Serev's Story

Chapter 4

Yet another morning being woken up by cold water, though Tad was happy that this time it was at least fresh. Captain Lynch was seated on a stool in front of the cage as Tad and Flewin shivered in their cold and damp clothing. They had flown for several days since the arrival in Newport, and other than not being bait and slightly better food, their situation hadn't changed much. He was sore, hungry, tired, had a sun burn and really didn't want to talk to the captain. But he was also at his mercy, so he sat up next to Flewin who was shivering in fear and cold and waited.

"You're going to have company soon." The captain announced. "There are mountains up ahead, and once we cross them, we're going to be landing to meet a group of people who will have your new companions." The rest of the crew chuckled along with this news. Flewin seemed to shrink in on herself in fear.

"Yes captain." Tad replied.

"You will keep them calm. You will try to reassure them. You will make sure they don't try to escape. If you do that, you will be rewarded. Understand?"

"Yes captain, we do." Tad intoned.

"We have a chance to become rich in this land, the King seems enamored with our ship. He has paid handsomely for this mission, and we can make sure that the two of you share in some of those rewards."

Tad didn't believe this at all. He knew Lynch had already tried to sell them to the King once and would most likely sell them along with the rest of whatever poor souls they were going to pick up. But what choice did he have?

"Captain, we'll do our best, you can count on us." Tad said, squeezing Flewin's hand in reassurance.

"See that you do!"

Once he was gone, Tad relaxed a bit, but still wanted to scream in frustration. "He thinks we're idiots." He muttered to Flewin. "He's going to sell us as soon as he can. There is no way he is sharing even a little of whatever he is being paid with us."

"Of course not. It might be better for us to go over the side like Serev." Flewin said morosely.

"No, don't say that. She saved us with what she did. We can't just give up now." Tad insisted. "We will have our chance, sooner or later. Her sacrifice won't have been in vain"

The mountains were immense. Even from the cage, they could see the peaks stretching up over the deck of the ship, piercing the clouds in some instances. They were higher now, so much so that the crew had deigned to give them some blankets because of the cold at the higher altitude, and still the snow-covered peaks towered over them. They were flying between a pair of mountain peaks now, and the awesome majesty of the sight had stunned Tad. Even at home there were mountains present in the east, but they were far enough away that you didn't see them in any great detail.

Up close they were awe inspiring; they were just too big to take in! The range seemed to stretch endlessly to both the north and south, he had never seen such a sight. A few scraggly pines grew here and there in the rocks a little lower down, but here at the tops it was all snow-covered boulders, with the breeze blowing little trails of snow and ice into the air.

The ship glided smoothly between two peaks, barely a sound to be heard.

The crew was on edge here, with the captain ordering them to bring up some ballista from below decks. He heard them yelling something about manticores, but he wasn't sure what those were, only that they must be dangerous. He was sure he'd know what they were when he saw them, he was sure there wasn't anything else alive up here on top of the world.

Several crewmen were stationed around the sides of the deck, all looking out for threats to the ship, Tad was hoping something would eat one or two of them. As long as they left he and Flewin alone of course. He took to looking himself, not that he could see much from the cage.

"Do you see anything?" asked Flewin breathlessly.

"No, not a thing. But then I wouldn't know what I was looking for anyway."

"I hope they all die." She said bitterly.

"Me too, somehow." He agreed.

From the rear of the ship came the voice of the captain's commands. "Ok, this is our spot! Weigh anchor!" Lynch yelled. Tad was very confused. Weigh anchor? On a mountain?

From below deck a rumbling shook the ship, and shortly they were hovering in midair.

"All set captain!" yelled one of the crewmen that was looking over the side. "We won't be moving now!"

Captain Lynch was striding along the deck now, examining the anchor and how it set. "Excellent. Now we just have to be patient and wait for our signal." He ambled over to the cage. "Tad, our guests will be joining us soon, I hope you're still prepared for that."

"Of course, captain. Can I suggest we have more blankets when they arrive if it will be cold?" he suggested.

Lynch looked thoughtful for a moment. "Good idea, I think I chose right with you." He turned on his heel and walked back towards the quarterdeck.

Tad heard Flewin release her breath when he left, he hadn't even realized she was holding it.

It took two days as a guard on the small merchant caravan before Serev realized that there was something wrong with the merchant. Koplin seemed like a normal enough trader, with a pair of wagons and three other guards. But the wagons held nothing but food stuff for the guards as well as some crates of manacles. That hardly seemed like much to trade, and it certainly didn't seem like he would need four guards for a load of manacle unless there were a lot of bandits or goblins in the area.

He had signed her on quickly, not seeming to care about her qualifications, and they had set off that same morning. Taking look at the other guards, it made sense, they looked more like street thugs than professional guards that would help against bandits. He had simply said they were picking up livestock and delivering them, so she had assumed there would be cattle somewhere for them to pick up. But now, with mountains on the horizon, it seems like the livestock might very well be waiting for them there, and the chains in the crates made it obvious that Koplin deemed slaves to be livestock.

She silently seethed in anger. She would never deliver slaves, and those that dealt in them were the worst kind of scum.