept talking and Xander’s eyes widened in surprise. He responded to her several times, repeating himself a few times to make sure he was not misunderstanding. Finally, when the others were growing anxious he shook his head in apparent dismay, then turned to address Dexter and Rosh both.

  “She says there’s a price,” he told them, not looking at either of them directly. “Before she’ll take us she says…she wants…”

  “Spit it out man,” Rosh growled.

  Xander stared at him, then nodded. “All right. She wants you to lay with her.”

  “What?” Jenna gaped.

  “What?” Dexter echoed, equally at a loss.

  “The things I do for my Captain,” Rosh said with a growing grin.

  Xander made a face showing what he thought of the deal, then added, “She says she’s ripe and wants… oh Gods… she wants to bear your son.”

  The grin faded from Rosh’s face, as did the color. “She wants what? I ain’t staying here… you tell her that, wizard. I ain’t turning dirthugger just so she can…”

  Xander held up his hand, stalling Rosh’s protests. Dexter just watched, amused and amazed all at once. Alarmed as well, but he was putting that emotion at bay until it was needed.

  “She doesn’t want you to stay,” the wizard said quickly, as though the words hurt him to utter. “She… she thinks you’re a God and if you give her a child it will be a great man in his own time.”

  The corners of Rosh’s lips curved upwards slightly. He looked to Jenna and Dexter, seeing her disapproving glare then Dexter’s slightly amused expression. “Don’t be taking all night,” Dexter warned him, already knowing what Rosh was going to do.

  Rosh nodded and turned to the smiling native. He grinned and walked towards her and she took his hand in hers and started to lead him away towards her hut. “Don’t worry,” Jenna called out loudly. “Willa moved out, he won’t take long.”

  Rosh stumbled a step but didn’t look back. Dexter turned to stare at her, surprised at her barb, then even more surprised at the evil grin she wore. He shook his head and used it as a reminder to stay on her good side – or at least to remain her boss.

  “What about the ‘Hawk?” Dexter asked Xander. “Can they guide us back there when the time comes, or does Rosh need to lay with every woman in the tribe first?”

  Xander grimaced, then turned to ask an abbreviated version of the question. More excited yammering from the natives was his response. The hair on Dexter’s neck began to rise, but he forced himself to remain calm until Xander turned back. The wizard’s expression, eyes wide and cheeks pale, was further cause for alarm.

  “They say the lake is forbidden, but they will take us to the shore,” he said. “It’s forbidden because of the water demons that lurk within it. Ages past their ancestors lived in the village on the shore, but the water demons drove them from it.”

  “Water demons?” Dexter asked, turning and glancing for Logan. He wondered what could live in the water that could possibly drive people on the shore away.

  “It was long ago, nobody here was alive at the time,” Xander said after conversing with the natives a minute longer. “People were stolen… sacrificed? Eaten? Gods – Children? Maybe… they were driven off and promised never to return.”

  “Dex?” Jenna asked after Dexter had stayed silent for a long time thinking.

  He nodded. “Aye, we finish the elder’s business, then we make for the ‘Hawk,” he decided.

  “We could split up, just to make sure,” she offered.

  He shook his head. “If Bailynn and Jodyne can’t keep the ‘Hawk safe from some fish, then splitting us up more will just be throwing more sail at the wind.”

  “You’re not worried about the ‘Hawk?” Jenna asked softly.

  Dexter shrugged. He was, but showing it wo
uld do none of them any good. “If she’s there, great. If she’s not then we go and get her.”

  Jenna looked at him, her eyes deep and questioning, but she said nothing. He offered her a faint smile of appreciation and then turned back to Xander, who was doing his best to talk to some of the other dark skinned natives.

  “Anything more we should be knowing?” Dexter asked loudly enough to interrupt him.

  Xander turned around quickly, his face blushing again. “Uh, no… um. No sir. Just learning the language is all.”

  “Just learning the language?” Dexter asked, to which Xander nodded enthusiastically. Dexter shrugged and turned away, heading back to the fire they had been sitting near.

  “Captain, it’s not my place to intrude, but I may be of assistance,” Keshira said, surprising both Jenna and Dexter.

  As much as he was determined to treat her like a regular member of the crew, Dexter knew he didn’t. It angered and saddened him, knowing that they all treated her as less than them, but she made it so damn hard to do anything else. “Anytime you’ve got something worth adding, you pipe right up and do so,” He said to her, smiling encouragingly.

  Keshira smiled back, revealing teeth white and perfect. It was enough to melt the heart of a man who didn’t know better. Even still, Dexter found himself admiring her. He shook his head in personal admonishment and listened as she spoke.

  “I can understand these people, Sir,” she said. “Part of the magic that made me granted me the power to understand and speak any language, so I would always understand whoever my Master was to be.”

  Dexter grunted, reminded yet again of how she was created to serve. Even still, he felt certain he treated her fairly. She earned a wage, of which he didn’t think she had spent a single coin of, and served no more time on the deck than anyone else did.

  “Has Xander the right of it? His translating, has it been true?” He asked.

  She hesitated a moment then said, “Mostly, Captain. He worked out the spirit of it, I believe, except for the last bit.”

  “The last bit?”

  “Yes Captain, when he said he was learning the language.”

  Dexter’s eyes narrowed and he turned to see Xander still talking to some of the natives. “What’s he on about then?”

  “These natives believe that anyone who travels with Rosh must be a lesser God. You are his mouth and the rest of us are his servants,” Keshira said.

  “Rosh’s… servants?” Dexter managed to get out between gapes. “That’s…. we got to set that straight!”

  “Dex, it might change things,” Jenna cautioned, though she was smiling at the ridiculous nature of it and how it affected him. “They might not be so friendly all of a sudden.”

  Dexter stared at her, then looked back at the natives clustered around Xander. “But… Rosh?”

  Jenna nodded, her jaw muscles visibly taut to fight back the urge to laugh.

  “And the wizard don’t want to tell me that?” Dexter mused, staring at Xander and deciding he needed to have a talk with him.

  “Maybe, Captain, but Xander also did not speak of the desires of the native girls. Their shaman has wooed Rosh, the white God, and the others are seeking to win the affection of Xander, yourself, and Logan.”

  Dexter blinked, at a loss for what to say. Jenna barked out a laugh, then quickly covered her lips with a mumbled apology. Almost as though it had been a cue, a buxom native woman approached, smiling at Dexter and offering him a fresh cup of ale.

  “I’m good… I mean, I don’t want any. Not that you’re not worth wanting… I mean,” Dexter stammered, trying to back away from the girl. He looked to Jenna, a wild and desperate look in his eyes. She laughed again.

  The elven woman did step up to him and place her hand possessively on his arm. The native girl looked at her and bowed her head, then spoke something. Keshira responded quickly, and the native bowed her head again before walking away.

  “She asked if he was your man, I told her he was,” Keshira said without needing to be asked.

  “Good job,” Dexter said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Let’s find Logan and be ready to leave as soon as Rosh is finished. I’d rather face the elven fleet single-handedly.”

  Jenna laughed again and even Keshira’s smile seemed to deepen. Annoyed at their amusement, Dexter said, “Keshira, go get Logan.”

  She rose up without protest and moved towards the hut he had gone into. She had to put her shoulder into it, but the door slowly slid open. She slipped inside and returned moments later, holding the priest’s clothing and equipment in her hands.

  “Captain, Logan is gone. He left these behind,” she said, dropping them at his feet.

  Dexter’s eyes widened. “I never figured the priest one for sins of the flesh,” he said. “Reckon maybe he’s trying to appreciate the native’s a little more than we thought.”

  * * * *

  Rosh emerged some time later, fighting back the grin on his face as he rejoined the sullen looking Captain. Xander had disappeared now, no doubt finally wooed by one of the native women.

  “Think maybe I found a hobby,” Rosh said, winking at Dexter.

  Dexter rolled his eyes, not willing to encourage the warrior by responding.

  “Where’s the bookworm?” Rosh asked as he grabbed a fresh cup of ale and sat down on one of the split logs being used as benches.

  “Cavorting with the natives,” Jenna supplied with a twinkle in her eye. She sat close to Dexter, her arm wrapped around his to provide protection from the circling native girls.

  Rosh laughed, slapping his thigh in appreciation. After a few bawdy comments he settled down and looked around and wondered aloud about Logan.

  “Disappeared,” Dexter said. “He went in that hut but it’s empty now, just his clothes in there. Door was blocked by another one of these logs too.”

  “He’s gone?” Rosh asked, confused. “Why didn’t you come get me?”

  “Same reason we can’t get Xander… they won’t show us where you were at,” Dexter said. “These people take their breeding pretty serious.”

  Rosh nodded, a grin splitting his face as he did so. “You think the priest’s getting some action too?”

  Dexter shrugged. “I hope so, otherwise we’re up to our knees in it.”

  “There’s Xander!” Jenna said, pointing to where the wizard’s head slipped in and out of view as he made his way around the huts and back towards them.

  “Learn the language real good, did you?” Dexter asked tartly.

  “Fascinating culture,” Xander muttered, smiling all the while.

  Rosh clapped him on the back, nearly driving the smaller man into the fire, and said, “I knew you had it in you! Wait… you made sure it was a girl, not a boy, right?”

  Xander stared at Rosh, horrified. Rosh laughed and clapped him on the back again approvingly. “Might just make a man out of you yet,” he congratulated.

  “Seen Logan?” Dexter asked, interrupting the revelry.

  “What? Logan… not since he went into his hut to rest, why?” Xander asked, his sore back and dislocated shoulder forgotten at the onset of a new mystery.

  A scream preceded further conversation. Others were shouting then, on the far side of the camp. They crew of the Voidhawk rose at once, hurrying towards the sound and drawing weapons as they did so.

  They came upon the scene of a several villagers with weapons held at the ready, They encircle something, and Xander quickly translated the frantic cries of the natives for them. It was a jungle demon they had captured, though it paced back and forth angrily looking for an opening.

  Dexter forced his way through the ring to see what it was, and earned a chiding from the native he nudged aside, until the native saw that it was Dexter who had nudged him. Then he backed away, nodding respectfully and let Rosh look in as well. The jungle demon was nothing more than a wolf. A large wolf, to be sure, but still a wolf. It had brown fur and bright blue eyes that searched intelligently for an escape r
oute.

  One native, emboldened by the presence of Rosh and Dexter, stepped forward and hurled his spear at it. The wolf yipped as it hit it in the flank, jumping and twisting as it did so. The spear lay on the ground, the stone tip broken, and the wolf showed no sign of injury.

  “That ain’t right,” Rosh observed.

  “Jungle demon,” Dexter repeated.

  “I got this,” Rosh said, stretching his neck to pop it before stepping into the ring.

  The natives closed the ring quickly and an excited murmur rushed through them all. Dexter turned to Xander, who was behind him and said, “Find Logan. Now! Search every damn hut yourself if you must.”

  Xander nodded and was off, hurrying to locate the priest.

  The wolf and Rosh circled one another, Rosh pulling out his sword and letting the combination of moonlight and firelight reflect off of it. The wolf snarled, but didn’t lunge. They continued for several minutes, posturing and threatening one another, with no ground gained on one another. Rosh finally lunged forward, his sword sweeping down on it.

  The wolf spring to the side, snapping at Rosh’s foot as the large man tried to kick it. It twisted back quickly, springing the other way even as Rosh tried to estimate where it would go. Now thoroughly off balance, Rosh fell backward when the large wolf leapt straight into him and caught his wrist in its powerful jaws.

  “Rosh!” Dexter yelled, worried for the man. It looked like a wolf, but it fought like the demon the natives called it.

  Rosh growled and strained against the wolf, pushing it back away from him slowly. He dropped his sword and wedged his other hand into the wolf’s jaw, trying to leverage it open. He gave up after a moment, even his great strength unable to pry the beast’s jaw from his hand. Instead he drew his fist back and landed a crushing blow on its sides, making the wolf yelp even as breath that smelt of dead barbatoo burst from its mouth and nose.

  The front claws tugged at Rosh’s belly, seeking to tear through the shirt and the flesh beneath. Rosh countered with a blow to the wolf’s back that, by all rights, should have snapped its spine. Still the wolf clung to him, and still it tried to fight. A final blow from Rosh, this time onto the top of the wolf’s head, stunned it and made it fall back from him. It tried to scamper away, but Rosh followed now that his own ire was up.