Free The Elder Gods by David Eddings, Leigh Eddings Page B

returned to the
Seagull.
    “He had a bundle of arrows and a spear in the bottom of the canoe,” Sorgan replied. “He didn’t touch it, but it was right out in the open where I could see it. I’m pretty sure he wanted me to know it was there. The funny thing about it was that the spear point wasn’t iron. It’d been made from stone instead.”
    “The people who eat other people in the Land of Shaan make their tools and weapons out of stone, too,” Ox said. “That don’t make me feel none too comfortable, Cap’n. Just the idea of getting et makes me go cold all over.”
    “I don’t think these people are that kind, Ox,” Sorgan said. “The fellow in the canoe seemed to be almost friendly. He knew my name, and he wanted to be sure we had enough food and water on board. There’s a place called Lattash about three days south of here, and there’s a woman named Zelana there who wants to talk with us. Longbow told me that there might be gold involved in the discussion. That sort of suggests that the Zelana woman wants to hire people who know how to fight, and she’ll pay good gold to get them.”
    “I ain’t about to start taking no orders from no woman, Cap’n,” Ham-Hand protested.
    “Don’t worry about it, Ham-Hand,” Sorgan told him. “You’ll take your orders from me, just like always.
I’ll
be the one who deals with this Zelana woman. Hoist up the sail, and let’s go south. There’s a lady down there who wants to talk to me about gold, so let’s not dawdle.”
    Once the
Seagull
was clear of the inlet, a good following breeze came up, and Sorgan’s ship was soon skimming lightly over the waves a league or so out from the coast of Dhrall. By evening the
Seagull
was a goodly distance south of Longbow’s village, and Sorgan prudently hauled in on the leeward side of a small islet and dropped anchor. Nobody in his right mind sails through strange waters after dark.
    Sorgan rose at first light and went up on deck to have a look at the weather. He found Ham-Hand and Rabbit leaning over the rail on the starboard side. “What’s afoot?” he asked them.
    “There’s some real strange critters in these here waters, Cap’n,” Rabbit replied. “I’ve seen dolphins and porpoises afore, but I ain’t never seen any of them as was pink.”
    “You’re not serious!” Sorgan said.
    “Strike me dead iff’n I ain’t,” Rabbit said. “I heared them splashin’ an’ gigglin’ out there afore it got light, an’ I couldn’t believe my eyes once it got light enough for me to take a good look.”
    “He’s right, Cap’n,” Ham-Hand said. “The little rascals is as pink as a new sunrise, and they’re skipping around out there on the water like little children having a good time.”
    “There’s one right now, Cap’n,” Rabbit said, pointing off to starboard.
    Sorgan stared. The creature was definitely a dolphin, and it really was pink.
    Then there were others swarming around the
Seagull,
leaping and splashing and giggling as they frolicked about. “This is the strangest place,” Sorgan muttered, half to himself. “The next thing we know, we might come across purple sharks or bright green whales. Rouse the crew, Ham-Hand. The weather looks good, so let’s get under way.”
    “Aye, Cap’n,” Ham-Hand replied.
    The
Seagull
continued south, but she was no longer alone. The pink dolphins accompanied her, racing along ahead of her bow and chattering to the crew on both the starboard and port sides. “It’s almost like we got an escort, ain’t it, Cap’n?” Ox suggested. Then he squinted speculatively at the creatures playfully leaping out of the water on all sides. “I wonder what dolphin meat tastes like,” he said.
    “No!” Sorgan said sharply. “Our luck’s running good, Ox. Don’t tamper with anything. You might bring down a squall or even a waterspout, and it’s a long swim back to Maag.”
    “Those things splashing around out there don’t have anything to do with the