Free Chaos Descending by Toby Neighbors Page B

Roleen asked. She had come stumping down from the command deck, somehow managing to look graceful despite the thump of her wooden leg on the ship’s deck.
    “Yorgi, Captain of Eagle’s Cry out of Selphon City,” he managed to say.
    “Your cargo?” Roleena demanded.
    “We’ve got red cedar from the Wahleta Mountains, furs, Rejee wine, some tobacco and coffee from the mountain growers.”
    “A rich haul, no doubt.”
    “Yes, my lady,” the merchant captain said, but his eyes kept shifting around as if he were looking for someone else.
    “And do you carry news as well?” she asked.
    “There’s very little news from Falxis. Almost no one traveling through the mountains.”
    “I have a feeling you know more than you are sharing. Perhaps it is because I am a woman?”
    “No, my lady.”
    “You think I am not fit to command this ship?”
    “No… I mean, yes, of course you are. I meant no disrespect.”
    “I am the captain here, Yorgi of Selphon City. I became the commander of this vessel and these fine men when I killed the previous captain. And I killed him,” she said leaning close to the pudgy merchant sailor who was trembling before her, “because I wanted his ship. I want your ship as well, and all the treasure it carries.”
    The men around her cheered, calling for treasure and asserting their claims. She ignored them all and continued speaking to Yorgi.
    “He had no value to me,” she went on. “But you, perhaps you can be useful, if you loosen that tongue and tell me what I want to know.”
    “I will, I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” he said.
    “Good! Take him below,” she ordered Hewy. “Slice, clear that rigging. I want Daughton and Baynes in charge of Eagle’s Cry .”
    Roleena walked over the railing and shouted to the other ship.
    “You men are now under my command,” she called. “Do your duty and follow my orders and you shall not only live, but share in the spoils of our great adventure. Why should some fat merchant in Selphon City grow rich on our labor? We shall take this ship and all its cargo for ourselves and when we’ve spent it all, we’ll take more. We’ll take whatever we find until every sailor on the eastern sea knows the name of Roleena of Shupor and quakes with fear at the thought of our ships sailing into view.”
    The pirates cheered, but it was the looks of hope on the faces of the merchant sailors that she looked for. Most of them were relieved not to be dead, but some of them looked as if her words had struck a chord. She would have to watch them carefully. Many would not survive the voyage before them, but she needed loyal men who were strong and determined. She could always find more men who were hungry for gold. And there would always be more ships sailing the coasts of Yelsia to supply it.

Chapter 8
    Zollin had forgotten the incredible feeling of flying through the air on the back of a powerful dragon. High over the mountains the air was cold and made his eyes water as the frigid air whipped past him. Close to the dragon's scaly back he could feel the intense heat of the huge creature as it soared through the air and swayed back and forth in a playful dance with Sorva, the black dragon that carried Brianna. Ferno's hulking, muscular frame looked almost awkward next to Sorva, who was graceful and sleek. Where Ferno had thick, bulbous muscles and massive wings that reminded Zollin of the sails on a large trade ship, Sorva was long and lean. The black dragon had a thin chest that widened to large haunches, powerful rear legs, and a long, whip-like tail.
    On Sorva's back Brianna looked like a living, breathing star. She had foregone her clothes and was now covered in bright flames. Occasionally she would jump from Sorva's back and let the thermal updrafts carry her along, before wheeling and spinning through the air to land lightly on the black dragon's back again. Zollin had no desire to leave the safety or warmth of Ferno's wide back. In fact,