Chap. 172 Return to the Island

Chap. 172 Return to the Island

The four dragons swirled at a great height over the northern tip of the island, assessing it's overall shape. B'rost and F'mart looked for their landing spots.

"I see my target," B'rost called, and put Rath into a shallow dive until he hovered over the top of the pinnacle. Having pinged Raventh as to its exact configuration, the blue had no problems landing. B'rost dismounted, and within moments had found a suitable boulder on which to secure his rappel line. Having done that, he then unloaded his equipment: gloves, a camera, collection bags, a face mask and a pitchfork.

Rath reports safe on target and B'rost dismounted. Kenth is just now landing on the beach and will post guard in moments. Raventh said.

"You're going to find the floor covered in bird nests, and it's kind of stinky in there," K'ndar had advised.

"No problem," B'rost said, "I've cleaned out enough chicken and wherry pens to know how to clean one. It's the dust that will get to me, so I'll wear something around my nose and mouth," he said.

K'ndar, having gone without much sleep the night before, was tired beyond belief. Still he was ready. He nodded with a smile. "And the pitchfork is for?"

"Uncovering whatever might lie beneath the top layer. It's called overburden, and geologists deal with it all the time. Usually I use a pick and shovel to move rock, but this time I think a pitchfork will do the job," B'rost had said.

"Be careful, you don't want to disturb the forensic (he'd just learned the concept) layout of the bones, if there are any left."

"I KNOW what I'm doing, K'ndar. It's like searching for fossils, you don't want to disturb the configuration of the find. Please, trust me. I know you already do, thank you so much for choosing me, for giving me a chance. Trust me. I won't screw it up," B'rost had pleaded.

F'mart had begged for guard. "Please, let me beat his arse. I've not had a good fight in months," he said.

K'ndar had laughed. "I guess it's up to the crazy man. Maybe he'll submit without a fight," he said.

"With my luck, you're right," F'mart sighed, forlorn.

Raventh and Careth, the two browns, separated into search formation. Once on the agreed station, D'mitran and Careth hovered, waiting for K'ndar to reach his point.

Rath reports that B'rost is ready to rappel.

Careth reports he is ready to search.

Tell them I am on station and ready to search. Let's go.

He flashed the signal to D'mitran to proceed and Raventh began a slow steady flight southward.

"I'll take the windward side, the eastern coast side, sir, you take the lee side, westward side," K'ndar had said, having had a chance to better assess the geographical attributes of the island. "If Meteorology is correct, we have about an hour and a half, maybe two, before the rain hits. Hopefully it will be enough time for B'rost to gather all his data," K'ndar had instructed.

He'd felt so very odd, giving the orders to his Wingleader. But D'mitran, who'd enthusiastically joined the team without a moment's hesitation, was wise enough to let K'ndar be the leader. We all had to learn, and this is excellent training, he'd thought. Whether K'ndar likes it or not, he does have leadership qualities.

D'mitran unlimbered his datalink and set it to record. This would be a bit dicey, handling it, but Landing wanted a recording, and he'd made it so that they had a live link, the connection being made through the Yokohama and back down to Landing. Someone at Landing was watching, as were the computers, he knew, so, "lads, let's watch ourselves and what we do," he'd advised.

The island was very old, the remnants of a volcanic outpouring that had then been colonized by coral reefs, then uplifted. It was a mishmash of coral and metamorphic rock and heavily vegetated. It was riddled with caves.

You could hide a wing of people here and no one would be the wiser, K'ndar thought, no wonder the thermal imaging thing didn't see anybody. Of course, it was one man, alone, in this jungle of green and rock. No, wait. Two.

They'd flown for about ten minutes. K'ndar thrilled at seeing D'mitran in the sky four or five kilometers abreast of him. Just like when we fought Thread, he thought, flying in a formation with other dragons was always a thrill.

The island was larger than he'd expected. They reached the far southern end of the roughly oval shaped island. Below them was a large, sandy beach, exposed to the sea, with a small cove filled with rocks. The tide pools glittered in the sunlight below them. They flew out over the sea and turned around. Below them, the tide pools formed showed that, at least at this time of low tide, the cove was probably too shallow for a seagoing vessel but suitable for a small boat.

D'mitran reports a shipwreck on his side.

!!!!

It is in bad shape. Exposed, no sand. It looks to have been heavily scavenged.

Part of him wanted to hurry over to see it, but no, K'ndar, you are in charge of this, stay the course. Exploring may come later.

D'mitran is descending to get a better recording

Tell him take the time to get it right, then resume his course

K'ndar maintained course, scanning the ground below them as they headed north. There was a definite trail below him, inland from the rocks that formed the sea's edge on this eastern coast. The trail, while covered by tree and palm canopy, was easily seen.

B'rost reports that he has successfully entered the cave and you're right, it stinks. But the uncovering is going easily. F'mart reports all quiet on the beach. D'mitran has finished recording the wreck and has resumed search on his course. Raventh said, then continued,


This is fun, but it's busy. My mind is full of three other dragons. It must be confusing to be a bronze or a wingleader in full formation.

I agree. Thank you, you are doing a great job keeping me informed. It's so much easier than having to shout.

Yes.

They continued flying. He turned to see D'mitran on Careth far back on his left, the brown dutifully flying a 'search' and D'mitran scanning with eyes and datalink. That datalink, he thought, will make searching far easier, although I doubt there's much to see or find on this island.

I smell human. I smell dead fish. I smell …pig? It smells like pig.

Huh. Human and fish, he could understand, but pig?

Don't take this the wrong way, but sometimes dirty humans smell like pigs.

OH, that's a new one! K'ndar laughed, I hope it's not me that you learned that from.

Definitely NOT! Raventh laughed.

B'rost has found them. More bones. Oh. It is sad.

What is sad?

Two skeletons. An adult. And a tiny one, like a hatchling. A tiny human. Like a newly hatched dragon.

A…baby?

A 'baby' human. Very small. Smaller than Siskin.

Oh my.

No more markings on the wall.

Oh. B'rost is crying.

CRYING?

He says, 'chains'. Chains. That's all he can say. Chains.

Chains? He was seized with the need to rush to the pinnacle. But no. B'rost had been assigned to do the recovery. He was to do a recon of the island. Let each dragonrider do the task he'd been assigned, to include myself, K'ndar thought.

Careth smells what I smell. !!!

What? What?

D'mitran reports a clearing, with signs of human habitation. There is a young human. He is staring at Careth. Now he is jumping up and down, calling for help.

D'mitran whistled the signal for "Converge on my position". Without resentment, K'ndar immediately turned west and they flew to where Careth was hovering.

Below them was a clearing in front of a large cave. A human was waving at them, its hair so long and matted it covered the person's body. They heard it shouting "Dragons! Help me! Help me PLEASE!!"

"K'ndar, do you see him?" D'mitran called.

"I do!"

"That clearing…," he called
"HELP ME!!! PLEASE!" the human yelled, frantic, fearful. It sounded like a boy.
"…it's too small for Careth, I think."

"Aye," K'ndar said.

It's not too small for me, Raventh said.

Are you sure?

If I can go in straight down and leap straight up, I can fit. Ready?

Um……… But Raventh was already lowering, controlling his descent with fierce concentration.

"On the ground! Get out of his way! We're coming down, don't be under him!" K'ndar yelled.

"What?? Hurry! He'll be here any minute!"

"GET OUT FROM UNDER MY DRAGON DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

The boy lurched to the entrance of the cave.

As delicately as an insect, Raventh landed in the only space in the clearing large enough for him to fit. His wingtips were a scant meter from the trees.

This is scary.

It's okay. I have clearance above me, as long as Careth clears the way for me to leap.

D'mitran was overhead, filming all the while.

The clearing was of the utmost squalor K'ndar had ever seen in his life. The stench was nauseating. There was filth and refuse everywhere. Something struck him about the clearing, but he had so much on his mind that it was filed away for future review.

The trees and palms were menacing forms, crowding in. This was tight quarters for a dragon, he thought, thank the stars Raventh is 'small'.

The boy came scuttling out of the cave, in utter terror.

"Help me, please, get me out of here, please!"

K'ndar looked at the boy. He was so utterly filthy K'ndar could not tell what age he was. He was completely naked. His dreadlocks reached to his waist.

"Come on, grab the harness and step on his knee. Then climb…"

"I can't…"

K'ndar reached down, a bit irritated that the boy seemingly couldn’t climb up?

Then he saw the reason for the strange gait.

The boy's ankles were chained together, no more than a shoulder width apart.

He reached down, grabbed the boy's outstretched hands, and gave a mighty tug. The boy came up so easily he almost went over Raventh's back. Instead, he fell sideways, his ribs lodging him between the ridges on Raventh's back. No way would he be able to straddle.

"Oh, are you okay?"

"I'm okay! Hurry, he's sure to have seen you, HURRY!" the boy cried.

"Now listen. Feel the harness straps. Hold on to them as tightly as you can, because Raventh is going to jump straight up. Can you do that?"

"I will. I have to. He'll kill me for sure," the boy gasped.

Clear my sky, Careth Raventh called to D'mitran's brown.

"Boy, hold on tight," K'ndar ordered.

With a mighty leap, Raventh jumped skyward, his wingtips just barely clearing the tree limbs that seemed to be trying to grab them.

Then they were safe in the sky, hovering.

Well done, Raventh. My compliments Careth said.

Whew. I can smell him even with the wind in my face Raventh said.

It was true. The boy stank.

"Thank you, thank you, oh thank you," he was saying.

"Can you hold on like that?"

"Yes, I'll be fine, just please, get me out of here, take me anywhere off this island," he said.

Hmmm. Now what to do? He'd not expected to do a rescue.

"D'mitran? Your advice?" he called. Now he was glad he'd recruited D'mitran. There was no shame in his asking for advice on this, his first "action". That was why he'd wanted his wingleader to begin with.

"K'ndar, take the rescue to the beach. I'll continue with this leg of the scan. What in the world is wrong with his legs?"

"They're chained," he called back.


"WHAT?"

Kenth reports a man with a spear is approaching his position. B'rost is still in the cave, he is beginning to exit. He is having some trouble with the gear and the bags.

Kenth says the man threw the spear at him. He knocked it away! Now he is furious.

Tell F'mart to engage at will.

"D'mitran!"

"I heard. Continue with taking the rescue to the beach, I'm heading to the beach NOW," and Careth burst forward at full speed.

With a bit of relief, K'ndar turned Raventh towards the beach.

Kenth reports F'mart is fighting the man.

I do NOT want to miss this, he thought, and urged Raventh to hurry.

No. The boy is having trouble holding on. He weighs nothing and hasn't much strength.

Tell D'mitran that I have to go slowly. 

F'mart is…Kenth says he sounds like us when we've caught prey. He is beating the man and shouting and laughing.
 
Yeah, that sounds like F'mart, alright.

By the time they'd reached it, the fun was over.

F'mart stood on the beach, hands on hips and a grin wrapped three times around his head. The man who'd attacked K'ndar yesterday…was it only yesterday? was laying on the ground, groaning.

"You've broken me head, you bastard, you've broken me," he was crying.

"Ah, you wuss, you weren't no fun at all. Think I'm afraid of your big talk and pointy spear? Shaff... tell you what, get up, I'll let you have first go at me, again, aye? I'm just getting warmed up," he laughed.

Raventh landed gently, and the boy slid off with nerveless fingers. He landed on unsteady legs, almost falling over.

"Thank you, please, don't leave me here, please," the boy cried. K'ndar dismounted, and didn't know what to do first. Help B'rost?

D'mitran called from overhead, "B'rost, what can we do?"

K'ndar felt overwhelmed with all the sudden decisions he needed to make.

The blue rider had climbed back up to the top of the pinnacle.

"It's okay, now, I'm alright, just had a bigger load than I expected, and this bloody pitchfork, good tool but not for climbing! I'll be coming down in a minute," B'rost called.

Within moments, Rath landed and B'rost dismounted.


These humans. They stink Rath said.

They took a good long look at the man. He got to his feet but made no attempt to move towards the dragonmen.

"Your name and Hold?"

The man glared at them, then he snapped his fingers at the boy. The boy stayed a good distance from him, knowing he was safe, now.

"Your name and Hold?" K'ndar asked, relishing the phrases of power.

"Tol' you yesterday, you pig, I am Lord Holder of all the Islands. This is my Hold. You are trespassers. I will kill you all," he snarled.

"Sheesh, he stinks worse than a boar hog," B'rost said, "and that's doing a disservice to a hog."

"You, you're a whelp, you are," the man spat at B'rost. Rath rumbled, and stepped forward. The man stepped back.

"Aye, maybe so, but, shards, I missed seeing the fight. Maybe F'mart should teach you manners?" B'rost said, enjoying the taunt.

"Oh, YES! Only this time, I'll keep one of my hands behind my back, that way it'll make the fun last," F'mart shouted!"

"No! You, boy, get them!" he shouted at the boy, standing next to K'ndar.

The boy spat on him. The man screeched and lunged for him-and Siskin was in his face, all four clawed feet out in preparation to shred the man's face. The man fell backwards, his arms up in protection. Siskin got in one good claw before K'ndar called him back.

"Siskin, to me," K'ndar called, and Siskin reluctantly obeyed. "Last chance, scum.Your name and Hold."

"I am Lord Holder of all the Islands," the man said.

"No, you aren't, you're nothing but a murderous raider," the boy snapped.

He turned to K'ndar.

"His name is Shipfish," the boy said.