Red Dragon

Episode I The Corsair

Chapter 4 The Black Ship

“There.” Melissa followed Vandar’s pointing finger. Squinting her eyes she could just make out the reddish glint on the horizon.

“Is that it,? she asked. “Does the ship have red sails?”

Vandar nodded. “It’s an unusual colour, but not surprisingly so for a Shang vessel. Big too. I’ll bet she displaces 3000 tons.”

Melissa looked about the crowded decks of the Reaver. Vandar had hired extra men in the Black Isles and the ship was filed to capacity with as large a collection of scum as she had ever imagined. And they would need every one of them to capture the Shang vessel. Many of them would probably die in only a few hours. But they should be enough to do the job.

The Reaver had finally reached the Black Isles a week after she and Vandar had first made love. The islands were a perfect place for a pirate haven. There were hundreds of them, containing thousands of small bays where a ship could hide without being found. There was also the large central island of Charha. Charha contained the largest settlement, Vardhos; a place where a successful pirate could dispose of his ill-gotten gains. From Melissa’s point of view, it was a human cesspool, filled with the dregs of humanity. But Vardhos was a necessary ingredient for a successful pirate like Vandar. It offered him a continual supply of recruits for his voyages, and also served as a place where he could offload his ill-gotten gains. It turned out that the Reaver had only been in the small fishing village where Melissa had found it because it had been blown off-course by a storm. She and Vandar had been thrown together by pure chance.

She placed her hand on the arm of the man who had come to dominate her life. Vandar smiled and placed his hand on hers. They had slept together ever since they first made love. That had been six months ago. The Reaver had put to sea a half dozen times since then, raiding out of the islands. Most of their prey had been small trading vessels, many of them hardly worth the effort. Vandar had been waiting for the ship on the horizon. The Black Isles were situated close to several major trade routes, including that of the mighty Shang Empire. Each year the great treasure ship of the empire passed close to the isles. Vandar had tried for the ship on several occasions without success. But now for the first time he had it in sight. In a few hours he would be close enough to board. If he was successful, he would be wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. It would be the culmination of his career and enable him to purchase an estate and live out his life as a lord.

The Shang Empire was the greatest power of the known world. It lay far to the east of the Black Isles, across the Sea of Mystery. Contact between the Shang and the Kingdom of Mordhan, of which Dakmora was a minor part was limited due to the vast distances between them. Only the pirates, raiding from the Black Isles made regular contact. For years the corsairs, had known of the great trading ship traveling across the Sea of Mystery from some still unknown port. But no pirate had ever managed to intercept it although sometimes other Shang vessels were captured. Now Vandar was closing in on his most cherished goal. It would allow him to give up the life of a corsair.

That would not be the case for Melissa. She still had to avenge her father, and would not rest until the Duke of Dakmora was dead. She wondered if she would be able to leave Vandar. She had never thought that she could love a man as much as she loved her father, but her love for Vandar was as powerful an emotion as she had ever experienced. But she had no choice. She could not leave her father unavenged. It was that desire for vengeance that had kept her from becoming pregnant. Vardhos contained shops where almost every imaginable item could be purchased. A few inquiries enabled Melissa to locate a shop selling herbs that prevented conception. She took them regularly and Vandar did not seem to mind. He much preferred her as a mistress to a woman heavy with child.

She could see the ship clearly now, its red sails standing out in sharp contrast to its huge black hull. It moved ponderously, elephant-like as the Reaver raced toward it. She checked her sword in its scabbard, drawing the blade halfway out. She was ready. As the only woman on board ship, she had been forced to prove herself to the crew. Her skill with the blade had silenced all those who saw her merely as the captain’s plaything. But many in this larger crew did not know her and she wanted to make a good impression. Vandar would rather that she did not expose herself to the dangers of boarding, but Melissa had insisted. If she was to one day seek out the duke, she would need the strengths and skills of a man.

The huge black ship loomed close. The Reaver was closing the gap rapidly. Melissa could make out the figures of its crew lining the upper works and perching in the rigging. They were preparing to repel boarders. A few more minutes and the Reaver would be close enough for the grapples to be thrown and then they would take the ship.

The first grapple sailed through the air. It was perfectly thrown, catching in the rigging. Melissa watched as the crew of the black ship scrambled to cut it loose, but before they could reach it another four grapples snared the rigging. Several dozen pirates seized the trailing lines and hauled the two vessels together. With a grinding sound the Reaver crashed into the hull of the black ship, and then the pirate crew swarmed aboard.

Melissa was among the first. She found herself in the waist of the ship confronting one of the Shang sailors. It was not the first time she had seen a Shang. The Black Isles were full of them. They were tough sailors and made good pirates. Vandar had often made use of their talents on frequent occasions. They also made tough opponents. The Shang sailor swung his curved blade at her head, she caught it on her sword, but instead of attempting a riposte, she drove her foot into the crotch of her opponent. She had learned quite a bit from Vandar about close in fighting since joining the Reaver. Eliminating an enemy was not so much a matter of fancy swordsmanship as it was a matter of using every weapon at one’s disposal and Melissa had become highly adept in a melee.

The Shang sailor doubled over, caught completely off guard. He had not expected such an attack from a woman. It was his last mistake. Her blade sliced through his throat and he dropped to the deck, pressing his hands to the wound in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. Melissa went by him as he fell and engaged a second opponent. This one too, she killed quickly, avoiding his crude attack and running him through, and then she was into the middle of the pack, cutting right and left about her. A half dozen blades sought her out, but she was like a wraith, using her skill and agility to avoid every thrust and slash, while at the same time dealing out death to anyone who came too close to her.

But something was not right. As many men as she killed there always seemed to be others to take their place. By now most of the Shang crew should have either been killed or cowed into surrendering, but everywhere she looked armed men pressed in on every side. And these were not Shang sailors, but heavily armed soldiers armed with broadswords and wearing chain mail armor. It suddenly dawned on Melissa that the crew of the Reaver had blundered into a trap. The rest of the pirate crew seemed to realize it at the same time. Above the din of battle she heard Vandar shout for her to fight her way back to the deck of the Reaver. But now the tables were turned and more and more Shang soldiers entered the fray, cutting off all escape. She found herself back to back with Vandar surrounded by a ring of enemy steel.

The deck was littered with the dead of both sides. But clearly the pirates had lost. Not a single corsair remained on board the black ship, and the Shang were in the process of boarding the Reaver as the crew tried to escape. Melissa caught sight of a figure on the command deck of the black ship. He was dressed in a long green robe embroidered in gold and on his head he wore a strange conical hat, topped with a gold spike. Through inscrutable slanted eyes he surveyed the carnage below him. He waved his hand and the men surrounding Melissa and Vandar stepped back.

Their situation however remained hopeless. There was nowhere for them to run and they were still entirely surrounded by Shang soldiers. On the decks of the Reaver the sounds of battle died down as one by one the pirate crew was put to the sword or taken prisoner. Soon, only Melissa and Vandar remained. And then the ranks of the enemy soldiers parted. A single man strode through. Melissa had never seen anyone like him. He was dressed in black from head to foot. Even his face was concealed by a black scarf that allowed only his dark eyes to show. He was unarmed, but advanced on her seemingly unafraid.

Vandar saw him as well. “Kill him, Melissa,” he said. “Do not allow them to take you prisoner.” The way he said it sent a chill through her. Up until that moment, the excitement of battle had dulled her to the dangers faced by a woman taken captive, but now she remembered what had happened to her when the duke’s soldiers had captured her. She raised her sword.

And then suddenly, her sword was lying on the deck. Her mouth open in shock, Melissa clutched her right arm. It had gone completely numb and she had not even seen the attack coming. All she remembered was raising her sword to strike, and then there was a blur of motion from the black clad man and she was disarmed. Behind her, Vandar was lying on the deck either dead or unconscious, and then the soldiers closed in around her.

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