One Man’s Trouble is Another Man’s Fortune
From the nest of the Stormbringer came the shout, “Ship, starboard ahead.” Guthram and Drengr looked to the man, Vester, then to the horizon. “Kraken,” Vester confirmed.
Guthram nodded to Drengr, who called the crew to their stations. The deck immediately bustled into activity. The rigging crews stood by their ropes. The ballista crews loaded the bows with the specially designed explosive ‘Galen spears’ and lit the ignitors.
“All crews stand ready and hold,” Guthram called.
“It’s gaining fast, Captain,” said Drengr. “I think it is the Ogre, a fight not easily won.”
“I love your optimism, but the Ogre could probably sink us so fast, the first we would know about it would be wet feet,” Guthram replied. “Let us hope it won’t come to that. They are still Krakens, after all. Stand fast but be ready.”
“I will speak with Captain Friemann!” called Captain Jason Arkilla of the Ogre as it came aside. The enormous caravel cast its shadow over most of the starboard side of the Stormbringer.
Guthram could see the tension in the faces of the men and women of his crew. The same expressions were mirrored in those he could see of the Ogre’s crew. “Your reputation is to always attack first, young captain. What can be important enough for you to risk losing such notoriety?” Guthram ensured he spoke loud enough for all to hear.
“I will come aboard your ship unarmed, with my first officer,” the captain replied.
The older captain cleared his throat for added emphasis. “Permission to come aboard granted, Captain,” he said, casting a glance to Drengr, who shrugged his shoulders.
Ropes were thrown down from the larger vessel and some of Guthram’s crew looked for his nod before tying them off on the closest horn cleats. Two of the Ogre’s crew then lowered a lengthy gangplank and secured each end to connect the ships.
Not a single voice was heard from among either crew. The sounds of the light wind and the splashing water on the hulls were punctuated by the occasional squeak of a pulley wheel.
The Stormbringer crew received the plank and secured it against the side of the ship, still in relative silence.
Arkilla made a demonstration of removing his sword and handing it to one of his crew. The young captain wore the breastplate and backplate of a foot soldier. However, Guthram could tell – even from this distance – that Jason’s armour was of fine quality with obvious details of expert craftsmanship.
Other than his black sash, Guthram would not have taken him for a captain in the King’s Krakens by either build or dress. As well as the breastplate and backplate, he wore a brimmed morion style open helmet with a crest from front to back that Guthram knew as a ‘pikeman’s pot’. The linen under his breastplate was a vibrant red, which Guthram assumed would make the captain an easy target if fighting broke out. The older captain smirked. Nervous? he thought.
The smirk faded as Arkilla moved along the plank. His strides were almost carefree and reminded Guthram of a deer, not what he expected from a man boarding an enemy ship. The First Officer of the Ogre, whom Guthram recognised as a cougari named Thalia Langt – or, as she was also known, Talley Long Tail – stalked down to the Stormbringer, her demeanour more in keeping with Guthram’s sense of a Kraken sailor. She was a remnant of a time when the baron had trusted cougari. As far as he knew, she was the only one left in the Krakens.
She was almost twice as old as her captain and had stripes of grey running through her long dark hair, which blew free in the wind. Lean and tall, she bore herself with the purpose of a natural predator, her jade-coloured eyes scanning everything before her. Thalia moved her gaze from Guthram to the men on the deck and to the covered ballista turrets in a continuous cycle. Her shirt was blown tight to her body in the breeze but opened at least one toggle more than was acceptable in polite society. Guthram could see the many scars and tattoos adorning the sand-coloured skin of her upper chest and neck.
Drengr and Brosa approached the plank and waited as Guthram descended the stairs at the wheelhouse to join them. Taking a closer look at the visitors, Guthram leaned close to his first mate. “Keep your eyes open,” he muttered.
Drengr gave a shallow nod.
“Welcome aboard, Captain,” said Guthram, wheeling back around to the plank.
“Your quarters, if you please…Captain,” said Arkilla, gesturing to the stern of the ship, the word ‘captain’ seeming to stick in his throat. Guthram glanced at Drengr, who raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes, signalling his opinion of the young captain. Guthram concealed a smile.
Long Tail approached Drengr and clasped his wrist and nodded, having served with him many years ago. When she pulled her hand back, she scratched Drengr’s wrist with a claw and smiled. Drengr had been subject to this more than once from Long Tail and had expected it. He did not react.
“What is this about, Arkilla?” asked Guthram, well on the road to not liking the man.
“So, this is the fearsome Stormbringer? It’s smaller than I imagined,” Arkilla said.
“The crew is what makes this ship fearsome. I have the best sailors in the fleet beside me,” said Guthram, casting an eye to the imposing caravel.
“Of course, except they are no longer in the fleet anymore, are they?” Arkilla moved past Guthram on his way to the Captain’s Quarters. Guthram clenched his jaw but remained silent, not wanting to end any discussion before it began.
The group, led by Guthram, followed Arkilla. The Captain of the Stormbringer could see the younger captain looking for the stairs to the Captain’s Quarters, which were not at the rear of the ship as was the traditional design. Guthram was not inclined to inform Arkilla as to their location. He signalled to his crew at the stern to leave.
“Here is fine,” Guthram stated, ducking under one of the backstays of the mizzen mast to rest against the rail of the ship, grunting as he moved with the stiffness in his shoulder. “Now, what shall we talk about?”
Arkilla came about and positioned himself where he could be seen. Guthram perceived him to puff up his chest.
“As you know,” Arkilla began, “you have been branded a traitor to the king and his navy.”
“Really? Since when?”
Arkilla continued after the brief pause it took to realise Guthram was not being serious. “It is not something I would take lightly if I were you,” he snapped.
Guthram raised his palms in mock apology. He had wished to lift the mood, as everyone was far too tense for any successful conversation to be had. “Please continue, Captain,” he urged Arkilla.
“Yes…well…as I was saying, you are considered a traitor. I need you to tell me how this came to be. I know other captains formerly of the Krakens who have been called traitors, some of whom I simply cannot believe to have done what they are accused of. What have they accused you of?”
“I am surprised you have not heard how I am supposed to have murdered three of my closest friends and turned to piracy and theft, raiding our own ships for supplies. I remember the generous donation from the captain of the Fire Drake quite differently, it seems. Oh yes, and I worship pagan gods, just for good measure.”
“When did these accusations start?” asked Arkilla. “Do you recall the last mission your ship was given before the shouts of traitor began?”
“Of course, it was a job for the Temple,” said Guthram. “We were to pick up the tithes from Ilak Gemmell but instead, when the men I sent to collect them returned, they informed me the tithes were collected days before by another Kraken ship – the Night’s Cry, I think. I have never heard of this ship. When we next made port at Ilak Rath, seven of my men were arrested for stealing the tithes and accused of treason.
“We have attempted to free them, but I do not know where they have been taken. There has been no word of them for a long time. I fear they were executed without trial and the whole affair covered up. We have also never found the Night’s Cry. Do you think the Temple are somehow involved?”
“Absolutely not!” Arkilla took an indignant step toward Guthram. Drengr moved to get between the captains to find himself confronted by Long Tail. The pair stared at each other in a considerably less courteous manner than before.
“Fine,” declared Guthram, tapping Drengr on the shoulder to let him know to stand down. The two captains stepped back from each other. “Answer me honestly, Jason. What do you know about all of this? Do you know who is responsible?”
There was a pause as all concerned gave their full attention to Arkilla, who drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “I will admit, when I first heard stories of how certain captains had betrayed the King’s Krakens, I was filled with revulsion for what they had done, the oaths they had broken, and the innocent lives they were said to have taken. And I promised myself and Oln to use the might of my ship to bring them all, including you, to justice.
“It was my ship which captured Ilmarinen after he was declared a traitor. We discovered the Celestina’s Light making for the Smouldering Straits and gave chase. It looked to me like another ship must have attempted to capture or kill him, as their bowsprit sail and mizzen sail were ripped to pieces before we ever arrived.
“Once we attacked the ship, I saw the Kraken flag raised and the sails withdrawn, which I understood to mean he was surrendering. When we were close enough to the ship, the Celestina’s Light dropped anchor. Rear Admiral Ilmarinen was on the main deck. He was just staring at me with a look of disappointment. Of course, I mistook his stare to be one of defiance at the time but when I recall it, I am certain it was disappointment.”
Guthram and his men exchanged glances. Drengr and Brosa seemed equally surprised with the candour of the Ogre’s captain. “Ilmarinen told me he would surrender without any further struggle and asked me to take the Celestina’s Light back to Aksson rather than destroy it, as it was named for his wife and was one of the finest ships of the fleet. The Temple claimed it as a spoil, renamed it ‘Canticle’ and refitted it. The other condition: his crew would not be taken to Aksson, but rather, they would be imprisoned on any of the larger islands of my choosing. I agreed and I escorted the ship and the admiral to the city. After interning his crew and on the final leg of our journey to Aksson, he admitted to me he had been bluffing and he would never have given an order to attack another Kraken ship. He also told me it was all part of some larger plot. I could not tell if he was lying and attempting to persuade me to release him, but I knew if it was true, they were not the words of a traitor to the fleet.
“After the second day with him as my prisoner, I stopped visiting, as I suspected he was trying to convince me there was some scheme at work against our fleet. I didn’t want to hear it. I was too focused on my oath. I…” The young captain cast his eyes downward.
“Let me guess how the story continues,” said Guthram. “You are full of doubt about the admiral’s guilt and since the baron executed him, you will never know the truth of it. You have done something to warrant the wrath of either the baron or someone with enough power to have you branded like the rest of us and you want to find out who, get revenge and clear your name. Sounds like a lot of stories I’m hearing these days from so-called traitors. So, have you outlived your usefulness somehow and been thrown in with us lot? Are you part of the ‘King’s Traitors’ fleet these days?”
“It would seem to be the case, yes,” answered the young man. “I do wish to make amends and not just for Ilmarinen. I need to clear my name and the names of my crew, and I will have my revenge. Since I am being honest, I must tell you we captured six other ships and crews, and we were forced to sink the Fire Drake during our hunt.”
The muscles in Guthram’s jaw and arms tightened again.
“Captain Hill and his crew were recovered from the sea,” Arkilla added, “although I do not know if he is safe or not. He escaped the brig with several of his officers and senior crewmen. They stole one of my shore-boats in the middle of the night and I was not able to find him by morning.”
Guthram lowered his head in relief and smiled.
“Something must have changed after. Maybe it was suspected I set the men free. On Ilak Dún, my marines were ordered to disembark for a training exercise by a member of the Night Watch who was on the island. I thought this was suspicious, so I told the crew to ready the ship for swift departure. My master-of-marines, Bowen, managed to return to the ship to inform me his men had been ordered to take the ship when they returned as there was ‘evidence’ I was keeping tithes for the Temple, tithes from Ilak Rath. But we never made it there. We were held up by a storm and then a fight with a pirate flotilla forced us to return to the city for repairs.”
“That clears the fog a little,” responded Guthram. “It’s a good start. The truth of all of this will be discovered, but I fear we might have even bigger problems. We heard five soundings of the horn. The city is under attack. There were fights breaking out at the Southern Docks as we escaped the city, but things must have become much worse.”
“Good,” said Arkilla. “Let the city fall, and the baron with it. Nothing but a nest of rats in charge anyway.”
“Captain!” Long Tail blurted. Arkilla’s ire was drawn to his first officer. Guthram stood up from the railing of the ship and closed some of the distance to the young captain. The two men were of equal height, with Guthram broader by the shoulders and more muscular.
“My men have family in the city, my wife and child are there. We must sail back and help,” Guthram said. “The Twice Shy already burns at the Southern Docks. For all we know, we may be the only ones who can bare up against any attack from the sea.”
“Ha! A full-scale naval attack on Aksson has never been successful,” Arkilla scoffed. “The reefs would tear any enemy ship apart, and if the reefs don’t get them, the Fish Hooks will when they get closer. If there is a fleet bearing down on Aksson, what is your plan? For our two ships to sail at them and be bravely destroyed?”
“If there is a fleet against us…then yes,” said Guthram. “It is still our sworn duty to do exactly that. Just because they call us traitors does not make it so. If the attack is from the land, then we can help the people escape. Your ship alone could hold hundreds. The baron may have abandoned us, and he can burn for it, but we cannot abandon the innocent people of Aksson. I need your help, Jason. Aksson needs your help. As do the families of your crew.”
The younger man averted his eyes from Guthram’s fierce stare. “This is why you did not attempt to flee when we rounded the headland,” he said.
Guthram nodded.
Arkilla shook his head. “I cannot risk the lives of my men, Captain Friemann, by sailing any closer to the city than we are. Who is to say they would not engage us, thinking we were attacking the city?”
Guthram was not convincing the young man. “You are Captain of the Ogre, the largest ship in the fleet. You were given this command because you are talented and capable. Like your father, there are tales of your bravery and tactical mind –”
“It is my tactical mind which is telling me –”
“But,” Guthram interrupted with his voice raised, “if you would do nothing while our city, one of the king’s cities, is overrun by an enemy, then not only do you dishonour yourself but also your father’s memory. Whether you decide to float or flee, the badge of traitor will be one to suit you and you will wear it for all your long, safe days. You wanted to make amends for Ilmarinen, for the ships you hunted. It starts here and now.”
Jason walked past Guthram to the railing of the Stormbringer and looked at his ship. The crew were moving about the main deck to calls from the bosun. A pair of gulls had perched on the gaff sail boom and were crying. Some sailors lingered by their own railing and tried to look busy when they spotted their captain.
“Captain?” asked Long Tail.
Arkilla dropped his shoulders and bowed his head. “Am I to presume there is a plan hidden somewhere in this foolishness?” he asked, looking back to Guthram.
“Somewhere.” Guthram offered his hand, and Arkilla shook it.
“What did you have in mind?” asked the Captain of the Ogre.
Guthram gave the younger captain a knowing smile. “Maybe it is time I introduced you to the other reason I did not attempt to flee.”