The Return of Kavin by David Mason

Author:David Mason [Mason, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: science fantasy
Publisher: Lancer
Published: 2012-02-20T22:58:02+00:00

“… then came a lad from the northern isle,

And a harpooner was he,

And the yellow-haired girl gave him a smile,

And asked his harpoon to see…”

At which point Hugon was rudely interrupted.

“Sail ho!” the man at the foretop bellowed. “Three sail, and bearing close on the starboard quarter!”

And a moment or two later, the lookout added, with a slight quaver, “Ships of war they are, cap’n!”

There was a great deal of purposeful noise and running. The Turtle was not a ship meant for war; but she was not meant for a rapid escape, either. However, Captain Garph intended to put as many sea miles as he could between himself and those three ominous sails, without any curiosity at all about their nation or their intentions. More patched canvas went up, until the Turtle’s masts carried every rag they could bear; the round-bellied ship swung about, to run directly before the wind, northward.

Within two hours, the three sails were nearer; they lay now south and west of the Turtle, and whatever they were, they had most obviously turned in pursuit.

Kavin was already on the quarterdeck, as Zamor and Hugon came up, armed and ready. The prince leaned on a long straight sword, and wore a plain steel corselet and cap borrowed from the ship’s small armory; the others had also borrowed armor.

Zamor had found an enormous ancient boarding axe, a monstrous thing with crescent blades mounted on a four-foot shaft; he swung it, testing its balance, and grinned broadly as he did so.

“I’ll have a chance to spill a little more Mazainian blood, it may be,” he granted.

“Always assuming those folk yonder are Mazainian,” Hugon said. He wore a sword, too, but he had found a big crossbow as well, and was hastily smearing its channel with a lump of grease.

“That’s a Mazainian galley, man,” Zamor said, peering hard. “See that canted mast? Coming on fine, too; should be on us before dark, that one that’s so far ahead of the other two.”

“If we keep off till dark,” Captain Garph said, anxiously, “might be we can lose him, grant there’s no moonlight.” He glanced down at the waist where his motley crew were gathering, muttering and staring. “By the Nine, I can’t fight a war vessel.”

“I doubt we’ve strength to fight an angry rowboat,” Hugon said, surveying the crew. “I’ve been wondering, these past few days, Captain Garph, seeing the crew you’ve got… is it a floating home for ancient sailors, this Golden Turtle? There’s a gaffer there, calls himself mess boy, must be old enough to be my father, and he’s the youngest of the crew.”

Thuramon appeared, now; he stood and watched, his eyes keen under their thick white eyebrows. He seemed quite calm.

“We shall escape, I think,” he said.

“Could you essay a bit of sorcery, lord wizard?” Hugon asked.

“If necessary,” Thuramon said. “But… for reasons I know best… it would be unwise. I do not wish to call attention to our party. Attention that might be caused by… excessive use of certain forces.

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.