Roads of the Righteous and the Rotten (Order of Fire Book 1) (21 page)

The next morning a ghastly fog covered the sea, so thick that one could scarcely see another member of the company standing on the opposite end of the deck. Everyone peered into the sea to watch for the dragon, but their eyes saw nothing but white. Not knowing if Leviathan would return, and knowing that if it did they would not see it coming added a terror to the morning’s sailing that gripped each and every person on the vessel without mercy. Even so, Stroan had far more important matters on his mind than the dragon.

“Aye, something is definitely wrong,” he said, motioning his head to Yuna.

Zar glanced in her direction, seeing her beclouded image amid the fog wrapped in quilts and staring off into what looked like a sea of white smoke. “You must let this go. At least until we get to Serradiia. What point is it questioning her now? Whatever is troubling her, she will tell you when she’s ready. Don’t you agree?”

Stroan’s head jerked up and he looked at Zar as if he had figured out the answer to a riddle that had perplexed him for an eternity. His eyes widened. “You know!”

“What is it I know?”

“You talk as if you know,” said Stroan.

“You misunderstand,” said Zar, feeling more than a bit surprised the man was so insightful, and trying to hide the fact that he was shocked by it. “I’m only saying—”

“No,
you
misunderstand,” Stroan said quickly. “Your words and tone betray you. You know something I do not.”

Zar laughed, but was inwardly impressed. “Good Stroan, the only thing I know is that if you don’t calm yourself you’ll likely make things worse.”

“Worse than now? When I can’t touch her—can’t even talk to her? I will ask her again, and she will tell me. I will give her a day, and she will tell me.”

“And if she does not?”

“She will.”

After their discourse Zar went immediately down to Asha to tell her his thoughts about the situation, how perceptive Stroan had been for reading him, how amusing he thought the whole thing was, and the guilt he felt for keeping Yuna’s pregnancy away from Stroan.

“Stroan is a friend, Asha. I should tell him. My only fear is that, well, he may react poorly. Yuna knows him far better than we. If she hasn’t told him it must be for good reason. I am a loyal man to my friends, make no mistake, but something tells me I should keep out of this one. I should keep out, and keep quiet.”

So Zar minded his own affairs, and after the fog had passed, joined the crew on deck for a meal of fish and bread. Tavin and Juuma had prepared their catch again, and as the company ate in a circle on the deck, Zar’s eyes drifted to Yuna’s belly and the curious sight of the blanket around her. The summer sun had risen quite high and it was hot, and he wondered how long it would take Stroan to figure out why she wrapped herself so, or to question the purpose of the blanket on so warm a day. He felt it would only be moments before the man was at his side again, complaining of how strange she was acting, why she wasn’t intimate, why she wasn’t talking, or perhaps, this time, why she had a blanket when it wasn’t cold. While he couldn’t deny he was excited to see how everything played out, there was a small part of his heart that rebuked him for taking amusement in it.

Raff’s loud voice cut through the air. “Go on and have some more,” he called, motioning his food-spattered hand at Yuna’s empty plate. “You
are
eatin’ for two, aren’t ya?” Yuna’s eyelids shot wide and her face grew pallid in the silence. Most of the crew smiled gently, those who must have expected the same; and others looked up in confusion, the ones who, like Stroan, hadn’t figured it out. But all their faces conformed to the grimness of the occasion after seeing Yuna’s reaction—and seeing Stroan who looked like he had been struck by lightning. His eyes were pulled wide, showing the whites; his hairs just above his forehead seemed to stand up as his temple flexed; a vein bulged from the side of his head and pulsed. His hands dug underneath the blanket around her and rubbed her up and down, and all the while the man moaned, “No, no, no, no.”

Yuna grabbed his hand and pleaded, “Stroan, listen, listen, when I was in Snowstone—”

The man pulled his hand away from her, and it shuffled somewhere by his belt. “With
him
? Tiomot’s child?”

“Our child.”

Stroan trembled, running his hand over her belly again and again and eyeing it as if he could look through her flesh at the growing spawn of the evil king inside. He shook his head. “No, no.”

Tears rolled down Yuna’s face and Stroan cried out.

“No!” he cried. “No!” His body jerked in a fit of grief. His arm plunged forward. “This can’t be,” he said as he pulled back his arm and it plunged forward again. “Not from him! I can’t let you!”

Zar, just making out what had happened, rushed over and pulled Stroan away from her. Yuna toppled over and lay on the deck as she bled, and Stroan watched her as he struggled to escape Zar’s grip. He soon fell still, and a dagger dropped from his hand and struck the deck. “Things will be as they were,” said Stroan, his eyes not moving from Yuna’s body. “Yuna!” he called, erupting in more tears. “Yuna! I’m sorry I—Zar, she will be fine! She will be fine, won’t she?”

The whole company was silent as Yuna bled onto the deck. The woman was already dead, and they were all frozen in awe, watching her lifeless body—and watching Stroan who was beginning to realize what he had done.

“I didn’t … I didn’t mean to do that,” Stroan cried, bowing over Yuna’s corpse. The man lifted her up, but her lifeless body only fell to the side. He shook her, and her head rolled loosely over her shoulders. “I only meant to … I … I only wanted things to be as they were. As they were before. I didn’t mean to do that!”

Stroan moaned and lamented while others looked on in silence. After a while he stood up, still sobbing, and walked over to pick up the dagger he had dropped beside Zar. The man’s face had turned a burnt orange and he sniffled relentlessly. His body rattled. Zar took a step back from him as he picked up the weapon, and the rest of the company shuffled. In a blink he took the dagger in both hands and plunged it into his stomach, waddling backwards and crying. No one moved at the sight of it, but as he waddled back farther, meeting the railing of the ships edge, Captain Blue called out urgently, “Don’t let him go into the water!”

It took a second for anyone to react, but as the message settled in and the consequences of releasing a bloody carcass into the water in which Leviathan resided, all hands on deck rushed forward desperately to grab the man before he tumbled over the edge. Zar and Jareb were closest to him, and darted forward as quickly as they could while calling after him.

It was too late. Stroan’s bleeding body splashed into the sea, and there was nothing anyone could do but watch with an open mouth.

“Ah, cursed by the gods!” Blue roared. “A bleeding body on deck and one in the sea!”

Many voices asked what would happen, if Leviathan would surely come or if there was a chance it would go unnoticed. But Captain Blue only said, “Ready yourselves, and pray to whatever gods you trust!” He looked furious.

Feet scrambled on the deck. Men took harpoons in hand, and Zar rushed down into the hold for his bow. Raff and Landis had also brought bows aboard, and they came back up on deck, shuffling their quivers into position. Jareb held a harpoon in each hand and another on his back, and they all waited in the most miserable silence and anticipation, each one of their imaginations conjuring images of the disaster that might befall them if the dragon attacked.

No more than an hour after the gripping scene of the two lost lovers, Leviathan shot out of the sea beside the ship and spiraled into the air. It flew high above the ship then turned swiftly and dove straight down—still spiraling—and with an awful screech, opened its mouth wide and sent flames searing down on the Lucky Dolphin.

21

Z
ar darted to the ship’s
edge
to escape the blaze. He almost thought to dive overboard, but a quick glance behind him revealed he had managed to get completely out of the way of the fire. Two other crew members hadn’t been so fortunate. They screamed, scrambling to the edge of the deck, and jumped overboard.

Trying to stay focused and engaged, Zar knocked an arrow, searching for Leviathan. A piercing screech led him to the place where it hovered above, and just as he set his eyes on it a harpoon pierced its scales below the neck. Zar called out a cheer as the creature swayed slightly in the air, and shot an arrow that dug home near the same wound.

Jareb came to his side and called, “We got it! We can kill it here!” But the creature, as if in objection, soared up nimbly in the air and came crashing down head-first into the ship, leaving a fissure in the deck that went straight down into the hold below. The ship rocked from the blow and Arvii slid over the deck until he fell through the crack. Leviathan pursued him, splintering the wood with its claws and tearing the fissure even wider.

Zar filled its scales with as many arrows as he could.

After he had released the third shot, Leviathan pulled his head from the hole, looked over at Zar, opened his mouth wide, and hissed. Smoke shot out the dragon’s throat and sparks of fire flashed within its jaws. Zar rushed to knock another arrow. Jareb stepped forward and launched another harpoon at its throat. This time the weapon hit much higher and closer to its head. The fire disappeared from the creature’s mouth and it shrieked and flailed.

“We can stop its fire!” Jareb called. “Hit the throat! The arrows are too small—use the harpoons!”

Leviathan sprawled toward the two men, and both Jareb and Zar darted in opposite directions. The creature pursued Jareb, and Zar searched the deck for a harpoon. Jareb was fighting off slashing claws with his harpoon as Zar picked one up. He glanced back at Jareb to find Leviathan’s jaws closing down on the man’s shoulders. Before he could hoist his weapon, Tavin and Juuma ran forward with harpoons and launched them at the dragon. One missed and nearly hit Jareb, the other sunk into the creature’s back and made it turn away from the whale hunter.

Leviathan roared.

Zar took two steps forward and hurled his harpoon as hard as he could. The lance flew with so much force into the dragon’s mouth that Zar thought it might come out the other side. Its head jerked back as it squealed out loud and long.

Every man rushed forward in desperation, not wanting to see more fire, not wanting their vessel destroyed. Jareb, his shoulder bleeding, darted in with a harpoon in hand; Dover came out of thin air to stab the creature near the base of its neck. Tavin and Juuma fought side by side, fending off the dragon’s claws, their bloody arms swinging the lances Jareb had provided. Zar rushed forward. The creature breathed in and hissed, its mouth smoking as it prepared to burn them all.

Zar pulled his sword from his back, scanning the moving creature for a target to slice. Jareb plunged his spear deep into the creature’s side. Fire leapt out of its mouth as it flailed to the side, setting more of the deck on fire and causing Juuma to throw himself overboard into the water. Leviathan spun its head to snap at Jareb, and Zar skipped around the patches of fire as he focused on the dragon’s neck which was lowered over the deck. Raising his blade up with both arms, Zar swung his sword down hard, his entire body aiding the motion. It was a strike that felt as if he could’ve severed the necks of three men and left nothing attached, but for the scaled neck of Leviathan it caused only a gash. The creature shrieked and flailed and swung its tail, crashing over the deck.

Zar hopped away from the creature as it thrashed—not daring to turn his back on it. Its tail crashed against the mast and left it tilting to one side, and Zar took his eyes off the dragon for naught but a second to see who was still left aboard the ship. When he glanced back at the beast all he saw was its tail flying in his direction. Before he had time to think, he couldn’t breathe. His body flew through the air and everything turned black.

He felt the pain first. Before his eyes opened, before realizing where he was and trying to recall the last thing he remembered there was the pain. His ribs, his right arm— they felt shattered. He looked up at the cleft in the ceiling— the splintered wood that Leviathan had caused when it rammed the ship—and knew he was down in the hold.

Zar looked down at his body to find his abdomen wrapped in cloth with sections of fur tied over the right side of his ribs to protect the area. It hurt at the slightest movement. He stretched out his right arm to find he still had mobility, and smiled at the discovery while still wincing a bit in pain.

On the wooden floor across from him a body stirred, and Juuma sat up and rested his back against the wall. “You made it.” The man chuckled. His left shoulder and arm were wrapped in the same white cloth that covered Zar.

“But of course,” Zar replied. “And who else? What happened?”

The fisherman shook his head and smiled. “I do not know,” he said. “I just remember being on fire—so I jumped into the sea. Last I saw, you were still up there fighting. You, Jareb, my brother, and … Dover, I think.”

“Well, we must have won if we’re still here.”

“Aye,” Juuma agreed, looking down at his bound arm. “And someone bound us so there are at least three of us that live. Tavin!” the man called. “Tavin!”

Marching came from above, and soon a person descended the stairs. A shadow crept through the rift in the deck as Arvii peered down at them from above. “They’re up!”

“Brother!” Tavin called, descending into the hold and squatting beside Juuma.

“I’m fine,” said Juuma, “but it still burns.”

Soon, Dover, Jareb, and Arvii also came down into the hold. Arvii looked well—just as he had when they first set out. Jareb had cloth wrapped around his left shoulder and arm, but seemed to be moving as if all was well.

“Are we all there is?” Zar asked.

“Captain Blue’s up top,” Jareb answered. “He’s cooked pretty good, but he’ll live.”

“And Landis? Raff?”

Jareb shook his head “Gone. Landis was burned by the dragon. His body is still on deck. Blue jumped in the sea with Raff when the dragon set them on fire. We found Blue after— drifting in the sea. Never found Raff.”

“After what? What happened?”

“Nothing, my friend,” said Jareb with a smile. “We fought the creature off. You cut open its neck pretty good, then it smacked you with its tail and flew off. We hurt it.”

Zar grinned at the thought of fighting off a dragon and living, and scurried to bring himself to his feet. “If I remember correctly,
you
played a rather large role in fighting it as well.”

help him up. “It’s my job to hunt creatures of the sea,” he said. “Although the whales I hunt off the southern coast of Bazhia don’t breathe fire, they’re far larger. I knew we could win.” Jareb pulled Zar to his feet. “Having you in the fight proved essential as well.”

“I do what I can.”

Jareb laughed and squeezed his hand over Zar’s shoulder. “Aye, so do we all.”

Up on deck Captain Blue sat facing the bowsprit, his burned and bandaged body rocking back and forth. The man growled and sucked his teeth in agony, shifting his body side to side in a sort of nervous twitch. As Zar approached, the man spun his head back over his shoulder, showing a half- melted face. The left half was that of old Blue, bearded and stern; the right half was distorted by fire—cracked, warped, and almost as scaly as the beast that had caused it.

In the remaining two days that it took Captain Blue to get them to Serradiia, Zar spent most of his time with Jareb, remembering and recounting the fight with Leviathan. The two shared wine two nights in succession and reveled in their victory, and on the morning the Lucky Dolphin floated into the coast of Tiran, Zar awoke to find that even his sober thoughts began with the dragon. To be so close to a force so terrifying and arcane, a creature that was supposed to have died ages ago and was the last of its kind, to be just a few feet away from its deadly fire brought a whole new meaning to the much said expression,
Leviathan!

All of the company had their eyes fixed on the foreign coast as the vessel drifted in. Tiran’s shores weren’t as beautiful as Bazhia’s, nor did it have sand the color of pearls as the coasts they had sailed from. Even still, the unfamiliar place was altogether fascinating for the lot of them—even the few that had been there a handful of times. It was as if they had landed on a new world, and Zar’s curious eyes searched the unknown land as Blue brought them closer and let down the anchor.

Tiran was a grand port city similar to Bazhia, but with a newer and untrodden air, as if everything had been built in the last ten years. Or perhaps it only seemed this way because the place they walked through was in fact new to most of them.

They explored the city like young and inquisitive children, touching everything, inquiring of everything with fascination and wonder as they learned about their new world. Blue managed to find the nearest Tavern, and the captain took his diamond from Zar and excitedly rushed through the tavern doors and pulled out gold for a drink. The man had complained about the burns on his body as they walked through Tiran, but ignored the suggestions from Zar and the fisherman brothers to find a good healer to treat his wounds. He yelled that it wouldn’t make the pain go away, but he knew what would. Dover supported the captain’s decision of taking to drink instead of herbs, and expressed his own desire to relax with a mug of ale. So Zar, Jareb, Arvii, Tavin, and Juuma explored more of the new city and left the two men to drink. By the time they returned, both men were quite drunk, though it seemed Blue was the utmost intoxicated.

They boasted of their fight with the dragon, and a recounted a rather exciting yet inaccurate account of the battle. They had attracted a fair amount of women to them, also, so no one corrected them about the specifics of who had done exactly what in the fight. Instead, they took a cup and joined them. For the fact did remain that they
had
fought Leviathan and lived, and that alone was cause for celebration.

“Do we sail back now or wait until winter?” called Dover, his arms around a tavern lady.

“First thing in the morning,” Blue answered, a body in his embrace as well. The beast is wounded, near dead as I could tell.”

“Aye, did you see the way it plunged into the water,”

said Jareb with a grin, nudging Zar’s shoulder. “Oh, no, you didn’t, did you?” The man laughed and Zar chuckled along with him. “Blue’s right, we shouldn’t give it any time to recover.”

“Lest the dragon comes back angrier,” said Zar, jesting, although he noticed a few faces looking more than a bit concerned.

Glancing across the room, Zar noticed interested eyes from a table of two women wandering in his direction. He let his eyes wander back.

“They’re making eyes,” Jareb muttered, leaning towards Zar. “I’ve never been with a Serradiian girl. Shall we go to them?”

The group drank for hours at the tavern and spent the night at the inn next door—all with company, whether bought or charmed. They said their farewells in the morning, and Zar gave them each a firm embrace, for though they had not spent much time together, they had certainly been through a great deal, and it had brought them closer. Leviathan had forced them all into a bond, a bond that would likely remain until death. If and when he ever saw them again, no matter the circumstance, they would all remember the day they fought against the dragon and triumphed.

That same day, after Zar had traveled east on Asha’s back for half a day, the two stopped for a rest under a tall tree. The tree’s branches stretched long and hung over the ground below in a sort of arch, and the leaves were numerous and broad, so that not one sliver of midday sun crept through to the ground, leaving a perfect circle of shade underneath it.

“This is our spot, Asha. Look at this tree, those leaves—we don’t have such a thing in Krii. We are truly in a new land.” Zar sat down and rested his back against the trunk. “Where do we go, now, you say? Anywhere we want. It’s time to explore again. There are doubtless—Asha, I nearly forgot! Prynner gave me the map to Bruudor’s Keep! Aye, it’s there in your saddlebag.” Zar hopped up to take the map from Asha’s bag.

“What? I don’t know if it’s real or not either,” said Zar. “But why would anyone go through the trouble to make a fake map? We will have to find out.” Zar rolled out the scroll and examined the map once again. “It’s very detailed, but these names—I don’t know these places. We’ll likely have to ask a few people where to find these landmarks. The Bottomless Caverns, Hooded Dell, East Winding River. River! We passed a river just a while ago, remember? About two miles behind us.”

Zar stepped out of the shade to gaze back the way they’d come, scanning the new Serradiian terrain which had turned from sand, to dirt, to brown plains the farther they got from the coast. As the sun shone down, sections of the pale, brown paper darkened into shapes in the lower right corner of the map. Words formed as the sun’s rays continued to shine on it.

“Asha,” Zar called. “Invisible ink! I wonder if this is the old sour fruit trick. Let me read it.” Zar’s mouth pulled to a smile as he scanned the writing. “Asha, you aren’t going to believe this.”