[Episode 1] Spire and the Dragonwood Affair

[Novelette] Tales of Stonehaven [2,147 words]

Spire and the Dragonwood Affair is the first of five novelettes in The 5th Compass series. Captain Silverblade, the most feared and hated pirate in all of Stonehaven, has put her life in the hands of four of her most trusted pirates. Their mission is to each take possession of an enchanted compass and hide them where no one can ever find them. This is the story of Spire and how he got on with hiding the compass given to him.

Spire’s ship sailed under Captain Silverblade’s flag longer than any other pirate, second only to her own. In fact, he was the very first pirate from her crew that she made a captain, not long after she apprehended the ship he happened to be on; the Poison Rose. How it happened was beyond his control, but one thing was for sure: she saved his life.

It all started when Shade was a young man, on the run from four brothers and an overzealous conman. After they all got on his bad side, he realized it was time to leave Dragonwood and head for a place where no one would know him, and he could start over. Since he had very little time to plan where he should go, his only option was a shipping boat headed for Steelwater. It was helmed by Captain Rafe, not the smartest seaman that ever lived, but he felt being smart wasn’t how a seaman should live. As it happened, the captain needed an extra pair of hands and Shade was all too eager to oblige. The fact that the four brothers and overzealous conman were searching for him on the docks played very little in Shade’s decision-making.

When it came to trouble, Shade was masterful. His parents were never around, leaving him to fend for himself at a very young age. It was only natural that he should pick up the most common profession in Dragonwood; lying and swindling. Anyone who visited Dragonwood was in search of assistance to get back at someone in their life but wanted no real harm to come to them. Most visitors passed through Dragonwood very quickly, or they’d find themselves a lot poorer than when they arrived.

Shade fit right in with his fellow neighbors. Begging for scraps came easy for him at such a young age. But when he got older, his act stopped working and he had to switch from beggar to thief. It was his thieving that caught the eye of Lord Baylish, an overzealous conman. He heard about Shade from the men he paid well to keep him informed about everything that went on in Dragonwood. Lord Baylish believed information was a conman’s biggest asset and he wanted to make sure nothing or no one entered or left Dragonwood without his knowing about it.

Eventually, Shade joined forces with Lord Baylish and found himself content with the money he was earning and the life he was leading. Stealing was his skill and Lord Baylish made sure Shade had plenty of opportunity to exercise it. But he wasn’t stealing small items that would likely go unmissed by the victim. Lord Baylish had no use for those things. He sent Shade to retrieve items that would not only be missed but if he were ever caught, would lead to his death. But if there was one thing Shade enjoyed even more than stealing, it was the thrill of possibly getting caught.

No one would ever have guessed, least of all Lord Baylish, that Shade would be caught stealing from him! It came as quite a shock to Lord Baylish who felt betrayed by his most accomplished thief. But Lord Baylish knew Shade very well. He wouldn’t be so dumb or greedy without a reason, so he had Shade followed.

Turned out Lord Baylish didn’t know his little thief quite as well as he thought. When he wasn’t stealing, he was dividing his time between women and a stranger that Lord Baylish had never seen or heard of. But Lord Baylish knew everyone! It angered him to think someone so close to his best thief could go unnoticed by him. The solution to his very serious problem was simple. Lord Baylish needed to befriend this stranger, and quickly, before word got out that Dragonwood could be used as a hideout for anyone who needed it.

As it happened, the Poison Rose wasn’t built for passengers or what little cargo it carried, but it was large enough to hide Shade as it set sail for Steelwater. Hiding behind a large crate that smelled of rotting fish, Shade watched as Lord Baylish flailed his arms about, shouting obscenities to his men for their failure. Shade wished he could have stayed in Dragonwood long enough to avenge the death of his friend, Duke, but he knew his limits. He would be no match for Lord Baylish, especially when his crew was around.

While on the ship, Captain Rafe made sure Shade earned his stay, and made him work from sun up to sun down. Shade barely had any chance to speak with the other men on board or to think about his future. And after the third day he realized it was better to keep his mind occupied. All he could think about was the friend he betrayed and the woman he loved. Living from one moment, or one task, to the next was working for him until the morning of the fourth day.

Shade was mopping the deck when a man shouted that pirates were approaching them. He threw down his mop and ran to the side of the ship. There is was, the Shadow. The Poison Rose was capable of moving at swift speeds but Captain Rafe never wanted full speed, instead he preferred a slower pace. He claimed it was to prevent his precious cargo from damage, but as Shade never saw what was kept inside the crates on board, he couldn’t be sure of the real reason. He watched the Shadow sail right by them. The pirates on board moved about like a well-oiled machine, though Shade was less interested in them and bumped into other men as he followed the Shadow in search of their captain. But Silverblade was nowhere in sight.

Soon the enemy pulled ahead by several knots, blocking the Poison Rose and preventing it from continuing on its journey. The Poison Rose was forced to come to a full stop, or ram into the side of the Shadow. This infuriated Captain Rafe, who liked to keep a tight ship and schedule. Shade watched him consult his map and look at his compass. If they were to attempt to move around the Shadow, it would take them off course and possibly cause more harm to his ship than he was willing to sacrifice. While he debated what his move should be and the men on board argued about who would get on the one small boat strapped to the side of the ship, with room for one, Shade looked back at the enemy who were mobilizing as well.

Ropes with metal grapples were thrown towards the Poison Rose and Shade had to move out of the way or find one hooked onto him. When the hooks caught hold of stable parts of the ship, pirates jumped from the Shadow and Shade watched them collide with the side of the ship and quickly pull themselves up. He heard rumors of what Silverblade pirates did to men on ships they conquered, and he wasn’t about to let it happen to him. He knew he would need to hide as they were too far from any land for him to swim.

“Shade, where the devil do you think you’re going?” Captain Rafe’s voice boomed down. Shade hoped he would have been too busy worrying about pirates climbing onto his ship than what Shade was doing.

What happened next was like a dream to Shade who barely survived the massacre that Silverblade and her men brought when they sneaked onboard unnoticed. When the fighting ended, and all who remained of Captain Rafe’s crew finally raised their arms in surrender, Shade found the Poison Rose’s former captain stabbed in the back, clutching tightly to his compass. Shade pried it from his cold fingers. He didn’t realize, at the time, that Silverblade was watching him. When she saw what he did she agreed to let him stay as a part of her crew.

“What do you want to be called?” Silverblade asked him with a smile he remembers fondly.

“Called? My name is—,” Shade started to say but was quickly cut off.

“Stop. You don’t understand. If you want to live the life of a pirate, then you must think like one. Look around,” Silverblade directed. Shade looked around at her men, going through the pockets of the men they killed and opening all the crates to see what they could steal. “All of them have something or someone to hide from. But a pirate doesn’t run from anyone or anything. We are stronger together. We are not that scared person always on the run. Don’t tell me who you were. I don’t care about him. Tell me who you are now?”

Shade thought about this for a while before returning her smile. “Spire. My name is Spire.” He extended his hand and as they shook on his new name and then he winked.

Spire’s rise to captain came much later after he earned Silverblade’s trust. The same could not be said for Wendynn, Silverblade’s quartermaster. The only thing they could agree on was how they felt about each other. And it made no sense to either of them why she would send them together on a mission easily done by one.

Wendynn felt she did it to get him out of the way as he could tell something wasn’t right with her behavior before they left. She always confided in him, but this time she was being extra quiet and secretive. Spire felt she had lost the trust she once had in him and sent her second in command to keep an eye on him. Whatever her reasons, here they sat, opposite each other, unsure of how best to handle this situation forced upon them.

Instead of offering an idea, Spire remained stoic and stared at the compass further. There were no inset diamonds to make it shine nor was it made of real gold or silver. It had a considerable amount of weight to it and Spire shook it beside his ear and listened but heard nothing. If any poor man, or pirate, were rummaging through a buried treasure, he was sure it would be left behind. He opened the lid and inspected its face, but it was even more ordinary on the inside. Satisfied there wasn’t much to it he tossed it to Wendynn, who fumbled to catch it before it hit the floor. He scowled at Spire. Only three days earlier, Wendynn boarded the Poison Rose. And for three days he had to endure Spire’s annoying arguments for what would make the best hiding place for a compass. But Wendynn was determined to follow Silverblade’s instructions. Before they left, she handed him a note that he was to be opened when they were out in the open waters and far away from her.

Silverblade had not been herself lately, and it worried Wendynn to see her frightened when she told them all about a Paragon sent to kill her. He couldn’t seem to remember a time when she looked so frightened. It was her obvious fear coupled with the confidence she had in him that made him agree to her orders without question.

“I think we are far enough away. What does the note say?”

“Note? What note?” Wendynn asked. He hated having to share this mission with Spire who he knew had similar feelings for Silverblade that he did.

Spire leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk. “I saw her pass you a note. I’m not stupid. Was it a love note? I didn’t think she was that kind of—”

“Fine. Fine. Yes, she passed me a note. Here it is,” he said, extracting it from his boot. “She said I was to wait till we were far enough away from her sight before reading it.”

“Well, then?” Spire extended his hand, expecting Wendynn to hand over the note. Instead, he unfolded it and read:

“Dragonwood? Are you sure that’s what it says?” Spire lowered his feet and tried to grab the paper but Wendynn pulled it just out of reach. He turned it around to face Spire so he could read it and he did so, mouthing the words slowly. “Nonsense. Who wrote that? That isn’t her handwriting.”

“No,” Wendynn said, turning it back so he could inspect the handwriting himself, “it isn’t her handwriting.” He didn’t recognize who wrote it, but Silverblade handed it to him and instructed him to follow whatever it said and that was good enough for him. “But it looks like we should chart a course for Dragonwood.”

“Yes, I suppose we should,” Spire said, trying not to let worry show on his face.