Chronicles of the Dragon Pirate (48 page)

I awoke to the sound of men talking above me. I was laying on something hard, a deck I realized as I felt hard wood under my fingers, the smell of the sea a welcome relief as I inhaled. It was also bright enough that I knew it was morning, though the air was still cool, telling me the morning wasn’t very far advanced. I opened my eyes. Above me was a face I was both very grateful and very sorry to see. “Captain Cholula.”

She grinned down at me. “Well met...again. Feeling alright enough to stand up?” I took the calloused hand she offered and let her help me to my feet, nearly falling down again as my vision grew dark for a moment. “Easy, bucko. When’s the last time you’ve eaten?”

I shook my head, my insides feeling as hollow as a rotted out tree. Looking around I saw we were on the captain’s deck of a ship, the Sea Witch I assumed, twice as large as the one on the Davy and far more ornate, the deck rail having crosses carved into the supports while the tiller was a carved, mythical dragon. The bronze mortar off to one side revealed more dragons molded into the metal. “I’m not sure. What happened?”

The deck was made of smooth, weathered wood, with her masts and spars painted black as her outer hull, and as Captain Cholula answered, I saw Karl the Hammer and several other men who looked like officers with her, all of them wearing Artifact coat-of-plate armor and carrying Artifact weapons. “We were getting ready to board the Black Rose when your girl plunged straight down into the hold and blew up the remaining Shadowmen, that’s what happened.” She grinned at her mercenary. “Karl’s upset we didn’t even get to fight.”

Karl didn’t even crack a smile. “I’ll get over it.”

“Anyway, I decided to keep us on board and sent in golems instead, which was lucky for you since your girls told mine where you were at once.”

Star’s voice spoke from beside me. “I’m still mad at Tiger for almost blowing you up.”

“You told me to do it,” Tiger’s voice said from my other side.

“We’ll talk about this later,” I said quickly, looking at Captain Cholula. “Did the three women survive?”

“They are down below at the moment, locked up in the ‘abbot’s cabin’, until I decide what to do with them.” Seeing my puzzled look, she said, “Every ship of the Draco Dominus has an unused cabin the Dragon-abbot would use if he decided to spend some time aboard a captain’s ship. I could’ve put it to another use...but old habits die hard.” Suddenly she grinned. “As hard as the two Dark Sisters your dragon-ghost Jade killed.”

I looked around wildly. “Jade, are you here?”

“Where else would I be?” Jade’s voice said in response from a spot close by.

“I don’t know what kind of a dragon-ghost you’ve got,” Captain Cholula said, “but not only did she take on two Dark Sisters at once and kill both, but she’s got all of our girls on their best behavior, even Shadow-viper.”

“They are merely returning my courtesy,” Jade replied, her voice becoming contrite. “Tomas, I am your primus, and even though the duel took longer than I thought it would, I should have been there when you were fighting.”

Captain Cholula responded before I could. “Killing the Dark Sisters was the best thing you could’ve done to help us, otherwise Tomas’s ruse would’ve never worked. Shadowmen without a captain or Dark Sister to lead them are little more than a leaderless mob.”

“A tough mob to kill, though,” Karl remarked.

“I never realized how tough,” I said. “Fate herself must’ve been smiling on me when you found the ship.”

“Fate had nothing to do with it,” Captain Cholula said, grinning again. “Arabella said she knew where you were, so we struck a deal. You’re Dragon-sworn to Harry Hawkins, aren’t you?” I nodded and she considered me for a moment. “You’re still going to end up sharing my cabin as my apprentice, but first I’ve got to convince Hawkins to let you go.”

I was already shaking my head. “He won’t do it. Anyway, I’m not sharing anything with you: I’m betrothed to Pepper.”

Captain Cholula gripped my chin with fingers tough as old tree roots. “You may be surprised at what a pirate will give up. As for Pepper...I could use a shape-changer aboard the Sea Witch.” I stiffened with horror as she chuckled. “Arabella told me everything about you, including your ‘hasty’ betrothal. Pepper’s shared my bunk before, so I know we can work out a... suitable arrangement.” She let me go and I stepped back against the wall of men who’d stepped in behind me, giving off the smell of sweat and steel as Captain Cholula ran her finger down my breastbone. “Arabella says you’re the son of one of the last Dragons of Atlantis, which means you’re stronger than anyone not a pureblood himself...but only if you remain alive. Tell me, son of Long-Mu, do you truly think I’m going to give you up?”

She moved back and I eased away from the warriors behind me. “What’re you going to do?”

“For the moment, deliver you to Arabella and Captain Hawkins. After that...” Captain Cholula let her words hang as she gave me a hungry smile.

We warily approached the hole in the side of the great hill called Big Bluff. Arabella had told Captain Cholula the exchange would take place there, inside the hollow hill, but to be on her guard in case the pirates tried something...or so I was told by Captain Cholula. In the cove where the Black Rose was still having her gold and other cargo offloaded was another abandoned village, connected to the others by a grey-stone road, so Captain Cholula had taken forty of her best fighters, along with Karl and me, and had all of us take the jolly boat to the crumbling pier. But she’d left her other Dragons with the Sea Witch, first having Shadow-Viper, Red-Dog, and her other dragon-ghosts draw strength from them, and a pack of Artifact wolf-golems marched along with us. Jade had gone on ahead to investigate while my five little ones remained with me.

We’d followed the road until it reached Big Bluff, the road leading up to the cave opening and vanishing inside. The entrance was overgrown with vines, but the effect of the grey-stone had kept them short, and now the Artifact wolf-golems were cautiously scouting the dark hole as Jade’s voice spoke in front of us. “I have been through the entire area inside Big Bluff, and have spoken with Arabella. She is waiting with Captain Hawkins and the entire crew, even Khan, along with a few of the women from the village Haven...and the Shadowman, Black Pox Bill.”

I asked, “Who’s minding the ship?”

“I left the dragon-golem crouched down in the hold with a small piece of myself keeping watch, but the ship shall remain unmolested, Arabella says. She told me we would get a full explanation when we have arrived.”

Captain Cholula asked, “Are there Shadowmen about?”

“No Shadowmen, but I did notice the shape-changer off Captain Thorne’s ship, the Black Narwhale, hiding in the darkness away from the others. She has a beast-man with her.”

Karl asked, “Another shape-changer?”

“I am unsure, but they are both alone and should pose no danger. There are also some Artifacts all of you may find interesting.”

One of the wolf-golems raised its paw as if saying all was clear, and Captain Cholula shrugged. “Well, I don’t plan to die in bed.” She arranged the group so I was in the middle between her and Karl as my girls made bright-fire and wrapped them around the tree branches several of her crew had gathered. Then we walked inside.

The walls and roof of the cave were flat and smooth, leading inward in a straight line, the roots and vines hanging down quickly giving way to only stone as we walked farther in. Then the walls and ceiling ended as we stepped out into a great, empty space. The men around us began muttering as they looked around until the tall African named Henry raised his voice. “Are the lot of you going to wet yourselves because it’s dark?” Henry motioned towards me, where I was trying to hide my fear under a stoic face. “Look at the lad: he’s not afraid.” I felt eyes upon me and made myself stand up straighter, Captain Cholula softly chuckling as the muttering stopped and we marched on.

We began passing square pillars of grey-stone as thick as grandfather oak tree trunks that extended up beyond our sight into the darkness above. “They’re support columns,” I said aloud as I stared upward while we passed one. “Big Bluff really is hollow.”

“So it seems,” Karl said from beside me, motioning with the Artifact hammer in his hand ahead of us. “Look over there.”

Several men and Artifact wolf-golems had gone on ahead to scout and two men with a golem between them had found a white stone building with a wide stone staircase leading up. The rest had begun poking around it, and in the light of their bright-fire torches I saw it was a pyramid like the ones I’d seen in the mural in the House of Memory. A man on the stairs called out, “Captain, permission to go exploring?”

Captain Cholula shook her head and Henry called out, “Get your arses back here: we’ve business to take care of.”

The men and wolf-golems returned to the group, except for one man, a native warrior in stained, padded armor with Artifact plates sewn into the fabric, who’d gone farther out than the others. “Captain,” he called out, “You’ve got to see this first.”

All of us strode to the spot where the warrior now stood with his bright-fire torch held high. Others with torches fanned out as well, and for a long moment, no one said a word. “Now that’s something you don’t see every day,” Captain Cholula finally said.

Before us rested an Artifact dragon-golem of black resin, like the one Jade had inhabited...but where hers had been as large as a statue, this golem was larger than any Spanish galleon sailing the seas in either the New World or the Olde. It was crouched down with its lizard-like head on its clawed hands, eyes closed as if asleep, each scale, each sinew, each piece of skin as perfectly designed as Jade’s golem, its long claws glittering in the torchlight as I noticed it had one thing Jade’s golem lacked. Attached to its shoulders were long, black wings, extending into the darkness behind it. The warrior who’d spotted the golem had ducked underneath the head to explore and now came back out. “Captain, I’ve found a door in its chest.”

Captain Cholula put her hands on her hips. “And exactly what’re you going to do if you wake the golem up?” The man’s eyes went wide and she shook her head.

A woman’s voice spoke out of the darkness. “No danger of that, for only a Dragon of Olde Atlantis could give it life again.”

“Arabella, is that you?”

The Shadowhunter stepped into the light of our bright-fire torches, dressed in dark clothing like a Shadowman, though without the wide brimmed hat. “Who else would I be? So, are you ready to meet Harry Hawkins?”

Captain Cholula grinned. “More like is Harry Hawkins ready to meet with me. Lead on.” The men gathered around her and followed as she began leading from the front, Karl taking a place next to me as Arabella fell in beside her. “Now,” Captain Cholula went on, “are you going to tell me what in the halls of hades is going on?”

“I am not entirely sure myself,” Arabella replied, glancing at me. “Tomas was gracious enough to let me use one of his dragon-ghosts, a tiny thing called Grey-mouse, who has been acting as my messenger.” I gave a start, but she only smiled and returned her gaze to Captain Cholula. “Since she had no strength within her I was able to let her use the small bird-golem you’ve always been so curious about, to make contact with Captain Hawkins. He said Captain Thorne’s ship is just at the edge of her firing range of their big gun, and that the Davy was awakened this morning by a rocket flying over her bow and embedding itself in the forest beyond. Obviously the rocket had been disarmed before it was launched...”

“But it was a warning shot none the less,” Captain Cholula retorted.

“Indeed it was. Once the crew was awake a Dark Sister spoke at the ship’s meeting Master Le’Vass had called, and informed them Olde Roger himself wished to speak with them as free men, but if they tried to escape instead, he would consider it a violation of the truce Captain Thorne set up and Thorne would destroy the ship and all upon it. The Dark Sister also pledged the safe passage in and out of Big Bluff for everyone involved in the parley, including your group and myself.”

Captain Cholula’s eyes narrowed. “Exactly how did he learn I would be here?”

“Because I spoke to Olde Roger...in a manner of speaking, and when I learned what he meant to do I proposed a way to assure your continued efforts against him while letting you retain control over Tomas.” She gave me a sympathetic look. “I know it is not the life you desire, but Cholula can teach you much more than Harry can, including how to stay alive while killing your foes.”

I would’ve run right then except there was no place to run to, Captain Cholula and Karl trading a look before he growled, “What’s Olde Roger planning?”

Arabella motioned towards a grey-stone wall we were approaching, with an open gateway the road ran straight through. “I will let him tell you himself, so if you will follow me?”

The wall was as high as a house, the gate a rounded arch through several feet of grey-stone, and on the other side was a crossroad. Once through the opening I saw a large group of men holding torches, all of them familiar, including...”Pepper!”