Reaver - Chapter 3. Race War
#4 of Reaver (Old)
Chapter 3.
Race War.
"There is no denying that Gelt white tigers are a ferocious race that will stop at nothing to pursue a foe until the ends of the known world. I've seen them take arrows and spears in the chest and still have the energy to tear off an enemy head before they perished. One thing is for sure that if they ever agreed on a common goal it would take all but a miracle to stop them. Thankfully the gods have seen fit to give them something else to occupy their time with. Lion's. As aggressive as the tigers but only slightly smaller in stature.
There is nothing that a Gelt Tiger hates more than a lion, except of course, lots of lions."
Statement from a northern emissary. Shortly before he was murdered by a harbour assassin.
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Cold water. Freezing cold water.
He jumped with fright and scrambled to his feet, almost slipping on the loose hay.
"Morning Captain" Gotra laughed.
Magnus shook his head violently and then peered up at his best friend. "You are a bastard Gotra; there are gentler ways to wake someone up than tipping water on them"
His lieutenant dropped the bucket to the floor and put his paws on his wide hips. His chest heaved with merriment. "Good night?" he asked once he had finished laughing.
Magnus collected his thoughts quickly and sat down on the bale of hay. He looked around through narrow eyes at the beam he had tied the tigress too and then down at the floor. "Was the door open?"
"Wide open" Gotra replied. He threw the discarded trousers over to his captain without any further word. "I'm surprised she didn't knife you while you slept"
Magnus nodded and rubbed his eyes roughly. "I knew she wouldn't"
"But she had a go whilst you were still awake I see"
As he pointed it out, the wound on Magnus's arm began to ache a little once more. "Aye that she did. She managed to fashion a makeshift blade whilst she huddled with the other women"
"Cunning bitch" Gotra mirthed.
Magnus stood up and pulled on his trousers hastily. "What time is it?"
"Just before midday. All of the women, children and supplies are loaded and we are ready to set sail just as soon as you sort your life out"
"Point noted lieutenant, consider me reprimanded"
Gotra held out a paw and helped his captain to his feet. As they paced towards the open mill door he noticed the tattered rope still suspended from the beam. "Funny, I'm sure that wasn't there yesterday." He left the statement hanging in the air.
Magnus simply passed his hulking form and stepped out into the sunshine of a new day.
Gotra came to the doorway and looked down at Magnus walking from the mill, the morning sunshine reflecting from his white fur like a halo.
He could have sworn that his captain was almost skipping.
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As they approached the Nihus, the signs of the previous days battle were clear. In reverence to the fallen six crewman the rest of the Nihus's company had erected burial mounds on the shale beach. On each one a weapon stood proud from its mound with a helmet left to hand from its tip. It was the last reminder of their deaths.
Magnus pulled himself deftly up a cargo net that had been lowered to the beach and jumped over the rigging. He landed neatly on the deck and looked around at the crew. "Morning barbarians!" he yelled.
All of the crew stopped what they were doing and punched the air. "Belanor!" they shouted back as one. It was the old Gelt way of acknowledging a leader.
Magnus smiled and turned around to look out over the stricken village they had ransacked. Most of the buildings had already been set aflame and were smouldering nicely. A thick black smoke poured from the large log building they had used last night for revelry. It would not be long before it had all been brought to the ground.
"All present and accounted for Captain" Jorgung shouted over the din of the crew. "Cargo stowed and the women and children are being guarded at the back of the Nihus. They aren't going anywhere".
"Very good crew leader, lets get underway"
"Aye Captain" he replied and began to shout orders to the oarsman and drag parties to get the Nihus off its shale grounding.
Slowly but surely the Nihus began to re-enter the water and once this had been accomplished the oarsman rowed her out to a safe distance from the shore. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the sail was lifted and she caught the westerly wind. Her bow pointed for home.
Underway once more, it felt like nothing else mattered. Gotra brought over a cup of warm ale and they both sat and talked about the raid and the nights events. Finally after he had explained in detail what had happened between himself and the tigress Gotra laughed and slapped his knee. "You will have to learn never to trust a woman, especially one you have just forced yourself upon" he told him. "She could have gutted you in your sleep!" He thrust his paw to his stomach violently as if to reinforce the point.
"Thanks for the advice old friend but I think I judged her well enough last night to know differently"
His lieutenant looked sceptical and took a large draught of ale. "Aye, you have sound judgment all right but I wonder if a different head was thinking for you last night"
Magnus chuckled and pushed him away mockingly. "Quite possibly"
"Where is she now?"'
"No idea" Magnus replied as he stared out over the frothy ocean. "I guess she managed to escape, though I haven't got a clue how she managed it"
"Cornered animals do crazy things" Gotra stated flatly. "She was pretty good with a pitch fork though!"
Hetrun overheard the last comment made by his lieutenant and laughed to himself as he tied up some rigging.
"Shut it whelp!" Gotra barked at him, annoyed that someone else knew about his injury.
Hetrun just laughed some more and shook his head. "Aye sir that I will"
Magnus crossed over to a large wooden chest attached to the bow of the ship and inserted a key from around his chest. He opened the heavy lid and pulled out a ships compass and a nautical map. After some consideration and more than one look at the horizon he finally put them both away. "About four days back to Azerbard" he grunted. "That's if we keep this wind behind us. If not, could be five to six days"
Gotra looked out over the horizon and then pulled his thick jacket on tighter. "Well we best hope and pray that the gods are with us" he replied.
Magnus nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Boatswain, strike up a song to pass the time, I need something to stir the blood this cold morning!"
A younger tiger, new blood to the Nihus, snapped his hand to his chest as a salute. "Aye captain!" He then took out one of the bone horns from its casing and blew a long deep powerful note to set the base of the song.
Moments later all of the crew began to sing the well know sailors dirge ‘Oh mother sea spare us your wrath' as the Nihus cut sweetly though the ocean waves.
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It was the fourteenth song and five hours later when the lookout spotted a vessel on the horizon. He almost squealed with excitement. "Captain, there is ship out there, to the north. It looks like a warship of some kind!" he pointed out from the rigging the direction of the sighting.
Magnus and Gotra both ran to the port side of the ship and peered out over the expanse at the black silhouette on the horizon.
"Lionite Trader" they both growled in unison.
"Raise the sail higher and bring us about!" Gotra shouted at the crew. "Get the oars in the water and start to heave you bastards!"
"Helmsman, set a course to intercept the ship as soon as possible!" Magnus bellowed.
"Aye sir" the bulky tiger replied, half of his body hidden by the large tiller he manned.
"The gods have smiled on us this day brothers!" Magnus shouted to the crew who furiously actioned their orders. "Let's bring home a juicy prize and kill any of the bastards who try and stop us!"
The crew acknowledged him with a roar of shouts and woops, drawing weapons and thrusting the oars into the ocean to help in the pursuit.
Magnus gripped the forward rail of the Nihus, crunching the solid oak in his strong paws. "How many men do you think?" he asked Gotra who was hastily donning his helmet.
Gotra shrugged and strapped on his short sword around his waist. "Not enough" he replied.
A smile creased Magnus's lips at his friends answer and he picked up his own weapons from the chest. "Lieutenant, you have an uncanny ability to make this tiger happy"
"They have seen us!" the lookout cried to the crew below. "They are turning about to face on!"
‘Good' Magnus thought privately to himself ‘Let them see their death approach'
Gotra looked at the ship on the horizon and shuffled his feet anxiously. "Is this a good time to tell you that I despise ship battles?" he asked.
Magnus slammed home his own helmet and strapped it underneath his thick chin. "No Gotra, this isn't a good time. Not a good time at all"
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When the trader had brought herself about to face the approaching longship she fired her three bow ballista straight at them. All three of the five feet spears sailed clean over the Nihus but it didn't stop the threat hitting home.
All of the crew knew that the trader would get at least two more shots before the Nihus had closed the distance and boarded the ship.
They held the course like a dagger aiming right for the heart of a wounded opponent, intent on bringing the death blow as quickly as possible. The waves of the ocean rippled up the sides of the warship as she bucked under the strain of the charge. Deck boards creaked with agony like the Nihus had a war cry all of its own.
A crack in the distance heralded the second volley. This time two of the bolts hit home, the fist slicing harmlessly through the main sail and the second punching through the port side of the Nihus and spearing one of the oarsman through the chest like a spit roast. He died instantly, still clutching the oar in his paws.
"Hold!" Jorgung cried amongst the crew, urging them to ignore the death. He crossed over to the oar and after deftly chopping the spear in half with an axe he pushed the dead crewman over the edge of the Nihus. He then took the oar himself and began to row in time with the rest of the crew. "Keep rowing or it will be the death of us!" he threatened them.
Magnus smiled at the professionalism of his ships company and made a mental note to reward Jorgung for his display of leadership and courage. "Hetrun" he ordered. "Smoke us up!"
"Aye captain" Hetrun replied. Moments later he had lit two large braziers at the back of the Nihus causing thick black smog to mask at first the rear of the ship and then the rest of it.
"Let's see the devil spawn hit us now!" Hetrun laughed.
The third volley sounded but landed with no consequence, the makeshift smoke screen doing its job perfectly.
"Brace for impact!" Gotra shouted and gripped the handrail tightly.
The rest of the crew ditched their oars and likewise held onto anything immediately at hand.
They waited for what seemed like minutes but in fact could have only been heartbeats as the Nihus bore down on its pray. Everything was impossibly quiet.
Suddenly Magnus was pitched forward as the bow of his ship struck home and skidded across the port side of the enemy vessel. He landed roughly on the deck and his axe was sent spinning from his paws. The shuddering smash of the two vessels fuzzed his vision and deafened him momentarily but he could still see his shipmates scrambling to their feet and struggling to throw grapples onto the Lionite trader.
Using the handrail to assist him he also managed to get his legs under him and stand up. Within moments he had assessed the situation and realised that the crews quick actions had worked. The Lionite trader had been brought to bear almost perfectly. "Get onto the ship!" he roared, battle frenzy taking over him. "Kill them all!"
The young boatswain, obviously eager to impress, grabbed one of the grapple ropes and began to climb up the enemy rigging and onto the ship. He disappeared from sight for a second amid the black smoke but then fell down screaming and clutching at his throat. Magnus ran over to the young tiger and instantly realised there was nothing he could do. A thick bolt protruded two paw lengths from the boatswain's neck, spilling life blood in a puddle around him. "Archers" he growled. "Why do they always have archers".
He hoisted the dying tiger onto his shoulder and began to climb the rigging. The smoke from the Nihus's decoy was acrid and burnt his eyes and tongue terribly. Two sickening thuds impacted and his makeshift shield fell limp with a sigh. Magnus threw the now dead young tiger from his shoulder and jumped over the rail of the enemy vessel, landing with a heavy crunch on the deck.
It was then that he stared death in the teeth once more.
One of the enemy ballista, now reloaded, was pointing right at him. It was manned by three lions that frantically tightened up the winch and prepped it to release. He charged at them, pure adrenaline forcing his legs forward even when his common sense told him to evade the weapon. Time seemed to slow down as he looked for any sign of the missile releasing.
One of the lions grabbed a lever and thrust it downwards.
On that signal Magnus dived to the right hand side, skidding across the deck a few foot and rolling to his feet.
The bolt speared past him and through the black smoke having missed its immediate target.
Magnus didn't give them a second chance to react. He pulled his belt knife from its sheath and ran at them where they stood screaming a blood oath from the old generations.