The captain grinned to reveal a number of missing teeth behind his beard. "I'd part with it for a gold piece if you can spare it. If not, I'm afraid you'll have to find other means of travel. There are a few fishing and whaling inlets you could bargain with."
He knew the man demanded far too much but shrugged and took out two silvers and a gold coin. "We'll take the one on the left. It is in considerably better shape than the other."
"A bargain well-struck."
Skharr knew that they were being robbed blind, of course. The dinghy was barely worth the price of two silvers, much less a full gold coin, but he wouldn’t bargain, both because they had little time to waste and because it would not have much success. The man was, after all, their only means of transportation out of the village.
"When do we sail?"
"In an hour. You'll bring your supplies on board."
They hurried to the inn and took a moment to make sure Horse and Jenny would be stabled and fed in their absence before they returned to the barge as it was about to set off. Two men at the front began to push the vessel away from the dock before the wind filled the sails.
"What you said about thieves before…" Brahgen said tentatively. "You seem to have given the whole concept considerable thought."
Skharr scowled. The vessel was slow-moving, the kind that would take them a while to reach their destination. Still, they would follow the river directly through the mountain ranges that spanned the western frontier of the continent. Without it, they would have had to spend weeks looking for a pass that would take them out, whereas the river delta led them directly to the island.
Or at least as directly as anything could given the alternative.
His eyes narrowed. The dwarf was talking to him and had made a statement that needed an answer. He shook his head to clear it and tried to remember what it was.
"I merely thought that you are the type who would prefer to find a better situation than the one that compelled you to flee Verenvan," he replied. "You have a mind and a hand for thievery but engaging in it thoughtlessly is the action of a starving child on the street. You are neither a child nor on the street. And not starving either, I should add."
"So…there are different levels of thievery?"
"Aye. What do you think the fourth level is named?"
"What?"
"A businessman," Skharr grumbled.
Brahgen smirked but looked intrigued. "And…shall we say, the seventh level?"
"Lawyer." The barbarian nodded emphatically. "And the highest level of thief is the tax collector. Of course, they have all the power of a country to give them a legal writ to steal. And they all work for the nobility so in those cases, when you find yourself elevated to such status, you'll discover that the best way to be a thief is to do it for others with the blessing of whatever law you happen to need."
"I doubt any of them think of themselves as thieves."
"Who cares what they think? Their actions speak a great deal louder than any of their loud and offended denials."
"So you think that I should become a tax man. Or a lawyer."
"Or a businessman. You already have the skill and the mindset for it. All you need is the proper title for it."
"And do you suggest we steal from the orcs who will no doubt be waiting for us when we make landfall on the island?"
That was a question Skharr had hoped wouldn't come up. He still had no idea what they would do when they arrived. Orc tribes were unique in how they treated outsiders, which made it difficult to predict what the attitude to strangers of one or the other would be.
"We might need to sneak around the tribes," he said cautiously. "Escape if we are discovered or move directly to negotiate with the smelly bastards for safe passage."
"Why don't you simply treat them the way you usually handle problems?" Brahgen asked. "Shoot your bow first, swing your ax second, and once all are dead, negotiate with the bodies?"
"Orcs are notoriously difficult to kill. Negotiating first will be far easier."
"Negotiations might be a little difficult if neither one of us speaks orcish."
"Which should tell you how difficult killing an orc is."
Brahgen nodded and chuckled. "True. No one lives to teach others the language. Well, I imagine we'll find out when we get there."
The barge increased speed as the wind finally pushed them free of the lake and into the river, which allowed the current to pull them gently downstream toward the sea.
It was an impressive sight to watch the mountains rise on either side. Trickling streams flowed from the snow-capped peaks that chilled the water to near ice before they plunged into the river to feed the current. Their progress rapidly reached a point where the two men with oars at the front had to use them to keep the barge away from rocks and the shore as it surged forward, driven by the swift flow of the water.
Sheer rock rose on their left as if the water had worn through the mountains themselves over thousands of years, perhaps even longer.
If nothing else, it was a pleasant distraction before they curled away from the mountains and the delta came into view.
Beyond it lay their destination. It looked much larger on the horizon than it had on the map. Skharr’s mind went immediately to the question of whether they had brought enough supplies to traverse the godsbedammed island—and how inaccurate their map might prove to be—but they were beyond such worries now. If they needed something, they would simply have to improvise.
If the need arose, he was more than capable of keeping himself and his dwarf companion alive against the harsh elements and the problems that arose from hunger.
A few nights of slow travel on the water passed before the barge changed course to the edge of the river, where a handful of whaling and fishing villages were visible. These were much smaller than those they had left behind and edged up against the coast to take advantage of small harbors to protect themselves from the elements.
The barge likely bought provisions needed by these villages and took their catch back, from the rich, fatty blubber of the whales to the larger numbers of fish that could be caught in the open sea.
It was morning, but the sun had barely peeked over the horizon before the captain approached them again.
"This is where we part ways, barbarian," he said bluntly. "The dinghy has been readied for you and is ready to sail. It should serve to take you safely to the island and provide you with a way to return, should your luck hold."
"You don't think we'll return with your dinghy?" Skharr asked.
"There is a reason why the barge stays away from those waters. Orc ships are sneaky and fast, and we would be boarded and attacked before we could raise much of an alarm. And they are frankly the least of the dangers you will face. No, I do not believe you will return my dinghy to me."
The barbarian grinned and patted the man heavily on the shoulder. "All we can do is prove you wrong, then. Thank you for bringing us this far."
The dinghy was lowered from the side of the barge and the two companions climbed aboard.
It was apparent almost immediately that the dwarf was uncomfortable being aboard a smaller craft. He clutched the sides and looked almost too terrified to help with preparing to cast off or even bring their supplies on board.