Dragon Ship

Dragon Ship

Natalie Yacobson

Переводчик Natalia Lilienthal

© Natalie Yacobson, 2024

© Natalia Lilienthal, перевод, 2024

ISBN 978-5-0062-4413-9

Создано в интеллектуальной издательской системе Ridero

A flaming ship

The blazing ship entered the harbor. The water beneath it was ablaze with fire. Patricia stared and couldn’t believe her eyes. The whole harbor was on fire. And the fire was spreading through the water. And it looked as if the sea was on fire. And it was all the fault of a marvelous ship! Shining like the sun on the evening horizon, it immediately attracted her attention. But it brought fires and death.

«Look! Look!» The elves drinking in the coastal tavern murmured. «Its sides are shaped like dragon wings and its nose is a dragon’s head. And it shines like it’s covered in scales.»

«It feels like the masts and rigging are the dragon’s innards,» another elf joined the conversation. Together they were bouncing on the table and trying to get a better look at the dragon-like ship through the window. They didn’t even care that the tavern was about to burn down.

And Patricia was hurriedly packing her things into a bundle. That was the end of her work here. If she’d known the harbor town would burn down tonight, she wouldn’t have hired here at all. It’s better to run on land, or risk getting burned right into the sea. Good thing she hadn’t gotten on one of the barges crossing the canal this morning, and bad thing she hadn’t bought a stagecoach ticket to the capital.

«But at least the thing you’ve been dreaming of happened to you – you finally saw the dragon ship.»

The voice, of course, belonged to the fortune-teller from the rook, and he himself was already seated at an empty table. How suddenly he found himself in the tavern! And the fire on the wharf did not frighten him.

Patricia was frightened of this man. Was he a man at all? The long red hooded robe, embroidered with stars, could have belonged to a ghost or a wizard. The first time she had seen him, Patricia had mistaken him for a magician. The soothsayer sailed the boat toward the lagoon, and the lilies and lily pads sang to him in human voices. The oar of the rook rowed itself, it was made in the shape of a water serpent, and this serpent came to life. It certainly did not seem to her then, nor did it seem to her now, that a flame flared for a moment in the seer’s hands.

«Why does the dragon ship come to the ports?» She moved slowly toward the diviner’s table.

«It is to set everything on fire. That’s what dragons fly the skies for, and this one sails the seas. But its purpose is the same.»

«Is it real?» Everything she’d heard about the dragon ship was just legend. The reality surpassed them. «It can turn from a ship into a real dragon? You mean a living one?»

«It is a real dragon.»

«He’s just a ship,» Patricia fixed her red hair. It was the color of flame, too, but that wouldn’t help her escape. «What does he want?»

«You, apparently.»

She was confused. What did the soothsayer mean by that? The beer in the mug left by the regular who had fled at the sight of the fire suddenly sizzled and ignited under his fingers. What strange passes he makes with his hands. And his fingers are wearing expensive rings.

«Are we all going to burn?»

«Not all of us! There’s someone he’s sparing.»

«Who is he? Is it a dragon? Is it a ship?»

«He is the master of the ship!» The soothsayer corrected.

«A ship has a master?» Patricia turned around in surprise at the flaming sea. The impression was that the ship, repeating the outline of the dragon, really began to come to life and move the sides-wings. The toothy maw on the bow opened threateningly.

She wondered if the fire was coming from it. Or does the bottom of the ship ignite the water? What material is the ship made of that makes the water hot? The color of the material looks like wood, but it’s fireproof. So it’s not wood. Everything around the ship is on fire, even the water, but only orange sparks run along the sides and fenders. The arrival of the dragon ship is like an infernal firework display.

«Even the sea is aflame from this ship. It’s the apocalypse!» Patricia gasped.

She watched the orange hot waves crashing onto the shore, burning people, boats, and even the harbor taverns.

«The ship has no crew, no captain or helmsman, only a master,» the soothsayer tipped the rest of the beer onto the table. The orange puddle that spread on the wood took the shape of a mirror. Like a mirror, it reflected everything that was going on around it. And then it suddenly reflected what was not happening around.

«Sit down,» the soothsayer pointed to an empty chair. «There’s nowhere to run anyway. Before everything burns down, I’ll tell you where he came from. Or rather, I’ll show you!»

«Who is it? Is it the master of the ship? Is it the dragon?»

«The master is a dragon. He is only a real one.»

But then why does he need a ship? Patricia dared not ask any more questions. The orange puddle in front of her was filled with sparks. The port was burning, and the girl looked at the marvelous pictures flickering on the table like a mirror. The more she looked, the more it became clear to her.

Pirate

Patricia ran down the path of fire. It left burns on her body. She was running away from both the fire and the horrible truth the seer had shown her.

There was a swamp ahead. Even it was better than a solid wall of fire. At the sight of the mire, Patricia felt relief.

Wet hands clutched at her hem.

Oh, it’s the boggarts! Muddy green swamp fairies with beautiful faces and rotten teeth pulled their webbed hands toward the girl.

«Don’t get on board! You won’t get off it alive, unless you become a member of the crew. And only a magical creature can join the crew. You’re not a fairy. You can’t survive on board.»

«Thanks for the warning!»

But there’s still nowhere to go. Sparks of flame are following her.

«The dragon is looking for you!»

«I see it!»

«He kidnaps every girl who looks like his runaway wife, and you look just like her.»

«Is she a dragoness?»

What a surprise! The sparks are multiplying and keeping up. The only way to escape is into the sea. It’s no longer fiery here. The water in the bay is murky but cold.

The ship in the bay was full of magical creatures. Alas, Patricia only noticed this when she climbed up the cracked gangway.

«Look! She’s got fire kisses on her! The dragon didn’t burn her!» The eerie, hoarse voices of a whole company of fairy creatures came.

Patricia’s leg was stuck in a hole between the broken boards like a dog’s mouth. Blood trickled down her ankle. Patricia felt dizzy from the blood loss. It felt like the ship was drinking her blood. Isn’t that funny?

«Ah!» Someone shouted so loudly that the sound carried over the entire ship.

Patricia’s blood somehow ignited on the planks and immediately went out. The girl pulled her leg out of the trap with difficulty. The hole in the deck immediately disappeared. What the hell!

A team of creepy creatures was closing in around the girl. Patricia instinctively grabbed the first thing that came to hand. The rusty hilt suddenly shone with newness under her fingers, and the weapon soared into the air, threatening the infernal creatures. They backed away, even frightened. What a miracle! It turned out that Patricia had found a saber on board that turned out to be magical. It was throwing itself to chop down any human or goblin nearby, even the one who found it, but Patricia was able to hold it back.

«Now you are the owner of the saber, and we are your team,» The wounded goblin said. He was the most formidable and huge monster on board.

«And whose ship is this?» Patricia asked.

«It is nobody’s.»

«It sounds like it’s an independent living creature that drinks the blood of the unfortunate girls who boarded.»

She seemed to have hit the mark. The monsters looked at her with reverence, as if she were an all-knowing sorceress.

«The ship belongs to nobody, and so does this saber,» the goblin lowered his eyes guiltily. «So far, no one has been able to take it, but it has harmed everyone. The ship is also named after the saber.»

«You mean a saber?» Patricia was surprised.

«No, it is a bloodsucker.»

«That doesn’t sound nice.»

«Well, the ship isn’t going to a beauty contest, but to a pirate heist.»

«Since you have a handsome captain now, you’ll have a handsome name.»

The Wicked One is squirming.

«You should go back to land, pretty girl!»

«It is too late. I’m with you now. Whoever went aboard will never come back alive unless he’s your captain. That’s what the swamp women whisper.»

«Do you hear them? Swamp women! Oh, come on! You’re not a fairy yourself, are you?»

The fiends hopped around Patricia on the deck. Some claws even felt her back for wings.

«She is not a fairy!» A troll said disappointedly.

«Don’t worry! I’ll be a good captain.»

«I see, or you wouldn’t have the saber,» said the ugly duergar.

Fate is whimsical. She almost got burned by dragon fire, got on board with the wicked! But with a crew like this, you can get your revenge.

«Let’s go!» Patricia commanded.

«Where is it to?»

«Head for Opal.»

«Are we going to look for food for the ship?» The goblins became animated.

Did they say food, not profit? Did Patricia hear what they said?

«Does the ship feed on gold?» She asked.

«No, it feeds on the blood of captured men who have fallen into the water. There’s a reason it’s called a bloodsucker.»

«I would have called it «The Light», the name of my ship when I was a noble lady.

«And what are you now?»

They couldn’t tell whether she was a peasant or a lady by her dress. Patricia thought it unnecessary to explain her social status. She wasn’t sure she had retained her title and manners. She had been wanted as a rebel for a week now. To hide, she’d been stubbornly playing the role of a commoner.

«We will avenge my kin,» she said dryly.

«If you want to burn all of Opal, you’d better summon a dragon ship. He can do it in one swim,» said the clever trolls.

«He’ll burn us, too. We can do it ourselves!»

On the way, they captured a pirate ship and ate all the pirates. «The Bloodsucker» really did feed on people. Perhaps we shouldn’t have changed its name as it exactly matched the behavior of the bloodthirsty vampire ship. The ship couldn’t have been named more accurately. Its ropes, like living snakes, stretched out and caught game. The sails swirled cocoon around the captured humans, and for a moment the bloody stains on the sailcloth were visible. The deck greedily absorbed the blood, making sucking sounds. You don’t need to wash a deck like this, you just sprinkle blood on it and it’s clean. The stains are immediately absorbed.

Patricia cheered, realizing that luck had come to her in the form of a magical ship and its crew. No one could handle goblins, swamp elves, and trolls in battle. A crew of the unholy is just what you need to take revenge on powerful enemies.

Barrels of fire

Patricia covered her eyes and it seemed to her that the fire ship was floating towards her again and a serpent was forming from the fire and hissing:

«The dragon seeks you! The dragon wants you! Swim to him!»

Is it to fight him? Or is it to fall in love with him? The silhouette of the dragon ship stirred strange feelings. Her heart blazed, but her mind remained cold. Patricia realized that sailing towards the dragon ship meant certain death. Pirates should be more calculating. You should only attack those you can defeat. You also need to inspire respect among the crew so there’s no rebellion.

How to look more dashing? How about wrapping a black eye patch around one eye? That would be dashing, but not practical. The view is worse with a blindfold on. To fight with a saber, she needs to see both right and left.

Pirates without one eye or a wooden leg are cripples after all. What’s so dashing about them? Patricia still took a skein of cloth to bandage her knee or elbow as if they were shattered. It would give the impression that this wasn’t the first time she’d pirated.

Someone’s voice called out from the void:

«You are the dragon’s chosen one!»

What does it mean, the chosen one? The dragon wants to kidnap her and sacrifice her? So she has a saber to defend herself and a bloodthirsty ship that will suck the blood even out of the dragon if the dragon suddenly swooped down. But what is about the dragon ship? It can’t be handled that easily. And there’s the risk of burning. There’s no escape from the blazing sea. But she’s a captain at sea, and the water around the ship isn’t on fire yet.

Life has changed for the better. Not so long ago Patricia was serving drinks to pirates in a tavern, and now she is a pirate captain herself! Fortune had finally smiled on her. The dull everyday life was colored by pure magic. The saber hovered over the cabin, guarding Patricia’s sleep. In addition to goblins, trolls, and boggles, the crew even included swamp elves. They were tall and green-skinned. Patricia had only seen tiny elves before and naively thought they were all as small as pixies. The swamp elves turned out to be hulking men whose skin was sprouting slime and moss. The tavern elves tended to leprosy by climbing into beer mugs. Their size was perfect for such hiding. If they were discovered, they blew a whirlwind of magical beer bubbles in the drunkard’s face that would make him lose his mind and dance in the street all night. No one believed the complaints of the drunks in the morning. Many complained that they were enslaved by elves, not ale. Naturally, they were only mocked. It was until disaster struck.

One day some drunkard swallowed a beer elf, and his stomach swelled, sparks ran along his skin, and the elf laughed from his gut. Everyone thought he had a ventriloquist inside him. The poor guy lost his bearings and hit the iron hook with his belly. The freed elf flew out of the belly. The murder was blamed on the pirates.

Patricia remembered how the drunkard’s body hung on the hook like a meat carcass, while the mocking elves circled around the hook and cheered:

«How easy it is to fool people!» They chanted.

Now they were helping her to pirate. And she had thought that magic tricks were easy only with drunkards in the tavern.

The first ship they captured was a galley. There was nothing to eat. But the vampire ship did, both the ship’s owners and the galleys’ oarsmen. Its ropes and sails caught its victims in a cocoon and smeared them in a bloody stain. The blood would quickly disappear, soaking into the ship, and the sails would turn boiling white again. This was great, because sailing with bloody sails meant being under suspicion forever. You could tell a bloody ship belonged to pirates. The ship itself didn’t care, it was all about food. It easily accepted the presence of a captain, as long as the captain leads it on a voyage for game. But the crew lacked other values.

«We don’t see eye to eye with the ship,» Patricia sighed. «I want wine, spices, silks, and sharp Menuel’s weapons.»

Menuel had the best weapons, and Etar had the best silks and tastiest sweets, but the ships of opportunity were only warships, not merchant ships. Patricia’s blood-hungry crew easily boarded ships with heavy equipment. One captured ship had an unusual cargo – barrels of lead.

«What was in them?» Patricia polished her saber and watched as the goblins dragged the barrels to the deck from the sinking ship. «Is it gunpowder? Or is it mercury? Definitely not wine. The packaging is not typical of wine.»

«It is a fire wine,» one of the goblins replied.

«No, it isn’t! There is no such thing as a fire wine.»

Patricia opened one of the barrels and was astonished. Inside the barrel, liquid fire was bubbling.

«Is this really drinkable?»

«Yes, it is!» The big goblin snatched the barrel and took a big gulp, then snorted insolently.

«And you didn’t burn your throat?» Patricia wondered.

The goblin shook his horned head. Then he clawed at his stomach. His eyes bulged and turned orange, and sparks flickered across his fur. The goblin grinned contentedly. He was enjoying the effects of the fire wine.

«Do the others drink it too?»

The goblin nodded.

«Drunks,» Patricia muttered under her breath. The goblin took no offense. Everyone here liked fiery wine that burned the palate. And this was her team! All monsters! She didn’t know that before.

Patricia was getting discouraged. The other pirates had taken the treasure, and all they got were barrels of wine. In frustration, she stabbed one of the casks with her dagger.

«No, don’t tear them off!» The jumpy creature from the hold squeaked, but it was too late. An orange trickle flowed onto the deck.

«There’s fire in every barrel, not wine!» Patricia was indignant.

«It’s fire wine,» the Bogles grumbled resentfully. «Don’t you realize that this is the highest kind of wine?»

«And who drinks such wine? Are they suicides? Are they condemned to execution? It will burn your throat!»

«Dragons and dragons’ friends drink it,» replied the Bogles.

«But it will burn our ship. Hurry up and get buckets of water!»

Are there buckets on board? Patricia didn’t even know. But the flames on deck went out by themselves. Did the ship soak it up?

«Our house isn’t on fire,» the pixie flipped in the air.

«It is the ship, not the house!» Patricia corrected her.

«It doesn’t matter!» The pixies scattered and the goblins began to drink heavily.

Patricia stepped away from the horde of monsters. They were pouncing on the barrels of fiery liquor. The barrels didn’t even have corks. The goblins were smashing the lids with their paws to get to the contents.

«Hey, Captain! Look at me? Do I fit in with your crew?» A female voice squeaked from somewhere above.

Patricia looked around. There was no one around, except for the strange, stiff gargoyles on the sides. They looked like they were about to come to life. Could she have been approached by a ghost? There’s no sign of it, by the way. Are there invisible ghosts?

«How is about that?» The unfamiliar voice came from above again.

Patricia raised her head, holding her triangle with one hand. There was no one flying in the sky above the ship. So she couldn’t have been called from the sky.

«Look here!»

A beautiful gray head with pointed ears hung down. The eyes on the gray face glittered like amber. A thick cloak covered her narrow shoulders. The lady resembled a dunghill.

«Do you like hanging upside down?» Patricia asked puzzled.

«I do!» The lady shook her gray cape and appeared to be a huge bat. She jumped down gracefully and stood in front of Patricia, straightening up to her full height. Its head reached Patricia’s chin.

«How did you get here? Are you even a fairy or a bat?»

«I’m both, and I’m both, and I’m both.»

«What’s the third thing?»

«I’m a bat fairy, that’s the first two things, and the third, I’m a member of your team.»

«How come I didn’t notice you before?»

«Were you too busy enslaving the crew?»

Enslavement! What’s the word?

«I recruited them, not enslaved them.»

«Hmm,» the bat fairy squirmed incredulously.

«What are your talents?» Patricia looked her over from head to toe. Her feet were two paws with sharp claws that scratched the deck.

«Are they talents for what?»

«It is to fighting.»

«How warlike you are!» The gray fairy clucked her tongue.

«I need warriors.»

«The mermaids say that you can’t survive on the seas without strength,» the fairy sighed and showed her clawed feet. «I can tear anyone to shreds. In my claws the enemy is like in a meat grinder, but my main talent is in agility and in the ability to whistle a strong wind. My whistle, by the way, can make people deaf or insane. Would you like a demonstration?»

The bat-fairy put the claws of her little fingers in her mouth and prepared to whistle.

«No, you don’t,» Patricia interrupted her. «It’s better to introduce yourself. What’s your name?»

«Nethopurina.»

«You’re from a race of celestials?»

Nethopyrina shifted her triangular eyebrows in puzzlement.

«I’m from the bat fairy caste.»

«Okay, it’s not about bloodline. So, Lady Netopyrina…»

«I haven’t been called Lady since King Opal threw me out of the castle in disgrace.»

«What did you do to him?» Patricia immediately felt good about the fairy.

«I drank the blood of the wrong lady to be executed.»

«And he threw you out for such a small thing? He loves fairies, peri, divas, and especially the night fairies, the blood-drinking fairies.»

«But it is not me. I was out of place.»

«So was I.»

«You ran away. No one threw you out,» Nethopyrina scrutinized Patricia. «I see your line of fate. By the way, you’re being chased.»

«Is it from Opal?»

«No, it is from somewhere else.»

«I haven’t made any more enemies anywhere else.»

Is Nethopyrina a clairvoyant? She’s a little vague in her predictions. More like a fraudulent fortune-teller from Opal Square. King Opal had a good eye. He knew how to tell the real sorcerers from the charlatans.

Patricia remembered the feast hall at Opal’s castle, the poison glasses lined up between the food, the dishes of meat and blood, and the snide laughter of the peri community. Peri are the female variety of evil genies. Outwardly they are beauties, inwardly they are demons. The King of Opal released them from some ancient candlestick, and all of Opal turned into hell.

Patricia remembered sitting at the feast table between giggling peri, and on the platter in front of her was meat left over from the cut corpse of her uncle who had rioted against the king. It was best not to clash with a king who had subjugated an unclean force. But the fateful step had been taken, nothing could be undone.

«The King of Opal wanted to give you up to the dragon,» Netopyrina determined.

«I’ve surrendered to the dragon!» Patricia kicked a barrel of fire wine that had been forgotten on the side of the ship. The packaging was faulty. The fiery liquor ran down the deck. It’s going to burn!

The puddle of fire suddenly turned green and turned into a swamp. How did this happen?

«Is there room for me?» A green hand rested on the side.

Had one of the swamp women crawled in? Patricia didn’t think she’d ever see one of them again.

«The dragon burned my swamp as soon as you left,» she explained, climbing up onto the deck on the smooth side. «So I choose to travel in your company. It’s safer with you.»

«Staying close to me is like sailing on a pirate ship.»

«Well, then I want to join your crew. Who says a swamp fairy can’t be a pirate?»

«Can you fight?»

«I can be useful,» the swamp fairy pointed to the green trail of slime that followed her through the water.

«It is mud,» Patricia said.

«And what is about this one?» Her wing stretched out and touched the water behind the deck. The waves immediately became mire. «I can turn the ground beneath your enemies’ feet or the water beneath their ship into mire.»

Patricia whistled. That’s even better than strength. The Swamp Lady knows how to be useful.

«You better learn to fight with a saber, too.»

«I’ll try, but it’s unnecessary. I don’t need a saber when I have claws.»

A swamp fairy could cut a human throat with them. Patricia turned away.

«I am Zeligena,» the swamp fairy introduced herself.

«Isn’t that the name of a whole race of fairies with goat hooves under their green dresses?» Patricia wondered. She had met such fairies at Opal’s court.

«Maybe so, but in this case it’s a name, it is not a nationality.»

It wouldn’t have occurred to Patricia to say that fairies were divided into races and nationalities.

«All right, stay, Zeligena. Let’s hope you’re not a spy.»

«What do you mean?» Zeligena snorted insolently. «I’m an honest swamp dweller who was defeated by a dragon.»

«I’m angry with him myself,» Patricia noticed a metal tube on the side of the boat. It looked like a spyglass, but it was fancy.