The Yellow Dragon (eBook)

A Cape pirate adventure, Book 22

Gerrie Radloff, Pieter Haasbroek (Autoren)

Pieter Haasbroek (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
79 Seiten
Pieter Haasbroek (Verlag)
978-0-00-072753-4 (ISBN)

Infos

A ruthless pirate.

A deadly secret.

A storm of vengeance on the high seas.

Plunge into the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1720), where the treacherous waters of the Cape of Good Hope are just the beginning of a worldwide adventure.

In the treacherous waters of the Hebrides, betrayal and bloodshed rule the waves. When the infamous pirate Susa Bizerta, feared as the Yellow Dragon, returns to claim a birth right long denied, he unleashes a tide of revenge that threatens clans, kingdoms, and all who stand in his way.

Caught in his path is Anna MacLeod, a fiery heiress whose beauty and power make her both target and prize. Hunted across unforgiving seas, betrayed by those she once trusted, Anna is thrust into a ruthless game of survival she cannot escape.

But in her darkest hour, an unlikely ally rises. Oloff, a mysterious sea pirate with a vendetta of his own, offers protection, and reveals a truth that shatters Anna's world. Bound by secrets, hunted by the Yellow Dragon, and drawn together by a dangerous attraction, Anna and Oloff must navigate a storm of deception, passion, and peril.

To defeat the Yellow Dragon, Oloff must confront ghosts from his past, and risk losing not only his soul, but the woman who has become his destiny.

A sweeping pirate adventure filled with danger, romance, and revenge.

Perfect for fans of Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood, the epic sagas of Wilbur Smith, and the swashbuckling excitement of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Set sail on the twenty-second book of the unforgettable Oloff the Sea Pirate series, where legends are born, loyalties are tested, and every wave carries the promise of peril.

Textauszug

22. The Yellow Dragon

Chapter 1

With a strong easterly wind behind it, the swift two-masted sloop shoots over the breakers at the mouth of the inlet, then glides across the calm waters of the harbor. The young captain stands by the railing. His neat figure contrasts sharply with the dirty, slovenly attire of the crew. His alert eyes are anxiously fixed on the stone castle high on the cliff above the deepest part of the inlet.

He is aware that the crew is watching him. They are waiting for the order to take in the sails. But Pascal da Gamba desires as much speed as possible until the very last moment. The helmsman swings wildly at the rudder to steer the sloop deftly between the dozen large ships that lie at anchor there.

Barely fifty paces from the wooden quay, Da Gamba sends the men up the masts. At a further command, a few of the men spring to work to lower the ship’s boat.

From the inn near the beach, a stable boy comes running with a saddled horse. Lightly, Da Gamba swings into the saddle and kicks the animal hard in the flanks. With clattering hooves, the horse races away through the village at full speed.

The road winds up a densely overgrown ravine. On either side, the steep slopes rise. In several places along the inlet, it runs into perpendicular cliffs, and there are only two places by which the thin strip of beach and the village at the tip of the inlet can be reached overland. It is a natural fortress fortified by a series of batteries on both sides of the mouth of the inlet, and it is the headquarters of the notorious Susa Bizerta, the pirate known as the Yellow Dragon.

Halfway up the ravine, the road turns sharply to the left and cuts diagonally along the slope towards the front of the cliff. As if nature had intended to provide for the erection of an impregnable fort, the upper half of the cliff has been shifted to form a broad rock ledge. On this ledge, Bizerta has built his massive stone castle. The front parapet is level with the vertical precipice, and behind it, the courtyard stretches against the cliff. On the right, the ledge ends completely, but on the left, it continues for about a carriage width to where it joins the road against the slope.

The horse’s hooves clatter like gunshots on the smooth rock, and Da Gamba races through the large arch, which is the only entrance to the castle. In the backyard, he swings out of the saddle, and a stable boy rushes closer. Already, the captain hurries up the stairs to the main entrance. A porter in tasteful livery bows politely as he opens the door while Da Gamba is still running across the broad stone stoop.

Then his shoes sink into the thick carpet. Inside these stone walls, it is deathly quiet, for not a footstep is heard in the castle. Da Gamba comes to a standstill for the first time since he set foot on shore. However eager he may be to reach his leader and however urgent his message may be, he knows what the consequences will be if he storms into the presence of the mighty Bizerta unannounced.

With his own eyes, he had witnessed what had happened to one of the Yellow Dragon’s servants when the poor fellow was so unwise as to simply push the door open and enter the room where Da Gamba and Bizerta were conversing. Bizerta had calmly inquired what the servant wanted, and when he was informed that the food was on the table, Bizerta had thanked him, pulled a loaded pistol from under his jacket, and shot him point-blank in the chest. Then he had nonchalantly continued the conversation while ringing a bell and summoning a few servants to remove the corpse. Da Gamba had not really enjoyed the meal that had been announced by the deceased, but Bizerta had devoured it with a healthy appetite.

That is why the young captain is now waiting. Bizerta’s moods are unpredictable, and if Da Gamba finds him in one of his less cheerful states of mind, his fate will not be much different from that of the servant.

But already a footman has rushed past him. Just as the horse had been ready for him down in the harbor town, they had also been expecting him here and are not wasting a moment to ensure he reaches his destination.

The footman knocks politely. A hard but refined voice calls him inside.

“Captain Pascal da Gamba to speak to you, Highness,” announces the servant.

The captain has to suppress a smile. Since he was last here, Bizerta has already elevated himself again. His servants must now address him as “Highness”, previously it was Excellency. One of these days, it will most likely be Your Majesty.

But he did not hesitate. He hastily enters the large sitting room. It is luxuriously furnished, and the wall coverings are rich and of the most expensive material. Bizerta lives like a king and rules his household with an iron hand.

“Ah, Pascal!” exclaims the Yellow Dragon in surprise, although Da Gamba knows all too well that Bizerta had been watching him through a telescope since he had sailed into the inlet. The large windows look out over the harbor. “I am delighted to see you!”

With a firm handshake, he asks the young captain to take a seat.

Bizerta’s complexion is yellow, like that of an Oriental. Although his cheekbones are slightly high, his eyes are round and cold like those of a snake. He is short of stature but has broad shoulders and strong arms and legs. His attire is almost extravagant. With his head tilted slightly to one side and his hands on his hips, he stands comfortably on the high, sharp heels of his shoes. He appears to be in a good mood.

“I came as quickly as possible,” explains Da Gamba after greeting him.

“And what tidings do you bring?” Only now is the tension in the Yellow Dragon noticeable. Da Gamba feels relieved because Bizerta’s unconcerned friendliness had slightly unsettled him, he wanted to feel that the task he had carried out was of vital importance.

“It is as we heard, Susa,” he says, therefore, with exaggerated seriousness. He is only a young captain in Bizerta’s mighty privateer fleet, but he is one of the chosen few who may call the Yellow Dragon by his first name.

“What is as we heard?” The smile around Bizerta’s lips has disappeared. For Da Gamba, the room had suddenly become cold. “Graham MacKenzie is on his way,” he says slowly.

Bizerta’s facial muscles twitch. For a moment, he glares at the young captain as if the hatred that is rising up in him is directly aimed at him. Da Gamba flinches slightly.

“Then it is so!” the Yellow Dragon hisses through clenched jaws. With balled fists, he turns and walks to the window. His back is still turned to Da Gamba when the outburst comes. He hurls his anger at the wide world. “Then this is how he tries to rob me of my inheritance and my birth right! Me!” he bellows, “me, Susa Bizerta, am his rightful heir! I am the future head of the Madeod clan. I will claim what is mine. Do you understand that!” Threateningly, Bizerta swings around as if Da Gamba had contradicted him.

But the young captain sits motionless. He keeps his expression stern, for he does not dare risk showing any emotion, lest he strike a wrong chord.

“I tell you he will not take my birth right from me!” Bizerta continues to scream. “He shoved me aside when I was a helpless baby, but now he will not succeed again. He, Evan Madeod, my own father, kicked my mother out of his house when I was an infant, me, his firstborn, his only son, his blood! He had roamed the world when he was a young man. Of the thousands of women he had met, he chose my mother.

But his parents did not want to approve the marriage, she was not good enough for a Madeod. And he, the weakling, denied the marriage and cast her aside!”

He hesitates, but still, Da Gamba says nothing. He knows the story. The Madeods are a proud family. Of all the Scottish clans, they are the strongest, to such an extent that they can even defy the throne. Of course, they would not readily want a chief with a Chinese wife.

“But I have returned,” continues Bizerta ominously. “I approached him, and he denied that I was his son. But today, he fears me. I have a mighty fleet, and on the open sea, I have amassed a fortune. I have the entire coast in a stranglehold.

And that is not all, thinks Da Gamba. Bizerta’s privateers hide in the rocky inlets on the west coast of the northernmost island of the Hebrides. From here, he strikes at the merchant ships, and here he returns again. With a network of spies, he has the entire coastal region in an iron grip.

“And why does Evan not try to drive me away?” Bizerta calms down slightly. “He has a guilty conscience. He fears me. He sits there inland, and he trembles when he hears of me.” Again, he raises his voice. “And now? Now he wants to palm that daughter of his off on a MacKenzie. The MacKenzies are the largest clan on the Mainland. He wants to unite the two families because he is afraid of me, so afraid that he is keeping his intentions secret. For he knows that as soon as I hear of it, I will crush him and take by force what is mine!”

Again he swings to the window. “And I am not ready yet. If it were not for that damned scum of the sea, that arch-traitor, Oloff the Pirate, I would today have had the wealth and power of the kingdom of Sarovia at my disposal.”

He stands for a long time now with bowed head. Da Gamba knows what bitter blow Oloff the Pirate had dealt Bizerta. He startles when Bizerta storms up to him and stops a pace in front of him, standing with his legs apart.

“We leave immediately, Pascal.” His tone is commanding. His musings, curses, and anger have left him. He is now the man who inspired awe and fear in his followers with his...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 27.8.2025
• Übersetzer: Pieter Haasbroek, Ai
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 0-00-072753-9 / 0000727539
• ISBN-13: 978-0-00-072753-4 / 9780000727534