Abuud: the One-Eyed God by Richard S. Tuttle

Author:Richard S. Tuttle
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Publisher: KBS
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Grounded

Two small boats saw the barge coming downstream and headed for it. They pulled alongside, one forward and one aft, on the starboard side of the barge and tied the barge to their boats. The oarsmen on the small boats could only row on one side, so they maneuvered towards the docks downstream by rowing until the barge was heading for shore and then stopped. The current would slowly straighten the barge out again, and the men would start rowing again. The effect of this was to constantly move the attached barge closer to the shoreline.

Arik stood on the bow and watched the city of Dalek come into view. He swelled with pride as he realized that he was looking at the city that his father built from nothing. Looking forward, Arik saw a strange horizontal rail standing out of the water in the river. It was like the rail of a giant fence, and it ran diagonal from the docks to the upstream riverbank. Arik heard shouting voices from the forward small boat and looked towards it. The men were all shouting and making gestures, but Arik could not hear them clearly. He stared at them for some minutes before he understood the gestures. He looked forward again and saw the barge heading straight for the diagonal rail. He ran aft and threw his body to the deck near the pilothouse just before the barge rammed the rail. The barge jolted hard the first time, and Arik realized that the men were afraid he would be thrown overboard. It hit less hard the second and third times, and finally he felt the barge rubbing against the rail.

Arik stood up and returned to the bow. He saw now that the rail was designed to move the floating barge away from the land slightly so it didn't ram the docks as the river current moved the barge downstream. As the barge slid past the rail, men on the docks used long gaffs to snare the barge and hold it close to the docks. Other men jumped aboard holding the free end of dock lines and tied the barge to the dock. The small boats disconnected from the barge and rowed away. Within moments, the barge was secured to the docks, and the gangplank was placed to it. Arik moved aft and saw Tedi and Wylan standing with the horses, ready to disembark.

A burly man stood on the dock with his hands on his hips. He was shouting orders to the dockworkers and other men. The other men approached the barge with crossbows drawn and loaded. The dockworkers swiftly moved away from the barge now that it had been secured.

"Who are you?" shouted the man in charge. "What are you doing on my barge?"

"We are travelers looking for a ship to Marchek," Arik shouted back. "We mean you no harm."

"Leave the horses and your weapons on the barge and come ashore," the leader shouted back.

"Do as he says," Arik said as he stripped off his sword and the Sword of Heavens and placed them on the deck.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.