Chapter 7
Hammer leant over the bow of his flagship, the ocean below a deep blue and still. He shifted his glance to the blue horizon. ‘Hoist the yards. The Southerlies are upon us.’
The ocean around the fleet was calm, the noon sun bouncing brilliantly of the glass surface, water lapping lightly on the bows of the becalmed fleet. The men looked around them but could see no sign of the proclaimed cool winds.
Some of the crew began climbing nets attached to the three masts of the vessel and commenced spreading the rectangular sails held by a horizontal beam called the yard. They pulled on the halyard strapped to the middle of the yard and the sails raised effortlessly although empty of wind. The men looked ant-like among the canvass, shimming along the webs of rope matrixing the vessel. The Aeserians traditionally used the age old long ships however after much discussion Le Frag convinced Hammer to try a more raised ship with an overhanging forecastle and three huge masts cut from the greatest tress in Salnikovia. Although unlike anything they used previously, its speed was far superior to their oar driven ships. He told Hammer it is called a ‘Galleon’ and had a greater capacity to use the wind and less reliant on oars although they could be used when necessary. It was a clinker built vessel made of hundreds of overlapping planks held together by iron nails and pitch, the end result, a solid ship capable of holding a several hundred Aeserians. When fully rigged the ship had a main mast in the centre, a foremast ahead and a jigger mast behind and together they could propel the ship faster than any previous Aeserian ship.
Hammer claimed the design himself and he held an illustrious ceremony to launch the flag ship of the new Aeserian navy. He named the ship ‘Verity, the Truth Seeker’ to signal a return to the lands lost a millennium ago.
Without warning a gust of wind was felt puffing through the new mainsail half filling it and then disappearing as fast as it arrived leaving the fleet as still as before, the rectangles of sails again flaccid.
Le Frag chuckled to Hammer from behind his temporary home in the wheel house which Hammer denied access to all other than himself. Here the two could speak freely without detection.
‘It is lucky the wind arrived when it did Hammer otherwise we might be stuck here forever.’
The sarcasm hardly left his mouth when a gale hit the fleet lurching it sideways as crests of white topped waves began crashing around bow. The boat bent into movement the curved ribs of its hull began creaking with the pressure and the three masts cut from Salnikovian oak bent and crazed with the force.
The men could be heard cheering loudly from all thirty ships. A deep depression had settled over the fleet for the last three days as they sat becalmed, waiting for the change of seasons and the fresh South winds they knew would drive them up the coast and eventually around the Straits of Sal. For three whole days not the slightest movement of wind came from any direction. Initially the Aeserians felt happy to have some respite from the way Hammer drove them to this point, but this quickly changed as the scenery and the conversation became stagnant.
Hammer raised the army and navy in three weeks after the exile of Arad and Minar. He nearly emptied the city of fighting men leaving only the barest minimum of people to keep the city running.
Their initial enthusiasm turned to dejection when the winds stopped and when they could no longer sail they quickly became bored. Hammer worried also, not so much with the becalming, rather the time it afforded everyone to think carefully about the task at hand. Lack of action meant homesickness and the questioning of their purpose in travelling across the island to avenge a thousand year old debt.
Now the journey had recommenced their sea going tasks kept them too busy to complain.
‘You were saying,’ said Hammer.
‘I stand corrected,’ said Le Frag as he fell heavily against the wall following a large wave breaching the port side of the ship. ‘Your skills as a sailor are without peer.’
‘I hope you are right.’
The land rushed past their starboard side and small dolphins could be seen leaping through the wake of the vessels jumping playfully into the air and diving under the ships, gliding down the waves and under the hull, racing each other and the ships.
The cools winds blew from the south, and thanks to Le Frag’s intelligence, Hammer knew this was temporary and their journey was leading them to the Muspellsheim, or Hot Lands, covering the whole north of the island and into the northern Aegir Ocean. He was a pragmatist and not prone to superstition however from what Le Frag told him the seas in this part of the world boiled and the creatures living in the ocean could sink a vessel with one swipe of their tales or smash them in two with their jaws.
‘Tell me more of the creatures that live in the northern seas Le Frag. Your fantasy tales entertain me.’
‘They may do more than entertain if you encounter one. Legend has it they are mighty creatures that drive up from the ocean floor and swamp vessel with their tails.’ Le Frag looked nervously over the side of the Verity, expecting the waters to part right then and there. Hammer however thought long about Le Frag’s claims and then dismissed them outright.
‘It may be only your tales that are frightening not their tails,’ he said.
Hammer believed Le Frag reported on these creatures from the aspect of a five foot creature not someone of his stature. Le Frag’s entire outlook would be diminutive compared to his own so any monster would be of no concern to him. If there were creatures then surely they would be mere pets to the Aeserians. Although not greatly travelled in the north he felt certain if there were any monsters, then he would have heard of it.
The winds blew steady and straight and the plump sails drove the ships through the waves, huge spouts of water flying off the bow as the Verity crashed through another crest and landed hard in a trough. All the Aeserians felt fresh and alive, their latent instinct for adventure reawakened after the last few days of ennui.
Hammer planned the entire voyage in great details however now he found himself three days behind schedule and he was conscious of the need to reach Mesania before the moons would give out too much light and herald their arrival. Although the men wanted to harbour the ships and spend some time on shore, Hammer pushed them with inspiring words of victory and glory and the destruction of the Invader and so constantly fed their hate.
‘There is ample time for rest when the job is done. Even as we argue they continue to defile our ancient halls with their desecration. The bones of our fathers are waiting for our arrival so we can bury them with ceremony and dignity no doubt denied to them from the filth.’
The men listened with grim faces ignoring their wants and hurrying to their destiny. From time to time Hammer would order the sails dropped and take a small row boat and board the other ships speaking with passion to the respective crews. As a tactician he wanted everyone to have the same message and the same goals constantly reinforcing with each man their roles.
He took Le Frag’s advise and divided the men into platoons of six forming battalions of one hundred and forty four, which equated to the approximate number each ship;s company. Three and a half thousands men stowed into twenty five galleons, would soon break onto the shores of Western Salnikov like a storm and none would resist. He welcomed the attacks of the snow bears and the Ratite. They would be a good test for the men and help battle harden them and the inevitable victory would fire the stove of their passion.
The gale freshened and now became a storm with waves crashing around them and the Verity swinging from stern to aft and bow to starboard with no rhythm, rather thrown like a leaf in the wind. The men tied themselves to the pommels on the side of the ship so they could continue to work without danger.
Rather than frighten them, the wind and soaking rain seemed to revitalise them and they screamed at the wind and drank the rain as if in defiance of the nature gods testing them.
Hammer also felt the exuberance of his men, laughing in the storm’s face and swinging his
sword in great arcs trying to slice the storm with it edge. Le Frag however crumbled in a corner trying to brace himself from every lurch of the ship. His terror obvious on his face. He tried to scream above the howl of the wind to Hammer who leant precariously over the edge of the Verity as he tied a loose rope back onto its stay.
‘If any of us survive this it will be a miracle,’ he said.
‘Be brave little man. The gods are with us, see them in their play as they contend with each other, the god of rain trying to douse the god of the wind and we are graced to be able to observe. Behold the Corposant it bodes well.’ Le Frag looked at the topmost mast and saw a halo of red like a ball of fire dancing and jumping from mast to mast. For Hammer it represented a sign of their strength but for Le Frag it was another thing to be frightened of. He did not bother answering Hammer. He needed all his strength to hold on, but it was obvious these giant men had little fear in their bodies which meant trouble for Mesania if they survived the trip. He managed to tie himself solidly to a railing and difficult as it was he drifted to sleep, the thoughts of Le Carra fresh in his mind as he craved to own her. His last thoughts were of a lightning cracking over Mesania.
Le Frag woke, startling from a dream of a giant serpent smashing the Verity and chomping on the sailors clear in his mind. Staggering to his feet he peeped out of the wheel house and saw the night had come and gone and a new day dawned bright and fresh, a steady and gentle wind pushing the fleet slowly north and westwards.
He immediately noticed the air felt a great deal hotter and heavier than previously and the horizon gave off a curious heat haze masking its distance. He also noticed the heavy numbers of birds who for the majority of the journey thus far had circled the vessels or sat on the masts, were now gone, the surrounding sky completely vacant of any life, the heat the only thing he could sense clearly.
‘You are awake. We travel well without a navigator,’ said Hammer scowling at Le Frag.
‘Where are we?’ asked Le Frag tripping as he moved towards Hammer, his sea legs not yet found.
‘We have breached the northern realms and are sailing across the top of Salnikov. Look to the land Le Frag the fire mountains can be seen in the distance. They must be vast indeed if we see the flames so far away.’
Le Frag scanned the land ward horizon and sure enough he could see a line of mountains in the distance with plumes of smoke and heat spewing from their crests, filling sky with a pall of dark grey. He was seeing the Plateau of Volcanoes, an impassable and uninhabitable land.
‘Then we are coming to the end of the trek Hammer for the mountains are not far from the western extremity of the island. Are you ready to make good on your threats, for it is easier to talk a good fight than conduct one,’ said Le Frag disrespectfully, not caring what Hammer thought. His body had bumps and bruises all over it and he was deathly tired and believed nothing Hammer could do to him could be worse than how he felt right now. He was also confident Hammer needed him now more than ever. To assault the mesa, Hammer needed his ken.
‘Do not get to close to me Le Frag for my sword will not discriminate between you and any other Invader once the battle is joined.’
The two eyed each other distrustfully when Hammer felt the wind abate and the vessels drift to a stop. Suddenly screams could be heard coming from his starboard side. He swung around just in time to see one of his ships thrown high into the air and slam down onto the ocean face men bouncing into the water and disappearing from sight. He did not have time to speak when the ship again leapt into the air, this time landing in a set of enormous jaws jutting out of the ocean. The head was as large as the ship it bit into, with enormous grey scales stretching down a long serpent neck which was all he could see above the water.
Within seconds both the vessel and the serpent disappeared under the water and all evidence of either’s existence evaporating with the last of the ripples on the ocean. The sailors all looked in horror at the spot where the ship was last seen and then all ran to the side of their respective vessels searching the water for any sign of another attack.
‘By all the gods what was that?’ Hammer asked an equally shocked Le Frag.
‘The stories are more than fable Hammer we must away from here at our greatest speed.’
A spout of water exploded into the air next to Hammer and a lizard like creature rose out of the water, its snake head towering over the Verity threatening to drop its weight onto the ship. Hammer looked to his fleet and saw three other similar creatures breaching the water around the nearest ships.
Le Frag looked in awe at Hammer who stood on the bow of the Verity one leg resting on a railing, his great sword raised in a challenge. This was a fearless warrior thought Le Frag as Hammer’s booming voice called to his men.
‘To arms people of Salnikovia, the battle is on.’ He jumped to the deck and wrapping his arm around one of the ropes trickling off the main sail and swung out into the ocean dropping himself onto the back of the nearest serpent. The creature screamed in protest, thrashing its head trying to shake Hammer off its back. The Aeserian clinging onto the neck with his legs, raised his sword and drove it straight into the eye of the serpent, twisting the hilt and ripping it out again. The creature went insane with rage, bucking and shaking its great weight trying to dislodge the warrior.
The king of the Aeserians plunged his sword again and again into the neck of the serpent, each time causing blood to spew from the wounds. Minutes passed and Hammer kept pounding the beast with blow after blow until the monster dived under the water taking Hammer with him. The remainder of the ships crews did their best to ward off their attackers as well as keep a focus on the how Hammer fared and many cried in despair and anger as Hammer fell. Some of the braver Aeserians followed Hammer’s lead and threw themselves fearlessly at the other serpents, some driving and slashing at them and others swallowed whole by the monsters. The Aeserians fiercely fought the beasts with a strength rarely seen in the northern realm. One by one the serpents disengaged their attack and began disappearing under the water, the sea returning to calm with those men thrown overboard swimming frantically to the nearest vessels, debris littering the water and blood floating like oil across the surface.
The sailors searched the water for a sign of their leader. The place where he disappeared was covered in bubbles and ripples and a slick of blood. Heartbeats raced and the men began to lose heart as it became less and less likely that Hammer would survive. Suddenly the water parted in a gurgle of froth and the severed head of the serpent popped and bounced on the surface its face contorted in defeat and pain.
A cheer leapt from all the Aeserians and hundreds more men threw themselves into the water to help search for their leader. The waters rippled again and all their eyes darted to the spot when Hammer’s head appeared. He swam to the Verity scrambling up its side his broadsword in hand and a smile of victory. Another cheer erupted from all the ships as he mounted the forecastle and stood with his sword held high and the wind again returning and whipping through his wet hair. To all who saw him he looked as one of the gods of creation and men wept.
‘Verily Hammer is the Restorer,’ cried many as they crashed their swords on shields.
One hundred and twelve men perished at the hands of the Muspellshiem serpents and one whole ship destroyed. The men wanted to stop and keep searching or at least conduct a burial ritual at sea, but Hammer drove them forward through their grief. He felt some remorse but felt more the need to be well away from the area in case the monsters attacked again.
The ships covered another ten leagues and very quickly the exhalation of victory gave way to a feeling of morbidness and depression among the crew, as the men contemplated their losses. Hammer could feel the first casualties of the war being hard to suffer for the men and their fear of further losses now well outweighed the initial euphoria of defeating the serpents. Some already openly questioned the wisdom of further placing themselves in danger. Both Le Frag and Hammer
heard the whispering and undercurrents of discontent.
Hammer knew he must drive his men harder thereby occupying their minds away from dissent. He climbed the highest of the three masts on the Verity and perched himself on the crows nest, calling all the ships around him to gather, each dropping their sails and rowing to position. It took nearly two hours for the thirty vessels to position themselves and eventually through the waves and currents and a considerably amount of oar power, the ships circled close enough for the men to hear Hammer.
‘People of Salnikovia, already your will wanes. I can see it on some faces. What a mighty people we have become when a few fish will determine our destiny. Kolin of the great Trek is shamed, as am I.’ Some of the men hung their heads while others still looked defiantly towards him perhaps bolder than normal while still at a distance.
‘However I am just. For the cravens I offer you portage back to Salnikovia to await our return. You may take any ship or more than one if there are many of you and leave immediately. I ask only that upon your return you head to the bakeries and commence cooking and cleaning with the old men so the heroes of the realm will have comfortable rooms when they return. Leave your swords with the soldiers as you will not need them whence you go and there are men here who can use them.’
He was appealing to the oldest of all failings in men, ego and the fear of humiliation amongst your peers. Many indeed wished to leave however they cannot stomach the embarrassment they will suffer as cowards among a race of warriors. Hammer gave them no option but to continue and the looks on their faces showed resignation. They could not even talk among themselves lest they reveal themselves as cowards. Their only choice was to keep going and try to find some honour in battle whether they liked it or not.
‘Go, I implore you. You will only be a load the other’s need to bear if you merely tag along like baggage, your worthlessness will be shameful to the rest.’
Most of the recalcitrants shuffled uncomfortably looking under their eyebrows to each other for support. Hammer waited a few minutes for effect.
‘There are none who will leave? This is good. Never let us speak such again.’
He slid down a heavily greased rope and came to rest next to the hidden Le Frag who smiled, genuinely impressed with Hammer’s political skill.
‘Very nice,’ he said.
‘Thank you. It is fortunate for me the patterns of behaviour are unchanged throughout the eons when it comes to my people. Death before shame. It is what separates us from the rest and why we will destroy the Invader. They all want to go home and will fight hard for the privilege.’ He bundled Le Frag into a carry bag and disappeared into his captain’s quarters, the only single room on the entire vessel. He rolled Le Frag onto a table laden with maps.
‘Now is the time for detail Le Frag, I need to know all your secrets for we will have little time once battle begins. When will we expect resistance from these Ratites and Snow Bears and which entrance will we use to gain access to Mesania?’
Le Frag opened some small folded maps which Hammer eyed greedily, snatching them from Le Frag’s hands. The writing was foreign to him and so small as to be next to useless. He growled at Le Frag.
‘What is this language written on the parchment, I cannot read it at all?’
‘It is the ancient language of my people used primarily in a ceremonial sense and not for common usage however it is in this fashion we record all our history. I can however translate to the base language if you do not have the skills to read it.’
Hammer scooped Le Frag in one swift motion and thrust his enormous face at him, a putrid sailor’s breath making Le Frag gag. ‘Do not mock me Invader. My patience is almost at an end with you, your value to me is fast becoming disproportionate to the annoyance you provide. Do you understand?’
Terrified, Le Frag merely nodded his assent, Hammer in this mood was not to be trifled with.
‘If you put me down in one piece I will tell you all I know and you will see my value.’ Hammer lowered Le Frag slowly never breaking his gaze the veins in his temple throbbing menacingly.
‘You see Hammer, the Ratite already know you are coming. They travel far looking for prey and their mountain is the greatest in the lands. They scout as we do and report in kind and even as we speak their plans are being laid. Look you to the western sky, even Aeserian eyes should be able to see the foe.’
Hammer moved to the windows of his cabin and flung them open. Squinting he saw in the vast distance a number of black dots moving across the horizon not coming closer but certainly not flying farther away.
‘They will not reveal themselves until we are much closer to their eyries on the Ice Mountain. They will count your numbers and will send the appropriate forces to intercept you. Our preparations are still sound Hammer, they will not expect the type of resistance we will give. You will do the world a great service if you eradicate these fell beasts of the air, they provide only misery.’
Hammer smiled. ‘Perhaps we will tame a few for sport with the Invaders that are left. I would enjoy watching them slaughter some of your kind. Yes we will do just that if we are able and if not then we will destroy them utterly. The time of the Aeserian is nigh and woe to all who resist.’
A shudder travelled up Le Frag’s spine. He could live with the treachery he was about to impose on his people. However if he was ultimately to become a leader, then he needed to ensure there were a people to lead.
‘Don’t you think my people would make worthy slaves. They could do all the menial jobs your people dislike and be at your beckoned call. Do you think it wise to eliminate them all?’
‘Maybe not wise Le Frag but certainly satisfying, but you are right, they may have some use to us upon our return. I will ponder the problem after they are defeated.’ Hammer kept his eyes firmly on the Ratite as he followed their movements. ‘The birds travel in pairs Le Frag and are replaced by pairs. I thought you said the attack would be by singular beasts.’
‘The attacks will be by lone creatures, be assured their wing spans will prevent any other option and they like to kill alone, it is their way.’
‘Be sure you are right or it is your life.’
Le Frag risked boldness again. ‘My part in this plan is not the problem. Your part is. If the men falter or are weak in the heart then the day will be lost and believe me no news will ever return to Salnikovia if the Ratite win the day. Our bones will be scattered to the winds from their feast.’
Hammer said nothing and pondered the horizon as the Aeserian navy followed the coast line across northern Salnikov.
And the sage of their race will impel
them and woe to those that resist.
Jharnell 15/123-24