Retribution

The Island

Figures rushed about the main deck. Sails had changed direction and the oars had slowed. The weather was calm and the orange sun was starting to dip below the horizon. Our three ships were now drifting through calm waters, though not out of control. Up ahead on the horizon was an island with a series of cliffs.

‘What’s going on?’ I called across the deck.

The captain of our ship, a young, slender man who had spent many days in the open sun, approached us in a sense of urgency. Somehow he had made a naval officer’s uniform seem rather scruffy, and I hoped this was no omen for a disastrous mission. ‘We think that’s the island, sir.’

I looked to Sulma Tan, who looked at me and then back to him. ‘Are you certain?’

‘If the charts are right and my goddess is smiling on us then aye, that’s Evum.’

Was my goddess smiling on me, though? The tension was heavy in the air. The investigation had come this far. Relief was just a short distance away.

‘What is your plan, captain?’ asked Sulma Tan.

The captain scratched his head. ‘Depends how you want to play your hand, my lady,’ he grunted. ‘Got the cover of darkness to find somewhere to come ashore. I say give it two hours, until it’s dark, and make our way there.’

‘Sensible suggestions, captain,’ she replied, and turned to me. ‘Until darkness falls.’

The captain, to his credit, brought no bad omens. True to his word, as soon as the sky was indigo, he gave the orders for the ships to steer towards the island. The wind was loud enough to obscure the sound of the oars breaking the water as we made our way stealthily along the coast.

Evum was no more than a mile long. Unlikely to have been overlooked by naval cartographers, but it was an easy oversight if Grendor maintained any influence over the task. The lack of its existence on any map probably explained why Sojun’s embittered gang never returned. It would have been difficult to find. Far easier to take revenge in the city.

Little lights of what looked like cottages could be perceived further inland, and smoke from several chimneys — or some sparking structure of an industrial nature. The island did not appear equipped for defending itself. No battlements stood stark against the stars that glittered up behind. It was possible there were small lookout points nestled into the cliffside, but in the dark it was difficult to know. The captain had tasked several men with scrutinizing the shores though none of them seemed concerned.

By midnight we had found a small bay on the north side of Evum, no more than two hundred feet wide, surrounded by dunes, enough to form a natural shelter. By the luck of the gods we did not strike any rocks as we steered carefully into the small inlet. The captain gave the order for a plank to be lowered and there would be a short walk where we would have to wade through waist-high water.

Soldiers headed out almost simultaneously from the three ships. Their orders were to stay together. Leana, Sulma Tan and myself then waded ashore together, raising our belongings above our heads as we moved though the still-warm waters. On the beach we attempted to dry ourselves.

The surf gently licked along the shoreline and a sharp, vegetative tang filled the air. There were no lights, no shapes against the starlight other than the grasses.

A gibbous moon was directly overhead, making our progress visible to others. But it also illuminated the way as we moved behind the spearhead of soldiers advancing along the beach. Only then did I notice two archers cautiously scanning the shoreline, covering our path.

We ascended the dunes, towards long grasses, and after consulting briefly with the captain the scouting group went on ahead, investigating a passage through a small gorge. I worried that they could be prime targets for snipers up above, but again the place looked to be undefended.

We waited in the shadow of the gorge for an hour, until eventually the call came for us to move onwards. Though we were quite safe surrounded by so many soldiers I was nervous with anticipation.

So far it had all been too easy.

One of the scouts dashed up to me in the gloom. ‘Officer Drakenfeld, we’ve located a primary structure to the east. A quick walk across rocky terrain.’

‘Guarded?’ I asked, unable to read his expression.

A shake of the head. ‘It’s unguarded, so far as we can tell.’

‘What do you think the place is?’

‘It’s industrial, possibly a place to process the mineral we think.’

‘How many people do you think are there?’

‘Hard to say. On a site that size, perhaps in daytime there would be a good thirty or forty workers.’

‘If we raided this structure, do you believe there will be little in the way of defence?’

‘Fairly confident, sir.’

‘Fairly?’

‘Fairly.’

That was as good as one could expect from such a situation. ‘We’ll move on at your command.’

‘Very good, sir.’

The scout moved away and gave some orders in Kotonese. Within a heartbeat the rest of the soldiers began to ready their arms and line up in formation. Sulma Tan, Leana and myself were urged to take our places among the soldiers. We all marched through the gorge, the churn of the sea in the distance.