Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Three (32 page)

“No problem, we’ll watch our supplies,” Lusam replied, watching as one of the scruffy looking men was chased away from a warehouse opposite them by a guard of some kind. Renn nodded, then set off walking towards one of the many buildings lining the dockside. He knew exactly where he might find Byron, and was proved right moments later when he knocked at the harbour master’s office door and was met with Byron’s voice from the other side.

“Come in,” he yelled from within the office. Renn opened the door and stepped inside to find Byron sitting behind his desk, looking intently at what appeared to be some ship manifest papers. Renn closed the door behind himself, then moved further into the room.

“What, no hello for an old friend?” Renn said jokingly, as Byron finally looked up from his stack of paperwork.

“Renn, you old dog… how are you? It’s been a while,” Byron said standing up and vigorously clasping arms with Renn.

“That it has, old friend,” Renn replied smiling back at him.

“Finally given up the search and heading back to Lamuria, I guess,” Byron said, returning to his seat and gesturing for Renn to take the seat opposite him.

“On the contrary, I found him, Byron,” Renn replied, beaming a smile at his old friend.

“That’s great news, Renn! But I fear it may already be too late for the lad’s training to count for much, any more. It seems the Empire may have already made their move against us. We lost three ships just yesterday to Empire forces east of Lamuria, and several more are still overdue,” Byron said with regret in his voice.

“That’s indeed bad news, old friend. We heard various rumours on the way here at the villages we passed through, but to have it confirmed by you… well, it just means our arrival at Lamuria is even more urgent now,” Renn replied sadly.

“Please, Renn, don’t take this the wrong way, but how can one paladin and an untrained boy possibly change the outcome at Lamuria? You would just both be killed. I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to face it—it’s too late now.”

Renn gave his friend a huge smile, shaking his head slowly. “Oh, Byron. The boy, Lusam, is
far
more powerful than the High Temple could possibly have imagined. I have seen him do things I once thought impossible. He
is
, without doubt, the most powerful mage we have, and the best chance of turning the tide of this war in our favour. If we can get him to Lamuria before it’s truly too late, we stand a real chance of changing the outcome of this war.”

Byron paused for a moment, considering Renn’s words carefully, then replied, “If what you say is true, and I have no reason to doubt you old friend, then that is heartening news indeed. Unfortunately, we have no way to get you to Lamuria right now. Most of the Captains are choosing not to sail at all, but the few who are, refuse to travel further south than The Serpent Isles.”

“Maybe we could convince one of the Captains to take us further south than The Serpent Isles. We have plenty of gold to buy passage with them, and I’m sure even the Empire’s recent activities haven’t changed their appetite for gold,” Renn replied.

Byron looked out of the window towards the docks, a thoughtful expression on his face, trying to work out which Captain was most likely to accept the risks involved. He wasn’t sure any of them would risk their lives and ship for a purse of gold right now, but he thought he knew of one Captain who might be convinced, depending on the weight of that purse, of course.

“I think your best hope is probably Captain Waylon of the Pelorus. I hear his luck at the card table hasn’t been so good of late. He’s apparently run up quite a sizeable gambling debt with the local money lenders, and they’re becoming eager to collect from what I hear. Word has it that they intend to take his ship if payment isn’t forthcoming by the end of the month. I’d say he would have little to lose by taking you up on your offer right now, and, according to his ship’s manifest papers I read before you arrived, it looks like he’s heading to The Serpent Isles anyway,” Byron said.

“Do you think we could arrange a meeting with this Captain Waylon? He sounds like a promising candidate to me,” Renn asked hopefully.

“Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem. He’s scheduled to leave in about an hour at high tide, and he can’t leave without his paperwork from me anyway. But, before I introduce you to Captain Waylon, maybe you should introduce me to this remarkable young lad of yours, what did you call him… Lusam?” Byron replied, motioning towards the door behind Renn.

“Of course,” Renn replied, feeling a swelling sense of pride in Lusam—one that was usually reserved for the relationship between fathers and sons he guessed, smiling and gently shaking his head to himself.

Outside Renn and Byron approached the others still watching over their horses and supplies. Byron caught Renn’s eye and looked questioningly towards Neala and Alexia, but said nothing.

Renn chuckled and said, “It’s a long story, but needless to say we will need passage for four people and our horses.”

“People are one thing, but the horses won’t be travelling on the Pelorus, even if Captain Waylon agrees to your offer. There’s just nowhere to keep the horses on the ship. Unfortunately, the ship’s hold is designed for grain storage, not livestock. I’m afraid you will have to dispose of your horses here, then procure new ones later on. There’s a horse merchant in the north west corner of town, maybe he’ll buy the animals from you,” Byron said.

A moment later they met up with Lusam, Neala and Alexia, all of whom had been watching their approach silently.

“Everyone, this is Byron, the harbour master, and an old friend of mine. This is Lusam, Neala and Alexia,” Renn said introducing each in turn to Byron.

Byron shook all their hands in greeting, then turned to Lusam and said, “I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you, Lusam.”

Lusam looked confused, and turned to Renn for any clarity he might be able to offer. Renn chuckled at the look on Lusam’s face, then said, “Byron was sent here by the High Temple not long after you were born. He was our northern contact for passing on the updates between your
Hermingild
… sorry, your grandmother, and the High Temple in Lamuria. When you vanished after Asima’s death, Byron was the one who relayed any information about your suspected whereabouts to myself and the High Temple. We needed someone we could trust with the reports, and once a year he made the journey himself to Lamuria—under the guise of visiting family members there—to deliver the reports to the High Temple. He was the one who first reported the potential activity of Empire agents in Helveel to the High Temple. The priest of the small temple in Helveel had inadvertently discovered the presence of an Empire agent, and reported it to Byron through one of his missives. Unfortunately, that was the last we ever heard from that priest, he just vanished, and that led to the appointment of the current charming fellow in residence there now. If Byron hadn’t been here, it’s highly unlikely any of us would be here today,” Renn said, patting his old friend on the back.

“So, are you also a paladin?” Neala asked.

Byron looked at Renn, obviously concerned as to what information he could safely divulge in front of them. Renn nodded his head, indicating he could speak freely here.

“No, Neala, I’m not a paladin. I work for the High Temple, though. I suppose you could call me a sleeper agent. There are many of us in Afaraon in key positions around the country. Wherever the High Temple needs information or influence you will usually find us,” Byron replied quietly enough for only them to hear.

“So, you’ve been stuck here all these years because of me?” Lusam said, feeling a little guilty that his simple existence could impact someone else’s life so much. Byron laughed loudly.

“No, Lusam. I could have requested a different post at any time, but believe it or not, I actually like it here. In fact, unless I’m recalled to the High Temple, I intend to stay here as long as possible,” he said, still chuckling to himself.

“That’s good to know,” Lusam replied, feeling a lot less guilty now.

“Renn, maybe you and I should go and speak with Captain Waylon now. Time isn’t on our side, I’m afraid, and as the saying goes:
the tide waits for no man.
I’m sure he’ll be wanting to leave dock in less than an hour, before the tide gets too low. If he agrees to your proposal you’ll need time to sell your horses before boarding too.” Renn nodded, but made no effort to leave.

“Lusam, I’m sorry to ask this, lad, but just how much gold do you have? I’m afraid we might need a large amount of it to convince Captain Waylon to travel far enough south past The Serpent Isles to suit our purposes. Apparently, there’s a lot of Empire ship activity in the area, and they’ve been losing ships at an alarming rate. I was hoping we’d only need to pay a reasonable price for passage, but it appears we will probably have to make him a vastly inflated offer to get him to agree to our destination,” Renn said apologetically.

“I have about ninety gold coins left, I think,” Lusam said, hoping it would now be enough.

“I have about the same, too,” Neala offered.

“You do? Where in Aysha’s name did you get
that
much money from?” Alexia gasped.

“Lusam makes it,” Neala replied, laughing at her own insane-sounding statement.

“He what?” Alexia asked, her mouth hanging open at Neala’s reply.

“I said, he makes it. He pulls the gold out of the river and turns it into coins. It’s really amazing to watch,” Neala said, trying very hard not to burst out laughing at the look on Alexia’s face, or Byron’s for that matter.

Renn turned to Byron with a wide grin on his face, and simply said, “Told you.” Then nodded his head towards the docks, indicating they should go and talk with the Captain now. Byron alternated between looking at Lusam and Renn, then silently followed his friend towards the docks, leaving the two girls and Lusam to chat amongst themselves.

“Was that true?” Byron whispered as they walked away from the others.

“I’ve never seen him actually do that, but I’m certain it’s well within his abilities to do it,” Renn replied.

“Remind me when this is all over to plan my next fishing trip with him,” Byron said chuckling to himself.

The two men soon arrived at the gangplank of the Pelorus. Men were frantically scurrying back and forth, loading and unloading cargo, and generally making ready for their next trip to sea. The Quartermaster was standing at the ship’s rail, watching the progress of his men carefully. He noticed Byron and Renn approach the gangplank, and called down to them below, “If you’re looking for the Captain, he just went to your office for the paperwork.” Byron nodded to the man, and turned on his heels to head back to his office.

“That’s probably a blessing,” Byron said to himself, but Renn overheard him anyway.

“Why’s that?” Renn asked curiously.

Byron looked at him a moment, then replied, “It’s probably better discussing the prospect of travelling further south than The Serpent Isles away from the crew. If they’re not aware of it until after you leave The Serpent Isles, there’s far less chance of the crew becoming restless on the journey, and doing something foolish.”

“You think they could mutiny over it?” Renn asked in surprise.

“It’s certainly not beyond the realms of possibility. Generally speaking, the crews of ships are a suspicious lot at the best of times. Add in the current wild tales that are circulating amongst them, and who knows what they could do. I know one thing though—if I were the Captain, I’d sleep a lot better if the crew didn’t know that I was going to be responsible for putting their lives in danger later in the voyage,” Byron replied quietly.

“I see your point. If we do manage to come to an agreement with Captain Waylon, I think it’s best we keep our true destination a secret from the crew for as long as possible,” Renn said.

“I agree,” Byron replied.

As they reached the harbour master’s office building they met Captain Waylon on his way back out. He was a large muscular man in his middle years. His bald head was almost completely covered with tattoos, and his skin the colour of tanned hide. He was wearing a pair of calf-high black boots, leather trousers and a leather waistcoat. In fact, the only thing he was wearing that wasn’t leather was a shirt that at one time had probably been white, Renn thought.

“Good day, Captain Waylon,” Byron greeted him.

“Aye, it might be if I had my paperwork to leave ’ere,” he replied coolly. Byron ignored his comment and continued as if nothing had been said.

“This is my friend Renn. He has a business proposition he’d like to discuss with you, but I suggest we take the matter inside my office,” Byron said, gesturing with his hand towards his office door. Captain Waylon sent an appraising look towards Renn but said nothing, instead he followed the two men back inside Byron’s office. Byron took a seat behind his desk and sorted through the paperwork in front of him. After a moment he pulled several pieces of paper out of the pile and placed them in front of himself.

“According to this you’re heading to The Serpent Isles Captain,” Byron stated, then raised his eyes to meet Captain Waylon’s.

“Aye, that’s the plan, but if I don’t weigh anchor soon, I won’t be going anywhere today,” he replied.

“Well, it just so happens my friend here wants to book passage south for himself and three travelling companions, and I thought, seeing as you’re heading that way anyway, a slight extension to your journey might be mutually beneficial to both parties.”

“That depends on what ‘
slight extension
’ means, exactly,” Captain Waylon said sounding a little dubious.

“I will make it plain, Captain. Renn and his companions need to reach Lamuria…” Byron began to say, but was cut short by the booming laughter of the Captain.

“You’re crazy if you think I’m about to turn my ship into a ferry service and risk the waters south of The Serpent Isles,” Captain Waylon said scowling at Byron.

“Tell me, Captain, how many days does it take for the round trip to The Serpent Isles?” Byron asked.

“You know full well it’s a ten-day round trip including loading and unloading, so why bother asking?”