Raiders of the Middle Sea

a World of Kedra Story

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Great Middle Sea…

Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 4

We cast our attention away from Kayden, who emerges dazed and sullied with the blood of his foes from a dusty arena. Take a look at where Kayden came from and what aftermath befell the crew of the King’s Dart - Exploratory and Trading Ship.

Part 5

A spray of sea water showered him from the prow. The sea was rough again, rough as the day of the attack two weeks ago.

Leland consulted the map that the crew had purchased from a Middle Sea trader. The map had lines and contours on it, the division of land and sea that a sailor made his life’s work. The only problem was that much of it did not make sense. Landmarks on this map were radically different to the ones where Leland and the rest of the crew had spent all their lives. Asking questions was a dangerous thing. Pirates, tricksters and all manner of strangeness infested these waters and ignorance was seen as a weakness.

The Captain was dead. As well as the Bosun, the First Mate. Hell even the Cook was dead. The pirates or slavers or whatever they had been had attacked and had taken things at random. They had not enslaved or killed all the men. Nor did they steal all the silver but the men were sure that they had gotten all the gold. Nobody could tell Leland why.

The trader Captain who had sold Leland this map had been an old man with a scraggly beard and one glass eye. Leland remembered the extremely bad breath and he was just glad that he had not picked up some sort of wasting disease from the old stranger. They had purchased the map, some provisions and had received a clue as to what had happened to their friends, the crew of the King’s Dart. The ones that had been captured by the pirates had been sold as slaves, that much was certain to the trader.

When Leland had asked where his lost crew could have been sold, the old trader had exploded with laughter as if Leland had made the biggest joke, but did not elaborate much. The trader had inked out on the map some likely places to go looking but warned them that they would need strength and wealth least they get pirated again. The trader had many armed guards.

Leland shivered at the recollection. He was sure that some of that disgusting man’s crew had not been human somehow. They walked amongst the other crew, but there was something about the way they moved.

Leland shook his head, dispelling the memory and focusing on the present. As far as they knew, the Second Mate, the Quartermaster and a half dozen other sailors had been captured in that raid. The crew had decided that they would do what they could to rescue their shipmates. It wasn’t the only thing that the crew had unanimously decided on.

The deck creaked behind Leland and he turned to look at a squat and powerful man. Nich had been the ship’s head oarsman, at the few times that that they needed their oars. Otherwise the man had worked the sails and the rigging. Both trades had resulted in a fiendishly defined upper body that made up for the man’s lack of height.

“Captain.” Nich said. “What are your orders?”

Leland sighed. “I told you not to call me that Nich. I am no Captain! I count coin, I manage accounts. I am a Purser remember?”

“Yeah.” The squat man agreed lazily, his eyes half lidded. “But you were voted in and you are the smartest man aboard the ship Captain Leland. The men need someone to call Captain.”

“Yes. I understand they need that. I might know a bit more about nations and trading than the others but I am not a sailor! I know nothing about seafaring! I keep telling you. This is my first voyage with the King’s Dart or any other vessel!”

“Yeah, that’s why I was made the new First Mate.” The man jabbed a thumb into his own chest and looked smug.

“As far as I understand, we are looking to re-instate the Second and the Quartermaster into these posts.” Leland stated flatly.

“Yeah. If they are alive.” Nich said and his smugness blew off. “So… orders? How are we going to find them anyway? At what point is it suicide? Because the men are willing to risk but not their lives.”

Leland couldn’t help but laugh at the man.

“What? What’s so funny?” The squat man scratched the dark stubble on his neck.

“The hilarity of your statement of course!” Leland still giggling, looked down at the map in his hands again, then peered out to sea.

“Yeah? And why is that?” Nich asked softly.

“Because, First Mate, almost half our crew is dead and most of its leadership gone with it. We are out at sea far beyond the borders or even usual shipping lanes of the Kingdom we serve, searching for a handful of men that are likely already dead!” Leland pointed out across the water. “Head over there. There should be this island on the map. We can look for fresh water and food there. It is marked uninhabited.”

“Yes Captain!” The man said loudly, then more softly. “Are you saying that it is futile? Should we return to Railor then?”

Leland tried not to sigh or look weak now. What Nich had said was true, the crew need a Captain. Even if it was him. “We gather a bit more information. We try a little longer. This is like a time of mourning, to honour the dead. The men need to show that bit of effort before we return empty handed. But I don’t believe that we will find anything.”

“Aye. You’re probably right Captain.” Nich said. “But I hope you are wrong.”

To Be Continued

Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 6

Next time on Raiders

“Captain!”

There came a loud banging on the door.
“Captain Leland!”

“Yes?” He yelled back, cranky and out of sorts. Could nobody think for themselves?

“There’s a man in the water!”