Tales of Vyscher Book 1

Chapter 12

Fehrys looked downward at the ship as they flew silently overhead. Luce had cast several spells to hide them in a misty cloud and muffle any sounds they might make, so they were virtually undetectable in the night sky, but that didn't make Fehrys worry any less. They hadn't expected there to be any prisoners on the ship, and yet he could plainly see two people in the cage that was on the main deck of the ship, so they were rapidly altering their plan to safeguard the prisoners while still taking the ship, preferably intact.

"All right, so we'll have to land next to the cage, to keep everyone away from them!" Luce stated, her newly braided hair bobbing behind her head and landing on his shoulder. She had taken to braiding it during training when she saw Rek's hair in the air versus her own. Fehrys had to admit the braid made seeing things easier.

"Right, but we have to make sure we can take out whoever is flying the ship quickly too, so they don't crash us into one of the mountains," Fehrys agreed.

"Whoever it is, I'll take them out," Luce assured him, and he knew she would.

"You two know how to fly a ship?" asked Hrul from up front with a low chuckle.

"Nope. No idea," Fehrys admitted ruefully, "But Luce is the brains of this operation and I'm sure she'll figure it out if a bunch of pirates can!"

"When do you want to do this?" Hrul asked.

"Let's wait till we get past the mountains a bit." Fehrys said, as they were still on the Marendia side of them to the east. "If that ship goes down, I don't want them to have any claim to it."

"Well then, we'll be patient and wait till the time is right. You give me the word and I'll drop you right on top of them!"

Patience wasn't something any of the three had in abundance, and there was a lot of fidgeting while they waited for the ship to get past the top of the mountain range. Luckily, they seemed to be in quite a bit of a hurry themselves and moved quite quickly. It wasn't long before the ship had sailed between the last of the peaks and started to descend into the valley. Looking down into the valley, he could see some glimpses of purple flames. No doubt Rek and Vic were doing their part as well. Time to get into the action!

"Okay, let's do this!" Fehrys said. "Get us over the prisoner's cage, and we'll drop down there."

Luce reached down his thigh that was nestled next to him and touched it with a glowing hand. Instantly, Fehrys felt lighter, and he unbuckled his tether so he could drop down but kept a hold on Luce so he didn't drift away from the griffin. She wasted no time in casting the spell on herself as well before unclipping herself from the harness.

"Thanks for the ride!" she said to Hrul, then grabbing his hand, she pushed them backwards to clear the back of Zynn, and then they were shooting downward. The cages were directly below them, with only a single pirate in the crow's nest on the way. Luce pointed her staff, and he was no longer a factor.

Tad gripped Flewin's hand tightly as the ship rose, Serev was alive! He had no doubt that the slaves they had just brought over the mountain were in good hands, and hopefully they would be back with her soon when they went back with the second group. "You'll see her again soon," he whispered.

"I know, I'm just so happy. I thought she was dead!" Flewin murmured, trying not to look too happy near the crew.

"Tad!" Captain Lynch's voice cut through their conversation. "You did well keeping them calm, you just need to do that once more. Are you up for it?"

"Yes Captain, it will be done!" he answered, trying not to show his excitement.

They were moving quickly now, Lynch obviously sensing a big payment for the second load of slaves. They crested the mountains while heading into the setting sun, and tad realized there was another mountain range further to the west backlit by the orange sun. He hoped it would be the last sunset he saw while in captivity.