The Serpentwar Saga: The Complete 4-Book Collection. Raymond E. Feist

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СКАЧАТЬ on calmer days Calis worked with them on archery. The weapon of choice was a small bow used by the horsemen of the Eastland steppes, the Jeshandi. Calis had his own longbow stored in his cabin, but used the shorter weapon with ease. About half the men turned out to be good to excellent with the weapon. Roo was better than Erik, but neither youngster was among the first thirty bowmen. Those would be issued bows, Calis had said, but he wanted every man at least familiar enough with the weapon to have some chance of hitting a target.

      That seemed to be the underlying pattern to the training. De Loungville and Foster would drill men with every weapon they might be forced to use, from long poll arms to daggers. Each man was marked down in a journal as to his strengths and weaknesses, but none was spared the hours of drills, even with the weapons for which he showed no aptitude. What had begun at the camp outside of Krondor continued aboard ship. Each day Erik spent a half watch using a sword, spear, or bow, a knife, mauler, or his fists, but always he was expected to improve.

      The hour with Sho Pi and Nakor became the high point of the day for Erik, and the other men seemed to enjoy the exercises as well. The meditation was strange at first, but now it refreshed him and made his sleep better.

      By the third month, Erik was adept at open-handed fighting, as he thought of the strange Isalani dance Sho Pi taught them. No matter how strange at first, the movements wove themselves into an arsenal of moves and counter-moves, and often without thought Erik found a sudden response, completely unexpected, coming from him during a combat drill. Once, when using knives, he almost cut Luis, who said something in Rodezian as he studied his onetime death cell companion. Then he had laughed. ‘Your “dance of the crane” has turned into the “claw of the tiger,” it seems.’ Both were moves taught him by Sho Pi, and neither had been conscious on his part.

      Erik wondered what he was becoming.

      ‘Land ho!’ cried the lookout.

      For the last two days tension on the ship had mounted. Sailors had mentioned that they were close to the point where they should be making landfall, and now every man was conscious of how long he had been confined to the ship. These large three-masted warships were provisioned well enough for the long four-month voyage, but the food was now stale or old and tired. Only Nakor’s ever-present oranges were fresh.

      Erik went aloft and made ready to reef sail, as the Captain took the ship through a treacherous series of reefs. Moving past a clear patch of water, Erik looked down and saw what appeared to be part of a ship lying under ten feet of water.

      An older sailor named Marstin standing next to him said, ‘That’s the Raptor, lad. Old Captain Trenchard’s ship, once the Royal Eagle out of Krondor. We sailors of the King became pirates for a time.’ He pointed toward the rocky shore. ‘A handful of us washed up there twenty-four years ago, and young Calis, with the Prince of Krondor – Nicholas, not his dad—and Duke Marcus of Crydee.’

      ‘You were among that party?’ asked Roo on his other side.

      ‘There’s a handful of us still alive. I was on my first voyage, a seaman apprentice in the King’s Navy, but I served on the best ship under the finest Captain in history.’

      Roo and Erik had heard several versions of the story about Calis’s first voyage to the southern continent. ‘Where are you going once we’re dropped off?’

      Marstin replied, ‘City of the Serpent River. Revenge is going to wait for you men, while Ranger is going to refit and go home with the current news. That’s what I hear, anyway.’

      Scuttlebutt they called it in the navy, but it was the same gossip they’d heard. Further conversation was cut off by the order to reef the sails, and Erik and Roo got to it.

      When they were done scrambling around enough to take in their whereabouts, they saw they were lying off a long, empty beach beneath a huge wall of cliffs, easily one hundred feet high. The breakers and combers indicated the area was thick with rocks, and Erik was impressed with the Captain’s ease at reaching this relatively safe anchorage.

      ‘Muster on deck!’ came the command, and Erik and Roo scrambled down to the deck with the others. De Loungville waited until the entire company was settled before he shouted, ‘We get off, here, ladies. You have ten minutes to get below and gather up your kits and get back up here. The boats will be putting over the side at once. We don’t dawdle. No one will be left behind, so don’t get cute ideas about dodging into the rope lockers.’

      Erik was convinced the warning was unnecessary. The conversations he’d had with every other member of this company led him to judge that everyone understood there would be no quick escape from this mission. Some might not believe that everything was as Calis had said, but Nakor’s words seemed to have reached all of them, and whatever the truth of it, this band of desperate men would meet the challenge face on.

      Horsemen waited at the top of the cliff. The climb had been relatively easy, as a rope-and-wood ladder had been installed on the face of the rocks. Anyone in poor health might have had difficulty with the long climb, but after four months of ship’s duty, hard upon the heels of the training at the camp, Erik had no trouble climbing with his backpack and weapons.

      At the top of the bluff, Erik saw a pleasant oasis hard against the edge of the cliff. A large pool of water was surrounded by date palms and other greenery. Then he caught sight of the desert. ‘Gods!’ he exclaimed, and Roo came to his side.

      ‘What?’ asked the smaller youth. Biggo and the others came and looked where Erik pointed.

      ‘I’ve seen the Jal-Pur,’ said Billy Goodwin, ‘and it’s a mother’s kindness compared to this.’

      In every direction, rock and sand greeted the eye. Save where the cliff showed ocean, there was only one color, a slate grey, dotted with darker rock. Even this late in the afternoon, the heat shimmer rising made the air ripple like bed sheets on a line, and suddenly Erik felt thirsty.

      Biggo said, ‘I’d not wish this on a hound of hell.’

      The attention of Erik and his five companions was diverted by Foster suddenly shouting, ‘All right, ladies, enough time to take in the scenery later. Fall in!’

      They were moved to where de Loungville waited. He pointed to a group of six men, the one that included Jerome and Jadow Shati. Erik knew them by name and had spoken to each from time to time on the long voyage. ‘This is the oldest team of six I have. They’ve been training for three years.’ Then he motioned toward Erik and his group. ‘This is the newest group. They’d been training for only a few weeks before we left.’ He addressed Erik’s group. ‘Watch them. Do what they do. If you get into trouble, they will help you. If you make mistakes, they will help you. If you try to escape, they will kill you.’ Without another word, he moved away, and calling Foster’s name, he shouted instructions to get the men organized for a march.

      The horsemen conferred with Calis, then turned and rode off. A short distance away, large bundles were tied down under canvas, staked to the ground by peg and rope. Foster ordered a dozen men to uncover them, and when they had finished, Erik saw a cache of arms and armor.

      Calis held up his hand. ‘You are mercenaries, now, so some of you will dress like ragpickers, while others will look like princes. I want no squabbling over who takes what. The weapons are more important than the finery. Leave your Kingdom-made weapons here, and take what’s under the canvas …’

      Roo whispered, ‘Wish they’d told us we wouldn’t need all this armor before we lugged it up the cliff!’

      Calis СКАЧАТЬ