Chapter 30 – Back by Morning

Water gently murmured outside the window. The sake in the bowl on the table rippled back and forth in motion with the boat. Outside, Yam Koo was busy hauling up ropes. Flik shook himself out of his daze. Tai Ho, seated directly across from him, was speaking to Viktor, who sat to the side. After Riou departed, Tai Ho had invited the two mercenaries over to his boat for a little afternoon reminiscing.

"Kimberley was following me around everywhere," Tai Ho explained and sipped from his drink. "Let me tell you, there's nothing worse than some woman hanging off of you, poking her nose into all of a man's affairs. It's like having an anchor strung around your neck." He squinted at Viktor and Flik, as if expecting their affirmation. Flik smiled half-heartedly, uneasy from the combination of the stronger-than-expected drink and the gentle rocking of the boat. Viktor, in better spirits, or maybe drunk beyond all thinking, nodded vigorously.

Tai Ho laughed, sipped his sake, and started coughing violently. Somehow he managed to keep his bowl steady, peering at it through glazed eyes. He set his drink down on the table and added, "Turns out Kun To came through for us. Said he had a job for us up north, running goods past port inspectors. It was the perfect opportunity. We make a little potch and get far away from that woman. I tell you, even my brother jumped at the job, and he's usually such a worrier." He fingered at his beard as if suddenly surprised to find it on his chin. "Enough about me. What happened to you two? Tir only said that you had to stay behind in the castle. We really did think you were dead."

"It's a long story," Viktor said and reached across the table to grab the bottle of sake. He upended it over his bowl, but nothing came out. Nonplussed, he brought the hole of the container up to eye level. After a cursory inspection, he stuck his index finger into the bottle.

Yam Koo pushed aside the reed mat covering the entrance, looked around the room, and announced, "We're ready to get underway, brother. You do remember that the strategist wants us to go looking for the Highland Army? Your chat will have to wait until we return."

Tai Ho frowned. "That won't do at all. There's nothing like a good story to spice up a dull voyage, especially a good story that I haven't heard." Viktor tried to pull his finger out and found it was stuck. He gave it a much more violent tug, to no better effect. Tai Ho's face brightened. "I know, why don't you two join us on our little trip? Two more sets of eyes would make it twice as likely that we'll locate the Highland Army."

Yam Koo shook his head. "I don't really see how that works. Besides, you think they're in any condition to help?" Viktor banged the bottle down on the table, hard. Then he swung it at the wooden wall of the room. Neither effort changed anything.

Tai Ho started laughing again. "A little lake voyage is just what they need to sober up. Works for me all the time. What do you say, Flik?"

Flik was having trouble saying anything at the moment. He blamed it on the effects of the drink. Various half-formed arguments were skittering around in his head, but he couldn't seem to grasp any one firmly. He slowly responded, "Can't. Got things to do in the morning. Men will have to be trained."

Viktor looked up from trying to will the bottle off his finger. "Aw, the men can use a break. One day off isn't going to hurt them." He brought his hand up to scratch his head. It was the hand with the bottle stuck on it. The bottle conked against his head and broke, clay shards clattering onto the floor. The spout was still firmly stuck on his index finger though.

Tai Ho stood up and swayed with the motion of the boat. Flik hoped he was swaying with the motion of the boat. "It's no problem," Tai Ho said. "We can get you back by morning easily. Afternoon at the latest. It'll be an adventure, don't you think?"

"Why not?" Viktor replied, which served as an answer for both him and Flik. "I don't want to be cooped up in that castle all the time."

Tai Ho clapped his hands. "Right. Brother, let's get this boat under way."

Yam Koo sighed. "All right. You had better come help me with the sail; I think there's a south wind coming up."

The two fishermen darted out of the little cabin, Tai Ho showing no ill effects from his drinking. Viktor was still puzzling over how to get the spout off his finger. Flik cautiously staggered out into the sunlight, squinting as it hit him on the face. The sun was sinking through a haze of clouds, and, just as Yam Koo had said, there was a wind out of the south. The temperature was distinctly warmer than just a few hours ago.

Yam Koo came back towards the stern of the boat with a pole in his hand and pushed off from the pier. The sail billowed under the wind and the craft lurched forward, cutting through the water. Flik watched as Dunan Castle receded into the distance. It was strange; the whole town looked more and more alive. Scaffolding covered parts of the structure, where workmen were busy patching cracks and opening up new rooms. There were more ships at the docks, too. As they departed the harbor, they passed a ship coming in. It was a small fishing trawler, but it was filled to the brim with its catch. All those fish would go to feed the army and the people assembling there.

Tai Ho, holding a pair of fishing rods, ambled back to where Flik was standing. He sniffed at the wind. "It's a good wind," he declared. "Powerful. It's traveled far to get here and will travel far past. Can you smell it? It carries the scents of earth and water from distant lands." Flik shrugged noncommittally; all he could tell was that it was getting uncomfortably warm and humid and he had a headache.

Tai Ho handed him one of the two poles. "Come on, we've got to catch supper if we're going to eat." He glanced at Yam Koo. "Brother, you mind the rudder. Keep us in clear water until we're at the outflow of the Lana River." Yam Koo nodded in a distracted manner, since he was already watching their course.

Flik looked dubiously at the simple rod. "I haven't done much fishing."

Tai Ho pulled up a bucket of bait, some of it still wriggling. "No problem. Fishing's all about waiting for the proper moment anyway." He stuck a worm onto the end of his hook. "Just cast and see what's biting." He walked over to the other side of the ship and followed his own advice. Flik speared a worm on his hook and lofted his line out into Lake Dunan. Viktor, having somehow removed the spout from around his index finger, strolled out of the cabin to join them.

"So, about this story?" Tai Ho asked.

"That's right," Viktor said. "I was going to tell you all about our escape from Gregminster Castle." He rubbed his hands together. "As I said, it's a long story, but it begins right after Flik took that arrow in his leg." Flik looked down and found that he was unconsciously rubbing the spot on his lower right thigh.

"Things were looking pretty bad," Viktor continued. "There were twenty, maybe thirty Imperial soldiers. It was one of the most difficult battles I've ever been in."

"What are you talking about?" Flik interjected. "We would've both died except that I still had enough strength to use my lightning rune."

Viktor coughed. "As I was saying. Things were looking pretty bad, and it was all Flik and I could do to hold them off. Eventually, all of the shaking spooked them and they ran."

The Star Dragon Sword on Viktor's back started rattling and popped halfway out of its sheath before Viktor could clamp two hands on it. "You are not going to forget to mention that it was I who brought down that ceiling on those soldiers and secured your escape," the sword threatened. "It just wouldn't do to have my servant stuck full of holes by somebody unworthy of my greatness."

Viktor glowered. "Wait a minute, are you saying you'd desert me if someone stronger came along?"

The sword continued to lecture Viktor. "Your greatest weakness is that you fail to remember just how close to death you come. It makes you brave…and stupid. This trait is useful to me, in moderation. I can't have you foolishly rushing to your death against mere humans, not when there are so many demons that need defeating."

"Bah!" Viktor groused, jamming the sword back into place. "Can't a guy embellish a little? Now where was I?"

Tai Ho laughed. "The Star Dragon Sword had just brought the ceiling down."

"That's right," Viktor affirmed, then paused, thought about what he was agreeing with, and glared at nobody in particular. "Well, the fight was over, and it was a good thing too, because Flik's leg gave out, and he collapsed to the floor. I had to pick him up and carry him out across my shoulders. He was bleeding quite a bit, so I didn't want to try and make my way back to the entrance. Luckily, all of that shaking had opened up some holes in the walls, and we escaped out one of those."

The story was interrupted when Flik's fishing pole nearly jerked out of his hands and over the side. He braced his feet against the railing and tried to reel his catch in. Tai Ho turned from his line and called out advice. "Slowly now, don't want to rip the head off that thing." Flik tried his best to follow the advice. Whatever was on his hook seemed to be resisting, but not trying to take his line in any awkward directions. Eventually he pulled his line up and grasped the catch. It was a brown boot with the sole hanging off partway. Tai Ho chuckled. "Well, you find more of those than you'd think possible, honestly. Maybe a boat full of shoes went down a long time ago. Anyway, toss that back in and try again."

Viktor sat down. "So we got out of there, but Flik's still got the arrow stuck in his leg. I had to push it all the way through to get it out. After that, he was still bleeding and now completely unconscious. I wasn't sure he was even going to survive getting back to the army encampments, so I carried him to one of the clinics in the city. It took a whole lot of potch to convince that doctor to sew him up, but he finally stopped the bleeding."

"Why didn't you inform somebody then?" Yam Koo inquired. "Liukan would've helped you, for sure."

Viktor shrugged. "There was a lot going on -Mathiu's death, seeing to wounded soldiers and civilians- I didn't want to bother him. Besides, the war was over; everybody was turning to matters of how to govern. I didn't want to get caught up in all that political stuff."

Flik considered his friend's words. He felt that the latter statement about politics had the ring of truth to it, rather than Liukan being busy. He'd never questioned Viktor on his reasons for the disappearing act. However, it stuck him that the odds were good that Viktor would've left quickly after the fall of Gregminster regardless of what happened. Viktor liked direct action and fighting for causes, but he was out of his element with politicking and office holding.

Tai Ho chortled. "I agree with you there, friend. Yam Koo and I were out of Gregminster as soon as the parties died down. I wasn't about to get tasked with commanding a naval squadron, or, worse, writing reports about commanding a naval squadron."

"I had another reason for not wanting to be tied down," Viktor commented. "While I was in South Window trying to convince Granmeyer and Gustav of Tinto to attack Moravia, Anabelle sent me a message asking for my help after the war was over. I wasn't about to refuse a request from her. As soon as Flik was stable, I started to discretely gather some of our colleagues from the war."

Flik shook his head. "It took me almost two months to recover from the wound. I was just lucky it didn't get infected."

"Yeah, while you were in bed recovering, all sorts of problems popped up," Viktor explained. "First there was Tir McDohl's disappearance and then war with Jowston. Everybody was a little paranoid at that moment, especially since the new government wasn't completely formed. I don't think Lepant would've looked too kindly on me raising a force to go help Jowston right in the middle of his own capital. As soon as Flik was ready for travelling, we up and left."

"And you took us right through the badlands," Flik added. "You nearly killed us all over again."

"It wasn't that much trouble," Viktor shot back. "Besides, it was faster than climbing up into the mountains and going through Banner Pass."

"Not that much trouble?" Flik replied incredulously. "We only had to dodge patrols from three different armies while trying not to starve or die of thirst."

"As I said, no problem. In the end, we got to Jowston and made our way to Muse, where Anabelle told us that she needed an independent force to help her defend against Highland. We got together some more men, built a fort in East Muse, and that's where we were when this whole thing got started."

Tai Ho laughed and casually pulled up a fish. "What a story. You ought to have somebody write that down. It's far too good to just be forgotten."

There wasn't much talking after that. Tai Ho caught four more fish in the time Flik needed to wrestle one of his own onto the boat. Six seemed to be enough, and Tai Ho pulled out a knife and began gutting the catch. Yam Koo got up from the tiller long enough to set up a small iron stove and the fish were set to cook. They were served without any spicing, alongside some stringy bean pods. It wasn't a great meal, the fish was too muddy for Flik's taste, but it was food.

The clouds that had built up during the afternoon descended with the dusk. It began to drizzle, not really raining, but something more substantial than mist. Combined with the darkness, visibility became a problem. Tai Ho scurried to set lanterns on the bow and aft of the boat, while Viktor and Flik stood to each side on lookout.

The wind was still out of the south, becoming slightly cooler now that the sun was down. Everything was very quiet, except for ropes and cloth straining in the breeze and the boat chopping across the water. Flik, stationed on the port side of the boat, squinted into the moisture, trying to pick out the shoreline. He couldn't see anything; both water and land were black to his eyes.

"Bring us closer in to the shore," Tai Ho said, a slight tension on his voice.

"Just don't run us up on any rocks, Brother," Yam Koo answered back.

Flik tried to maintain his composure as Tai Ho called out the depth readings. His eyes kept picking out shapes on the water, but those shapes always disintegrated before he could work up the nerve to call them out. Mist was rising up from the water, driven along by the wind.

Viktor laughed nervously. "So, anyone know where we are?"

"No worries yet," Tai Ho replied. "We're not anywhere too far off course. Any minute now, I think."

Flik thought he felt the boat shift under his feet, but wondered if the feeling hadn't been conjured up by his imagination. Apparently it wasn't, for Yam Koo called out, "Change in the current. The water's coming out of the west."

"Outflow of the Lana River, I reckon," Tai Ho suggested. "Take us in closer; let's see what's happening on the north bank of the river."

Yam Koo angled the boat towards the still unseen north shore, using the wind to help fight the sluggish current. Flik peered towards the bow of the ship, where Tai Ho continued to call out depths. They seemed to be getting closer, but Flik couldn't see any evidence of land.

All of a sudden the boat smashed into something unyielding, coming to an abrupt halt with the sound of timbers splintering. Tai Ho pitched forward over the prow, carrying the front lantern off with him. Flik stumbled a few steps and caught the railing.

Yam Koo jumped to his feet, grabbing a long pole. "Come on! We've got to get off of whatever we're stuck on." He ran up to the prow of the ship, looked down, and remarked, "Well, at least we've found what we were looking for."

Flik had to walk forward a few more feet before the meaning of those words became clear. Tai Ho and Yam Koo's fishing boat had ridden up on to the flat deck of a hastily constructed wooden transport barge. Tai Ho was up on his feet, pushing against the prow of their boat while Yam Koo worked with his pole to try and free them. Viktor and Flik took up poles to help. Tai Ho's lantern was just beginning to burn a tarp that it had shattered against.

A few more moments of muscle work got the boat off the barge, but Tai Ho's momentum carried him into the river. Yam Koo stuck out his pole to aid his sworn brother up and over the railing. In the red glare of the burning barge, Flik could see dozens of similar craft up and down the north bank of the Lana River. There was even enough light to see the first row of Highland tents up on the bank.

Flik glanced at the flags over those tents. He had seen them before, fought against those soldiers before, back at the fort in East Muse. "That's the Highland Third Army," he commented. "Kiba Windamier is the commander, I think."

Shouts were rising out of the camp. "Let's just get out of here," Viktor said.

"I'm doing my best," Yam Koo responded, grabbing the tiller. The boat banged against another barge, then spun off, helped along by Tai Ho and Viktor's pole work. They drifted downstream with the current, but the south wind was also driving them towards the north shore.

The barge that they had crashed into was now fully aflame, and Flik could see people working to cut it loose from its fellows. However, that light illumed more than the Highland efforts. Flik distinctly heard someone shout, "Intruders on the river!"

"What now?" Viktor asked.

"We wait for the river to take us back out onto Lake Dunan," Tai Ho responded calmly. "There'll be room enough to hide there."

"You know this for a fact?" Flik asked.

Tai Ho laughed. "I'm a smuggler. I've been dodging authorities all my life, so we shouldn't have too many problems with Highlanders in barges."

Arrows started splashing into the water. They weren't close, yet, but the wind was pushing the boat closer inshore. Viktor looked pointedly up at the billowing sail. "Shouldn't we take that down?"

"Not unless we want to get caught," Tai Ho replied. "Listen."

There was more splashing in the water. Not the little pinpricks of arrows, but the much broader sound of oars. Flik glanced over his shoulder and saw the shadowy outline of a galley coming down the river towards them.

"Steady course," Tai Ho commanded. "We're almost to the lake."

Flik peered ahead, but the light from the fire was failing, and he couldn't see more than a few shadows. An arrow plunked down hard on the planking of the boat. Flik started and felt another cut the air near his arm. Yam Koo scrambled up from the tiller and, pulling Flik along, ducked under the cover of the back side of the cabin. Viktor and Tai Ho joined them momentarily.

Arrows clattered down on the boat, sticking into the roof and walls of the cabin, impacting on the exposed deck and ripping into the sail, but none of them managed to drop down onto the back side of the cabin. The four men endured the assault for a few more minutes, and then they were out of range, sailing out into the darkness and onto the waters of the lake.

Flik permitted himself a few moments to feel relief. He also noted that he was quite damp from the mist and his own sweat. Then he got his bearings. "We're going north. Dunan Castle is that way." He pointed off to the stern.

"Ah, but the wind is taking us this way," Tai Ho observed. "Outrunning the Highland Army comes before getting home, I'm afraid." Flik could hear, but not see, the pursuing galley. Yam Koo shuttered the aft lamp and sat by the tiller. Tai Ho gave Viktor and Flik each a pole. "Feel around for rocks, if you would, and cry out if you find one. Not too loud, though. Maybe we can get the Highlanders to run up against something."

Flik obeyed as well as he was able, poking out into the darkness with his pole. Nothing happened, he slapped the water each time. The sound of the Highland pursuit gradually began to slacken, replaced by water foaming against rocks. He worked more furiously, sure that he was going to feel something hard with each probe. He didn't find anything.

After a while, Tai Ho had his brother swung the craft further out towards the east, pulling away from the coastline. The sound of the reefs faded away, replaced by the droning slap of water against the boat. The drizzle and the clouds continued, making little visible.

"We're going to come up on the north shore of the lake sooner or later," Yam Koo announced softly.

"Take us east, then," Tai Ho muttered. "Let's get some distance between us and any pursuit."

The boat slipped around a few more degrees, though Flik was unable to take any bearing. He wondered if either fisherman could. Now that the danger had passed, he felt drained, tired, and chilly. Sitting back from the railing, he leaned on the side of the cabin and passed into an uneasy sleep.

And woke to an argument. "We have no idea if it will even work the way he said it would," Yam Koo said heatedly, surprising Flik with his vehemence. "We should try to outrun them to the northeast instead."

That got Flik up in a hurry. Blinking rapidly in the morning sunlight, he spotted the two sworn brothers and Viktor standing to the aft of the ship, all looking back to the rear. Flik stood up and located what had them so concerned. A Highland galley, the same one or different he could not determine, was bearing down on them from about a mile away, oars working the water.

"All we'll do is come up against the shore," Tai Ho countered. "That'd be fine if this was a regular smuggling run, where all we had to worry about was evading some fat port administrator. We do that now, and we'll have to abandon the boat in the middle of enemy territory. I'm not too keen on trying to walk back to Dunan Castle."

Yam Koo looked back at the Highland ship and then at the northern shore. He frowned. "I don't like this at all, but you're right. We might as well see if this rune works."

"What rune is this?" Flik asked, yawning out the rest of his fatigue.

"It's from Falena," Tai Ho affirmed. "The merchant called it the Flow Rune. It's supposed to allow your boat to sail without the use of wind or oars, kind of like Kamandohl's engine."

"If it works," Yam Koo added. "That merchant said it was experimental. I think he was just trying to unload a dud rune."

"Whatever," Tai Ho interjected. "Let's get this boat pointed to the south and see what happens." Yam Koo sat down and pulled the tiller over, in a few short moments they were facing the correct direction. Flik glanced back to his right, the Highland galley was closer.

"We're ready," Yam Koo said.

"Let's do it," Tai Ho answered.

"Should we…uh…hold on to anything?" Viktor asked.

The boat suddenly lurched forward through the water, the prow lifting slightly up out of the lake. Flik snatched at the closest railing, wrapping both arms around it. Viktor had more casually used one hand to secure himself. Tai Ho braced himself only by flexing his knees, his laughter flowing back to Flik on the breeze.

They were moving, though, much faster than either wind or oars would normally carry them. The Highland ship rapidly receded, shrinking away on the horizon. Flik gradually got used to the pitch of the deck, relaxed, and let go of the railing, enjoying the wind through his hair. The day was hot, but the sky was mostly clear, and the sunlight shined brilliantly off the waters of the lake.

"It works!" Tai Ho shouted. "Nobody will ever be able to catch us now!"

"If it doesn't destroy the rudder first," Yam Koo added.

They crossed the lake much more quickly than Flik thought possible. In little more than an hour the southern shore was visible.

"Little bit to starboard," Tai Ho admonished.

"I'm trying," Yam Koo shouted back. "Any more than a little bit and we'll go flying off straight towards the western shore. Any more than that and all we'll do is spin in circles."

Viktor glanced ahead. "You're going to want to avoid that ship in front of us." Flik looked, there was a boat in front of them, growing larger by the second.

"I know," Yam Koo replied, gritting his teeth.

Viktor frowned. "You're going to want to avoid it pretty damn quickly, I think."

Flik flinched away from his railing as Tai Ho's boat skimmed past the prow of a much larger galley. Looking back as the ship shrank away, he thought he could just make out a few of their curses. He brought his eyes forward; they were closing on the harbor of Dunan Castle very rapidly.

The boat rode up the crest of a swell, went airborne, and landed back into the water with the sound of wood cracking. The craft began to vibrate, jerking from side to side, but held the course generally.

"Rudder's going," Yam Koo declared, suddenly very calm.

"Just a little further," Tai Ho shouted, as they sped into the harbor.

There were more ships here, and Yam Koo had to fight the tiller to get around them. After another particularly close dodge, the tiller splintered away, leaving the fisherman holding only the handle. The boat began to fly through the water at erratic headings, at one point nearly completing a wide circle.

"Can't you turn that rune off?" Flik yelled as the boat veered towards the cliff face.

Tai Ho shrugged. "I haven't figured that out yet."

The boat passed close to one of the piers. "I suggest that we abandon ship," Yam Koo offered.

Tai Ho glanced at the approaching rock wall. "She was a good little ship, but I heartily agree." He rolled over the railing and back dove into the water. Yam Koo followed, and then Viktor. Flik took one more look at the rocky cliffs and the water foaming up against them. He jumped overboard, stretching into one of the dives drilled into him as a youth in the Warrior's Village. Unfortunately, the water came up at him much more quickly than during those practices. It also felt a whole lot harder when he hit it.

Flik fought through the pain, got his bearings, and swam for the water's surface. He came up and kicked his way towards the pier, relieved to find that all of his extremities were in working order. A crowd of dock workers waited there, offering hands to help pull him up. After planting his feet firmly on the wooden planking, he looked around and spotted Viktor, Tai Ho, and Yam Koo, all safely on the pier. Tai Ho walked over, slapped him on the shoulder, and said, "See, I told you we'd get back by morning."

Flik glanced up into the sky, the sun was still well short of noon. It appeared that Tai Ho was correct, but Flik glanced over at the wreckage of the fisherman's boat. All that could be seen was a flotsam of boards over near the rocks, bobbing up and down on the waves. He shook his head; he certainly didn't want another adventure like that any time soon.