By Edward M. Sledge
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The sleek, sun-painted dolphins flanked the black longboat like a marine honor guard, spouting vapor plumes high into the air. A lanky elf lounged in the bow, watching the mist make rainbows in the sun and chatting amiably with the pod’s matriarch, Wavedancer. No, she told him, no ships had passed within a week, and none were nearer than the small northern island of Redrock. The elf passed a small smile to his first mate, a black skinned dracorian woman seated in the stern, who fingered the mother-of-pearl hilt on her cutlass. The longboat nosed into shallow water, the dolphins peeling off and gliding back out to sea, their butter colored backs arcing above the waves. The oarsmen leaped out, splashing through the thigh-high water and drawing the boat up onto the beach. The elf stepped from the bow to the shore, his violet eyes squinted against the glare of the white sand as the stiff eastern wind whipped his long silver hair out behind him. The ground pitched and rolled beneath his feet and he staggered sideways. “You’ve been on the Unicorn too long, Captain,” the drac said with a deep bass chuckle. Her voice was rough and resounding, like most dracs. She leaped from the bow and landed beside him, but the beach threw her and she crashed into him, knocking them both to the hot sand. “You should talk, Lasik,” he said, laughing, as the oarsmen rushed to help them up. “At least I managed to stay standing. Thank you, Derrik.” He brushed the powdery sand from his suede trousers and unbuttoned his burgundy sharkskin vest. “So, this is Arykmai,” he said, shaking the vest to remove the sand. The skin was too rough to just dust it off. He looked around at the narrow white beach stretching out to the north and south as he smoothed the front of his silk shirt and replaced the vest. To the west, pale dunes rose up, studded with driftwood and clumps of sharp black beach grass. Beyond the dunes lay the Mirrawood, and beyond that, a gryphlian settlement. Just what he was looking for. With a wave of his hand, he motioned for the oarsmen to return to the ship anchored in the cove. He and Lasik made for the dunes, their drunken steps growing steady as they remembered the feel of land. The shifting sands made the climb to the top of the dunes exhausting, and they stood, panting, looking down on the edge of the forest. The elf cast one last look over his shoulder at the Blue Unicorn. His ship rode high in the water, her blue sails furled, the rigging cluttered with his men. Drawing his sword from its scabbard, he held it aloft, letting the sun flash from the gleaming blade. The two dozen answering flashes from the ship made his throat tight and he turned away before his eyes could tear up. He already missed them. “I will take good care of the Unicorn, Captain,” Lasik said as he slid the sword back in its sheath. “I know you will,” he said, gripping her shoulder. “There’s no one I trust more than you.” They slid and stumbled down the far side of the dunes and into the shade of the forest’s edge. A shudder ran through the elf. It was too quiet. He could hardly hear the roar of the waves breaking. It would get worse, too. How he would sleep without the creak of the timbers, the snap of the sails, and the slap of the swells against the hull, he didn’t know. Perhaps he wouldn’t sleep. “All right, give me the bag before I talk myself out of this,” he said, holding out his hand. “If you don’t want to...” Lasik said, placing one hand on the satchel hanging from her shoulder. He shook his head. “We’ve already spent the advance he gave us. The rest of the money is upon completion only. And we still need a new mast, remember? The old one’s cracking.” He looked into her glittery blue and gold eyes for a moment, then sighed. “I wouldn’t mind leaving the ship so much, if I didn’t have to leave you.” “Do you talk so sweet to the rest of the crew?” Lasik asked. He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Only the ones I share my bed with,” he said. She laughed and bit at his cheek, her teeth grazing his jaw. It was one of the gentler signs of affection he’d come to expect from his drac lover. She was dangerous, but well worth it. He planted a kiss on her wide mouth, then stepped away. “Come on, hand it over.” “I added a few things,” Lasik said, holding the satchel out to him. “Just in case.” “Thanks.” He checked the main compartment, making sure the package was still intact. “Remember, the far side of Nakiti Island. No sense irritating the natives again.” “Yes, Captain.” “Have the men go farther upstream this time, those last few barrels were brackish.” “Of course, Captain.” “I’m just stalling now.” “I know. Just go and come back quickly. We’ll be waiting.” “Thirteen days. Be ready to sail, whether I’m here or not.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he stopped her. “Six days in, one to find our good Samaritan, and six days out. After the letter,” he patted the side of the satchel, “is delivered, the entire royal navy is going to be looking the Unicorn. I’d rather be left behind than see her sunk and you all hanged.” “All this fuss over a forest,” Lasik said, reaching up and breaking a small branch off the nearest tree. “I think he’s right to cut it down. More useful that way. Imagine how many ships could be built.” “Always thinking, aren’t you?” he said, giving her a small smile. “Go on, I want to see you fly before I go.” “Aye, Captain,” she said, throwing him a stiff salute. Lasik walked a few steps up the dune, then crouched in the powdery sand. One hand stroked the silver amulet at her throat. When he’d first met her, he had thought it nothing more than a cheap trinket. Now he knew better. As the magic grabbed her she hunched forward, leathery wings and a long tail sprouting from her body. The tan, burgundy and teal silks she wore today slithered along her skin, wrapping her like a gaudy mummy, then constricted and hardened into glittery oval scales. When it was finished, Lasik stood about as tall as a wolf, though broader through the chest and shoulders. Her head was long and narrow, her jaws lined with hundreds of small conical teeth. A row of short black horns ran from her forehead to the base of her skull. She stretched her wings, letting the sun shine through the thin burgundy membrane, then leaped into the sky, stirring up a storm of sand with her furious wingbeats. Shielding his eyes with one hand, the elf waved farewell to his first mate with the other, watching until she circled far above the dunes. Throwing back her head, she roared her good-bye, then winged out of sight, heading for the Unicorn. The silence engulfed him like an icy wave on the stormy north seas. Turning from the shore, he began the long trek across the Mirrawood, his hand holding tight to the satchel. It was just too bad he didn’t trust any of his men to do this right. Lasik was the only one competent enough, but the gryphs would have attacked the second they saw her. Strange creatures, gryphs were, strange, but almost pathologically honorable. That’s what made them such good pawns, if you knew how to play them right. |
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