by C Woodward
After the stories, I called Jerak back in. He seemed a bit timid, which wasn’t like him.
“Oh, you two must be hungry. We only have smoked fish, which is about the only thing abundant on this island,” one of them said as he grabbed a few hanging pieces.
“I am so glad you guys are friendly!” Jerak said cheerfully as he sank his teeth in his meal. “Careful human, that might be a bit tough on your teeth,” one of them said. I took a bite. It was tough but I managed, except for some pain from moving face muscles. I swallowed. It wasn’t that bad. It was a large fish with added flavor from the smoking and drying.
“So, do you two have names?” Jerak asked while still working on his first bite. They looked at each other, “I am Zargath and this is Rhuin” The first dragon-being spoke, “There are not many Draykens around and most of the time we are either in a small hunting group or back at home with our mates.”
I tilted my head, “Draykens?”
Zargath nodded, “That is our proper name. It is a surprise you didn’t learn that from your encounter with our lord.”
I shrugged, “He wasn’t very talkative with me.” The two Draykens smiled.
Jerak looked at both of them and whispered to me, “Which one is the girl?” They stared and one spoke, “We are both males. Our mates are on the other island. We come here to hunt while they are safe at home.” Jerak looked away, now afraid to say another word.
Later, during our meal, one inquired, “You haven’t told us how you came to this island and how you got that wound.” I guess I hadn’t gotten to that point yet. I explained, “I told you about the Blood Witch, right?” They nodded. I continued the story, pointing at my wound, “Well, I encountered her again. She used some foul magic with her weapon that cleaved through my armor and did this to me.” They stared and one spoke, “I am not sure what kind of magic she could have used”
Jerak swallowed a mouthful of food, “You guys know magic?”
One shook his head, “Nay. Our females can wield magic, but we cannot. We do however have a vast understanding of it.” I stared at the last of my meal and sighed, “I really don’t know how I can defeat someone like her.” We all sat there quietly. Even Jerak was in deep thought.
One of the Draykens spoke, “From what you told us, she is quite a fearsome foe with an understanding of some forbidden magic. Such methods bring their own weakness.”
I looked at him, “What do you mean?” The drayken smiled slightly which revealed his sharp teeth and made him look intimidating, “Magical things almost always beat non-magical things. Every element has their strength and their weakness.”
I stared blankly for a moment, “I know she used lightning magic and there’s a red glow from her weapon.” The two dragons nodded, “Learn the weakness of lightning. From what we know about her forbidden rise of power, there is one ideal response to it.” I leaned over and one of them continued, “Light.”
A response for lightning and light magic; Jerak perked up, “Ohhhhhh! We should get your armor enchanted! Your wife might be able to do it.”
I interrupted, “She can hardly cast any magic anymore. Remember, I told you that her power is now sealed?”
Rhuin answered, “Her seal can be removed if you slay the source of it.”
The other chimed in, “Your main goal should be to slay the Blood Witch. Then, everything else will follow in your favor.”
I let out a sigh, “Where I should go to get my things enchanted?”
Jerak smiled, “Vunash! The magic school is there and the holy temples. They can easily enchant your gear.”
I smiled, “You are right. We might even find Bolam too, while we’re there.”
I sighed again, “Enchanting a full suit of armor would be very costly, and I don’t have a weapon anymore.” One of the Draykens stood up from his chair and walked out of the chamber. A minute later, he came back and placed a small sack in front of me. “I’ll be honored if you would take this. You helped to return our master, so please accept it.”
I looked inside and saw that it contained gemstones which gleamed brightly in different colors! I grabbed the sack; which felt heavy in my hands.
I beamed, “Thank you, so much!” The other drayken smiled, “If you travel to the mainland over the western mountains, you will find more of us. I am sure they would provide more assistance.”
We decided to head back to town after our dinner. Our new friends walked with us to the spot where we left our gear. One grabbed my helmet, “No natural blade could do this. Interesting metal, mm,”
The other Drayken looked at it, “We can fix this for you.”
I smiled; too happy care about the pain in my face. “I can drop it by the edge of the road outside of town.”
Jerak retied the bundle of armor, “You mean by the danger sign?” The Drayken nodded. I grabbed the sack of food. One of them handed me a big stick with a wad of old cloth on it, “A torch. It might get dark before you reach town.” He lit it by exhaling a burst of fire from his mouth. I got goose bumps despite the heat from the fire.
Jerak cheered, “That was neat! Do it again!”
The Drayken laughed, “You two should get going while there is daylight.” They both waved at us. We waved back. “May you be victorious on your journey!” they shouted.
The hike back was much easier; no large rock and everything was downhill. I still needed to rest every so often, but it was a pleasant walk. “Jerak, don’t tell anyone else about our new found wealth” I instructed as we reached the base of the mountain.
Jerak nodded, “I promise not to tell anyone, but what if someone already knows?”
I sighed, “Just don’t tell others about it, okay?” The sky grew dark but our torch was still burning. I gave it to Jerak since I was afraid that some of the flames might touch my bandages and take me to another world of pain. Jerak can be a bit accident-prone but he was in front of me and so less likely to trip and fall and catch on fire, I hoped.
We made it back to the inn that night. Even though we had a bunch of gems, we didn’t want to display them or break them down to a bunch of coppers just for a meal. I didn’t even know their full worth yet. The innkeeper looked at us, “Oh, good, I was worried you two were eaten by dragon-people.”
I laughed, “Naw, we decided to travel to the other side of the island and fish.”
Jerak looked at me and displayed an awful poker face, “Uh, yeah, we fished. I even caught a huge one and ate it!”
“Don’t overdo it,” I muttered under my breath.
He muttered back, “Why are we lying in the first place?” I sighed, “I’m very tired so I am going to get some rest.” The innkeeper looked a bit puzzled but just waved after us. Later, in the room, I whispered to Jerak, “I don’t think our friends up in the mountain would want people here thinking they can freely travel up there.”
Jerak gave me a dumb look, “Oh, right. I guess that makes sense.”
I slept like a rock that night. I was so tired, the very second I hit my pillow, I was practically comatose. The next morning, Jerak was already out and about, and nowhere to be seen when I woke up. I didn’t feel any differently today than yesterday, but yesterday I kind of overdid it. I stayed in bed for a good while, trying to design the attack plan. We could take a boat back to Torclyn, head to Vunash, get my armor enchanted, and then, hmm. Not sure what else. I looked through the gems. Most appeared to be cut and large enough to be worth a ton. I pocketed the sack and went outside. I was feeling a little better and I was not getting as dizzy.
Jerak showed up in front of the inn, carrying my helmet. “It looks good as new” he said cheerfully and breathing heavily.
I grabbed it, “Did you run the whole way?” He took a few deep breaths, “Yup.” I just laughed. The helmet looked like it never was damaged. The cut was clean through the helmet, so maybe it was not the hardest task. I wondered how they could fix it that fast. Maybe they breathed fire so hot that it softened the metal and then used their strength
to force it back together.
Jerak reached into the side of his belt and handed me a rolled-up piece of paper, “They left this.” I grabbed it and read it quietly to myself. It read, “Blake, the helmet is fixed. The metal is of higher grade than we expected. We hope it will protect you against any danger. May the Dragon Spirit give you strength.”
Jerak and I wandered through the harbor asking if there were any ships sailing soon to Torclyn. There was one but they didn’t seem to care about passengers, but were willing to let us tag along if we worked our way for them. I guess I was fine to work. We saw the captain and some of the crew hauling a crates. He looked at us, “So, you are the travelers. Don’t expect this to be a pleasant cruise.” Looking at me, he said “You look like a Minotaur trampled you, I hope the rest of you can work.” I nodded. This guy was really power-tripping. I hated to be part of his crew. He pointed to a pile of sacks and ordered us to start earning our keep. Jerak and I sighed and said that we could. I felt kind of useless; I could carry just one sack and while Jerak took twice that and at a faster pace. Good thing the captain of the ship was busy making sure the ship was ready to see. After we hauled the last of our load, Jerak and I went down below. We didn’t get much of a break when the ship started to move and we got more assignments. Mopping the deck seemed redundant, but I guess the captain wanted to make full use of us while we were there.
Jerak was on the deck, scrubbing with an old, worn brush and muttering to me, “Even a dwarf wouldn’t work this hard.” I sighed, and kept busy. After every job was finished, we got another pointless chore to do. A few crewmen felt bad for us but kept their distance. Thankfully, I learned a trick from working retail back on earth and just pretended to work very hard and stayed busy to make the power-tripping manager satisfied. So, whenever the captain came into view, I breathed heavily and pretend to focus on my task. He just grinned slightly and walked on by. Of course, Jerak and I slacked off once the captain went to his quarters.
I slept well that night. The next day, we got up early and had a repeat of yesterday. I was getting ticked off. It was like the captain was trying to make us suffer, because there wasn’t be a reason to mop the deck every day. I was no boating expert, but I think it was clear that he was just a straight-up jerk. At least now, I had the system down and worked my way.
On the bright side, we had about a day or so until we reach the mainland and my face felt a lot better. Bumping it still hurt, but I thought I could take the bandages off. I thought the scar might scare someone. Jerak was almost counting the time till we get off the ship. He was already making personal goals for when we landed. The first was to punch the captain square in the face. I couldn’t help but laugh at that and added some similar goals of my own.
The sun was setting and we were ready to call it quits for the day. “By late afternoon tomorrow we will be back on land and away from Captain Stupid,” Jerak cheered, using his made-up the nickname.
I put my mop away and started below to my cot. One more day of this crap and this will all be over. Jerak was doing his business over the side of the ship as I went and laid down.
I might have slept a whole two minutes before a bell rang in alarm. I groaned and wandered back outside to the deck. I looked over and saw another ship some distance away.
“What is going on?” I asked.
Several crewmen were running around in a state of panic. One looked at me and shouted, “Are you daft? They’re raiders!”
Chapter 8
“Everyone! Get below!” a crew member shouted. A moment later, I knew why. Once the ship got into close range, a barrage of arrows rained down on us.
I ran below to the crew quarters. Jerak was already putting his armor on. He looked at me, “Gear up!” I practically dove toward my bundle of armor. I was breathing heavily trying to untie it. Several other crew members were there with us and most were panicking. I untied my armor and grabbed the greaves. Suddenly, a large jolt hit the ship and I dropped everything. “Watch out! They are coming aboard!” a crew member yelled overhead.
I gave up on the armor. I had no time, besides, a suit of armor on the ocean would be a very stupid thing. Jerak grabbed my arm, “We don’t have time. Here!” He handed me his knife. The knife barely extended three inches but was better than nothing.
I could hear men running around up on deck. Jerak and I stood near the doorway, waiting for attackers to barge in. Jerak was fully hoping to take them on. I, on the other hand, wasn’t sure I could keep up yet in combat. I heard them begin to break down the door. I backed away and looked for a better weapon. Some crewmen were equipped with short swords and pikes while a small handful were cowering behind anything they could.
The doors burst open. I grabbed the nearest weapon I could find, which turned out to be a pike lying on the floor. A few arrows shot in. I heard a crewman gasp in pain. Jerak was hit as well. It struck the plate of armor covering his chest. The arrow pierced the chest plate, and I saw him stagger backward.
He grunted and yanked it out, “Oh, now, that’s it!” It appeared that the arrow scarcely touched him, since it didn’t slow him down. He charged straight at them with his buckler and mace swinging away. I charged as well, with two other crew men swinging pikes. We thrust forward at the invading forces.
I shoved my pike at an enemy, but to my surprise, I did no damage. Then, I saw that it wasn’t using a pike at all. I was holding a mop handle! The raider froze for a moment, then chuckled at his good fortune. He swung his sword at me. I leaned back and blocked it with my mop handle. The sword sunk halfway into the handle. I stepped to the side and swung my mop handle with his sword attached, using both arms. The handle smacked the side of his head. It broke at the point where the sword cut it. He leaned over and covered his face. He looked at me showing a smashed lip and anger in his eyes. Now freed, he thrust his blade at me. I scarcely dodged it, but fell back into another raider. To my luck, this guy was in the middle of a fight with another crew member. My bumping into him left him open to a stab to the torso. I dropped the broken mop handle and reached for the knife tucked under my belt.
The raider came at me again. He swung too high and I felt the puff of wind as it hit my hair. I held the knife with the blade was pointing downward and took a swing at him. Nothing but air. Someone bumped into me causing me to crash into my opponent. His forehead smacked the right side of my face which caused a great surge of pain. I gritted my teeth and groaned loudly.
The pain made me mad and I jammed down at the raider. The knife hit next to his collar bone. I felt it scrape across the bone, but I was in so much pain, that I didn’t care. He fell back causing me to fall right on top of him. He grabbed at me, but managed to only take hold of my bandage. I was growling now as I leaned back and broke free.
Now, another raider was kicking me in the back. I rolled onto the floor, gasping for air. My face burned in pain which matched my anger. Rising, I felt light-headed from exerting myself and from pain. The raider yelled something at me and lifted his axe. I turned my body toward the axe and reached for it. I felt his hand just below the axe blade. He was unable to swing and tried to yank the weapon away from me. He was using both arms and he was winning the contest of strength. I gritted my teeth and kneed him in the groin. He lost his grip and dropped to the floor. Now, I have a real weapon!
After the struggle, I coughed up some mucus and probably some blood, as well. Gripping the axe, I readied myself for an attack, but another raider caught my attention. He was coming at me from the side. I turned and swung. The axe sank in between his ribs. He screamed as he felt the impact. I put my right foot onto his torso and pushed him off my new axe.
I came back up but the raider that I kneed grabbed me from behind. His left hand covered my mouth and he put his right on my chest. I turned my head to the right which caused one of his fingers to slide across my stitches. I yelled from pain and bit down hard on his hand. Now he yelled loudly. My teeth sank into something. He let go and kept bellowing. I turned arou
nd and swung the axe right into his chest. Leaning back to pull the axe off of him, I ended up falling onto a cot. To my horror, I realized that I had actually bitten off one of his fingers! I spit it out as fast as I could.
Lying there on the cot, I was light-headed and out of breath. I could finally see from both eyes. Apparently, I had no bandages on anymore. I could hear the battle still raging, but I wasn’t sure which side was winning.
Someone grabbed me and pulled me out of the cot. It was Jerak. He had blood running down his face. “No resting on the job!” he said with a cocky grin on his face.
I took several deep breaths as I stood there, “Are you alright?” He glanced down, “It’s just a flesh wound.” I laughed and coughed up some blood. I wasn’t sure if it was my blood or not. My face was stinging, but had no time to dwell on it since more raiders were coming. One of our crew members called out, “Get down to the cargo hold!” Several of us, including Jerak and I, pulled back and moved down deeper into the ship. The cargo hold was pitch-black. It had only one opening, and I saw a few crewmen with spears holding the line as we ran by. As we passed through a few raiders came toward us.
The first two became pin cushions courtesy of the guys with the pikes. One of the crew members pulled me back as I nearly tripped over a something. A doorway above provided the only source of light. I heard two crew men howling in pain as they fell backward, down the stairs. One landed right by me and I saw an arrow sticking out of him. Jerak grabbed me. I blindly followed him deeper into the cargo hold. He whispered, “No sense being fodder to those arrows.” I heard more screaming.
Three other crewmen followed us. One of them moved a few crates and whispered, “Help me move this so we can hide behind it.” We complied. There was a gap between the crates and after we squeezed through, we pushed the crates together. We huddled together in a tight space and tried to stay quiet. A few silent moments passed.
