Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow (66 page)

“Well, my pirate friend, we’ll leave you and your men to your preparations. I’ll have the Weir ready for you at the docks with wagons to unload your goods, and the tavern keeps to ready more barrels of ale,” Mkel said to Lawrent through his crystal.

“Yes, Dragonrider, we will see you in a couple of hours,” Lawrent responded.

“Remember to keep your barbarians under control, my good Lawrent, or I might get hungry,”
Silvanth’s deep but still feminine voice carried over the three ships.

“And a welcome to you on behalf of Draden Weir, Freilanders, the first draft of ales will be courtesy of me and my rider, for I have to spend some of the spoils of our victory over the chromatics, Gallanth said, softening Silvanth’s tone to the result of cheers from the raiders. With that, Gallanth and Silvanth again broke their lazy circular flight pattern over the ships and began to fly upriver toward the Weir. “And Lawrent, remember to keep your men from venturing into the forest past the tributary stream or Dekeen’s elves might stick an arrow in their backside,” Mkel teased the raider one more time.

“Consider the warning heeded,” Lawrent replied, for he and his men knew of the legendary accuracy of the elven archers, especially when firing from concealed positions from within their own forest.

“Looking forward to having an ale or two with you, my friend, and seeing what you brought us,” Mkel further added.

“We have good surprises for you,” Lawrent replied.

“I have faith; see you on the docks,” Mkel said, ending the conversation with a wave from atop Gallanth’s back. He could see Lawrent give him a half wave, half salute; it was actually a sign of deference or honor for a Freiland raider to make such a customary Alliance military gesture. Freilanders were by their nature pure attacking berserkers in a fight. Not that they didn’t plan battles or develop strategy, for they were masterful tacticians, but in actual battle, once committed, they did not form disciplined ranks like Alliance soldiers did. They preferred to fight as individuals; their prowess in this type of fighting was feared throughout many lands. Even the brutish grummish recognized their fighting ability and wildness in melees, and they were especially feared by the Shidanese, who were better braggarts and assassins than soldiers. Most of the raiding that the Freiland dragon ships performed was on Shidan and their allies as well as Morgathian-controlled areas.

Gallanth and Silvanth soared back over the forest, making a straighter line toward the Weir, which looked like a small hill on the horizon. They were flying at a faster pace but nowhere near their top speed, arriving at the mountain in twenty minutes. They could have flown even faster, but Mkel asked Gallanth to fly just a few hundred feet over the treetops. It was an exhilarating and breathtaking sight to sail over the forest, so lush and serene. Mkel also liked just flying for the sake of flying. It was exhilarating just to soar on the back of his mighty dragon above the tall trees of the pristine Draden Forest.

Gallanth gave a muffled roar to announce his arrival, which was echoed by the tower’s warning horns. Mkel called to Hornbrag to let him know that Lawrent’s ships would be arriving at the docks in front of the Weir in a matter of hours. “You don’t give a man any rest, do you?” Hornbrag said as his image came across Mkel’s crystal, the smile offsetting the protruding brow of his forehead. “My staff and I have not yet completed categorizing the treasure that you and Gallanth brought from Battle Point, but I will see that preparations are made and ensure Lawrent’s ill-gotten booty is correctly off-loaded and categorized. We don’t want that pirate claiming he brought more than he actually did to get more crystals and goods from us,” he said with his normal boyish laugh.

Hornbrag also knew Lawrent for years and had fought beside him on a few occasions. They were almost the same size and strength, and he enjoyed the camaraderie of the Freilanders’ visits as well. Mkel knew Hornbrag had a good soul and was his trusted Weir clerk and money tracker as well as the Weir’s financial manager. While he was very good natured, he was still a very powerful fighter and had a keen mind in money matters. Mkel knew he would have the wagons with the necessary personnel to get the ships off-loaded and that Lawrent could not pull any tricks over him, not that he expected any.

Gallanth sailed into the Weir and landed on his ledge, nestling back onto his pile of gold and silver coins and gems that made his bed. “It’s time for you to uphold your end of the bargain and get some more sleep, my friend,” Mkel chided Gallanth.

“Yes, my rider, I as always will uphold my word, but if Silvanth gets more proddy and takes off on her mating flight, I must give chase,” Gallanth replied.

“Maybe you’ll have more luck catching your mate than I have with mine,” Mkel answered.

Gallanth snorted, which was a dragon form of a chuckle.

“You wrong yourself at times, my friend,” he retorted as he laid his gargantuan head down into the proper indentation in his treasure bed. Mkel smiled back as he hung his dragon hide armor riding jacket up on the hook beside the entrance to his quarters. “Sleep, my friend,” he said as Gallanth closed his eyes and he walked into his chamber. Annan had just gotten up and was bathing. Janta was still waiting beside Michen’s chamber.

“Still sleeping?” he asked the little halfling.

“Yes sir,” she replied with a smile across her small but broad face.

“All right, I’ll fetch us something for breakfast. Tell Annan not to worry, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he continued. She nodded and he walked out of the far side of the quarters and into the loading platform. He pulled the lanyard to allow it to lower. It was made to go up and down by the addition or subtraction of water in a counterweight container. He lowered himself to the floor level of the Weir landing and walked over to the feeding hall beside the tavern.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon went quickly. Mkel walked Michen around the lake and let him play in the Weir’s nursery with the other children after breakfast. News of the Freiland raider ships docking along the Weir’s landing at the Severic traveled fast. Their arrival meant a new shipment of goods, rare foods and spices, and especially the ales that they were famous for brewing that were popular among the garrison soldiers. This would kick off a feast and drinking celebration that would last for several days, which they knew Mkel would authorize.

Mkel knew his men needed to relax, for the stories of the fight at Battle Point and the news of the fire giants had everyone on a slight edge. This would relieve some pressure and worry he knew many of them had, and they could forget their duties for a short period of time. He knew it would take Hornbrag’s men several hours to unload the ships, for they would be thorough. The masts of the raider ships were in plain view from the entrance of the Weir as the wagons were steadily streaming in, heading for the temporary market area by the Weir’s tavern.

Mkel watched as the wagons pulled by, loaded with rare fishes in containers with cooling crystals to keep them preserved, other foodstuffs, furs, barrels of Freiland ale, locked boxes (which he knew contained gemstones that were no doubt obtained by pirating), and other trading materials. There was one wagon with chests that had soft skins stuffed in them, but he did not know what they contained. It must have been the surprise Lawrent was talking about. Who knew with that barbarian, but he would find out before too long for Lawrent could not keep a secret.

“Speak of the devil,” Mkel said; he could see Hornbrag and Lawrent walking into the Weir entrance past the watch towers. Their large frames were unmistakable, as was Hornbrag’s lumber and Lawrent’s swagger. He started to walk toward them past the Weir lake. Lawrent looked no worse for wear. His reddish blond hair was still kept short, unusual for a raider, and his mustache still neatly groomed. The raider captain was about as tall as Toderan and likely just as strong. His wide toothy smile was always welcome, even though it hid a fierce warrior behind it. “Well, look what the sea washed upriver!” he yelled to the pair.

“Dragonrider!” Lawrent yelled back as he walked up to Mkel and gave him a friendly embrace.

“I’m glad Gallanth and Silvanth decided to give you a bath, even though you still smell like a whale’s backside,” Mkel said with a smile. “Good to see you again, Lawrent; let us have a drink. I’ve had the Weir tavern’s keeps bring up our better ales,” he continued.

“What, not your best ales?” Lawrent smiled.

“We like you Freiland raiders, but not that much,” Mkel quipped back with his normal happy grin.

“First I want to show you something that you’ll like,” the tall berserker said as he walked over to the last wagon and pulled the cover from an insulated chest. He took a key from the pocket of his tunic, put it in the keyhole, and turned it. He opened the large lid to expose an egg, about half the size of a dragon egg, warmed by a single heating crystal. “Our visit to the Canaris Twin Islands was an interesting one. The civil war there is intensifying. The northern island has been getting aid from some outside source, which we know is Morgathian and Shidanese, for we have personally sent several of their ships to the bottom in our raids.

“Do you have any ship flags or solid proof of this?” Mkel asked.

“The ships didn’t fly flags, and several crews actually scuttled their own vessels rather than have us capture them; others fought to the death. Their armor was Morgathian or Shidanese for both the men and the orcs, and they fought like them as well: poorly. Some of the gold and treasure we took had the Morgathian or drow seal on it. We have also seen larger quantities of platinum, which is definitely drow,” Lawrent added with a smile.

“That won’t be good enough for the Enlightened senators,” Mkel said, “for they could say that it was just stolen by another faction. You couldn’t take any prisoners?”

“Usually that is what we want,” Lawrent explained, “for we always need more prisoners to row, but even those that didn’t want to fight us jumped into the sea. In the three weeks we were hunting about the north island, my raiders sent eight of the badly damaged ships to the bottom and took the cargo of eight more. We were only able to actually capture two totally intact. Many of my fellow countrymen have joined us, for the hunting is good; however, there has been increasing numbers of warships and galleys escorting them, so our raids have had to be more coordinated. The Morgathian and Shidanese ships are not as fast as Alliance vessels, nor are there crews as well trained, and our ships still have an advantage in speed over all of them. In ship to ship fighting, as long as they only have three-to-one odds on us, we can usually win pretty easily.”

“What is going on with the civil war there?” Mkel inquired.

“The fighting is mostly in the middle of both islands where the narrow straights separate them,” Lawrent said. “Both the northern and southern tribes are using their giant dragon-like lizards in the fighting, kind of like the metallic and chromatics do here on the main continent. Their conflicts are bloody affairs, with the giant two-legged sharp-tooth predator lizards tearing each other apart, and the four-legged horned ones with incredibly powerful charges smashing into each other along with all the rest. We obtained these eggs only after we agreed to go along with one of their raiding parties and help the southern and western tribes in a battle, as well as ferrying over a small army to the north island. We towed over barges loaded with their giant lizards. It was very intense, and I had two of my men killed and five wounded. They don’t have very good armor or weapons, but they fight with a savagery almost like my berserkers, just not as skilled.”

“What has fueled this civil war?” Mkel asked.

“Some type of tribal squabble. The leaders we spoke to said that for no reason, the tribes in the north and eastern part of the islands started to raid their villages for gemstones, giant lizard eggs (especially the long-neck ones), and the berries they use to make the concoctions that can control the lizards,” he answered.

“Why would they want to steal the eggs if both sides have these giant lizards?” Mkel asked.

“The lizards they use for fighting are both the two-legged meat eaters and a wide variety of four-legged horned herbivores,” Lawrent explained. “The ones that provide food for the meat eaters are these incredibly large long-necked lizards with long tails and heavy but streamlined bodies. They use these like cattle, but they can grow to over one hundred twenty feet long. They are very docile and grow very quickly, eating almost any type of plant food. They also use them to carry war bands into battle, like our land dragons. That is why I brought you a few; I thought that Gallanth might try one when it gets full grown and lessen your costs of buying all those cattle. A full-grown long neck is almost as long as a Silvanth, and I don’t think even both of them could down one of these in a sitting.”

“Interesting, but I’ll have to ask Gallanth if he wants to try one of these creatures and then check with Dekeen and the sea elves to see if introducing this foreign species will hurt the rivers and lakes or not,” Mkel answered.

“The elves worry too much about the trees and the dirt; these longneck lizards eat almost anything and grow like weeds, much faster than cattle, and those two-legged sharp tooth lizards surely liked them. The tribes herd these in the many rivers, swamps, and lakes on the islands and use them to feed themselves and the predators,” Lawrent countered.

“The elves help maintain the balance in nature here,” Mkel answered. “Many of the medicines you trade for, aloras, interefron, and the dramites, are all derived from natural products and a little dragon blood, along with a little magic that they developed. They will know what, if any, effects these creatures will have on Alliance lands.”