Get up, friends. Monkfish is just the beginning!
Chapter 2
The clouds hugged the sky like a raven wing, and there was no beginning or end to them. A bright flash illuminated the horizon for a moment, as if the hand of a dead man was trying to remove the veil from the heavens. And then came the thunder. And then the first drops fell from above. With every second the rain became stronger, until under its spell it became impossible to distinguish anything two steps away.
Are you snails or sailors! Liton bawled. Why so slow? Maybe I should stand next to you and start pouring water overboard? Just keep in mind that one of you will be dipping the water!
The captain turned the rudder left and right, doing everything possible to keep the ship afloat and cope with the storm. Others ran, some with a bucket, some with a rag, pouring water overboard. The strength was running out, but it was impossible to give up. Nobody promised the sailor a sweet life. Then the storm calmed down. After a while, the clouds melted, and an arch of a rainbow hung over the «Soul of the Corsair.»
Phew, alive! said the captain. Although, what do we need a storm now, when the monkfish himself was killed? Lets have fun now!
The pirates drank rum, someone played dice. The rules are simple you roll a few dice. Whoever gets the fewest points will spend the whole day scrubbing the deck. The other loser washes the dishes. So with passion it is very easy to prevent dirt on the schooner.
You cheated! I have seen! Tart shouted.
If youre a loser, what does it have to do with me?
Yes you are! How can you say that! I saw with my own eyes how you turned the bone over with your hand.
If you dont want to scrub the deck, theres no point in accusing honest people of deception!
Are you honest? Dont make people laugh! My friend is wearing pants even more honest! He always honestly gets up when he sees a woman. And you, star, are cheating!
Tart grabbed Jim by the collar. Jim took out a dagger. A shot rang out.
Both! said the captain. Now throw the weapon on the floor. Now go out into the fresh air and decide there who is right and who is wrong.
Tart and Jim came out. And after a while the door opened again with a creak, and the two pirates, like bosom friends, sang in an embrace:
Yo-ho-ho! We are not afraid of the dead
We love mermaids, we are bottomlessly drunk.
We will be hanged we will be finished!
But while we are alive, you are doomed!
So at once! Liton smiled.
The captain approached Tram.
Why, my friend, arent you happy? I understand, its a burden and all that, but you need to relax at least sometimes. Come on, drink some rum!
Drank. Does not help.
Then hold the phone.
Tram put the oak pipe to his lips. And he coughed.
What is this?
Hashish, of course. What did you think? Dont worry, good one. From the Cayman Islands. The guys and I traveled halfway around the world Ive never smoked better.
Not that Tram had never tried mixing shag with imp-grass, as the hallucination-inducing herbs were called. Anything happened during the hikes. The times when there were no states and people lived under the rule of Beelzuvik, the kingdom of magicians, are long gone. The last five or six generations have been fighting for their place in the sun. Morelia made constant raids on the northern outskirts of Eldoras, and the Ennians looked greedily at the southern ones. During frequent campaigns, it was necessary to somehow pacify the pain of the memory of fallen comrades. So the soldiers drank ale, and sometimes bought forbidden demon grass from merchants. It actually became easier for a while. Tram broke into an idiotic smile and began to sing along with the other pirates:
Yo-ho-ho, the bottomless expanse sleeps,
We know no peace, only rum and robbery,
We dont want to die here
Have fun, friends, our motto is simple!
But then oblivion came. Not for long. And behind him again visions and memories.
Then the governor Dust sent him to the west of Dragha. Officially, this island was an independent country. Although everyone understood that the savages had no power here. The King of Eldoras exiled here all those undesirable, exiles like Tram himself, whose path to the continent was henceforth barred. Tram rode west. The further he drove, the fewer trees he encountered along the way. Where, according to Dust, a rebellious tribe of savages lived, there was not a single tree at all only some clearings. Tram didnt have time to do anything when he was grabbed. The savages here were unusually disciplined. They were wearing armor and carrying swords and spears in their hands. It is completely unrecognizable to those naked-assed pagans who worshiped the spirits of the moon and thunderstorms and were not shy not only about nudity, but also about eating their fellow tribesmen. Now a real organized army appeared before the eyes of the Exile.
He was brought to the fortress what a miracle, another fortress besides the governors castle! From here there was a view of the Sea of Erin. Tram now understood why the trees were cut down a whole fleet of freshly built ships of unusual shape stood at anchor. He was put in a cell. He did not understand the foreign language, so for some time he did not even know why he was not killed. It would be logical if he were made a slave but no, he sat behind a wooden lattice, they even fed him well. He didnt even want to think about what kind of meat they were giving him, being in captivity of the cannibals. On the third day, if Tram has not lost count, the head of the Inquisition came into his cell.
Holiness, you! You cant imagine how glad I am to see you! Explain to me whats going on here?
You have no idea how glad I am to see you! The governor served me well when he sent you to me.
Did Governor Dust know the secret of these places?
Of course I knew.
So what united the savages? Why do they gather an army and build ships?
Shamon is back. He came to life right here, where the savages built a sanctuary for him. And now he is building ships to cross the Sea of Erin and destroy Dream at its roots.
Your Holiness, you must help me escape from here! I must have time to do what is intended for me. I must get to Dream, the capital of Eldoras, before Shamon.
Once upon a time, his ancestor was unable to complete the ritual, and now Evil is on the loose again.
Help me get out! You know I have to do this! I can stop Shamon before this plague spreads across the world again. Im one of the Seven!
Thats why youre here! The Inquisitor burst out laughing. «I didnt lay out the nets just to let you go now, Exile!» I woke up Shamon on this godforsaken island, and I dont want him to fall asleep again!
But why? exclaimed Tram. Why do you need this? Rendell, you are the head of an organization that fights magic in all its forms! How can an anti-magician go over to the side of Darkness?
What do you actually know about the Darkness? What did your mentors tell you? They are lying. Or they are wrong. People do evil and injustice, and the Darkness becomes stronger every day. But when the Dark Lord comes, he absorbs all this dirt, and people become cleaner. They even unite against the face of obvious evil, for a while they remember nobility. And then again envy, murder, slander. Never mind, its time for a new therapeutic bleeding. And the Seven must not stop us. Morelia is already with us. When we attack from the south, they will come from the north. When Dream is finished, Shamon will no longer have to fear the power of the Seven. And then the world will fall at our feet!
Morelia has been on the side of the Dark Forces in previous times.
A few days later, Tram miraculously managed to escape. But if he doesnt make it on time and doesnt fulfill what was intended, what was the point in all this?
Then it would have been better to rot behind those bars! shouted Tram.
You got hit! Liton grinned. Its a good pipe, isnt it?
Several days passed, and the crew of the Soul of the Corsair reached the port of Heney. Tram said goodbye to the pirates and headed towards Dream. So familiar, and so alien now.
Chapter 3. Return to Dream
During his years in exile, Tram had become accustomed to the fact that it could be cold. He is used to basking in the sun in the warm Dragha. And his native Dream greeted him with torrential rain, which seemed to have no end or edge. Clouds covered the skies with a gray blanket, and nature did not want to crawl out from under the warm shelter into the cold world, like a gentle princess on a winter morning. The wind blew and a bright yellow leaf hit Tram in the face, and with it the sand, making him sneeze. It smelled damp. Crows croaked and dragonflies, huge dragonflies, scurried back and forth. Tram pulled his hood lower, hoping that this would help against the ubiquitous sand, which even the rain could not force to lie on the ground. The familiar walls of the temple were tinged with silver. In such weather he would happily sit at home and not show his nose outside, but the local residents were not afraid of the rain. They scurried back and forth, pushing, shouting, quarreling. Someone was kissing, someone was stealing apples from under the merchants nose, someone was chasing her husband with a club in his hand:
Cattle! How could you meet with that woman secretly from me!
Life was in full swing, the city was alive, and he did not yet suspect what danger awaited him.
Tram approached the white walls of the majestic castle.
Wait, whos coming? at the entrance there are two: one is still quite a youth, even a mustache has not appeared on his face, thin as death itself. The other was an old man with a belly almost to the ground. But they are somewhat similar either son and father, or the eldest the uncle of another guard.
Tram took off his black glove, and a silver ring with a special rune appeared before the eyes of the guards. Then he took off his hood.
Take me to the king. The matter cannot wait.
A man on a black horse rode up to the guards. He got off his horse and whispered something in the older mans ear.
So-so! You are welcome! His Highness has ordered that everyone associated with the Soul of the Corsair be brought to him personally, and our honorable informant claims that you sailed on that damned schooner. How much did these thugs drink our blood!
Tram was hit painfully in the stomach, and then his arms were twisted from behind and tied up. Oh, this is not how he imagined returning home! Not at all like that!
He was led through urine-smelling corridors. There was a completely different smell in the hall a mixture of fashionable perfumes and the same urine. In the viceroys castle, hygiene was more carefully monitored than here.
King Leslie the Unsociable sat on the throne. To his right sat the Princess of Syria.
«She looks like me!» Tram noted to himself.
On the right was Queen Esteri. She has become haggard and aged. Hubby is still a tyrant.
They say they found one of the corsairs? Although, I see that everyone on your schooner doesnt give a damn about the law. I expelled you from the lands of Eldoras forever, has anything changed since then? Why did you decide to break my will?
This is a special time, Leslie. We must put aside our personal grievances to unite against a common enemy.
The king snorted contemptuously:
If this common enemy is pirates, I will gladly!
Pirates are not the worst problem that the Erin Sea conceals. To fight this, I am ready to unite with the corsairs they are saints compared to Chamon.
Everyone present gasped. A hundred frightened eyes were directed at the guest.
Shamon? Youve probably been hanging out with savages for too long. Shamon was killed two hundred years ago. And the ancient city of Antimonikos was destroyed so that no stone was left unturned.
They didnt kill, but only put to sleep. You know the Dark Lord is practically unstoppable.
His ancestor had such an opportunity once. But he got scared and did not complete the ritual to the end. Shamon could be dead forever. But he wasnt.
And what do you propose, Exile? the king did not hide his hatred and contempt for the guest.
«We must reassemble the Order of the Seven.» We must restore its former power in order to fight the great ancient evil on equal terms.
Ah, so thats what you want. The robbed ships are not enough for you. You also want to take away the power from the king.
I dont need your power! Why do I need her? The Order of the Seven it was not created to rule!
You tell me your fairy tales. I didnt call you. If someone tries to attack Eldoras, the king will cope on his own, without the advice of the Exile. Therefore, take this offender to jail let him think about his behavior there.
The king had his reasons for doing this Tram understood that. For many years, duty forced him and his beloved to stay apart. Her father chose her future husband. She was from a noble family and who is he, the son of a monk? Yes, once the Order of the Seven had real power, but then the kings deprived them of power, fearing competition. Esteri married the king. Vows of fidelity meant too much to Tram back then, and he tried never to meet her gaze in order to resist the temptation to speak.
But one day he returned home from the battle ahead of the squad with other wounded. And then he met her for the first time in years. Love broke the dam and flowed like a river.
One witch told the king that he would not be able to have children. But, returning from the battlefield, Leslie found his wife in labor. Tram was driven out of sight. If there had been someone else, he would have executed, but Tram is one of the Seven people would not understand, why does the king need unrest?
Tram had not seen his daughter until that day. Leslie recognized her as a princess. He couldnt have children, but he needed an heiress. They say that the old kings recognized power only in boys. But new times mean new laws. The king did not want to admit his weakness to anyone. The wife knew that he, as a husband, could not do anything. For this he took revenge on her all these years, which is why she grew old before her time.
Get out! the king yelled. Do you, raszyavs, need to repeat it twice! Put the pirate in a cage!
Soldiers approached Tram. Among them was Stewart, an old comrade in arms. Together they ate a ton of salt and shed a river of sweat in battle. They cut down the enemy shoulder to shoulder.
Sorry, Jumper!
How long has it been since he was called by this battle nickname! Tram even shed a tear, remembering the past. Once you make a mistake, your whole life goes awry.
He was thrown into a damp cell, and the door slammed behind him.
The men sat in a semicircle and looked at him, studying him.
New guy? Well, hello, peer,» said one of the prisoners. The one sitting in the center. Or lord, I dont even know what to call you, in such noble clothes. Stole, perhaps, from the king himself?
Everyone laughed in unison.
Take off your ring. I need it more its a beautiful thing, theres no point in putting it on for such a lackey.
In the first minutes, you shouldnt give in to slack in such places. Of course, life in Eldoras will soon end when Shamon comes here. But Tram did not know how long he would spend in this place where inveterate people gathered. On a pirate ship, Tram witnessed how a young, thin guy periodically replaced female affection with unshaven corsairs, and did not want to share his fate. The rune-covered sword was taken, but Tram had a dagger in his bosom. He quietly took it out and placed it just below the prisoners stomach.