Angels Blood

by Gerard Bond

  “Open fire! Rake the decks!”

  The crossbow men and archers let loose an enfilade of fire that covered the deck of the enemy ship hitting and killing most of the active crew that were exposed.

  Then the Admiral waited just a few seconds as the ship glided past the starboard side. They could see enemy troops pouring out onto the deck, raising their bows and firing. He dropped his raised hand and two men per pot all lit, ran to the edge of the railing and dropped the pots over the edge of the ship.

  The enemy down below didn’t stand a chance. Ten pots carrying five gallons each of tar-oil hit the deck below and exploded on impact, oil spraying over them and setting everything alight. The screaming was terrible as men collapsed to the deck writhing as they were covered in flames, others throwing themselves over the edge. The fire revealed to the enemy their presence.

  The sister ship Vanquish made a beeline directly at the ships in the center with the Aggressor following. On the flanks the frigates had been maneuvering in wait for first contact and once that started they moved forward and begun firing on the few Man O Wars they found, there were another six all up sailing individually along on the flanks and were easy pickings in the darkness. The fleet of twelve frigates were able to sail through them first with a withering fire of arrows and crossbow bolts followed then by catapult fire to set them alight, after the initial surprise it was simply a matter of time to final defeat.

  Prince Alard studied the seven ships ahead. They were much larger than the Man O Wars and much lower in the water.

  It was then he then realized what they were and calling out at the top of his lungs in the direction of the deck, he yelled out,

  “Cargo ships!! Boarding Parties! Signal our sister ship to prepare the same!”

  The ship’s deck sprang to life. Men poured out from below and waited, swords unsheathed. The junior officers were busy barking out orders and getting the grappling hooks ready. Archers waited quietly for the order to fire, focusing as the ships closed.

  “One hundred men at the ready for boarding!” Prince Alard cried out and as the lead cargo ship approached they started taking some arrow fire but it was light.

  “Fire!! Two flights only!”

  The Archers let loose on the enemy deck, quickly reloaded and fired once more. Then they stood back as the second flight was hitting the deck, the men holding the hooks were already throwing them out and pulling hard.

  “Two more flights! Fire!”

  Again the archers let loose two arrows each and as the ropes were tied off, Prince Alard cried out once more,

  “Board now!”

  100 men surged forward over the edge and onto the enemy deck dispatching what feeble resistance there was. A couple of junior officers were on board barking orders, flushing out the last of the enemy sailors below.

  “Get down below and make sure that any attempts to scuttle are dealt with!” Prince Alard heard a junior officer cry out on that deck.

  They were working like a well-oiled machine, they all knew their duty and did it well, all those war games were paying off. Then the call came out,

  “The ship is secured!”

  As soon as the Admiral heard those words he signaled for the grapples to be removed.

  “On to the next one! Ready 100 boarders!”

  On they sailed to the next ship, Prince Alard could see the Vanquish was moving off their first cargo ship too. They just might capture all of them if they were lucky. The second was a repeat of the first and it didn’t take long to secure that ship either.

  In the reflections of the burning Man O Wars, he could see the frigates had gotten into the act as well. There was three on each of the two cargo ships at the rear. Vanquish had also captured its second ship, but as he looked to the seventh and last ship he could see her settling in the water. They were too late to get to it and as it foundered, parts of loose wares floated free, men clinging to them as it went down.

  All of a sudden Alard felt rather tired. The adrenaline was subsiding and he was feeling drained. It had been an exciting twenty minutes. Turning to First mate Jean, he gave his orders for the evening.

  “I want a full report of casualties as well as what we have captured and what was sunk. Contact the fleet and let them know we continue on sailing south with our booty. The helm is yours Jean.”

  Jean saluted and responded that all would be taken care of. Prince Alard turned to go to his quarters. He saw both Night and Loranda standing to one side and gave them a look and continued on. He needed a coffee right about now and maybe a bit of rum in it too.

  In less than an hour the report came back, thirty-four men dead and fifty wounded, twelve seriously. Alard was surprised, it could have been worse. The report also showed they had captured another two Man O Wars. It had been Captain Koberg again. This man was proving himself a very capable Naval officer.

  The manifests of the six cargo ships also made for interesting reading. Two were filled with ballistas and catapults knocked down for sea travel and also had quite a number of wagons too. One was simply filled with lumber and other building materials. A fourth ship contained food supplies and even a dozen large kegs of beer. The fifth carried all sorts of weapons including swords, crossbows, bows, arrows and even some armored clothing. The sixth ship carried winter clothing, tons of it.

  It was a fair haul, so what to do with it now? He could burn it all denying the enemy of ever getting it back but he felt it could all be put to better use and that depended on what Lord Raz had managed to organize at Port Valderus.

  The following morning Night came to the Admirals quarters with some fresh information. It wasn’t much but it would help with organizing the two groups. She had been in contact with Keera again and gotten a much clearer idea of what was happening. She now knew Wollfen was on board an enemy ship and on his way to Isogorr. She also knew that Dark had mounted a rescue mission and was sailing fast to catch him. As for Lord Raz, he was busy moving anything not nailed down in Port Valderus to the new deep-water port four days further south. Lord Raz though was staying in Port Valderus for now. So armed with this information Alard decided to sail directly for Valderus and hook up with Lord Raz to discuss their next move.

  Turning to Nightwing, he thanked her for the information and allowed her to leave. He was in a tight situation he realized, being in the southern ocean he was cut off from the rest of the fleet and regular contact with the Kingdom. It occurred to him his father the King just might toy with the idea of sending a rescue mission simply to get him back and knowing of the fleet strength at Port Cholandra he knew that would prove a costly exercise if not disastrous.

  There was also the point of who his father might put in charge of the fleet while he is out of contact. While he had left Captain Rouillard in charge of the northern fleet, he was sure that once the King got word of his appointment, the King would override his decision and put someone of the court in his place. Thinking on that, he couldn’t think of a single person amongst that court who even had the remotest idea on running a fleet.

  He had to go back, there was nothing for it. Once he had arrived at Port Valderus he would have his sit-down with Lord Raz to work out the basis for a southern resistance and then he would have to return to Oceania. It occurred to him too that he would have to groom someone to be his second in command in the event of him being away from time to time as the war progressed. Some would say it was rash of him to continue south instead of breaking off and returning home, but he still felt he had done the right thing.

  It was late that night they approached the coast where Port Valderus lay and it was in total darkness. He hoped they hadn’t abandoned the place altogether, that would have been a tactical error. A junior officer called out,

  “I see a light sir, just a little further down and almost level with the ground.”

  Yes, he saw it now too, there indeed were people still in the Port.

  “Send a cutter to shore and find Lord Raz, ask him to please accept my request
for his presence on this flagship. Make sure everyone is wearing full Kingdom dress, I don’t want you to be mistaken for Isogorreans.”

  The junior officer nodded and went off.

  It was a half hour before the cutter returned, Lord Raz standing on the foredeck watched as they approached a huge warship looming out of the dark. They drew beside her and Raz couldn’t help but look straight up at the sides of this behemoth. This had to be the biggest warship he had ever seen.

  Prince Alard had retired to the common room and Lord Raz was ushered in. Alard looked him up and down as he entered and apart from the finery he had obviously donned before coming out to his ship, he could see this man with his weathered skin and hard eyes was no stranger to the hardships of the sea.

  “Lord Raz, welcome on board the flagship Aggressor, it is a pleasure to meet a man of your reputation.”

  Raz was taken a bit aback at that, this Prince knew of him?

  “I thank you my liege, but I’m a little surprised you would know of someone as unimportant as I.”

  The Prince smiled a little before responding,

  “I have always made it my business to know the people of all the ports of the Kingdom and their work history. And yours makes for interesting reading. I may not have ever visited down here, but that doesn’t mean you are forgotten.”

  That made an impression on Raz, he thought the Kingdom didn’t know they existed.

  “Please sit down and tell me of your deep water port and what your capabilities are.”

  The Prince motioned to the desk and also called for wine and a little food, they would be talking for quite awhile.

  “I won’t waste your time Prince Alard. I can tell you that while I have a viable port operational and defendable, it is only new and the jetty in question will only be able to handle maybe four ships at a time. But anything like this,” Raz raised his hands and looked about, “Then it probably will only hold two.”

  “How long to upgrade the jetty in question or even start a second jetty?”

  “It's not as simple as that, it’s a whole infrastructure thing, I have managed to gather 1,800 men so far, most of them are working frantically down at Port Volarus constructing everything that is needed for the population that originally resided here. On top of that we don’t have a lot of access to lumber. We must travel a further twenty miles down the coast past the new port to collect it. The small boats we have don’t carry a lot so the work is slow, but there is the benefit of when there is downtime Keera and Justin are training the men in most forms of combat.”

  The Prince thought on this, a plan was forming in his mind.

  “Tell me what you need Lord Raz, give me a good outline of all the resources to do the job required.”

  Raz looked at him shocked again, was this man going to give him what he needed? He had better aim high.

  “A dozen warships first up would help as well as crew for them too, then I would need at least another dozen brigantines for cargo work and relaying lumber up the coast. Also for the defense of the Port, I would need at least two dozen catapults plus enough weaponry to equip say, 3,000 men so that I had enough in reserve. Oh and I would need to build a food silo of some sort and have food reserves to keep them all fed until we had grown enough crops and such to maintain them.”

  The Prince smiled at him.

  “You certainly have high ambitions don’t you Raz? I understand you already have four Man O Wars in your command?”

  Lord Raz nodded, this is where he gets maybe ten percent of what he asked for he thought to himself. The Prince stood up and made a short request,

  “Come with me.”

  As the Prince exited the room and went onto the deck Raz followed a little puzzled. Standing at the rail Alard pointed out towards some ships in the dark. One, quite large, in fact almost as large as the ship they were standing on. The Prince addressed him now,

  “That ship there you see is one of six that I managed to commandeer from the enemy while coming here. They are loaded to the hilt with lumber, weapons, munitions, food and clothing. Two of the ships have between them sixty catapults and sixty land ballistas as well as a similar number of wagons. There are even the harnesses for horses there too. I can’t give you horses though. I don’t have any.

  One of the ships has a full load of lumber plus four forges and any number of wood and metalworking tools. The fourth ship is loaded with foodstuffs preserved for long storage. The fifth carries swords, knives, bows, crossbows and clothes too innumerable to mention, but I can safely say that it would kit approximately five thousand men, the last ship is filled with winter clothing, you know what that means don’t you?”

  Lord Raz nodded, the enemy planned on staying for quite awhile.

  “I will also give you four more Man O Wars to add to the ones you already have. Three are in good order but the fourth has some fire damage to the bow. You shouldn’t have too much trouble enacting repairs.”

  Lord Raz nodded still feeling a little light headed at all that he was getting.

  “I am also going to give you 450 of my seamen, they are all well trained and good at what they do, on top of that I am going to leave three frigates under your command but controlled by my best captain. His name is Captain Koberg and he is a highly talented officer who will relish any mission you give him. Do you have any questions?”

  Lord Raz was still in a spin. It took him a few seconds to collect himself.

  “Well, you have already given me so much already. My only question would be to discuss tactics. I am sure you don’t want me to sit back and do nothing.”

  Nodding, Alard suggested they go back inside.

  “You know the southern seas better than me. Do you have any suggestions that would not end with Port Volarus being attacked?”

  “Do you have any maps on board of this area?”

  With that request Alard went to the sideboard and removed a large scroll which he unrolled onto the table. Raz, holding one corner, began.

  “We are here and the new port is down here in this bay. Further southwest you will see we have a large number of islands that number about fifty or more. I have been thinking about this and it is my opinion that we should operate a temporary base hidden amongst the islands and conduct raids on their supply lines and retreat to there. With that many islands and timing it so we returned at dusk after a raid, we can have it so they would either lose us amongst them and give up or maybe even run aground if we are lucky.

  There are many ways in but only a few that are deep enough for our Man O Wars. It is a treacherous place and fortunately I know my way around there quite well. The added benefit is we are not exposing the Port to unnecessary danger and can supply the raiders from there.”

  Prince Alard watched and listened as Raz spoke, he saw a man relishing the job at hand and an enthusiasm for something that would challenge him greatly. It was good to find a man who would not shirk his responsibilities but endeavor to do all he could and from his reputation he was a very competent leader too.

  “I agree with your summations totally, you have my permission to do all you wish in the southern districts here. In fact I am giving you a full title of Supreme Commander of the southern theater of operations. I will have my adjutant draw up the necessary papers and also present you with a seal ring of the Kingdom. Now before I make this happen, Do you Lord Raz accept this responsibility I am giving you? To promise to aid and execute the laws and orders of the Throne of King Arrick?”

  Lord Raz was taken aback again and again he hesitated catching himself. With a serious tone befitting the station he was being given, he knelt before the Prince and bowed his head.

  “I do solemnly swear to enact the wishes of the crown in serving the best interests of this nation, may the Gods smile upon me.”

  “Arise Lord Raz, you are now Supreme Commander designate. Your full title shall be indentured once verification is given by the King himself. I can tell you that it will be but a formality.”

  Lor
d Raz arose and thanked him for all that he had given. Not only would they be able to defend themselves, but the hardships they were facing were alleviated greatly by the men and materials Alard had presented him.

  “I shall now speed you on your way. There is an open boat ready to carry you to one of the frigates I have given you. There you will meet Captain Koberg and be able to make your acquaintance with him.”

  Lord Raz was a little surprised.

  “You are not staying at present?”

  The Prince shook his head.

  “No I intend on returning home immediately after you leave to rally our forces. I shall remain in contact but know this, we have just a little under four months to winter. If we can delay their forces to the point they cannot launch a major attack on the Capitol before winter sets in then we will have given ourselves a five-month reprieve. With that we should be able to mobilize quite a large army.”

  “I understand the ramifications of what you are saying.”

  Lord Raz excused himself and left. 'If only we had a few more like him in the north, we wouldn’t have so much to worry about.' the Prince thought to himself.

  Lord Raz was thinking similar thoughts of the Prince. If the Kingdom had a few more like him they would be served well indeed. Raz now had a fleet of his own and not only that but enough resources to supply and outfit a fair sized army of which he would be in charge of too. It was all very daunting but an exciting prospect at the same time as well.

  Once he had conferred with this Captain Koberg, Raz would order him to set sail south while he returned to Port Valderus and organized the local garrison to take care of themselves. With that enacted, he would move to his new base of operations in Port Volarus and begin the huge task of organizing all these new men and materials.

  “Lord Raz?”

  He turned around and found before him two beautiful women dressed in finery.

  “May I help you miladies?”