Little was said. None them had slept for the last two days, they were all exhausted and Sandreena had gleaned all she could from Kendra with questions while they had rested on the road. The new information, added to what she had seen, made Sandreena aware just how far this discovery was beyond her ability to judge. Nothing made any sense, and right now she felt a driving need to bring order from this chaos.
Once aboard, Sandreena had ordered Farson to rest as best he could; Kendra needed no urging to cross his arms, drop chin to chest, and lose himself in sleep. Sandreena knew she must somehow keep awake until nightfall and then wake Farson, and give him two clear guides in the heaven to steer by, only then would she give herself permission to rest. Her main concern now was the marauders that harassed these sea lanes. By sailing straight for Sorcerer’s Isle she hoped to quickly leave the coastal routes behind, with their attendant risk of pirates. Three armed warriors in a city with plenty of defensible positions was one thing. Three armed warriors in a small boat come upon by a full company of armed men at sea was quite another. Sandreena knew that should pirates heave into view, she and her companions would be bound for Durbin and the slave pens.
Sandreena stayed awake by sheer strength of will, and when finally the sun set and the stars rose, she nudged Farson. With a nod of her head she indicated they should let the dwarf sleep, though from what she could see, waking him might prove difficult.
She quickly gave Farson a brief lesson on steering the little craft. With a single boom sail and no jib, it only took her a few minutes to demonstrate the simple task of running abreast a following wind. She made it clear that if something proved too difficult for him, he should wake her at once. He nodded, and she pointed to a star rising directly ahead. ‘That will be your point of reference, that large slightly blue star. If you keep the prow pointed directly at it, you’ll eventually come north and we’ll be sailing west of where we want to be. So in about three hours you’ll see three small stars rise at about the same place. They form a tiny triangle, point down. Put the bow of the boat between where they rise until the blue star is over there.’ She pointed off to her left. ‘Once it’s past the highest point in the sky…’ She yawned uncontrollably, then blinked. ‘If it starts to go down…’ She lay down, closing her eyes, and said, ‘Steer between the blue star and the three until the blue star starts to sink, then aim straight at the three. You’ll zig and zag, but we’ll get there. Wake me when the eastern sky starts to brighten. I’ll need a quick look at the sky to see…how…far…’ She fell asleep.
Fortune, or the Goddess, smiled on them. For three days they had fair winds and Farson didn’t sail them too far off course at night. Kendra had proven useful once he had overcome his aversion to sailing; deep water and boats were not something his people found appealing. Still, once he had learned the basic mechanics of sailing the small craft, he seemed almost to enjoy it.
Their food was gone and the water running low when the sharp-eyed dwarf said, ‘I see land!’
Sandreena motioned for Farson to take over the tiller, and moved to stand behind the dwarf, putting one hand on the mast, and peering ahead. A few minutes later she saw a smudge on the horizon and said, ‘That will be Sorcerer’s Isle.’ She glanced behind her and saw a storm approaching. ‘Just in time, it seems. I think we’re going to be getting foul weather soon.’
No one spoke as the smudge in the distance resolved itself into a dark spot, which in turn became a distant island. By the time the sky above them began to darken, they could make out cliffs and a castle on the eastern edge. ‘There’s a beach to the west of that point,’ Sandreena said, and Farson nodded.
Sandreena said, ‘Beach landings can be tricky, so plan on getting wet.’ She had had them strip off their armour as soon as they had cleared Durbin harbour, so she wasn’t worried about either of her companions drowning a hundred yards off shore, then she thought to ask, ‘Kendra, do you swim?’
‘Not a stroke,’ he said. ‘Never had much need to learn.’
‘I’ll try to keep from swamping the boat.’
‘That would be appreciated, Sandreena,’ said the dwarf calmly.
She took the tiller from Farson and said, ‘When I tell you, move to the back.’
She deftly moved the small boat so it pointed straight at the little beach and when she felt the swell rising beneath the hull, she shouted to Farson, ‘Take down the sail!’
He did as ordered and Sandreena saw the canvas fall loosely just as a comber broke behind the boat, hurling them towards the beach. ‘Back!’ she shouted, and they moved a few feet to the rear, tilting the bow up so it wouldn’t plant in the sand. ‘Get ready to jump and pull us in.’ She waited. ‘Jump!’