221. Of harbours, churches and a little bit of blood

Cassandra Pendragon

Thick swaths of smoke curled around the construction, the furnaces on the ships had to be fired, even while moored, otherwise, the weight would have been too much for the flimsy hawsers and wooden fortifications. The burned scent of heated metal and tar wafted around me, drowning out the more subtle smells of the various goods the ships transported. Only when a gust of wind blew directly across parts of the cargo, could I get a whiff of fruits, cloth, pelts, spices, living animals, powder and unwashed seamen.

I was already moving towards the closest platform, from where I hoped I might be able to spot the dwarven ship when something clicked in the back of my mind. Gun powder. I had only recognised the smell because I had spent more time than I cared to admit on battlefields in my previous life, but I had never even seen or even heard of firearms in my world. I slowed down, surreptitiously glancing around but of course nothing as obvious as a cannon caught my eye, at least not immediately. Torn, I stopped but quickly picked up my pace again.

Dangerous as it might be, it didn't concern me, for the moment. Tomorrow, though, I might try to find out who had managed to get his hands on saltpetre and sulphur. The latter, I could understand, but potassium nitrate? As far as I knew, there was no way to produce it with the current level of technology and as for natural sources… who the hell would even start looking for some? Ah well, if it wasn't a closely guarded secret, and I didn't think so, considering I had smelled it in a port like Free Land, the dwarfs would surely know. Blowing things up was probably directly in their wheelhouse and black powder was definitely a toy I could see them use.

Which made me think… after we had successfully annihilated the attack on Alassara's home, the ones, who had been pulling the strings, were sure to find out pretty soon. And then, there were only three outcomes I could imagine. Assuming they hadn't egregiously underestimated the vampire to begin with and had used a considerable amount of their resources to guarantee her death, they could only, flee, hide or mobilised everything they had left to kill her off. That they weren't going to survive otherwise should be plenty obvious. I mean, who'd tickle a dragon and be surprised if he was eaten, consequentially?

The former two, I didn't mind overly much. It'd surely be more work, but tracking a human down, who had only a couple of hours as a head start? Unless they boarded a ship straightaway… huh, something else I could take care off, while I was here. Back on Boseiju, the dwarfs had somehow marked or tagged the merchants' vessel. Maybe they could do something similar? At the very least, they might keep an eye on any ship, departing in a rush. If one of the Captains or even the higher ups in the church, decided to leave, they'd surely run with their coffers and they wouldn't use any shabby, old boat, either. There shouldn't be too many luxurious yachts tied up around here and those few, I hoped we could keep track of.

From everything the two priests had spilled, I could already judge that the churches themselves didn't have any vessels. They were mainly glorified servants, dependent on the whims of their worldly patrons. Nightshade and Brightblaze, for those were the ones who financed and protected the followers of the Broken Wheel and the Lord of Gryphons, Aurus, the Immortal Sun, respectively, had sent out their most powerful underlings. Not many of the acolytes could use divine magic and the two we had killed, hadn't been weak. Their magic, powered by their believes, had been easily stronger than anything I had expected and from what I had understood, only the abbots could hope to best them in a direct confrontation.

The churches were organised almost militaristically, with an abbott at the top, who mostly had complete control over the organisation. The Broken Wheel had four and the Immortal Sun three elder priests, the seconds in line, who were responsible for the different aspects of the church, respectively. They controlled the priests and aspirants, relaying the will of the abbott and dealing with day to day business. Below them, an eclectic variety of laymen, hired guards and, as much as it pained me, slaves toiled away. Odds were, that we had killed more than just a few people who hadn't wanted to be near us, in the first place.

The orders they had received, which indeed had been to purify the infectious, undead disease, had come from their superiors, they had never dealt with the Captains directly, but I was still convinced they had been pulling the strings. After all, why should the churches suddenly decide to wage a holy war against the vampires, when they hadn't given two figs, before. Unless they hadn't know, or Captain Dawn's influence had been strong enough to keep them at bay. Now, that he was gone, they might have grasped the opportunity and stroke against a thorn in their sight, they had been too cowardly to touch before.

Possible, but not probable, considering the timing and Tharos' and Silas' report. No, I couldn't imagine the clergy had acted on its own, but I'd find out, either way. There was still the matter of the merchants' insignia. I wanted to… I had to know if the church of the Broken Wheel had been involved in the ransacking of my home. I didn't see the church, as an organisation, survive for much longer, anyways, whether they had been a part of it or not, but the fate of the individuals… that was another matter, entirely. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, blood for blood.

What the old stories, which so adamantly condemned this form as justice, forgot to mention was, that in a world, without an all powerful Big Brother, you had to make sure it wouldn't happen again. Deterrence worked. If everyone was convinced, you'd retaliate just as fiercely, they'd think twice, before messing with you. Usually, I was all for forgive and forget, but just as Alassara hadn't been able to let the attack on her home go, I wasn't able to let this go. Some things were simply too precious to move on.

A gargantuan shadow, large enough to block out the starlight, interrupted my thoughts. The snapping of ropes was accompanied by another cloud of black smoke, when a truly marvellous ship, dark woods and fine, white sails, soared majestically through the air, just above me. Faint cries reached my ears, while the crew prepared for the landing, reducing the heat under the stone and trimming the sails. Like a beautiful whale, the behemoth gracefully glided lower. When it was just above the closest landing site, long, massive cables were thrown over the side and several humans, agile like monkeys, scampered down. They quickly slung the cables around anchored pillars and gradually, the ship was drawn in, the crew singing while they arduously pulled it in closer. Enough already. I knew my mind was prone to wandering, when I was tired, but this was getting out of hand. One thing at a time.

Focusing my concentration inwards, I searched for the sparks of my power within my mom and Viyara. I felt them almost immediately, but Mephisto's warning held true. Behind me, a crimson wildfire burned and my own presence casted a wave of scintillating light outwards. Like he had said, finding their location would be akin to looking for a tiny candlelight in the brightest midday sun. Luckily, I only needed a direction, not a location. And if I got lost, I'd simply ask.

They weren't too far away, somewhere to the left and well below me. It'd only take me a moment if I was to fly, but that'd defeat the purpose of the whole exercise. As it was, I picked a sturdy looking ladder and descended two levels, until I arrived on a broad, wooden walkway, reinforced with iron bands every few metres. It was one of the main passages, running around the whole structure with smaller bridges veering off here and there to connect to the actual docking sites and the smaller platforms. The latter were mostly empty, but here and there, cargo boxes, carts and spare parts clattered their wooden surface.

At a glance, it seemed like some of the platforms were actually hung from heavy, woven iron cables, an ingenious elevator system that allowed even the bulkiest of items to be directly transported to one of the central passages and from there to the respective ship. Some where even in use, now, traders and travellers preparing to leave at first light. I couldn't spot anything suspicious, like sacred, golden artefacts being hauled onboard or a small box, smelling of saltpetre, but not too far ahead, I saw the unmistakeable, reinforced hull of the dwarven ship.

They had docked along a bridge, perpendicular to the main passage, which could have held at least three or four ships, but there were none even close by. Whether by the design of coincidence, they had picked one of the least populated stretches and I could easily make my way over, without so much as coming near another breathing being. Before I even reached the respective walkway, I saw movement on deck and two short, but heavily armoured guards leaned over the railing. I fanned my tails out wide and removed my cloak, hopefully scattering every possible doubt who I might be, and greeted them:

"Good evening. Could you throw me a rope so I can come onboard?" They stared a moment longer but soon smiled brightly.

"Sure. It's good to see yah, lass. Give us a second. Everything alright? We didn't expect yah, before mornin'." I shrugged.

"Hopefully. Everything quiet, around here?"

"'Cept for when they hauled in a sleeping, overgrown lizard. Did yah know, y'r friend never let go of the poor lass she was clinging onto? Not until she woke up, at least. Good thing, no one's around. They're awake 'n talkin', now, I think. How have yah been? How did it go?"

"A few vampires are dead, but it could have been much worse, I imagine. The survivors are alive and thirsting for revenge. At least Alassara is, which probably comes down to the same thing. We've got a pretty good idea who's responsible. We'll pay them a visit, tomorrow." I was interrupted, when a thick rope suddenly dangled before my eyes.

"Just hold on," I heard a new voice. "We'll haul you up. Don't yah worry, we won't drop yah."

"You better not," I mumbled under my breath while I gripped on tightly and allowed the two dwarfs to pull me up. They were surprisingly fast. I wasn't heavy, at least I didn't think so, I had never had the chance to actually measure my weight, ever since I had grown up, but I could just as well have been a bucket full of feathers, for all it mattered. Barely ten seconds later, I was already on deck, thanking the two grinning, bearded watchmen.

"Then why are yah even here," the one, I had already spoken to, inquired. "If everything's peachy, I don't see why you shouldn't spend the night with y'r girl. Or did yah miss us that much?"

"That, too, of course. But I don't want to keep on repeating the same story, over and over again. Could you tell me where Xorlosh is, or maybe fetch him?"

"Sure thing. He's retired early, making plans with y'r mom, he claims. Truth be told, I imagine he's mostly going through the last supplies of our mead, without having t' share. I'll gladly drop in on him to make sure. Be back in a sec. Or… that dragoness wanted t' see yah, as soon as possible. She's changed back and is in her cabin with the creepy vampire. Why don't you go check on them and we'll be along in no time."

"I'll do that, thanks. Which…"

"Down the stairs, third door on the right," his partner answered my unfinished question. "I'd show yah, but someone has to keep an eye open, up here. Yah won't miss it, with y'r hearin', yah can simply follow their voices. Those two just won't shut up. Not that I'm complaining. Feels good to have something else to talk about but death and bloodshed. What d'yah reckon? Will they become an item? It sure seems like it to me, but I was always convinced Viyara had the hots for you, as well, and look how that turned out." I chuckled quietly, enjoying the campfire gossip, especially since I wasn't at its centre, for once.

"Who knows? I don't know what happened between the two of them, but I can't say I'm surprised. In a very roundabout way, they're kin. Maybe even more so, by now. I'm just glad they're fine."

"Lass, whatever are you going on about?"

"Oh. Right. It all started when Layla bit our lizard… she's a vampire who's much…"

"We know who the child is… but why should that matter?" I was a bit irritated at the interruption but still explained:

"Her blood and Aurelia's… it's similar. Considering the source of their power is one of my sisters and Viyara has a spark of my own energy, it seems reasonable that they're drawn towards each other. And that's just what's on the surface. I've no clue what the two of them have seen when they were both unconscious, flooded with transcendent forces. I intend to find out, though."

"'N will yah share, once yah know?"

"Definitely," I replied with a grin. "Unless they tell me not to, of course. Alright then, I'm off. Oh, before I forget, should you see anyone resembling a priests or some such, call for me immediately, would you?" They shared a confused look but readily agreed.

"Aye… an' when y're gone?"

"I'll make sure Xorlosh knows. Actually," I added while I was already moving towards the double doors that would lead me below deck, "I might as well… I assume you know Alassara's home was attacked? There were soldiers and priests, in the service of two churches from around here. As it turned out, one of them was devote enough to prompt her patron deity to intervene in the moment of her death. Nothing much happened, but I assume the Captains are actually the ones pulling the strings and since they might know about me and my connection to you… that's basically the gist of it, if you want more details, you'll have to stick around."

The seasoned wood groaned under my feet, while I swiftly descended to the lower level and took a deep breath. The scent had become familiar, a faint hint of smoke, an acrid touch of tar and a nuance of heated metal, supplementing the smell of old, sun dried oak. I heard the movement of large, reefed sails, the quiet flow of water from where the baths were, the loud footfalls from my remaining companion and the low murmurs of a whispered conversation, close by.

"I'll find my way," I said. "Could you also inform my mom? She should probably hear this as well. Also… the former fey, Auguros, I think he might know how divine magic even works, for I don't. Never mind… I'll tell them. They are all here, aren't they?"

"A few of the lads are out and about, restocking our supplies but everyone else should be around. Y'r mum is with Xorlosh and Erya's and her little one are still down below, near the stone. The old geezer 's with 'em. She wants to show the kid how it works. Y'r brother, the elves, the children, they're asleep, though. I know, that's a foreign concept to yah, but most of us enjoy it immensely."

"So do I, I just don't find the time… no reason to wake them, a few quiet hours are precious enough. Could you please tell my mom and Xorlosh that I'll be with them in a minute? I'll bring the fey and the two amorous predators, provided they're willing to leave their cabin."