Sain froze as he heard shouting further along the deck and he turned his head slowly to the right, a line of light shining over the side of the ship. Hearing more shouting from the same spot Sain realized that people were using torches to illuminate the ocean and appeared to be peering over the edge of the ship.
"They probably think a dinghy hit and is trying to board" came a quiet feminine voice, barely above a whisper and Sain looked to his left and noticed a fourth figure had joined the group. Recognizing the voice, but not placing it Sain watched the other two soldiers turn to the newcomer.
"Sergeant Rahswa, you are the most senior officer here. What are we to do?" one of the two other men asked and giving a slight nod, Rahswa looked past them, watching the figures in the distance with the torch. She stayed silent and Sain surmised she was thinking.
"First we call in" Rahswa stated and lifted her hand to her radio control on her collar. Sain did the same and turned up his volume slightly.
"Sergeant Rahswa to Major Ligare. I have landed and located two targets on the port side. I am with Privates Kurt, Sabbah and Belford. Over" Rahswa whispered into her control, her voice crackling into Sain’s earpiece. The group waited in tense silence for a few moments before a reply came back.
"Copy Sergeant. Take them out. All units maintain radio silence except for target updates. Over" came the voice of Travos. The small group exchanged glances before Rahswa looked down the side of the ship. The two pirates were now making their way up the side of the vessel towards them, the flashlight shining along the deck but not quite reaching the group of soldiers.
"Belford and Kurt, climb up on the containers. Cut off their retreat. Sabbah and I will take them on. Remember, capture them if able" Rahswa stated pointing upwards and Sain nodded in acknowledgement. The soldier Sain guessed to be Kurt stepped towards the container and crouched down, cupping his hands together.
"Up you go Belford" the man stated, his voice deep and gruff. Sain stepped into the man’s hand and was promptly hoisted upwards. He reached out and grabbed the edge of the container and pulled himself up, swinging a leg over the edge. Sain felt his leg pull on something and he realized he hadn't cut his gliding membrane yet. Rolling onto his side Sain stood up and pulled a small knife from a sheath strapped to his thigh. With a few cuts, he sliced the membranes between his legs and arms, freeing up his movement. Hearing a scuffle Sain looked up as Kurt appeared next to him, one of the others below hoisting the man up.
Looking behind him, Sain saw another container, and remembered the image of the containers being stacked like a pyramid, the stacked levels getting higher towards the middle. He puffed out a breath and then started to slink forward as he slipped his knife back into its sheath, sensing Kurt moving as well, slightly behind him and to the left. Taking point Sain moved towards to the adjacent container, a small gap of about a meter between it and the container he was already on top of.
Jumping lightly to the next container Sain looked forward and saw the flashlight moving closer, the two pirates still searching. The light turned sharply inwards and down a gap between two containers lighting up the narrow corridor. Sain lengthened his stride wanting to get behind the pirates before they found Sabbah and Rahswa. As he got to the end of the next container Sain looked down as he jumped the gap and saw Sabbah and Rahswa dip into the corridor below. Landing with a small thump Sain continued, hearing Kurt close behind him.
Seeing the two pirates down below and slightly in front of him, Sain stopped moving and crouched low, Kurt following suit. As Sain waited the pirates came closer still until they were practically below him and he caught words spoken in an unfamiliar language. Sain didn't understand the words, but the tone of voice was strained, and Sain guessed the two pirates were quite uneasy.
As the two passed Sain’s position and approached the gap that his colleagues were hiding in Sain felt his skin tingle and the air shift slightly around him. Turning his gaze sharply to look at Kurt he heard faint murmuring from the man as he prepared to use magic. Reaching for his own magic Sain sought to create a slight barrier around himself but just like earlier he felt his magic slip away from him. Gritting his teeth Sain guided his senses down to his core and looked over the energy roiling there in his mind’s eye. Reaching out once more he watched as the energy seemed to retreat from his mental touch. Now that was unusual.
"Sain, come on. Let’s go" Kurt whispered and Sain blinked, suddenly feeling a jab of fear. His magic was not obeying his command. Trying to draw on it again he moved forward towards the edge of the container and looked down, seeing the two pirates approaching the gap the others were hiding in. Kurt suddenly dropped off the edge and Sain followed, his eyes wide as he tried to get a hold on his magic. As he landed with a soft thump his heart hammered and he reached out desperately, his urgency seeming to give him the slight edge he needed and he finally caught a hold of his magic.
Both the pirates turned fast, and their flash light erupted into Sain’s night vision and blinded him. Sain let out a groan and pulled on his magic, bringing it up and forming it into a thin barrier in front of him. The barrier shuddered as a blast of magic hit and tore through it, slamming into his unprotected torso. Sain let out a low cry as he felt the energy ripple over him and he tumbled backwards even as he heard two muffled screams.
Falling backwards onto his ass Sain threw out his right arm, catching his fall on the ships railing even as pain raced through his upper torso. A scuffle sounded and Sain looked up, his eyes recovering just enough to see that Sabbah and Rahswa had attacked the pirates from behind and taken them down. Feeling a hand on his shoulder Sain looked up and saw Kurt, any look of concern the man might have had being hidden by his face mask and goggles.
"You alright Belford. Looks like one was a mage. Got the drop on you" Kurt stated and helped Sain to his feet. The youth winced a little as a stab of pain ran through his chest and he wondered what damage had been done.
"I think I’ll be fine. A put up a barrier but it wasn't enough to stop the full blast" Sain replied softly as he got steady on his feet.
"Belford. If you are alright you can watch these two while we continue on. Don't need you getting injured again for being careless" Rahswa stated coolly. Sain looked sharply towards the Sergeant and saw she had tied the pirate’s hands behind their back with zip ties and gagged them. Both of them looked like they were unconscious, slumped over and lying with their backs to the containers. Sain gave a jerky nod to show he understood.
"Got it Sergeant. I will watch them" Sain replied quietly, feeling a little dejected.
"Good. Then drag them into the gap between the containers. Sabbah, Kurt, on me" Rahswa ordered and strode past Sain and continued on down the ship, the other two falling in behind her quietly.
"Rahswa to Ligare. Two targets down. Guarded by Belford. Over" came word's over the radio and Sain blinked hearing his name.
"Copy, over" came a reply and Sain recognized the voice of Travos. Gulping, Sain looked down at the two pirates and sighed as he felt a wave of uneasiness wash over him. He shouldn't have had such an issue with trying to gather up his magic. Why had that happened? Shaking his head Sain looked down at the unconscious pirates and scowled.
"Alright, I guess it’s just us three now then" Sain muttered and grabbed one of them, set on dragging the pirate into the gap between the containers.
Chapter 29
* * *
Sticking his head around the corner of the container Sain looked down the side of the ship as loud bangs sounded again and again. Feeling a slight vibration under his feet he gripped the edge of the container tightly.
"Fuck, what's going on" he muttered to himself as he wondered what the others were doing. It had been ten minutes since the other three had gone down there, and there had been complete radio silence since. Hearing a groan behind him Sain turned fast and saw one of his captives shake and their eyes pop open. The turbaned man stared at Sain with wide eyes, recognition of his situation dawning on him. The man
started to make sounds, like he was trying to talk through his mouth gag and Sain felt his heart leap. This must have been the mage that had hit him with magic earlier.
"Oh no you fucking don't! You shut the fuck up" Sain yelled out and leapt towards the man, full on kicking the pirate in the side of the face with the bottom of his foot. The man’s head flew backwards, and he slid sideways down the metal container, coming to a halt when his upper torso hit the ship's deck. As silence fell again Sain gulped and shook his head, ears pricking up as he strained his hearing. Booms could still be heard down the end of the ship, in the direction that Rahswa, Sabbah and Kurt had gone.
Hearing footsteps from the opposite direction Sain felt his stomach clench and he retreated into the gap between the container's, hoping that whoever the people were, they hadn't heard his shout. And if they had, that they were friendlies.
As the footsteps sounded louder, Sain realized whoever they belonged to was running. He gulped and closed his eyes briefly, trying to make contact with his magic again. He reached forth, concentrating on his core. He could see the bright light in his mind's eye, but the energy fled from his probing mind again and again. He let out a low whimper, feeling completely helpless. Opening his eyes Sain reached down, a shaking hand grabbing his pistol and unholstering it even as he walked backwards even further.
A torch light appeared and Sain hissed, knowing none of his team would be using lights. It was a pirate. Taking a firing position Sain flicked the safety off the fire arm and aimed it at the entrance to the gap, waiting silently with his heart hammering.
The torch light exploded into his vision as the holder turned around the corner and he heard shouting, the words not in the Samite language. And the words were spoken in anger. Sain grit his teeth and opened fire into the blinding light, firing until his clip was empty and his pistol clicked. But the light still remained and Sain felt an ice-cold sensation rush over him.
A blast of energy hit him, and all air left his lungs silently as Sain flew backwards and his pistol flew from his grip, clattering noisily even as searing pain raced through his body. Sain tumbled backwards down the gap between the containers and landed heavily, his limbs slapping into the cold metal of the ship deck and containers flanking him. Pain raced through his body again and he blinked, tears welling up, blurring his still light blinded vision. Sensing someone nearby Sain reached for his knife on his right thigh, his arm screaming in pain. Getting a hand on his knife he yanked it out of its sheath just as a foot kicked him in the arm and he yelped in pain, the knife flying from his grip and clattering on the deck somewhere to his right side.
Seeing an outline of someone above him, Sain saw a blurry hand reach down to his head, only to pull his helmet off and casually throw it behind him. Sain heard it clatter on the metallic surface behind him even as his eyes came into focus. Sain looked up into the face of the pirate, and saw a young, cleanshaven face looking right back at him. The man looked completely opposite to what Sain imagined a pirate might look like.
The man had dark brown skin and what looked like white cloth wrapped around the top of his head and seemed actually like a rather good-looking young man. Sain grit his teeth and pushed the unnecessary thoughts from his mind as he tried to reach for his magic again, feeling it flee his touch once more just as the pirate spoke to someone behind him. Sain flicked his eyes behind the pirate as another more feminine voice spoke and he caught a glimpse of a woman, bending down to untie the pirates Sain had been guarding.
The two of them seemed to start having an argument, the word 'blonde' being repeated over and over, the pirate standing above Sain repeatedly jabbing a finger at him. Sain scowled and narrowed his eyes as he tilted his gaze upwards seeing a cloudy sky. Feeling small drops of rain on the skin of his face Sain slowly reached behind his position and out to his right side, tentatively searching for his knife, hoping it hadn't been knocked too far away. If his magic wouldn’t obey his call, then the knife was his only weapon here.
He flicked his eyes back over to the female pirate as she slapped one of the bound pirates in the face, a muttered word reaching Sains ears. It sounded like Mehrbad, but the accent was so strong he could not quite understand.
Still reaching for his knife, his fingers feeling around even as pain jolted through his body, Sain watched as the woman readjusted a red scarf that was wrapped around her head and upper shoulders before producing a knife of her own, and deftly cutting through the zip ties binding one of Sain’s captives. She flicked a quick glance at Sain and said something before shrugging.
After the woman finished speaking, the pirate standing over Sain shrugged as well and lifted an old rifle and pulled back the bolt on it, the thing letting out a satisfying click. Sain felt his body go cold. Had the pirates been discussing what to do with him, and finally decided a bullet would be his future. Was this where he would die, unable to use his magic, killed by a rifle that was probably older than he was.
"You won't die today kiddo. If you do, both of us go poof" came that familiar voice in Sain’s head and he blinked as everything seemed to slow down to a crawl. The voice in his head seemed distant now, like someone was calling him from a great distance.
"But I can't use magic. I am fucked. I am going to die" Sain thought at himself as he watched that rifle get lifted ever so slowly and the barrel pushed forward, the pirate seemingly intending to place the barrel against Sain’s forehead.
"You won't die, but you are certainly fucked. You take the backseat for now. I'll take over. I'll use everything. When you leave here, seek a sage to live again" the voice stated, barely audible now.
"What, I don't understand what you are saying" Sain stated and suddenly got a flashback of his past. When he had fought that lightning spirit in Clyde's factory, of when he had been slammed against the wall, and left with a burning hole in his chest. And the exact same words he had spoken to Clyde at that time. He felt a shiver run down his spine at the memory.
Then he came back to reality as he felt rain touch his exposed face once more, a slight bump as the rifle touched his forehead and Sain’s surroundings sped up, no longer going at a crawl. A brilliant flash of light lit up the area and Sain screamed as a surge of pain hit him and raced through his entire body, a splitting thunder crack sounding in the heavens and drowning out his scream of anguish.
The initial burst of pain gone, Sain let out a shriek as he stood up, or his body did as he lost control of his movements to the voice in his head. His left arm flew outwards in an arc, a trail of blue light following the moving limb. A shriek sounded as his arm ripped right through the young pirate before him, like a hot knife through butter. Blood splattered all over the container to the left and two halves of the pirate thumped to the ground.
Sain looked up and a second streak of lightning ripped through the sky, the bolt lancing straight into him, another thunder crack following. Sain shrieked in agony as the energy ran through his body a second time, and through him and into the ship. He staggered, pain ripping through his senses as his right hand was flung out to the side, as he sought to steady himself on the container. With a shock Sain felt the container give way and he fell into the it. His head turned, of the voice’s volition and Sain saw the metal of the container melting under his touch, leaving a red-hot hole of twisted metal where his hand had made contact.
He stared in horror at the hole even as his uniform burned from his body, and his skin lit up in a bright, painfully bright blue light. Then another wash of pain spread over him and Sain realized his skin was burning. And he could do nothing as the voice held control of his body once more. His body picked itself up and turned before moving forward. Sain could feel the metal beneath his feet melting as well and cringed as waves up pain raced up his legs as well. He didn't even want to see what his feet would look like as they burned.
His eyes locked forward and Sain saw the female pirate passed out, slumped against the other two pirates captured earlier, her body twitching as though she had just been el
ectrocuted. If Sain could have gulped he would have, but instead his body ignored him as he tried to guide his limbs and he was moved forward ever further not of his volition, his feet quickly losing complete feeling in them to the point that pain no longer registered in his senses. His body turned the corner and then suddenly broke into a jog heading towards where Sain had heard the loud booms earlier.
Sain’s body rapidly approached the end of the ship and then turned sharply, coming to an open area of the ship, and he saw a body lying motionless, slumped against a wall, four pirates standing next to it. They all turned, and Sain saw confusion and then terror race over the pirates features even as three of them lifted rifles and a third raised hands, her voice sounding loud as magic was called upon.
Sain's left wrist raised and flicked, a burst of blue light springing from his fore finger and blasting into one of the pirates on his left. A chunk of flesh blew out from the man's right torso, a shrill scream erupting as the man collapsed. Bullets then peppered Sain but did nothing as a barrier was raised before him, the bullets bouncing and ricocheting away from him. His left wrist flicked again, and another burst of magic sped from his fingers, this time in three separate blasts. The two other pirates shooting him collapsed as they were each were hit by a blast of magic, one’s head disappearing in a splatter of blood, brain and bone, the other dropping silently as a gaping hole appeared in his chest.
A New Beginning Page 29