Chapter 28
Marley waited, listening, for a double handful of breaths before giving Chayse a nod. The young al’far handed the rope to Mek. The squirrel-like creature, chomping down on it, hopped onto the anchor rope and scampered up the hull of the sloop. Not stopping there, he ran up the halyard until, at last, Chayse tapped the line, signaling his friend to stop.
Mek flipped around, allowing the rope to fall before him. He chased it back to the deck, threaded it through the top rail, and scampered down the way he came. Chayse took the rope from Mek and fashioned a slipknot on the end before handing it to Marley for inspection.
The runesmith grabbed the damp rope but stopped to wipe his hand on his cloak before inspecting the knot. Then, with a sharp glance and a nod, he signaled Chayse to pull. When the knot finally found its home, they quickly made sure their packs were secure.
Marley invited Chayse to go first with a gesture. The boy grabbed the rope and feet planted on the hull; he pulled himself up. When he slipped over the rail, Marley began his assent. The small dinghy, now empty, drifted helplessly away with the current. But before the runesmith’s feet touched the deck, the distinct thunk of hull kissing hull announced their arrival.
To the left, a torch flared. Chayse’s pack slipped to the deck, followed by his cloak. Mek ducked beneath the cloak-tented pack as an essence-light bloomed above the great cabin. Someone Marley hadn’t thought to see again stood in front of the cabin.
A look of vicious triumph split Mason’s face with a leering smile. The tracery of silver-blue scars webbed his exposed flesh, a grim reminder of the last time they met. Marley sensed the rune he used, still irritated beneath Mason’s skin, and would for another moon cycle.
As he watched, the maze of lines seemed to pulse and the weaver’s smile turned to a sneer. Glyf stood at his side, hands bound and a collar about her neck. Mason’s hand wrapped in her hair tail.
With a slight nod to the runesmith, he pulled up on Glyf’s hair. A chilled breeze sighed through the ropes as, with one quick motion, a dagger blinked into Mason’s hand. He sliced through her tail, a bare hand’s breadth above her topknot.
Her hair fell to the deck like a waterfall of burnished gold as two large tears fell from her motionless amber eyes. Mason’s gaze moved from Marley to Chayse. For a moment, confusion seemed to cloud his eyes.
“I see you traded the little witch for a pretty boy. No matter, you and your new friend will join us for a boat ride.” Mason said, his hand-knotted in Glyf’s top knot.
The dagger he held gleamed dully in the essence-light and the crimson studded haft winked at Marley as the tip caressed Glyf’s cheek. Her head pulled back. The hound drew the blade along the dragonkin’s jaw, and a single drop of blood fled down her exposed throat and behind the collar. Marley felt Chayse’s eyes on him and shook his head, signaling not to attack.
“I would not be such a bore as to refuse such a generous offer,” Marley said, sketching what he hoped was a conciliatory bow.
“Good. Get them below,” Mason growled, giving the two guards a nod. “Take their packs and weapons,” he paused, studying Marley and Chayse for a moment. “Make sure you get all their weapons and the short one’s runes.” He shoved Glyf into the companionway and disappeared below deck without looking back.
The guard took Marley’s dagger and axe. He also relieving him of his bag of runes and the packs on the floor. Congratulating themselves over the rune bag find, they hurried through their pat-down of his cloak and person. When they missed the hidden pocket pouch in his cloak and moved on to search Chayse, Marley breathed a faint sigh of relief.
They gave Chayse a quick pat-down, removing a boot knife, his sword and dagger, along with his bow and quiver. One guard picked up the boy’s cloak. Marley held his breath, afraid Mek would be discovered, but the little animal remained hidden.
“By the Ancient’s might,” the first guard swore, balling the cloak and flinging it at Chayse. “Do you lay with pigs? It smells of animal piss and sour straw.”
Chayse slipped into the cloak as he drawled, “Ah, that t’weren’t no sour straw. She swore she weren’t no pig, she were your sister.”
Marley watched Chase, trying to figure out what he thought he was doing. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mek almost fly from behind the pack and into the shadows farther down the deck.
The guard’s elbow snapped up and out, clipping Chayse in the head and bloodying his lip as he sneered at the boy, “Oh, if it were my sister, you wouldn’t be walking. And you won’t be such a pretty boy by the time we get you to the capital.”
“That’s enough,” the second guard growled. “Now just tie their hands and get them below deck.”
Two cells, seven paces across and ten paces down, graced the deepest part of the lower deck. Except for a pair of bunk beds attached to the rear walls and a chamber pot, the cells were barren. Marley and Chayse sat on one bunk while in the other cell the three dragonkin sat on the floor talking through the bars to the two.
“Are you alright Glyf?” Marley's face creased in concern as he moved to sit on the floor next to the bars.
Glyf nodded, but she kept her eyes downcast and a sense of sadness seemed to radiate from her that was not there before.
“Although I’m grateful, we’re back together and on the boat headed in the right direction, I have to ask. Why does Hefldeep have holding cells on her sloop?” Chayse asked, glancing around the cubical.
Before he could continue, the three dragonkin spoke in unison. “What about Mek?”
Marley and Chayse realized the dragonkin didn’t know what happened to their large friend.
“I am sure he will make his appearance… soon,” Marley said with a wary look on his face. “As for the holding cells. This sloop wasn‘t always a vessel of leisure. A tale for another time and place. For now, we take stock of what we know.”
Jayf stood and paced the floor, the size of the room not such an impediment to his diminutive size. “The water and these collars have locked us away from the Paths and the Dragon’s Sleep. We still have mind-speak, but it is difficult enough as to make it unreliable, except for close at hand. Like on this boat.”
“If we can rid ourselves of these collars, I could try to use my Windsinger ability after we are out of the cove,” Thysl shrugged. “Perhaps I could strand her in the shallows south of Fendon’s Find. We just do not want to run the boat aground on the Kverka Shoals to the east. Stories and legends surround the shoals, but in truth little is known.”
The strain of the past few hours showed on Thysl’s already weakened continence. Giving Marley to wonder how that would affect his abilities. “Is there any place closer to the academy where, if we controlled the boat, we could leave her?”
Thysl’s large blue-green eyes swirled with thought. “There is a small hidden inlet cove before you come to the head of West Bondra Bay. By my charts, it doesn’t have a name, so I call it Hidden Cove. As long as we take the boat before they take it too far out of the bay, I should be able to bring her to rest there.”
“How many days sail to this Hidden Cove?”
“Before a second moonrise, I would sing the winds to blow us ashore.”
“Perhaps Mek will show soon with more information,” Chayse said as he walked to the front of the cell, intent on the darkened hall.
A look of dismay passed between the three dragonkin and Glyf exclaimed, “Did you not see? Do you not know?”
“Know what?” Chayse countered her question with his own, still keeping watch on the hall.
“When the blood lightning danced across the bay, one of its fingers reached down and drew its shining nail across Mek’s chest and he disappeared.”
“Huh?” Chayse knelt, his tied hands at the base of the cell door bars. A softly glowing ball of fur scurried out of the shadows and up the boy’s arm. Once settled on his shoulder, the squirrel-like creature glanced around the cells and then placed his paw on Chayse’s ear.
Marley managed to contort his chuckle into a gruff cough. “As you can see, Mek is alive and with us. Albeit in compact form, but for now, I am thinking it is more of a blessing than a curse.”
“What happened to him? Did the weavers do this?” Fascination finally sparked in the curious swirl of Glyf’s eyes.
“Do the weavers know about him?” The speculation in Thysl’s tone spiced the words with meaning.
“What is the matter with Chayse? He looks to be in a trance.” Jayf’s voice held both fascination and speculation but also concern for the boy.
Marley knew the dragonkin had taken a liking to this young pirate-coast lad like a new shiny, especially after he swore allegiance to them in their time of need. “Be at peace, Chayse is fine,” the runesmith said. “They found they can mind-speak, but only if they have a physical connection.” Marley chuckled. “And for some reason, he likes the boy’s pointy ears.”
Thysl nodded with a sage look of understanding. “So fresh a connection can befuddle the staunchest and when both are fledgling, concentration is critical.”
“I have a feeling they will have no trouble strengthening their bond,” Jayf said, amusement coloring his voice. “I already faintly hear Mek. He will be powerful at mind-speech, I think.”
“I will second that, mate,” Chayse said with a slight shiver. “I am not sure how-used-to-it I can get to having someone, even Mek, rummaging around in my mind or holding my… pointy ear.”
“Mind-speak is not truly rummaging around. It is closer than you would think to the code you and the big… I mean, little guy, use. Just more intimate,” Marley said, trying to keep a straight face. “But for now, what information was Mek able to scrounge?”
“Let’s work backward,” Chayse said as he sank onto the bunk. Mek hopped down and gnawed at the rope, securing the young al’far’s hands while he continued to speak.
“There are seven from the Tavir Academy on board the vessel and at least three headed north by horse, including the one you had words with earlier. Three out of the seven still here wore the mark of the weaver upon their cloaks. The other four were guardsmen.”
The ropes fell away from the boy’s wrists. He hurried over to Marley and untied him as he spoke. “Four sleep, two stand watch and the one giving the orders now walks the shoreline. For what reason…” Chayse shrugged. “Your guess is probably better than mine. Mek says they don’t know about him and he added, what they don’t know will surely come back and bite them on the hind side. As for your questions Glyf, that’s Marley’s tale to tell.”
Ignoring Chayse’s last words, Marley finished untying his friend Jayf through the bars. Released by Mek, Glyf hurriedly set Thysl free. The runesmith fished around in his special cloak pocket for the key to the dragonkin’s collars. With a satisfying click, he watched Jayf’s continence brighten as the collar came away from his neck.
“My gratitude is larger than I,” Jayf said with a meaningful bow. He took the key from Marley and used it to unlock Thysl’s and Glyf’s collars.
“Keep them with you until we can destroy or bury them far from here.” The runesmith closed his hand once more about the key Jayf placed in his palm. He stopped the dragonkin with a word and asked. “Was there anything you saw or sensed before they collared you that might help us or forewarn us?”
Jayf stood motionless. The blue and green swirls in his large irises, slow and unfocused for a moment, but only a moment. “Mason’s desire for Kestrel has not abated and his hatred has a fanatical feel to it. I also heard Zamphere’s name spoken as Mason argued with another weaver over who was truly in charge.”
The dragonkin shrugged, glancing around. “I am sorry, I have no more. There was almost a miasma about them that diffused my abilities. Does anyone else have something to add?”
“The next room over is the main storage room,” Thysl volunteered. “They took what they wanted before you arrived.” The dragonkin’s demeanor turned smug and his voice lowered. “There is a small room within the room warded against intruding eyes.”
A grin split Marley’s face. He rubbed his hands together and said, “I know that ward. I put it there myself more years ago than I have fingers and toes, twice over.” He turned to Chayse and asked, “Did Mek hear when they would sail?”
“Mek heard them talk of riding tomorrow’s tide out of the cove. And one more thing, they made remarks about the strange twisting of the Tavir.”
Glyf had not spoken since, asking Chayse about Mek’s transformation. She looked up from the collar she studied as the young al’far spoke. “Is that what happened to Mek?”
Chayse nodded and glanced over at Marley.
“It is,” Marley said with a sigh. “I used a simple expose and disarm rune, but for some reason, it not only exposed and disarmed but also transformed… selectively.” The runesmith shook his head, confounded, once more, by the results of the rune. “Why it engulfed such a large area and only affected the rashmorg and nilmorg and Mek has me mystified, baffled and befuddled.”
“And the rest of us bewildered and bedazzled,” Chayse said with a snort.
“Imagine how they feel,” Glyf said, her large round eyes a swirl with seriousness. She glanced at Jayf and Thysl before continuing. “Perhaps the strange effect of your rune was because of some residual left by the Academy’s attack on the Cove.”
Marley stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Indeed, that is a possibility. And that conundrum leads my suspicious nature to wonder why Mason left on such short notice. It peeves me he took such an interest in Kestrel not being with us.”
“It was a good and true path she set upon when she bonded with the Yanzul,” Jayf stretched his arms above his head and yawned widely.
Noticing the confusion on their new friend’s face, Marley said. “Kestrel is a young clan girl we traveled with on our way to Windy Cove the first time. Mayhap, someday you and she will meet. I believe you have much in common. For now, let us hope the choices we make are as good and true, for surely we could use that.”
Chayse got up from where he sat and paced to the front of the cell. “So, do you have a plan?”
“I think we should let these Academy men sail the boat out of the cove before we take it away from them.” The runesmith sat on the lower bunk, leaving the upper with more headroom to the lanky al’far. “Mek, can you get a key to the ce...?”
The squirrel-like creature bound off his perch on the top bunk and was through the door bars before Marley could finish the sentence.
“I take it that was a yes.” He glanced over at the other cell. “Will not being able to go into Dragon Sleep stop you from resting?”
“We can not replenish the energy it takes to go onto the Paths, but we can rest. The Paths are not available to us, as it is, on water.” Jayf answered for the three.
Marley nodded and stretched out on the bunk, lacing his hands behind his head. “I suggest we all get a little shuteye while we can.”