The waves tossed the Nightshade gently up and down as the winter wind blew
lightly on tattered olive-colored sails. Vermin skittered up and down her
deck, readying her for her reunion with the shore after a long summer and
autumn. Just as one of the longboats was swung out over the side. A hatch
opened in the deck, and out from it came the weasel whose name had made
many a coastal beast shiver with fear and the hares of Salamandastron
wrinkle their noses in disgust: Viand Blacktooth!
He moved with ease and grace usually noted only among squirrels and hares, and in his eyes glinted an intelligence rarely seen on the faces of vermin. He wore dashing black pantaloons and a matching vest, and slung over his shoulder a pearl-handled scimitar gleamed. A small, lean brown rat slinked up to him.
"Cap'n Blacktooth, yer Lordship, we've made ready to land."
Viand nodded.
"Very good, Skinfoot. See that the rest of the sails are furled."
Skinfoot was a new recruit, not especially learned in the ways of the sea or in Viand's temper.
"But Cap'n, we can't furl all o' the sails in open water! You'll get us all killed, I tell yer!"
Faster than Skinfoot's eye could follow, Viand smashed him in the face with the hilt of his scimitar. The injured and angry rat made the mistake of going for his weapon. Another quick motion by Viand, and Skinfoot's head looped gracefully over the side of the boat and gently splashed into the water.
Viand looked around at the rest of the crew. "Anyone else have any smart ideas? Anyone?" The deck was absolutely silent. "Good. Now get the rest of the sails furled and get this-" He kicked at what moments ago had been a living creature-"Out of here."
He strode over and stood watching by the longboat and watched as his crew sprung back into action as he knew they would. He had picked the crew very carefully. Skinfoot had been very good with the bow. It had been a shame he had to kill him.
Two rats rolled the corpse off the gangplank, while an assortment of rats stoats, and ferrets scurried up into the rigging and furled the sails under the careful eye of Viand's first mate, a fox by the name of Swarth.
Minutes later the longboats were rowing steadily toward a long stretch of beach occupied by nothing but low dunes and caves. Far to the north he saw a towering group of enormous rock formations, and in between them-what was this? An enormous ship! Or half of a ship, rather. It must have been stuck there during a storm. Poor captaining, or an ineptitude by one of the crew. Something that would never happen on his ship.
One by one the longboats pulled up along the beach and three quarters of the crew, about a hundred beasts in all, poured out, a motley collection of various vermin brandishing cutlasses, spears, bows, and countless other weapons. Many captains would only have left about a dozen guards on their ships, but Viand had seen far to many ships overrun and their crews stranded on shore with no escape. It was a strategy he had used many times. And Viand Blacktooth was not one to make other beasts mistakes.
He leaped gracefully from his boat and onto the cold gray sand. He breathed in the salty air and listened to the wind howl through the caves. It was a wind of gloom, fear and despair. It was nature spreading news to itself all over the land.
Viand Blacktooth is here!
He moved with ease and grace usually noted only among squirrels and hares, and in his eyes glinted an intelligence rarely seen on the faces of vermin. He wore dashing black pantaloons and a matching vest, and slung over his shoulder a pearl-handled scimitar gleamed. A small, lean brown rat slinked up to him.
"Cap'n Blacktooth, yer Lordship, we've made ready to land."
Viand nodded.
"Very good, Skinfoot. See that the rest of the sails are furled."
Skinfoot was a new recruit, not especially learned in the ways of the sea or in Viand's temper.
"But Cap'n, we can't furl all o' the sails in open water! You'll get us all killed, I tell yer!"
Faster than Skinfoot's eye could follow, Viand smashed him in the face with the hilt of his scimitar. The injured and angry rat made the mistake of going for his weapon. Another quick motion by Viand, and Skinfoot's head looped gracefully over the side of the boat and gently splashed into the water.
Viand looked around at the rest of the crew. "Anyone else have any smart ideas? Anyone?" The deck was absolutely silent. "Good. Now get the rest of the sails furled and get this-" He kicked at what moments ago had been a living creature-"Out of here."
He strode over and stood watching by the longboat and watched as his crew sprung back into action as he knew they would. He had picked the crew very carefully. Skinfoot had been very good with the bow. It had been a shame he had to kill him.
Two rats rolled the corpse off the gangplank, while an assortment of rats stoats, and ferrets scurried up into the rigging and furled the sails under the careful eye of Viand's first mate, a fox by the name of Swarth.
Minutes later the longboats were rowing steadily toward a long stretch of beach occupied by nothing but low dunes and caves. Far to the north he saw a towering group of enormous rock formations, and in between them-what was this? An enormous ship! Or half of a ship, rather. It must have been stuck there during a storm. Poor captaining, or an ineptitude by one of the crew. Something that would never happen on his ship.
One by one the longboats pulled up along the beach and three quarters of the crew, about a hundred beasts in all, poured out, a motley collection of various vermin brandishing cutlasses, spears, bows, and countless other weapons. Many captains would only have left about a dozen guards on their ships, but Viand had seen far to many ships overrun and their crews stranded on shore with no escape. It was a strategy he had used many times. And Viand Blacktooth was not one to make other beasts mistakes.
He leaped gracefully from his boat and onto the cold gray sand. He breathed in the salty air and listened to the wind howl through the caves. It was a wind of gloom, fear and despair. It was nature spreading news to itself all over the land.
Viand Blacktooth is here!