Malspire (17 page)

Everyone not needed below was on deck looking up at the steep walls of rock on either side. Even the doctor was on deck, wrapped up in a thick overcoat, his hands still visibly shaking. There was no sign of human life but on the cliff tops were a few trees and long grasses drooping over the edges. The screech of pair of fighting birds echoed down the gorge.

"Water’s calming, Captain. We could weigh anchor here. Do the painting by lamp light or wait till morning," said Harl.

"Let's keep going for a bit," I said. The gorge was thinning and the land falling the further in we went. "There is still some light. I want to see what's up ahead."

"Aye, sir."

The channel began to turn and twist. It was thinning but there was still plenty of room for the ship. A man had fixed a long pole to the front side of the vessel.  This pole had a small yellow flag at the top, and plunged deep into the water below. Another man was sounding the depths with a lead. I kept a weather eye on the flag, knowing that if it dipped forwards, it had hit something. It was a simple way to tell if the waters were getting too shallow for the ship and faster than casting a lead weight. The last thing any of us wanted was to run aground on these rocks, in this enemy land.

It got dark. Slowly the ship kept going until finally Harl had to say something. "Captain?"

"I know. Mister Harl."

"We've lost the light, sir."

"Look!" I said, pointing into the gloom.

In the dim light cast by the large lantern held at the bow by a crewman, I saw something.

"Over there." I pointed ahead and from the shadows emerged what looked like a pebble beach. The flag dipped.

"All stop!"

"All stop!" repeated Mister Harl. The engine noise died and the paddle wheel slowed to a halt, then reversed until we had stopped.

"There. The end of the fjord. It's a beach, and look, a wall." I could just make out the wall that ran from one edge of the gorge to the other, built roughly fifty feet up from the waterline. It was more a palisade than a proper defensive wall, made of weathered wooden poles driven into the ground.

"Can't see anyone," said Harl. "No lights."

It was silent, the only sound, the lapping of water on the hull, hiss of gentle waves upon the pebble shore, and venting steam. Even the gulls were silent now.

“Drop anchor. Run out the launch. I want to have a closer look,” I said to Mistor Olvan.

In the darkness, we lifted the launch which was kept covered at the centre of the ship. Using the crow's-nest mast and a boom as a crane, the boat was lowered into the calm inky waters by men manning the capstan. There was an odd smell to the place. It was fish and crab and rotting seaweed, but combined with something sweeter. I wanted to see more. There was still no sign of activity from the shore or the wall. Perhaps we had scared off the inhabitants? But why would they not guard their wall?

"You're in command, Mister Olvan," I said as Harl, Jodlin, Sergeant Lamtak, Willan, ten other crew and marines and I slid down a rope net into the launch. I left Sudlas behind just in case there was any trouble Olvan could not handle.

All the marines had taken to wearing sailor's clothing as part of the ship's disguise. In fact the marine sergeant looked quite the pirate with a cutlass, rings and pistols fitted to a bandolier.

"May I join you, Captain?" This was Doctor Eebel, who, standing over the ship's gunwale peered down at the men in the boat.

"I would prefer it if you stayed aboard, doctor. Is there any particular need to join us?"

"The smell, Captain."

"What do you mean?" I said. It was an odd smell.

"Do you not recognise it? It's rotting meat. Rotting flesh. There's death here, Captain. I'm a doctor, and I should go ashore to see if I can help."

I suddenly recognised the smell of rotting flesh, and it turned my gut. Death did hang heavy over this knife's tip of water, where it had stabbed deep into the lands.

"Come aboard, doctor," I said, and shivered at the prospect of what we might find.

Chapter Seven

I was nervously gripping the hilt of my cutlass just as those that were not rowing were hugging their muskets. There was a spine tingling coldness to the place, a dread and gut fear now setting in. The men rowed the craft to the beach and at once we could see by the lamp light that something was amiss.

It was dark and eerily quiet with a thin layer of mist flowing like a river from the higher ground. There was the crunch as the launch hit the pebble beach, and men jumped out to pull the boat ashore, stumbling on the loose stones, trying to find footing enough to haul the heavy craft up. The wooden wall, made white as bone by the salt, wind and water was perhaps twelve feet high and looked solid enough, but a single large gate at its centre was wide open. The pebbles carried on up behind the gate and as we got closer, I could make out the line of beach where it met tufts of rugged grass and wooden walkways made of crude planking. Behind the palisade was a small settlement that climbed the end of the gorge. It was a fishing village. The boats were laid up on the beach inside the simple defences. Nets hung from poles, and baskets lay scattered about. Crab shells, and fish bones littered the beach line.

"It stinks," grunted Jodlin.

"Nobody here," I said in a hushed tone, unsure of how to proceed. Something felt instinctively wrong. Was it a trap? I now noticed how the gate had been smashed and broken.

Sergeant Lamtak stepped forwards. "Let me take some men in, sir," he said.

"Do that. A reconnaissance, Sergeant. Remember that we're on their side now, so down with the Empire, and glory to the Calandian rebellion."

"Aye, sir." The sergeant took five men and moved off into the gloom. The others and I waited by the gate.

Some minutes passed before Harl hissed in alarm. "Up there!" He pointed up to the right where a lantern appeared on the cliff top. "Someone's up there."

"Lamtak couldn't have reached that far so quickly," I said.

In the darkness, all we could see was the single lamp. Down here on the beach, we would be easily spotted with our many lamps. The light on the cliff vanished.

"Probably saw us, sir, panicked and hid his lamp."

Damn. What was going on here? I was about to call for the sergeant to return. There seemed no point in whispering or hiding anymore, when suddenly there was a scream followed by running footsteps. One of the seamen clad marines appeared, white faced and crying. "They're dead! They're all dead. Gutted. Gutted like fish!"

"What did you see man?" I growled. "Calm down! What did you see?" The others soon followed him. They too were pale and shaken.

"Sergeant!"

"Captain! The place is full of dead people, sir. It's a massacre! Blood, guts… The flies!"

"Where? Show me!"

We all made our way into the small fishing village. The single roomed houses were all weathered wooden constructions built on poles with steps leading down to steep, slippery wooden paths.

The stink was rich with the sweet smell of decay, and now there was the deep droning of vulture flies, which, disturbed by the movement and light took to the air in swarms. Some of the men wrapped scarves and cloths around their faces to block the smell and bites. Doctor Eebel, grim faced, seemed unaffected by the stench. Sergeant Lamtak went to one of the first doors and kicked it in. Shining a light into the gloom, a new flurry of flies emerged from the darkness where I saw to my horror, the rotting remains of what looked like a family of three, gutted and dead upon the floor, their bodies, now melting, lying in a sickly pool of blood and putrid liquids where maggots swam. Men turned away to vomit. The sergeant grimaced. Harl whispered a silent prayer. I was speechless.

"It's the same all over, Captain," said Lamtak. "All dead, all gutted."

"What the hells happened here?" I muttered. "Who would do such a thing?"

"Evil!" said the doctor. "Only evil could gut women and children, then leave them to rot. The dark gods have been at work here. Vulture flies!" He shivered.

"You're too late!"

We all span round, drawing swords and levelling muskets, held in shaking hands.

"Too late!" screamed a wild haired woman. She was holding a lantern and standing further up the wooden road. She was dressed in ripped and faded clothing and covered in mud, cuts and grazes. "We called for you weeks ago. We begged for help, and now you come. Now when they're all dead!" She was obviously mad. She was screeching her words and tears fell to clear clean paths down her grubby cheeks.

"What happened here?" I demanded.

"They came," she said, pointing out to sea. "They climbed the walls. They climbed the cliff face. They came from behind." The woman turned to point inland.

"Who came," asked the doctor.

"Sealorns!" she screeched and dropped her lantern. She began to pull at her hair. "Sealorn demons!" She fell to her knees sobbing. The doctor moved to her side, mumbling words of comfort as he went. Finally he placed his large coat round her shivering body.

"Who are Sealorns?" I asked.

"Creatures," said Harl. "From the sea. Ain't seen one myself, but tales tell of men with the heads of fish, hundreds of teeth and claws."

"Creatures? Demons?" I shivered at the thought. "Surely she is mistaken. Pirates must have dressed in fish cloaks. She's mad."

"No, Captain. They exist." This was Sergeant Lamtak. "They don't like the land but they have been known to come ashore when they have good reason. I met a few lads who fought them up on the northern shores. Swore they did, sir. Terrible things, nasty things."

I considered this for a moment. If this was true then perhaps we were all in danger. Perhaps the ship was in danger. "Why did they attack you?" I asked the woman. "Did they have reason?"

She was now hidden in the coat, but her bright, crazed eyes looked up sharply. "Oh, they had reason. They had reason, and I warned the folk. I told them we would be cursed, but they didn't listen to me."

"Well?"

"A sea hag was caught in the nets. Ugly foul beast! I told them to throw it back but did they listen? Greed got the better of them. Oh yes. Greed killed us all."

I had heard of sea hags but knew little about them. Yet another tale to scare the young and gullible.

"Cut its head off they did," she continued. "So she couldn't escape, then put it in the cave." She pointed back down to the darkness of the beach. "The sea hag was forced to bring fish to the waters, and we had plenty. We ate like kings and queens. It brought crab and lobster. The sea is its to control and we controlled it, but then it brought the sea demons too. Oh yes. It summoned the Sealorns, and that was the end of us. I begged them to kill it, but the men wouldn't give up such a prize. I begged them to throw it back to the waves, but they were too greedy."

"Is it still here?"

"Oh yes. Oh yesss!" she hissed and looked wild eyed round her. “They will be here soon. They will have seen you."

"Why is the sea hag still here if the village was overrun?"

"I saw it. I saw it. It laughed at me when I went to kill it once and for all. They cut the head. She's cursed this place and all men. She stays for revenge on any and all men. You and your men are doomed! They come at night. Doomed, all of us!"

Suddenly there was the crack of musket fire from the bay followed by the distant shouts of alarm.

"To the ship!" I cried as I set off down the road.

There was more gun fire, and distant shouting. I had to be careful not to lose footing on the treacherous planking with my bad foot. I heard a man go down behind me with a shout and a curse. When we reached the gate, we all stopped in terror as we saw the shadowy figures emerging from the depths. There was the crunch of pebble under foot, and the glint of moonlight reflected off bulbous sickly eyes.

"Dark gods dominion!" I cursed when we saw the awkward shapes of the creatures. Truly half man and half fish. I could just make out the silhouette of a fight on the ship, and saw that there was no way to reach them now.

"Defend the gate!"

At once, Sergeant Lamtak began to issue orders. He posted two men above the gate with muskets, and had the rest fetch baskets, wood and anything else they could find to barricade the entrance. The men on the palisade opened fire, then reloaded and fired again. The shots hit home and Sealorns fell to the rounds. I was pleased to note the Marine's professionalism under pressure. The Sealorns were not fast creatures, but it only took a minute for them to reach the hastily built barricade. I was horrified by the shape of these beasts. They had the bulbous heads of fish with row upon row if tiny, sharp teeth in wide gaping mouths, yet they had the arms and legs of pale, bent men or apes but with large webbed claws and webbed feet and scales. Each of them carried what looked like a long blade made of bone with a wickedly serrated edge, perfect for gutting people. They stank of rotting fish and screamed rancid screeches over the defences which they began to pull apart as my men and I started to hack and stab at them. A marine fired point blank into the mouth of one then stabbed with the bayonet at another. Jodlin roared as he leant over the barricade and crushed the head of a Sealorn. I slashed my cutlass to try to force them away from the defences, but I saw that it was only a matter of time before the Sealorns took it apart and swamped our small party.

"Kill them!" I called desperately. "Kill the bloody lot of them. Don't let them through!"

It was tiring work. The men fought like banshees and the marines up top kept up a good rate of fire, now shooting straight down upon the bulbous heads of the sea creatures. The doctor at the back fired a pistol. Harl spat and slashed at them, cutting a webbed hand clean off at the wrist, pallid blood spraying him. The other men fought hard with a combination of determination and fear plastered on their faces. Perhaps we could hold? But for how long? I turned as I heard a distant scream from behind me. It was the mad woman, and my heart froze at the sound and implication. As I feared, I saw shadows moving down the wooden paths of the village. The Sealorns had before learnt to take this place by outflanking the wall, and now they were doing it again.

I was near panic. We were about to be surrounded, hope was fading, and in desperation I sought an answer. The cave! The woman had pointed in the direction of the beach wall. It was too dark to see, but if there was a cave there, we could defend that without being outflanked. Without knowing where it was but seeing no other option I stepped back from the fight.

"To me! Fall back and follow me! To me!" I half ran, half stumbled along the inside of the wall towards the eastern side of the gorge. It was hard going on the pebble beach. "Follow me!" I called again, and heard the others hot on my heels panting and cursing. "Find the cave. It must be here somewhere!"

As we got closer to the cliff face, a yawning black hole emerged in the shadows and although too large to defend the entrance, it must surely narrow further in. I turned to one of the men and grabbed the lantern he was holding, and then dived straight into the blackness. It was a natural cave with a pebble floor, and after only a few yards it narrowed enough for four men to defend the width.

"Here! Sergeant Lamtak, make your defence!"

Lamtak ordered four men with muskets and bayonets to form a wall. The others stood behind them and reloaded pistols and muskets, and gathered their strength.

"There are too many!" said the doctor. "We can't hold long."

"I know! Did anyone see how the Lady Ocean was fairing?"

"Still fighting when we ran, Captain," said Harl. We could hear the distant sound of shot and ring of metal.

I looked round, desperate for a solution. This part of the cave was used as storage, and pulling crates and nets aside I soon found some fishing harpoons. "Take them!" I called out. "Use them as pikes. Hold the abominations off. Use the crates." I started to throw the crates forward to be used as a new barricade. Others took over. Harl gathered up the Harpoons and handed them out.

"I'll be back." I turned to the darkness. Again that cold chill, and I hesitated. This was our only chance so I began to make my way further into the cave.

"I'm coming with you," said Doctor Eebel, joining me.

I did not have the time to argue, and just held out the lantern before me and carried on. A volley of musket fire deafened us, marking the arrival of the Sealorns to the cave's entrance. The cave quickly narrowed into a tunnel that would only allow one man at a time to pass through. The screams and shouting of the men began again as the enemy fell upon the human wall of spikes and blades. They would not hold long. I had seen how many Sealorns there were and they did not seem to fear the blade nor shot. Soon the sounds dimmed as I went further and further into the belly of this cursed land. The doctor was just behind me, but before me was a tunnel that ended in utter darkness. The darkness suddenly enveloped us as we entered what must have been a large cavern. Continuing through the darkness, we could just make out the hint of walls and as my eyes grew accustomed to the dim room after holding the lantern before me for too long I saw that the space was empty but for a stone pillar at the far end, and upon this pillar was a head.

We crept closer. My breath misted in the unnatural cold. The lantern did not shine in all directions but was shuttered to shine only ahead, so our weak cone of fire light fell upon the stand and its gruesome fisherman's trophy. We both edged closer still. It was the head of an old woman, seemingly dead with pale blue-green skin and long green and grey hair that fell down around the skull like matted string.