Part 7 - last bit!
Below decks, everything was quieter. Not a soul was around as Xeno slid as quietly as he could for the hold. To his ears, the key was loud in the lock. Slipping inside, he both locked and bolted the door. Verging on panic, he scurried over to the cage with the fairy.
“Help me! I don’t know what to do!” he begged.
“You have chosen right Dragon child. Soon the ones who dance in the shadows will visit death upon the crew. You must release me and the unicorns if we are to help you.” She whispered back.
“They’ll kill me!” he replied.
“Have you ever been with a woman? Or a man? As lovers?” asked the fairy.
“Never.” Replied Xeno, his mind flitting back to Cutter two days before.
“Then they cannot harm you. Hurry, they will be here in a minute.”
Trembling, Xeno opened the cage with the Captains key. Gingerly, the fey girl stepped out of the cage. Xeno opened the three Unicorn boxes while the girl crooned at the stallion to calm him. Releasing the foal first, it tottered around on uncertain legs, bumping its head against him nervously before its mother was freed, at which point it hid behind her. Freeing the stallion last, it interposed itself between him and the other unicorns, rearing up and causing him to back away. From atop the stallions box came a voice, unfamiliar, yet strangely fair.
“Wise choice boy.”
He looked round with a start. How could anyone have got in? The door! Looking over, the door was still locked. A figure loomed behind him. Whoever was atop the box had gone. He felt steel pressed against his throat, heard the blade humming softly and vibrating against his skin.
“Had I not heard you speak with the fey, you would be dead now. Shadows are my road, I come and go as I please. For this act of mercy, I spare your life.” The figure behind him purred.
He heard muttering and suddenly found himself glowing with a sparkling purple light.
“While you are visible thus, none of my troupe will harm you. Go above and watch what happens to those who steal the treasures of Melethienn…”
Nervously, Xeno obeyed the strange woman and ventured back on deck. Topside, everything was chaos. Men scrambled everywhere as arrows rained down around them. The elf ship was staying out of range of boarding ladders and grapples, while firing at any who dared reveal themselves. Like in the dream, the skies raged overhead. Suddenly, from the prow came a wave of darkness. Out of the shadows it spilled, over and past him.
Elven figures, clad all in black, wielding short blades in each hand, leaping and dancing through the crew, shrouded in darkness. How many there were was impossible to tell, they moved so fluidly and with such grace that there could have been six, there could have been sixty. They cut a swathe of destruction through the crew, dancing past him, blades whistling past ears and face. In less than five minutes, the grim faced bringers of death had quelled all on the ship. Five men from a crew of forty had survived, all injured, all hopelessly outclassed.
When the elven ship finally pulled up alongside, the eight black clad and masked shapes helped their kin aboard. Ignoring Xeno utterly, they searched the ship, top to bottom, a trio of elven women leading the unicorns onto the deck and across onto the elf ship. The hold was emptied, the dead put over the side, weighed down with rocks from the ballast. Only then did the elves turn to the survivors.
A tall, rangy elf in well oiled leathers questioned the crew.
“Where is the Captain?”
None of them knew. Unto and Fengi had disappeared in the fighting. They were not among the dead, nor were they among the survivors. Somehow they had escaped.
After the man was done with them, a woman came aboard, helped by two of the black clad elves. She stared each man in the face hard and asked them the same question.
“Have you killed a man?”
With each, she gave a verdict.
“Murderer.”
“Self Defence.”
“Murderer.”
“Murderer.”
“Not a killer.”
Each time she said the word ‘murderer’, the man was hauled upright and shot on the back of the head with a bow, their bodies thrown over the side. The one declared ‘Not a killer’ was clapped in irons and taken aboard the elf vessel. Soon, only Xeno, one crewman and the elves remained aboard. The woman stared at Xeno for a long while.
“This one is no killer, although he believes himself to be. He is Dracieli though. Bring the Wave Caller.”
Moments later, the robed elf came aboard. As he approached, Xeno could see that he wore many tattoos on his arms and body, the robes open to the air, displaying them for all to see. He approached Xeno and strode round him, peering into his ears, staring into one eye, feeling the texture of his hair.
“Dragon Blooded eh?” he asked Xeno.
“I don’t know what you mean by that sir.” Replied Xeno.
“You’re different, are you not? You feel ‘other’ than your fellows. Your hair is not natural for your kind?” questioned the man.
“Y…yes sir.” Stammered Xeno.
“Tell me, do you ever see words of fire in your minds eye? Feel the storm in your veins? Hear the beating of wings in your pulse?”
“Yes sir. How did you know?”
“You are a natural sorcerer boy. The blood of dragons flows in your veins, grants you magic. I imagine you’ve done nothing with conscious thought yet?”
“No sir.” Replied Xeno.
“Do you accept that for joining a pirate crew and stealing from Melethienn that you must be punished?” asked the man.
“I understand. If I’m to die though, please kill me from the front. My family wouldn’t want me to die a cowards death. Sir.” Gulped Xeno.
“You will not die this day - although you might wish you had. Your punishment is… mmm, human… five years. For the next five years, you will be my apprentice. You will learn the craft from me and you will learn it well. Do you accept the terms of your punishment?” Queried the man.
“S…sir?”
“It’s a simple offer boy. You can die like a pirate or live as an apprentice. Choose.”
“If you’ll have me sir, then I’ll take the apprenticeship. Thank you!”
The man nodded at Xeno. Back on the elf ship, the black clad troupe were moving again, cutting the sails and rigging from the Lady of Snakes, smashing the tiller and removing the catapult. The elven woman with the stern glare tuned to the remaining crewman. Xeno remembered him as the one they called ‘Ape’ for all the hair on his back.
“You will live, as long as you might. This ship will drift now until it encounters the Edge or another ship. If you are lucky and the Gods favour you, you may even end up in Naxos. This is now your ship. You have food enough to last several months and water for almost as long. Your fate now lies with the Gods, not with us. Pray and hope they hear your plea.”
She swept back onto the elven ship. Xeno took one last look around the Lady of Snakes, his home for such a short space of time before joining his new mentor aboard the elven vessel. Casting off, they turned into the storm, which was already blowing over, and made their way back towards Melethienn. Towards a new life…