Pugh shoved with a spur-booted foot to encourage any laggards to embark in the boats. “Last one ashore is the lily-livered son of a toothless bar-crone from Marienburg!”
“So you’ll be last aboard then, sir—shall I save you a seat?”
“Less of that, me lad or you’ll feel the business end of me ’ook!”
“Err, are we all going?” Yin-Tuan frowned.
“Aaargh! That be so—not fair to deny some of me fine crew the pillagin’ they deserve!” Pugh grinned, showing surprisingly white teeth. “But all of—”
“Don’t be so wet, Yin-Tong, it’s not like the Bretonnian navy is about to show up, is it?” Pugh made a great show of scanning the horizon with his telescope. “We ain’t seen another sail for months!”
“But—”
“Get in that there boat NOW!”
Moments later and the long rowing boats splashed down into the warm, clear waters. Moments after that, some fifty cut-throats were rowing hard for the beach amidst much shouting and jeering. In the lead boat, Pugh could see that the lizard things had already disembarked, and the last few were disappearing into the jungle, leaving their canoes on the beach.
“Lily-livered sons of frogs!” he shouted. “We’ll be eating thee afore sundown!” Turning to face his crew, he grinned maliciously at Belly Fat Dave, the ship’s cook, his tongue licking his lips in eager anticipation. “I hope you’ve got that there Tilean mustard you’re so keen on, Mr. Cook. I foretell a grand feast in a few hours’ time!”
The fat and sweating cook was already sharpening several deadly-looking cleavers on a whetstone he always carried with him. “Cap’n, theys going to taste bootiful!”
The pirates’ boats surged towards the prey, like hunting dogs hot on the scent of a wounded beast. In Pugh’s estimation, the isle was not so large, and once the lizards’ canoes were burnt, the things would have nowhere to go, except into the pirates’ waiting cooking pot.
“Faster, me lads, faster—I’ll warrant there’s gold an’ jewels fer the pickin’ too!” As one voice, Hook Black Pugh’s scurvy crew cheered lustily and pulled harder on the oars. A few moments later, the prow of the lead boat ground against the soft sand of the beach, and a dozen hard-bitten pirates leapt eagerly ashore. They were confident that their great captain was going to deliver booty, treasure and grog in abundance to the dark holds of the Dirty Dog. He always did.
One way or another.
“AnSSstein, ssssstop!” A sibilant hissing filled the cave as the Marauders rushed into the welcoming darkness, Johan in front and just a little out of breath. He almost ran into a spear in the darkness, and they skidded to an abrupt halt, scant twenty paces from their boat.
“Go easy!” Grimcrag grunted, nearly tripping over his axe. “Is that our friendly reptile?”
“Froggo?” Johan asked, confused by the flinty point which dug sharply at his chest. “What’s all this about?”
As his eyes grew accustomed the dark, Johan could make out perhaps a dozen shadowy figures, dappled reflections flickering on the wall in the dim light from the cave mouth. Lizardmen, hand-picked “Berserkers” by the look of it—wielding spears and other dangerous-looking weapons. This felt an odd time for a goodbye committee, and the lizards’ general demeanour suggested agitation.
“Maybe quarter of an hour left, Anstein. Look at the water level: the cave mouth will soon be impassable!” Jiriki’s silky voice was edged with impatience, sounding like it was emerging despite clenched jaw and grated teeth. “I—will—not—miss—this—chance!” The threat in the elf’s voice was clear.
“Well, Froggo?” Johan demanded, trying to size up the situation. Glancing ahead, he could see that the rising tide had indeed already ensured that it would be a tight fit getting their outlandish boat out of the cave; in a few minutes the task would be impossible. He knew that they had very little time if they wanted their plan to work, otherwise they would be stuck on the island in the middle of a war between pirates and lizards, with no means of escape. The clock was ticking, and Johan knew that the last thing they could afford now was an unexpected run in with their lizard “subjects” over some misinformed breach of tribal etiquette. Johan could see that the other Marauders had already made their decisions, and were imperceptibly moving into full combat readiness. More hissing and angry spear-gesturing, however, stopped them in their tracks.
From the shadows, Froggo stepped forward, with what passed for a sinister grin on his reptilian features. “Ansstein, you teach too well. I lissssten yessss, lissssten welll…” The creature bared sharp teeth and brought up its spear to point accusingly at the Marauders.
“What’s it mean, Johan?” Grimcrag demanded gruffly. “We haven’t time for this…”
“SSSSHUTTUP!!” one of the Berserkers barked at the dwarf, whose stubby fingers were already twisting restlessly at the haft of his axe.
Froggo upended his spear and prodded Johan hard in the chest with the haft. “Not godsssss no!” He prodded again for emphasis and Johan stepped back a pace. “Not freindssss no! Not LossRikk no!”
A faint ripple of “Losssrikklosssrikk” echoed around the cave. Froggo nodded and continued.
“Robbersss yes! Liarssss yes! Thieves yesssss!” the lizardman hissed, pointing at the boat. “Gold! Richesssss in ressst of world!”
Johan rubbed his chest and sighed. “Look Froggo, you really don’t understand—”
“Yessssss, do underssssstand!” the creature interrupted, tongue flicking rapidly in and out. “Undersssstand too well!” Froggo took a step forwards and gestured towards the Marauders. His fellows shuffled forwards after their leader, not looking too sure of themselves but taking comfort in their superior numbers. Spears and dart guns were levelled at the Marauders, and a dozen pairs of reptilian eyes stared with unblinking ferocity.
The tide rose implacably in the watery cave. The atmosphere of urgency was almost tangible in the cool damp air.
Johan instinctively knew that this could get very nasty, very fast. Even under the situation, he briefly marvelled to himself that a few months ago he wouldn’t have known anything instinctively at all, except perhaps how to serve wine to a visiting burgomeister or Tilean ambassador. Danger is a marvellous teacher, and Johan had recently been undergoing some very practical remedial tuition at one of the most infamous cramming schools around.
“Now, Froggo,” he began, backing leisurely in the direction of what looked to be a fairly safe alcove in the cave wall, arms raised in supplication. “Don’t do anything rash…”
“Noo, Ansssstein, this isss the time of Firssst Lord Froggo!” The lizard expanded its throat sac and croaked emphatically. If lizards are capable of a mad glint in their eyes, Johan rather fancied that he could see one right at this moment. “King Frogggo!” the skink croaked, raising its spear above its head as the others nodded and bobbed enthusiastically.
“Eh?” Grimcrag muttered, axe half-raised.
“Vot?” scowled Keanu, his sword somehow mysteriously out of its scabbard.
Jiriki seemed to have vanished completely, to the surprise of the lizards. Maybe the cold of the cave was getting to them, but compared to the lithe movements of the Marauders, they seemed to be distinctly slow. Then again, Grunsonn’s Marauders in action did seem to have the ability to make time run like treacle. Whatever, there were a dozen of the enemy, so Johan decided to take no chances and quietly slid behind the rocks in his alcove.
“Yeses! You go! Now! Leave disss boat! Go and fight piiiratessss!”
Froggo seemed to be getting quite agitated, and Grimcrag seemed to be getting the drift of what the skink was suggesting.
“You what?” the dwarf grunted, a dangerous edge creeping into his voice. Clearly Froggo wasn’t listening too carefully.
“Leave now and live, meeesssssta Grimcrag,” he hissed, and his retinue prodded angry spears towards the dwarf’s rock solid and disconcertingly squat frame. “You go! We takessss da gold and ssship, and ssssail away yesss!”
/> The lizards hissed and burped appreciatively, clearly pleased at the prospect of sailing the high seas in their new found ship full of gold.
“What?” Grimcrag bellowed. “Did I hear you right? Did you say ‘take the gold’?”
Blinded by his recently acquired confidence, Froggo nodded and licked his lips. “Yesss!”
A moment’s silence descended upon the cave, broken only by an urgent elf voice whispering, “Do them, do them now!”
The skinks shuffled in the sand. Grimcrag looked like he might be about to explode. Johan peered at the scene through his fingers, almost daring not to look. Beyond the gaggle of lizardmen, the cave mouth looked awfully small. Water was lapping over the top of the jetty, and Johan doubted whether the bow or stern of the boat would clear the entrance already.
“We’re going to be too late,” he mumbled to himself, aghast, “and it’s all my fault!”
In the event, Froggo decided the matter. The lizard hissed at Grimcrag and pointed to the tunnel at the back of the cave. “You are not ssso tough! Take your beard and go!”
“Right, that’s enough of that! That’s enough of that! That’s fighting talk and I’m your dwarf!”
The cave abruptly exploded into violent and bloody action, largely composed of a swinging axe, a lunging sword, a flurry of deadly arrows and a dozen screaming lizardmen.
Johan closed his eyes tightly, and covered his ears too, just for good measure. This of course meant that he completely missed the arrival of another twenty or so hand-picked and heavily armed lizardmen via the back tunnel to the cave.
“Go easy, lads, they’ll be around here somewhere.” The pirates edged through the jungle, following the path from the beach. So far they had quickly despatched the few lizard creatures who they had caught. They hadn’t had it all their own way, though, three of their number falling to poisoned darts, and one being dragged into the jungle by something big which roared and hissed as it carried the screaming man away into the undergrowth. Four dead pirates for a half dozen dead lizards seemed poor trade to Pugh’s boys, used as they were to attacking ships carrying nothing more hostile than a few easily-bribed guards and a hold full of shackled slaves. They were getting nervous. They knew the island wasn’t very big, yet they had been marching for what seemed like hours. And they had left their ship completely deserted in their bravado and eagerness to kill.
Pugh recognised the restlessness amongst his men, and knew that he had to think of something fast. He knew that his lads weren’t above following his own past example of slitting the captain’s throat and making a quick getaway, no doubt led by a new leader rapidly self-promoted from the ranks. Pugh licked his lips and fidgeted with his hook, beady eyes scouring the jungle for signs of life. The path was well trodden, that was sure enough, but whether it actually went anywhere…
“Cap’n, here!” Yin-Tuan’s excited voice broke the oppressive silence. Pugh spat on the sand and smiled, wiping a grimy cuff across his sweaty brow. He hurried up to where the first mate and “Teachy” Bligh stood at a bend in the path with swords drawn and wolfish grins. A small stream could be heard running over rocks somewhere close by, and a pile of skulls indicated some kind of warning. The pirates ignored it, staring ahead around the bend.
“Aaargh!” exclaimed Pugh, beaming roundly and slapping his first mate on the back. Yin-Tuan coughed and swallowed a chunk of chewing tobacco, grimacing at the vile taste. “Aaargh! Didn’t I say as how we would catch em?”
Yin-Tuan and Bligh nodded, raising cruel swords as their captain gestured for the rest of the pirates to catch up. Soon a gaggle of cruel-eyed thieves and cut-throats peered around the corner, grinning and chuckling at the sight of the lizardman village laid out undefended before them. The pyramid in the centre of the village did not attract a second glance as the pirates spread out to begin the looting.
“Lets burn it to the ground, boys!” shouted Pugh. “That’ll bring the newts a-runnin’, I’ll warrant!”
Within a few minutes the first huts were burning, black smoke rising straight into the still dead air, no wind to disperse or blow it away. A few minutes later, the pirates discovered the beer vat, to evil cheers of great delight.
Amidst the carnage, Pugh stood on the bottom step of the pyramid with Yin-Tuan and Bligh. “Very good, me lads, this’ll do nicely! Reckon they’ll be back any minute now, eh?”
Bligh just grinned wickedly and held up a razor-sharp cutlass until its silver blade glinted in the sunlight, reflecting the warm blue of the sea behind them through a break in the jungle canopy. Something caught his eye, and he suddenly looked away, across the clearing. “What the—” he began, well-honed murderous instincts immediately to the fore, but his fears were quashed as a multi-coloured bird broke cover with a raucous atonal squawk which belied its beautiful red plumage. It fluttered and flapped clumsily to another tree, where it perched nervously on a topmost branch, obviously readying itself for more prolonged flight.
“Losing yer nerve, Mr. Bligh?” Pugh enquired, and all the pirates in earshot laughed appreciatively. Pugh secretly thought that perhaps Mr. Bligh was getting a little too big for his stolen gentry boots, and it wouldn’t hurt if they were one less officer when they rejoined the ship. He grinned condescendingly at his second officer, who scowled back at him. Hook Black Pugh was happy. Things looked to be turning out just right after all.
Johan ducked down, both so that his head would not scrape against the roof, and also to avoid the slashing blade of the sword wielded by a lizard who was frothing at the mouth with uncontrolled rage. Keanu had taught the skinks only too well “Da Vay off da Berzerka”. The boat rocked alarmingly, and Johan grabbed at the bulwark to stop himself going overboard into the cold water.
The hissing groans of dead and dying lizards reverberated chillingly around the cave as the Marauders desperately tried to cast off. Blow-darts, spears and arrows hissed through the air all around them, and several struck the boat with dull thunks as they splintered the wood.
Grimcrag held the stern, his axe carving a glittering figure of eight in the damp air, an arc which no lizardman had so far stepped into and survived. Jiriki was at the dragon prow, shooting with deadly precision into the mass of reptiles which heaved around the small dock where the boat’s stern was still tethered. Every so often, the elf turned and squinted at the diminishing arch of light which was the cave mouth.
“Cast off, for pity’s sake, Keanu, cast off now!” Jiriki screamed, loosing another arrow into the throng. “I have few arrows left, and we have no time at all!”
In the stern, ducking to avoid spears and darts, Keanu fumbled with the knot with which Grimcrag had secured the boat. “Left unta Right und through… nyet, dammit! Right ova Left und bak… Nyet!”
Glancing down from his position at the stern, Grimcrag sighed as he saw the mess Keanu was making. “For heavens sake, meathead, it’s a simple bendshank!” The dwarf tried swinging his axe one-handed and leaning back to undo the rope, but his gnarled and stubby fingers could not quite reach. As the dwarf looked away, momentarily distracted, the skinks took their chances and swarmed towards the stern. Three were instantly decapitated, the glowing runes on Old Slaughterer hissing and flashing as the awful blade did its bloody work. The blade snagged on bone deep in the fourth lizardman’s body, and Grimcrag almost toppled over as his momentum was abruptly stopped. Blood boiled from the lizardman’s mouth as it collapsed on the killing blade.
“Bugger!”
“Kill them yessssss!” the lizards screamed as they swarmed up the side of the boat. There were so many of them now that they threatened to overturn the small craft, overloaded as it was with carefully boxed-up gold and jewels.
Grimcrag tried desperately to fend them off from his kneeling position in the bilges, as Keanu redoubled his efforts with the knots. The fight was now too close in for arrow work, and Jiriki’s blade was a cold streak in the dappled light.
“By all the gods let’s go!”
“Unnh! These
floorboards ain’t well made, them’s all splinters. Not so quick, frogface!”
“Left unda Right unda back unda dammit dammit DAMMIT!”
Without really thinking what he was doing, Johan plunged into the fray, sword stabbing to left and right. Needle teeth snapped at him, scant inches from his face, and he seemed to be surrounded by a wall of steel and claws and sharpened stone axe-heads. The sharp smell of lizard washed over him, a mix of rubber and fish-heads, and scaly arms reached out to drag him from the boat.
Not to be stopped, Johan stabbed and thrust, peering into the gloom until he saw what he sought—the rope at the point where it passed over the rim of the boat side. His sword raised over his head before descending in a flashing arc. A burly lizardman blinked in comprehension and tried to stop the wicked blade, only to have his arm severed cleanly below the elbow. Black-blue blood fountained over Johan. The sword parted the rope and thwacked into the bulwark with such force that it was stuck fast. Even with a two-handed grip, Johan could not drag it free.
All around him, lizards hung onto the boat to prevent it drifting into the cave, and cold eyes stared at the ex-Imperial envoy. A forest of blades inclined towards him, and time slowed to a standstill. A face he recognised grinned evilly, twisted into a malevolent parody of the creature he had once counted as a friend. It wielded a spear in both hands, and as it thrust forward, Johan saw his death in the glittering black orbs of its eyes.
“Froggo, nooooo!”
“Ansssssstein oh yesssssss!”
At the last moment, Johan felt himself thrown backwards by the scruff of the neck by what could only be described as heavily muscled fingers. A massive sword cleaved the air, barely slowing as it cleaved Froggo too. In the same gracefully deadly movement, and with barely a shift in his stance, Keanu reversed the blade and swept its razor edge along the side of the boat. A great hissing wail resounded, and a moment later the boat began to drift into the middle of the cave. Sitting up in the bilges, Johan was almost sick as he saw the row of perhaps a dozen clawed lizard paws still clutching the side of the boat like the broken sutures of a macabre wound.
Tales of the Old World Page 26
