Chronicles of the Dragon Pirate (34 page)

Black Goat beckoned, and Terence was dragged towards him, the shaman squeezing Terence’s muscles and looking at his teeth before nodding once to Isaac. “You have done well by us, and indeed, your words have merit. You took in the ones we made outcast and made them part of your village when you could have made them slaves, and you have been careful to stick by the agreements you made with us. Therefore I will give you my sworn word that neither I nor any member of my people will raise any manmade weapon against you or any of your people...ever.”

Isaac seemed truly taken aback. “Shaper, this is a most unexpected... and gratifying, of course, surprise. We do have young men on both sides, though...”

“Young men can fight using the gifts they were granted at birth: fists, nails and teeth, if they so wish to use them. No other weapon will be allowed them, and I will ask you try to hold your young men to the same, if you can.”

“Of course I will.”

“Then we are done here,” Black Goat said, speaking to the five in their tongue before turning and walking back towards the trees and the large hill beyond. The other five picked up a now wildly struggling Terence and carried him with them as they followed the shaman.

When they’d gone, most everyone breathed a sigh of relief. “That went well,” Pepper said.

“Too well,” the captain replied, a dark, calculating look on his face. “They gave away any advantage they had for what, a European prisoner? Something isn’t right.”

He broke off musing as Isaac strode over with his arms outstretched. “Harry Hawkins, you are the absolute prince of the pirates.”

“I thought that was you,” Pepper whispered in my ear.

I poked her in the ribs, making her suppress a giggle as the captain’s stern mask was replaced by one more cordial as Isaac said, “I am going to load your ship down with enough provisions to make the braces burst, I’m so happy! We have peace, peace for Haven!”

The villagers surrounding us gave a cheer as Pepper whispered sardonically in my ear, “Doubtless the crew will see how far the good cheer extends with the women of Haven, and doubtless the women will be accommodating. Sally’s going to become morose from the lack of company, so I’ll have to work on keeping her happy.”

I gave Pepper a quizzical look, since I had no idea how she planned to do that, but she merely smiled and patted my arm as the captain turned towards us. “Pepper, I’m of a mind to reward Tomas for all he’s done today...so the two of you are free to spend the day together until later this afternoon.”

Captain Hawkins gave us an amused look at the astonished expressions on several faces, including Redbeard’s. “Harry, that nae be a good idea, they being Dragons and all.”

Jade’s voice spoke from in between us. “I will accompany them to see they do not get into trouble,” her voice becoming amused, “carnal or otherwise.”

Pepper turned towards the captain with her hands on her hips. “Sir, I protest! We do not need Sister Stay-at-home watching over us like...”

Trusting my instincts I put my hand over Pepper’s mouth. “Sir, we accept.” A thought struck me and I added with seeming nonchalance, “If you want I’ll have Jade check in with you this afternoon, to let you know where we are.”

He returned a sardonic smile. “Valiant effort, but I’ll have Mr. Smith send one of the little ones when I want you back. Now go, before I change my mind.”

I let go of Pepper’s mouth and grabbed her hand, Jeremiah grinning while Redbeard gave me a dubious look as Pepper let me lead her away, the redheaded girl glancing back at the captain when we were out of earshot. “Nicely played.”

“Gran-Pere always said make the best deal you can, even if it’s not the deal you want.”

Pepper gave me a rueful smile. “Meaning I was letting my tongue run ahead of my wits. Actually, I was thinking of the captain: he still needs your loyalty, Dragon-sworn or not, and using me as your reward will help him keep it.”

I thought about what she was saying a moment then shrugged. “You have the right of it, but what choice do I have? Besides,” I added as I squeezed her hand, “I think you’ll be worth it.”

I expected a sardonic response back, but instead Pepper’s face grew troubled. “I hope so,” her smile returning as she took the lead. “C’mon, I’ll show you Haven.”

The village was a lot larger than I’d realized, though much of it was still swallowed by large vines and small trees. But it had a main street paved with white stones, which an old, white-haired African man was sweeping with a broom made of dried palm fronds, with shoppes along it made of the same white stone blocks. Pepper’s spirits had lifted the moment an African woman shoppe-keeper had hailed us, and an English copper penny bought me several strips of dried fish, which I devoured before we even walked back out.

In the center of Haven was a large cistern made of grey-stone, full to the top with clear water pouring in from the grey-stone aqueduct above it. African and native women in brightly colored clothes were drawing water with wooden buckets or standing around talking, and as Pepper became the center of their attention I drew closer to the aqueduct to inspect it. It seemed to be one solid piece, more than a yard wide and flat, the aqueduct covered over so the water wasn’t exposed to the outside until it flowed out. It was held up by supports of grey-stone and rose at a gentle angle upwards towards the enormous hill. “I wonder if it’s safe to walk upon,” I mused aloud.

“The entire populace of Haven could walk along it if they wished,” Jade’s voice answered. “If you desire to do so, there are hand and foot holds built into the first support. The aqueduct climbs above the tree line before it ends in the side of Big Bluff, and you can see much of the island if you walk a ways upon it.”

I glanced back. Pepper was still chatting amicably with the other women, so I walked over to the first support. Bars had been carved into the grey stone, like a ladder, and without a moment’s thought I started up it. The grey-stone felt strange, almost unnatural, but it was easy to hold onto and in a moment I was standing on top of the aqueduct.

A large African woman in a flowing blue dress happened to look up and let out a shriek. All of the women looked up and Pepper called out, “Tomas, what are you doing?”

“Jade said you can get a good view of the island once you get past the tree line,” I called back.

I couldn’t hear, but I saw her mouth, ‘Kristie eleyson’ a moment before she yelled, “Stay there: I’m coming too.” She climbed up the carved ladder like I had, taking the hand I held out to help her up, and a moment later we were standing together on the aqueduct, her face extremely serious. “Alright, we go just above the trees, look at the island, and then go back...deal?”

“Don’t you want to follow the aqueduct all the way to Big Bluff?”

Pepper looked at me as if I’d lost my wits. “Tomas, once we’re above the trees there’s nothing to hold onto if a big wind comes up and tries to blow us off.”

I only shrugged. “Jade would catch us if it did.”

“Jade would...Tomas,” Pepper said in exasperation, “what am I going to do with you?”

I gave her a puzzled look as Jade’s voice spoke beside us. “Accept him as he is, the way he will accept you. Tomas, she does have a valid point, for an air-golem takes a few moments to form, and when I catch you I may not have time to catch her as well.”

“Yes you will,” I said, “because I’ll be holding onto her.” I looked into Pepper’s blue eyes. “If we fall, we fall together...deal?”

I must’ve said the right thing, for Pepper gave me a gentle smile. “Deal.” I smiled back at her and led us forward. The aqueduct rose as we followed it, rising above the houses and into the trees beyond. I held branches for Pepper as I pushed through them, the foliage thinning out until we walked through a thin blanket of leaves and out into the sunlight. The wind was blowing off the ocean, bringing with it the scent of salt as we walked a little farther up the aqueduct then stopped and turned around.

We were high enough so I could see the shoreline, the Blackjack Davy gently swaying to the rhythm set by the sea as slender canoes passed her by on their way to net more fish, the ocean a greenish blue which turned a darker shade as my gaze went farther out. Looking to the right of the ship, I saw white stone sticking out over the ocean as my gaze went to the small mountain itself. Its slopes rose at a steep angle, covered over with trees and bushes until they reached the top, where the overgrowth seemed to end. It seemed flat, from what I could see, with the top of some massive structure gleaming white in the sun.

Then Pepper tapped me on the shoulder. I turned and looked to where she was pointing, a place far to the left of Haven, further down the coast. Smoke was rising from a dark spot carved out of the trees, but I could see little else. “That’s the village of Freehold: mostly escaped slaves, but more and more they’ve got sailors who’ve no other place to go. It used to be alright, but the village women tell me now it’s getting rough, like Tortuga was before Captain Black took it over.” She lowered her voice although there was no one around who could hear. “There’s a sprawling place there called ‘The End of the World’, a combination tavern and bawdy house that’s a rabbit warren of passages where men and women enter, and once in a while, never come out of again.”

I gave her a skeptical look. “Sounds like one of the stories the sailors used to tell when I sold them hangover cures in St. Augustine.”

“They aren’t stories,” Pepper argued.

“Indeed they are not,” Jade’s voice said. “The wild sisters I have spoken with shun the entire village, for there are Dark Sisters there who live only to destroy dragon-ghosts smaller than themselves and return them to the tiny children we all become when we are defeated...including one who thought to have you as her own.”

Pepper gasped. “Eldest is there?”

“She is, but with Smoke within you, sharing your thoughts, she has no hope of taking you over, and once you both make it permanent I shall see she learns of what you have done. Now, if you wish to see a wonder, look down to your left.”

We did so. Peeking out of the trees were the ruins of three buildings, made of grey-stone and white stone together, two of them broken in many places while the third one remained relatively intact, with bushes and trees growing out of the areas of white stone but not the grey. The three buildings were square shaped and set in a three sided square, with a grey-stone plaza in the center. Looking down, I saw a grey-stone road that ran under the aqueduct and ended in the plaza, with no plant at all touching any part of the grey stone. “Jade,” I asked, “why won’t plants touch the grey-stone like they do everything else?”

“For the same reason the Blackjack Davy is free of barnacles: a goblin’s transmutation feels unnatural to unthinking creatures, so they leave it alone. If you wish to explore the ruins, I will create an air-golem to carry you down together.”

“Then pray do it,” I said. A moment later the air violently swirled then popped, revealing an enormous mermaid like the one from the Davy, though without the blackjack. Pepper gave me a wild grin as the mermaid scooped us up like we were children and carried us down to the ruins.

Jade set us down on the grey-stone plaza in the center of the three buildings. The two square buildings on either side looked to be made more of white stone than grey, while the one directly ahead of us looked to be mostly fashioned of grey-stone. Unlike the other two it looked solid, with letters carved above an archway that was wide at the bottom, but narrowed to a point as it rose. A broad set of grey-stone stairs led to the entrance, and standing on either side was a stone statue. They were man-like, but I knew at once they weren’t men, for their bodies were too thin and their faces too angular. But they were striking nonetheless, the features carved into the stone unearthly in their strange beauty as was the armor, an ornamental style I’d never seen before, which looked too whimsical to actually use. But the stone faces of the statues were stern, each one with a grey-stone spear in one hand while the other pointed toward the doorway. Pepper gave me a look as wide-eyed as mine. “I guess we’re invited in. But we’re going to need light.”

“Bide a moment,” Jade said, the mermaid pumping its tail as it flew towards one of the overgrown buildings. She broke off a pair of stout branches then created a ball of bright-fire, which she divided like it was clay and stuck onto the end of each branch before returning to us. “I put only a little strength into the bright-fire, but your torches should last you long enough to see what is inside.”

The bright-fire clung to the ends of the branches, the white flame giving off light but no heat as I led the way past the stone statues into the dark entrance.

The air inside the structure was cool as we silently padded our way into the darkness within, our bare feet disturbing dust but nothing else as we moved in deeper. Pepper raised her torch higher as the darkness reluctantly gave way to the light. “There’s some kind of a mural on the back wall.”

“Go take a look,” I replied. “I’ll see what’s off to the right.”

“Don’t take any side passages without telling me, alright?”

“Word of honor,” I replied, reaching out to squeeze her hand. Pepper smiled and walked toward the mural she’d spotted as I walked away towards the right side of the chamber. Fear mixed with excitement as I moved forward, but to my disappointment the chamber seemed empty of anything except murals as I reached the far wall decorated in some fanciful scene.

I raised the torch up to examine it...and suddenly moved closer so I could see it in detail. The grey-stone walls had been covered in some sort of white plaster then painted in a scene that stretched ceiling to floor the entire length of the wall, the colors faded but still recognizable. The scene was a strange one of a city made up of pyramids and towers set in the middle of a ring of mountains, with birds flying around the snow swept peaks. The level of detail was astonishing: each pyramid and tower was different than the others, as if the artist had drawn the mural while he was looking at the city, and the perspective was so perfect I could almost imagine that I was looking at it as well.