Raiders of the Middle Sea

a World of Kedra Story

Last time on Raiders…

Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 6

The King’s Dart is critically low on provisions. Leland has no choice but to make landfall on an unmarked island.

A stranger was picked up out of the ocean, what he has to say about the island unsettles the crew…

Part 7

The hour was close to midnight, a blood curdling scream woke Leland up. He shot upright, his brow damp with a cold sweat. It sounded as if the scream was right there in the room with him.

The scream did not stop, it carried on and on in the deep dark night. Leland stumbled out of his bed and banged open the door of his cabin. The screaming was now louder and had been joined by the shouting of men. Leland hurried on to the main deck.

The source of the screaming became evident: The man they had tied to the mast was screaming at the top of his lungs, staring up at the night sky. He barely paused for breath before letting out another scream. The man was hairy and swarthy. Though dishevelled, the man wore a short cropped beard that had seen a razor a day or two ago. Outlandish styled clothing on him, however it had meant to look, was in tatters now.

“Shut up!” Leland shouted along with a dozen other voices. Rogger, an old sailor, limped towards the mast and threw a bucket of salt water on top of the man’s head.

The man spluttered and whipped his head from side to side. “What? What!” The man went into a coughing fit.

Leland took the opportunity to introduce himself. “We fished you out of the water. I am Captain Leland of…”

“Pirates! Oh, by the six holies! I have been captured by Pirates….” The man blubbered.

“We are not pirates.” Leland said calmly.

“Said by ALL pirates! You are pirates! I can smell it on you!” The man stared at Leland and scowled with his bushy black eyebrows drawn down into an arrow above his nose. “You think you can scare me by taking me as a slave! Pah!” The man struggled at his bonds. “I have been through worse!”

“We are doing nothing of the sort!” Leland protested. “If you don’t mind, be quiet or we cut your tongue out. No more talk.” He turned to the old sailor. “Rogger, gag him and check his bindings. Rest of you, time to get some rest! We follow Nich and the others to land in the morning!”

“Land!” The bound man became very agitated. Sweat sprang up instantly on his brow. He struggled at his bonds. “What land? Is it an island? Close to where you found me?”

“Aye…” Leland hardly got through the sentence when the man screamed abruptly.

“No no no no no no no! You can’t go there! Do not make landfall! Do not take me there! Pleaseeeee! I beg of you Master!” The man shook violently from side to side.

“What’s on the land?” Leland asked quietly.

The man stilled long enough to fix him with a wild-eyed stare. “There is... monsters!”

Some of the men cried out or muttered among themselves. Rogger laughed out loud.

“Well that’s good. Here be pirates, there be monsters… you know what that means Captain?”

Leland shook his head. “No idea. What do you say it means?”

“I means that where there are pirates and booty, dangerous monsters – then, there be treasure!” The old sailor smiled wickedly at his conclusion.

“Ever more the reason to make landfall.” Leland said. As soon as he had said the words and the man began throwing his whole body against the harnesses. The man began screaming again and Rogger smacked him over the head with a piece of plank and there was silence.

Leland stood watching the man for a little while. “Someone watch him and wake me up if he regains his consciousness.”

“Aye Captain!” Came a chorus of voices and the men went about their business.

Leland went back to his cabin and lay down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Thoughts and worries travelled through his mind. In all likelihood, if they did not stop here they were doomed in any case.

He would have to wait to see what the morning will bring.

Nich poked at the cook fire in the middle of their shore side camp.

He then looked at the men’s bedrolls around the fire. There were twelve that had come to shore to start setting up a camp of operations. The King’s Dart lay several hundred yards out beyond the breakers. The ship was firmly anchored and facing into the wind, its sails lowered. Nich would have been able to reach it within a quarter hour and a powerful swim.

They had the one remaining rowboat beached not too far away.

He counted and found that one bedroll was empty and not the man that he had expected to see gone. He kicked at the offending sailor who started and yelled at the contact of the boot tip in his side.

“What the hell?!” The man cried, waking the others.

“Why aren’t YOU the one that’s awake on watch Pox?” Nich glared at the man’s ugly pitted face.

Pox looked around himself, rubbing at his eyes. “What?... Oh.” The man stood, staring around into the tropical trees and plants that lined the beachhead. “Dieter never woke me up to change watch.” The man shrugged his shoulders.

“Right, everybody up. We have to go looking for him.” Nich growled. “I swear if I find that bastard sleeping on watch, I will skin his hide!”

Nich stalked up the beach to where the lookout was supposed to be sitting. His first sight of red spattering the white and yellow sand of the beach sent a chill through his spine. Pox and two others had followed him up the beach.

“Lord of Light!” A man breathed.

“Is he dead?” Pox asked.

Nich shook his head. “I don’t know, but he was dragged out this way.” He pointed at a path of flattened ferns and deadfall. He stepped carefully down this path. Nich had not even noticed that he had drawn his sabre that was usually sheathed at his waist.

More blood was spattered on the ground and there was something on the ground that made Nich wished he had never picked such a graphic threat of what he would do to Dieter if he had found him sleeping.

Mangled and lacerated, missing most of its skin…

It was Dieter’s arm. Just the hand up till the elbow. The greenery either side of the arm was bathed with so much blood that it looked as if Dieter had been juiced. One of the men began mumbling litanies of faith under his breath.

“Nich, what the hell did this?” Pox asked.

He shook his head. “I dunno. We need the Captain.”

To Be Continued

Next time on Raiders…

We return to Kayden, Shadi, Rulaf and their strange inhuman companion to see how they spent that exact same night! Possibly there will be drinking involved…