Hi my ever loyal fans. Sorry this took so long, but I went on holidays and couldn't get to a computer... and I just haven't been bothered sorry... well I hope you enjoy.
The next day Brak took the girls away from the hustle and bustle of Greenharbour and to a wide deep river that lead into Medalon. There Brak told them to wait for him while he found an old friend and a boat they could ride on. Surprisingly they actually waited for him to return, though that was probably because he threatened that if they weren't in the same spot when he returned he would leave without then, and not only that, he would tip off the demons as to where they were. So the three girls sat on the ground, in the middle of a busy market place road, and waited until Brak got back from his meeting with whoever it was.
"Come on girls, we have to get going now!" Brak said as soon as he arrived at the spot they were waiting.
"Why?" asked Tapanga.
"Couldn't you at least let us stretch a bit before we leave?" Ally asked, "I mean you only left us so sit and wait in the same spot for three hours."
"Do you know how many times I got kicked in the head by people walking by?" Tash complained, rubbing a hand through her long blonde hair.
"Well it wasn't my fault that you three sat in the middle of road," Brak said hurriedly, impatient to get going.
"Yes it was." All three girls said at once.
"You told us that if we moved from this spot you would tell the demons where we were." Ally quoted Brak
"But I… Whatever, just lets get going, before the boat leaves." Brak said through gritted teeth.
"And besides you already set those demons onto us when you called the leader of you demon clan." Tash accused him
"I already told you I did not summon her, she just popped up because she thought I could use her to get to Medalon. She didn't know you three were with me, and I made her swear not to tell anyone where you are, so you are still safe." he sighed at their obvious disbelief.
"I still can't believe you didn't tell us that you have a whole heap of demons of your own to command," Ally said. "I wish we could boss them around like you can. But I think because we have their blood in us we can't have that luxury."
"It isn't a luxury, Ally, its more of a hindrance, they always bug you when you don't want it, and then they refuse to do what you ask them to, even if it if of great importance."
The boat, Maera's Daughter, was small and cramped, and Tash Ally and Tapanga were sure that it was going to fall apart at any time. It turned out that it was owned by a friendly, chatty man, Captain Drendik and his two brothers, Gazil and Aber. The girls had to stay in the hull, so they would not be seen by any defenders. Captain Drendik made the girls peel potatoes, while Brak helped out on deck, disguised as a crew member.
"Why the hell do we have to peel stupid potatoes all day while Brak gets to sit around in the sun?" Tapanga complained loudly, throwing her potato peeler against the side of the boat, where it got lodged into the wood.
"I don't think we are even going to use these potatoes." Tash whined.
The girls heard the door handle to hull twist, so Tapanga quickly got up and walked over to where her peeler sat still lodged in to the wall. She yanked it out and just as she did there was a spurt of water coming from the hole where her peeler once sat. "Oh shit!" with the realization that her throw was more forceful then she thought she stabbed the peeler back in said hole and leaned against the wall, successfully hiding the peeler from sight.
"Why aren't you three peeling the potatoes?" asked one of the two crew who came in the hull. Both of these men were wide set, making the small space even more cramped then it was with just Tash, Ally, Tapanga and the big pile of potatoes. The man was looking at Tapanga, as Tash and Ally had resumed peeling.
"I was…Tying my shoes." Tapanga lied, shooting a glare at the other two, who were making it look like she was the only one not working.
"You are wearing boots, you don't have laces." Said the same man.
"Oh yeah... well there was something in my boot and I had to get it out and I was holding onto the wall for support, because I have really bad balance, haven't got the hang of these sea legs yet ya know," Tapanga covered.
"I don't care if you have I spider in your shoe, just get back to work."
All three girls jumped at the second man's loud voice and saluted, watching the men sigh and walk back up the stairs and out into the sunlight.
Once out side the men went to Brak and told them that the girls were still peeling the potatoes.
"I still don't get why your making them peel those rotten potatoes, I mean we won't even use them, and they're stinking up the ship, we should have gotten rid of them at the last stop," one of the men asked him.
"Well once they stop doing what they are told to do they always make some sort of trouble, and on a boat there is nothing worse then these girls getting board and making trouble, especially on a boat," Brak answered matter of factly.
Brak went down the stairs and into the rotten smelling hull, he didn't quite trust the girls to actually be doing the work they were given. As he got into the bottom of the hull he found that, sure enough, the girls were quietly peeling the faulty potatoes. The girls had been down in the hull for two days now, and were used to the smell, so they didn't notice it. Brak still couldn't believe that they hadn't noticed that the potatoes were rotten, they were bruised and slightly decaying from being down in the ship's bottom. Tash , Ally and Tapanga looked up at him innocently and smiled.
"Are you here to tell us that we can come up top for a while?" Ally asked expectantly.
"No, you all know it is too dangerous for you three to be seen on this ship, the defenders will know that you are not from here, and I cant risk discovery." Brak answered, suddenly feeling guilty as the smile on Ally's face fell. "Im just here to tell you that we will be getting off the ship in another day or two, if the weather permits."
"No your not," Tapanga eyed his suspiciously,. "You're here to check up on us, make sure we are peeling these damned potatoes."
"And I see that your not." Brak smirked
"We were before you turned up and distracted us," Tapanga countered.
"Well I didn't realise I was so distracting," Brak grinned and turned to leave, before stopping to look back at Tapanga. "Before I go I was just wondering why you have your dagger out?"
"I'm using it to peel potatoes," she replyed as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Tash and Ally grinned at the look of annoyance Brak was giving her.
"Yes I can see that, but why when you were given a perfectly good peeler?" the half breed ignored her sarcasm.
"Well I found that I was faster at peeling them with my dagger then with the peeler because my dagger is sharper," Tapanga said, thinking of a good excuse quickly.
"Ok well, keep peeling those potatoes," Brak was eying the three innocent faces suspiciously, knowing that something was not right, but unable to prove it.
After two days more of constant peeling potatoes, and hiding the hole which Tapanga's peeler was covering, the girls were ready to start demanding that they get at least an hour of fresh air on deck, or they would be forcing the crew to be eating the potatoes raw. For the whole time they were on the boat they had not once even had one potato to eat and Tash, Ally and Tapanga were sick to death of peeling the horrible things. However when the door to the hull opened in came Brak, instead of the usual thickset sailor. All three opened their mouth to protest about the potatoes, but stoped when he put his hand up and gave them a warning look.
"Now I know that your sick of peeling these potatoes," Brak started.
"Yeah we are, so when are you going to eat the damn things." Tapanga demanded.
"They will be eating them on the way back from here,"
"Does that mean that we are in Medalon?" asked Ally eagerly.
"Yes we are here, but we have to be very careful to not mention any of the Gods while we are here."
"Why?" all three girls said at once.
"Because the Medalon's are all atheists and at the moment the defenders are doing a purge in order to get rid of all pagan worshippers. You must try to keep out of site of the defenders, though that will prove to be difficult as they are swarming around everywhere." Brak tried to warn them of the dangers, but he could see that they were not listening to him. The girls were too excited to be off this stuffy boat and back on dry land. He could only hope that he could keep a close eye on them.
As they headed off the boat into the busy streets of Medalon Tapanga, Tash and Ally turned and waved good bye to the captain and crew.
"You better eat those potatoes," Tash yelled at the top of the voice.
"Yeah and if you don't we will know and hunt you down." Ally added as a warning.
"I wouldn't touch that potato peeler if I were you." Tapanga warned the crew, who just looked at eachother confused. After that they turned and left.
"What did you do to the peeler?" Brak asked out of curiosity, but knowing that he wouldn't like the answer.
"Oh well, a few days ago I got sick of peeling and threw it into the wall of the hull. And when one of the crew came down to check on us I pulled it out and it started spraying water into the boat, so I put the peeler back in the hole. I guess I don't know my own strength." She explained grinning.
"I really hope they don't touch that peeler, because if they do they probably won't get it in the right position and it will leek. You were lucky that you got it right." Brak said.
"Wow, what a pretty uniform," Tash suddenly exclaimed, pointing over to a small group of men, all wearing a bright red uniform with bright and shiny gold buttons down one side, and black boots that looked so polished that they could be used as a mirror. . "Who are they?"
"They are the defenders, Medalon's highly trained army. They maybe a lot smaller than either Fardohnya's or Hythria's armies but in they could put up a heck of a good fight against both put together, just because their discipline is so good. You are not to go near any of those men." Brak told the girls, to instill how important it is to stay away, but from the looks on their faces, it would be a hard task for Brak to achieve
"We should join them." Tash whispered to Tapanga and Ally.
"But how would we do that?" asked Ally.
"Easy we just dress up as men." Tash explained, thinking logically for once. "Tapanga you could tie up your hair in a ponytail, Ally, you hair is short enough not to need to worry. And I can just wear a hat. I think we can get away with it."
"And getting a way from Brak is easy, we already proved it in Greenharbour." Tapanga said getting more excited by the idea.
"Then thats it, we join the Defenders." Ally said grinning. "This will be fun."
Well that's it for now. Please join Tash Ally and Tapanga for more adventures in the next chapter, when they ditch Brak and join the defenders. Please review. ... and now you will need to update Tapanga-Chestnut.