by Rosie Scott
“Not any that I liked,” Altan admitted. “He suggested resting our men and attacking the harbor on foot by unloading the ships on the grasslands.” He jerked a thumb toward the small arrangement of homes and shacks on the grassy plain to our right.
Cyrus glanced at me. “Kai?”
I mentally thanked the Sentinel for not openly admitting I'd had multiple ideas. He'd remembered how there were a few of them I didn't wish to divulge before my friends.
“Guys? We got company,” Maggie interrupted, lifting one bulky arm to point to the cove.
Our eyes fell on the waters between both mountainous sides of the inlet, where a battleship as gigantic as ours was pulling forward. When its full hull was in view, it simply stopped, as if goading us. An entire unit of dwarves was on deck with readied siege weapons.
“Wonderful. Now the bastards can unleash a whole fucking volley our way no matter who we send,” Altan complained.
“Yeah, well, now they've just given away that they are lying in wait,” I pointed out, looking to Cyrus. “I do have a plan.”
“All ears, Kai,” Altan said, impatient to act.
“First things first: the wreckage in the waters can tear up the wooden hull of the galleons, but will it stop iron?” Jerking a thumb back to the metal stack of our ship, I added, “And can it stop the combined forces of our steam engine and sails?”
Cyrus glanced at Maggie, asking for her input. She replied, “If any ship has a chance of makin' it into that cove, love, it's ours.”
“Yeah, but we only have two of these ships,” Altan pointed out. “Yours, and that one.” He pointed to the western ocean, where the battleship we'd abandoned still floated heavily in the waters.
“We have two. With my plan, we'll need one.”
Altan tilted his head curiously. “Go on.”
“Before I go further, I need to ensure my plan is even possible. Maggie, Altan, and Cyrus, follow me.” I turned on my heel, starting to walk toward the stairs which led to the lower decks.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait,” Nyx blurted, coming after me. “Why them and not us?”
I turned to her, finding the others staring at me in confusion as well. “Because I have to make sure the steam engine of this ship is capable of something, and it doesn't require everyone. As soon as we figure it out, we'll be back.”
“Nine opinions are better than four,” Azazel protested.
“The engine room is quite small,” Cyrus spoke up, defending my idea. Perhaps he'd figured out I was trying to get the Sentinels alone, after all.
“It's not that tiny,” Maggie replied, confused. “I can fit in it.”
Cyrus glared over at her. “It's much too small to fit us all. And it's absolutely ridiculous to think we'd all need to file in there for only one of Kai's concerns.”
“All right, all right,” Maggie backed down, sensing the Sentinel's annoyance.
Azazel watched me with searching eyes. “You said you wanted me by your side, Kai.”
I exhaled evenly through my nostrils. “In battle, Azazel. This is a simple request. Grant me that.”
His thin black eyebrows dipped toward one another. I hoped my response hadn't hurt him. In either case, the archer wasn't happy with the idea. Perhaps he could read me better than I'd thought.
“Can we just go to the damned engine room and get this over with?” Altan grumbled, stalking across the deck. “You'd think none of you Renegades could go anywhere without each other. You'll all be on the same ship, for fuck's sake.”
In other circumstances, the Sentinel's impatience would have bothered me. Now, however, I mentally thanked him for it since it seemed to convince the others they were being ridiculous. Cyrus and Maggie followed Altan and me down the steps into the ship, and none of my other friends followed.
As soon as I reached the bottom of the steps, I turned the corner to go further down into the ship. Maggie protested behind me, “Kai, the engine room is back here.”
I shook my head, before looking back to her and encouraging her to follow with one finger. Though she frowned, she complied, quieting and coming after me.
The four of us walked into a storage room on the bottom level of the ship a few moments later, and Cyrus shut the door behind us before leaning back against it. Altan turned to me, noting the oddity of our situation.
“All right, I should have known something was up,” Altan commented, appearing somewhat amused. “You normally won't go anywhere without Mr. Dark-and-Foreboding.”
I looked to Maggie, who was quiet and appeared a little apprehensive. “Can I trust you not to say a word to the others about my plan?”
The engineer shifted her weight to her other leg, uncomfortable. “Why are ya leavin' them out, love?”
“Because my plan is suicidal, and they won't agree to it.”
Maggie's eyes widened, shocked. “Kai, ya can't be dyin' here. What's the point—”
“I won't be. At least...” I trailed off, before a dry laugh. “I'll try my best to survive. I have my methods. I've survived worse.” That may or may not have been true. I couldn't have possibly known until after everything played out. “I need your cooperation, Maggie.”
“All right,” she murmured, though she was still concerned.
“You're going to sail this battleship through the wreckage, Maggie, and you're going to pull up next to that ship near the harbor just long enough to drop me off. Then, you're going to take the others and get the hell out of there.”
Cyrus frowned. “Kai, that's not suicidal. That's suicidal and stupid.”
“What would be the point, Kai?” Altan questioned, a little more receptive to the idea. “What would you do?”
“I haven't seen Narangar's harbor yet, but Cyrus tells me it could still be full of ships just out of sight. Even if it's not, it's full of defenses.” Keeping my eyes on Altan, I went on, “You and I agree that the harbor should be destroyed. The harbor leads to the city at sea level through the mountains. I can destroy the remaining ships, the defenses, the harbor, and part of the city, but it's going to require immense energy, and I'm gonna need to take out each soldier on that battleship myself to get it.”
Cyrus appeared a little more intrigued, and asked, “How will you destroy it?”
I stared at him. “I will use the ocean.”
The water mage's eyes flashed with understanding. “Gods, Kai, you risk taking out our entire navy.”
“I know. That's why I want Altan to retreat with the others, and I only want our ship going in. I want to be alone on that ship, and while I take everyone out, I need you to sail as quickly as you can away from the shores. I want my friends safe. I will drown much of Narangar, and I don't want anyone I love to be among them.”
“You will be in the hot zone of battle, Kai,” Altan said. “The mountains of that cove will keep any influx of water between them for longer than you can hold your breath. If anything, you'll be the first to drown.”
“You forget I know alteration magic, Altan,” I commented. “As long as I don't kill myself with my initial expulsion of energy, I will have enough to breathe underwater.”
Cyrus's blue eyes cleared. “You've been planning this for a while, haven't you?”
I nodded. “I know the layout of the land. I've been thinking this through for weeks. I just needed to see if it would be possible. I think it will work.”
“We'll need to be far away to be safe from the backlash,” Cyrus commented. “And if we're far, you will be alone.”
I tilted my head toward the Sentinel's belt, where he kept his war horn. “Use your war horn to alert me when you think you're safe, and give me a horn if you have extra. I will call for you.”
Cyrus nodded. “Good idea. And your friends...”
“I need to trust you all to keep them safe on the ship. They will try to come after me. They may curse you. They may fight you. But they need to be safe, and I need to be alone. Azazel is the only other Renegade who knows alteration magic. The others will
drown as easily as anyone else.”
“What will you tell them to keep them on the ship?” Altan questioned.
I thought for a moment. “I will use my death bomb spell. I can't use it near friendlies because the energy does not discriminate. We can tell them the plan takes immense energy, so I need to jump into the fray first. That much is true. But then you need to abandon me and keep them from trying to leave.”
“We're but two people, love,” Maggie commented. “And I'll be sailing the ship. How are we gonna keep 'em all stable?”
I looked at Cyrus. “I have taught many of our soldiers alteration magic. Gather them around and swear them to secrecy. Tell them they can use paralyze on the Renegades as long as they catch them before they fall. We've also taught many of them illusion magic. They can use seriin to calm them.”
Everyone was quiet a moment, thinking. My attention was pulled to Altan when I noticed the glimmer of his white teeth in the nearby candlelight as he grinned widely.
“Hell, you are serious about this,” the first Sentinel commented.
“I'm shocked you thought I was joking.”
“I didn't think you were joking; I thought you were crazy. And you are, Kai. You're fucking insane, and I love it.” Altan reached forward to give me a friendly slap on the arm. “If you succeed at this, it will be the most catastrophic magical attack in Arrayis's military history.” He looked up to meet Cyrus's gaze. “And we'll be there to see it, friend. Scribes will be pouring gold down our drawers to hear our accounts.”
Cyrus was a little more reserved. “Let's focus on doing it right before we think of gold, Altan. There are many ways this could go wrong.”
“Let me have my excitement,” Altan retorted.
“We need to go back to the deck before they get suspicious,” I said. “Is there anything that's not clear?”
“You want me to get started on pulling back the ships right away?” Altan asked, even as he handed me a war horn from his belt. I took the instrument, securing it to my own belt with a few loops and knots.
“Yes. Your ships, Uriel's ships. All of them need to retreat. You'll need to take the ships under our command as well. As soon as we start sailing through the cove, we'll need to act quickly.”
“We won't be able to see each other, Kai,” Cyrus commented. “When I blow my horn, you might not even be able to hear it. Particularly since we'll be around the bend from each other.”
“We're just going to have to accept that. I'll do my best to listen for you, and you'll have to do your best to listen for me. If I don't hear your horn, I will wait until that ship threatens to sink before I make my attack. I doubt the dwarves will want to attack their own ship while they think allies are on it, so I'll be safe for a little while. And even then, the iron-sides should hold up better than wood.”
“You've still got to be careful,” Cyrus said, a desperate tinge to his voice. “You'll be a sitting duck.”
“I'm the one risking my life,” I replied. “I know this. Trust me. I don't want to die here. I'll do my best not to.”
The four of us finally made our way back to the deck, where we found the others talking amongst themselves at the bow. Azazel was first to turn around, his Alderi ears picking up on our approach. The archer was the reason I'd led the others so far from the deck. I couldn't be sure that he wouldn't have heard us from the level below.
“Kai, the plan is set?” He questioned, alerting the others to our presence.
“Yes.”
“And?” Nyx asked, raising her eyebrows.
“We're going to go on a suicide mission,” I replied. It was only partially a lie, but I still felt guilty saying it.
“We're good at those!” Jakan piped up, mirroring my own words to Cyrene years ago in Misu.
I managed a smile. Confidence and nerves mixed together into a confused combination in my gut. I didn't like keeping things from my friends, but if this were the only way to win this battle and keep them safe, I would do it. Even still, part of me worried that if I died in the midst of this chaos, I was robbing them of their right to say goodbye.
“I love you all,” I told them, trying to keep it light-hearted to keep it from being suspicious. If this ending up killing me, I wanted them to remember that most of all.
Nyx chuckled. “Oh boy, this plan must be good.”
Twenty-eight
“You think a tidal wave can take out the whole harbor?” Jakan questioned, tightening his ponytail by pulling two sections of his hair apart. I noticed with some humor that the hair tie was Anto's. “The one you used in Thanati was powerful, but the tunnel itself was untouched. The ships might not be harmed, especially since many of them are iron-sided.”
“A tidal wave like that, no. But I'll be using the energy of many men, Jakan,” I reminded him. “That's why you guys have to stay on the ship while I start working my way through them. Otherwise, this has no chance of working.”
“I'm still worried about the wave coming back to hit us, Kai,” Cerin commented, his brow furrowed in concern. “And you must be, too. Why else would you have Altan and Uriel retreat with the others?” He motioned to the west, where the ships were sailing out of sight.
“She said this was a suicide mission,” Nyx pointed out, seeming more excited than anything else.
“Yes, but...” the necromancer trailed off, eyeing me from the side. “What is the plan if we're overtaken?”
“We've been in such situations before, Cerin,” I replied, uncomfortable with all the questions. The more my friends asked of me, the more I had to lie. “All of us survived the shipwreck with Calder.”
“Barely,” Anto replied. “I nearly drowned.”
I raised an eyebrow. I hadn't known that. “That's why you removed your arm blades?”
The orc nodded. “Cerin removed them, actually, because I was flailing around like a fool. I'd never swam before that day. Learned real quick, though.”
“Best way to learn is to be thrown in,” the necromancer replied. “That's how my mother taught me.”
“Threw you in?” Nyx asked for clarification.
“Yep.”
“Don't think that was to teach you how to swim,” Nyx retorted.
Cerin chuckled.
“Maggie!” Cyrus yelled behind us. “Forward!”
With an inhuman groan, the battleship jolted as Maggie started up the steam engine with a tug on the metal pump beside the wheel. Steam billowed out of the metal pipe that stood high above the poop deck, floating into the sky like a white cloud. The ship moved forward, slowly at first before working up to full speed.
The dwarves on the enemy ship perked up a bit at our movement. Our enemies were most likely immensely confused. Perhaps they'd previously thought we were retreating altogether because the majority of the navy already had. Now that we moved toward the cove on only one ship, they had to be perplexed as to our intentions.
Cerin and I worked on giving the soldiers shields. Anyone who wasn't privy to the real plan thought they'd be needing them for the eventual melee battle, but it was actually required to protect them from the dwarven siege weapons. Our ship would be vulnerable as it sailed into the cove, both from the cannon fire of the battleship waiting for us and from the harbor's defenses. Hopefully, the iron-sides of the stolen battleship would keep everyone safe for long enough that they could retreat.
“Kai.” I turned from the bow to find Cyrus behind me, resting both arms with thumbs held beneath his belt. His blue eyes watched me with some hesitance. “I meant what I said yesterday. You are not just an ally. You are my friend. Uriel feels the same way.”
I nodded. I understood why he was telling me this now. I was quiet until the Sentinel spoke again.
“We have one shot at doing this. Let's make sure we do it right.” Cyrus nodded to the others.
“Azazel,” I said to the archer, who had been mostly quiet since I'd relayed my plan. He only looked over as a response. “Have you ever used your water-breathing spell?”
Azazel nodded. “During hunts, once or twice.”
“How does it work?” I questioned. Calder had taught me the spell long ago, but I'd never used it.
“Direct the energy to your face,” Azazel replied, holding a periwinkle hand over his nose and mouth. “The spell alters the water itself, separating the oxygen from the element and only allowing it to be pulled into the body.”
“How will I know when it's about to dispel?”
“Water will be in your nostrils during the spell, but the pressure it puts here will be lessened.” Azazel reached forward, pinching the bridge of my nose just beside my eyes. “When you feel that pressure come back and your body starts to panic, the spell is preparing to dispel. It lasts a few minutes.”
“Planning on going for a swim?” Nyx commented.
“We need to be prepared,” I replied, before looking again to Azazel. “Can the spell be used on others?”
The archer nodded. “If we all are overtaken, you and I can aid the others.”
That made me feel better. Even if the worst case scenario were to occur, Azazel and the other soldiers who knew alteration could ensure the others wouldn't drown once I was too far to help. I trusted Azazel to do the right thing. After all, I was pretty sure he was as quiet as he was because he hated this plan to begin with. His cautiousness would allow him to be prepared for anything.
“Ya might wanna hold onto somethin', guys!” Maggie shouted, as our battleship neared the wreckage. Soldiers and friends alike grabbed onto railings and masts, preparing for a jolt. Instead of clutching the railing myself, I surrounded Cerin in a hug, holding onto him tight. He laughed softly, pulling one of his arms up to embrace me.
“I like this more than you grabbing the railing,” he mused.
“I love you,” I murmured, squeezing him tight enough that I heard him grunt with the pressure.
“I love you more. You okay?” One warm hand rubbed lovingly at my side.
My heart ached with the anticipation of leaving him in the minutes ahead. It felt as if my entire body were thick and murky with the pain of keeping something from him, even for a little while.