Chapter Two #2
“What is it?” Beiro yelled to be heard over the shouts of the crew. Hyla threw me a dagger from the wall display before she ran out of my quarters. I caught it then hauled a pair of blue trousers up over my bare arse.
“Chainjaw lampreys,” I spat out as if the words were bitter.
In truth, they were. None sailed the sea that did not fear running into the breeding beds of the massive lampreys.
“They latch onto the hull and anchors and will drag a ship slowly to the bottom of the sea. They’re feared more than flaming ballista by any seaman.
” I skipped donning boots or even a shirt.
I knew what was coming and what needed to be done.
“Generally, we avoid the large clumps of seaweed they linger in by sighting the masses from the crow’s nest.” I shot the red-headed elf a dark, dark look.
Much gloomier than the seaweed we were now woefully entangled in.
“Oh, I am…he didn’t…he is a dragon.”
I rolled my eyes and then darted out onto the deck.
Asdren was just picking himself up off the floorboards, looking about in confusion, while my crew, what there was of them, were tying themselves to the rails, swords and daggers clenched between their teeth.
There was only one way to remove chainjaw lampreys from the underbelly of a ship.
That was to leap into the icy cold water, stab the huge bastards, and pry them from the hull before they chewed through.
The large fish had mouths that suctioned to the wood, or in the case of the huge-breeding females, the chain of the anchor itself.
They then sawed through the chain as they pulled downward, their long tails secured around the floating bed of dark seaweed.
“Take care! Avoid the freed ones’ mouths until you can dispatch the fuckers and keep a sharp eye out for the breeding bitches for they will bite you in half with ease,” I yelled while thudding across the ship to leap over the side, dagger in hand, into the gray seas.
The impact with the cold water was jarring, but the thrum in my blood of being embraced by the sea flooded me with warmth.
Turning about, I saw we had two jobs. One was to remove the big eels gnawing on the hull.
Second would be to free the ship from the weeds that held us so tightly in place.
There were two in front of me, big eels, charcoal gray, perhaps the length of a human man, young ones.
I swam to them, for they were attached to the ship side by side.
My dagger sank into the head of one and then the other, the water turning a murky reddish-brown as their blood spread in the tide.
Using my dagger after I freed it from their skulls, I planted my bare feet on the hull to pry the dead lampreys free.
It took all my strength to do so. After the second one was pried off with the blade of my dagger, I looked about.
The underbelly of the ship was coated with the fuckers.
This would take time. Rising to inhale would waste time we did not have.
If the ship went down with all hands…well, that was not on my agenda for the day.
Grandmothers of the sea, Sisters Three, blessed be your calling, imbue me with the gifts of air and sea, for my job here shall be a lengthy—
A tail as fat as a mainmast latched around my leg, yanking me down into the inky depths of the weeds.
The light dimmed as the massive female lamprey roiled about in the seaweed, tightening her hold on my calf as she slithered about to get her head near me.
The dull yellow glow of her eye sent a shudder of fear through me as the pressure to breathe was increasing.
Miserable bitch. My dagger sliced through the water, striking just beneath that glowing yellow eye.
Not the hit I had wanted, but it was enough to cause the mother lamprey pain.
Her hold loosened. I pushed skyward as she writhed about in agony, clearing the darkest part of the clump and bursting to the surface to suck in air.
“A big bitch is below, and I’ve just made her incredibly mad!
” I shouted to the crew hanging off the rails.
Each man shouted an “Aye, Captain” in return as I dove back under, my goal now to slay the breeder before she got hold of the ship.
With her girth, she would pull us down like a child’s toy boat.
Grandmothers of the sea, Sisters Three, blessed be your calling, imbue me with the gifts of air and sea combined, for my job here shall be a long and tiring one.
The lucent throbbed as I swam into the morass, calling up a basic spell my father had taught me after that terrible day Hyla had lost her leg to save me.
A very basic transmutation spell, yes, but a good one nonetheless.
My magicks flowed through the lucent outward, easing the slide of water into my lungs, making it warm and weightless.
The magicks persuading the water to become more breathable, working on the air found in all water.
But only for a few moments. Even a witch such as I could not linger under the waves forever.
And if stressed or injured, breathing becomes much harder, so it was important to stay calm if possible.
Knowing my time was short, I pushed into the seaweed, the soft leaves brushing against my chest as I searched for the mother lamprey.
She came out of nowhere, a rushing attack from the left that opened up a gash on my forearm, the round mouth filled with rows of teeth that could shear steel, grazing past. The cold water eased the pain, but it also carried the blood to other predators.
I felt the water in my lungs grow heavier.
There was no time to fret over sharks. My attention was needed here.
I lashed out at the lamprey as she swam past, opening up a gash from her gill to her dorsal fin.
The creature thrashed about, ripping seaweed free, while small eels as long as a broom handle scattered outward as their mother tore apart her nest in a fury to find me.
Swimming back, dagger in hand, I waited at the edge of the torn weeds for her next attack.
My lungs began to feel tighter and tighter.
The eel darted at me, its sleek body tangled in slippery dark green weeds, and I struck out before the last of the hard-held magicks dissipated.
My strike opened up her belly, the water churning into a red froth as her internal organs spilled into the sea.
I pushed to the surface hard, bursting upward beside the ship.
Gasping, I glanced up to see a blue dragonling ripping the head from a lamprey a mere two hand spans above me.
Viscera fell into my face. I sank down into the sea to wash it off, bobbing back up, working to breathe properly.
Jaculi soared off, dead meal in its mouth as his friend, the scout, leaned over the rail to fire an arrow into the skull of the lamprey chewing on the hull at sea level.
It went slack. I swam over to pry it free and went on, diving under to kill and remove the miserable things dozens of times.
Finally, after exhaustion pulled at every inch of me, I made another pass under the ship and found no eels attached.
Coming up to the surface, I gave the crew a thumbs up as a rope ladder was tossed down to me by Hyla.
With her helping hand, I climbed wearily over the rail, dropping down to the deck with a grunt.
My first mate leaned in to examine the gash on my arm with a keen eye.
“Pith will tend to that,” Hyla said, running a motherly eye over me. “Any other injuries?”
“No, none, just a headache,” I confessed, which happened anytime I was under the waves for longer than a man should be. It would pass. “Are we all accounted for?”
“Aye, we are. Just some scrapes and cuts, nothing a bit of salt and a shot of rum won’t cure. The men are examining the hull for any breaches.”
“Good. Tell them to apply tar to any they may find until we can reach Light’s Keep. We can pull into port there to replace any boards that may be too weak to survive the trip to Celear.”
She nodded, stumping off to tell the men my orders. I took a seat on a crate of dried fish, thanking Simon for a bit of cloth to dry my sodden head. The dragonling, Jaculi, sat on the deck eating his lamprey, his sight on me as he chewed.
“How many of those did you slay?” I asked of the wyrm.
He regarded me with intelligence in his reptilian eyes before showing me a bloody paw.
Five sharp, curved claws dripping red were held up.
“Impressive.” The beast nodded. Rumor had it that the dragons were not lacking in self-confidence.
“I will not tolerate you biting my crew.” I reached over my shoulder to gather my hair to wring it out.
“I do respect that you are a dragon and so wish to have a hoard. I will see you are given a copper a day for the journey, but you must share the crow’s nest with my crew.
Is that acceptable to you? I will point out that if you had allowed my man to see out, as it is his duty, we could have avoided the lampreys’ nest entirely.
” He licked his lips with a thin, forked tongue, then, ever so subtly, gave me one nod of his leathery head. “That is a yes to our parlay?”
Beiro appeared at my side, bow and quiver in hand, as Asdren clomped up with four dead eels in both hands.
“He says he accepts your tithe and will not bite anyone else.” A pause. “Unless they step on him or call him a mere lizard.”
Sitting back to rest my shoulders on the rail, I exhaled deeply. “Then so be it. Do we think that I might go eat my watery eggs now?” My stomach rumbled with hunger.
“We’re having eel stew for dinner!” the dwarf announced as if it were a delicacy to him. Probably it was because the stone folk didn’t dine on seafood often. Eels were foul things I’d been forced to eat as a child. My hunger faded. Perhaps I would skip the evening meal and just drink wine instead…