Finally we reach the end of the voyage. Weird stuff to ensue: Dawn

Stone 63 – Off the Island

The ship pulled away from Hurricane Island in clear skies and a light breeze, just enough to have the ship scuttle along in its long interrupted southern voyage. It took a week or so for the family and crew to fall into a routine. They realized that the ever-different days on the island were over, and now it was back to the dreary sameness of the ship. Only Jason was happy. He lived to be at sea, and he saw variety in his dealings with the captain and the crew.

One month passed, and then another. They were far behind schedule after spending nearly a year on the island. There is no way that this would be a two-year voyage. It was going to be nearly that long just to get to the southern lands. Another two months had passed with little variation in the routine, and Jason was in the crow’s nest in the late afternoon with his friend the watchman.

Looking south, Jason thought he saw something. He alerted the watchman who had been in the middle of a story about his whaling days. The man stared south, squinting. “Naw. ‘Tis only a cloud bank I reckons,” he said, settling back down on his stool, but continuing to glance south from time to time. But Jason’s sharp young eyes told him he had seen something, so he took leave of the old tar and headed down to the deck.

He went first to the map room aft, and found the best spyglass in the cabinet, taking it to the prow of the ship, where he leaned on the rail and peered at the horizon for the longest time. After a half hour he knew he had been right. With the glass he could see a low-lying shore, riven by what he assumed was a river or inlet. The sun was starting to set. By the time he went to the rear and got the captain up here it was unlikely they would be able to see anything useful. He decided to just keep watching.

“Land ho. Due South,” rang out from the mizzen nest. Within a minute Jason’s friend in the main nest called out the same warning. All the men on the deck left their posts and soon the foredeck was crowded with men eager to see the first land since the island. Was this their destination, or another island? Jason continued to peer through the glass and ignored all the questions being asked him by the sailors.

Suddenly it became quiet. “What do you see, Jason?” asked the captain. The captain was not to be ignored, so Jason lowered the glass, and then unwrapped the safety strap from his neck, handing it to the captain.

“I think it is a shore, Captain,” he said. “If it’s an island it’s a huge one. There looks to be a gap in the hills there. Could be a river, or it could be an inlet wide enough for us to sail up.”

“Pretty dim light now,” the captain said, squinting hard into the glass. “We’ll see it closer in the morning. You don’t think we will approach before daybreak, do you?”

“It might be wise to drop a sail or three to slow us down,” Jason recommended. “I think we would still be clear but there might be rocks that will show up in the morning light. Best not to risk a night landing. What’s a few hours difference when we’ve been gone so long.”

A few sailors grumbled at the delay in landing, but the wiser ones saw Jason’s logic and pointed out that another day at sea would be preferable to swimming to the shore if the ship was pounded onto rocks.

The next morning the shore was still miles away, but now Jason, who was just finishing his shift as night mate, was again on the foredeck from sunrise on, peering at the shore, with most of his shift standing around him, looking out with bare eyes.

“’r there any rocks,” one man asked.

Without taking the glass from his eye Jason answered: “There don’t seem to be. Not even any breakers to hint at submerged rocks. There’s a fine sand beach to the right of the gap. Stony beach to the left. I suspect the captain will take us in on the high tide and then beach us on the sand. When the tide goes out you lot will be put to work hauling the ship higher up. So make sure you get some sleep after the shift changes.”

Soon the captain appeared with the first mate, who would handle the next shift. Jason sent his men below decks for the ordered sleep before reporting to the captain, who agreed with the youth after studying the shore with the glass.

“Mebee we should drop sails and drift in, sir,” the first mate said.

It was Jason who replied: “I’d keep her under sail for another two hours, and then drop the topsails. Another hour under the main sails will get us closer, and then we can drop the mains. It’ll be easier to steer the ship under sail, and we can react if there is something we can’t see yet.”

The captain agreed and the first mate didn’t object to Jason butting in. He had quickly learned that on this ship it was the third mate, and not the first or second who held power after the captain.

It was nearly noon when the ship was within hailing distance of the shore. Not that there was anyone to hail. That suited the captain quite well. He didn’t want to land facing hostile forces. He ordered the mains dropped and the sailors who carried out that command were barely on deck when the keel scrapped up onto the beach sand. Jason was on the wheel, and as soon as he heard the scraping sound, he turned the wheel hard to port. The ship’s momentum carried it on, and with the rudder turned it twisted the ship to the side. Jason let the wheel loose a second before the rudder dug into the sand. Had he still been holding it the force of its spin might have broken his wrist.

Seconds later the ship was on its side, with the deck at a 15-degree angle. Jason went to the family cabin to check on his family. Apparently Stone had been holding the girls when the ship beached, and had kept them all upright. Kookla had been on a bunk and was thrown to the floor, but the little guy didn’t seem to be hurt. Of course everything in the cabin had been tossed around.

“High tide is going to last another hour,” Jason reported. “After that the ship might pitch twice as much as it is now, and I want you all on the beach before then. I’ve ordered some men to come and move your goods to the lower side of the deck. I fear that you will have to go down on rope ladders, but it is only about 12 feet to the sand on that side.

Doug was forced into a crane hoist again, mainly to prevent his hooves from sliding on the tilted deck. Once he was at the rail, he insisted that the hoist be removed, and he leapt to the beach, preserving a bit of his dignity. Emily followed Kookla to the beach, then a terrified Sissy went down the ladder, followed by Rayla. Stone had gone down on a rope and was able to lift Sissy, and then Rayla from the ladder. Next barrels and sacks of provisions were lowered by hoist for the family and hauled up to the ground just off the beach by the sailors on shore.

Jason was managing the men when Stone came to him from where the family were standing.

“Son, can you come back with me?” Stone said. “There is something strange up there.”

Jason turned and passed command over to the second mate. The first mate was in command on the tilted deck. The youth turned and followed Stone atop Doug.

As they neared the family Jason immediately knew what was bothering Stone. There was a strange humming and buzzing sound from the vicinity of the woods.

“I don’t like it,” Jason said. “Maybe it is natives, preparing to attack.”

Just then a small bird or something flew near Stone and the man swatted it with his hand, knocking it to the ground at Sissy’s feet.

“Dolly,” the girl called out and Jason looked down to see what actually did look like a 12-inch doll, wearing a green dress made of some kind of leaf, with two wings on her back. One wing seemed to be bent.

“Don’t touch it Sissy,” Rayla said, kneeling before the tiny creature, who looked to be in pain. She picked it up, and then moved the bent wing into a position that matched the other. The look of pain on the tiny face immediately lessened, and Rayla lifted her up.

Meanwhile the buzzing and humming noises had more than tripled in volume, and Jason saw some more of the tiny creatures flying out from the forest. “Stop,” he called out. “We mean no harm. Your friend was hurt accidently.”

The creatures continued to come until the sky was dark with them surrounding the family on all sides, including above. Each one carried a small twig, sharpened on one end. Then there was a small, squeak from the injured creature, which Jason had started to think of as a fairie. The ominous sounds immediately dropped to even lower than they had been in the woods, although the buzzing of their wings continued.

Finally another fairie appeared and flew up, with four others hovering on either side. They had sticks, the central one did not.

“You understand truce?” the middle fairie said.

“We do,” Jason said. “But that is usually a term used between enemies. I hope that we can be friends. We are sorely saddened that one of your people was injured by accident. We hope she can recover.”

A shrill sound came from the horde of fairies flying about.

“That was Yrk, our truthsayer,” the middle fairie said. “She can tell when one lies, and she vows you tell the truth. I am Ulk, princess of these warriors and war leader. I declare you friends and hopefully allies.” She made a squeal, and most of the surrounding fairies darted back to the woods, leaving only Ulk and her guard. Jason noted that one fairie had remained behind and assumed she was Yrk, to ensure that only the truth was said.

“You said ally,” Jason said. “That indicates you have enemies? Who are they and what do they want?”

We have been beset by a tribe of unnatural beings,” Ulk explained. “They look a little like your people, but not. They all have breasts. Not as large as that one,” she pointed at Rayla, “but larger than those other two. And we have never seen ones like you three,” this time it was Jason, Stone and Kookla she gestured at. “You seem to have no breasts at all, which seems odd.”

“Half of our people and all of the children have no breasts,” Stone explained.

“I do not know the word children,” she said. “But our foes also look like that beast,” she pointed at Doug.

“Like him up to about here,” Stone pointed at Doug’s neck, with a person from here up? Rayla, point to your waist.”

“Yes, much like that. But the human part goes down to the gap between the legs, which are those of the beast. They had human-like organs down there. Female ones. Half of them have organs between the rear legs as well, like your beasts. Others have different organs down there.”

“This seem to be something called ‘centaurs’,” Stone explained to Jason.

“You also asked what they seek. They are after the pretty ones,” she said.