Anna was surprised to find that the town Captain Yamada was stationed in was another day and a half away, even flying on dragon back. They turned north west to follow the coast once they reached the ocean. Jarnvaror kept them informed about the ships sailing below them. Only on their presence though. He didn’t know enough to tell them whether they were Nordarin raiders or not.
When they reached the town the king had told them about, Jarnvaror circled overhead a few times. There were lots of ships out to sea, but the dragon saw no fighting. “It should be safe to land, then,” Andrew said. Jarnvaror brought them down on the beach.
“Think Captain Yamada saw us?” Peter asked.
Anna nodded, pointing to the small group of horsemen emerging from the town. Jarnvaror landed on a grassy hill a little ways away from the town, where they waited for the riders.
“I thought I recognized that dragon,” said the leader of the riders. He took off his helmet, revealing a face much younger than Yamada Shigeru’s.
It took a moment for the name to come to her. When it did, Anna bowed to the soldier and said, “Vice Captain Lee! It’s good to see you.” Andrew and Peter followed suit. The young man grinned.
“What brings you all so far to the east?” he asked.
“We were hoping to speak to Captain Yamada,” Andrew said. “His idea for our nations working together to deal with the Wisps was accepted, and he’s been requested to attend.”
The vice captain’s face fell. “Ah, I see. Well, he’s here. I’ll take you to him.”
“How have things been going with the Nordar?” Peter asked.
The vice captain looked back at them. “You heard about that? Well, we’ve been holding our ground here. They fight better at sea than we do. But we’re better on land, with our feet steady and horses to aid us.”
“They aren’t trying to take land, are they?” Anna asked.
Lee shook his head. “They are raiding ships, or towns where we have fewer soldiers, spreading us thin. They don’t go far inland, but we cannot ship goods along the coast like this.”
“Do you know what they’re after?” Andrew asked.
Again, Lee shook his head. “No one is certain. Captain Yamada has a theory, though. I’ll let him tell you.” The vice captain led the trio and Jarnvaror through the town up to a large manor house with sloping roofs and walls made of dark beams and white panels. A deck was raised up around the house like a balcony with stairs leading up to it. They found Captain Yamada sitting at a table, drinking hot tea as he looked over a map.
While before he’d been fully armored, here he was dressed in a robe with flowing sleeves, which was bound with a thick cord of rope at the waist. He stood and bowed when he saw them. “I’d guessed it was you three coming when I saw the grey dragon,” he said. He smiled and gave a bow to Jarnvaror as well. The dragon cocked his head, and Peter chuckled at whatever he’d said. Yamada didn’t ask him to repeat it. Instead he asked, “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
Andrew explained the situation to him, from their meeting with Queen Talitha to King Shinryuu. Yamada listened in silence, nodding every so often. When Andrew finished, the captain folded his arms, thinking.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I’m very glad to know that the Wisps are being taken seriously,” he said. “But I do not know what use I will be at such a meeting. I know nothing you do not already know, nor am I trained in diplomacy to make decisions of this nature.”
“Would you rather King Shinryuu send someone else?” Anna asked.
The captain shook his head. “I imagine he will send a more formal diplomat, whether or not I attend. But I have been requested, no? I should go. I’m just worried about this situation with the Nordar.”
“The king said he didn’t know why they were raiding,” Andrew said. “Vice Captain Lee said you had a theory.”
Captain Yamada nodded. He took a sip of his tea, then, rather than explaining, asked a question. “What do you know of Nordar?”
Andrew looked away, and Peter just shrugged. Anna hadn’t expected them to have learned much about the far off archipelago before or after leaving their valley. She didn’t know much. Still, she answered for the group with what she did know. “They’re an island country that inhabits the seas of the northeast. And they’re very warlike.”
“That is accurate, for the most part,” Yamada said. “But it is very general. I imagine the frozen wastes to the north and the mountains to the east probably protect you from all but their most desperate raids.” The trio nodded. Anna remembered hearing something similar when she was young and learning about the more distant parts of the world.
Yamada took another sip of his tea and leaned back in his chair. “The Nordarin are a nation of fugitives. Those who flee their homelands are not likely to find succor anywhere else on the continent. But the island people will take them. They are descendants of the same. A hard people who have found a hard land for themselves.”
“They don’t want to return home?” Anna asked.
“Hardly,” Captain Yamada replied. “They hated it when they left. And most of them know no other home. No, they do not want anyone else’s land. Not even their gold, though they’ll take that, given the chance. No. They want our other treasures. Our grain, our oils, our spices. Things that cannot grow on the islands, or at least not enough, that is what they want to take.”
“So they’re raiding again to steel food,” Andrew said. “Couldn’t that be solved by trade?”
But the Captain shook his head. “No. That is not the reason, though it is close. When we defeated them in war, we agreed to trade food with them. It was not the most generous offer, perhaps, but they had seemed content, and there were no complaints I am aware of. No. This is not their central reason for breaking the treaty.”
“Then what is?” Peter asked.
“They want our gemstones,” the captain said.
“The gemstones?” Anna asked. “For mages?”
Yamada nodded. “That is my theory. Their largest raids have all been here in the north, close to the mountains where there is not much distance between the sea and our mines.”
“But how do they know where to find them?” Andrew asked. “Have they stolen manifests or schedules from shipping companies?”
“No,” Yamada replied. “If they had, it would be easier to tell what they are doing. The reason I think it is gemstones is because the story of an old woman who survived a recent raid. Historically, the Nordar will take anything they fancy and they’ll do it as individuals. These current raids have been the same, accept, from the sounds of it, every person was interrogated about their old jewelry. It didn’t sound to me like a pirate wanting to steel something pretty for his woman.”
“So they are trying to build up magical power,” Andrew said. “Have you figured out why, yet?” he asked.
“No. I was hoping to set a trap for them here. If I could interrogate one of their commanders, I might be able to figure that out.” He gave the trio a shrug. “Or my men will, while I head south to this tournament at Borac.”
Anna looked out over the ocean. “I’ve been so focused on trying to help the Wisps, I forgot there were other things going on the world. I’m sorry there’s not much we can do to help.”
Captain Yamada smiled. “Do not worry. We should help each other with problems that affect us all, but this is between Ryukyuu and Nordar. I would hate to pull you into it.”
“Hey, we’ve fought side by side against the Mottled!” Peter said. “We’d hate for you to have to do this on your own.”
“Peter,” Andrew groaned. “We can’t just do whatever we want, remember?”
“Well sure,” he said. Then he pointed out to sea. “But if that group of ships Jarn says are sailing in formation are from Nordar, we might be here when they arrive anyway.” He glanced back at Anna. “We might be able to do more to help after all.”
