Raiders of the Middle Sea
A World of Kedra Story
Raiders of the Middle Sea 11
Last time on in Raiders of the Middle Sea 7
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.”
Captain Leland put one boot covered foot out over the edge of the little rowboat and stepped on the wet sand of the shore. The little rowboat had come quite close to the shore but Leland still managed to step in about a foot deep of soft, giving sand and water pooled around his feet.
This was quite normal, he decided. He made sure to have no hint of disapproval on his face. These men should not see him squeamish. He moved up further on the beach and allowed space for the rest of the crew to disembark from the boat.
“Captain!” He heard Nich calling. “Over here!” The stocky man was kneeling before something that was laying on the sand of their camp.
He walked towards where the second in command of the King’s Dart sat. Sometimes it was strange to realize that he was no longer just a coin counter here and now had become the Captain aboard that same vessel. He had, until recently, had only carried the responsibility to balance ledgers and plan provisions.
As he arrived at the scene, several sailors got out of the way automatically clearing space for the Captain and his closest men. At Nich’s feet was a bloody mess in the sand. A torn, disembodied arm. Several of the newcomers cursed or gasped at the sight. One of the men shouted unintelligibly.
Leland kept his face composed and despite his anxiety, put a frown on his face. “Who was it Nich?”
His brawny second in command looked up as him with a grimace. “Dieter.”
Another fine sailor down. Not good. Although, he supposed that now there would be a little more food to go around. A day’s worth. Leland looked up at the surrounding landscape. The beach sloped up sharply to a treeline of palm trees and other short trees with droopy fronds of leaves that Leland had never seen before. The tides had changed since the incident so half the beach’s tracks were washed away already.
“Where did this happen? At what time? Details.” Leland demanded in flat tones. He had all of the crew’s attention. He was a level head in a time of need and stress. He was methodical and calm.
“Well Captain…” Nich stood up and squinted towards him in the morning sunlight. “We had posted a watch during the night. I woke up and checked to see if the watch was going as planned and woke Pox because it should have been his turn to watch. Dieter had not woken him up you see?”
“Right.” Leland nodded his head. “But where was he… attacked?”
“Just past the edge of the firelight sir. Where he could gain a bit of night sight.” Nich said.
“And yet you heard nothing.” This worried Leland more than anything. A silent killer, or a dead tired crew that couldn’t hear a crewman dying a few paces away. He sighed and then looked over his shoulder at two of the men that had come with him from the ship, Holdt and Franco “Alright. Get him.”
The two men went back to their row boat and between them lifted an unconscious man that was tied hand and foot. They dragged the man across the beach, his feet dragging in the sand behind them. When they put him down, his tied legs went underneath him and it made him sit in a bowed position.
The man had longish hair that poured down the back of his head to his shoulders and in front of his face till just above the eyes. He had a thick black beard that might have been well manicured at some stage. Now it was scruffy and messy as his clothes were faded and torn from whatever ordeals the man had suffered through.
“Wake him up.” Leland ordered.
Franco stepped in from the side and gave the man a light but sharp slap on the face. The man started and tried to rise, he did not quite have full consciousness and fell over onto his face and went slack again. Franco picked the man up again and put him back into a seated position. This time he shook the man. “Wake up!”
The man shuddered awake and sat there staring at the sailor who had woken him up for a long moment. “Who are you?” The man began looking around. “Where am I?”
“You were adrift in the sea and we found you.” Leland said. The shipwrecked man looked a lot calmer now in the sunlight than he had been the previous night. “Sorry for binding you. Last night you were quite hysteric.
The man glanced up and down the beach and then again. The man’s whole body was shivering but he made no move to get free or to panic as he had the previous night. “You… you came ashore didn’t you? Where you found me?”
Leland nodded. “We are low on supplies. We do not really have a choice. We need to forage or we won’t get very far on the sea.” There was no reason to beat around the bush about it in front of the men. He had to keep them together.
Telling them now that they needed supplies or they were all going to die would keep them motivated to get what they needed. This danger was an added incentive, but Leland worried that it was going to be the death of them all.
“I see…It can’t be helped then.” Was all the man said.
“What is your name and where do you come from?” Leland asked the man.
The man was constantly scanning up and down the beach, not paying attention to what Leland had asked. Leland saw that the men were starting to get restless and were looking around as well.
“Holdt, take all the men and get armed. Swords, bows, whatever you have and set up a line around us for five paces. Nich, you stay here.” Leland commanded. His first mate grunted while the other sailor gave him an audible “Yes Captain!”
The men drew their swords and other weapons. They did not have any bows that were in working order, Holdt discovered, now that they needed them. The new arrangement seemed to have made the survivor relax slightly, but not completely.
“Right… I asked you your name.” Leland pressed again.
The man grunted and looked Leland in the eye for a long moment. “I don’t think it matters much.” The man shrugged. “I am Nerod Ar An Barga.” The man paused as if waiting for a reaction. He looked up in surprise at Leland’s impassive face. “I am from one of the Sea Clans of Leima…”
Leland shrugged and looked at Nich. “You heard of that?”
The brawny sailor was scratching the back of his head. “Nope.”
“Just how far do you men hail from?” Nerod narrowed his eyes.
Nich was about to answer but Leland stuck up his hand to forestall the man. “We come from far away. Right now I do not think that I need to share that information with you. Besides, I have a ship to restock. However… there is more information that I need from you Nerod.”
The man flinched for some reason and looked up with fire in his eyes. “And what will that be stranger?” The man’s tone showed he was no longer frightened.
“You know something about this island and I think you can tell me.” Leland reached behind him and picked up the severed limb, hating the fact that he had to touch the dead flesh himself, but needing to shock this odd character. He threw the bloody, shredded arm before the man. “What do you suppose did this?”
The man paled instantly and recoiled from the arm. The man’s shiver began to shudder his body violently and his eyes stared widely. “We need to get off this island! Now!” Nerod began looking up into the sky and then left and right on the beach. “There is some kind of curse here. Our flesh will be torn from our bodies! We need to leave this island! Day, night, it matters not! We need to leave! All my men were devoured here!”
“Your men?” Nich blurted. “You a Captain?”
The man frowned and gritted his teeth. “Did you not hear me? I am Ar An Barga! Yes I am Captain!”
“Well Captain Nerod.” Leland interrupted another interchange. “I have mouths to feed if we are going to make it across the ocean. Is there any food on this island?”
Nerod sighed and slumped his head onto his chest. After a moment he answered. “Yes. Further inland. Fruit trees and a clean river. But be warned, it is most dangerous there!”
“Splendid.” Leland answered. “You will accompany us.”
The tied up stranger fainted and fell onto his face.
Next time on Raiders of the Middle Sea
What evil awaits Leland and his crew on this cursed island?
Who is this Nerod Ar An Barga?
Or will they be forced to flee and perish at sea?
Find out in Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 12!
New to Raiders of the Middle Sea? Begin Reading previous Episodes!
Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 1
Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 2
Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 3
Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 4
Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 5
Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 6
Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 7
Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 8
Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 9
Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 10
World of Kedra