Simply ramming a dreadnought would have been an exercise in utter futility. The zombie ships were seaworthy, but they weren’t built for ramming. Luckily, ramming wasn’t all they would be doing. Timmy had spent the past week – when he wasn’t working on the zombie shark-hydra-drake with Katie – working with the demolition rats. Fire ships – ships loaded with flammable or explosive materials – had the potential to be deadly, but in the hands of a necromancer they were diabolical. Zombies could guide a fire ship right into the target unlike a normal fire ship that had to be set adrift or abandoned by its crew prior to impact. And all six of Timmy’s zombie ships were carrying as many explosives as the demolition rats had been able to make. And those little blighters had been able to make a lot of explosives, especially when they factored in all of the things Gerald had stored away.
Honestly, Timmy was quite curious about the demolition rats’ newest design. It was a combination of conventional explosives and magical explosives built around some of the golem crystals they’d gotten on a previous mission and primed with some of Avraniel’s magic. How big an explosion would it make? He got his answer a moment later.
BOOM.
The blast tore the dreadnought apart. It lacked the fiery beauty of Avraniel’s earlier attack, but it made up for it in raw force. The explosion shredded the dreadnought’s deck and ripped through its hull. The ship came apart so violently that great chunks of it flew through the air and struck the ships closest to it, sending them reeling away. Another cheer went up from the galleon and the other ships, and the zombie ships continued their relentless advance, the ten remaining ships on the Eternal Empire’s side feeling far less secure about their victory.
“Old Man, Amanda,” Timmy said. “Get onto the ships behind us. It’s time to take the battle to them. And, Katie… it’s time to let Roger out to play.”
As the two smaller vessels behind the galleon began to break away, their superior speed and manoeuvrability allowing them to angle in toward the galleons on the opposite wing of the Eternal Empire’s fleet for boarding, the galleon and the dreadnought finally turned side on. Now that the enemy fleet had been forced to split its attention between them and the zombie ships, it was time to attack with everything they had. One of the remaining zombie ships ran into one of the enemy galleons. There was another tremendous boom, and the rear of the galleon was consumed in a ball of fire. The surviving zombies staggered up onto the deck of the galleon and fought off attempts by the ship’s crew to stymie the damage as the crippled vessel began to sink.
And then, cutting through the water like an arrow from a bow, there was Roger – the zombie shark-hydra-drake.
* * *
Old Man teleported onto the deck of one of the smaller vessels. He already had his sword drawn. “The order has been given for us to close in for boarding.”
The captain of the vessel nodded. “We were going to go after one of the galleons, but the dreadnought on the far side is exposed. They’ve already taken down two, and that crazy elf of ours is currently aiming at the third.”
A titanic column of flame roared up into the sky. The dreadnought in question almost capsized from the force of the attack before it managed to right itself, swaying back and forth in the water. A furious broadside in return was met by more of Avraniel’s fire as the galleon’s siege mages laid into the dreadnought. A boulder fired by a catapult flew through the air and thudded into the side of the massive ship. The armour plate it hit cracked and dented. Old Man had no doubt that Timmy had helped the boulder along with his magic. A second boulder hit in the same place and tore a hole in the hull. Unfortunately, it was above the waterline, but the dreadnought was still losing ground although Avraniel had no time to land a decisive blow as she was forced to begin blocking some of the incoming attacks with her fire to keep the galleon from sinking.
“That sounds fine.” Old Man glanced toward the other vessel that had struck a similar course. The two ships covered the water quickly, closing in on the dreadnought with incredible speed. “I imagine they will attack as well.”
“That’s the idea.” The captain raised his voice, “Brace for impact. They know what we’re trying to do!”
Old Man lashed out with his sword and cut through half a dozen spells and a ballista bolt before they could hit the ship. The vessel’s other defenders did their best, but a bolt of lightning blew apart the main mast, and a shockwave of some sort tore a hole in the hull near the bow. A stray ice attack ripped another hole in the starboard side. Mercifully, it was well above the waterline. The ship was badly battered, but both they and the other smaller vessel were now drawing level with the dreadnought.
“Boarding parties!” the captain screamed, drawing his own sword and grabbing a shield. “Board them! Show them what we’re made of!”
For a split-second, Old Man was taken back to another time – another life. A man who might as well have been his brother would have turned to him with a smile and commented dryly that if things went wrong it would be better to die on an enemy’s sword than drown. Ah… those had been good days. He shook himself. Those days were gone now, long gone. He had new enemies to face.
He joined the first wave of soldiers and mages as they spilled onto the deck of the enemy dreadnought. His first opponent rushed at him with a spear. Old Man raised one eyebrow at the other man’s haste and stepped to the side. His opponent went right over the railing of the deck with a startled squawk. Given how much armour he’d been wearing, Old Man did not like his odds.
However, he soon encountered more sensible opponents. His sword sang through the air as he took command of the charge, falling back into old habits, as he fought to buy the mages behind him the time they needed to use their magic. They didn’t have to kill everyone on board. Simply sinking the dreadnought would constitute a win, and although it was heavily armoured on the outside, a few good blasts of magic below deck or at the masts and rudder could cripple it. It wasn’t long before the soldiers and mages from the other ship joined them. Amanda arrived in a flash of crimson and violet. The vampire was garbed in close-fitting trousers and a blouse, both black and trimmed in red and purple. She was wielding a rapier that had been brought from her family’s vaults at her request. He wondered if it had belonged to her once, perhaps even centuries ago. She stabbed one man neatly through the chest, twisted to dodge the jet of flame a female mage threw at her, and sliced open the mage’s throat. Rather than spraying onto the deck, the blood from the people Amanda had killed gathered in the air around her.
“Your skills are truly impressive,” Amanda murmured. “Your technique is impeccable, and even my eyes can barely catch the moment you choose to strike.”
“Practice makes perfect,” Old Man replied. He parried another attack and shifted his blade to let his opponent stumble past. He ran him through before he could regain his footing, and his blood joined the dark red fluid floating in the air around Amanda. “What do you intend to do with all of the blood?”
“I shall drink some of it, of course,” Amanda replied. “Using my concealment magic throughout our trip has left me rather thirsty. A vampire can also use blood in ways a normal mage cannot.” Her brows furrowed, and a distinctly predatory expression twisted her elegant features. “Like this.” The blood drifted into the shape of a giant scythe and hardened, taking on the consistency of finely forged steel. She grasped her makeshift weapon and used it to cut down another one of the dreadnought’s masts before she carved a deep gash through the deck and on through the hull of the dreadnought. The ship began to list as water rushed into the gap.
“That is not something I have ever seen before,” Old Man murmured.
Amanda chuckled and beckoned with one hand. A tendril of blood floated to her lips. “I must confess that only ancient vampires are capable of such feats. And even amongst ancients, such skills take many years to perfect.”
Old Man was about to say something when a wave of magic shook the area. He glanced to the side to see that one of the
ir ships had begun to sink – it was the one he had been on – and the other one had been forced to disengage as a pair of galleons finally managed to offer assistance to the stricken dreadnought. One of the galleons was also sending a boarding party to help drive them off.
“Amanda,” Old Man said. “Get the others off the ship now. I intend to sink it.”
“Oh?” The ancient vampire shrugged. “Very well. I shall leave it in your hands.” Her body dissolved into a fine mist, and she swiftly snatched up the other members of their boarding party before reappearing with them on the remaining vessel. Survivors from their other ship were being helped aboard, and Old Man felt a twinge of sorrow for those who had not been able to escape safely. He had not known them well, but they had been his comrades in arms. The least he could do now was avenge them.
He stretched his shoulders. “It has been a while since I’ve done this. I hope I’m not rusty.”
Old Man vanished and reappeared above the battered dreadnought. His magic allowed him to manipulate time and space. It was how he teleported. But used differently, it allowed him to strike with far greater force and range than should be possible with a mere sword. Had the dreadnought been fully armed and ready for this attack, it might not have worked. But it would work now. He sheathed his sword and then drew it to strike with impossible speed as his magic tore through space itself to cut with a keenness no physical blade could ever hope to match. The name of the attack echoed in his mind, a name that a dear friend of his had come up with, laughing at how ostentatious it was compared to Old Man’s humble and reserved nature. He smiled. If only his old friend could see him now.
Heaven Flash.
There was a flash of light – a side effect of cutting space itself – and the water on either side of the dreadnought suddenly parted as if cut by some huge invisible blade. Then the dreadnought split in two, cut cleanly right down the middle. Old Man allowed himself a moment to savour the sight – it had been a while since he’d used such a technique – and then teleported to Amanda on the deck of their remaining ship. It was battered, of course, but still seaworthy.
“Fall back,” the captain bellowed. “Get us out of here!” With the two galleons now focusing their attacks on them, they had no choice but to defend desperately, losing their smaller mast in the mad scramble to create distance. “We’ve done what we can. Now, we need to stay alive, so we can help storm the island.”
Amanda regarded Old Man with interest. “What an… intriguing technique.”
Old Man tapped his sheathed sword. “It was also necessary.” He frowned. “The captain of my ship…”
“Ah.” Amanda nodded at one corner of the deck. “He was wounded, but I was able to get to him in time. The healers are seeing to him.”
“Good.” Something moved in the water, and Old Man frowned. “What is that?”
Amanda followed his gaze. Her full lips curved into a coquettish smile. “I believe that is Katie’s pet project. She calls it… Roger.”
* * *
Katie gasped as two of the zombie ships sank, brought down by the combined firepower of several galleons. The last of the zombie ships, limping along and taking on water, managed to ram one of the galleons. The two ships exploded, and bits of wood from both of them rained down on the water. That left one dreadnought and four galleons still in the battle. One of their smaller vessels had sunk, and the other had taken substantial damage. Meanwhile, Jake’s dreadnought had pulled alongside the enemy dreadnought, and the two ships were trading blow after blow. Had they not lent Jake some of their mages, the former privateers would almost certainly have sunk by now. At the same time, their galleon was busy fighting off the enemy galleons, something that was only possible due to how utterly ridiculous Avraniel’s magic was. As crazy as it sounded, they were actually pushing the other ships back under a hail of fire. Spot had been ordered to stay close to their ship. His scales weren’t thick enough yet to shrug off the kind of firepower on display here. However, he’d done his part, burning several smaller boats that had been launched in an attempt to sneakily board their galleon.
But now, it was time for Roger to do his thing. A smile slipped onto Katie’s lips as she reached out to her zombie shark-hydra-drake. She’d kept him in reserve so far, hidden well out of sight. But with all but one of the dreadnoughts gone – and the one remaining locked in combat – it was time for him to shine. Her magic pulsed, and she urged her new zombie to go introduce himself.
With startling speed, the zombie raced through the water. She aimed him for the galleon closest to where Old Man and Amanda were. She’d seen their other ship go down, and she wasn’t about to let theirs sink too. Roger upped his speed, flapping his wings underwater like extra fins. He was fifty feet of giant shark covered in armour and with a specially designed battering ram attached to his head. The galleon would never know what hit it.
Crunch.
Her zombie leapt clear out of the water at the last moment, spewing acid from his hydra heads. The acid splashed over the hull of the galleon, melting through its armour and eating away at the wooden hull below. Then the battering ram itself made contact. The reinforced metal pierced right through the hull, and Roger’s weight turned the zombie into a huge projectile that smashed an even bigger hole in the side of the ship. The galleon listed immediately, dragged to one side by Roger’s weight, and the zombie wrenched himself free. Water flooded through the gaping hole he left behind. Shouts of terror and alarm rang out as the crew got their first real look at Roger. Katie allowed herself a small smile. They had better be scared of Roger. She and her master had spent a week and a half working almost non-stop with very little sleep to finish him in time. The zombie spewed more acid at the doomed ship and then swam away, already angling toward another galleon.
“You made one scary zombie,” Travers muttered. Katie had retreated back to the quarterdeck to get a better view of the battlefield, so she could command Roger as effectively as possible. “By all the gods, I wasn’t sure that monster of yours would even work, but he works pretty damn well.”
Her master chuckled. “Never underestimate a necromancer, never mind two, with free time on their hands and plenty of magic.” He frowned. “Leave the galleons. Aim for the dreadnought instead. Jake and the others could use a hand.”
“Its armour is probably too thick.” Katie cackled. “But that’s okay.”
With a grace that belied his awkward and monstrous form, Roger leapt out of the water. His eight drake wings beat the air mightily, and he landed right in the middle of the dreadnought’s deck. There was a moment of stunned silence as the ship’s defenders tried to understand what they were looking at. Katie had a feeling a few of them almost went mad on the spot at seeing the sheer awesomeness of a zombie shark-hydra-drake for the first time. Her lips curled, and she sent a single command to her zombie through her magic.
Smash them.
Roger wheeled about, smashing one mast and spraying acid everywhere. Terrified people ran in all directions, and it wasn’t long before they’d given up any semblance of defending their ship in favour of simply leaping overboard and trying to swim to a nearby galleon for safety. Quite a few even began swimming toward Jake’s dreadnought, screaming their surrender. It was the opportunity Jake needed. His battered dreadnought attacked again, and the enemy ship, bereft of many of its mages and further damaged by all of the acid and Roger’s continuing rampage, was soon sinking beneath the waves. Katie cackled. This was why people should never mess with a necromancer.
She ordered Roger to continue attacking the other ships and turned her attention to the problem in front of them. They had been advancing steadily, and they had almost reached the inner barrier. However, things were not looking good. Even if they broke through it, there was an army waiting for them. Even Avraniel might not be able to turn the tide since there appeared to be powerful magical weapons that were preparing to fire the instant the barrier came down.
“What are we going to do, master?” Kati
e asked. “There’s an army inside the barrier.”
Timmy grimaced. The remaining enemy ships were going down quickly now that Roger had helped give them the advantage. Clearly, they hadn’t expected a zombie shark-hydra-drake although, in fairness, Katie doubted that anyone could reasonably have expected that. “This is where our plan gets tricky. Basically, we’re going to have to try to break through the barrier and have our surviving ships offer supporting fire while we charge the shore.” He scanned the area with his spyglass. “Wait!” he cried. “Katie, have Roger take a closer look at that lump on the other side of the harbour. Tell me what it is.”
Katie immediately ordered Roger to veer toward the lump in the water. She closed her eyes and deepened her link with the zombie, seeing what he saw. Her eyes opened. “No way.” If what Roger was seeing was right…
Her master peered through the spyglass again. “Yes, way.”
The lump in the water was not something Katie had expected to see out here, nor had her master. But it made a frightening sort of sense. Some of the world’s deepest waters were near here, which meant this place was not far from the breeding grounds used by krakens and other monsters of the deep. Such creatures were also often attracted to strong magic – like the magic needed to repair the Eye. The Eternal Empire may well have been forced to fend off such creatures regularly precisely because of the work they were doing on the Eye.
Krakens were truly titanic creatures once they reached maturity. The largest kraken that Katie had ever heard of had measured ten miles or so across. So even if someone managed to kill a kraken, getting rid of the corpse could be incredibly difficult. The flesh was extremely tough, and most people thought it tasted terrible. The people in charge of this island had done what people normally did when they managed to kill a kraken but didn’t want to sell it – they’d left it in the water. Her master also suspected that they either had a skilled necromancer or someone who knew a lot about necromancy – they’d managed to detect his zombie fish quite quickly, after all – so leaving it in the water was perfectly reasonable. They could reanimate it later.
Two Necromancers, a Dragon, and a Vampire (The Unconventional Heroes Series Book 3) Page 39