Dragons of a New Age

16 Flint’s Anvil

A few days later found Dhamon and Jasper back at the harbor in New Ports.

Rig Mer-Krel laughed loud and long and shook his finger at Dhamon. “Let me see if I understand you correctly. You want to pay me—and Shaon—and whoever else I can drag along sixty coins to sail to Palanthas on some scow you’ve managed to buy?” The dark mariner slapped his thigh. “Sixty coins wouldn’t get one of us there as a deck hand.”

“You’ve a good reputation,” Dhamon began. He thought if money didn’t work, perhaps compliments might do the trick. “We need a captain, and I hear you’re the best. You certainly did a good job on our trip to the Silver Stair.”

“He is a good captain!” Shaon beamed. She swept her hand out to her side, indicating the harbor. “He’s got more experience on open waters than most of the folks here put together. Why, he sailed the Blood Sea of Istar and piloted a galleon through the Eye of the Bull. He was first mate on...”

Rig’s glare kept her from spouting about more of his attributes and sailing accomplishments.

She gave him a sly wink. “But sixty coins are an insult,” she admitted. “We’ll have to brave the Gale—the storm that brews constantly in the Straits of Algoni. The money would have to be a lot better for us to give up our jobs here and risk our necks.”

“How about the ship as payment?” Jasper offered. “She’s at the third dock. Look her over. You take us to Palanthas, wait around for a few weeks, and then she’s yours.”

The big mariner leaned forward and studied the dwarf. “The green carrack?” Rig asked.

Jasper nodded. “I bought it yesterday. And I’m none too fond of water, so I wouldn’t mind parting with it—after it takes us where we want to go.”

“You’ll take care of the supplies?”

Dhamon nodded.

“Then we’ll leave in the morning, while the weather’s still holding. I’m going to pick up a couple of extra men—if you don’t mind. I doubt the pair of you would be much help on a ship.”

Rig and Shaon had thoroughly inspected the carrack by the time Dhamon and Jasper reached the docks. It was barely sunrise. The front sail was square, not unlike the Wind Chaser’s, but the rear sail was a lateen mizzen, one that resembled an oddly shaped triangle. The ship was eighty-five feet long, with a thirty-foot beam.

The ship was in good repair, its hull recently painted a dark green and its deck trimmed in red. A new name had been painted on the bow—Flint’s Anvil.

“A bigger ship would’ve been better,” Rig noted from halfway up the forward mast. “One with a deeper keel and a third mast, and a less heavy-sounding name.”

“Change your mind?” Dhamon called.

“No. Just warning you she’s going to feel the waves a little more than I’d like—and definitely more than you and Jasper would appreciate. Hope you don’t get seasick and decorate my deck.”

Dhamon made sure the supplies were aboard, including a dozen barrels of fresh water that were stacked in a pyramid near the rear mast. He still had about fifty steel coins left, more than enough to buy more food at a port along the way. He wasn’t sure what he would do when he was out of money. Maybe this Palin Majere is wealthy, he mused.

Shaon had arranged for four crew members, three of whom were busying themselves making final adjustments to the rigging. The fourth came on board while Jasper was arguing with Shaon about cabin assignments. The new crew member walked with a wolf at his side.

“No animals,” Dhamon said brusquely.

The wolf stood about three and a half feet tall at the shoulder and had thick red fur and golden eyes. The man stood twice as tall. He was tanned and burly and had rough features—a wide forehead, a puglike face and wide-set black eyes. He wore a vest without a shirt beneath it and the rest of his clothes were worn and tattered. A gleaming gold hoop that dangled from his right ear looked to be the most valuable item he owned.

“Half-ogre,” Jasper muttered.

“The wolf goes,” Dhamon called.

“Dhamon, meet Groller Dagmar,” Rig returned. “I’d return the introduction, but he can’t hear you. He’s deaf. And next to me and Shaon, he’s the most competent seaman you have. I want him, so he stays—and that means his wolf does, too. Unless, of course, you want to find yourself another captain.”