The Angry Mermaid 16 - - - Y Morforwyn Dicllon 16.

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Life starts to move on for Drustan (Drustina,) as puberty causes her further problems and problems in Carthage muddy the waters foir Aiofe and Magab

The Angry mermaid 16.

Or.

Y Morforwyn Dicllon 16

Mabina. The youngest daughter and Twin to
Drustan Her twin brother.
Grandpa Erin the twins grandfather.
Giana The twins grandmother
Caderyn The twins father.
Herenoie The twins wise and beautiful mother.
Morgaran The Twins oldest brother.
Aiofe The twins oldest sister. Famous for her beauty.
Tara The twins second oldest sister. Famous for her grace.
Feidlim Twins aunt (Caderyns’ beautiful sister.)
Mogantu Twins uncle (Married to Feidlim.) Chief of the Gangani tribe.
Brun. Twins 2nd cousin and the Acaman clans’ blacksmith.
Feorin. Twins second brother. Also training to be a blacksmith.
Rhun Feidlims’ son and Feorins’ favourite 1st Cousin. (Both red-heads.)
Arina Child of a Demetae fisherman, (rescued by Aiofe, Drustan and Mabina.)
Penderol Dumnonii Minor chief.
Udris Young Dumnonii warrior.
Dryslwyn High chief of the whole Celtic nation. Dwells in Brithony.
Bronlwyn Dryslwyn’s wife (and queen.)
Magab The moor who taught numbers.
Eric Saxon galley slave rescued from Corsair pirates.
Carl Another Saxon galley slave rescued by Drustan.
Torvel Celtic galley slave rescued from the same captured corsair ship
Arton. Turdetani Chieftain Holder of Gibral Rock.
Carinia Arton’s wife.
Isobel. Arton’s adopted daughter.
Appotel King of the Turdetani Tribe. (Southern Iberia.)
Bramana Queen. (Wife of Appotel)
Pilus King of the Capetani.
Shaleen Pilus’s queen and sister to Bramana.
Pedoro Lord Marshal of the Southern border region.
Lady Shulaar Lord Pedoro’s wife.
Taan. The scullery maid.
Isaar. Pedoro’s oldest son.
Ferdie Pedoro’s 2nd son
Sular Pedoro’s 3rd son
Gontala Pedoro’s youngest son.
Shenoa Pedoro’s only daughter.
Portega. Tyrant King to the west.
Portua. Portega’s grandson.
Jubail. Old Fisherman.
Mutas Magab’s younger brother and usurper.

As Drustan sank towards unconscious oblivion, his descent was not entirely unnoticed. Several dark, streamlined shapes ghosted eerily through the darkening waters and sensed that life still ticked feebly in the body that sank before them. Cautiously, they nosed the body then, as one they started to jostle and worry the body back to the surface. Their efforts were not gentle and Drustan’s body was butted and slapped by beaks and tails as the dolphins pushed the reluctant body back to the surface. Whether some clan or pod awareness remembered the man thing as one who had helped their kind some years before by catching herring and saving one of their young in their net as the young calf struggled to recover from a shark attack, no one will ever know; but the calf had eventually survived. The pod seemed to know by whatever secret communications their species share, that this feeble dying thing was the very same creature that had saved their calf and it therefore deserved a return of favour.

As a score of dolphins pushed and pummelled the inert body, another score skimmed off at high speed to a nearby craft that harboured two more of the unconscious being’s clan. Aiofe and Arina, having stood off at a safe distance, were now watching with relief as the Iberian ship slowly overcame the Barbary flagship. Suddenly the sea around them erupted into a boiling turmoil of spray and confusion as a large pod of agitated dolphins burst to the surface squealing and clicking furiously. Aiofe and Arina were both children of the waters and immediately realised that something was amiss but they had no idea what. Then Aiofe recognised some familiar handiwork on the crooked dorsal fin of one of the smaller younger dolphins. She turned to Arina.

“Does that fish look familiar to you?”

Arina smiled.

“They all look the same to me cousin.”

“Oh pisht with you girl! D’you not recognise the stitching scar on the creature’s fin?”

Arina’s condescending grin faded as she caught Aiofe’s drift. Then she realised.

“By Noden’s crown! That’s the fish that Mabina stitched.”

“And it’s here now little cousin! Why?”

Arina paled as a dreadful thought caused her belly to sag with fear. A fisher-girl all her life, she was more attuned to the creatures of the deeps. She cast about nervously then pointed frantically.

“Drustan! He’s in trouble! Look! Look at them, look at the fish! They’re all pointing to that turbulence yonder beyond the grappled warships.”

Aiofe only needed one glance to grasp Arina’s message. She hauled on the main sheet, gathered the wind and swung towards the far-off second pod. As Aiofe hauled The Angry Mermaid around, Arina had a thought.

‘I wonder; I wonder if these watery friends of ours will help us further.’

Without consulting the preoccupied Aiofe, Arina secured one end of the mooring rope to the forward stag-horn and flung the other end over the side then banged her hand hard against the hull. To her delight and hoped-for satisfaction, the ‘fish’ got the message and in no time several dolphins had seized the rope in their beaks and where dragging the mermaid pell-mell towards their clan who continued to support and pummel the inert Drustan. Aiofe’s eyes widened with surprise as she felt the Mermaid’s bow lift off the water and the rudder became almost unmanageable owing to the speed and force through the water. She squealed to Arina in uncomprehending fear.

“By the gods my little cousin! What’s happening?”

Arina smiled then invited Aiofe to ignore the rudder and come forward to see with her own eyes.

The older maid did so and stared over the bow in disbelief.

“By the gods Arina, we are a sea chariot with a hundred horses!”

“Well about seven to be exact Cousin. But we make a swift passage.”

“How did you do this - are you a witch?”

“No. And don’t ever suggest it or you’ll get me killed by followers of this new belief that takes the Celtiberian people. They follow this new one god in three then persecute all who do not join them. This new god takes them away from the natural world and all those that dwell therein. They think they are lords of the earth and all things on it; they do not live in harmony with the gods. They think only of some sort of afterlife and gaining credits to enter it.”

“So how then? How did you get these ‘fish’ to help?”

“It’s simple cousin. It was obvious they wanted to help otherwise why would they come calling so urgently; especially the one with the stitched fin. The only possible link 'twixt us and them is Drustan! When I saw the turmoil yonder, I decided to try a trick and it worked. Just look at them straining on the rope and see how taut the rope is.”

“And see how fast we fly!” Aiofe added. “We are like a galloping horse.”

“And that, if I’m not mistaken, is Drustan’s yellow hair! We’d best get ready to save him.”

The stunned girls arrived amidst the boiling frothing waters with perfect accuracy as the ‘chariot horses’ ceased pulling and the Mermaid came to rest right alongside their brother. In no time, the girls had rigged a tackle and were heaving Drustan aboard.
The rope compressing his chest helped to squeeze what water was left in his lungs after the porpoises had pummelled his ribs to evacuate most of it. Drustan landed with a crash on the deck and coughed violently as blood and sputum stained the bleached oak timbers. Several ribs had been cracked by the dolphins urgently pummelling whilst struggling to keep his mouth clear of the water.

Aiofe watched with both relief and horror as her brother tried to rise on his arms but failed, then collapsed gasping and wheezing to the deck again. He tried to talk, but only a hoarse croak escaped his lips. Even so, Aiofe was thankful for this. At least her brother was still alive. As she gently dragged her brother onto the spare linen sail, Arina called fearfully.

“Cousin, we are trapped. There are Moorish boats on all sides of us!”

Aiofe had been so intent on recovering her brother that she had not realised how close the Dolphins had towed her towards a cluster of Moorish ships. Furthermore, these were galleys and the galley slaves were being flayed alive to drive the long slender giants towards the boat that had tormented them for hours. Aiofe scoured around but it was hopeless, the Mermaid could not escape them unless she could fly again as she had earlier.

She cursed despondently and sagged with defeat.

“We cannot outrun them. They are closing the trap as we sit here. Oh where are those fish when we need them now?”

At these words, Arina suddenly realised, the ‘fish’ were still surrounding the Mermaid. She leaned over the side and started hammering desperately on the hull.

To her relief and amazement, the ‘fish’ had only been waiting for the order. The Moorish galleys were no friends of the dolphins having often hunted them and very occasionally caught one to eat. Arina’s smile widened into a huge grin as the ‘fish’ seized the towing rope and immediately steered for the best escape. She grinned at Aiofe as she uncoiled the other mooring rope, secured that to the stag-horn and flung the other end over the other bow. Within moments the other dolphins had seized it and immediately the Mermaid increased its speed. Aiofe watched in stupefied joy as the gap between the galleys that had appeared to be inexorably closing was now widening as the Mermaid sped on the plane towards it. Arina was clinging for dear life onto the tiller but whether she was affecting the course of the boat’s escape seemed not to matter. With sonar that would remain unequalled by man for thousands of years, the porpoises had accurately calculated the best course of escape.

As the Mermaid sped like a speeding horse between the closing galley’s vicious ram bows, the bowmen on both galleys stared in disbelief at the humped forms that propelled the little ship to an impossible speed. Aiofe gave a cheeky wave then had to instinctively duck as a shower of arrows fell short by only a few yards. Before the bowmen could nock another flight of arrows into their weapons, the Mermaid was free and clear. Aiofe’s attention was drawn again to her wounded brother as he groaned in agony. She was caught between two thoughts.

‘Should she beg Arina to slow the boat and make her brother comfortable or should they keep speeding away to absolute safety?’

In the end the dolphins answered for them. They slowed down through tiredness and the Mermaid eventually came to rest several leagues west of the battle. Aiofe concluded that they had played more than their part so she and Arina set course for Gibral. She looked back with evident satisfaction as she watched the Iberian ships now sandwiching the Moorish pirates as the changed wind brought both fleets to close on the hapless corsairs. It was a rout.

All through the night, victorious but tired Iberian crews returned to Gibral with captured Moorish ships until Gibral’s harbour was full to overflowing.

Aiofe and Arina were everywhere sharing the joy of victory but it was a joy lessened by their brother’s hospitalisation. Nor would the doctors let them disturb him.

“The boy needs rest! Let him!” The doctor scolded them when the girls tried to revisit Drustan.

The following morning, Eric came to visit Aiofe and Arina at Appotel’s castle.

“I’ve come to offer my thanks, and how is your brother?”

“He still sleeps but the doctors say he’ll live.”

“Well I and my crew all owe him our thanks. He’s a quick thinker that lad and that was a brilliant stroke.”

“Tell us more,” begged the intrigued girls.

Eric related what parts of Drustan’s cunning had been seen by Iberian crewmen and the girls listened with avid interest, sometimes laughing and sometimes gasping with disbelief. Finally Eric reached behind his back and pulled a sword that Aiofe immediately recognised.

“By the War God Aeron, you’ve recovered his sword!” Aiofe shrieked joyously. “That’s his pride and joy!”

“Well then Drustan has yet another story to tell. It was found in the chest of Ibn Bin Gaar and the only one who could have put it there is your brother. Ibn Bin Gaar was the senior Moorish Admiral and a renowned swordsman. Have you any idea how your brother might have achieved this?”

“None whatsoever,” Aiofe confessed. “He was alone aboard the corsair ship, so only the Gods know what he was up to.”
Eric frowned.

“Damn! Another excellent saga but we’ll all have to wait until that crazy brother of yours is well enough to relate it.”

Aiofe wagged her head resignedly.

“You might have to wait a long time. He’s less and less prone to sounding his own trumpet. Usually the story only comes out of him if some romancer tells a load of cock and bull and my brother has to put the record straight. Then it’s usually some mundane, matter-of-fact remark. In truth, Drustan seems to be getting really tired of fighting.”

“Well there’s certainly no romance in what those fish did for your boat. Almost every lookout in both fleets saw The Angry Mermaid racing across the waves like a swooping falcon. That was no fantasy!”

“No. It wasn’t. Both Arina and I can vouch that we were travelling almost as fast as a horse could run. No, that was no fantasy.”

“So tell me then. Who is the magician that commands the fishes of the sea?” Eric asked.

Aiofe turned and smiled pointedly at Arina.

“That’s the girl! Don’t ask me how, but she and Drustan seem to have some affinity to the dolphins.”

Arina gasped her protest.

“Aiofe! You swore! Tell him! Tell him I’m not a magician!”

Aiofe grinned and explained to Eric about the dolphins that they had once saved. Eric nodded sagely.

“Yes. Dolphins are a special fish. They seem to be like dogs when it comes to understanding. So you think they remembered your good deed to the baby fish and they returned the favour.”

“That’s how we see it, isn’t it Arina?”

“Yes. That’s it exactly. We once saved one of their babies so they saved our baby.”

Eric smiled then fell to chuckling.

“Well that’s not how the Corsairs see it. They gave up when they realised that even the fishes of the sea were on the side of The Angry Mermaid. When they saw a score of porpoises towing the Mermaid at speed through the waves, it convinced them we have powerful magicians working for us and they gave up the fight. We might as well let them labour under that misapprehension.”

“Just so long as those stupid ‘One God priests’ don’t labour under the same misapprehension and start to believe I’m some sort of sorceress!” Arina added. “They’ve been known to burn unbelievers at the stake. First they say their one god is forgiving and merciful then they kill you by burning you at the stake after accusing you of being a pagan or whatever. It’s bloody crazy!”

“I know,” Eric agreed. “Carl and I have had the same issues. It’s only because we’ve served king Appotel so well that they’ve left us alone. May the gods protect us if those crazy priests and their three in one god ever get to be the masters?”

Arina fell silent. She was looking ahead and hoping that whenever Drustan took Aiofe to meet her betrothed Prince Magab, she would be allowed to accompany them. Arina had had issues with these cruel priests whilst Drustan and his sisters had been away from Gibral in Toledo fighting King Portega. They had tried to convert her to the teachings of their one god but Arina was not to be persuaded and they had eventually accused her of something called blasphemy. If these same men were to learn of her exploitation of the dolphin’s intelligence there would be no knowing what appalling accusations they would level at her. After a lifetime fishing on the sea, Arina well knew about dolphins and the uncanny relationships they could sometimes develop with fishermen if there was a situation to be mutually exploited. She swore Eric to secrecy.

“If any of those priests or anybody else asks you about the fish, play it down. Say that the Moors were hallucinating or making up stories to excuse their defeats. Just say the Mermaid is incredibly fast but the Moors wouldn’t believe their own eyes. The fish were just playing under the bow to test their speed against The Angry Mermaid’s. They often do that.”

Eric recognised the girl’s fears and agreed. Her story was plausible.

Having returned Drustan’s valuable Toledo sword to its rightful owner, Eric returned contentedly to the captured Moorish ships to supervise the share out of spoils. Aiofe and Arina joined Queen Bramana in her chambers where King Appotel later joined them.

As he entered, Aiofe was explaining about the dolphins. He sat down and listened avidly then turned to Arina.

“So you say that porpoises are clever, like dogs.”

Arina nodded.

“Yes my liege, - perhaps even cleverer.”

“And you’re saying that one of the porpoises recognised you.”

“No sire, we recognised him, we recognised Mabina’s handiwork with her needles. We think he recognised Drustan in the water.”

“And you’re saying that the dolphins supported his unconscious body. I’ve never heard of such fantasies.”

“It’s no fantasy sire. Many of my kinsmen would attest to the most amazing things happening with dolphins. Sadly most of my clan are now dead, butchered by Blueface’s pirates, just like Aiofe’s family. I have spent my short lifetime on the waves and it’s true! When Drustan is better, I will invite you out onto the great waters. If that family of friends are still swimming around here, I will show you! I am no sorceress; those fish are cleverer than dogs!”

Arina was so emphatic about her observations that Appotel let the matter rest. The most important thing for him was the defeat of the Corsairs and Drustan’s return to consciousness. He left to visit the harbour again, savour the spoils of victory and celebrate with his commanders.

The following morning, a very sore and delicate Drustan finally returned to the land of the living. Not for the first time, he found himself in a comfortable bed and his first sight was that of Aiofe and Arina looming over him with a large bowl of nourishing broth and waving his beloved sword. He croaked his thanks as the girls gently raised his bruised body upright and offered to spoon the broth into his mouth. He was about to refuse until he realised his arms and shoulders where as sore as his ribs where the porpoises had pummelled him to the surface. Gratefully he smiled his thanks and Arina slowly spooned the broth into his mouth while Aiofe held a carafe of fine red wine. She laid his beloved sword on the bed beside him and his grin widened with gratitude.

“Where did you find that?” He begged.

“Eric gave it to me. One of his crew recovered it from the body of Ibn Bin Gaar.”

“Wonder how it got there,” Drustan smirked.

Aiofe smirked back for she knew exactly how her brother’s mind worked.

“You know perfectly well how it got there, but Eric wants to know how you drove it in so hard and deep. The crewman who found the dead admiral was a powerful warrior and he said he had hell’s own job extracting it for it was jammed hard under the collar of Bin Saar’s cuirass.”

“I can’t imagine,” Drustan lied. “It must have been the heat of the moment. I was bloody frightened and just threw all my weight. He slashed back and caught my thigh almost at the hip, fortunately the rudder stock took some of the force of his blow but by then my sword was fully home.”

“Yes. We know where you were cut, another bloody tally to add to your score!”

“Pisht, it’s not a bad cut, just deep. Fortunately it was at a place where not much happens.”

“Rubbish brother. If Bin had owned a Toledo blade you’d have lost your bloody leg!”

“Well I can’t say as I remember much. It was all so fast. After that, I slipped out through the rudder opening. Next thing I remember was some bloody dolphins hitting me with their beaks and smacking me with their bloody flippers. Damn it! I’m sore!”

For answer, Aiofe took the mirror from Queen Bramana’s dressing table and showed Drustan his reflection. She explained the bruises as Drustan studied them.

“Your friends the porpoises saved you from drowning. All those conical shaped bruises on your chest are where they pummelled you and pushed you to the surface. You would have drowned without a trace otherwise. You should be thanking those fish, not cursing them.”

Drustan smiled ruefully as Aiofe elaborated.

“One of them was the fish our sister saved when she stitched its fin back. Arina recognised the stitches that she helped Mabina make. Maybe that’s why they saved you.”

Drustan shrugged dismissively.

“Yeah, lucky me. Is there any more of that broth?”

Aiofe and Arina exchanged smiles, ‘he was getting better!’

Within a few days, Drustan was on his feet hobbling with embarrassment as his wounds incapacitated him. Cracked ribs seemed to take forever to heal though the scar at the top of his thigh added to the mythology. Drustan never revealed the truth about how he had ‘driven the sword so hard’

‘Best to let the myth linger,’ he concluded. ‘There was already so much bullshit flying around that one more saga would hardly make a difference.’ He only hoped it wouldn’t attract any of those stupid ‘try it on’ heroes. To this end, he concentrated on getting the Mermaid shipshape and ready to speed his sister to Carthage. Drustan was tired of wandering and war. There was only one last battle he wanted to fight, namely the recovery of his beloved Lleyn.

The preparations were mainly effected by Carl and Eric who now had an intimate understanding of how the ‘Mermaid’ class of Iberian warships functioned. Aiofe made her own preparations, Arina won her argument with Drustan and Aiofe so she was to accompany them and soon the flotilla of three fast craft was ready to sail. Drustan had one last task. He had to slip aboard The Angry Mermaid and make a pretence of conducting some private pagan blessing as he dived below the moored Mermaid to recover the other half of the gold. The next morning with the gold safely buried under the filth of the bilges, they set sail.

The expedition from Gibral to Carthage was essentially an ambassadorial visit to confirm to the Carthaginians that the route through the Pillars of Hercules was now open to honest trading. However to Aiofe and Drustan the voyage had a far greater meaning.
As evidence of the newly won security, Isobel, the adopted daughter of Arton was despatched as the newly appointed ambassador. As a high ranking lady, it was a clear demonstration that the straits were now swept clear of Corsairs and safe for noble women to sail.

Comments are always appreciuated. And please note. Every body knows Porpoises and Dolphins are mammals. They didn't back then.

Once again. My sincerest thanks to D.

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Comments

You get better and better!

I so enjoy this series, thanks.

One little query - your intro line suggests that Aiofe and Magrab get together and go to Carthage, but the narrative doesn't seem to get that far!

Doesn't spoil the fact that this series is simply brilliant.

OOPS!

Sorry
At the advice of D I changed Chapter 16 into 16 & 17 cos the chapter was deemed a bit long. She goes to Carthage in 17, patience girl, patience.

Thanks for the comment, comments really give a girl encouragement.

,

Bev

Growing old disgracefully.

bev_1.jpg

great

Awesome more more faster faster xD

<-Night->

Back when you only could eat fish on Fridays if you were a ...

Catholic, whale and porpose was okay as they were considered fish.

But then our knowledge of the sea was so very limited.

Happy that though Dustan will fight when needs be he/she is tiring of it and longs for something more.

I liked how that act of unselfish kindness they did for the dolphins some time back was returned manyfold. An act of godly charity by animals that some in the church of the three in one god's priests seem to have forgotten. But then anytime a new faith takes over or a new government the followers of the old ways often suffer. You don't need to be a Viking berserker or a Corsair pirate to be destructive.

John in Wauwatosa

John in Wauwatosa

The Angry Mermaid 16 - - - Y Morforwyn Dicllon 16.

Love how the Legend of Drustan Scarsarse continues to grow.

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Merrily bombing and blasting along their way...

Aljan Darkmoon's picture

They had tried to convert her to the teachings of their one god but Arina was not to be persuaded and they had eventually accused her of something called blasphemy.

Oh yes, there are still so many who scream constantly about blast-phemies and a-bomb-nations! Poor fools, they are sooo very bomb-blastic…