Dragon Riders of Osnen

Chapter 4

4

Nojira’s words bothered me long after he’d left. They hovered at the back of my mind like an annoying insect as I helped Maren build a fire and prepare to relax for the night. The constant sound of the waves was soothing and after a while, I stopped worrying.

Sion was walking near the water, just out of reach of the waves. It was odd seeing her as a human. I wondered how she would sleep. On the ground like Maren and me? Or perhaps curled up in a ball like she normally slept as a dragon?

“What are you thinking about?” Maren asked as she sat beside me in the sand.

“Sion,” I replied.

Maren gave me a curious glance.

“You’re not jealous, are you?” I joked.

“No …”

I looked at her and chuckled.

“Well, maybe a little,” she admitted. “I mean, she’s beautiful as a human.”

“True, but she’s a dragon. There’s nothing to be jealous of.”

“Why do you suppose those collars were invented?” Maren asked.

“Katori said it was to enslave dragons. I’m sure people wanted to have control over them. They’re probably the most powerful creatures in existence.”

“People always have nefarious reasons for creating things like that. I’m glad that the Conclave ended up banning them.”

“So am I,” I replied.

“I wonder what’s going to happen now that the Conclave is gone,” Maren said.

“I heard Anesko talking about that. The masters of the schools are discussing changes to the way things have been. I don’t think anything has been decided, though.”

We remained silent for a moment before Maren got up and retrieved some bread from her pack. She tore the loaf down the center and handed me half.

“I’ll take first watch,” I offered. I was tired, but I figured Maren would want to rest.

“No, I will,” she said. “You can take the second shift.”

“What about Sion?” I asked. “Should we let her stand guard also?”

Maren scrunched her face in thought and shook her head. “No. We still don’t know her limitations, so I think it’s best we don’t test her right now.”

“That’s what I was thinking, too.”

After the sun had set, I added more wood to the fire and laid on the ground. It wasn’t very comfortable, but I was hoping it would be the only night we had to sleep on the beach. I already felt grimy from the walk, and the sand wasn’t helping at all. I drifted off to sleep, content and warm.

I dreamed I was on a boat, the waves rocking me back and forth. Something seemed off about the movement, and I woke up. Through bleary eyes, I saw Maren a few inches from my face.

“It’s your turn,” she said.

I sat up and stretched. My neck was sore so I figured I must have been sleeping in an awkward position. I got to my feet and walked around the fire a few times, forcing myself to wake up. By the time I was fully awake, Maren was sound asleep in the spot I had been. Sion was also asleep a few feet away. Her body moved up and down with her breathing, a rhythmic pattern that made me wish I was still asleep.

The sound of the waves lapping at the shore drew my attention and I wandered down to the water. I stripped my boots off and let the cool water wash over my feet. A dense fog had rolled into the area, hindering visibility. I faintly heard a chorus of voices singing a melancholy song. The words were elusive, but they invoked powerful images of loss. Souls lost to disease, war, and accidents – all of them begging for guidance.

One moment I was standing there listening to the song, and the next I was lying next to Maren. I blinked lazily, trying to remember how I had gotten there when I noticed someone standing by the fire. As my sleepiness faded, I noticed the figure was a man. I reached for my sword, but it wasn’t at my waist. I had no idea where it was.

“What are you doing?” I demanded, rising to my feet.

The figure turned toward me and I saw it was an elderly man. His limbs were so thin and frail-looking, it seemed a miracle he could even stand on his own two legs. A scraggly gray beard hung from his chin and two bushy eyebrows stood in stark contrast to his bald head. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and judging by his skinny appearance, he hadn’t eaten in weeks.

“I’m getting warm,” he replied in a raspy voice.

The sound grated on my nerves. The old man dug his toes into the sand and I realized he didn’t have shoes on. The only thing he wore was a tattered pair of pants that had more patches than I’d ever seen.

“Who are you?” I asked, confused. Where had he come from?

“Just a simple man,” he replied.

“I mean, what’s your name?”

“My name?” The man rubbed his hands together near the fire. “No one has asked for my name in a long time. I don’t suppose I remember it. People just call me the ferryman.”

The ferryman? Realization dawned on me. This was the helmsman, the person that crazy man from Tiradale had mentioned.

“You ferry people from here to the island, right?”

The man cleared his throat several times and spat into the fire. It sizzled in response.

“People? No, I don’t ferry people. Not recently, anyway. I ferry waywards across the sea.”

“What’s a wayward?” I asked.

“A lost soul. They don’t know where to go when they break free of their body, so I take them across the sea and drop them off.”

The more the man talked, the less his voice irritated me. I could still hear the song echoing off the water, but it was weaker than before. I stared out at the dark surface of the water, but I saw nothing except a small boat.

A boat.

“You hear it, don’t you?” The ferryman asked.

“Hear what?”

“The song,” he replied. “I used to find it sad, but now? Now it feels like home.”

“You said you haven’t taken anyone to the island recently?”

“I’ve taken plenty of waywards, but I haven’t taken a mortal in a long while.”

“The last person you took there … who was he looking for?” I asked.

The ferryman reached up and scratched his smooth head. “I don’t remember. His wife, I think. That sounds right.”

“How long ago was that?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “There’s a lot I don’t know.”

“Life is full of mysteries,” the ferryman replied.

“Indeed, it is. I’m looking for someone that I think is on the island. Can you take me there?”

“I can take you,” he said. “If you’ve got the payment I seek.”

“How much? I have a bag full of gold coins from Osnen.”

“I don’t take gold,” the ferryman said, spitting into the fire again. “I only take silver.”

I reached into my coin purse and felt around for the silver coin I’d received during my test. It was larger than the gold coins and I pulled it out and held it up for his inspection.

“Will this work?”

The ferryman whistled in admiration and reached for the coin. I handed it over willingly and watched as he put part of the coin in his mouth and bit down on it.

“I haven’t seen one of these in years,” he said. “And it’s genuine. You must have some generous friends.”

I shrugged in response. “What about my friends? Does the payment cover them, too?”

The ferryman looked at Maren and shook his head. “I’m afraid not. One traveler per coin.” His left eye twitched when he glanced at Sion. “I’ll wave the fee for her,” he said, nodding in Sion’s direction. “Dragons don’t count as mortals.”

“How did you know she’s a dragon?” I blurted out.

“When you’ve been around as long as I have, nothing escapes your notice.”

That didn’t explain how he knew, but I didn’t want to press him. He’d agreed to take me to the island, and that was all that mattered.

“When do we leave?” I asked.

“Soon,” the ferryman replied. “I’m waiting on a few more waywards.”

I knelt beside Maren and shook her gently. She groaned and cracked her eyes open.

“It’s not daylight yet,” she huffed. “It’s still your shift.”

“The ferryman is here,” I whispered.

She bolted up suddenly and looked around. The ferryman offered her a toothy grin.

“I need to go to the island,” she said. “I have money.”

“He doesn’t take normal money,” I replied. “Do you remember the coin I got from my test? That’s the only thing he accepts.”

“You don’t take anything else?” Maren asked, the desperation in her voice clawing at my heart.

“I’m afraid not,” the ferryman said.

“Nothing at all?”

He opened his mouth as if to reiterate his reply, then paused. A grin spread across his lips.

“Actually, there is something I’ll consider.”

“What is it?” Maren asked.

“A boon. I’ll tell you what it is when the time comes.”

I didn’t know why, but I didn’t like the way he said that.

“Deal,” Maren said before I could object.

“Excellent! Climb onto my humble vessel and let us depart for the Island of Lost Souls.”