'Things get really gripping now. In the next thirty verses — '
'Land ahoy!'
It could have been a lie. A frantic attempt by a tormented grunt to ease the pain. No one cared.
In reality, land was in sight. The dark, bumpy outline of an island could be seen on the horizon.
Haskeer raised his eyes heavenward and muttered, 'Thank you, gods.'
'How we going to handle this, Stryke?' Coilla wanted to know. 'If it's inhabited, that is.'
'Choices?'
'The usual. Sneak, full frontal or parley.'
'Nothing special in mind?'
'Not knowing what the hell we'll face, no.'
'We'll try parley. After scouting the lay, of course.'
''Course.'
'If it's inhabited and they're hostile,' Dallog said, 'what then?'
'Friend or foe, we'll get what we need,' Stryke vowed. 'We've no time to waste.'
When they got nearer and the island's features became clear, the saw that several ships were anchored in its largest bay.
'So it is inhabited,' Coilla said. 'Or at least somebody's visiting.'
'I'd say there's a settlement,' Stryke reckoned. 'Look. Just by the tree line there. Those are some sort of buildings, aren't they?'
She squinted. 'Yes, I think they are.'
'Then we'll circle from a distance and see if there's somewhere quiet we can land.' He turned and shouted, ' Get those sails down, now! We don't need spotting! '
When they got round to the island's far side they could see no signs of habitation. They headed for a small, deserted cove, and managed to land on its sandy beach. Stryke ordered the twin boats to be hauled ashore and into the trees, then had them camouflaged. Four privates, including Wheam, were assigned to guard the boats. Standeven was told to stay too, though he uncharacteristically tried to object. Stryke led the rest of the band into the interior.
'Why are we going inland anyway?' Jup asked. 'Don't we have what we need where we landed?'
'Not really,' Pepperdyne answered. 'We could use good seasoned timber for the repairs, and there's nothing suitable. Some serious tools would be handy too.'
'And our food and water are running down quicker than I thought they would,' Stryke admitted. 'That settlement we saw seems the best place to restock. Maybe we can pick up news of the Gatherers there, too.'
The island's heart was dense with jungle, and hacking their way through was inevitably a slow job. Anxious to speed things, Jup had suggested taking the much less obstructed coastal route. Stryke thought that would leave them too exposed and vetoed the idea.
But the island was small, certainly compared to the dwarfs' homeland, and the sun had still to set when they arrived at the beachside settlement. They surveyed it from hiding places at the jungle's edge.
There were around half a dozen dwellings of various sizes. An odd feature was a largish pool that had been dug in the clearing in front of the buildings. It was fed with salt water by channels connecting it to the sea, and there was a stout wooden barrier all around it. There were creatures of some kind splashing about in the water. They were of a fair size and dark-skinned, but it was hard to make out what they were.
Other beings were present, and obviously in charge. These were instantly recognisable to the orcs.
'Fucking goblins!' Haskeer growled.
'I gather they're not one of your favourite races,' Pepperdyne said.
'We've had run-ins,' Stryke told him.
'Maybe they're different here,' Coilla ventured.
'Yeah, right,' Haskeer came back acerbically.
Pepperdyne was curious. 'So what is it about them?'
'They're ugly, back-stabbing, two-faced, mean, greedy, underhanded, stuck-up, cowardly, stinking bastards.'
'Those are their good points,' Coilla added.
'Given what we've known of them in the past,' Stryke said, 'we'll forget the parleying. Now let's get some scouts out.'
When the pathfinders had left, stealthily blending into the jungle, the others settled to watch what was happening in the encampment.
After a while, Coilla said, 'Those creatures in the pool — I reckon they're horses. Or maybe ponies.'
'Why would goblins keep horses in a saltwater pool?' Jup reasoned.
'I think Coilla could be onto something,' Stryke said thoughtfully.
'You reckon they're horses? What are the goblins trying to do, teach them to swim?'
'No, not horses. Not exactly. And if I'm right, they wouldn't need teaching.'
'So what do you think they are?'
'I want a closer look to be sure. Let's think how we can do that.'
Zoda, one of the scouts he had sent out, returned at that point. 'Chief, you better come and see what we've found.'
Stryke beckoned Coilla, Jup and Pepperdyne to accompany him. He left Haskeer in charge.
They followed Zoda into the jungle. It took just a few minutes to reach a clearing, an area where the vegetation had been trampled flat and several trees bodily uprooted. Gleadeg, one of the other scouts, was waiting for them. He wasn't alone.
Stryke took one look and said, 'I was right.'
The creature before them did look like a horse, but not entirely so. It was about the same size as a pony, but much more muscular and powerful-looking. With the exception of its mane, which was dark grey, it was completely black with no markings of any kind save a little patch, again grey, about its eyes. Its skin wasn't like a horse's at all; it was smooth and oily in appearance, resembling a seal's coat. There was a very unusual aspect to its mane, too: it exuded a steady trickle of water, as though it were a gently squeezed sponge. The water ran down the creature's shiny flanks and fell in drops.
'You're a kelpie?' Stryke asked.
'I am,' the water horse replied, its voice low and throaty. 'And you are orcs.'
'You know us?'
'I know of your race.' He looked to Jup. 'And I have communed with dwarfs.' The kelpie bobbed its great head in Pepperdyne's direction. 'And I am more than familiar with his kind. Unhappily so.'
'I can vouch for this human. He means you and your kin no harm.'
'That's hard to believe of his race. But he hasn't yet struck me down or tried to enslave me so I must take your word for it.'
Pepperdyne looked embarrassed.
'Your kind are rare where we come from,' Coilla said. 'They say it's wise to keep away from you, that you lure hatchlings to watery graves so you can eat their hearts. It's even said that you're really the spirits of evil creatures who have died badly.'
'Many untrue things are said about orcs too,' the kelpie replied. 'Do you eat your young? Are you the twisted offspring of elves? Do you murder the innocent for the sheer pleasure of it? Like you, we kelpies are subject to hatred and fear simply because we are different and prefer a solitary path.'
'Well said.'
'There is one true story told about us, however. Above all else we value our freedom.' The subject was painful enough to mist the kelpie's startlingly blue eyes. 'To us, enslavement is worse than death.'
'Yet it looks like that's been your fate,' Stryke commented. 'Why are you here?'
The kelpie looked to Pepperdyne again. 'Because his folk brought us here by force, as they have since time out of mind.'
'Why is no one ever pleased to see me?' Pepperdyne asked.
'Now you know how we feel,' Coilla told him.
'The ones who brought you here,' Jup said, 'are they called Gatherers?'
