Dawn of Night (The Erevis Cale Trilogy Book 2) by Paul S. Kemp

Author:Paul S. Kemp [Kemp, Paul S.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780786956739
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2010-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

RUNNING THE RIVER

Even by night, Starmantle’s harbor bustled with activity. Laborers and ships’ crews—some composed of humans, some not—unloaded crates of cargo by torchlight and glowball and stacked them high. Cale could imagine the illicit contents of many of the crates. Starmantle traded in vice as much as legitimate goods, the same as any other city of the Inner Sea.

The shouts of the sailors carried along the shore through the salt-tinged night air. Laughter, smoke, torchlight, and shouts carried from the open windows of the many dockside taverns. Pedestrians walked the wharves in small groups: revelers, sailors, whores, pimps, and worse.

Cale felt at home there in the night, surrounded by sin.

He stood with Jak, Riven, and Magadon on the rocky shore of an out-of-the-way inlet, down the shoreline and east of Starmantle’s main harbor. Small wooden piers and docks, large enough only for small fishing craft, dotted the shoreline there. Jak led them to one such pier, a rickety wooden construct that extended a long dagger toss into the bay. There, tethered with thick hemp rope, several small rowboats floated in the gently lapping water.

The breeze off the sea smelled fresh and clean. As he had when he’d been aboard Foamrider, Cale felt the water pull at his spirit.

“That’s it,” Jak said and gestured at one of the rowboats near them, “on the left side of the dock.”

Cale eyed the boat doubtfully. Even with his limited exposure to the sea, he could see it was a creaky tub, with rusty fittings, splintering oars, and no less than ten seasons of wear on its hull. Worn fishing nets lay piled aft. A coiled rope affixed to a rusty anchor lay fore. On the positive side, the boat was big enough that they could all fit in it. It also appeared to float … sort of.

“Did you pay for that, Fleet?” Riven asked.

“Of course I paid for it, Zhent. If Cale wanted it stolen, he’d have asked you to get it.”

Riven gave a hard smile and replied, “No. He would have asked me to do it if he wanted the owner dead and the boat burned to ash. And after selling you that, the owner deserves no less.”

“It floats,” Jak grumbled. “Now let’s just get in the damned thing.”

“I’ll row,” Magadon said.

They all walked down the wood-planked pier. Jak lowered himself into the small boat and took a seat on the rear bench. Still sneering, Riven hopped into the boat and sat beside the halfling. Jak scooted away from him and looked in the opposite direction.

Before getting in, Cale asked Magadon, “Are you sure this is going to do? We’re not going to be on the open sea, are we?”

“This will do,” replied the guide. He nodded for Cale to get in. “And we won’t be on the sea at all.”

Cale nodded, climbed into the boat, and sat fore. Magadon, after unmooring the small craft from the pier, came last and sat on the middle bench, facing aft toward Jak and Riven.

The

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