Serev's Story

Chapter 6

Tad gripped Flewin's hand tightly as the ship rose, Serev was alive! He had no doubt that the slaves they had just brought over the mountain were in good hands, and hopefully they would be back with her soon when they went back with the second group. "You'll see her again soon." He whispered.

"I know, I'm just so happy. I thought she was dead!" Flewin murmured, trying not to look too happy near the crew.

"Tad!" Captain Lynch's voice cut through their conversation. "You did well keeping them calm, you just need to do that once more. Are you up for it?"

"Yes Captain, it will be done!" he answered, trying not to show his excitement.

They were moving quickly now, Lynch obviously sensing a big payment for the second load of slaves. They crested the mountains while heading into the setting sun, and tad realized there was another mountain range further to the west backlit by the orange sun. He hoped it would be the last sunset he saw while in captivity.

There were no manticores on this trip, evidently the one remaining had enough of flying ships, and the Ravenfeather smoothly slid past the mountains and back into the valley. Once the mountains were behind them, they slowly started descending, heading back towards the woods. Several crew members were on the bow looking down at the ground, evidently looking for the clearing they were supposed to land in. The rest of the crew was moving about the ship, getting ropes ready to toss and keeping the sails trimmed for the flight. With the manticore threat in the past, nobody was looking up.

Not even Tad.

So, when the crewman's body hit the deck next to the cage, he jumped in fear. It took him a moment to realize that remained of the head was a charred stump. Flewin let out a small squeak of terror.

He looked up in fear, thinking they were under attack by something worse than a manticore, hadn't someone mentioned dragons? To his surprise, two figures were quickly descending through the dark sails, and landed silently on the deck. The taller of the two, an athletic looking man, drew a pair of swords from over his shoulder and scanned the area for any crewman. The second was a shorter woman, though still taller than he was with a head of braided red hair who leveled a staff at the cage and loosed a jet of gold flames at the lock, melting it in an instant. Tad and Flewin's eyes widened in shock, neither of them being used to magic.

"Repel borders!" came Captain Lynch's bellowed command from back on the quarterdeck. Soon the pounding of feet towards the pair on the deck was all he could hear. Then he realized the pair was laughing.

From behind him he felt Flewin pass him the manticore spike. He glanced back at her, gripping it tightly. "Be ready!" he whispered. She nodded, her eyes looking as fierce as Serev's. Together they crawled over to the cage door but didn't open it just yet.

The two newcomers stood back-to-back, the girl was shooting golden rays into the sails, shooting the rest of the sailors in the rigging, while the man was cutting down anyone that came close to them. They were surrounded by bodies now, and it was thrilling to watch.

From the rear of the ship came a guttural yell as Captain Lynch rushed towards them, the girl shot a ray at him, but as with the manticore he was able to dive to the side and get closer. The pair spun around leaving the taller man to face the captain, who grinned to not have a mage firing at him.

"I'll teach you to board my ship without an invitation!" he yelled at the pair, fury on his face. The young man just kept smiling at him.

As fast as the captain had been against the manticore, the invader was even faster. He was keeping his back to his partner while keeping the captain at bay. It seemed like he was just trying to wear the captain down, while the sorceress kept burning down the rest of the crew.

"Luce!" called the young man to his partner, "Don't burn the ship too much, maybe the captain here can teach us how to fly it when we're done"

"Never!" yelled an enraged Lynch, stepping to his left to try and get around the younger man's guard.

That step brought him right next to the cage, and Tad saw his chance. Thrusting with all his might, he pierced Lynch low in his ribs with the manticore spike. He felt it sink in up to his hand, and then released it. The captain screamed in pain, reaching backwards to claw at the spike embedded in the wound but couldn't grasp it. With the captain distracted, the other swordsman knocked his saber to the side with one sword and thrust the other through his chest. Lynch sank to his knees with a groan, then tipped lifelessly onto his side, his eyes staring back up at the sky. The younger man sketched a quick salute with his sword to Tad before going back to protecting the sorceresses back. There seemed to be a never-ending supply of crewmen attacking them.

"Fehrys, are the prisoners safe?" yelled out the sorceress.

"For now!" answered the man.

"Cover me!" the young sorceress darted into the cage, her hair coming out of the braids to form a wild corona around her head. "Hi there!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "Let's get you out of here." She lay her hand on both Tad and Flewin's arms, and they took on a golden glow for a moment. "Okay, all set!" She turned her back and rejoined the fight, with a wave of men emerging from below the quarterdeck.

"Fehrys, they're good, get them out of here!" she commanded.

"You got it!" he replied and darted into the cage. "Hang on and don't be scared!" he told them, as he slung them both over his shoulders like rag dolls. Then, before Tad realized what was happening, they were hauled over to the side of the ship and thrown overboard.

Neither of them even had a chance to scream.

But now they were floating, not falling at all. It was a most unusual experience. Flewin grabbed his hands, spinning around in the air to try and see what was happening.

"I think that girl cast a spell on us!" she yelled happily.

Tad had to agree. He'd never been exposed to magic before, other than the flying ship he was now looking up at, so he couldn't tell what a spell looked like when cast on him. The girl had obviously been using spells on the crew, but this was something else entirely. They were floating down gently, and he had a most amazing view of the world. He did wish it were daytime, but with the moon out it was still beautiful.

"This is wonderful!" He exclaimed. He turned to look at Flewin, and the rapt expression on her face made him realize she was thinking the same thing.

Their sightseeing was interrupted as a crewman, Curly, went hurtling past them, screaming all the way, leaving a stream of blood in the air. They watched him as he disappeared into the tops of the trees below.

"Good." Muttered Flewin viciously.

Serev marched along the road holding the hand of the orange-eyed girl, whose name had turned out to be Carys. Overhead, a pair of Bishops rode as an escort on a griffin with a sky knight to provide them protection in case the ship came back or warning them if any ground forces headed that way. She didn't know exactly where they were going, but the Bishops said to head west to the gates, and most of the freed prisoners knew what they meant by that, so she wasn't too worried.

She was still nervous about entering a new country, since she really had no idea where she was or what the politics of the land were, but she had been impressed by the Bishops and how they handled the situation when they landed. At first, they thought she was one of the slavers, but all the prisoners had vouched for her and her actions, and afterwards she was greeted as a comrade. But a comrade of people she knew nothing about, it was a strange feeling. Now, she was a surrogate big sister to yet another young girl, and she just hoped she could protect Carys better then she had done for Flewin.

Drem and Lornk had said that there was another group of Bishops after the ship, so she would just have to hope that they were good enough to save Flewin for her. She realized that she even missed Tad. He had seemed nice for a man, though she would always have trust issues. Her thoughts were interrupted by Carys tugging on her hand, she was pointing off to the west. Above the trees, the rising sun behind them illuminated a granite wall extending well up into the mountains. An immense gate was set into it, and she could make out guards at the top behind crenellations. They had found their way to Vyscher.