“Let’s find out,” Longbow agreed, drawing his bow.
“Aren’t you going to tell him to lean it up against a log or something?”
“I can see it well enough where it is,” Longbow replied, loosing his iron-tipped arrow.
The long, slender bow sang, and the arrow arched up and over the sandy beach. Then it began its descent.
The clamshell shattered into a thousand pieces when Longbow’s arrow smashed it out of Hammer’s hand.
Hammer danced around, swearing and shaking his hand. “You almost tore my fingers off!” he shouted.
“You were holding it too tight,” Longbow called. “Should we break up more shells, or would you rather make arrowheads?”
Things went more smoothly after that. The ironsmiths of Sorgan’s fleet hammered out arrowheads by the score, and the Dhralls of Lattash brought bundles of slender shafts. Soon there were dozens of arrows stacked in neat piles near the front of Zelana’s cave. Rabbit felt a real sense of accomplishment as the sun settled slowly in the west.
The work proceeded rapidly for the next several days, and then the weather turned sour again, with rain along the coast and more snow up in the mountains. Rabbit had to suspend operations while the Dhralls of Lattash erected well-roofed sheds over the anvils and forges to keep the rain from putting out the fires.
It had been raining for three days, and the sheds were still under construction when Eleria came out of the cave and walked down to where Rabbit was sourly looking up at the murky sky. “How much longer are we going to have to put up with all this rain, baby sister?” he asked her.
“As long as the Beloved thinks we need it, Bunny,” she replied. “I need a hug,” she said then, holding her arms out to him. “Everybody’s so busy that they don’t have time for me anymore.”
Rabbit embraced her, and she kissed him soundly. “That’s better,” she said with a sunny smile. “Don’t say bad things about the rain, Bunny. It’s rain here, but it’s snow up there in the mountains. The bad people can’t move when it’s snowing. Are you busy right now? The Beloved wants you to go fetch Hook-Big. There’s somebody coming that she wants him to meet.”
“I’ll go get him,” Rabbit agreed, and he turned and went on down the rain-swept beach to find somebody who could paddle a canoe without tipping it over.
Red-Beard wasn’t doing much except watching the rain, so he agreed to paddle Rabbit out to the Seagull.
Sorgan was in his cabin, sourly looking out at the dismal rain. “This is the soggiest place in the whole world,” he growled as Rabbit joined him.
“It’s that time of year, Cap’n,” Rabbit reminded him. “Lady Zelana wants you to meet somebody in her cave.”
“Can’t she bring him out here?”
“I suppose I could go ask her, Cap’n, but I don’t think you’d like her answer very much.”
Sorgan sighed and pulled on his heavy fur cape. Rabbit smiled, being careful not to let it show. His position on board the Seagull had noticeably changed over the past few weeks. Captain Hook-Beak, Ox, and Ham-Hand no longer ignored him or treated him like some feebleminded errand boy. His position as Longbow’s assistant that night back in Kweta had rather quickly changed everybody’s opinion of him.
Rabbit was of two minds about that. His new status definitely boosted his ego, but he was certain that he’d no longer be able to slip back into his previous anonymity. Whether he liked it or not, he did have a certain prominence now.
Captain Hook-Beak led the way out of his cabin to join Red-Beard on the rain-swept deck. “Does it rain like this every year?” Sorgan asked the leather-clad Red-Beard as they climbed down into the canoe.
“It’s not unusual,” Red-Beard replied. “It isn’t cold enough to snow here on the coast, but the snow’s really piling up in the mountains above us. That’s not really a bad thing, you know. The enemy can’t attack through deep snow.”
“There’s that, I suppose,” Sorgan conceded grudgingly. “Just who is it Lady Zelana wants me to meet, Rabbit?”
“Eleria didn’t say, Cap’n. Maybe Lady Zelana wants to surprise you.”
“I can live without too many surprises,” Sorgan grumbled.
Red-Beard smoothly beached his canoe not far from the mouth of Zelana’s cave. There was an odd-looking boat anchored near the beach some distance on to the south. Rabbit was almost positive that it hadn’t been there when Eleria had come out of the cave to tell him what Zelana wanted. “What kind of tub’s that, Cap’n?” Rabbit asked.
“I think it’s what they call a fishing sloop, Rabbit,” Sorgan replied. “People on to the south of Maag have lots of them out on the water at certain times of the year when the fish are running. I’m not all that fond of dried fish myself, but Southerners seem to like them.”
The three of them pulled Red-Beard’s canoe above the high-water mark and then went on up the hill to the rickety-looking hut that concealed the mouth of Zelana’s cave. Longbow, Chief White-Braid, and Chief Old-Bear were waiting for them, and they led the way on into the cave.
“Ah, there you are, Sorgan,” Zelana said. “Now we can get started. You’ve already met my brother Veltan. The antique over there is our older brother, Dahlaine, and the overdressed lady is my big sister, Aracia. They’ve come to watch you destroy the invading force.”
“I’ll try not to disappoint them, Lady Zelana,” Hook-Beak said. Then he looked inquiringly at the stranger standing beside Zelana’s brother Veltan. The man had dark hair touched with silver at the temples, and he wore tight-fitting, glossy black leather clothing. His upper body was encased in a sort of iron vest, and he had a rounded iron helmet under one arm. There was a sheathed sword belted to his waist, and it reached almost down to his ankles. The hilt of the sword was quite heavy and long, suggesting that it was commonly wielded with both hands.
“This is Commander Narasan of the Trogite Empire, Captain Hook-Beak,” Veltan introduced the soldier. “He’s bringing a sizeable force here to aid you during the current unpleasantness.”
“Captain,” the Trogite said with a brief nod.
“Commander,” Sorgan responded, also nodding. Then he straightened. “I guess we’d better get this right out in the open,” he said. “Up until a little while ago I made my living robbing Trogite treasure ships, and I was very good at it. Lady Zelana persuaded me that I could earn much more gold if I gathered up a fleet and came here to fight this war for her. I know that it seems unnatural, but that puts you and me on the same side, and Maags and Trogites have never gotten along very well. Is this going to give you any kind of problems?”