AN: Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for how long it's taken me to post. I lost my muse for sooooo long . But! I'm able to write more now, so let's see how long I can keep this story going! Thank you to any readers who have stuck with this, and thanks to all you new readers too ^_^ As always, R&R! I love feedback!
Chapter Five: Argetbrun
Sailing was his life. It had been his dream as a child, his passion as teenager, and now it was his life's work as an adult. For 27 long years, Darrow Gale has kicked, clawed, punched, and stabbed his way to the top. Like any true sea dog, he had done his fare share of under the table deals, and had even spent some time pirating the open waters surrounding Alagaësa. He had built a reputation, a name, for himself. So, it wasn't strange for him when people began to charter his vessel. He was the big fish in the water, and when it comes to water, it's always a good idea to have the big fish on your side, right?
For the past five years, the seaman had spent his time chartering voyages from different ports along the coast of the homeland, sometimes for merchants, sometimes for provincial dignitaries, sometimes for people who had paid him particularly large amounts of gold and jewels to forget their names entirely… He was always prepared for the worst, and the best of passengers or cargo. His crew was a group of strong, loyal men who had grown to honor and respect their captain throughout the years. Sure some had remained with him longer than others – like his first mate, Jameson Tallow – but even those who had signed on for this voyage alone regarded him with a very flattering sense of awe. Yes, Darrow had thought himself prepared for any and all sorts of cargo. That is until a certain, influential client had shown interest in his skills.
At first, the man had been very secretive with exactly what Darrow was to do, but when the story finally came out, even that silver-tongued "black beard" had been taken quite off guard. Transport a Rider from the Forgotten Isles to Alagaësa, but not only the rider, oh no, her dragon as well. At first, the captain had been incredulous, becoming angry with what he then saw as a fake deal, nibbling at the hook with no real intention of biting. But as the man had gone on, explaining the urgency and delicacy of such a voyage, even the famed Darrow Gale was at a loss as to how he could do as his employer asked. A dragon wouldn't fit on a ship, his small vessel had been built for speed and delicacy, the light frame of The Red Lady would have been sent skidding over the water if a dragon so much as flapped their wings close enough to her. There was no possible way she would have been able to carry one across open water! And thus it was a shocked and almost insulted captain who at first declined the job. It hadn't been two days later when he was contacted again.
The price had risen exponentially. With that much fortune in his coffers, Darrow would have been able to raise two more vessels as well as hire the men to crew them and still have enough left over to retire early. Now, the captain wasn't much for numbers, but with the amount he had been offered, he was estimating a plush house on a hill overlooking the harbor well before his blonde hair would turn silver. Impossible or not, he would have been a fool to have denied the man then, and thus a new deal was struck.
"Okay, you have yourself a captain and a crew, but what did you have in mind for a vessel? My Lady is much too light to transport a dragon, especially one of the size you describe. And then there's the question of where would the dragon reside during the actual voyage? I hardly think the beast would agree to being towed along behind and even if it would, those are dangerous waters, and there've been whispers of the Nïdhwal showing their scaly heads again. I wouldn't dare make such a crossing with anything weaker than an iron-wood hull." Darrow had explained, trying to figure out how he was going to make this work. He would need no less than a miracle!
"Worry not, captain. My people will build you a ship finer than any you have seen yet, and probably larger too." The man had laughed at that, he had seemed to be quite easily entertained, much more amiable than the sapphire leviathan who had followed at his heels like a trained dog. "There will plenty of room for your crew, supplies, and our dragon."
And thus, the deal had been sealed, with a firm handshake and a spoken oath that bound them both through honor and pride.
Seeing Argetbrun for the first time had made the seaman's mouth drop. Never had he seen a finer work of craftsmanship, the seamless joints between the mast and the wooden planking of each of its three levels, as if it had grown that way straight out of the ground. Darrow had briefly entertained the fantasy that if he had looked beneath the belly of the ship, he would find a tangle of roots reaching out in every direction, burying deep into the sandy earth. The vessel, if such a masterpiece could even be called such a crude term, boasted a three story structure; a lower storage area that would also act as the housing for the dragon, a middle section that would act as housing for his crew with the customary private quarters for himself as well as another private room for the Rider, and then an upper level that was the actual deck of the ship. However, the most interesting feature of the ship was not the different levels, or the towering main mast that extended what must have been at least seventy feet into the air, rather, it was the double doored opening leading from the center of the top deck straight down into the underbelly of the work of art. An entrance and exit for the dragon that they would be transporting. The captain had almost cried it was so beautiful.
"Is she good enough, captain?" His employer had asked while walking down the docks, showing the seaman his new home for the duration of the crossing.
"Good enough? Aye! In fact you'll have a cursed time prying my fingers from the helm! But what, if I may ask, does the name mean? Argetbrun? I've never studied the ancient language, I'm afraid." He had offered a polite chuckle, but his curiosity was genuine. A ship's name was meant to be significant to each vessel, as much a description as it was a personification of the craft itself.
Here his employer had given what might have been construed as a mischievous smile, stopping at the end of the pier and motioning toward the ship's bow. Darrow had honestly gasped at the exquisite adornment there. The sculpture was crafted entirely of silver, a dragon with front claws crossed over its belly as if in flight, its wings extended back along the ribs of the vessel almost reaching the middle of the main deck. Its long neck had not forgotten a single detail of the muscle structure or scales of the mighty beast it imitated so splendidly, and the narrow, angular head that extended from the arched 'C' of its neck displayed a mouthful of razor sharp teeth housed within a maw opened wide in a magnificent roar. Looking at it there, the pier rocking beneath his feet like a watery cradle, docked rather than cresting over an ocean wave as it should have been, the captain was breathless in wonderment. This ship was the dream of any true seaman, and he was the lucky bastard fortunate enough to captain it.
"Argetbrun, Silverbrow. Fitting don't you think?"
Darrow could only nod in agreement, completely dumbstruck by this heavenly work, surely even the gods were jealous of him.
"So when will we depart?"
His employer had seemed genuinely surprised at this question, as if the knowledge should have been obvious. "Tomorrow morning." And it had all been as wild as a sea storm from there on out.
Given such a short amount of time to outfit both his crew and the ship with the necessary tools and provisions to make such a voyage, a feat that would prove more difficult than actually building the vessel after he had learned of the Elves' involvement with the task, Darrow was going to be hard pressed to meet the deadline. However, Darrow Gale was not a man to be underestimated, and the next morning found that boat buzzing with activity as final preparations were being made before they would cast off.
"So where is that dragon anyway…?" The captain muttered, pacing along the gently rocking pier as he looked up at the sun, trying to judge how much time they had left. He had found his answer in the dropping jaw of his first mate. The reaction was perhaps less than it could have been.
Darrow's immediate impression of Ninaru was a black shadow; however, as he dipped past the sun, the captain realized his scales were like sea spray coming off of a cresting wave – a snowy white with traces of oceanic sapphires. He was a giant, not quite as large as the great blue that was the companion of his employer, but in size alone he certainly deserved the term 'leviathan'. Waves of salty water rushed away from his broad chest as the dragon made a watery landing, and the seaman was amazed by the delicacy and precision in the action. For such a giant creature, his wake had been no bigger than that left behind by The Lady, along with a marriage of care and grace, the rider on his back had hardly to shift her weight in response to the halt as the water clung and pulled at them, slowing their momentum.
The diamond creature swam like a snake through the water, slipping over the surface of the ocean in an "S" shape, his tail both rudder and propeller. Every once in a while, a wave would crash against his beautifully scaled side and the water would leap up as if to claim the rider for its own as well, but the salty spray never truly reached whom the captain now saw to be a young woman, instead it seemed to meet with some invisible field, bursting against an unseen, solid force before returning to the home waters. The rider didn't even seem to be paying attention to the magic she was working, or at least it seemed to come with such ease it was almost a subconscious act.
Steadily, the dragon made his way toward the floating pier, pulling along the end broadside and laying his wing over the edge to sort of anchor him in place. Even though the action had been one of good intent, meant to lessen the extremity of the rise and fall with each wave so that his Rider would find it easier to dismount, the sheer weight of his wing alone made the pier moan and creak, partially rising out of the water a few feet down, the end dipping low so that the wooden slats that made up the walkway ducked repeatedly beneath the water's surface with each wave that rolled toward the island cliffs not far away. Again, the former pirate wondered how such a magnificent beast would ever be able spend the duration of a journey rocking about in the hold of a ship without accidentally finding some way to pierce the walls of the vessel. His anxiety was short lived, though, as he looked back at Argetbrun, taking in the breathtaking artistry that went into crafting the boat; hell, into crafting the figurehead alone. Now, being able to compare the two, he realized the silver dragon decorating the bow of the Argetbrun slightly resembled the diamond leviathan he would be transporting. The same beast that was currently looking at him as if considering simply snapping him up as a morning snack before flying off and forgetting this entire endeavor as a bad dream. Needless to say, the captain did not entertain the notion for long, nor did he get a chance to.
"He won't bite you, you know."
Finally, it came time to recognize the woman who had been paired with such a magnificent beast. Looking at the two side by side, the bipedal creature dimmed in comparison; hardly able to live up to the glittering spectacle of her bonded's scales which the captain now saw contained not only pale shades of sapphire, but the softest kisses of lavender as well. Truly, this was a beast worth making the trip to see, the pay becoming simply a side perk.
The first thing Darrow noticed about the woman was her youth. Certainly not in the stoic reserve of her angled features, but more in the brightness of her gaze and the graceful fluidity to her stride. While the latter could have simply been the fact that she was obviously no human, her figure too much resembling that of the few Elves the seadog had been fortunate enough to meet in his lifetime for him to consider such an idea, the captain instead chose to associate it with her age – or lacking thereof – finding a certain charm in a young lady that he found would go with her person quite well. As she grew nearer, though, his eyes drew to her most prominent feature, the round orbs following him with a gaze as level as that of her bonded: her eyes. Unable to chose a single color, they varied, fluctuating based on a system he had no way of defining. He watched as they shifted from a sterling silver, to a lilac shade of violet, flashing to a lightning blue, before steadying back on the bright hues of the same metal that composed the decorative figurehead. This shade of silver, as varied and flecked with lighter and darker grays as it was, seemed much more complete and as such held his gaze much easier than some plain old sculpture. Coupled with the slightly angular features of her feminine visage, and the way her brown hair, streaked through with blonde and mahogany, fell in messy waves around her cheeks and over her shoulders… He studied her closely, deciding she might have been considered plain had it not been for those wondrous eyes… Very quickly, the captain decided to get closer to this woman, if only for the sake of discovering the secret behind those eyes.
Five days they had been on that ship, and for five days, Darrow Gale had been dreading the moment when he would have to sail it back and retrieve The Red Lady. Sure he was fond of the old ship, but it was a dinghy when placed beside Argetbrun. Sure The Lady was more glamorous in design, her body lithe and slender, meant for cutting quickly through the waves where Argetbrun shouldered aside the ocean with its massive frame, but the dragon ship – as he had come to term it in his head – possessed an almost magical quality that captivated the very soul of those who looked at it. He could already tell his crewmen had fallen under its spell, especially after they had discovered the ease with which such a giant creation could be manned. It had taken them all by surprise when the ship had practically sailed from the pier almost of its own accord. For a vessel of its size, Argetbrun caught the wind and flew with it. And being so high above the water? Intoxicating. Darrow had climbed once to the cradle created between the dragon's shoulders and the bow of the boat, its wings extending back on both sides to create a sort of safety railing. He had wondered then if that was what flying felt like, the wind in your hair, the sea spray leaping up to lick at your arms and face. Bliss did not even begin to describe the exuberant joy that had blossomed in his chest.
"Captain?"
Darrow looked up, jolted from his silent reverie leaning over the helm and day dreaming like a school girl, and gave a curt nod, his mouth curling in a wry smirk. "Almost makes you want to run away with 'er, eh Jameson?" The seaman asked his voice gruff and filled with old mischief.
"Oh aye, captain. The men would be halfway around Alagaësa by now if you would only give the word." The first mate replied jokingly, clasping his hands behind his back and rocking his weight from his heels to his toes to match the rocking of the ship.
For a while, the two men stood in silent admiration of their temporary vessel, looking out over the railing of the quarterdeck to oversee the activity going on below as the crew went about their duties; each equally in awe of the masterpiece they had been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to man even for a short time. Darrow had become good friends with his first mate. The man had a good, sensible head on his shoulders and leveled out the captains more reckless behavior by thinking things through with finite detail. His most appealing quality, though, was the way he felt no need to fill peaceful silence with meaningless words. There were times when the captain wanted only to sit and think, and Jameson was perfect company to have around when he was absorbed in his thoughts. He didn't have to worry about missing a conversation he didn't care about. But on this afternoon his second in command seemed to have something on his mind.
"Captain, some of the men are getting concerned about the water. It's too choppy for such good weather, don't you think?" There was concern in the man's more refined voice, reminding Darrow once again of his more elegant background. Of all the men on the crew, Jameson was the only merchant's son, and the only man to have run away from wealth.
Darrow motioned for his first mate to take the helm and when the rudder was securely under the man's control, the captain walked to peer over the railing of the ship. The Argetbrun was moving at a swift pace, making about 7 knots, 10 when the wind really blew, and thus it was difficult to tell exactly how angry the sea was when it was already crashing so violently against the ribs of the boat. Darrow shielded his eyes with a hand, the glare of the sun on each cresting wave hurting his eyes and making it impossible to see too far. Much to his concern, the shadow he noticed beneath the ship was certainly close enough that the glare didn't bother him.
The amorphous blob was long and black. He couldn't tell exactly the size or shape of the object, though. Unfortunately it wasn't close enough to surface for that. Could it have been a sea shelf? No, impossible, they had taken this exact route on the voyage to the island and he definitely hadn't noticed this then or he was sure he would have remembered it.
"Jameson, why don't you take a look at the ocean for me?" Darrow proposed casually, his tight expression conveying the underlying message and the need for secrecy, as he walked back to claim the helm.
"Of course captain." Jameson replied curiously, quirking a brow as he turned for the railing. "I never grow tired of the sea…" Sarcasm? Yes. Did the captain care? Hell no. "Oh…" Darrow tried not to look smug when his first mate returned.
At that moment, both men knew the most important thing was to not alarm the crew. A frightened crew would cripple their effectiveness and Argetbrun would soon be left standing in the water leaving them easy prey for whatever was stalking them from the depths. Now just calm down. You don't know what it is yet. It could just be a shelf you didn't notice. Darrow told himself, trying to keep his appearance calm and leisurely, thinking of the crew, always the crew. "I don't know what that is, but I've got a feeling in my gut that it can't be good." The captain said lowly, careful not to let the wind carry his voice too far.
"There's no way to find out without catching the attention of the men." Jameson replied, sounding thoughtful, his face troubled.
"No, it would leave us standing in open water. We might as well tie the sails if we let the crew know anything before we're certain of what it is." Darrow replied sternly, shaking his head. "For now they have to be kept in the dark."
"You do know we are technically 'in the dark' as well..?"
"Let's leave the small talk for later, shall we." The captain's voice was dark now, all business.
"Right.. So what do we do? You think that Rider could take a look?" Jameson asked, his chin cradled in the 'V' between his thumb and forefinger.
"You want me to send a woman into the water?!"
"No, no, of course not. I meant with her mind. They're all trained to expand their consciousness aren't they? Let her expand it down to the bottom of the ocean, maybe she can find something out."
Darrow thought for a moment. He loathed asking a guest to help, it went against his pride and honor both, but Jameson was the more rational one in times that called for such finesse, and it's not like he was shoving her off the boat or anything, it was just her mind, and you can't attack something that isn't physical…right? "Okay…" The captain finally agreed, nodding his head with a sigh. "I'll go get her and maybe-" His voice cut off by a commotion on the main deck, and the seaman turned away from his first mate to gaze over his vessel like a hawk over a field.
The first thing he noticed was that she was still wearing the clothes she had slept in, just a thin pair of calfskin pants that hung loosely on her hips and stopped below her knees, her legs bare from there down including her feet, and a thin cloth shirt that hung open at her collar bone, diving downward between her breasts in a way that might have made his heart burn with lust had the situation been different. The second thing he noticed were her eyes, even with the distance separating them he could see the glacier brightness of the blue sapphires. Beautiful, she never ceased to amaze him.
"I think she's saying something." Jameson noted from behind the captain's shoulder, jolting Darrow back into the real world, reminding him of what was going on.
"You're right... Damn this wind and these waves! I can't hear a word she's saying." Darrow growled before calling out, leaning on the railing that stood in front of the helm. "What was that, miss?"
He could see the strain on her face when she yelled again, but he only caught bits and pieces, the rest ripped away by the wind and the crashing of the waves against the boat. "There…um…the wa…r!"
The captain drew back abruptly, completely at a loss as to what this girl was saying. Slowly, though, his brain was able to work it out. Between the fear on her angular visage, and the anxious looks passing between his crew as they turned from each other to their captain with frightened expectancy. Lead settled in his gut, as any and all hope of that shadow being 'just a sea shelf' vanished. And speaking of a shadow… Darrow felt his body turn to ice as he caught movement from the corner of his eye, something flying through the water straight toward them. Gods help us.. His gaze fell back to the Rider, Tae, and he could see the realization in her eyes, his own fear echoed on her face. She knew something was wrong, but she knew exactly how wrong, and that only made it worse.
Darrow opened his mouth and reached a hand over the railing with intention of motioning her away from the edge of the boat, her name was on his lips when the collision came.
The moan and creak of splintering wood filled the air, and the captain felt his body jerked forcefully to the side, a grunt of surprise and discomfort forcing itself through a clenched jaw as he gripped the railing hard to steady himself. He looked back to where Tae had been standing in time to see her fall. "No!" He cried, lunging for the edge of the elevated deck he stood on. He was vaguely aware of Jameson's arms wrapping around his waist and holding him back, keeping him too from going over. Though in this case it would have been of his own volition. Left arm thrown over the edge of Argetbrun's sturdy side, his chest suspended over the railing by the brace of his right arm bent against his chest, Darrow called her name, his voice ringing almost desperately even as the ongoing ruckus drowned him out.
Tae's eyes met his then and he couldn't help but notice how lovely her eyes looked when they were that blue. Her hand raised toward him, as if they would simply catch each other and all would be right again. But her back split the water with a sharp *crack* like a whip against the waves, her dragon roared from beneath the floorboards and then all hell broke loose.
He had thought the first collision sounded bad, but when Ninaru's massive frame forced its way through the main deck of Argetbrun, his ears wailed at the shriek of shattering wood. Even worse was the ongoing snarls and roars as his diamond body was stuck and freed from his holding again and again. "Get back! Get away!" Darrow cried to his crew, yanking free of Jameson's strong hold.
The dragon was enraged by the endangerment of his rider, flailing his wings and limbs about without paying attention to what they connected with. The mainmast splintered and cracked as one of his massive wings unfurled against it, falling down as if it had been no more than a toothpick. The captain watched in horror as the scene played out before his eyes, feeling more than helpless as he watched his men narrowly avoid death again and again. "Dragon!" He bellowed, his voice straining to be heard. "Ninaru! You must stop! You'll sink us!" Not so much as a glance from the leviathan, the man's words going unheard or ignored.
Ninaru yanked and pulled against the ship, ropes falling and tangling in his wings and legs as another mast fell when his tail whipped against it, splintered shards of wood flying through the air the size of a man's arm with a tip as sharp as a spear. There was a splash as the wooden beam fell sideways into the water, crashing heavily through the safety railing of the boat as it slid into the ocean with the growling moan of wood scraping against itself. Then the dragon roared again, and the boat lilted dangerously on its side, jerking Darrow's eyes away from the fallen mast to watch as Ninaru launched himself from the boat, but- "No.. No wait!" The captain felt himself flying then, his warning unheeded. The ropes, they had been everywhere, draped across his back like a holey cape, wrapped at the base of his wings, hooked over and around the spikes about his hips; when the leviathan leaped into the air, the boat had shoved back with the force, but the ropes had held the two forces together. Ninaru snarled viciously as he was snapped backwards in the air, flipping onto his back only to roll so that when his enormous body crashed into the sea, he met the rolling waves with his shoulder. Argetbrun hadn't been so lucky. The sound of splintering boards and masts seemed endless, half of the main deck ripping away along with parts of the bow, the shift left rocking drastically from side to side. As Ninaru disappeared beneath the surface, the front of the vessel creaked and whined before peeling away from the ship like a bandage, sinking quickly as the silver dragon dragged it down, down, down.
Horror beat in his chest, or was that his heart? Darrow couldn't tell, but he knew he had been away from the action far too long. "Get the lifeboats! The lifeboats!" He bellowed out the order, Jameson hot on his heels as the captain took the steps leading down from the quarter deck to the main deck, or what was left of it. "Everyone move! Now!" Finally, the order all of their lives depended upon.
With the return of their captain, the men flew into action, once again a crew rather than blubbering children running for a safety that didn't exist. While the larger portion of them worked on untangling and cutting the life boats free, some of them dared the underbelly of the ship to retrieve the supplies they would be needing if they were to make it to land. Two barrels of water emerged, followed by a crate of what smelled citrusy – probably limes – and then a few more crates of which the contents Darrow had no idea. What he did know, was that with each container that passed toward the lifeboats, they looked a bit more waterlogged. Finally, men started climbing through the giant hole Ninaru had created, some of them with water marks up to their chest. "I'm sorreh cap'n." One of them said breathlessly as a few of his fellows helped haul him onto the deck. "The res' of it wus alrea'y undah th'water."
Darrow clapped the man on the shoulder before turning to the rest of his men. "Alright boys! Let's get off this pile of firewood before it sinks out from under us!" He ordered, and his crew began to file toward their salvation, slipping down ropes to land directly in the dinghies or simply jumping into the water and hauling themselves into the small crafts afterward. The captain himself hesitated, however, lingering at the edge, Jameson looking at him questioningly. "It's been a while since-" Again the boat was tossed about like a child's toy in a rain puddle, and it was all the two men could do to hang onto what remained of the railing and hope it was still sturdy enough to keep them from falling to their deaths amongst the clump of dinghies below them. A roar ripped through the air and water sprayed around them as a diamond creature broke the surface.
Ninaru panted heavily, the sodden creature on his back no better, her coughs sounding full of liquid. "Tae!" Darrow cried, wondering what had happened in those dark waters, and how they had gone under on one side, yet appeared on the other. Perhaps there was a current? But then the ship would have been moving too.. Forget it, it doesn't matter right now. "Tae!" She turned her head toward him, slumped over her dragon's neck as the leviathan made its way toward the lifeboats. "Come on, let's get down there." Darrow said, motioning for Jameson to go first down the ropes, afterward, the captain descended, thankful when his boot soles thudded against the solid floor of his new "ship". "Well, it's no Argetbrun, but…" Darrow didn't have to finish his sentence as the entire crew turned to watch the once beautiful vessel begin to inch slowly beneath the ocean surface. It would be a few hours still before it sank entirely, but such a delay only drug out the heartbreak that much longer.
"Is everyone alright?"
The men turned as a whole at the ragged voice, many of them not having heard the Rider speak for the duration of the voyage. The few of them to which this applied looked as if their eyes would leap from their heads, Darrow noticed, as if they had believed she couldn't speak at all.
"Well, shaken, but I think we all made it out okay." Jameson responded first, his voice level and reasonable, dipping his head respectfully before falling silent again. There came a following murmur of agreement from the crew.
"Good." The Rider turned, her eyes now shifting toward a darker shade of blue, touching on the fringes of violet. "Where is Erevu?"
Most of the crew had no idea who she was talking about now. There hadn't been anyone aboard the ship by that name, however, the captain's heart dropped into his stomach as the woman's gaze settled upon him. He knew who Erevu was, but he didn't know where he was. "Tae, I think-" Darrow's apology was silenced by the sharp whistle of a bird. Everyone's head turned up, and with Rider's went her arm. From the sky dove a dark blur, wings flaring at the last moment as the Osprey landed expertly on her forearm. For a moment the two regarded each other as if sharing some form of communication, then Tae smiled and launched the bird into the air once more where it began to circle overhead. She seemed calmer now, honestly, Darrow was just happy they were all alive.
"Are you alright, Tae?" The captain asked, his voice laden with concern and guilt. He should have gone in after her…
"Of course, I'm a dragon Rider. It takes more than a little water to get me down." She replied, something about the lightness of her tone seeming forced. But it brought a short round of chuckles from the men, and for that Darrow was grateful.
"What was that thing..?" He asked, worried he already knew the answer.
Tae hesitated before answering, as if debating whether or not to share the whole truth. "A Nïdhwal." She finally said, her voice falling into wary neutrality. "It's gone for now but… It would be unwise to linger here too long." For a moment no one moved, and Tae had to push them again. "If you have any rope, Ninaru can help tow you to shore." The woman stated, the men sharing puzzled looks.
It would have been nightfall by the time they made it back, even on the ship, longer if they had to row all the way there. Land wasn't even in sight yet making everyone wonder the same thing: how would she know where she was going? But there was something in the steadiness of her gaze, a clarity that the seaman trusted. "Come on boys, rope!" He prompted, sending his crew into a flurry of motion as each began dragging coils of rope from the bottom of their dinghies. One by one the four lifeboats, each containing six men plus a "helmsman", were each tied to the dragon. His partner tying the ends around the spike behind her.
"Make sure you leave enough room for his tail, otherwise you'll wreck your boats." The Rider cautioned before turning back. Not before, however, meeting the captain's gaze for a brief moment. She looked tired, exhausted really, and she was moving slowly as if the animation caused her physical pain. Darrow wanted to insist that she come sit in the rowboat, but after considering it he realized she was probably more comfortable with her dragon. Still, the ex-pirate couldn't shake off the guilt and shame at having to impose upon a client in such a manner, especially a woman as young as herself. Why would they chose someone like her to make such a journey? He wondered, knowing the question would never be answered. At least, not for someone who didn't matter, not for someone like him. Darrow sighed, leaning down to prop himself on his elbows which rested on his knees, the wooden board that acted as a seat uncomfortable against his rear in any position.
This is gonna be a long trip…
