CHAPTER THREE

“Some ancient historians believed they were the
offspring of humans and monsters.”
- the Venerable Iglasalan

I was much more popular after that day, with a wide variety of people. Mother Cenefra never mentioned anything again, but somehow Bernall was no longer my equal in the group. He was still her other favorite, but I had gained a new stature in her sight. No matter how hard he tried to gain her attention, she only spoke to him at her wish. She still smiled at him, but not with the same sparkle as before.

Also, Captain Radamant conversed with me the very next day. I was studying the forested coastline we were passing – gigantic dead logs like columns for a giant’s home were scattered over the beaches - and before I was aware of it, he was standing next to me.

“When you shouted at my victory, I thought of my son and how old he would be.”

“It was a stirring sight, Captain. I have been in one battle, but never have I seen a real duel. Is your son back at home? With your kin?” I had not heard “would be” because I was quite nervous by his presence.

“Yes, in a way. I was married many years ago to a beautiful woman. I loved no other as I loved her. After a year of marriage, she was with child and about to give birth. She started to run a very high fever and the child began fighting to leave the safety of her womb. She died giving birth to him, a slight smile on her lips when I kissed her for the last time. My son died three days later, and I buried him next to her beneath a huge tree in the yard of my ancestral home. I packed some clothing and joined the Sacred Fleet. A ship has been my home for over twenty years.”

“That is very sad, sir. I wish I could say more than that. At least they are with Our Gracious Lady. I imagine the heartache never really leaves one. Do you ever go back and pay honor to them at the graves?”

He slowly strolled away. “My sister runs the estate. I have never crossed the threshold after the burial. But I can see it from the ocean.”

And, strangely enough, old Broken Nose practically adopted me as his long lost nephew or something like that. I knew it was because I never mentioned his part in my venture
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into Labarna despite being questioned by the marines a few times that bizarre day. He told me his name, Dizil, but it was not his “real name” because he had killed three or four men in various port cities when he was young. He made sure I ate better than the other novices and gave me a better blanket. Dizil would also take time out from his day to regale me and Cumall about his knowledge of the ocean, as well as to recite wonderfully gory tales of pirates and tantalizing immoral tavern maids and haunted ships manned by crews of lost spirits doomed forever to wander the seas.

Not surprisingly, I was held in higher esteem by my fellow novices and novitiates. I was not an aristocrat but yet I was brave and did what many others had dreamed of doing. Following Father’s example, I often shared my extra food with others and asked nothing in return. If the Lady of Eldin ever did make it to the Blessed Isles, I was counting on having a few friends already there when I landed. Cumall gloried in this attention for it made him seem more important. Everyone knew that we were already good comrades and he almost began to act as my handler. I avoided Bernall’s aristocratic friends without rushing away from them. I think some of them secretly admired me, but they had already cast their lot in with Bernall, and I was but a poor farm boy anyway.

++++++

As we sailed farther North, the weather became warmer and the lands were even more fertile than Labarna. Watch towers were a common site, protected by Imperial guards who would send out a trumpet call to hail us and ask us how we were faring. Our reply was always a brisk volley of notes signifying all was well.

Rotund merchant ships hugging the coast were a daily sight. Loaded down with foodstuffs or with manufactured goods, I was gaining a greater appreciation for the wealth of the Empire. The merchants were glad to see us, and Great Mother Cenefra would sometimes personally bless them as they sailed by. If not her, there was always one of her Sisters to perform the ritual.

Captain Radamant explained the warmer weather conditions to me. “The world is a sphere just as the Moon is, made in its image of perfection. There is greater warmth as we head toward the Great Middle, in my layman’s opinion, because the Goddess Moon has her divine sanctuary located in the middle of the Moon. There must be greater warmth in the middle with such a concentration of perpetual glory, and our Great Middle receives this glory and therefore bursts with heat and lush vegetation.”

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I nodded my head politely. I wasn’t even sure what he meant, really.

“Some philosophers on the Island of Men say that the increase in heat is caused because the Great Middle is closer to the middle of the wondrous Moon and its heat. But if that were true, why is the night colder than the day even when the Moon is in Full Sphere?”

I shrugged. “Maybe it has something to do with the Sun. The Sun’s light dominates the day.”

“That has been debated also, but does it make sense that the Sun would cause so much heat when it is so far away and has not the vital powers of the Moon? It does seem to burn as an inferno, but the Sacred Texts say almost nothing about it in the workings of the Heavens. I still lean toward the idea of the Great Lady’s sanctuary being located at the middle of Her silver domain.”

“What about the stars?”

“They seem so small and so far away. The Scroll of Creation says that Our Lady created them for fun, sort of stepping stones through the Heavens, but the text doesn’t say what they are made of. They glow, but is the glow only a cold reflection of the Moon’s light? I’m no Scholar. You will get a chance to think on these things, Skell. I hope you will be happy in that endeavor.”

As we sailed to the Great Middle, the forests became thicker and thicker, more like jungle terrain. The Lady of Eldin was coasting past the land of Astygares when Captain Radamant ordered the navigator to take the ship closer to shore. Cumall and I were studying the land when the jungle thinned out and a great plantation of fruit trees spread out as far as the eye could see. An immense palace stood in the middle of the grove, the light glistening from its rose colored tiles.

Captain Radamant gestured towards me. I ran to the upper deck at the stern of the vessel. His eyes reddened and a mist seemed to cover his face.

“That is, or was, my home, Skell,” he whispered. “The sweetest oranges to be found anywhere. I used to gather them with the field workers as a boy.”

“Oh, Captain, stop the ship and go ashore in one of the boats. It might make you feel better, sir. Really.”

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“No, Skell. I have made my bargain with grief. But I shall write to my sister when we make port at the Blessed Isle… Yes, I shall write her a very long letter.”

++++++

The very next day, as if to mimic the captain’s sadness, the ships were engulfed by a great fog. We sailed with more caution, burning lanterns in the middle of the day and night, and also blasting out trumpet calls of recognition every half hour. So did our companion ships.

Everyone was on edge, even Dizil. I asked him why we didn’t sail further out away from the shore where a collision would have less chance of happening.

Smoking a bit of gee weed in his bone pipe, Dizil shook his head. “We know pure nothin’ of the Great Deep, Skell. Our baby ships hug the coast as a mother, afraid of losing our way in the vast reaches of the Eastern Ocean. Aye, we got good maps to miss the rocky parts on the coast, but we hold our bearings by the land. A good navigator knows his stars, yes, his constellations, but that don’t give us a good fix for location. We got maps and the land. The Eastern Pirates, may they forever be accursed, got the Great Deep.”

“How far away are their islands?”

Cumall chimed in, “Yes, Dizil. Why don’t we invade them instead of the other way around, you know?

He smothered a laugh, the smoke erupting from his nose.“Oh, you is a brave lad, yes, yes. We have captured pirates at times, and even had slaves escape a pirate ship and git back home, but the Eastern Islands be far off. Captains say if a ship was to take the Northern Current out to ‘em, the ship wouldn’t see land for over twenty – yes, twenty and some - days. And that be if’n with no storms and knowing where you is heading. The return on the Southern Current takes even longer. Who wants to risk such? To sail off into the endless ocean and die of starvation and madness?”

“How do they know the way?”

“Hard to tell. Most pirate prisoners don’t say nothin’ and they kills themselves in their cells, hating the very thought of being trapped under a roof for life. Some say it’s water

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witchcraft. Others say knowing the stars. But these prisoners was bribed by a good meal and wine and a chance at freedom. Were they speaking truth? I doubt it for spit.”

The fog dissipated in two days and we were clearly in the Great Middle region. The air was hot and a mist wrapped the jungles in secrets. There were no more Imperial guard towers. Strangest of all, the leaves were now mostly yellowish with green veins showing where the life of the plant ran through them. The trees were immensely high,
each one resembling a castle made by nature spirits. The mist concealed the tops.

The noises of unseen birds and animals seemed never ending behind the curtain of mist.

Bernall strutted past me, kicking me in the leg. “You don’t look so damn brave now, Skell, fighter of the Ruk. Should we send Great Mother Cenefra to you, to act as your wet nurse?”

His little band sneered behind him, strength in numbers.

“No need, Bernall son of Bernall. If she came out here to help me, she’d have to clean up all of the piss running down your shaking knees.”

Bernall raised his fist to strike. I was ready, crouched to jump right at his throat. Then Dizil appeared, a mop in hand as a weapon, knocking heads and rear ends.

“Go run off, you rich scum! Git! Git!”

As he ran off, Bernall stared at Dizil. “Watch yourself, old man. Accidents happen to the best of men, much less the feeble-minded.”

Dizil just laughed and sat down, motioning to the jungle. “Land of the Eetoy. No worry here, lad. They love the Gracious Lady and the Mothers and Sisters. Safer here than around the Blessed Isle, for a fact.” He stared at Bernall far away. “I hope that ass comes to a bad end. Hah! I made a pun ... And our Eetoy mates, ha, they’s just li’l runts, but got hearts as big as giants.”

A deep voice bellowed, “Bohemoth! Bohemoth! Starboard!”

Tingles ran up my spine as I stared over the side, not sure exactly what I would see. I’d seen whales go by in Eldin, but never a behemoth, never a sea dragon.

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I recall seeing the ocean moving funny in one spot, then I could see that the ocean was of a different green and blue color. In a snap, the waters weren’t water, they were the
bohemoth’s back, rising slightly above the waves, moving almost like a snake, rippling up and down and around.

Up popped the neck, about twenty feet high, with a rather small head. Much like a lizard. The behemoth was around fifty feet away. I estimated him to be about sixty feet long by the way the water rippled in its wake.

“It doesn’t have a head like a monster,” Cumall exhaled with disappointment. “I thought it would have burning red eyes, demon eyes of glowing coal and howl.”

“It ain’t a fierce sea dragon,” Dizil barked from behind us. “He’s mostly a beast that eats big fish and such. Not humans, thank the Gracious Lady.”

The behemoth slowly turned and seemed to be staring straight at our ship. Without any visible concern, it ducked back down beneath the waves.

“Cumall, don’t git all in a lather. When you git to see a real flesh-eater, you’ll wish that dragon was kin to this behemoth.”

Captain Radamant was not pleased at the sight of the behemoth. I could hear him order extra lookouts for the rest of the day and through the night, with many torches to be lit on all three ships.

I looked at Dizil, who was off duty and was packing a pinch of gee weed into his pipe. “Them Eastern devils sometimes follow dragons and bohemoths for good luck. They worship them as water gods, or something as such. They see them as guides to the kill.”

That evening, as the sun was setting in the East, a lookout eyed a couple ships with black sails slipping out from a fog bank a couple of miles away. Unfortunately, Radamant had been correct. The ships were as narrow as knives, slicing through the sea at great speed, heading in our direction. Man-made dragons. A sick, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wished I’d never left home when I saw those raiders.

But the ships went quickly into action. The warships’ crews began stacking weapons and lead balls for the catapults. The marines put on helmets and armor and the archers went to their positions. The sailors armed themselves also. Both warships maneuvered to the starboard of the Lady of Eldin, creating a barrier between us and the pirates.
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On the “Lady E”, as the sailors dubbed her, the novices and novitiates were busy obeying the marines – stacking swords and arrows and lances, as well as filling up barrels with water to extinguish any possible fire arrows from the pirates.

I shouted to Dizil, “Didn’t they make a mistake by letting us see them too early?”

Dizil, still a wee bit loopy, shrugged. “I think they thinks we might run scared, having a Great Mother’s ship along, but they don’t know old Radamant. He’s a mean old sea shark!”

“How many ships will attack?”

“Eight. They attacks in packs of eight, a magical number to them devils.”

From a locked closet below the prow, the marines rolled out a small bow-catapult and locked it in place with chains. It shot thick bronze shafts with spiky heads.

To all of our surprise, Great Mother Cenefra emerged up top, clad in gleaming armor and holding a short sword. Everyone shouted with joy.

“I am a priestess and a warrior, a member of the Society of Inistra. Every Sister aboard not only prays but fights, and we will care for the wounded as well! No surrender! None! Death to them all! Send their stinking bones to the bottom of the deep, deep sea!”

We all screamed at the top of our lungs. High emotion can block out fear for awhile.

Cumall cozied up to me. “Is there a port we’re making for?”

“No. The Eetoy have no cities like us, and none on the coast. I heard a marine mention the Eetoy-Eelaana, a large river where our ships go for safety or to unload cargo, things like that.”

Cumall was close to tears. I hugged him and dried his eyes with a rag.

“Cumall, the Moon is almost full. The Lady’s powers are great. They won’t attack us now. Pray hard and do as you’re told. That’s all we can do.”

“As you say, Skell. You got them Ruk and we’ll get these villains.”
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As the activity calmed down slightly, the strategy began. After a long wait, the warships shot out fiery cloth balls dipped in pitch. After a dozen or so were shot out over the black waters, a couple of pirate vessels were spotted drifting in towards us, preparing to attack at dawn. Once the marines spotted the closest ship, they kept firing the fiery balls until one hit the narrow body of the ship – and was put out quickly by the pirates – but the other hit the top of their sail, setting it afire. The marines were delighted. With a target to aim for, both warships shot out the heavy metal balls, one after another after another after another…

The pirates pulled back away but too late. One ball split the mast, sending it down upon the crew and leaving it dead in the water. Before they could get out their oars, the other shots cracked into the prow at the water line. It began to sink amid our cheers and prayers of thanksgiving to the Lady.

Their other ships slipped back and waited for any of their companions to swim to them. None wanted a similar fate.

I stared into Cumall’s eyes.”See? One down and seven to go.”

++++++

The dawn brought sheer terror. With the deep jungle only two hundred yards to port, the battle really began. Life can be nothing but fear at times.

All seven pirate ships attacked one warship, Leead 10. They shot arrows, fiery arrows, flung rocks from deadly slings, threw spears, and hurled chained hooks or ropes to connect to the ship’s side. Most of the brigands had shaved heads covered with tattoos of circles, rows of dots or waves or dragons. They fought without heavy armor, but they had large square shields for defense. When they weren’t fighting, they were yelling at us or drinking something from big buckets. Later, a marine said it was a beverage of water and Eastern Islands’ mushrooms that drove the pirates into a frenzy.

I caught sight of the sea dragon skeleton heads they hang on their bows. They paint them up in fierce colors. Sea dragon bones dangled from the sides of the swift ships.

We couldn’t shoot our arrows or the bow-catapult without hitting our own forces. Radamant slowed down the Lady E, in order to get some angles of fire at the attackers’ ships. It helped somewhat, as our archers at the stern could now harm a few of the ships, as well as giving the bow-catapult a shot at our enemies. Leead 12 turned back
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towards its brother ship, adding to the mayhem. One pirate vessel was so banged up by the metal balls from both warships, that it broke off from the fight and headed out to open seas, wobbling badly.

I shouted to Dizil, “Where’s it going? It’s going to sink!”

“Out there’s the Dragon Mother. It’s a big lunker out in the fog, a few miles off. That’s where they dumps their treasure and then fights again, or go back to git more weapons. Only the eight attack. The Dragon Mother stays out of harm’s way.”

Within minutes, dozens of pirates were crawling over the Leead 10, in bloody hand-to-hand combat with our marines and sailors. As our men fell back toward the prow, there was no doubt as to the outcome.

“Jump! Jump!” Radamant shouted to our men aboard, and they began leaping over the side, ditching their weapons.

I wondered why he was giving up so quickly. Was he frightened? My hero?

The answer was forthcoming and to the point.

At close range, the Lady E fired bolts right into Leead 10’s hull, a few making holes at the waterline. Leead 12’s catapult filled the vessel with balls of fire. Soon, the pirates were retreating back to their ships while our men were paddling straight to the Lady E.

The pirates again pulled back to avoid the flames and the sinking warship, and they had gained no spoils of war. Leead 10 sank sadly offshore, planks of wood rolling onto the beach with the waves, some still smoldering.

We helped the sailors and marines climb up the side with rope ladders, then the novices and novitiates distributed bread and wine to them, as well as helping the Sisters with any wounds. Thirty or so made it aboard. Ten were wounded badly.

Radamant bellowed through the horn at us,” We will give them nothing but death, I swear by the Lady Moon! I’ve never lost to these wretches in a fair fight and we’ve got one!”

Mother Cenefra chanted a prayer for victory and we tried to relax for a short while.

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The six pirate ships clustered together at a very safe distance, obviously discussing strategy and dealing with their wounded. We could see them tossing bodies into the waters.

A marine next to me, with just a few cuts, was calming himself down and enjoying his wine. “They kill their badly wounded. No compassion with those scum.”

“What will they do next?”

“They always attack, but how or when is the question. We are two days from the Eetoy-Eelaana and they are sizing us up. They are drooling over the Lady of Eldin, so there will be more bloodshed. If we can reach the river in decent shape, we have a slight chance.”

A slight chance. All of us young ones near him were frozen with fear at his words. We had dreams of great futures on the Blessed Isle, but now the odds of life appeared to doom us to an ugly death or an uglier slavery at the hands of brutes.

A Sister strode by. “Say your prayers. Do not forget to pray. The Great Lady is always listening.”

But would she do anything about it? The prerogative of the Deity is rarely known.

Radamant had Leead 12 line up fifty feet beyond our stern, the land still protecting us on the other side. I was holding a shield for an archer who could do a fine job when the ships came within reach. He had a curious gleam in his eyes and kissed a silver medal of Inistra.

The six ships wove in and out, dodging our missiles and metal balls with sharp curves as they approached again. One ship went round Leead 12 and created a second front, filling the warship with arrows and lances. Three more quickly aimed for the ship also, while the other two attacked us cautiously, still weaving to and fro among the waves.

My archer ran to the stern and I followed. As he skillfully aimed his bolts, the pirates on the second front were scrambling over the 12’s side. I envisioned them as horrid warring beetles attacking helpless insects on a huge brown leaf. The image made me sick. I started throwing up, mostly water.


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“Marines, rally to me! Rally to me!” Radamant was no helpless insect. “We shall extend ropes to Number Twelve and retake her from the swine! On my count!”

The marines tied lines to the Lady E and threw them into the melee on the warship.

“Three! Two! One! For the honor of the Great Lady!”

Captain Radamant disappeared over the stern.

++++++

The night was clear. The Sphere of Our Lady floated in the blackness of divine space. I laid on the deck, face up to the sky and wondered what Father would do in such a situation.

There were drum beats from the five remaining pirate craft. Their singers belted out victory songs, preparing their filthy pack for sunrise. But they did not sound all that confident to me, or at least my imagination wanted to believe that.

Radamant had been marvelous. His marines not only saved Leead 12 (though it was in awful shape), but they had freed the catapult from its mooring and shoved it over the side, right into the pirate vessel that had encircled them. The catapult smashed through the top deck, and then cracked the bottom of the black-painted hull. The fiends jumped for safety, most of them swimming ashore. A few campfires could be seen on the beach, but not many. Almost the entire crew had perished.

But we needed something else now. Five against the Lady E and a hobbled warship were not good odds. No doubt during the night they would re-arm and maybe even get a new influx of fighters from the Dragon Mother.

Father had used craft against the Ruk. One-Eye had even said that Father had success against the Easterners. Craft is skill… skill is the use of the wits … the wits are used in many things … even games … games of skill … or even chance … games. A game. Strategy is nothing but a game played for life or death. Nothing different. But no one goes home after they’ve been “killed” or “captured”. I had a glimmer but I didn’t know how to approach Captain Radamant without looking utterly foolish.

Cumall was next to me, praying. I think he can read minds occasionally, quite a gift for someone so dense. “What’s looking foolish compared to being dead?” he muttered to me.
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The leaders were in Cenefra’s room, the greatest in size. The Great Mother was instructing several Sisters on wrapping up sacred objects to keep them out of the pirates’ hands. They were to be weighted down and sent to the bottom. Unfortunately, we were quite close to shore, and Cenefra was so digusted at the idea of pirate divers touching her things that she was swearing out loud in front of laymen.

I blushed for her. She gave me the slightest glance, then turned and touched Radamant’s knee. She sat down. “You possess a stratagem?”

Radamant was very tired and drinking wine to dull the pain of his wounds. “Boy, I know you mean well, but what could you possibly know that we haven’t already thought of and discussed a thousand times? We make for the river and pray for victory. True enough?”

I nodded and bowed. “Back in Eldin, we have a game called Protect-the-Post.”

“And what can that possibly have to do with our current situation?”

++++++

During the night, Leead 12 was filled with as many marines as possible. Sailors pounded away to give them as much protection as possible from planks and boards and even tables taken from the Lady E. The mast was strengthened to hopefully maintain a mainsail in strong winds.

Mother Cenefra gave each man a special blessing and a taste of sacred honey, complete with the entire rite for Sanctification as Battle Nears. They were fortified to meet the Great Lady in the Perfect Sphere.

Aboard the Lady E, anything heavy that did no good for defense was cast overboard, except, of course, for sacred objects and some supplies.

Every novice was armed. I had a lance. Cumall a sword. Bernall an axe. He tried his best to keep up his smirk, but it was not impressing anyone. I shook inside, but somehow I appeared calm on the outside. Father had that gift too, I realized.

The Sun rose lazily in the East, greeted by more singing by the barbarians.


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The water demons again approached, weaving in and out, three for the Lady of Eldin and two for the battered warship.

Now the game. Captain Zeel of the Leead 12 raised his horn and began screaming at Radamant on the stern. He ranted on and on about doing his best and how he could not let his men die for no reason and how he’d always hated Radamant and wished a curse on him.

Then Leead 12 began turning and heading South, the tillers doing their work, cutting against the blue-green waters.

The pirate ships halted, wary of the theater before them, their captains yelling amongst themselves.

But, to their disbelief, old Twelve kept going South, leaving the prize ship to swim alone among the hungry dragons.

We had our sail for the North and we were flying rapidly, free of much of our luggage. The brigands had to make up their minds. And soon. We were a day from the Eetoy-Elaana, but a day goes quickly with a strong wind.

Greed won the day. All five of the Dragon Mother’s children swam to us, sails billowing with wind and lust for riches.

I stood with Radamant and Cenefra (in her armor) on the stern deck, frightened but proud. Cumall was behind me, pushing his chest out at Bernall.

Despite the speed we had gained with the unloading, the dragon’s brood was soon close at hand, blind to the game.

Radamant nodded to the trumpeter. He held Cenefra’s hand for a moment, then gazed calmly right into my eyes. “My lady has a very clever student. Now we will see if they know Protect-the-Post.”

The clarion notes rang out, aimed South to the Leead 12.

I could see some of the pirates halting at their work, a captain reflecting on what this signal meant.

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Back across the waters came the dim, metallic voice of the warship’s reply.

All five of the brood hesitated. All of their lookouts peered at the distant enemy vessel cowardly escaping.

With a drama and grace worthy of a great actor on stage at the finest theater on the Blessed Isle, the warship ceased its Southerly course and veered East, East toward the Dragon Mother, visible on the horizon as it followed its greedy children.

The Easterners screamed at the threat to the Dragon Mother, at the very abomination of a ship manned by the moronic land lovers daring to seize their ocean-born fort. Four vessels broke off, desperately trying to find the best angle to catch the winds back to protect the Dragon Mother. They also broke out the oars and pulled mightily. Only one stayed with us, but it stayed back, doing us no harm and watching the plight of its brethren.

Mother Cenefra stepped forward. “Now pray, all of you. Pray for a strong wind for us. Pray for the bravery of our marines aboard the warship. Pray for the victory of the Great Lady!”

And we did. With an eye to the distant ships, however.

Because of my hand in the scheme, Radamant let me and Cumall watch from the stern with him. The Dragon Mother headed out into deeper waters, yet she still followed us North. A sign of trust in the four rescuers, even though it would take a long time to reach the ship threatening their floating home.

Old 12 was doing fine until the mast weakened and the crew had to go at a slower pace in order to keep any canvass up at all. My throat choked up. The conflict would come sooner than we had hoped. But, the winds favored us and we moved closer and closer to safety with every wave the bow cut through.

Finally, however, the inevitable happened. The four reached the warship. However, they were so far away that only imagination could fill in as an eye witness. I could see the pirates being stunned by the strength of numbers aboard Old 12. And no matter the odds, that many Sacred Marines would be a ferocious creature to deal with.

After almost an hour, smoke billowed up. The marines had taken a pirate vessel as planned and set the torch to Old 12. One down. Tears welled up in my eyes as I thought
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of the mixture of heroism and fear our men must have been feeling. Doomed to die in order to give us a chance at freedom.

(That sad and yet monumental event has stayed with me my entire life. It has given me a certain fatalistic perspective through all of my struggles.)

After another hour or so and the end came, but with another victory. As the pirate vessel the marines had captured was finally sinking, the marines had accomplished another powerful feat, securing another Eastern ship with lines and chains and hauling the foul thing down with them, and in doing so, giving them more time to stay afloat and to kill or maim more pirates. They had made a pledge to die rather than face certain torture for their assault on the Dragon Mother. They went to sleep in the ocean knowing they were free to enter the dwelling of the Goddess Moon, Our Mother and Our Comfort.

A chant began spontaneously on the Lady of Eldin.

“Brave are the sons and daughters who fall in the quest;
To hold the Truth before them as they enter into the fray;
None shall stand between them and the silver visions,
Sights too beautiful for our mortal eyes to bear,
The Realm of Perfection and Our Lady’s delight.”

Our attention now turned to the race for the river, and there was a calmness after the chanting had ceased. Great Mother Cenefra actually hugged me, not as a priestess or spiritual authority, but as a woman. Simply a tired woman.

“Skell, if we live through this, you have my pledge of indebtedness to you. Bless you, Dyess urnif Skell.”

She moved away to comfort others. Out of the corner of my eye, I could make out Bernall. He had a false smile and his eyes shone with pure jealousy. I knew that if we did make it to the Blessed Isle, he would be my enemy until his last breath.

Two black-sailed vessels came North. They rode the same winds as we, and their sails were billowing with speed and hatred. The third still did not attack nor hinder us. I was praying to accept the will of the Great Lady, no matter what, but the wind blowing through my hair gave me hope.

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Radamant already had his charts out, judiciously studying them.

He whispered to himself, the charts upon his knee as he sat. “Protect-the Post has done its part. We cannot reach the river until sunset, and those bastards will reach us before then. We need to find a landing place just below… Somewhere that offers a soft landing and a chance for survival for young ones … and my Cenefra, of course…”

He stared back at the Dragon Mother’s two ruthless offspring. He studied the wind filling our mainsail.

“The sand bars?... A few more hours…” He stood up and looked around the stern deck. “Where is Great Mother Cenefra?”

++++++

The sun crawled across the sky, heading West like a lazy dog. That’s what fear does to you. The minutes drag on so you can feel your sweat and heart palpitations, dry mouth and irrational thoughts telling you to jump off the ship, scream or try to go crazy. How do you go crazy on purpose?

But the launch was being prepared. The sacred objects and other items of value were gathered on the main deck next to it. Some marines were chosen to man it when it was to depart, and that would leave the Lady E with mostly sailors and children to battle the Eastern demons.

The two pirate ships chasing were getting much closer. The third was moving slowly over towards us. We could not make the Eetoy-Eelaana until sundown. They would reach us before then.

Along the coast, fingers of the beach began jutting out occasionally into the ocean. The Lady E sailed precariously close to them. Cumall and I stayed close together at the stern, eyes on the pirates, but something was indeed going on with Radamant’s plans.

Without an order, the marines tumbled over the side and filled up the launch, grabbing the oars and raising the small sail. Sailors threw down the valuables in bundles to them. Great Mother Cenefra hugged Captain Radamant then climbed down the rope ladder for there was no time to put down the plank. A few Sisters followed her.


61

“Bless all of you!” Cenefra shouted. “We shall rendezvous on the beach soon, my children!”

The launch sped off for the nearest finger of sand. Within moments, one of the following pirate ships changed its course, going closer to the beach, intent on gaining whatever treasure was surely being whisked away.

The launch scraped the sand. Out jumped the marines, carrying Cenefra and the valuables, the Sisters being pulled along. They were running straight to the thick, curious yellow and green jungle.

We sailed on another half mile before Radamant spoke again. “Tiller men, take us in!”

On both sides of the stern, each tiller man steered the great ship between two narrow fingers of land pointing out into the blue-green waters.

“Novices! Novitiates! When we run aground, the plank will be set out. Run with all of your strength into the jungle. Those fearsome pirates have a great fear of this jungle, and for good reason. Sailors stay behind with me! We shall show these tattooed barbarians what our mettle is made of!”

The ship lurched, shook terribly and groaned as if it were a wounded whale. Then it stopped. The plank went down. The girls rushed out first, but many lads were right with them, including Bernall and his friends.

I ran to the captain and kissed his ivory ring. “You’re my hero, sir. I’d like to stay behind –“

“Shut up, Skell! Get off my ship, now! That is my direct order!”

He kicked my rear and laughed slightly. “We’ll swim on the beach together, you and me and that lumpy Cumall.”

I ran toward the gangplank, Cumall right behind me. We made sure that we pushed no one aside. As we landed on the sand, my mind changed into a different mode of thought for but a moment. The white sand was beautiful beyond belief. It lay before us like a great, soft white bed. I wanted to lie down upon it and sleep, to deny that any of these events were happening.

62

“Git! Git, you slow-moving turd!” Dizil pushed me forward, an axe in his hand.

“Aren’t you staying behind to fight with the captain?” Cumall asked hurriedly.

“I can do much more for the Great Lady by helping you young pups stay alive in the jungle. I was shipwrecked here once, and stayed alive for many days before the Eetoy rescued me.”

We ran towards the line of thick foliage. It was farther away that I thought it would be. I looked over my shoulder. A pirate ship was sliding onto the sand at the wavebreak.
I peered down the coast at the launch. The second ship had already landed and the pirates were leaping off.

“The third ship is attacking the Lady E,” huffed Cumall, as he turned back to run. “Radamant and the others will cut them to pieces. I just know it!”

We kept running. The yellow and green trees seemed to stand so far away.

Then the Jungle itself spoke with a great voice. “Eetoy!”

A thousand arrows came from the wall of trees, flying for the pirates landing behind us.

Sixty devils had been running upon the sand before the Jungle spoke. I fell down on the sand and turned around quickly. Three stood now. They froze. Unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Down the coast near the launch, maybe five pirates were upright, waving like little palm trees in a storm.

The Jungle spoke again.”Eetoy!”

A horde of short, yellow-skinned warriors wearing almost nothing ran toward the Lady E and the two pirate ships, bows and knives in hand.

They raced right past us. The Eastern ship near us was overcome in a matter of moments, not a pirate soul left alive.

The Easterners down near the launch at least had pushed their ship back into the water before the human wave took their lives.
63

They raced up the gangplank as Radamant and the sailors attacked the pirates with a new heart and fury. The Lady E was safe within minutes, then the Eetoy archers killed every pirate on the ship hooked to our vessel.

Cumall, Dizil and I had not even had time to flex a muscle, much less stand. We had gone from the hunted to the victors within a few snaps of a finger, or so it seemed.

Out at sea, a black pillar of smoke rose from the Dragon Mother. I imagined that some horrid, demonic pirate priest had seen their utter defeat and began stoking up a fire in a cauldron to grieve for their humiliating loss. Or perhaps to appease a dragon god or spirit.

The Dragon Mother would return to the Eastern Islands alone, its hateful spawn all vanquished.