“Black ships,” I said, and I hardly knew my own voice.
“Where?” Pythia said.
“Black ships,” I said. I could see them in the darkness of the coals. “Black ships and a burning city. A great city on a headland. Some of the ships are small, not much more than one sail or a few rowers. But some of them are big. Painted black. They’re coming out from land, from the burning city. But there are other ships in the way, between the black ships and the sea.”
My voice caught with the emotion of what I saw. “There are so few of them! I can see them coming, rowing hard. The one in front has seven stars on her prow, Seven Sisters, like the constellation. That’s her name. The soldiers on the other ships have archers. They’re shooting at them.”
One of the sailors was struck in the eye by an arrow. He screamed and plunged into the sea. One of the ships’ boys was hit in the leg and went down with a high, keening sound, his blood spurting across the deck.
One of the small boats was rammed and capsized.
“There are people in the water. They’re not sailors, not on the little boats. Children. Women.” I could see them struggling. The archers were shooting them in the water.
“One of the big ships is turning back. She’s turning around.” I could see the dolphin on her prow, white and red on black.
There was a girl in the water, her slim, naked body cutting through the waves like a dolphin herself. She was almost to the big ship. Now she was there. One of the rowers shipped his oar as she reached for it, stretching her arms up the shaft. She got one foot on the top of the paddle, pulled herself half out of the water. Hands reached down to haul her aboard.
“Seven Sisters has come about,” I said. “She’s bearing down on one of the ships of archers, and they’re hauling at the oars to get out of the way.”
Seven Sisters swung past, close enough that I could see the young man at her tiller, his sandy hair pulled back from his face with a leather thong, lips set in concentration, the wind kissing him.
“They have fire arrows,” I gasped. “The blockaders. They’re lighting them.”
One fell hissing into the sea. Another dropped on the foredeck of Dolphin and was quickly extinguished with a bucket of water. A young man with long black hair was hauling one of the children from the fishing boat aboard.
The rest of the fishing boats were either sunk or out to sea, sails spread to catch the land breeze carrying them away.
I heard shouted words, saw the captain of Seven Sisters waving.
A fire arrow struck the captain of Dolphin full in the chest, his beard igniting. He fell away from the tiller, his face on fire and his chest exploding. The young man with black hair swung the child into the shelter of the rowers’ rail and leaped for the tiller. Seven Sisters swung away, her course between Dolphin and the nearest blockader.
Dolphin’s sail unfurled, red dolphin painted on white. It filled with the land breeze. A moment later Seven Sisters’ spread, black stars against white. Behind them the city burned. Ahead was only open sea.
Table of Contents
Copyright Page
The Well of Secrets
Ash
Saker
Leof
Bramble
Zel’s Story
Leof
Saker
Ash
Bramble
The Hunter’s Story
Leof
Saker
Bramble
Leof
Ash
Flax’s Story
Bramble
Saker
Martine
Bramble
Asa’s Story
Ash
Martine
Leof
Bramble
Ash
Bramble
Leof
Ash
Bramble
Martine
Bramble
Dotta’s Story
Ash
Auroch’s Story
Leof
Bramble
Martine
Ash
Saker
Leof
Ash
Bramble
Uen’s Story
Leof
Bramble
Ash
Martine
Bramble
Leof
Bramble
Martine
Leof
Ash
Bramble
Martine
Apple’s Story
Leof
Ash
Leof
Saker
Martine
Bramble
Martine
Ash
Bramble
Leof
Bramble
Medric’s Story
Martine
Ash
Leof
Bramble
Saker
meet the author
A Preview of “Black Ships”
Deep Water Page 54