The DeCadia Code (The DeCadia Series Book 1) (11 page)

***

“Explain to me again how a dragon was allowed to walk upon my ship,” Val demanded, the anger in her white hot after the onslaught they had just survived. Each word out of her mouth sounded like a whip.

“Captain,” Stewy said slowly, trying not to fidget, “we didn’t just let ‘er walk around. We kept her shackled and under guard.”

“She was walking on MY SHIP?” Val’s voice got softer, but her anger burned brighter. They had let a dragon loose on board, knowing the devastation her kind had done to them? Rage blinded her for a moment and her hand tightened around the handle of her whip. Stewy took a step back, fear creeping into his eyes. They’d all seen her use that whip when it was necessary. As much as she loved them all, sometimes the best of them got to be a little too unruly and had to be disciplined.

“Captain…”

“Not a word, Stewy,” Val interrupted him. “Not a word.” She turned to Lukas, her eyes narrowing. She’d left it up to him to secure the girl and yet that dragon had been up here on deck.

“I tied her to the bed,” Lukas said before she could ask. “I had her secured tight, but she
is
a dragon, Captain. She’s stronger. Those bonds may have been nothing for her to break.”

Val’s lips thinned. As much as she wanted to scream at Lukas, she couldn’t. He was right. If the dragon was even a tenth as strong in human form as she was in her dragon-self, those bonds would have been like putty to her. She couldn’t fault him for it.

“Stewy!” she barked, making sure her voice stayed in its lower octave.

“Captain?”

“Where are the survivors of the Navy crew?”

“They be workin’ on helping to collect the dead, Captain.” He jerked his head to his left and Val followed with her eyes. The Navy crew, as well as the survivors from the merchant ship, was helping to drag the dead from
The Emerald Queen
to the beach. They would build a funeral pyre tonight and honor the dead. She spotted Stephen easily enough. He looked exhausted and haggard. Losing his entire crew had to be devastating. Stephen had always taken his responsibility to his crew to heart. She’d deal with him later. First, she had to talk to a dragon.

“Where did you put the dragon?” Val asked after a moment.

“She was shackled onto the railing but Lukas thought it best to move her. On account that the crew was getting restless, Captain.” Stewy told her, backing away from her. She’d unfurled her whip. As much as she wanted to strike someone, she wouldn’t. Her anger burned too hot and she might cause permanent damage.

“I put her in my room,” Lukas said quietly, holding his ground beside her. He understood she’d never hit anyone while this angry.

Val nodded curtly and walked down the steps of the first deck. They housed her quarters as well as Lukas’s and several other higher-ranking crewmembers’. Lukas’s cabin was just off her own. Two armed sailors stood outside the door looking grim. Neither pleased to be there. Val couldn’t blame them; she didn’t want the dragon within five hundred miles of her crew or her ship either.

When Val opened the door and walked inside, she found the girl going through the chest of drawers and frowned. Dragons were notorious for hoarding treasures. What she could possibly find in Lukas’s clothes, Val had no idea. She cleared her throat and the girl’s head snapped up and around, her eyes wide with guilt. She jumped up quickly and turned around, pushing the bottom drawer shut with her foot.

“Do pardon me,” she said softly, her voice like the softest music Val had ever heard. “I know it was wrong to go looking, but I was curious and…” Her voice faltered when Val’s eyes got frostier. She straightened her shoulders before continuing. “I am Ryderoux Firebound Windfury.”

“You speak the King’s tongue.” Val made it a statement, not a question. She was, however, astonished the girl spoke anything except her native tongue.

“Languages are easily assimilated,” Ryderoux explained, unaware of how arrogant she sounded. “I learned this one as well as two others in the five minutes I stood on the top of this boat.”

“Ship,” Val bit out. “This is a ship, not a boat.”

“There is a difference?” she asked, curious.

“There is,” Lukas said before Val could bite the girl’s head off. “A boat is smaller than this and typically a sea vessel. Ships are bigger and mostly air vessels.”

Ryderoux smiled and Lukas nearly lost his balance. Val noticed and stepped on his foot, hard. He grunted. He needed to get control himself. The girl may be beautiful; nonetheless, she was also deadly.

“Thank you, sir,” Ryderoux said, clasping her hands in front of her, doing her best to look non-threatening. Val didn’t buy it for a second. She could feel the hum of unfamiliar energy around the girl. It set every nerve she had on edge screaming danger.

“I’m Lukas,” he said, stepping back slightly. “This is Emerald, Captain of the ship.”

“It’s a pleasure to greet you both.” Ryderoux bowed and then stood up, smiling.

“How did you get loose?” Val demanded, closing the door to the cabin.

“I don’t like to be tied up.” A haunted look came into the girl’s eyes that made Val’s own eyes narrow. She’d been tied up and locked in the dark on more than one occasion growing up and recognized the look. “I simply pulled at the ropes holding me. They broke with little effort. It takes more than simple cloth ropes to bind a dragon.”

Val cursed silently and moved over to the desk. She sat down and motioned for the girl to have a seat. Lukas followed and stood behind the chair Ryderoux sat in. The simple gesture didn’t escape Valeria. Lukas had positioned himself in a manner as if to protect the girl. Fury flared up inside her for the briefest moment and then she tramped it down. She needed to deal with this.

“Explain to me why you are on board my ship and why I shouldn’t kill you where you stand after the attack we withstood.”

Ryderoux swallowed nervously before answering. “I was curious about humans, about your kind. I wanted to experience being human, to become one of you. I saw your boat once before and I knew you’d be able to escape so I snuck on board. I did not think anyone would notice me, but you did. How were you able to see me? I was using a magic that allows others to overlook me even if they are slightly aware I am there.”

This girl, this dragon, had been curious? Her curiosity had caused the other dragons to come after them, to attack with a vengeance to collect what was theirs once they’d seen her onboard. She had put Valeria’s crew in mortal danger, had caused the death of over half of them, and all because she was
curious
?

Ryderoux’s face paled, seeing the wrath on Val’s face. She flinched back against the chair in which she sat. Lukas placed a hand on her shoulder in reassurance.

“Do you realize what you have done? The amount of pain and death you caused because you were
curious
?” Val’s voice was whisper soft, her anger barely in check. “Why shouldn’t I kill you now to pay for the deaths you caused?”

“Because I did not mean anyone any harm,” Ryderoux said softly. “I only wanted to escape, to get away. They were going to make me bond myself with a cruel, cruel dragon. I have spent my life being treated unkindly amongst my own race and I just wanted a chance to be happy, to be free. I am truly sorry for what has occurred, but you
did
invade our territory and we protect what is ours. I saw an opportunity and I took it. Could you say that you wouldn’t do the same thing had you been in my place?”

Val wanted to scream that, no, she wouldn’t. Yet hadn’t she just done the same thing? Looking for clues, for Tobias, she had put herself and her crew in this situation. She wanted to find her people and had done anything and everything she’d had to over the years. Today was as much her fault as it was this girl’s. Guilt began to eat at her for what she had done. That was the difference between her and the dragon sitting in front of her. Valeria felt guilt, remorse over her actions. The dragon didn’t. She saw it in her eyes. Ryderoux didn’t think this was her fault; she’d seen a way to get out and she’d taken it. To her, the deaths were just collateral damage.

Val’s hands fisted and uncurled several times. The need to do this young woman harm fought a war inside Val. She wanted her blood spilled to pay for the carnage and destruction, on the other hand, that flash of remembered horror in the girl’s eyes stopped her. She understood that pain; what she would do and had done herself to stop the agony. Because she understood it didn’t mean she condoned it. Forgiveness was not something Valeria could offer at this moment. The sight of Ryderoux sickened Valeria and probably would for a long time to come; still, she wouldn’t hurt her.

“You will stay confined in this ship until further notice,” Valeria said at last. “Lukas will be in charge of escorting you wherever you go. Your meals will be delivered to you and Lukas will see to anything he thinks you might need. Do you understand?”

“Yes, of course…”

“If you do not abide by the restrictions placed upon you, then you will leave me no choice but to execute you, Ryderoux Firebound Windfury. That is not a threat; it is a simple fact. I do not fear you nor your kind. I know exactly how to kill you, so do
not
test my patience. Are we clear?”

Ryderoux nodded, shrinking away from the blatant hate in Valeria’s eyes. Valeria left no doubt she would kill Ryder without a moment’s hesitation.

“Perfect,” Valeria smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “Lukas will bring you something to eat in a few hours. We have work to do and will not be able to feed ourselves let alone a stowaway.”

Lukas stepped back when Val stood up and followed her to the door. She turned back once more. “Remember my words, Ryderoux Firebound Windfury. Leave this cabin again and you will die by my hands.”

Val walked out and heard Lukas speaking with the guards. She had work to do and anger to burn off. Her dead waited and she would make sure that all who died here today would receive the honor due to them.

The odor alone was enough to make Tobias wish he could just die. The inside of the medicine man’s hut stank of an odor one part mold and one part charred herbs. The only relief given to Tobias was that he was through being carried like a piece of luggage. Lying on a gurney the entire way from the ship to the village only added insult to injury.

The two pirates who carted him to the village didn’t smell much better than the medicine man’s hut. Making things worse was the fact they were hell-bent on getting him there as soon as possible. It was as though their Captain’s whip were right behind them hounding them the whole way.

The medicine man was bent over Tobias unwrapping his wounds like a child removing the wrapping from a present. Tobias took stock of the man who had his life in his hands. He wasn’t comforted. The medicine man was in his late years, with snow-white hair. His ebony skin glimmered in the light of the fire that silently burned in the center of his hut.

Tobias winced as the wrapping was removed from his stomach. Since his injury, Tobias had remained content to allow the tourniquet to do its job. Now lying on his back, he inched his head forward to get a better look. He wished he hadn’t.

A low whistle came from the medicine man’s lips as they surveyed the extent of Tobias’ injury for the first time. Tobias’s worn skin, covered with tattoos now boasted a new feature on his body. A hole, the size of a man’s fist, tore across his navel area and exposed a shallow indention full of raw flesh and coagulating blood. He’d hidden it from the girl, thinking he could manage on his own. It was worse than even he had thought. She only knew he’d had a serious burn; she hadn’t seen the injury from the battle with the dragons. His belly had met the tip of a talon.

Tobias allowed his head to drop back on the gurney with a moan. A new wave of pain burned from his injury and trampled the rest of his body in the aftermath. “You lucky.”

The idea that the medicine man spoke the same tongue as Tobias never entered his mind. The Atlantean native just assumed in a place like this, anyone speaking the King’s language would be impossible to find. Tobias recovered from his initial shock, then focused on the man’s words. “Lucky? Huh?” Tobias fidgeted in his gurney trying to find a spot that would alleviate at least some of the pain. It didn’t work.

“Lucky,” the man repeated nodding up and down. The medicine man reached for a dusty bottle on one of the many shelves that boasted a myriad of vials and flasks. “Not get help,” the medicine man explained as he popped the cork off the unlabeled container in his hands, “dead soon.”

The medicine man offered the bottle to Tobias with a reassuring smile. “Drink.”

Tobias propped himself to a half sitting position as another bought of pain brought a cold sweat to his brow. Ignoring the mess of his stomach, Tobias took the presented bottle. On a whim he sniffed the contents of the container. The aroma reminded him of a mix of kerosene and moonshine. He could guess what the drink was intended for: to numb the mind and body. Tobias licked his lips and took a long swig before he could rethink his options. The liquid cascaded down his gullet, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.

Tobias bit back a cough as the fluid took his breath away. Despite the taste, the drink worked almost instantly. A numbing feeling began working its way from the center of his chest to the tips of his fingers and toes. Tobias resumed his lying position as the medicine man smiled and accepted the bottle. “Wow,” Tobias said as his mind swam. “What was in that?”

The medicine man smiled at him and winked as he took his own long drought from the bottle. “Hey,” Tobias said observing his soon-to-be surgeon take a second drink from the container. “Should you be drinking that much?”

His answer was a shrug as the man began to pour contents from the bottle onto his hands. The village doctor soaked both hands in the fluid before satisfied. The scent of the liquid in the bottle was enough to overpower any competing odor in the hut.

Tobias blinked as his eyes blurred from the wafting scent. His mind already dulled along with his nerves, Tobias craned his neck forward to look and see what the medicine man was planning next. The village doctor’s strong hands pushed Tobias back down gently. “Lay still, this hurt.”

Tobias did as he was instructed, preparing himself for the pain to come. Nothing he could imagine would have been able to ready his body for the agony. Searing fire wiped away any kind of comfort the drink brought. Tobias gripped the edges of the gurney as he screamed in pain. The last thing he remembered before the welcoming hands of unconsciousness came for him was seeing the medicine man shaking his head and taking another swig from the bottle.

***

Stephen wasn’t sure whether he should admire the Captain of the ship or despise her. He had seen her return from her expedition on land. Her men forming a long line behind her, carting supplies for the ship. Now, every single hand on deck was assigned a task to repair the damage done to the flying craft. To his dismay, Stephen was denied an audience with the Captain and told she would speak to him when she was ready.

This answer angered Stephen, but what could he do? He was outmanned, outgunned, and, above all, the object of his hatred was still onboard. He contented himself with the task he was given: repairing the sails. Shackles removed, Stephen worked alongside his own men and a handful of the ship’s pirates as they weaved thick needles in and out of the torn sails.

The sails gave Stephen his first clue as to which ship he and his crew had fallen in with. They were a solid deep green. He knew of only one ship that flew such sails. No other dared.
The Emerald Queen
. Her captain reigned as the most wanted pirate in all of DeCadia and now, given the situation, there was nothing Stephen could do except accept the fact he had to team up with these pirates. He needed to keep the remnants of his crew alive and following the pirate seemed the only way to accomplish that.

The work was monotonous, giving Stephen even more time to reflect and brood on the malice he would do to Ryder when he was able to get his hands on her. Stephen was torn from his thoughts when he heard his name being called. Marm was sitting beside him motioning to the pirate that stood in front of them holding a plate of dried meat and hard biscuits. “Sir,” she said in a worried tone, “you should eat something.”

Stephen looked around to see everyone staring at him. He dropped the tools and portion of sail he was working with and rubbed grimy hands on his even dirtier pants. “Yes,” Stephen said. He wasn’t hungry; still he knew his body needed the food. Stephen accepted his ration of meat and bread along with a hard clay flagon of water.

The meat tasted as thought it had been dried and stored the same year Stephen was born; the bread was no better. Still Stephen forced it down, taking stock of their situation again. The bodies all had been collected and piled just off the ship on the sandy beach of the island. The ship was still in pitiful condition but if they continued to work at the speed they were instructed, they might be able to have enough repaired to at least make a low cruising altitude. Then they could continue to fix the remaining damage while in the air.

The sun was disappearing quickly behind the edge of the world. Stephen could feel the fingers of fatigue beginning to settle in over his shoulders and back. As he was chewing his last bite of leathery meat, he saw the pirate who had captured him earlier. Stephen recognized the man as someone of importance on the ship. All day he had witnessed the pirate giving orders and shouting commands. “You there,” the pirate said, motioning to Stephen, “Follow me.” Without waiting to see whether Stephen would comply, the pirate turned his back and started to walk away. Stephen looked over at Marm, who shrugged. With one last long drought of water, Stephen rose to his feet and jogged across the deck to catch up to the pirate.

“What’s this about?” Stephen asked when he finally reached the pirate.

“I wanted to introduce myself,” the man stopped and turned to Stephen with an extended hand. “My name is Lukas. I am second in command.”

Stephen nodded, seizing the opportunity to request an audience with the ship’s captain as he shook Lukas’s hand. “My name is Stephen Tiberius Cross. I am—I was Captain of
The
Dragoon
. I was hoping to gain an audience with your captain.”

Lukas released his hand with a smirk. “So I’ve heard. You’ve been quite adamant about that. And you will have your chance, but only when she is ready.”

Stephen felt heat begin to grow in his chest as he was forced to bite back his displeasure. “I hope it will be soon,” he said with a forced smile. “My crew and I have been doing everything we can to prove that we maintain no threat to the ship or her crew.”

Lukas studied Stephen in the wake of the sun’s last rays. The moon and stars were beginning show. Their light accompanied with the many lanterns being lit and placed around the ship were enough for the hands on board to continue their repairs through the night. “I’ve seen as much and it has not gone unnoticed.”

Stephen nodded, trying to think of how he could leverage the conversation to his favor. Before he could come up with the words, Lukas spoke again. “We’ll be having a burial ceremony for the fallen tonight on the beach. You will, of course, be permitted to come to mourn your dead and give them an honorable send off to their journey into the next life.” Lukas looked into Stephen’s eyes long and hard. “If there were to be any problems with those trying to escape or cause a disturbance, they will be met with a bullet or blade.”

Stephen held the pirate’s gaze with an even look. “Understood. We aren’t here to cause problems—actually the opposite. I am eager to meet with the ship’s captain to offer our services.”

Lukas studied Stephen with suspicion in his eyes. “Really?”

“Yes. After the burial ceremony, my men and I will do our best to get the ship back in the air. Hopefully, we’ll be ready to sail in a few days.”

Lukas broke a grin as though he were reminded of a secret joke. Stephen couldn’t help but feel it was something he said. “Am I missing something?”

Lukas raised both hands in a sign of peace. “Your assumption is off, Stephen Tiberius Cross. Every available hand will be working through the night. We’ll only take a break for the burial ceremony. We’ll have the damage essential to flying repaired by morning. Everything else will be fixed while the ship is in the air.”

Stephen nodded trying to mask his surprise. It was clear the Captain was eager to be off, but off to where was another question entirely. “I’m going to guess that you wouldn’t tell me where we are in such a hurry to travel to if I asked.”

Lukas smiled back and nodded. “That’s right. You’ll have to ask the Captain.”

Stephen worked for the next few hours in silence. The sail his hands repaired was nothing more than a subconscious motion. His mind was working overtime, trying to unwrap the puzzle of the ship’s destination. Along with that mystery was the fact Ryder had not been removed from
The Emerald Queen
. Question upon question amassed in Stephen’s mind until he could feel the dull throbbing of a headache coming on.

It was only the shout indicating the burial ceremony was beginning that saved Stephen from any further deliberation. A gangplank was lowered to the sand and Stephen and his crew were ushered to the beach under heavy guard. A rough circle lit by tall torches protruding from the sand was placed a few yards from the boat. In the center of the circle, a pyre stood vast enough to hold all the bodies.

Each fallen pirate, soldier or member of the merchant crew was given the same consideration. Clean, linen wrapped them from head to foot. There were too many for Stephen to count. Dozens of the carefully wrapped bodies lay side by side on the large funeral pyre. Made of a combination of driftwood and branches from the jungle, the pyre was anything but extravagant. An army of dry, wooden tinder at its base insured it would do the job.

As Stephen stood with everyone else on the beach, he found himself remembering Amil. He was in there: one of those unmoving lumps of flesh under the plain cloths. The torchlight danced around the shadows, pulling and contorting the darkness into past memories Stephen knew would haunt him the rest of his life. He found his grief once again giving way to anger.

Before Stephen could fixate on the rage he felt against Ryder, a familiar female voice split the air. Silence fell across the unlikely group of gathered men and women. The speaker was a woman wearing a jade-colored mask that covered the upper half of her face. He was looking at the pirate Emerald. He itched to arrest her; yet again, there was nothing he could do about it in this situation.

“Tonight we put aside our allegiances to the various groups in which we stake our identities. Tonight, there are no pirates, no soldiers, merchants or slaves. We stand side-by-side as human beings with one cause…to honor our dead.”

Mumbles and nods were the only thing aside from the woman’s voice that dared interrupt the silence. Stephen squinted trying to get a better look at her, however, the darkness and the shifting light from the torches made it near impossible. Somehow Stephen knew he recognized her, but from where? With a lowered head, Lukas handed the female speaker a lit torch. “Captain.”

“As one,” the Captain continued, holding the torch in her right hand, “we commit their spirits to those waiting for them in the afterlife. Whether our dead will be embraced by the Light or the Darkness in the world to come is not our truth to say. The lives they lived have already chosen their path for them. It is our job to send them on their journey with good will and knowing they died bravely to save us, those still standing here tonight. Be well and good journey to you my friends, my family, my saviors.”