by Tom Gallier
Alex pointed. “Throw her a rope and pull her back onto the ship.”
He flung the cabin door open and charged inside. Bakku knelt naked in the middle of the cabin, his massive arms around Tiana’s waist as she fought him tooth and nail. The big orc was cut and scratched all over his face, yet he was laughing.
What kind of sicko is he?
He stopped laughing when Alex came inside, sword in hand.
“Release her!” Alex commanded.
Bakku threw Tiana across the cabin and grabbed his battle axe. He stood, but couldn’t rise to full height. The ceiling was only seven feet, but in a fighting stance his head had plenty of clearance. Still, Alex wondered how best to use that to his advantage.
“How can such a big orc have such a little dick?” Alex asked. Truth was, it was proportionate. But his insult produced the desired results. Bakku’s face filled with rage. “No wonder Tiana cast you aside for a real man like me.”
Bakku charged him, swinging his battle axe in a figure-eight. Alex backed toward the door under that onslaught. The orc barked a laugh, a look of victory already spreading across his bestial face. So Alex stopped his retreat when he bumped into a chair.
Seizing the chair, he flung it straight at Bakku, who smashed it to pieces. That gave Alex the reprieve he needed. Glancing over Bakku’s shoulder, he noticed Tiana pulling a sword off the rack. The orc slanted a snarl over his shoulder, but then redoubled his attack on Alex.
“You can’t win, Bakku. Your other ships are all destroyed, along with their crews,” Alex said, though he only knew of one ship destroyed. “You will be butchered like a pig.”
“You will not live to see it, barbarian!”
Alex threw his belt knife. Bakku wasn’t expecting that move. The spinning knife flew through the middle of that figure-eight blur of the axe head. The pirate captain froze, a look of surprise on his face. The knife hit him on the left pec, imbedded a good two inches. Unfortunately, Alex didn’t think it even passed through his muscle. But then Tiana screamed her battle cry.
With Bakku distracted, Alex launched his attack. Bakku struggled to fend off both Tiana and Alex, but showed Alex he was a truly formidable foe. Because even wounded, the orc kept them both at bay.
“Tiana!” Alex called. “Get a bow. He can’t stop arrows.”
She turned to obey. Bakku lunged at her back, axe back and up to cleave her in two. Alex proved faster, and swung with all his might. His blade caught the orc’s right arm, just above the elbow. Cut all of the way through the bone.
That arm dropped. Bakku wailed in rage and agony, but kept his left hand’s hold of the axe handle. And he swung it around in a huge sweep at Alex’s throat. The barbarian ducked, and then cut to move straight at the orc. He was inside Bakku’s guard, and took advantage by thrusting his blade into the orc’s windpipe. He felt the tip strike the spine, before yanking it out and thrusting into Bakku’s belly, angled up to his heart.
“Ouch,” Alex said, staring the shocked orc in the eyes. “What hurt worse? Being stabbed in the heart? Or me cock blocking you from Tiana?”
Bakku’s eyes rolled up, and he dropped bonelessly to the floor. Tiana came up beside Alex, huffing and puffing, long hair tousled, all naked sweaty and sexy looking. She looked at Bakku’s corpse, and then punched Alex in the arm.
“Hey! What was that for?”
“I wanted to kill him,” she snapped, eyes flashing.
A cheer went up out on deck, so they rushed out to find Wraith alone in the sky. Sailors were pulling Samara and Benarus over with ropes. Nakato and other pirates were busy tossing dead bodies over the side, along with the few prisoners. Alex averted his eyes.
“Nicanor betrayed us,” Tiana shouted to the crew. “But Alex, Helene, Qinny, Samara, and Benarus saved the day. We owe our victory, and our lives to them!”
The crew cheered them, clapped them on the back. Tiana ordered a barrel of wine brought up to celebrate. She lifted her first cup up in toast.
“To our saviors!”
Everyone drained their first cup.
“Alex, name your reward,” Tiana said.
Alex paused, thinking. Then a smile spread across his face.
“I want to raid Tal Keer,” he said. “To loot Lord Kalis’ treasure, of course.”
“Mmm, and to rescue a certain princess, I’m sure,” Tiana said, not looking pleased. Then she looked at Nakato. “Set sail for Tal Keer!”
Chapter 27
Wraith banked right and plunged into a small cumulus cloud. It was barely enough to cover the pirate ship. Alex hung onto Port Ballista #3, his battle station. Tiana stood at her post upon the sterncastle, with Helene down in the hold with Samara and Benarus awaiting the captain’s commands. He winked at Qinny, standing on the main deck ready to heal any injured.
She grinned at him with wicked delight. The only thing Qinny loved more that sex was battle. She might be a healer, but that girl was a viscous fighter. Alex looked at her strung bow, which he’d learned was enchanted. So even a one-eyed woman never missed.
The two weeks since Nicanor’s betrayal had been the best two weeks of Alex’s life. Helene and Qinny had moved into the cabin with him and Tiana. The four of them were a family of sorts. Qinny kept calling him her lion, which meant the women were his pride. Or his harem, as she preferred to call it. Neither Tiana nor Helene objected. Hell, if anything, Tiana was having twice as much fun. The women spent as much time with each other as they did with Alex.
Life is good, he thought. He looked to the south. The coastal mountains of the Southern Land rose up before them. A white-washed port city lay at their base. Tal Keer.
Tiana shouted orders. They dropped into the cloud they’d been pacing. Everything got very white and wet. But they dropped through the cloud quickly. Alex could feel their descent in his ears and belly.
The ship had turned toward the city, so he couldn't see it from his position on the ship anymore. Originally, he'd thought it was just a castle overlooking the coast. His girlfriends schooled him in the layout of the Inner Sea and all of the cities and kingdoms along its shores. Tal Keer was an ancient city, which just happened to be named after an even older fortress that overlooked it and the harbor. Lord Kalis had acquired and owned Tal Keer Castle.
“Dragons!” the lookout in the crow's nest shouted. “Two of them!”
“Now the fun begins,” Myrrine said. She turned to the next ballista over. “Hey, Abdul. Bet we kill a dragon and you don't.”
“How much?” the tall desert nomad turned pirate asked. He was the gunner on that team, despite missing fingers on both hands. “And since when do you have coin to lose?”
“I'll go down on you if you win.”
“And if you win?” he asked.
“Then you go down on me,” she said, wagging her brows. “We both win no matter what!”
“It's a bet,” Abdul laughed.
“Ballista! Look alive!” Captain Tiana called. “Two dragons coming up on the port side!”
“Yeeee-hai!” Myrrine cried. She acted as sighter, peering over the side and pointing at the approaching dragons. “They're almost upon us, Alex. Ready. Ready. Shoot!”
A reddish-brown monster surged up just fifty feet off the port side. Alex swung the heavy wooden ballista around on its swivel base, aimed, and pulled the trigger lever.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Three of the four ballistas loosed their bolts. Alex watched his bolt pass through the dragon's vast, leather wing without causing the beast any noticeable problem. Another bolt passed behind him, and Abdul's bolt struck a horn on the dragon's triangular snout.
The dragon shook its head, roared out a thick stream of fire, and then dropped out of sight. Alex had just enough time to notice it was fighting without a rider. Naar was frantically cranking the ballista back, while Myrrine waited to place another bolt into place.
Thunk!
The last ballista on the port side fired and missed a gray-green dragon. That dragon was
also riderless, and banking towards the ship. The gunner led the beast too much, and released his bolt at the same time the dragon turned towards them.
“Hurry up!” Alex cried, already taking aim. It was a perfect shot. “He's about to flame us!”
The dragon’s mouth opened wide, glowing fire building up deep inside.
“Ballista up!” Naar shouted.
“Armed!” Myrrine cried.
“Shot out!”Alex pulled the trigger. Their bolt struck dead center in the dragon's chest, followed by Abdul's bolt in the neck a few seconds later. “Got him!”
The dragon squawked and flapped ineffectually, as he plummeted to the dark seas below. Alex high-fived Myrrine and Naar, which was something he'd taught them to do. The other pirates looked at them askew.
“Loser,” Myrrine called to Abdul. “See you after the battle to pay off your wager.”
“Are you crazy? It was my bolt that killed the dragon.”
“There's still another dragon,” Alex said. “Hurry up and arm me.”
Naar was already cranking away, slowly pulling the powerful drawstring back.
Thunk! Thunk!
Alex whirled around. The reddish-brown dragon was attacking the starboard side. Two of the ballistas had fired, but he rose up too high too fast for the other two to shoot at him. His eyes widened as the dragon pulled his head back, gathering up his fire.
“Helene! Drop us a two beat!”
Wraith fell away from under his feet. Everyone grabbed onto something. Unfortunately, the pirate in the crow's nest didn't hear the command. For two heartbeats Wraith fell straight down, and then Helene reactivated the lifting spell. It was enough. The dragon's fire passed harmlessly above them. The lost pirate was caught by him a second later, and eaten in two bites.
Turning sharply, a strong gust made Wraith lean way over to starboard. Alex held onto the ballista to keep from sliding across the deck and probably off to die on the rocky shore below. He glanced back, and when he looked off the port side there was the dragon. It was racing straight at them.
“Dragon off port!” he cried, aimed, and yanked the trigger.
Thunk!
He watched his bolt flying straight at the dragon. His breath caught, and the bolt struck a mortal wound.
“Yeee-hai, right between the eyes!” Myrrine shouted. “Ha-ha! Take that dragon!”
“We killed both dragons!” Naar shouted, dancing around. “Best ballista team ever!”
Alex could only gawk. People were pounding him on the back. They laughed and praised his aim. He knew the truth. Blind luck. Yet, when he looked towards Tiana, he found her looking at him with pride.
“Prepare to take the tower!” Tiana commanded from the sterncastle. “Helene, drop us faster!”
“Grapples to port!” Nakato commanded. “Prepare to secure to the tower! Pull steel!”
Nakato pulled his cutlass and held it high. Alex pulled his sword and pressed up to the port railing. Looking over the side, he finally saw the massive round tower below. They were dropping faster than he realized.
The top of the tower was packed with armed men. Kalis' soldiers. Alex didn't see the evil lord, but there were so many men it was hard to make out faces.
“Three hundred feet!” Tiana cried, and Qinny relayed down to Helene. “Two hundred feet!” Their descent started to slow. “One hundred feet!”
Wraith's descent slowed quickly, and Alex felt it in his feet. It felt like he doubled in weight for a moment. The captain continued to call the distance, and Helene brought them right up to the battlements atop the tower. A dozen grappling hooks arched over, and in nothing flat the ship was pulled in tight to the tower.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Alex froze. It never occurred to him to shoot the enemy soldiers with his ballista. From what he saw of the other three teams' shots, each bolt killed three or four men. At point blank range the bolts passed through man after man, before continuing past the tower.
Damn. Nakato’s going to ream my ass for leaving my post too soon, he thought.
Qinny let out a wild battle cry. He spotted her up on the sterncastle now, loosing one arrow after another. Her arrows flashed with red fire, glowing blood red as they sped down into the hearts of her foes. Every arrow found its target.
I gotta get me one of those enchanted bows.
Wraith bumped against the tower as the lines were secured. Alex forgot all else as battlelust consumed him. He went over that rail, and leapt across to the tower with a wild battle cry on his lips.
Chapter 28
“Death to Kalis!” Alex screamed as he fell from the sky.
He swung his sword straight down, slicing a man in two from the top of his head to his groin. Alex froze for a heartbeat, shocked by what he'd done. Then his new persona kicked in and he was spinning, kicking, slicing, and stabbing. It seemed like for every man killed or wounded, two more replaced him.
The tower guards were half armored and half not. Most of them were the men of the desert, dark and fierce looking. Their armor and helmets looked different than what he'd seen in Kandos. And most of their armor looked mismatched and battered.
“No quarter!” Tiana cried. “Slaughter them all!”
Alex paused to watch her for a second. Tiana's hair was pulled back in a long, thick braid that danced behind her like a snake. She fought with a curved sword and dagger, no armor. She was back in her leather “teddy” and thigh boots, looking like something out of a wet dream. But she was viciously deadly. For every man Alex killed, she killed at least two. She was a whirlwind of death and destruction, and was quickly drenched in blood and gore.
“Like a goddess of death,” he muttered. “Or a not so grim reaper.”
If nothing else, Tiana was inspiring. Alex felt compelled to fight harder, fiercer. No mercy? No problem. The big blond warrior felt no pity or remorse. Death was his stock-in-trade. He was a mercenary, a sword for hire. Fighting was his glory.
Alex never felt so alive.
“I am the god of death!” he cried, and swung his sword. Three men lost their heads in that single stroke. “Bow to me or die!”
Men turned and ran. That surprised him. Not many, but he frightened them so much they ran. Alex laughed and quickly settled into a stroke and rhythm movement he vaguely recalled being taught in his youth way up north.
Am I losing myself within Har of Jarn?
Memories of his previous life seemed to be fading away. His previous twenty-first century American life seemed so long ago, and oddly like a dream. This life was more real. Drinking, wenching, and slaughtering his enemies seemed so natural and right.
“To the stairs!” Tiana shouted. “Take away their escape route!”
That order caused an exodus of the guards. It started as a trickle, but soon turned into a rout. Men dropped their weapons and ran. Alex was amazed how fast a general panic and retreat could consume a group of otherwise stalwart warriors.
Alex redoubled his efforts. He now had a goal to achieve. Getting to the stairs first seemed paramount in his head. If any other pirate reached them first it would be a terrible loss and he'd lose face. Why, he wasn't sure, but it was the only thing that mattered.
“Ha!” he cried, thrusting his blade completely through a big guard.
He missed the heart, and his blade stuck. The guard was still alive, looking surprised, and then his eyes narrowed. Alex realized he was open to be killed. Instead of panicking, he pulled his long knife and thrust it up under the guard's chin, impaling his head on it.
The guard's eyes rolled up. Alex yanked the knife out, put his foot on the guard's chest, and kicked him off of his sword. Then the barbarian warrior slashed left and right, taking out two more guards. Stepping forward, closer to the stairs, he gutted an unarmored man. He almost slipped on that man's spilled guts, but stomped over him to engage the next guard.
“The Red Death is coming for you!” Alex bellowed.
Qinny’s red-glowing arrows fell fast and furious, each
one finding a throat or heart. Other archers up in Wraith’s rigging rained death down on the defenders.
More guards turned and ran. He laughed and continued the slaughter. Then he spotted both Tiana and Nakato closing on the stairs. The honor would go to one of them if he didn't hurry.
“I will not be denied!”
There were at least five men between Alex and the stairs. Tiana had just a pair of opponents, while Nakato had three men standing against him. Alex had a moment of panic. Then he gut-stabbed the man before him, who fell to his knees in agony. And he saw his chance.
“Victory is mine!” Alex cried, stepping on the wounded man's shoulder.
He propelled himself upward. His sword swung and sliced off the top of next guard's head. Alex stepped on his shoulder as he started to collapse. And then he stepped on the head of the man behind him. Leaping over the next guard, who was thrusting his sword up at him, Alex came down with his sword upon the next man. Slicing him in half, Alex turned to skewer the guard who'd tried to stab him overhead. And then he bulled his way through to the stairs.
“Ha! The glory is mine!”
Standing before the stairwell, Alex hacked and slashed to keep the guards from escaping their bloody fate. He laughed and taunted them, and the pirates slaughtered the last of the roof guards.
“Well done,” Tiana said, giving him an admiring look. “You impress me more every day, Alex.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Nakato said, and kicked Alex in the middle of the chest. “Don't stop here, keep going!”
Alex tumbled backwards down the stairs. He heard Tiana's laughter. If nothing else, he cleared the stairwell for his comrades.
“Jeeze,” he grumbled, rising slowly to his feet on the next level down to glower at the shocked looking men. Tiana's laughter echoed down the stairs. “I think she's batshit crazy.”
“I heard that!” Tiana called.
“Kill him!” a commanding voice shouted.
Lord Kalis stood across the room, at the head of the stairs down to the next level. The exiled noble wore a plain white kilt held up by a wide red belt and red sandals. A straight sword hung from his belt. Alex's eyes narrowed and rage boiled within. All he wanted was his sword through Kalis' heart.