Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Three (38 page)

It wasn’t long before the Pelorus’ crew were back on board and making ready to leave harbour once more. There had been several curious glances in their direction over the past half an hour, as the men were no doubt wondering why they hadn’t already disembarked the ship.

“Best be ready now. The Captain can’t possibly hold off telling his crew for much longer,” Renn said quietly to the group, just as Captain Waylon climbed the gangplank back onto his ship.

“Quartermaster!” Captain Waylon shouted.

“Yes, Captain,” he replied from bow of the ship, making his way quickly over to his Captain.

“Gather the men. I have an announcement to make.”

“Yes, sir,” he replied to the Captain, then he addressed the crew. “You heard the Captain, drop what you’re doing and gather ’round, right now!” he bellowed. All the men quickly gathered on the main deck in front of the quartermaster, while Captain Waylon climbed up to the aft deck so he could address his men from above. Lusam guessed he had also chosen that particular location to be near the protection of a paladin, should his announcement not go down too well with his crew.

Captain Waylon waited until his crew fell silent, then began.

“Gentlemen, most of you have sailed with me for many a year now. Through good times, and bad. And I think you will agree with me when I say, we have had few, if any, bad times worse than it is right now,” Captain Waylon said, bringing forth a loud rumbling of assent from his men.

“I’m sure you all knew that this was likely our last run together on the Pelorus. Not something I’m proud of, I can assure you. But given the lack of business opportunities available to anyone right now, I doubt my own indiscretions have made much difference to the inevitable outcome anyway,” he said, pausing a long time for effect, while the men muttered to each other, contemplating their new status without jobs. It was expertly done. The crew visibly sagged at the news. Their faces turned from hope to desperation in the space of a few short heartbeats. Then the Captain spoke again.

“But don’t despair just yet, men,” he called out above the raucous voices below, silencing all to a man, as they stood there transfixed on his every word. “I have some
good
news to share. Our paladin friend here has offered us a unique business opportunity. One that will see us both keep possession of the Pelorus, and earn every man here three months’ pay to boot.” The crew cheered loudly, hope blossoming on all of their faces as they took in the good news. Captain Waylon held up his hand to quieten down his men, then continued. “After we have successfully completed our new contract, we will return to Fairport, where we will bid for any new work that’s still available to the fleet. The extra money we all earn on this trip will see us in a far better position to wait out these bad times than many others within the fleet.

“Before everyone gets too excited about the news, I must tell you that the contract does not come without risk, as you would imagine for that amount of coin. We are to sail south, to…” The Captains words were drowned out by the sudden angry and concerned cries of his men below. He held up his hand again to try and silence them, but it took the quartermaster’s bellowing orders to silence the men once more. The Captain decided to change tactics slightly, and instead of ordering the crew to undertake the journey, he offered them a choice instead.

“I know how you feel, gentlemen, because I feel the same way too. That’s why I will not order any man aboard this ship to make the journey with me. Anyone who wishes to remain here on The Serpent Isles is welcome to do so, along with any monies owed to that man. You can gain passage back to Fairport, or try for new employment here if you prefer. For anyone wishing to stay, the surplus money will be divided up equally amongst you. Each man must make his own decision, and I expect that man to stand by that decision come what may.

“I intend to sail the Pelorus swiftly, and unhindered by cargo. We would be skirting close to the shoreline, and avoiding open water wherever possible. I estimate two days each way at most. That’s four days’ work, for three months’ pay. But more than that, gentlemen. It’s four days’ work, for a possible future!

“Each man has one hour to decide what he will do. At which point you will either be on, or off the Pelorus. The quartermaster will dispense any monies owed to any man wishing to leave. That’s all. Dismissed!” The Captain turned away from the ship’s rail and walked to the stern of his ship, away from the gaze of his men below.

“That was a bold move Captain. I have to say, I wasn’t expecting that. And by the look on your men’s faces, neither were they,” Renn said, joining Captain Waylon at the ship’s rail.

“To be honest, neither was I. Of course, I expected
some
decent amongst the men once I told them of our planned route, but not on the scale we just witnessed. If I had tried to order them to sail south, I’m sure we would have had a full-blown mutiny to contend with,” Captain Waylon replied.

“I think you’re right, Captain, but what happens to your ship if they all decide to leave?” The captain gave a mirthless chuckle to Renn’s question, then turned to face him.

“I have a lot of good men aboard the Pelorus, Renn. Many I would consider as close to a friend as any captain could with a crew member under his command. It would cut me deeply to lose any of them, but without your coin, I would lose all of them regardless. If we end up without a crew… well, I have no doubt that we could find enough desperate men here at The Serpent Isles to sail south with us. I would get to keep my ship, you would get to your destination, and my men… my friends, would be tossed overboard as if they were nothing more than garbage. And that, Renn, sticks in my throat, and I can’t do a damn thing about it! I swear to Deas himself, if I make it through this, I shall never gamble again, ever!” Renn could tell he meant every word he’d just spoken, and felt very sympathetic towards the Captain’s current situation, even if it
had
been mainly brought about by his own hand.

“Let’s just wait and see what happens in an hour, Captain,” Renn said, giving Captain Waylon a supportive pat on the shoulder. Captain Waylon bobbed his head, obviously too emotional to respond, then solemnly headed for the sanctuary of his own cabin.

“What do you think will happen in an hour?” Neala asked. Renn hadn’t noticed her approach as he stared over the Ship’s rail at the water below.

“I’m not sure, lass. But one thing
is
certain: one man has learned a valuable lesson this day.”

Captain Waylon stayed in his cabin for the next hour, contemplating where he had gone so wrong in his life lately. He knew, of course, it all boiled down to his recent gambling habits; something he had sworn never to do again, and he intended full well to keep that promise, come what may. He was dreading going back out on deck to see how many of his men remained—if any. He knew he could not blame any of them for leaving, especially the ones with families back home in Fairport. He alone, was responsible for backing them all into this corner, and he alone would have to deal with the consequences—even if those consequences meant losing life long friends amongst his crew.

A knock at Captain Waylon’s cabin door startled him from his pondering.

“Enter,” he said loudly. The door opened a fraction, and the quartermaster poked his head inside the cabin.

“We’re ready, Captain,” he reported.

“Thank you. I’ll be right out,” Captain Waylon replied. The quartermaster nodded to the Captain, then swiftly disappeared again, as he closed the door behind himself, leaving the Captain alone once more to his hopes and fears. Captain Waylon stood up from behind his desk, took a deep breath to steady his nerves, and after straightening his jacket, headed for the cabin door, and whatever lay beyond.

Captain Waylon opened the cabin door and stepped onto the deck outside. His heart sank as he took in the sight before him. Only two men stood before him: the quartermaster, and old Lamar.

“Captain,” the quartermaster reported, “all the men willing to sail south are aboard ship.”

Captain Waylon found it hard to speak, but he managed a nod to his faithful quartermaster, and to say, “Thank you.” The quartermaster nodded in return, but his eyes went beyond the Captain to the foredeck above him when he did so. In unison the sound of rapid footsteps on wood echoed throughout the Pelorus, as men streamed down both wooden staircases—one each side of the ship—from the upper foredeck and onto the main deck below. Within seconds the whole Pelorus’ crew were standing to attention in front of their Captain.

“All crew present and accounted for, Captain,” the quartermaster reported, wearing a huge grin and bristling with pride. Captain Waylon met the eyes of every one of his crew as his gaze slowly passed over them, seeing for the first time the true loyalty each man shared for both the Pelorus and their Captain; something he vowed never to take for granted, ever again. He struggled to regain control of his emotions, but when he did, he took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and addressed his men.

“Thank you, quartermaster,” Captain Waylon said with a slight nod, then turned back to his crew. “And, thank you too, gentlemen. Thank you for giving me another chance. I promise that I won’t let you down again. You have my word on that.”

“Na, it wasn’t anything to do with that, Captain. The men just didn’t want old Lamar here taking all their money, that’s all,” the quartermaster said jokingly, causing the gathered men to laugh loudly, and Lamar to give him a strange look. Captain Waylon briefly joined in with the laughter, thankful for the lifted tension, then addressed his quartermaster once more.

“Prepare the ship for departure, quartermaster,” he commanded.

“Yes, sir,” replied the quartermaster, and followed it with orders of his own to the men on deck. The men quickly dispersed and attended to their individual duties, as the ship was made ready for leaving port. Captain Waylon simply turned and re-entered his cabin. His relief was evident as he collapsed into his chair with a loud sigh, and poured himself a large glass of brandy.

Lusam noticed that the mood aboard ship was different since they had left The Serpent Isles. The men went about their tasks quietly and efficiently, but always with an eye on the horizon for potential danger. Captain Waylon had ordered two men to remain in the rigging as lookouts, for both enemy vessels and underwater hazards. Lusam had become accustomed to life aboard ship over the last six days, and even Alexia had found her sea legs by the second day aboard the Pelorus, but now that they were skirting the shoreline, the ship seemed to take on a whole new persona. The waves and swell were much larger being so close to shore, and they often found themselves stumbling around the deck if they tried to walk anywhere. On more than one occasion, Lusam and Neala had both found themselves sliding across the deck on their backs, as the ship pitched violently from one side to the other.

Renn had explained to them that the Pelorus was a shallow bottomed vessel, used for carrying heavy cargo, and ill suited for large waves and swell, especially unloaded as she was right now. Renn, however, seemed to handle the movement of the ship almost as well as the crew, and if Lusam hadn’t have known better, he would have sworn they were all using some kind of magic to keep their feet attached to the deck. Alexia, on the other hand, wasn’t coping very well at all with the ship’s constant pitching from side to side, and front to back. In fact, she looked terrible. Less than thirty minutes into their journey she had lost her breakfast over the side of the ship’s rail, and in between repeat visits, she spent all of her time lying down on the deck, huddled in a ball. Lusam had felt sorry for her and tried to alleviate her suffering with his magic, but nothing he tried seemed to help. All they could do was make sure she drank plenty of water, and assure her that the trip would soon be over—none of which seemed to help much.

By the end of the first day even Lusam and Neala were feeling a little seasick, and were relieved when Captain Waylon came to inform them that he intended to stop for the night in a sheltered bay a little further down the coast. During their trip to The Serpent Isles they had sailed straight through the night, but running so close to the shoreline as they were now, meant that was no longer an option.

They arrived at the small bay just before dusk, and the men set about securing the ship for the coming night. It was well sheltered from the wind and waves, and gave a welcome respite to the swell and waves outside the bay. Any enemy ships sailing to the south of the bay would not be able to see the Pelorus behind the high cliffs, but even so, the Captain posted an overnight lookout in the rigging, just to be safe.

Alexia was still sleeping when the ship’s activities started to calm down. Most of the men had retreated below decks, no doubt to eat and relax after a hard day at sea. Only the lookout in the rigging high above, and a couple of men on the foredeck coiling ropes were still to be seen above decks. It suddenly struck Lusam that he had never considered the crew’s position in all this. When they had first boarded the Pelorus in Fairport, he had given little thought about the men aboard, they were simply the crew of the ship that was going to take them where they were going. He realised that it wasn’t until they reached The Serpent Isles, and Captain Waylon had tried to convince his crew to remain with him, that he had actually started to see them as men. Men with families, and loved ones waiting for them back home, no doubt. Lusam felt sure that he could defend the ship against any hostile Empire ships they might encounter, but what would happen to these men once he and the others had left the ship, and they were alone, without his protection on their trip home? It made him feel uncomfortable, knowing that a few gold coins could cause someone to risk their lives in such a way, and that he was partially responsible for that.