Chapter 56

We sailed the next day from Oak Hall with a full crew of a hundred and sixty men and women that included me and my party. The Sea Nymph was provisioned for the trip and fitted out to deal with anything we might run into along the way. While I had been off gallivanting about Temasek and the waters surrounding it, Tagus had seen to it that ballistae were mounted on the main deck. The Sea Nymph now carried two ballistae in the bow and two on each side of the ship, stationed just about amidships. He had also gotten one of Elsa's technical experts to convert a stern cabin just below the main deck into a gunnery deck. Here he had put a pair of eighteen pounders to act as stern chasers, replacing the stern mounted ballista that we'd become used to on the Windrunner because the aft-castle was too high to use the weapons properly. In addition to these weapons we carried Tobias' complement of crossbowmen and a generous supply of fire arrows.

The weather leaving Oak Hall was rough and stormy. The weather off of Ingrid's Reach was splendid. The sky was blue, the seas calm, and the breeze fair. We appeared off the coast just before noon and after taking a look about we headed towards the island and Olaf's Berth. With men working the oars it didn't take long.

What we found took us by surprise. Olaf's Berth had been attacked and a glance through my spy glass as we dropped anchor just off shore from it, told me that the attack had occurred very recently. The thatched dwellings that had stood by its waterfront forming the community were still smouldering. Someone had put a torch to them. A glance upward towards the stockade showed me that it too had suffered recently. A thin grey cloud hung over it, darkening the sky.

I had boats put over the side once the Sea Nymph had been made secure from sea. I also posted lookouts in the bow and on the poop deck to keep an eye on both the shore and the sea. I had no idea of who had attacked the place, but I had not desire to be caught off guard. I gave Tagus command of the vessel and the men and then I headed ashore with my party and a security force.

It didn't take us very long to row the short distance that separated the Sea Nymph from the shore. The jetties had been destroyed as well so we couldn't tie up there. Instead we drove our craft up onto the shore and once beached, we pulled them up out of the water. Once that was done, I posted a pair of sentries. I led the rest of my force through the village and towards the stockade, hoping to find survivors.

It was a grim sight. All the dwellings had been burnt to the ground and every animal that had not fled the attack had been slain where they had been hobbled. Worse was the fact that the attackers hadn't taken the slaughtered beasts for food. They had instead just left them lying to rot where they lay. They had done the same for any human victim of their attack. Thankfully we saw no corpses in the burnt ruins. That would have certainly been grim. Still there was a body or two lying about and a glance at their bloated remains told me that the attack had taken place a number of days ago.

The stockade was also in ruins. The gate had been breached by force. A large tree trunk lay on the ground in the gap of the gateway, obviously discarded in the heat of battle after having been used as a battering ram. Here there were many more bodies and not all of them were locals. It was clear that the people of Olaf's Berth and the stockade had fought valiantly and they had taken a toll of their attackers before falling under the pressure of their assault. Dozens of bloated corpses lay strewn about the approaches to the stockade, most still skewered by a spear thrown from the ramparts of the stockade.

No one came when I called out on entering the fort. The only sound any of us heard was the cawing of ravens and crows. As we walked towards the centre of the enclosure, we glanced about trying to see if there were any amongst the dead that we could recognize. There wasn't. Silently I thanked the spirits for that.

The hall-house was burnt down to its foundations as was all the other structures within the walls of the stockade. Where stone had been used as a building material, the rocks had been battered down and their supports had been put to the torch. Destruction had been total and it was clear to everyone that who ever had done this had taken their time about it. Knowing this made me stop and wonder.

What caused me to pause and shake my head was the fact that they had left many of their fallen behind. If they had taken their time to knock down stone walls and to despoil what was left of the stockade so that nothing in it was usable by any survivors, then why had the attackers just left their dead there fallen to rot and more importantly, why had they left the weapons of their dead. I had seen iron tipped spears clutched in the rotting fingers of those men lying dead before the gate of the stockade and I had seen swords and knives in the hands of others who lay abandoned within the enclosure. There weren't many in comparison to the discarded spears and clubs that the locals had wielded but there were enough to tell me that the attackers had been better equipped. What was even stranger was what we found in the ruins of the structures. From the look of it nothing had been plundered. While the people of Olaf's Berth and the stockade owned very little in wealth, what they had owned appeared to have been destroyed when their homes had been torched. Just as the animals had been left to rot, tools, dishes, and woollen blankets had been put to the torch during the aftermath of the attack and now only their blackened remains were left behind.

"I don't like this," I said to no one in particular.

There was very little that we could do except to return to the Sea Nymph and report to the rest of the ship's company what we had found. I was certain that there had been survivors. While we had found plenty of dead, the numbers just didn't add up to the village having been wiped out in its entirety. My guess was that the majority of the people had made it to the jungle surrounding the fields and pastures that had stood just beyond the village. Hopefully I was right about it and we would find someone there who could answer my questions.

I spoke to the crew and told them what we had found. Afterwards I spoke to Tagus and his quartermaster and Tobias. We all agreed that the attack on the village had been for other purposes besides plunder. The question was what and to answer that we needed to find survivors. For that I spoke to Felicity. I decided that she and I would go searching for them.

It didn't take us long to find the survivors. Felicity took the grav bike out to sea first so we could pick up some speed and gain a little altitude. The bike was able to skim the treetops of the neighbouring jungle and from that vantage point we were able to spot anything that stood out in the distance. The land beyond Olaf's Berth was hilly and rugged. To the north was a mountain range and to the east several river valleys. It was here that we found survivors.

The survivors were within a day's walk from the village. They were in a valley that looked to have been cultivated. Most were gathered in the open by the river that flowed through the valley, but a few were settled near buildings that looked to have been there for a while. Smoke rose up from hundreds of campfires. When we spotted them, I ordered Felicity down to them.

We were met by armed locals and Ingrid. My Norse maiden looked a little worse for wear. She had a cloth bandage wrapped about her left arm that was heavily stained and soiled with dirt and other matter. She also sported a bruised face where someone had hit her with a glancing blow. The pity was that she wasn't the worst of those who met us. Many of the men who stood with her looked to be in even worse shape than she. I sighed heavily on seeing her and her people and then I spoke to her.

"Greetings Ingrid Olafsdatter," I said formally to the woman in her own tongue, "and my heartfelt regrets to you and your people for what has befallen them. My prayers go to your fallen."

"Spare your prayers, silver-tongued man," Ingrid growled back at me in the local dialect, "for they have died warrior deaths and have all gone to Valhalla. Instead tell me why I should not tell my people to slay you for what you have brought upon us?"

"First tell me the crime that I have committed dear lady, before you give such an order," I told her in a firm but calm manner.

"You left your men to play heroes from our shore," Ingrid told me coldly, "and others took offence to that. They came at us in great numbers and they overwhelmed us. As you must already know, they left the village ruined as well as the stockade and they slaughtered many of my men. While we live, we have paid a heavy price for our hospitality."

"And for that I do regret all that has happened to you and your people," I replied solemnly. "All I can do now is to make amends and to try and undo the wrongs placed upon you and your citizens. As you know my mate here is a healer and her services are yours to call upon in this hour of need. As well, I have brought many men and women with me, and I will make them available to help you restore what has been destroyed. Finally, I will see to it that justice prevails and that those who struck you and yours are punished soundly. What say you to this?"

Ingrid looked at me for a moment. Her gaze was tired and I could see the fatigue that hung on her. It had been a long few days for her and her people. After a moment or two she sighed heavily and then nodded her head.

"It will be a start," Ingrid muttered bitterly, in acceptance of my word. Then she looked at Felicity and spoke to her. "There are many who will need your herbs and healing talents this day. Infections have set in and we have had very little to prevent its spread. If you need help ask for it and it will be provided. Now I need to rest."

I let Ingrid wander off without saying another word to her even though I had a thousand questions for her. Instead I focused on the immediate needs of her and her people. The first thing I did was summon Sarah Williams and the two nurse-trainees from Oak Hall to help Felicity in treating the sick and the injured. The consortium delivered them and their medical supplies when I asked for them. The consortium also transported my mates and my party to the valley. Kola and Caitlin quickly set about establishing a camp for us and then went and helped Felicity. Nimue moved through the survivors and sought out news and information while Dork and Goiania looked to the security of the encampment. When they had moved off, I sent word to Tagus about what was going on. Once that had been taken care of, I went and searched out Ingrid so I could speak to her again; this time in detail about what had happened.

I was concerned that neither Martin Kessler nor either of his two companions was in the encampment. I hadn't spotted their corpses at the village or the stockade so I had hoped that they would be found here. Since they weren't it made me wonder what had befallen them. Their craft wasn't on the shoreline before the village, so now the question was whether they had escaped the attack or had they been taken prisoner. Only Ingrid could answer that. I brought a wineskin and a medical kit when I went to see her.

"So you came back," Ingrid muttered in my direction when I found where she was seated. "I had thought perhaps you were off adventuring somewhere else."

I sighed openly when she said that. I could see that she was still angry at me and in a way I couldn't blame her for it. I should have figured that the networks would retaliate like this. They'd repeatedly failed in their attempts on me and my people. It was only reasonable to expect them to try something new. The biggest piss off of the whole thing was the fact that no one from the consortium had informed me of this situation. If they had I would have done something about it. Obviously I was going to have to have another chat with my trio about what I expected out of them. In the meantime I needed to make peace with Ingrid and to find out what had actually happened.

"I am sorry about what has happened here," I told her in a remorseful voice. As I did I handed her the wineskin. She took it without any hesitation. Pulling the stopper from it she upended it and poured the sweet liquid into her mouth. As she drank, I settled myself down across from her and waited. I didn't have to wait long.

"Good wine," Ingrid declared freely when she had finished drinking her fill.

"I like the best," I admitted with a half smile, taking the skin from her and then drinking from it. When I was done, I put the stopper back into the skin and passed it to her. As she took it, I reached down and picked up the medical kit that I'd brought with me.

"Let me have a look at your wound," I told her as she moved to unstop the skin again. At my words, Ingrid hesitated for a moment and then she nodded her head in agreement.

While the woman sat and sipped the wine that I had given her, I went to work treating her injury. I quickly cut the bandage of her limb and then tossed it to the side. I then took a glancing look at her injury. She had a gash in her leg that ran along the top and outside of the limb. From what I could see it didn't look that deep and I knew instantly that the woman had gotten very lucky. The wound was closed and scabbing over, but it was still a bit of a mess. I needed to clean the affected area before I got decide whether or not I needed to do something more. From the medical kit I pulled out everything I would need and then I warned her that it would hurt. Ingrid just smiled and took another drink of wine.

I washed down the area surrounding the wound and then scrubbed it out with some antibacterial cleanser. Ingrid bit her lip at that but said nothing as I did it. Once the wound was clean and what blood that had appeared flowed cleanly, I dug out one of Felicity's magical devices. With Ingrid keeping her leg still, I ran the device over the gash in her thigh. In seconds the device had sealed the wound completely and when I was done, all that was left was a thin white line that was the beginning of new skin. Ingrid was impressed with that.

"Well," she said taking a look at my handy work, "that was easier than I thought it would be. If the rest of your healers are as good as you, then my people will be up and about in no time and we will be able to fend for ourselves."

I just grunted at that and focused on tidying up for a second or two allowing silence to hang between us for a moment. In a way it had been a thank-you. Considering the circumstances it was more than I could expect. When I was done tidying I broached the topic of Kessler and his men.

"They're gone," Ingrid said bluntly.

"Gone where?" I inquired without hesitation.

"Well," Ingrid replied slowly, taking another drink from my wineskin before answering, "if you didn't find their bodies in the ruins of my home, then I would assume that they either escaped into the jungles like my people and I did, or they were captured. I don't know and I don't really care."

"Tell me what happened, Ingrid," I beseeched her forcefully. "Did they do something to bring this about or was it just because of me?"

"It was you Charles," Ingrid said with a sigh, "and it was me."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked the woman, taking the wineskin from her so I could have another drink.

"I mean that what happen was both our faults," Ingrid stated remorsefully. "I am just as much to blame for what happened to my people as you are. You came and impressed me with your big talk and the things that you had at your disposal and the tales your people had to tell about you and I was impressed. I thought nothing about the dangers and only about the adventure and what it would be like to be your woman and stand by you while you fought dragons and conquered armies with easy. I let you leave your people here and I dreamed about you returning to take me adventuring and my people paid the price for it."

"What about Kessler and his men?" I asked pressing the woman to tell me more. "Did they do anything to bring this down on you?"

"Not really," Ingrid admitted. "They settled in after you had left and then they got to work. With the things that you had left them as trade goods, they hired four young men from the village to row their craft for them. With these men they went out and found the pirates who lived on the small islands to the north-west. Their skill at arms was more than the pirates could contend with and Kessler and his people succeeded in capturing both enclaves with only a little effort. Of course none of them were that large. The biggest held thirty-five people of which most were pirates. Their crossbows killed most of them before they had a chance to draw a blade and the rest fell to their swords and long knives. In all they killed over fifty men. They also captured four women who'd been serving the enclaves as cooks and whores. When Kessler gave them a choice seeking a living on the island or working for them, the women chose to stay with Kessler and people. The way the women saw it there really wasn't much of a choice. At least with Kessler and his men they would have food and shelter and a bed to sleep in. It could have been worse if they had tried to make it on their own."