Chapter 12 Part 1

TERROR ON THE WATERS

There was a sudden scuffling, a soft yelp, and a large splash heard near the front of the barge. The captain alerted his men. He suspected that one of the passengers had been disoriented by the fog and fallen overboard. It would not be the first time such a thing had happened. “Heads up, my lads,” he called.

The sudden noise and the captain’s cry woke everyone else. Coran jumped to his feet reaching for his sword. It was a normal reaction for a warrior suddenly roused from sleep. As his mind cleared of the sleep, and his realization of their location returned, he relaxed his grip, but something sinister lurked nearby, he could feel it and he returned to a state of alarm. “What’s wrong?” he demanded aloud.

“Someone’s gone over the side,” one of the barge hands reported. He took a lantern and walked towards the front. Coran followed cautiously.

“Dylan?” Gage could be heard calling for his charge. Little boys, he knew, were notorious for falling into water, and for all his intelligence, years and status as an apprentice, Dylan was still just a boy.

Coran and the barge hand moved through the thick fog. As they drew near the front of the craft, the feeling of danger tugged desperately at Coran’s heart. Then without warning, the barge hand dropped the lantern and in the fading light, Coran saw the man lifted from the deck at the hands of a zombie. The thing drew the barge hand close and its jaws latched onto the man’s upper left arm. There was a cry and the zombie pulled its mouth away ripping muscle and flesh away with it.

“Zombies!” Coran alerted the others. He responded to his own alarm by attacking with his sword. “Cryos, awaken!” Coran yelled as he swung a wide over the shoulder hack at the zombies arm that held the crewman.

At Coran’s command, the magic sword came to life. The blade glimmered briefly and a biting cold wind blew from the blade’s passage. The sword then neatly clove the zombie’s arm in two leaving the creature stumbling backwards and falling over the side of the barge.

Coran thrust the sword into the air straight upwards. “Remove this fog!” he commanded. The sword complied. The air grew frigid and the moisture that was the fog immediately condensed and fell into the lake below. For at least thirty meters in each direction they could see clearly.

At the bow of the barge two more zombies eyed Coran warily. Gage had come alert instantly as had Rathe, Crystal and Velar. Gage was preparing a spell while Velar and Rathe were hurrying to join Coran.

Seeing that they were badly outnumbered, the zombies turned and dove into the waters. Coran and his reinforcements arrived near the front of the barge quickly afterwards.

“Where’s Dylan,” Crystal asked, her voice quivered with worry.

The captain joined them. “Is the boy gone too?”

“’Too?’” Coran asked turning to face the captain.

“One of my men’s disappeared as well,” the captain told them. He turned and addressed the rest of the crew. “Release the clamps. We’re going to keep station for a bit. Break out the anchor and the oars.”

“We’ve gotta find them,” the captain added. “In this fog, if they don’t know which way to swim, they’ll surely drown from exhaustion.”

“Dylan!” Crystal called out over the waters. Gage opened his shoulder bag and pulled a narrow metal cylinder forth. He removed the cap and a brilliant beam of light shone outward. Slowly he swept the dark waters with the light searching for his apprentice.

“You won’t find him,” Velar told them.

One of the crew dove into the water with a rope tied to his waist. After a moment, Coran started removing his breastplate. It was obvious that he intended in joining the hunt.

Velar placed a hand on Coran’s arm. “You won’t find him,” he repeated.

Gage and Coran both stopped and turned to Velar. “What makes you say that?”

Velar nodded at the water. “The zombies fled from our wrath. Zombies are not intelligent. Tis for certain that they should have fought until destroyed. One can only conclude that they were being controlled. Also, they dove into yon waters. Zombies do not swim.” Velar looked out over the water. “Even if the lad had fallen overboard, we surely would have heard or seen his labors to swim. No, he was kidnapped. Whoever or whatever was controlling the zombies must have abducted him.”

“Oh, I hope so,” Crystal said as she joined Velar looking into the darkness. “At least he’ll still be alive.”

No one spoke for several moments. When there was a splash nearby, the crewman who had dived into the water resurfaced. “There’s no sign of them,” he reported. “I followed the anchor chain to the bottom and felt about. They didn’t sink.”

“So where have they gone,” Gage demanded of no one in particular.

“Captain!” Velar called over his shoulder. “Pray tell, where is the nearest land?”

The captain pointed off to the left. “About four miles in that direction,” he said.

“How long will it take us to get there?” Coran asked.

“We can’t get there,” the captain said. “This barge isn’t meant to travel over open water like that.”

“We have to follow,” Gage pleaded.

The captain paused from cleaning the wounded arm where the zombie had attacked his crewman “Follow what?” he captain argued. “You don’t know where they went.”

Coran spotted a dinghy mounted near the stern of the barge. “Then let us use the small boat.”

The captain’s face grew stern. It was against the rules to let his lifeboat be taken off the barge while they were underway, but he also knew that something had to be done. Although he felt that it was a futile attempt, he decided to let them have the boat. “Okay,” he agreed. “You can have the dinghy. But I can’t wait here for you.”

“Go ahead and finish the trip,” Coran told him. “Have our stuff put into storage and we’ll claim it when we arrive.”

“And if you don’t arrive?” the captain asked.

“Then you can keep it all,” Coran answered. “It should more than pay for the dinghy.”

Gage, Crystal and Rathe loosened the straps on the dinghy while Coran spoke to the captain. When Coran went to join the others aboard the small craft, Velar handed him a bundle. The other man had stripped down to his shorts and a light shirt. His steel earring glittered in the dim torchlight.

“The boat is too slow,” he said. “Haste is of import. I will follow by treading the deep.” For a long moment, Coran and Velar eyed each other in silence. Something unspoken passed between them. Then without a word, Velar took two long strides and leapt into the waters, head first.

“What was that all about,” Gage asked when Coran boarded. Rathe sat between the oars and Crystal was manning the rudder.

“He’s going to try to get to the shore as quickly as possible. He can swim faster than we can row.”

“Are you kidding?” Rathe asked. “It’s miles to shore.”

“No,” Coran answered. “I’m not kidding. He’s a very fast swimmer. Trust me. If he doesn’t catch them, then he’s sure to be close behind them.”

“We must hurry,” Gage urged. “Dylan is in serious trouble and he does not know enough magic to defend himself.”

“Against what, I wonder,” Crystal said as she lowered the rudder into the water.

“As Velar said,” Gage explained, “the zombies were behaving very unnatural. I think that they were indeed under external control. But I am not sure whose control they were under.”

Rathe bent his back into the task of rowing. His powerful Minotaan muscles propelled the boat with great speed. “I wonder if they took Dylan on purpose or if it was circumstance?”

“What do you mean,” Coran asked.

“I wonder if the reason he was taken was because he was alone at the front of the barge, or if he was a specific target,” Rathe added.

Gage inhaled sharply. He had not considered that idea. “For all our sakes, I hope that it was coincidence,” he decided.

“Oh?” Crystal asked. “Is there a reason?”

Gage nodded. In the darkness, no one could see the gesture. “If Dylan was a specific target, then what awaits us could be a serious problem.”

“Do tell,” Rathe grunted as he leaned into a stroke.

“That the zombies were under control is fairly evident,” Gage explained. “There are only three entities that generally can control the undead. They are Vampires, Liches, and Devils.”

“And?” Crystal urged him to continue.

“Vampires we can deal with. Devils we can fight. But a lich is a very different matter.”

“A lich?” Coran sounded alarmed.

“Only a lich would have the magical ability to detect our presence on the water, the composition of our crew, and only a lich would have a use for a live hostage to be taken prisoner.”

“Oh, in the Creator’s name no!” Crystal sobbed. “Not that poor boy.”

“I’m in the dark here,” Rathe indicated his lack of comprehension.

“This is no time for puns,” Coran said to the dark shadow toiling at the oars.

“Vampires feed on the blood of anyone,” Gage said. “A devil has no use for a living being unless it was summoned by him, but a lich consumes the life of the living to extend its own existence, and to them, the younger, the better.”

“You mean that the boy’s to be some sort of meal?” Rathe asked. He grunted heavily as he threw his considerable strength into a stroke.

“That may be what they intend for him,” Coran muttered. “But if Velar catches up with them, he’ll take care of the boy.”

“You sure Velar can handle a vampire or a lich?” Gage asked.

“A vampire, he can handle easily.” Coran looked out over the water. “He might need help with a lich.”

Dylan felt the waters dripping off his hair onto his shoulders and chest. He did not remember being carried from the water, nor the swim. The last thing he remembered was being on the barge.

His head hurt, and there was a strange sound in his ears. At first he thought it was a strong wind, but it seemed like a voice as well. There was an ache in his neck and he involuntarily reached up to rub the offending area. His hand felt warm liquid mixed with cold. He tasted the liquid out of suspicion. It was blood. There was a wound on his neck. It was not bleeding anymore, but there was still some smeared around the injured area.

He tried to stand and found that his feet were completely against the idea. His knees were weak and the very effort of trying to stand made his head spin. It was all he could manage to sit up, and that action alone left him out of breath.

Dylan looked around. He was on the shore of a large body of water. The twin moons had long set and provided no light. Only the stars reflecting on the water enabled him to know as much about his surroundings as he did. There was a flash of light to his left. Dylan turned his head, and realized what the noise he had been hearing was.

Velar stood, in his shorts with his back to Dylan, warding off the attack of another creature. At first it appeared as a man. But it issued forth a loud hiss and when the teeth parted, it showed a jagged line of teeth with a wicked set of fangs. It was a vampire. In the light of a dropped torch, the deep red eyes and the pale skin were more obvious now that Dylan knew what he was looking at.

A cold dread came over him as Dylan realized that a vampire had bitten him. Countless stories of what such a bite could do to him emerged from the depths of his memory.

The vampire stalked Velar with genuine caution. The undead’s garments were singed and he afforded Velar plenty of distance as the man backed slowly towards Dylan, never letting the vampire out of his sight.

“Give us the boy,” the creature hissed.

“The youth abides in my charge. You shall not have him.”

“My master may feel otherwise,” the vampire answered.

“He whom you serve will have to do without,” Velar declared. He gave force to his words by reaching his arms upwards. There was a shimmering in the air around the man and a huge form that in the half darkness was unrecognizable replaced him.

The large figure had a long serpentine neck that snapped out and seized the undead. The jaws locked on the upper torso and drew the vampire close.

Suddenly a massive set of wings unfolded and the heavy foreclaws grasped the vampire and ripped the evil creature in two. With the beast now fully exposed, there was no mistaking the shape. It was a dragon. Velar was a dragon.

Dylan gasped and the noise attracted the huge dragon’s attention. The massive head swung around and the brilliant eyes fixed him with a stare. Dylan fell to his knees in both awe and fear. He cast his eyes to the ground. He did not see the action, but when he looked back up, Velar was standing there once more.

“That which you saw is a vision few have beheld,” Velar told him. The man helped Dylan to his feet.

“You turned into a dragon,” Dylan stuttered dumbly.

“Nay,” Velar answered. “I turned into a man. I am a dragon.”

Dylan could not think of what to say. What did one say to a dragon, particularly one that had just saved his life? “The vampire?”

“You were placed under my protection,” Velar answered. “I regret that my secret is now in your hands, yet I trust that you will keep it to yourself?”

Dylan nodded. “But sir, why do you keep it a secret?”

“There are many who do not trust dragonkind. There are even more who are overwhelmed by our presence. Alas, you also seemed taken aback when you saw me.”

Dylan nodded. The dragon’s sheer size and power had awed him. “Does Coran know?”

“Aye. Coran knows. His father and uncles know, for it could not be hidden from such men as they, and now you know. Pray, let it go no further.”

Dylan nodded his agreement. The motion made his neck hurt. He again felt the chill of dread at what might become of him. “The vampire bit me.”

“It is not serious,” Velar comforted him. “The vampire’s bite was only to render you helpless. He was not to kill you, but capture you alive. The weakness will wear off in a day or so.

“I thought that the bite of a vampire killed its victim.”

“Often enough that is true,” Velar answered. “When yonder miscreant attacks to feed, it is so. But this eve it was not his purpose to feed. He was sent forth by his master to capture a living youth. He chose you.”

“Why?”

“I know not why you. Probably because you were close and they did not anticipate my ability to follow so well.”

“I mean why did they need a youth?”

“The master of these defiled remains,” Velar indicated the pieces of the vampire, “is most probably a devil or a lich. A lich would feed upon the life force of a youth to perpetuate its own existence.”

Dylan was quiet. The events of the last hour had happened so fast. He did not know what to say or think. Momentarily, he could make out the sounds of talking and grunting out over the waters.

“Coran and the rest of our comrades approach,” Velar told him. “They followed as fast as the Minotaan could row.”

Dylan nodded. His head felt fuzzy and he became disoriented. “I feel faint,” he told his protector.

“That is to be expected,” Velar assured him. The man reached out and touched the boy’s head. “Sleep,” he commanded.

Dylan sank to the sand immediately and fell into a deep sleep. Velar gathered the youth up in his arms and carried the boy to meet the rapidly approaching boat.

It did not take long before the small craft shot out of the darkness. With Rathe heaving heavily into each stroke of the oars, the tiny vessel seemed to leap almost out of the water and jump forward. Coran, who was watching ahead of them, spotted Velar and instructed Gage to steer the boat, via its rudder, to that part of the beach.

When the dingy beached, Gage leapt out into the water and ran to Velar. He took his charge in his own arms and laid Dylan gently on the sand.

“What happened to the vampire?” Coran asked as Crystal edged past him and knelt to tend to the boy’s hurts.

“The fiend has departed,” Velar answered. “Once I had his egress blocked, he renounced his claim on the lad.”

“That is strange,” Gage noted. “Vampires are tough and egotistical. I would think that you would have to prove that you could beat him before he would give up.”

“I don’t care why,” Crystal interrupted. “I’m just glad the monster did give up and run.”

“I must say,” Rathe added, “that your ability to swim is very impressive, Velar.”

“No kidding,” Gage agreed. “I would have thought it impossible for you to out swim that boat with Rathe pulling on the oars like mad.”

Crystal interrupted before Velar could respond. “It looks like Dylan’s under a sleep spell.” She pulled the boy into a seated position. His head hung limply with his chin on his chest.

“I suggest we get going again as soon as possible,” Coran announced. “Whoever owned that vampire, if it was being controlled, may send others after us.”

“The vampire did not act normal,” Velar agreed. “If it had been independent, it would surely have killed the boy before I caught up with it.”

“Should we strike out across the land or take back to the waters?” Rathe asked.

“If we row parallel to the shore, we will eventually reach the port. I would hate to abandon this little boat only to have to pay for it later.” Gage lifted Dylan. “Besides the boy can lay in the boat and rest while we travel. It will be better than if someone was carrying him.”

“We can take turns at the oars, and that will make it easier,” Crystal offered. “Perhaps a little magic will make it even faster?”

Gage took the hint. “I’ll see what I can do when the sun comes up. But for now let’s just put some distance behind us.”

They boarded the small craft and Rathe pushed them back out into the water. There Velar and Coran took the oars and began a steady rhythm of rowing following the lake shore.

It was mid morning when Dylan finally stirred. He drifted up through the layers of unconsciousness and awoke to the rolling feel of the boat. He was wrapped in a cloak and when he opened his eyes, all he could see was the small boots and deep green trousers of Crystal’s legs. Dylan sat up wearily.

Coran was at the tiller, while Rathe and Velar snoozed in the center of the craft. Crystal sat at the base of a hastily rigged makeshift mast. It consisted of the long oars tied together in a crude cross with a large cloak or tarp stretched across them in the form of a sail. It was Crystal who first noticed that Dylan had stirred from his resting place at the bow of the boat.

“Good morning.”

Dylan politely smiled back. His neck was stiff and his head hurt tremendously. “What happened?” he asked.

Crystal filled the boy in on what had occurred on the barge and then when they had finally arrived on the shore with Velar watching over him. Dylan glanced at Velar briefly, remembering the discovery and secret with which he had been entrusted. Velar did not show any emotion or sign that he had noticed Dylan’s attention. “So where are we now, and where are we going?”

“We’re following the coast line,” Crystal told him. “When we finally reach the port where the barge was to have taken us, Gage’ll exchange this boat for our belongings.”

“Until then,” Gage interrupted, “you are to rest and take it easy. You sustained a serious injury in that while you did not contract vampirism, you may very well get sick from infection if you overexert yourself. So I excuse you from your studies for a day or two.”

Dylan understood. In spite of the fact that he’d just wake from a long sleep, he had only been up for a few moments when he again became weary. It was within the hour that he was once again snoozing, but this time it was a normal sleep.

When he once again woke, he was laying on a thick blanket on the sandy shore of the lake. The skies were dark and littered with brilliant stars. Nearby was a good sized fire and Coran sat watch.

Dylan did not rise, but instead watched the sparks from the fire drift up into blackness beyond. His mind drifted easily from one thought to another until he lay there remembering his days at the Academy. He soon drifted off to sleep again.

Dylan woke easily the next day when camp was broken. He felt very good and refreshed. Although Gage was still somewhat worried, he reluctantly allowed Dylan to take a turn at the tiller while Rathe plowed into the water with both oars. With each stroke, the small boat surged forward.

“We should make it to the port by evening,” Coran estimated. “We can resume our trip from there.”

They made some small talk and Crystal sang a few songs that helped the time pass. Dylan stayed at the tiller for almost half a day before Rathe surrendered the oars to Coran and Velar and Gage took the tiller. Dylan and Rathe relaxed near the front of the boat. Crystal gave them some bread and cheese.

Just as the sun was setting, they could make out the outline of buildings far ahead of them. They resolved to continue to the port and take up lodging in an inn rather than sleep on the shore again. After sunset, the buildings became more pronounced as lanterns and candles illuminated the windows making the structures very inviting.

A little over an hour later, they rowed up to a dock and tied the small boat off. Coran disembarked and went off in search of the dock master. In the meantime, everyone else gathered their meager belongings and awaited Coran’s return.

The wagon was more or less in the same condition as it was when last Dylan saw it. Coran had squared their business with the barge operator and Gage ushered them all to a hotel. There they purchased lodging and stabled the team and wagon.

There was no gallivanting about in the commons area that night. Everyone was worn out from the last two days efforts. They simply shared a hot meal and retired to their chambers.

Dylan and Gage’s room was near the back of the building and fairly quiet, so they had little trouble sleeping. In fact, Dylan rested very well and awoke just as the sky was starting to lighten. Instead of sleeping in, the apprentice rose and resumed his routine chores as was his duty to his master.

Gage was very pleased that Dylan had felt well enough to resume his apprenticeship. When they joined the others for breakfast, Gage allowed Dylan to carry his luggage. The master paid careful attention to the boy’s actions, though, looking for any sign that the youth’s recovery was incomplete. Dylan was a strong lad, however, and he gave no hint that he was anything less that fully recovered.

They ate an early breakfast, then adjourned to the stables, where they stowed their belongings and turned the wagon down the long road that followed the river. Many leagues ahead of them was the crossroads at the city of New Aspberg, and beyond that, where the river emptied into the sea, was the great capital of the world, Keron.