52. The First Shots.
The wind was only moderate, but the sea turned turbulent as in a storm, much to Ubel's displeasure. The white ferret struggled to kept the contents of his stomach in their proper place, as Sea Princess climbed up and descended down the waves – at the worst moments it seemed as if his stomach itself was trying to leave his body through the mouth. Enjo Greencloak personally took the helm, as they approached the Green Maelstrom, confidently shouting commands over the noise – the Roaringburn was living up to its name – and pretending to enjoy the whole thing.
The day was clear and bright, and Ubel's eyes grew more irritated and sensitive than ever during the sea voyage, so simply trying to look at another pair of beasts, who pretended to enjoy the danger, brought out involuntary tears. Seien the brat King was straddling the bowsprit – on all fours, tail in the air, holding on to the wood with every claw, with only surging water instead of relative safety of the ship's deck beneath him. Ulakhai Stonestrength was not far behind, perched right over the head figure of Sea Princess. Ubel had to give the brat his due – all the fools among the rank-and-file loved ostentatious bravery almost as much as ostentatious generosity.
Then again, he, Ubel, was not that different. Why he could not just shut his eyes, to avoid tormenting rays of the sun and the sight of the Maelstrom, of the colossal slow whirlpool of green and black water deceptively far on the right, the sight that sent chills down Ubel's spine however sure he was about his destiny? Well, of course because as the Seer he too had to appear strong in the face of danger and confident in success.
So he kept looking, as Sea Princess and the rest of the fleet in her wake drew closer and closer to the great ship-eater of the southern sea. The ship seemed to be gaining speed, all sails hoisted. The trick, as far as Ubel understood, was to accelerate, using the current and, hopefully, the wind, and skirt the very edge of the Green Maelstrom, using momentum to leave it behind before your ship could be pulled in. Or were they already being pulled in? Was Sea Princess' bow ever so slowly turning towards the mouth of the whirlpool, which low, dreadful roar now reverberated through Ubel's bones?
No. It wasn't. The white ferret found himself in cold sweat after a terrible half-minute of doubt, but now he saw it clearly – Sea Princess was speeding past the Maelstrom, leaving it behind her stern. Enjo's triumphant laugh confirmed Ubel's observation.
"Ahhahaha! Ye thrice-cursed sea, I've beaten ye! I, Enjo Greencloak! Southsward, here we come!"
Ubel allowed his sore eyes to close. Now, when the danger was past… Then they shot open again, as the ship heaved more violently than usual, and Ubel lost his footing, only Sheska's timely help preventing him from kissing the deck. And at the very same moment he heard a cry of alarm from a searat behind him. For a second the white ferret was sweating again – before turning and seeing that the rat is pointing to something behind Sea Princess.
What Ubel saw upon stumbling to the bulwark was still a cause for sweating. Thankfully, all of the ships with Ergaph vermin, his biggest concern, seemed to be safely following in Sea Princess's wake. It was Bloody Arrow's captain who apparently lost his nerve and tried to steer his ship straight away from the Maelstrom. Or maybe the ship simply got unlucky – some part of the rigging broke at the critical moment, or its crew executed an order sloppily. Nobeast was going to know for sure now. All observers on the other ships saw was that Bloody Arrow went in an out-of-control turn, exposing her side to Roaringburn's great waves. Right before Ubel's eyes a particularly tall one swept over the deck, nearly capsizing the ship.
Perhaps capsizing would have been a mercy to those beasts who weren't washed overboard. But Bloody Arrow was a sturdy, seaworthy vessel, and she remained afloat, as the last bits of her speed were lost, and the current began to slowly, oh so slowly at the start, dragging it towards the Maelstrom, stern first.
Ubel ignored desperate struggles of beasts who could still be seen on Bloody Arrow's deck and rigging. He was too busy counting in his mind. The vision – the first and most important of them – pretty clearly indicated twelve hundreds of fighting beasts as the number necessary to ever lay paws on his heart's desire. Ubel spent most of his life engineering creation of such a mighty army, and now a mistake of some bone-headed corsair savage threatened to ruin it all! But once again, the Seer's fear was short-lived. The whole vermin alliance had over thirteen hundreds upon leaving Ergaph, the Bloody Arrow's crew was eighty-something, without it there still were enough vermin.
Assuming the sea or illness were not going to claim too many beasts on other ships, of course.
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Desert in the spring was as pleasant as it could possibly be. Rains reached the great southern plateau and the dry lands south of it in this season, bringing growth and life. The sun was invigoratingly warm instead of white-hot, so travelling by day was possible for now. Grass, bushes and colorful flowers sometimes made a beast forget that he is in the desert.
Never for long, though.
Belk took a sip from his flask and held the water in his parched mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. Judging by the weight of the flask, there was maybe enough left for a couple more sips there. Even in the spring, finding enough water for over a hundred of beasts in an unknown land was a trying task. And now Belk, Myns and their followers were well past the lands known to any of them.
Thirst so far was more of a headache than a torture for Belk, but some of those followers… He looked back towards the procession of jerbilrats just in time to see a mother with a child on her back stumbling and nearly falling. The whole tribe was on the move, and though the normal jerbilrat life quickly weeded out infirm beasts – if the tribe itself didn't – there still were babes and those not fit enough for a long and dangerous journey. So far there had been only three deaths – young Jenik walked straight into a viper's teeth, old Shayrena and an infant too small to be named perished from sudden illness. Belk knew that unless enough water can be found in a day, at most two, a lot more of weaker travelers would be added to the weight on his conscience. And Myns, while keeping up so far, was among the weaker ones as well – for how long she could withstand thirst?
So on this morning Belk dispatched Jeibras and five more strong youths to fan out and scout ahead of the column. Now it was evening, and the half-moon was more prominent in the sky than the sun. Four of the six scouts have returned without finding anything but the same endless, flat, dreary plain. Where were the other two?
Wait. Was there some movement ahead? Belk's eyesight was definitely not as great as in the days of his youth… But this time his eyes were not playing any tricks. There definitely was a small figure running towards them, and soon enough Belk could see that it was Jeibras.
Belk and the column of beasts behind him stopped as Jeibras ran up to them. The young jerbilrat was so out of breath that he had to stop and pant for a few seconds, his paws on his knees, before talking.
"Water… I've found it! Plenty of water. Big water. As big as the Abyss itself!"
Those words weren't that much of an exaggeration, Belk thought two hours later, when he finally saw the vast and dark surface of the river in moonlight. As jerbilrats around him stared in awe, some falling to their knees or crying, shaken by the unbelievable sight of so much water in one place, Belk felt like laughing. They did it! The most dangerous part of the journey was behind!
Of course, a bigger danger than the journey itself awaited them at its end.
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Kenrah liked being a fishermouse. Sure, his work was a mixture of long, anxious waits for a fish to swallow the bait and desperate, often downright dangerous, struggles to pull it out of the water, but he wouldn't have exchanged it for the monotony of working the fields. He liked the sea itself too, unlike most of his fellow Southsward creatures. Too bad that none of the coastal settlements planned to equip another ship for a voyage to legendary and dangerous lands beyond the sea, or he would be tempted to become a sailor. Most villagers were scared to linger at the sea after sunset. Even Kenrah's father, the second beast in their small vessel, grumbled that they should have returned earlier. But to Kenrah it was just a thrilling adventure. In the night, on the open plain of the sea, under the myriad of stars shining in the onyx black sky, marred by just a few clouds, the world seemed more vast and mysterious than ever. Who knew what wonders and terrors could be out there, beyond…
Wait. There was something out there. Kenrah could swear he heard soft splashing of water and creaking of wood. Another boat? No, it couldn't be, and besides, now that his ears alerted him, his eyes could vaguely discern something big, no, something huge moving slowly not so far from their boat.
And then that huge thing was right on the moonglade. A ship! Bigger than Kenrah ever imagined seagoing ships to be, with three tall masts and the head figure carved in the shape of naked female rat.
Most of the young beasts from Kenrah's village would have cried out in surprise, or froze, paralyzed by fear. But Kenrah knew better than that. Okay, maybe he froze for a few seconds. But then he moved, as swiftly and quietly as he could.
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Few beasts slept onboard Sea Princess that night. The land was spotted on the evening, and Captain Enjo hoped to close with it throughout the hours of darkness. Of course, there was the danger of running aground in unfamiliar waters, but there also was the alluring possibility of catching anybeast who might live on the coast unprepared.
But luck was not with them. The wind died down almost completely a couple of hours after sunset, and the prospect of giving southswarders a surprise before the morning died with it.
Still, there were plenty of open eyes onboard. With the moon high in the sky, Keran's boat could not escape all of them.
"A boat! A woodlander boat to starboard, cap'n!"
"What ye're waitin' for? Shoot 'em, ye logheads!"
Easier said than done. There were few archers among Enjo's beasts, they did not expect a battle right now, so their bows were unstrung and the boat was quickly breaking away under oars, about to fade from even the keenest sight.
Some of the crewbeasts hurled spears and javelins – to find out that the boat was already beyond their range. Then Ulakhai Stonestrength, who, of course, wasn't sleeping either, pushed a couple of searats aside, his strong bow at the ready. "Give way!"
The big mustelid took aim, drew a single deep breath to steady himself, pulled on the bowstring and sent the arrow flying. A yelp of pain, clearly audible over the still water – the shot was true. Ulakhai fired three more arrows in quick succession – but either the target was already too poorly visible, or he already used up all of his luck for tonight. The sounds of frantic rowing were still heard in the dark, growing quieter as the boat was getting away.
"Yeah, real nice aim, me buckoes!" Enjo could not contain his anger – but only in the first moment. He knew that his crew was superstitious, seeing omens in the most mundane coincidences. The first woodlanders they just encountered in Southsward got away, if not without a wound, and that was easy for them to see as a bad beginning, casting the shadow of ill portent on the whole campaign. So Enjo forced himself to bark out a laugh, as if his mood suddenly changed. "Ha! But if all the woodlander cowards are goin' to scurry away this fast, the whole land will be ours in no time!"
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As expected, the coastal village, through which Enjo, Ubel, Ulakhai, Seien and their vermin were now striding, was abandoned in haste. Enjo Greencloak spitefully kicked away a small wooden cup, which one of the escaping woodlanders apparently dropped in the middle of the road and did not bother to pick up. He could still detect the faint smell of mice, and voles, and smoke in the air. Ash in the fireplaces was not entirely cold. Tracking and catching a bunch of fat woodlanders, burdened with the old and the young should have been doable, except…
"Take a swig, cap'n, that's the good stuff!" Barkface, Enjo's first mate grinned idiotically waving him with a clay bottle in paw. He and a few other corsairs discovered the house of the local brewer. The rest of the crew was busy plundering as well, if not yet drunk. Woodlanders took much of their valuables with them, but they were unable to haul away their foodstores, and did not think of burning or otherwise despoiling them, so now the beasts from Sea Princess hastily helped themselves to the best stuff, before the rest of the ships, which trailed behind, could reach the shore and disembark more hungry and greedy vermin.
"Worry not." It was as if Ubel read Enjo's thoughts. "Let the woodlanders run, and spread panic with them. Burn this whole village to the ground, after your fighters are done with looting. Let a big column of smoke add weight to the runaways' words."
"Sure." Enjo frowned. He knew the white ferret's logic, he could, in fact, remember the exact words said on the council of war:
"The weak-hearted King of these weak-hearted woodlanders might be tempted to sit behind the strong stone walls of his castle, and bide his time, until one misfortune or another weakens us. But a king who hides and refuses battle when his country is reduced to ash and ruins would not be a king for long, do you all not think so?"
But Enjo had his scar and a cold stone in his eyesocket to remind him that even a woodlander settlement seemingly ripe for taking, with nearly all of its warriors far away, can give a very nasty surprise to an overconfident attacker, thinking that nothing there can challenge him.