Dragon Down (6 page)

I studied the man
’s face and decided he’d told us as much as he knew. We wouldn’t get any more useful information from him. I motioned for Zane to tie him up and prop him up in his chair. If he had visitors, they would think he was merely asleep at the switch. I opened the door and checked on the man. He was indeed out cold and there was no identification on him. Whatever the vampire wanted, I didn’t believe it had anything to do with Traygen. Zane and I started back toward the cave’s entrance. I had just turned a corner when Tokem flew right into me.

“Ouch, what in the world is the matter with you?” I grumbled.

Tokem, hopped on my shoulder and into my pocket. I looked up in time to see the vampire entering the cave. I motioned for Zane to back up and we rushed toward the back of the cave. Damn. We were trapped like rats in a cage. Zane fumbled with the key and just when I was sure we were busted, the door sprung open. We hurried inside and pulled the door shut behind us. We flattened ourselves against the wall on either side of the door, waiting, afraid to breathe. I felt the vampire’s presence before I saw him. My skin crawled, but I forced myself to peek out the cell door. The vampire was alone and he’d just moved to check on the guard. He hissed and Zane threw open the cell door. The vampire lunged for Zane while, I took aim at his back.

“Vampire, stop where you are or I
’ll fry you. Move away from my partner and put your hands behind your head. Good. Now get down on your knees.” He complied without comment and Zane moved to tie his hands behind him. When he had the vampire subdued he dragged him to his feet and pushed him up against the nearest wall. Zane and I both had our weapons drawn and aimed squarely at his chest.

“Tokem, you can come out now. Go watch the front of the cave and make sure we aren
’t interrupted.”

Tokem darted from the safety of my pocket
flying toward the mouth of the cave. I studied our vampire for several minutes before speaking. He stared straight ahead without comment or movement. He may as well have been a statue.

“What is your business with these men?”

He looked in my direction but said nothing.

“I asked you a question. You will answer me or I
’ll kill you right now. Am I clear?” I set his shirt on fire to make my point. He rolled on the ground, beating at the flames until he put them out. I had his attention now. I also knew he would kill me in a New York minute if he got the chance.

“Witch, you had better be careful. You don
’t know who you are messing with.”

“Oh, my bad.” I blasted him again and again
. I didn’t stop firing until his shirt smoldered and burst into flames. Rolling on the ground, he clawed the shirt from his back. Squatting on his heels, he looked like he was ready to pounce. He must have reconsidered. Instead, he rolled back on his heels, before dropping down against the back wall.

“Vampire, I
’m through playing games with you. Answer my question or I’ll turn you to ash. Make no mistake it is you that should be careful. I’m a wizard on the edge. I haven’t had a shower, no room service, and no chocolate.”

His head snapped up when I said wizard or at least I thought it did. “Wizard is your name Lauren?”

“I’m asking the questions here. Now do I need to give you further incentives to answer?” I asked as I raised my arms and prepared to fire.

“No wait
. I’ll answer your questions. I work for Black Sam. You could say that I make sure no one takes advantage of his generosity, which is why this man was detained. He cheated Black Sam and hid some gold in this area. I’m trying to persuade him to answer my questions.”

“Why would a vampire work for a pirate like Black Sam? You don
’t need him to steal?”

“Because I serve at the pleasure of the Lazarian Court and they decide my assignments. Let
’s just say I’m protecting our assets in the area.”

“What possible interest would the court have in these islands?”

“Wizard, I think you know the answer to that question. Why are you here?”

“That is none of your concern unless you want to act as our travel guide.”

Before I could answer him Tokem streaked back toward us.

“There are men coming to change the guard. We need to get out of here.”

I started to tell Zane to gag our vampire but, he slit its throat. Pulled a small oak stake from his pocket, and slammed it home, right through the vampire’s heart. A second later there was nothing but ash left of the vampire. Note to self, don’t make this guy angry. He was coldly efficient. Together we headed for the cave’s opening. We arrived right before our replacements and took our seats. Zane sat down and picked up the cards on the table. I took the chair opposite him and kept my head down. We waited until both men were in the cave before we attacked them. Zane was nearer the cave’s entrance. He tripped the first man who went sprawling in my direction. I hit him before he could regain his footing and he stayed down.

When I looked up again Zane and the second man were slugging it out
on the ground. I couldn’t use my bracelet for fear of hitting Zane by mistake. My help wasn’t needed, as Zane subdued the man and pulled him toward the back of the cave. We left the cave and moved back up the hill in the same direction as
we’d come. Once we were out of the view of the camp, we picked up our pace. Running wasn’t an option, it was dark and the brush was too thick. I tried to retrace the way I’d come, but the going was still hard. Zane moved ahead of me and to my right. Tokem zipped back and forth between us until we crested the hill. Temporarily reunited, we stopped long enough to drink some water and catch our breath.

“Why did you kill the vampire? I wasn
’t through talking to him.”

Zane shrugged and I sprang up from my seat and got right up in his face.

“What is that supposed to mean? I hadn’t asked him if he knew anything about Traygen.”

“He wasn
’t going to tell you anything. He was done talking and we were out of time. I killed him, so he wouldn’t kill one of us or alert the guards. Now if you’re ready, we need to keep moving. It won’t be long before those guards are found.”

I stepped away from him and my head spun around on my neck. The Exorcist didn
’t have anything on me. I was furious with Zane and if I was being honest with our lack of progress. He was right and I childishly stomped after him without further comment. Before, I could get myself in any further trouble. Yells from below us broke the silence of the night. They’d found their guards. We picked up our pace and continued back toward the boat. It would be too risky to sail out tonight but, we would need to be ready at first light. It seemed unlikely they would chase us in the dark, if at all. They hadn’t seen us and the fact we’d killed their vampire would certainly give them reason to pause.

It couldn
’t have been more than a few hours until daybreak, when we finally got back to where we’d hidden the dingy. The boat wasn’t visible but, I could hear the clanking of the rigging. Thank you God. All we needed was the boat to have run aground. Zane took the first watch and I curled up inside the dingy. I tried to sleep and it seemed like I had just closed my eyes when Zane shook me. We traded places and I kept an eye on things until the sun started to streak the sky.

I woke Zane and we launched the dinghy. He
was rowing hard, struggling to get out beyond the surf. The tide was coming in and white caps covered the waves. Finally, we reached the boat. Zane pulled the dingy up and lashed it down. I sent Tokem to check on the men to make sure we weren’t being pursued. Zane barked orders and I did my best to comply. Landlubber that I am, I doubted I was an asset. We got the anchors stowed and the sail hauled up the mast. The wind was in our sails so we got away from the island without incident. Tokem returned as some point during our departure. Obviously, we were not being pursued. I am sure once they figured out nothing was missing and the only one killed was the vampire, they were only too happy to let us escape.

Chapter Five

We spent the remainder of the day sailing further out to sea. The only creatures we saw were swimming in the ocean. A giant sea turtle lumbered alongside for a while. I spotted several fins, but I
’m sure they were dolphins. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around the notion they were sharks. In fact, I was so convinced I dangled over the side to relieve myself. Admittedly, I waited until I didn’t see a fin or flipper anywhere near the boat.

The day seemed to drag. No one got
much sleep the night before and we were all in slow motion. Zane and I took turns sleeping and keeping the wind in our sails. He got the short end of the stick because I’m no sailor. I had to wake him often with questions. Tokem flew off frequently to look for land or other vessels. So far he hadn’t spotted a thing.

Darkness started to descend and I was hungry. Zane lit several lanterns and hung them on the bow and stern. Just in case we weren
’t the only ones around. He decided we should keep sailing as long as the conditions were favorable. There was a sliver of a moon and too many stars to count, their sheer volume and vastness were stunningly beautiful. I had to admit it was an amazing display. The only sounds were the waves crashing against the hull and the rigging chimed every time we tacked. At some point Zane relieved me and I stumbled to my palate. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow and I stayed that way long after daybreak. Hunger finally roused me to consciousness. I rolled over and sat up. I was stiff, but I felt rested. Struggling to gain my feet I went in search of food.

“Good morning or should I say good afternoon?” Tokem said.

“If you were smart, you wouldn’t say anything until I’ve had something to eat. I’m hungry enough to roast a sylph.”

“
Lauren, why must you make everything so personal, so threatening?”

“Why must you be such a pain in my butt?”

“It’s just my nature. I can’t help myself.” He sniffed as he landed lightly on my shoulder.

“You
’re such a drama queen. Find anything of interest yet?”

He reached down and helped himself to some of my cereal. His mouth was full and he had to chew before
answering. “Not yet, but I think there must be land near. I’m seeing more birds and I doubt they flew all the way out here for nothing.”

“Sounds promising to
me how is Zane this morning?”

“His usual talkative self
. Seriously, he hasn’t said two words so far today.”

I nodded and we headed up on deck. I still couldn
’t stay below deck for more than a few minutes without the fear of seasickness. Zane had tied off the wheel and was studying some maps when I came up beside him.

“Good morning. Can I get you anything to eat or drink?”

“Coffee sounds good if you don’t mind.”

I no
dded and went to get him a cup and I only scorched my hand once. I just might be getting use to the rolling action of the ship. I handed him the cup and he took it with a sigh. I looked at the map to try to figure out what he had been studying. Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand much by looking at the map, other than the compass points.

“I think we need to keep a look out for land and for the presence of any enchantments. This is the approximate area where we found the island several years ago. There is no real way to tell
, no landmarks. We have to keep our minds and senses open for any hint of magic.”

“What e
nchantments? You mentioned the Mists, but what else should I look out for?”

“Anything that doesn
’t look like it belongs or if it isn’t acting normally.”

“You mean besides Tokem
. He just isn’t normal you know.”

“Yeah, anything except Tokem.”

“Sure pick on the little guy. It is always the same…”

He didn
’t get a chance to finish. Zane grabbed the wheel and yelled for me to duck. He tacked hard to the windward side and the boat veered sharply to the right. I couldn’t for the life of me understand what possessed him. I looked frantically around trying to see why he was freaking out. That’s when I swear the theme song from Jaws pounded in my ears. It wasn’t a shark, but it may well have been. It was a Nargon and it was headed for our port side. Zane yelled for me to haul down the sail and I sprang into action. I uncleated the main sail and let it down. The sail flapped around me like a wild beast as I tried to haul it in. Grasping the nearest section of the sail I started rolling it toward me. I almost had it when the boat listed heavily to the side I was standing on.

My feet went out from under me and I grabbed for the boom which was swinging wildly. Holding on for dear life I dangled out over the water for a fraction of a second
. Then the boom sailed back toward the boat. Landing in an undignified heap, I scrambled to my feet and subdued the thrashing sail and boom. When everything was lashed down, I spotted Zane standing in the stern holding a high-powered rifle. We might be in the nineteenth century, but our weapons were from the twentieth century.

The Nargon missed our left side and dove underwater. I scanned the water around us looking for air bubbles or any sign of the Nargon. It surfaced a hundred yards in front of the boat. Zane squeezed off several rounds that appeared to pass right through the Nargon. I yelled for Zane to hold his fire. The Nargon screamed and thrashed around like we
’d hit it. I raised my arms and pointed them at the Nargon. A stream of raw energy erupted from my bracelet. Slamming adroitly into the Nargon and sending out a shower of sparks like those emitted from a welder’s torch. The energy emphatically dispatching the Nargon and moments later it sank from sight. I turned to look at Zane.

“Does that answer your question? Things like that. We just killed our first enchantment. Lauren, are you all right? I thought you were going for a swim when that boom swept you overboard.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. The man might actually have a sense of humor, although a bad one. “I’m fine and I planned that move. I was trying to draw the Nargon into range for you to shoot it.”

“That was considerate of you. Now we had better get the sail back up and put some distance between us and this enchantment. There is likely to be others in the area
and one enchanted Nargon is more than enough for me.”

I didn
’t want to go anywhere near the sail or the boom, one a ride was all I could handle today. Still I didn’t want Zane to know that so, I pitched in and we got back under way. I sent Tokem to scout out the area for signs of activity and land. My stomach hurt and I couldn’t tell if it was hunger or the side effects of my aerodynamically challenged ride on the boom. I scrounged up some dried meat and fruit and brought them up on deck. I handed Zane some food and then went to stand in the bow.

It must have been hunger because I felt a whole lot better after I ate. I washed down my dried cuisine with some water. Since we
’d just faced one enchantment, I decided to send out my senses. These are magical feelers for lack of a better description. They are sensitive, nimble and skillfully effective. If we were close enough to the source of the magic, I might be able to detect it. It was worth a try anyway and it wasn’t likely we still possessed the element of surprise.

Tokem came back at some point while I was running my scan of the area. He obviously
hadn’t found anything out of the ordinary. I was ready to call it quits when I found something. It was faint whatever it was. I tried turning in a small circle to see if I could get a stronger read. It worked because I got a much stronger reading from directly behind us. As amazing as it sounds, I work just like the old rabbit ears for your TV. I walked back to inform Zane about what I had found. He listened intently to my explanation without comment. I was beginning to think he wasn’t going to comment, which was fine by me. Especially, since I always like to have the last word.

“Do you think it is possible the island was hidden from our view on the first pass?”

“Not only possible, but likely. We have to figure out how to find it. I suggest making a grid and sailing back and forth until we deftly locate the island or run aground. Or you can help, by telling me what direction gives you the strongest reading.”

“Is there any other way to find the island? This could take a longtime.”

“Not unless you can fly. You might be able to hone in on it from the air with your senses. Unfortunately, I can’t think of any way to keep you airborne long enough to find it. We’ll have to hope we get lucky sooner than later. It is also possible that we might uncover another of the enchantments. If we find enough of them, we can triangulate on the island.”

We got to work trying to narrow down the location of the island. I moved around the boat until I found the direction that gave me the best reception. We spent much of the day in this fashion
. It was tedious, mind numbingly boring, bull shit. I was worn out, cranky, and ravenously hungry, just call me Little Miss Congeniality. I’d slap my mamma for a good meal and trust me she was safe from abuse. Dinner, if you could call it that, made Spam look like a gourmet meal. Our fine dining experienced completed, we drifted along in silence.

Zane and I divided up the nights
sentry duties. I drew the first watch and Zane set our course before retiring below decks. There still wasn’t much wind, so I tied off the wheel. My legs were cramped from sitting so long. I needed to stretch them and to warm myself up from the night’s chill. Pulling my collar up and fastening it tightly around my neck, I walked along the deck. Keeping an eye on the compass, I adjusted the wheel as needed whenever the boat deviated from the course Zane had set. Then I resumed pacing up and down the deck. A fog seemed to be rolling in, severally limiting my visibility. This couldn’t be good. If I couldn’t see very far in any direction, then I doubted another boat could see us. It took me a few minutes to find the lanterns and light them, the dampness making it nearly impossible to get the wicks to ignite.

Once the lanterns were burning, I placed one near the stern and one on the bowsprit. My mission accomplished, I lingered staring off into the distance. The fog was getting thicker
and I doubted the lanterns would do much good. I hopped down and started back to check the wheel when I heard a scrapping sound. I looked around to see which rigging was tangled. I couldn’t see anything near the main sail. Perhaps, I had imagined the noise. I checked our bearings and sat down beside the wheel. Huddled down as deeply as I could into my coat, I kept an eye on the compass. Comfortable for the first time all night, I had to fight to keep my eyes open. A fight I was apparently losing because my head snapped up the minute my chin hit my chest.

I realized I was thirsty and I thought
maybe drinking some water would help me stay awake. Besides if I stayed busy, then I was less likely to fall asleep. Hauling myself up from my seat I started to go below decks when I heard a noise. I hadn’t imagined this noise. Stopping in my tracks, I strained to hear where the noise came from. Then I heard it again. Whatever it was, it was coming from the front of the boat. It sounded almost like something was bumping into the hull. My bracelet started to tingle, fear shot through me and I activated the bracelet. Adrenaline flooded my senses. I wasn’t alone. Whatever it was it couldn’t be good on a night like this. I crouched down in the shadow of the cabin and sent out my senses. It was risky because whoever or whatever it was out there might detect my exact location. Unfortunately, given my poor visibility I couldn’t risk searching for the source of the noise.

There was definitely something there. I couldn
’t tell what and I didn’t want to risk giving my location away. While I was debating whether I should alert Zane before I went to greet our visitor the boat plunged hard to the port side, nearly knocking my feet out from under me. Damn, whatever it was it was big. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say that it was now on board or soon would be. I decided to scramble to the opposite side of the boat and begin inching my way forward. I’d just moved forward a few steps when a hand clamped hard over my mouth. I started to struggle but, before I could Zane whispered for me to stop. I nearly had a heart attack. If I wasn’t so happy to see him, I would likely kill him for sneaking up on me like that. Once my heart stopped pounding so loudly in my ears, I looked at Zane. He motioned for me to continue to my right and he headed left.

Since I was still recovering from my minor heart attack, I decided to let him go
first. Crawling forward on all fours, I didn’t hear anything new. I honestly think that worried me more than if I had. I was almost to the stern when I put my hands in water. I stopped in my tracks. Water? What in the hell? Whatever was on board had brought a lot of water with it. I definitely didn’t like that.

I
moved to the front of the cabin because I needed to take a quick peek over the top of the cabin roof. As slowly as I could, I lifted my head up until I could just barely peer over the top. Nothing, I couldn’t see a thing. There had to be something there, something had flooded the deck. I know I didn’t imagine the noise or the water. I decided to check overboard to see if I could see anything. Scrambling over to the railing, and hauling myself up, I looked over the side. What in the world was that? I crept closer to the bow to get a better look.