Here be Dragons

Chapter 11

"The guard, any others, and the captain are likely on this ship. Now the captain stared me down and blew a horn that summoned that Black Dragon. If it works like mine he can't blow it for another week or even longer. When we meet him don't underestimate him, he has power," Rick warned her.

This time Rick went first with his bow out and two normal arrows already in the bow. Going up the gangplank that was just a set of boards to walk on, Rick made it to a point just high enough to look over the side and search for the guard. Movement had him on the stairs going up to the upper deck. Lining up his shot, he took his time and was rewarded with him taking two arrows in the back. Followed by falling back down the stairs. The noise he made falling down the stairs made Rick cringe but it didn't last long.

They were soon both over the side and moving aft. There were two sets of stairs leading down to the main deck. There was clearly a room forward under the forecastle. This time Kate went first. Up there they saw not two ballista but three.

Kate picked the door on the left, opened it slowly, but had to use her dark vision to look inside. It was about a 15 x 10 foot room. It looked like a bedroom, however, it was empty so Kate backed back out.

Moving to the next door she was about ready to open it when Dog suddenly growled a low menacing growl. That had her looking at Rick. He was putting his bow away and slowly unsheathed his sword for close quarter fighting.

Kate tried to slowly open the door and instantly realized that the room was lit. She also saw movement so she kicked the door open and let Rick charge inside.

Inside was a single human barely dressed as if he was getting ready for bed. He was fast enough to avoid Rick's first swing. "YOU!" His hatred of Rick was obvious.

Almost in the same second several things happen. First Kate could feel him. He was a shifter and not just any shifter, he was a Dragon. She just didn't know what kind but was betting he was evil. "He's a shifter!" Kate warned Rick in case he hadn't yet felt it.

Clark the Pirate Captain turned his head to see Kate and suddenly he felt both of them were shifters and not just any shifters, they were both Dragons. Probably goody two-shoes good dragons. He was also unprepared for them. First was the surprise that they had killed almost all his crew. He had barely enough to get home where the others were. Second they'd somehow followed him. Third they had sneaked into his cabin.

He hated to do it since that meant his ship would be ruined and sink right where it was but if he didn't he was probably dead with no weapons in hand to fight back with. So he shifted into his Dragon.

The result was instantaneous. The bow of his ship was ruined as it broke off from the rest of the ship since it couldn't contain his size or his weight. Kate screamed as the wood broke and went flying everywhere.

Rick and Kate fell into the water as the ship started to sink and fast. Dog blinked away and Rick tried to keep his eyes on the Black Dragon but he lost him. Now he was in deep water and while he could still breathe water, he was sinking slowly with no more swim potions to use. He was swimming as hard as he could but he was sinking through all the wood when suddenly Kate showed up and helped him to the surface.

The closest was the rock ledge they'd been on earlier so Kate did all she could to get him to reach it so he could climb up followed by herself.

Now they were farther away from where they came but the shelf continued on. They both watched as the Pirate ship sank fast. They could hear yelling from the aft section as it started to sink as well.

Kate spotted movement in the water. It was big and black. "Run, that way!" Rick pushed her and followed her. The shelf suddenly turned left and turned into a tunnel that ultimately went up about 10 feet. Then it sharply turned right. They saw another large board going over water for about 15 to 20 feet so they kept going. Rick was hoping this was the back way into where they were building that other ship.

It did turn that way only to go around the edge of yet another pool of water. Kate stopped when they came across another tunnel. They looked inside but saw nothing. "All this water probably means there's a way for it to get in here. There has to be an entrance under water down there somewhere," Rick said, thinking it might be an alternate way out.

Kate went first and found a larger room that was filled with crates and barrels. "Some of what they stole, looks like. Must be the good stuff if it's way back here," Rick said. There was another tunnel but it didn't go toward the ship being built. It was the opposite direction, in fact. "Secret way out, maybe," Rick suggested and let Kate go first.

However, it wasn't a secret back entrance or emergency escape. Instead it opened into an 80 foot diameter roughly round room. There were five rock columns holding the ceiling up. There was another pool of water and a rock stepping stone to a slightly elevated platform.

"WOW!" Rick and Kate said at the same time. What they both saw was gold and silver coins just lying there along with gems, jewelry, and small chests. "They've been busy." Rick was impressed. Then Kate took a step but Rick stopped her. "There are probably traps," he warned her.

Kate looked but didn't see anything but that didn't mean there weren't any. She had an idea. There was just enough space to land on that upper landing and maybe get her portable hole open. "Up there, you think?" Kate pointed at the elevated shelf where the coins were located.

"Not likely but getting there might be dangerous," Rick cautioned. But in an instant, much like how Dog moved around, Kate was standing over there and nothing happened. "Impressive." He didn't know she could do that.

"Three times a week." Kate liked it and thought it might come in handy. She took out her portable hole and opened it up.

"Careful. Touch nothing that looks like it might be a dimensional item like a bag of holding or all that and you are gone." Rick watched her use her hands to shovel everything into the hole while trying to leave the bigger stuff behind. It took her about thirty minutes to do it carefully but she was folding her portable hole back up and was soon standing next to Rick.

"Nice work, Kate. That should piss our Pirate off." Rick was all smiles and Kate was happy to piss that guy off.

"Now what?" Kate inquired since there was only one way in and one way out unless they wanted to go swimming. "My portable hole still has room." Kate was thinking some crates and barrels.

Soon they were carefully lowering all the barrels down into her portable hole then filled it up with crates and folded it closed. Rick opened his and in went the rest of the crates that now took up half of his space though he had maybe a quarter left to put stuff in.

"That was two so you have one left. Can you take me with you?" Rick liked that idea best. Only Kate was shaking her head. Rick was betting he was too big for her. "Still your third trip might be good for something. Since Black Dragons can swim and breathe water he's probably down there somewhere waiting for us. What we need is out of here." Rick wanted to fight him where they had an advantage or was at least neutral.

"It's sight only so I need to see where I'm going and the range is limited," Kate said, which presented a problem for both of them. "Do you think he'll just leave?" Kate seriously doubted it but wanted to hear this thoughts.

"An Evil Dragon that just gives up? Not a chance. No, he's out there. I'm betting underwater just enough so he can still see us. We still need out of here and not end up in the water. We deal with him then we can come back and search the ship building area. …We need a plan." Rick tried to think based on what they'd seen so far.

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"So where do we go? The barracks, maybe?" Kate asked.

"That or the kitchen dining area. Once there we can decide what to do next. For now we run until we're in the tunnels. Black Dragon Breath is acid and they shoot it in a straight line. So be ready to hit the brakes or go faster. …Ready?" Rick was letting Kate and her speed go first.

"Go." Kate took off and Rick waited a second or two then followed. Rick was pretty sure he saw movement in the water but the shelf he was on was a little narrow so he needed to watch where he was going.

Then suddenly he heard Dog somewhere behind him barking his head off and just kept barking until Rick was in the tunnel then he stopped. A moment later Dog was standing right next to both of them.

"Good dog!" Kate had seen some of it and knelt down to hug him and kiss his head followed by scratching his ears.

"Dog." Rick took over scratching his ears. "Let's move." They still had to get past one more section where the Black Dragon could spot them and do something about it. However, it was only about 10 feet long so it would be fast.

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What they needed now was some safety so Rick went backward from the meeting area/dining room using an item and created a stone wall 10 feet deep to block the area that led to the bridge to the far side then did the same thing that led out to a beach that had a row boat on it. That left just one way in and one way out.

"You're trapping us in here?" Kate wasn't sure she liked that.

Rick shook his head. "Just cutting down access to this area. I'm thinking we wait for daylight then make a move. Daylight gives us an advantage. What I want is for us to get out in Dragon form and up into the air. If he chooses to follow we summon our other two Dragons and fight him in the air. Don't want him changing to human and sneaking up on us."

"Four against one again. I like the sound of that. Do you think he'll go for it?" Kate queried.

"Think about it. You're the head of a Pirate group. You have a big ship that you no longer have. Your second ship is nowhere near ready. Your men are dead, either killed or drowned in a sinking ship. He knows his treasure is way back there, the same place we just came from. He has to guess that we now have it. His pride has taken a big hit and he's evil. …No, he's still here. He dies or we do." Rick doubted he would ever leave except to get more men and finish the second ship and start over.

"Looks like we've got a few hours to figure out a way." Kate was thinking it was just past midnight when they had started. They still had a few hours until the sun came up.

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"The sun's been up for about an hour." Kate came back from looking outside. "You're sure I can't use that horn? I'm faster than you by a little." She thought she stood a better chance of getting away. "And he hates you."

"Unfortunately, no. Hopefully they'll keep him busy long enough. I'll be right behind you. You have the idol to summon the Gold Dragon. Remember to wait until he's in the air before you use it." The trick they were going to have was how he was going to blow the horn to summon the Bronze Dragon to help them.

"Dog, stay." Rick was sure he would know if Rick had died from this and it would free him to move on. "Be a good dog." Rick feared he might never see him again and scratched his ears.

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Kate was ready and watched Rick run across the two bridges out to the ballista location where he stopped and didn't wait to see if the Black Dragon was still there; he raised his horn and blew it. In a moment three barbarians showed up and dived into the water as directed to attack a Black Dragon.

Kate ran for the beach before Rick even made it to the ballista. She shifted the second her foot touched sand, flapping her wings hard to try and gain some altitude and speed.

Rick didn't have the benefit of running hard first. He put his horn away, shifted, and jumped. He pumped his wings hard to try and gain altitude and speed as well. He had no idea if his barbarians found anything or if they even got in a single hit. It didn't matter anyway. They were a distraction to keep the Black Dragon busy a moment so they could get a head start.

Rick was too intent on flapping his wings as hard as he could to risk looking back. He did, however, see Kate out in front of him who did. Then she turned back to face where she was going and kept flapping hard. It was a pity they couldn't talk to each other easily. Maybe they could find a way to fix that later. He would love to know what she saw.

Rick was actually gaining some altitude when he saw Kate look back again. This time he watched as she shifted back to human and fell from the sky like a rock. A moment later an Adult Gold Dragon appeared which told Rick the Black Dragon had fallen for it and was likely hot on his heels. It reinforced his determination to keep flapping hard.

Kate pulled out a potion of Fly and drank it. Then she shot up straight into the air to try and regain some altitude and help Rick.

Rick took the chance and looked behind him and saw the Black Dragon pumping his wings hard to catch up to him. Looking back allowed him to get just a touch closer. It gave Rick an idea and he slowed his flapping a lot and it was like the Black Dragon was shot out of a cannon. Then Rick shifted and fell out of the sky. He went flying right past the Black Dragon who had to be shocked.

Ruck pulled out his horn and blew it. Then he put it away and took out a potion of Fly and drank it. He watched as the Black Dragon winged over and plummeted from the sky to try and reach him as he rocketed straight up past him.

The Black Dragon wanted Rick badly so he leveled out and was rewarded with having an Adult Gold Dragon breathe fire on him and plunge past him. It hurt but he didn't care. Rick had to die.

Kate shifted back to a Gold Dragon and winged over to plunge at the Black Dragon. She watched as the Black Dragon tried hard to catch Rick. Going slow slowed him down and the Black Dragon was rewarded with a Lightning Bolt breath from the Bronze Dragon as he flew past.

Rick had some height again and shifted to Gold Dragon form and pumped his wings to gain some speed and turned so Kate could get a good shot. He was too busy pumping his wings and watching where he was going to see Rick hit him with his breath weapon of fire and fly past him.

Rick began a wide turn to get back to the others and looked for the Black Dragon who was still trying to gain his height. However, one of the Gold Dragons was in a good location if he could get the Black Dragon to lose some altitude so he went down and made another turn.

Kate watched as the Gold Dragon used it claws to make a hit and managed for one claw to hit the Black Dragon before flying on.

Rick soon had the Black Dragon in a wide spiral and going down chasing Rick. Kate watched as the Bronze Dragon did the same thing and got one claw in him. Now it was Kate's turn so she made her run but only hit him with one claw.

The Gold Dragon had made its turn and was coming back as the Bronze Dragon was starting its turn while Kate wasn't even ready to start hers yet.

Kate was just in time to see the Gold Dragon bite the wing of the Black Dragon and instantly stopped flying, forcing both of them to spiral down to the sea far below. Kate was pretty sure keeping the Black Dragon from reaching the water was what he wanted to happen though neither of them had that kind of control over either of them.

Kate was starting her own dive when she saw the Bronze Dragon manage to bite the other wing somehow and immediately stopped flapping its wings. Now there were three Dragons tumbling toward the sea below.

She wasn't going to reach them in time before they all hit the water, which at this speed was going to really hurt. As she watched she saw Rick swoop in and as she flew by all three of them he concentrated his breath of fire on the Black Dragon and flew away.

Kate watched all three hit the water and make a huge splash. Kate decided to level out and slow down to watch. A moment later she saw the Gold Dragon vanish. That also meant the idol would sink to the bottom of the sea and likely never be seen again. But they'd already known that was a possibility. If they killed the Black Dragon it would be worth it.

She saw the Bronze Dragon let go and bite the wing again. It held on as both of them sank into the water. Eventually both of them were too deep to see again.

Kate headed for the Pirate base as planned, landed, shifted to human form. She moved into the tunnel where Dog barked at her and blinked all over the place. "You're such a good dog." She was looking for Rick and finally saw him.

Rick landed, shifted to human form, and found Dog blinking all around him and barking his head off. Rick couldn't get him to stop so he could hug and kiss him. So Rick reached for a piece of jerky and gave it to Dog. A moment later he had Kate's arms around him and was kissing her with passion.

"Do you think he's dead?" Kate wasn't sure. He had taken a lot of damage. It was just he was back in the water again.

"He should be. He's a shifter who happens to be a Black Dragon. I don't know enough to know how a Black Dragon heals itself. If he isn't it's going to take a long time to recover."

"I'm not sure I want to do that again. …Now how do we get out of here? Do we even know where we are?" Kate queried and looked out onto the water.

"Now that's a good question." They had no ship since it had sunk and couldn't man it anyway. The other ship was a long ways from being done and Rick was betting neither of them knew how to build a ship. That left them with three row boats and no way to communicate with anyone.

"I got my island," Rick smiled as he teased her.

"Not funny, babe, so not funny." Kate didn't see anything humorous in that. She did have something he should know. "I think I'm pregnant. I missed my last period." Kate searched his face for an answer.

But he had hoped that it wouldn't happen until after this was over.

"Pretty sure." She knew she had blindsided him with it but.… Her mind stopped working when he kissed her.

His and her Dragon were screaming baby and couldn't be happier. They were both guaranteed the baby would be a shifter and be another Gold Dragon. It was just how two shifters that were the same animal worked.