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Second Encounter
“KRE THA!”, shouted the sentinel from the crow’s nest, forcing not only the two back to reality, but setting the entire crew into action. Confused, Lendear looked at Thealdi who had sprang to his feet, his head raised to watch the sentinel who pointed straight forward. Following the direction, Thealdi quickly spotted the reason for the alarm. A ship was approaching and by the look on Thealdis face, Lendear guessed that this was not an ally approaching. The men got to their arms, bows were drawn, spears raised, axes and swords unsheathed albeit the fact that not a single order had been given. Lendear noticed this and made yet another mental note for a later discussion.
The approaching ship had its sails shortened, rudders extended in order to break its speed and work against the current. Now Lendear could clearly make out the banner of Beakil Khum and after what Thealdi had told him about the latest orders of High Imperator Nerronh, the boy understood the alertness.
The sentinel, who had made out the vessel to belong to the kingdom of Beakil Khum a bit earlier due to his risen position, had unfolded the banner of the Gemlats for the approaching ship. As it seemed, the men aboard the other ship had noticed the banner for they changed course to the opposite bank of the river in order to avoid a collision they undoubtedly had planned on at first.
The relief, Lendear felt upon comprehending that the oncoming fight would not unfold was replaced by sheer horror, when he realized that they too had changed course, heading directly towards the other ship.
Lendear could hear the orders bellowed aboard the opponents vessel, the sails were hoisted, the men at the rudders attempting to avoid the collision, but all efforts were in vain. The Red Dragon hit their side with great force, wood splintered and roaring the warriors of Bemlyr K’haa boarded the enemy ship. Amongst them was Thealdi, sword drawn, stabbing, slicing and at the same time throwing his stars at every moving target in his vicinity. Already twelve men had fallen victim to his weapons when he suddenly was confronted with a giant warrior. The High Knights of Beakil Khum were famous not only for their bodily attributes as they stood taller than any ordinary men, but were also cunning fighters and feared throughout the lands. The deck was slippery from all the bloodshed, bodies lay everywhere, cries of the wounded competing with the war cries of the Gemlats but this High Knight stood stony-faced yet seemingly indifferent, fixing Thealdi. The two combatants stared at each other, assessing, estimating, ignoring their surroundings, solely concentrating on each other.
An attempted sneaky attack on Thealdi by one of the defenders was intercepted by an alert Gemlat warrior who chipped off the assassins arm with his axe in an almost elegant motion. Crying, the attacker holding his stump with his remaining hand, was relieved from his pain by yet another smooth motion of the axe cleanly separating the mans head from his body. Thealdi seemed not to have taking any notice for he was exclusively fixed on his opponent, who used this moment of alleged distraction to start his attack.
He practically exploded into action, coming down with his mighty axe on Thealdi who in turn side-stepped and landed a heavy blow on his opponents left arm, causing a deep gash. Ignoring this, the knight used the momentum of the swing and with another circle came up heading straight for Thealdis chest. An instant before the axe made contact, Thealdi rushed forward, the knights arm holding the axe colliding with his shoulder, the blow stopped and the weapon finding nothing but air behind Thealdis back. With an expression of utter surprise, the knight came to realize his error, but before he had time to react, Thealdi drove his sword deep into the knights stomach, grabbed the knights throat and used all his might to push him back. With the backward momentum, the sword was withdrawn from the knights body. Stumbling backwards, the knight tried to keep his balance, but it was in vain. He toppled over, landing heavy on his back and before he was able to get back up, Thealdi was on him, and with another stab, his sword found home in the knights heart.
Breathing heavily, Thealdi took no time to celebrate his victory, but turned to look for his next victim. The Gemlats however had done their deed and not a single enemy was capable of receiving another one of their administrations.
Quickly the men collected their weapons, scanned the ship for bounty and heavily laden made their return to the Red Dragon not before setting the enemies vessel on fire. Lendear eagerly awaited Thealdis return and blurted out as soon as the old man was within ears reach:
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Lendear. You need not to worry.”
“But what was all this? I had thought we would just bypass them, but then the attack! Why did you do this?”
“Let me catch some breath, my dear little friend. Then I shall tell you.”
Heavily Thealdi sat next to the eager young boy and closed his eyes trying to regain some energy. In the meantime the bounty was stored in the belly of the Red Dragon, the men cleaning their weapons, attending to the one or other little scratch they had received during the encounter. Then they gathered at the reeling and watched as the enemy vessel started to sink, the water intake extinguishing the last flames.
Some of the warriors clapped Thealdi on the shoulder as they passed, demonstrating their admiration on his quick and skilful victory over the High Knight of the Beakil Khum. Smiling he returned their nods and finally he addressed Lendear.
“That did come as a surprise, now didn’t it.” Not waiting for an answer he continued, “See, the point is that we have to absolutely guarantee the secrecy of our mission. These people from Beakil Khum cannot be trusted for reasons I shall explore at another time. But more important, what we did was not only just, but with the stopping of these men we saved uncounted lives. They were sent out to assault the villages in the south, to pillage and to enslave whoever wasn’t as lucky as to be killed during their rampages. They have done so lately up in the north and now they started to make their way to the south and this means also that Gheenteld was in great danger. Our intelligence is highly sophisticated and the skills of the Grinhaks are no match for our spies. This group was well known to us and we have been hunting them for quite a while. Captain Grimmy Tha had warned me that he anticipated this encounter. I’m sorry I didn’t let you in, but I wanted to spare you the worries. I did err and I ask for your forgiveness. In the future I shall involve you better, that I can promise.” He smiled at the boy who nodded in assent.
“Not all Beakil Khum people are of the same make though. There are many who are still quite sensible, whereas the group we just encountered did have a certain reputation. There are many more who will move to the south, and therefore it is so utterly important to re-establish the messenger.
We will start training tomorrow while we are still aboard the Red Dragon. We cannot allow for further delays. Assuming you now have understood the importance of our mission and the need for our rush that is.”
He shot a questioning look at Lendear who merely nodded, but remained silent. The encounter with the enemy ship, the fierceness of the battle, witnessing all the bloodshed, the fight of Thealdi with the High Knight all added to the mix of emotions Lendear felt. Was this his destiny? Violence, battles, killing, being hunted, on the run, utter chaos? He closed his eyes, bewildered, confused, full of fears, fighting back tears of frustration and anguish.