Chapter 18 - The beginning of a legend

<Slaver's Ship, somewhere close to the Smoking Sea, Konrad Arryn>

Who would have thought that their ship was in fact one further back in the small fleet? Nevertheless, this welcoming surprise would ensure that none of the other ships would notice a fight soon enough to ensure that their "friends" would not lose.

Once all of the fighting force was assembled, Gendel and Konrad led the men and some of the women on the deck, ready to take over the ship. While they only killed three out of the five and ten slavers that were on board, considering that it was the middle of the night, chances are that not many slavers were awake, or at least that's what Konrad happened, after all, their plan was depending on lowering the number of slavers before they fight the rest of the slavers in direct combat.

Getting on the deck was surprisingly easy, however, what truly made everyone wonder if the people that caught them were idiots was the lack of sentries.

As the first one out of the cargo bay, Konrad could not believe his eyes as he scanned the deck of the ship. He had expected to find at least a few slavers on guard, ready to sound the alarm if they detected any trouble. Instead, he only saw two sentries, both of them asleep, one in the back of the ship and the other leaning against the mast. They were so careless and confident that they did not even bother to wear their helmets or keep their swords close to their hands.

Seeing that, Konrad decided that this was the best opportunity he would get to lower the number of enemies and so he turned towards Gendel. "Can you take the one by the mast, while one of your men will take the one in the back?"

Rather than answering, Gendel only nodded before signaling for one of his warriors to go towards the back of the ship. When Gendel reached his target, he plunged his sword into the slaver's throat, cutting off his breath and his life. For a moment the slaver's eyes widened, but he did not make a sound as he fell limp on the ground, blood spilling from his wound.

With the slaver dead, Gendel quickly grabbed his sword and handed it to one of his companions, who took it gratefully, before looking at the back of the ship only to see that his man had done the same with his target. Turning towards his liege, Gendel gave him a thumbs up, indicating that they had succeeded.

When he saw that, Konrad signaled the other slaves to slowly get on the deck as he walked towards Gendel.

"What do we do now, m'lord? Do we storm their beds and slit their throats? Or do we bide our time till they wake up?"

"Now we wait. They will have to get on the deck sooner or later and that's when we strike."

Just like he expected, exactly one hour later, the slavers woke up and walked on the deck. Unfortunately for them, before any of them could react or realize that something was amiss, a few crates fell from above right on their heads killing one slaver while the rest quickly backed away forming what Konrad could only describe as a poor attempt of a shield war without shields.

At the same time, Konrad had every single slave armed with either stolen swords and axes or even wooden shafts as they all took up position on the deck. Gendel stood beside him with his sword drawn, waiting for the slavers to attack. His men, fellow mountain men stood beside him, shouting insults at the men that captured them, urging them to attack faster so that they might meet their deaths quicker.

"Will they attack?" Gendel asked, clearly bored by all the waiting.

"They have no choice, not to mention that they have nowhere to go."

Just as he thought that the scared captain would surrender, Konrad saw the slavers move forward.

"Ready!" The little lord shouted as the slavers approached them.

Gendel was the first one who lunged at the slavers with a downward cut of his sword, then used his fist to force him the captain into his companions following. Meanwhile Konrad, despite being only seven namedays old fought on the left side of his sworn chieftain, thrusting his dagger forward in lightning-fast movements aimed at enemy groins and legs. For a young boy, who had not seen real combat, his strikes were surprisingly controlled, carefully aimed, and designed to maim the slavers rather than kill them immediately, then again, his body wasn't exactly made for killing yet.

The slaves or better said, ex-slaves stood firm on the deck, killing or wounding the slavers as they tried to force through their ranks. The initial attack of slavers was fierce and desperate but its energy was soon spent as its force broke against an unyielding wall of wood and steel. The scared captain, already wounded, fell in the first rush when Gendel drove the point of his sword through his neck. But not before he managed to kill four slaves with his sword.

The death of their leader extinguished the last vestiges of fight within the slavers and those still alive threw down their weapons and submitted to the mercy of the pale boy and his small force.

Catching his breath, Konrad, turned his head towards Gendel who hadn't left his side the whole fight.

"How many?"

"Nine… most thanks to that fat bastard."

"Please have some of the men gather our dead so that I we could give them a proper burial at sea."

"What about them?"

"Throw their dead into the sea, after you take their armor and weapons. Let the fish take care of them. As for the living… I don't know. None of us know how to sail."

Gendel rubbed his head, looking at the slavers' ship that they had taken. "Well, there is one thing. You remember Nyssa, the woman who joined the prayer with the rest of the young ones?"

Konrad nodded, after all, who could forget Nyssa, a sweet and gentle soul who had tried to soothe the young ones during their torment? She had been sold as a slave by her own husband, who had run into debt and fled from Myr.

"She told me once that she came from a family of traders back in Myr, that made their coin with sailing the seas. Considering that she was the one who singlehandedly made the money in their home, I think she knows how to steer a ship."

"Aye? That's good news. Where is she now?"

Gendel pointed to a bunch of freed slaves, who were mending their wounds and resting on the deck. Among them, he saw Nyssa, sitting on a cask and holding a cloth to her bleeding arm.

"Over there. She's hurt, but not too bad. She would help us, after all, you are the Pale Saint or The breaker of chains as those Andals call you now."

Luckily for them, Nyssa was more than happy to commandeer the vessel, and soon, after they ended the lives of all of the slavers and threw them in the water, came the time for giving their fellow slaves a final farewell.

As all of the now free people gathered on the deck of the ship, Nyssa had ordered everyone to keep the lights out just in case the other ships would notice something was off. And so, once everyone was on the deck, Konrad, now wearing some proper clothes that they had found in the captain's room, walked beside the nine bodies of the heroes who died for freedom. Konrad looked at the nine bodies of the heroes who died for freedom and felt a pang of sorrow in his heart. While they were far from being his friends, these men and women followed him in battle, just for the simple fact that he showed them the teaching of Christianity. But in the end, they fought bravely and sacrificed their lives for a noble cause.

And so, the young lord cleared his throat, and spoke in a loud voice, so that everyone could hear him. "As you all know by now, we are here to say goodbye to our brothers and sisters, who gave their lives for us. They were not slaves, they were not cattle, they were not things. They were free men and women, who chose to fight for their freedom, and for ours. They were heroes, who faced death with courage and dignity. Like us, they too shared our pain and wanted more than to live the rest of their lives as something more than just toys for the rich. We owe them everything, and we will never forget them. May God watch over their souls."

Konrad then nodded to Gendel and his men, who gently lifted the bodies of the dead, wrapped in cloths. They carried them to the edge of the ship and lowered them into the water before everyone watched as the bodies sank into the depths of the sea, disappearing from their sight.

"Farewell, heroes. Rest in peace."

With the burial done, Konrad had to decide what to do next. Should they attack one of the closest ships at night and free even more people or should they just leave through the smoking sea, despite the dangers that might wait for them in there?

Even though they had killed all of the slavers and got fifteen sets of leather armor and twenty-three swords, daggers, and axes alongside two crossbows, Konrad wasn't all keen on risking everything, but other than the children, everyone else wanted to free their kin.

As for escaping through the smoking sea… that was a dangerous plan that Nyssa had made, one that would undoubtedly force the slavers to abandon the chase if it ever came to that. Out of nowhere, Gendel walked beside the young lord, clad in his new leather armor and with a sword hanging by his side.

"M'lord, are you still thinking about attacking one of the closest ships? I know you want to help our people, but we have already done more than anyone could have hoped for. We have freed ourselves and many others from a life of chains and whips. We have weapons and supplies to start anew. We have a chance to escape and return home. Why risk it all for a few more souls? No offense, m'lord, but you are not a warrior, not yet at least. You have a gift that is rare and precious. You should not waste it on a foolish gamble."

"I thought you would have wanted to free more of your people."

"I want that, m'lord. But tis' ain't something we can do alone. We have only fifteen men that know how to fight, forty if we really force everyone, but only God and the Old Gods know how many slavers are on the next ship."

Fear was a strong emotion one that could make even the strongest of men turn into a weakling. However, Konrad could understand why Gendel didn't want to risk everything for a chance of freeing more of the slaves. But as someone who wants to become a better man than his father could ever be, Konrad couldn't just abandon those people.

"I won't force anyone to follow me, but I'm going to at least attempt to take over one of the ships."

Strangely enough, when he looked at Gendel, rather than seeing the old man's disappointed look, Konrad saw him smirking at him, almost as if everything was just …

"You lied to me."

"Not entirely, but at the same time, I still want to save my people. I'm just a man and while I have my clansmen, I'm not a saint like you m'lord. You are the sole reason everyone is in a better state than before and above all united."

Letting out a sigh, Konrad could only accept his new role as a lord and as a leader for these free men and women.

"Gather half of our forces. We will sail with the small boats to the ship on our right side. If God wills it, the other two ships will not hear or see us."

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