Paulek

PAULEK

CHAPTER 11

BY ARTHUR

AUTHORS NOTE:

PLEASE HELP TO SUPPORT THE NIFTY ARCHIVES WITH YOUR DONATIONS SO WE CAN KEEP THIS A FREE SITE.

Over the next five days and nights, the captured carronade and all their shot and powder were loaded on the long line of wagons and sent on their way, it would take ten days for it all to arrive at the Severn Pass, at the time there seemed little hurry, the enemy had made no move to break through the pass as most of the action was down on the seaward coastal flats while the pass was well to the north and very difficult to attack.

Two days after the last wagon left the town, the sight of a fast riding messenger alerted the day time watch on the Trireme, under Captain Stanislaw's orders the newly promoted Margate was on duty while the others were in their death sleep and so he was the first to receive the message.

Margate looked up at the afternoon sky, there was still at least two hours until dark and there was no way for him to awaken the Captain, he would have to start making preparations without him, Margate began to give orders, all work on the captured ships stopped as he sent the men on other more important works.

With the last rays of the sun disappearing below the horizon, the drinkers began to stir, Margate stood impatiently waiting for the Captain to rise, he didn't have much longer to wait, as usual the Captain was standing in front of Margate before he even heard him.

"You look worried Mr. Margate, what's all the rush around here?"

"A message from the King Captain, the Severn pass has come under a surprise attack, the defenders were pushed back before they could release the dead falls and block the pass, they are still holding further along but are under a lot of pressure, it's only the narrowness of the pass that enables them to hold, the King has asked for all of his night Marshals and all others of the night to help defend the pass until the carronade can get there in ten days."

As Margate finished his report there came a whooshing sound from above and, within seconds, a large birdlike creature descended onto the deck of the Trireme as Paulek and the other junior officers arrived to stand behind the Captain.

The creature quickly began to change into human form, much to Paulek's dismay it turned out to be none other than Jorge, Paulek had no idea that the older drinker could also change like Sergei although he had been told that once he was old enough he also along with any drinker of the right age could make the shift to other forms.

After he changed back to his human form, Jorge smiled and greeted the Captain, he then began to tell the Captain what was needed, as soon as he had finished his report, Jorge changed back into the dark birdlike form and took to the night sky in a whoosh of flapping wings, Captain Stanislaw turned to the waiting boys.

"Well young gentlemen, its time to earn our crust of bread, as you heard, the King needs every drinker to get to the pass and help stop the advance, Mr.Margate, you will be in command of the ships while we are away, see that the continuing changes to the captured ships are kept up at pace, all drinkers go and get your weapons and meet me on the wharf, those who can shift will go ahead and form the first attack, those too young to change will make as much haste as you can over land, there are caves about one hour from the start of the pass, you should be able to make it that far tonight, you will meet up with a lot of other drinkers from across the Kings realm, get too it Gentlemen we have little time too loose, the King has called us to action."

Stanislaw followed by Paulek, Milac and two other young drinkers that had been hired by the Captain to take charge of two of the other small ships, were soon on the wharf and making for the town centre, once there they saw all of the drinkers from the immediate vicinity coming into the town at speed, Paulek told Tito to go out to the farm and watch over Bevic.

It was noticed that a number of the new arrivals had little or no weapons, many of them were no more than street ferals and yet they had answered the call to fight for the King, Stanislaw smiled at the new arrivals, he then gave orders for all of them to go to one of the warehouses on the new dock and arm themselves with whatever they wanted, the looks on many of the young faces were almost priceless as they took in the fact that they were truly being armed with the best available and also accepted as part of the regular Kings forces.

Paulek was put in charge of those that had gathered, the Captain and two older ones from the surrounding country side, were going to shift and fly to the pass, Paulek was shown where the caves were and would lead his small band towards them, meeting up with the older shifters the next night along with any others that made it too the caves.

Within an hour the assembled young ones were on the run, Paulek and Milac were out in front and making fast time, they had a long way to go and a lot of ground to cover before they would make it too the safety of the caves before the sun rose, with their sharp hearing they heard the flap of mighty wings from the darkness far above them as those who could shift took flight.

Two hours into the run, Paulek saw more of the shifters far above them all aiming for the north and towards the Severn pass, at times it seemed the night sky was filled with dark shapes, if Paulek was to guess he thought there had too be as many as three hundred shifters on the move, his own small party was also increasing in numbers as others joined them on the run, some were armed with good weapons, others had old and rusty pieces and still others had nothing but the rough and worn clothes they had on their backs but all were answering the King's call.

By the middle of the night, Paulek's hurrying boys had grown too many hundreds; they all seemed to come out of the dark night and without a word, joined the lengthening, fast moving column, silent dark farms were passed in a flash as the young ones followed Paulek into the darkness, they all knew they would have to be in a dark safe place before sun rise or they were dead before they even got to fight.

As the first glimmer of the new day showed in the east, Paulek's rag tag column came into sight of the five caves, standing in front were most of the older shifters, as they came close, Sergei stepped forward and called to the new arrivals, his eyes wide at the number of ferals amongst the column.

"Those of you that need to feed go to the last cave, we have captives there you can feed on, those who have no arms go to the third cave, everything you need is in there, the rest of you spread out into the other caves and get some rest, Paulek, Pavlik and Hawk, come with us to the second cave, we have a lot to go over, ok everyone, get under cover, we have only a few minutes before the sun rises."

Sergei turned and lead the way into the second cave along with the older shifters, once inside he sent the younger boys to the back of the cave where they would be in the darkest place, Paulek quickly looked around and saw that all the shifters were in this one cave and, by the look of them all, they had already seen some action, one or two were still mending wounds as he settled down into a dark corner as his eyes grew heavy, it was time to rest and sleep.

Paulek awoke at the first sign of darkness, around him the shifters were already stirring from their death sleep, Paulek could make out the large frame of Sergei standing near the mouth of the cave, with a quick shake on the shoulders of Pavlik and Hawk, he made his way forward to where the older man stood, Sergei turned and smiled at him as he came up and hugged the older man.

Paulek felt another heavy hand on his shoulder and turned to see Jorge behind him, he smiled at his old teacher and then stood back and waited until everyone was up and ready for the night ahead, Sergei began his orders for the night, unknown to all those present, this was the night that would go down in the histories as the Massacre of Severn Pass, it was also too become known by the enemy as the Terror of the Pass.

Sergei set about showing the way the coming battle would be held, the 150 shifters would attack from the air and behind the massed troops, Paulek, Pavlik and hawk would lead the younger ones from the ground, Pavlik would attack the front, Paulek from the left and Hawk from the right, all together their forces numbered seven hundred and sixty men and boys, the enemy camp held over ten thousand, the big advantage that Sergei's forces held was not only their superior speed and strength but their ability to see in the darkest of night.

The enemy had greater numbers, better weapons in the form of the new matchlock muskets as well as entrenched positions but Sergei's men had one even bigger advantage, fear, they had left a number of night guards dead at their posts the night before so that the enemy would think they had been attacked by wild beasts as well as bringing back those they wanted to feed on so those total disappearances would also instil fear.

An hour after dark had fallen, Sergei called all the drinkers out into the front of the caves, there he gave out his orders, dividing up the young ones among those with a little more experience, Sergei made sure that Paulek and his little group stayed together, the one time young slave boys refusing to leave Paulek's side.

Each group took in an equal number of ferals, they also made sure the ferals had all the help they needed to get weapons and some little training, although what they lacked in weapons training they would make up for with speed and strength and their natural feral tendencies of survival, Sergei let it be known that any feral that fought this night would be given a place of security once the battle was over, all and any past crimes of the ferals would be laid to rest, they could start a new life.

For the next hour, all those assembled listened to Sergei as he set out the plan of attack, the over riding plan was to leave no one alive or die trying, they wanted to leave a message that the enemy would never forget, they well knew there would be losses, even with their superior abilities, the sheer numbers of the enemy would take some of them, this if nothing else brought a sense of quiet among the drinkers.

Close too midnight the order was given to move out and get to their positions, the signal for attack was to be the first screams from the rear of the enemy camp as the shifters went into battle, it would be the signal for the others to attack en-mass at the same time, the attack from four directions was to try to confuse the enemy as too which side they should send reinforcements, those that needed to feed as they fought were to be given protection from those closest to them until they could continue.

Sergei had sent a message to the King's defenders not to leave their encampment regardless of what they heard or saw, any soldier outside their camp would be mistaken for an enemy and would be killed, the order was read to the defending troops and many had a thoughtful look on their faces, some even showed doubt as to what such a small force of men and mainly boys, could do to a well entrenched enemy who outnumbered them by thousands.

There had always been rumours of strange men who were of the night but very few had ever actually seen them so their understanding of what the small number of men were was limited, to most of the defenders, the use of such young boys could only mean the King had run out of men to reinforce them and had sent every farm boy or street rat to fight in their defence, many knew they would be looking at a field of blood in the morning and many young boys cut down in their prime, too the hardened soldiers it was a waste of effort and young lives.

An hour after midnight saw all the drinkers in place around the massive camp, Paulek and his group of one hundred and fifty, stood in the darkness and watched the camp and the perimeter guards, to their extra vision, the camp was almost in daylight, around him, Paulek could see the young men and boys ready for the battle ahead, all eyes were now showing red, their fangs fully extended and their finger nails were now two inch sharp claws, all weapons were in hand and the young testosterone filled the air, the smell of living blood wafted up to them on the night breeze.

The camp was stretched along the length of the pass, at the head were the crossed wooden stakes to keep the defenders from attacking them during the night, these were patrolled by groups of six guards, the camp stretched back into the darkness, the cooking fires, now fading as the wood was burnt, seemed to fill the pass with red enbers looking much like stars, at the centre stood five very large tents, these were obviously the officers tents, they were well surrounded by all the others.

Paulek lifted his head as he heard the first far off screams of the night guards, it was their signal to attack and it took little effort to make it so, with a silent sweep of his long sword, he led his group down onto the barricades of the camp, their silence and speed too fast for the guards to react in time, the slaughter had begun, the guards were quickly dealt with, some of Paulek's younger ferals needed to stop and feed; from the left and in front, Paulek could plainly hear the action of Pavlik and Hawk, slowly they worked forward but, as the screams grew louder and the death toll rose, the enemy woke and tried to form a defence against the incoming troops.

At first some of the hardened enemy troops could not believe their eyes as they saw the mass of young boys coming at them, quite a few almost laughed as they looked at the rag tag army of young kids with mismatched weapons and bare feet, for most it was the last thing they saw or smiled about, the Battle was now on in earnest as the enemy began to form up a defensive line, they now started to make the odd kill but to achieve this cost them many more men than they had to spare.

Paulek felt the sudden slamming pain in his arm as a soldier with one of the new matchlocks fired almost at arms length from him, the fear on the soldiers face as Paulek looked at him and snarled showing his fangs, stopped him from trying to reload his weapon, the look of surprise on his smoke blackened face was still there as his head hit the damp ground by his feet, Paulek moved on at pace as his arm healed, to his left and right, Milac and the one time slave boys were like wild dervishes as they struck down any who faced them, the heavy smell of blood and carnage filled the night air.

The clash of swords and pikes rang out in the dark night as did the screams of the wounded and dying, soldiers who at first sight of their attackers had thought they were easily going to rid themselves of the small boys and young men, soon found themselves in a fight for their very lives if not their souls as the red eyed and fanged youngsters came at them with blood on their hands.

Everywhere their were cries for mercy but none was shown, the young attackers went about their assigned grisly task with all the venom of a striking snake, none were spared as there appointed leaders, Paulek included, called for the total annihilation of the enemy of their chosen King.

When swords or spears were of no use, the youngsters took to their natural weapons of claw and fang, even the heavy armour of the soldiers had no defence against the power and strength of the young ones, hardened claws ripped the armour from the soldiers bodies with little effort, fangs sank into bare flesh and filled the boys mouths with fresh blood which only gave them more strength and speed.

The first hour of battle had been a very slow progress but, as more and more soldiers fell the opposition grew less, the enemy soldiers were now at a stage of trying only to live through this unholy night of terror, nothing they tried seemed to stem the young tide of death that attacked time and time again, even the heavy smell of blood and gore that now soaked the very ground they stood on could not deter the onslaught.

During one pause, Paulek happened to look up into the night sky, there he saw the shifters using their own special ability to fly and kill, he saw enemy soldiers carried high into the night sky and dropped while the shifter dived back for another in an aerial display of viciousness that even Paulek found hard to believe, he then went back into the action that surged around him.

Milac and the one time slave boys took out all their long held frustrations on the humans, they were like a small scythe of destruction as they worked together in a whirlwind of blades, fangs and claws, Paulek had never seen his little brother act in such a blood thirsty way, the normally quiet and smiling Milac had become a wild animal as he carved his way through the enemy ranks, Paulek then understood that his little brother had a lot of pent up hate from the time he was held captive, it was his chance to rid himself of his own demons.

For three hours the battle and carnage raged in the darkness lit only by dying camp fires and the flames of burning tents, finally they were all together at the centre of the camp, around the central large tents stood the last of the soldiers along with the officers who had so far survived, from over ten thousand men they now numbered no more than two hundred and most of those carried bloody wounds, torn armour and broken weapons, the officers were trying to rally them for a last ditch stand, they all now knew that they were not going to walk away from this pass any time soon, the only hope they had was to surrender and hope for mercy.

Every man that stood in the defensive circle by now well knew what they were fighting and held little hope for seeing another sun rise, only the terror of what lay ahead of them held them by the officers side as they watched one of the older terrors of the night walk calmly towards their last defensive line, his hands and body covered in the fresh blood of their comrades.

Sergei looked over the last of the camp defenders, barely a single one of them was uninjured except for the officers and even there, two or three showed bloody wounds, when he was within easy talking range he asked for the most senior officer to speak with him under a flag of truce, an older man with a lot of fancy coloured braid on his chest, stepped forward as he waited for Sergei to speak.

"May I ask your name and title, Sir?" Sergei asked.

"I am General Marshal Prince Santoris of Evegnei, who am I speaking with?"

"I am Captain Sergei of his Majesties Marshals and commander of these forces, General, I ask you to lay down your arms and leave this pass, if you do so we will allow you to leave in peace, if you wish to fight on I can only offer you death."

"Not much of a choice, I know who you are but tell me, what are you?"

Sergei looked at the man that stood before him, there was a definite arrogance about the man, he had seen his superior forces cut to ribbons and yet still wanted to argue, the Generals attitude of superiority could easily condemn the rest of his men to death, Sergei did not wish to take them all but he would if he had too.

"We are members of the Kings Marshals and Navy as well as free men who came because the King called for help."

"That's not what I meant and you know it, what sort of creatures are you, we well know you are not normal people and there is only one thing left that you could be."

"And that is?"

"Devils spawn called forth from the depths of hell by your satanic King, we know all about his stand against the one true honest church, your men and boys have the fangs of devils and seem to resist dying too easily, although I must admit the three we captured have been most entertaining once their fangs were drawn."

Suddenly the air on the battle field seemed to grow cold as there came a silence over the darkness, Sergei's eyes were not the only ones that turned red nor was he the only one to have his fangs extend to their fullest extent, what the Prince had just admitted was an act of the lowest form, he had, without thought, condemned his captives to a slow death by starvation, without their fangs the captives could not feed.

Sergei turned his back on the arrogant Prince, with a single word he sent his men and boys into the attack with the explicit orders to not kill the officers but to hold them until all of the ordinary soldiers were dealt with.

The fight was short and sharp, the one hundred and thirty soldiers stood no chance against the anger and blood lust of the drinkers, at the end of five minutes there were only the small group of officers and a single drummer boy who was no more than eleven or twelve years old, Sergei ordered that he was not to be harmed.

The officers could only look on in disbelief at the sudden carnage around them, they were not used to having to be so close to the blood and smell of battle, they were all members of the aristocracy and held their posts only by the favour of those above them, now they were surrounded by angry devils with a huge blood lust.

Sergei stepped forward.

"Well Prince, you have thirty two officers and a drummer boy, the boy will not be harmed, you will send him forward now, you will then tell my men where you have the captives."

"And if I don't wish too?"

"It would be a very silly move Prince, now where are they?"

"In the big tent, they are probably dead by now, there's little you can do." The Princes arrogance was still as strong as before the decimation of his last troops.

Sergei walked off and entered the tent, the sight before him only made his anger rise, the three young bloods were trussed up and tied to the centre pole, their fangs had been pulled from their mouth and both hands had been cut off to stop them from using their claws, they had bled badly but were still not dead, there was only one way for their kind to die apart from the sun.

With a deep sadness he had not felt in years, Sergei drew his sword and, after speaking in a low voice to each young blood, quickly removed their heads in an act of mercy, without hands or fangs the boys would never have been able to feed and would have starved until they went totally mad with hunger, this was the best way for them to go, Sergei left the tent with fire in his eyes.

Sergei looked at the officers without compassion, he reached out and took the small drummer boy by the shoulder and pulled him close to his side, the young boy was shaking in fear as he had a right to be, Sergei gave one order to his men.

"Sergeant Jorge, take these officers to the barricade and stake every one of them, let them die slowly, when that is done find me the best horse they have and bring it here."

Before the captured officers could react in any way, they were grasped by very strong hands and carried bodily towards the sharp stakes that surrounded their encampment, with little effort, each and every officer was lifted high and forced down onto the sharp stakes, the stake entering from their anus; the Prince was saved until last so he could watch all his comrades being speared first, their screams could be heard echoing out into the darkness, it would take them some time to die, as they struggled they would be forced further down the stakes, the Prince was held and instead of being forced quickly onto the stake he was only allowed to move slowly so his pain would last longer, his screams were the loudest of all.

Sergei waited for a huge white stallion to be brought to him by one of the feral boys; he lifted the young drummer up on the huge horse and told him.

"You are free, no one here will hurt you, go back to your own country and tell them what happened here, from now on any we capture will be treated in like fashion, now go boy and ride like the wind."

Sergei slapped the huge horse on the flank and watched as it and its small cargo disappeared into the night, turning to Jorge he gave the order for everyone to return to the caves, it was getting close to sun rise, they would come back tomorrow and look around for any valuables that they could collect, he had decided that most would go to the young ferals as they needed the help more than others.

Back in the caves, Sergei asked for a report on their losses including the three young bloodsin the tent, he could not understand how they had been caught, by the look of their injuries it had to be very early on in the battle, Jorge returned with the report on their losses, they had lost five shifters, twenty six ferals and seven young bloods, while every loss hurt Sergei he was still glad it had not been worse considering the army they had gone up against.

From the depths of the cave came the sounds of his small rag tag army settling down for their sleep, tomorrow night would be another night for them to finish off what they had started, the pass was safe and the King's work had been done.

For the first two hours of the next night, Sergei's men worked in scouring the battle field and camp for booty, most was given to the many ferals who had come with little but what they wore, the field around them was now filled with the decaying bodies of the dead army, animals had had a feast during the daylight hours, ravens and other carrion birds had also filled their bellies with the sudden bounty, the stench of blood and death filled the pass as Sergei's men turned their backs and began their return to their home towns and cities.

Sergei stopped off at the King's defenders and told them the threat was over, they could return to their posts further up the valley and hold their ground for the King, it would be weeks before the full story leaked out to the rest of the land about the carnage they were too see.

The horses and wagons of the enemy would have been to slow to carry all the plunder they had taken and so every drinker took a heavy load and they began the long but fast return to their towns, Sergei had given the offer to all the ferals to join the King's service in one form or another, after the battle they had fought alongside other of their kind, every feral agreed, many would go to the Marshals to be trained in arms, others were willing to go with Paulek and his friends to take part in the burgeoning navy, with all their plunder, the ferals now had a chance to change their lives from the hard misery they had been living up until now, their selfless act of going to fight for the King when needed had paid off handsomely for them.

Even though they were weighed down by the mass of plunder, the rag tag army made good time and were within sight of their homes as the first rays of dawn showed over the land, it left just a short hard sprint for them all too make it to safety before the full force of sunlight disabled them, all made it even though a few of the slower ones received small burns as they dived for cover.

The next night Pavlik and Hawk returned to their own house and office to take care of any business that had happened while they were away, Paulek sent his young ex slaves to watch over Bevic again, this allowed for Tito to return to his side, Captain Stanislaw called for the thirty nine ferals to come down to the docks so he could introduce them to his small navy, with all the newly captured ships he now had more ships than crews to sail them.

One glance told Stanislaw that the work on changing the small ships into the new type of sail rigging had been going ahead at a good pace, the town was now growing rapidly as new carpenters, metal workers and sail makers began to fill the town, many worked on the ships but others were needed to build new houses for the influx of tradesmen, as usual, along with the tradesmen came the other dregs of society, harlots and pickpockets, thieves and would be slavers, the town was growing and along with the good came the bad, Pavlik and Hawk were going to be kept busy.

Over the next few weeks, things settled back into their normal ways, the ships were being converted quickly, it was only the lack of crews that was now a priority, for non drinkers as crew, Captain Stanislaw found them difficult to find, the answer came from Pavlik one night when he was sitting on the wharf talking to Paulek.

They had been discussing the high numbers of criminals that were starting to appear in the town now it was known as the centre of the King's new navy, it was when Pavlik said.

"I wish there was a way to get rid of them but at the same time get some honest work out of them, Hawk is tired of sending them to the prison only to have them freed after their sentence is done and return later."

"Why not make them join our navy, we're finding it hard to get crews, if they're on a ship they can only go over the side if they want to escape, we have enough small ships now that we can use the trireme as a prison hulk, if they don't want to stay on the hulk they can join us until the war is over, that way, you get rid of them and we get crews, we have the men that can soon get them into shape one way or another, even if we have to hang a few as an example."

"That sounds like a good idea, I'll tell hawk and see what we can come up with, the only problem I see is how will they think when they find out about us, if you are all in your sleep, there is very little to stop them from attacking you and taking over the ship during the day."

"Hmm, yes I'll have to talk it over with the Captain, there must be a way to safe guard us and still get the extra crews."

For the next two nights, Paulek, Milac and captain Stanislaw talked over the idea, the Captain finally came up with the answer.

"All the crew of the Trireme knows about us, after all they worked for the Trader, lets make them junior officers or senior position within the crews, they will be responsible for the ship when we are sleeping, also we can reinforce our cabins so no one can break in during the day, we all have our boys to watch over us, if we also increase their share of plunder, they will be more inclined to work with us, they already know the consequences if they try to mutiny."

The plan seemed the only one that would work and so, for the next week the Captain set about promoting the best members of the original crew from the Trireme, in no time at all the newly added ships of the King's Navy were filled with their junior officers, it now remained only for Hawk to start to press the criminals into the King's service.

The Trireme had been stripped of all its carronade and everything else that would be useful on the new fleet, it now lay at anchor out in the middle of the bay, it had been anchored with four thick chains leading down to the sea bed, even in the harshest weather it would not move, as the last of any valuables was removed from the Trireme and four man cages installed, Hawk set in motion the means to send criminals to live on it, it was hoped that with one or two weeks of living in the cramped and dirty conditions of the Trireme, they would have plenty of volunteers for the Navy.

It was not long before law and order returned to the growing port town, for those in the prison hulk, it took many of them less than a week to make the decision to join the new navy, within four weeks the Captain had full crews, all he needed now was the new tall ship that was being made for him, his small ship fleet now numbered more than thirty, all were refitted and ready for war, the Captain had now only too wait for the new one to be finished and then sailed down to the port.

Under the Kings orders, every man who could work with wood or metal was transferred to where the tall ship was under construction, he wanted it finished ahead of schedule, this was finally accomplished one month later, when going to collect the new ship, Captain Stanislaw took both Paulek and Milac with him, the first sight of the mighty ship took their breath away.

The new ship was longer, wider and taller than the old Trireme, it showed three decks of larger carronades and the three tall masts disappeared high into the night, each mast had four sets of spars, on the top spar of each pair, they saw the white rolled canvas of the new sails, everywhere they looked were masses of ropes and, at the stern a very large wheel with spokes to hold on to, the fresh smell of cut wood and paint as well as the moon reflecting of the varnished rails set the ship apart, this great ship not only looked fast it looked very dangerous, the Captain slapped both Paulek and Milac on their thin shoulders.

"Now that, boys, is a ship, let's get aboard and see how they have set it out for us."

The tall ship was a marvel of new technology for the time, great wooden blocks made it easier to raise and lower the sails instead of the old way of just pulling on the ropes directly connected to the single mast of the bireme, it was also more pointed at the bow so that it would cut through the water faster, Captain Stanislaw thought they should get all of ten or twelve knots out of her, far faster than any bireme or trireme on the coast, there would be little that would escape this new beast of the sea.

Word was sent for a number of the crew from the original Trireme to come to the ship yard, it was time to take her out for the sail to home port, it took a week of hard work to ready the new ship for sea but, once it was underway, it flew through the water under full sail at a speed of twelve knots, just as the captain had said she would, even the lowliest of the crew members revelled in the pace and comfort of the new ship, the three decks of large carronade were only a part of the total decks, it also had not only a large poop deck at the stern but a wide fighting forecastle at the bow.

Instead of the normal two weeks to make it to the port from the ship yard, it took only four days, to the towns people of the port, the sight of the mighty tall ship bursting through the heads and into the harbour was a magnificent sight, this was a true ship of war, the small ships of the fleet set a bright red banner at the top of their single mast to welcome the new command ship into port just as dusk settled over the land.

During the weeks of waiting, Margate and three other long time members of the crew, took the new ferals under their wing and began to train them in ship handling, by the time the new ship arrived, every small ship had a normal human day officer and one or two of the newly trained ferals as a night officer, there remained only one last task before the new King's fleet could put too sea, the final selection of crew for the new ship, this took more than four weeks of selection and training before they were fully manned and ready for a fight.

While the work had been going on with the fleet, the enemy had finally got a full report about the massacre at Severn Pass, they also had a new weapon, in later years it was to be called, propaganda, an effective tool in the right hands, the battle of the coastal plains continued its back and forth fighting, both sides unable to get a final victory as more and more men and equipment were poured into the region, it was now time for the new fleet to take the fight to the enemy.

A special group of drinkers had been formed, they were to be put ashore where needed, and attack land convoys of supplies, the ships would take any and every enemy ship they could find, as they were well set with night crews, they had a distinct advantage, the enemy ships had to sail at night as though they were almost blind, with the King's navy they had their drinkers as watch officers and crew during the dark hours, as the months passed, the toll of enemy shipping grew at an alarming rate, the special troops of the night also cut into the land convoys in a huge way, six months later the enemy was in full retreat from the plains, it was now the turn of the King's men to harry them right to the gates of the capital, there would be no mercy for any man bearing arms.

The closer they came to the enemy Capital the more the slaughter grew, there was little or no quarter given until, as the last days of autumn turned to winter, the mighty Capital fell, Duke Sardis had to surrender totally to the superior forces, his lands now belonged to another, his people were no more than second class subjects in their own land, his last card was now set too be played, he would see the King's lands turned into a place of riots and death, and so, the long built rumours began.

Playing on the hidden fears of religious people and their fear of demons and devils, the specially trained agents went to work, as the victors of the war were being paraded and cheered the rumours began to be spread, the King had used devils spawn to fight the battles, they had been directed by Satan from hell, these were no normal men but demons in disguise, every trick they could think of was used in the taverns and back alleys of the King's lands.

At first it seemed only a mistake, an odd feral or drinker would be found beheaded or burnt to death by the sun where he had been chained to a post or rock, it took less than a year for the truth to come forward and then the hunts began, from the pulpits of all the churches rang the loud calls for the destruction of the devil blood drinkers, everyone had been told on good authority that they were planning to take over the kingdom once they were all trained and blooded in warfare, the normal good Christian folk would not stand a chance against such devils incarnate, they had to take the first action, even though the King tried to stop the rumours, it was no good, religion had now taken over the lands and they used this power to gain favour, the people were too scared to go against the church, after all they were the voice of god and therefore must be right, the hunt for the foul creatures was on.

Had it not been for Bevic and Tito, Paulek and the others would have been caught in the harbour, with little time to spare; they sent the word out in the dead of night for all the drinkers to make their way to the tall ship, by the middle of the night the ship was full, only those non drinkers who could be totally trusted were allowed to stay on board, the rest were set ashore.

As the tall ship crept out of port in the darkest hours, followed by seven of the smaller ones, and on board they held all of the drinkers that had been in port along with Bevic and Tito as well as Margate and sixty other older sailors who had been in the employ of the old Trader for years and had decided to stay with their Captain.

When the ships broke out into the open sea, they turned to the West and set full sail into the unknown, behind them were many drinkers caught without escape, some ran for the hills and mountains to end up living lonely lives for years until they were only remembered in myths and stories, many hundreds were caught during the daylight hours and chained out in the sun to die a horrible death, others were decapitated, older drinkers or young boys, all were put too death, most had their fangs pulled before they were killed, these items became a favourite adornment for the lower classes, it would be more than one hundred years before Paulek would see his homeland again, his only good memory of that terrible night was Bevic's decision to be turned so he could spend the rest of their long lives together.

Tito grew old watching over his charges, when he reached an age he could no long care for Paulek, he sent a message out and within two weeks another young Roma boy appeared on the doorstep of the mansion on the large estate in the land called `The New World' Paulek did find out that of the nearly eight hundred drinkers who had gone to war for the King, less than one hundred and twenty survived the religious pogrom after the war, to this end there was never a church that would be safe from the revenge that was to come their way over the centuries.

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Artcart65@vodafone.co.nz