by Rob J. Hayes
“That it?” Daimen said. “Ah, we’re fucked for sure.” His jaw dropped as four successive explosions ripped a massive hole in the North Storm.
Chapter 60 - The Phoenix
Keelin tasted blood, felt it leaking down the side of his face and dripping from his chin. The arrow had grazed his temple. It occurred to him then that if the arrow had been just a couple of fingers to the right, he would have lost an eye. Worse than that, he would probably be dead. It was a sobering thought.
Arrows were still being traded back and forth between the two ships, and many of The Phoenix’s crew were up and pushing against the other vessel. Keelin felt as though he were in a daze, watching the scene unfold without taking part in it.
“Get down, Cap’n,” Jolan hissed, grabbing hold of Keelin’s arm and pulling him down below the railing.
Keelin blinked the daze away and reached up to touch the cut on his temple. It stung like a nest of bees, but it didn’t feel too serious.
“Are we free?” he shouted.
“Rigging is caught,” someone shouted back.
“Cut it loose,” Keelin roared, and he gave Jolan a pat on the shoulder by way of thanks for pulling him to safety.
Keelin waited for what seemed like forever. Arrows still flitted back and forth between the two ships. One enterprising soldier tried to leap across and was quickly stabbed by the pirates hiding beneath the safety of the railing.
“We’re free and clear!” The shout brought a smile to Keelin’s face.
“Get us some speed,” he called, breaking from the cover and striding towards the main mast. An arrow flew past him and embedded itself in the wood. “Someone kill that fucking archer.”
The shield that covered the Everfire had an arrow sticking out of it. Keelin pulled it away and carefully picked up the jar of death. They were moving now, gaining speed and starting to slip away from the other ship. He broke into a sprint, holding the jar securely against his chest and hoping it wouldn’t spontaneously burst into flame. He mounted the stairs to the quarterdeck two at a time and slid to a stop, throwing the jar towards the other ship.
The Everfire sailed through the air, but they were simply too far away from the Five Kingdoms vessel. The jar dropped and struck the hull at the waterline, bursting into black flame only to be submerged in water the next moment.
Keelin watched as the dark fire defied the sea and began to climb the side of the ship, leaving an orange blaze in its wake. The Everfire reached the railing and climbed over. It almost looked like it was alive. The screaming started, but it was lost amidst the chorus of battle elsewhere.
Keelin glanced to starboard, then across to the port side. Everywhere he looked, ships were locked with other ships, the crashes and shouts of fighting drifting out across the water. At least five boats were already on fire, and even as he was counting them a pirate ship and a navy vessel sank down into the waves together, locked in a flame-kissed embrace.
North Storm was free from the fight, as planned, and was sailing behind the enemy, attempting to gut as many of them as possible. T’ruck would want to take the ship hunting as soon as possible, but Keelin could only hope the giant’s patience won out.
“Where to, Cap’n?” said Fremen.
“Bring us about,” Keelin said, crossing the deck to stand next to his navigator.
As The Phoenix started to turn to starboard, Keelin scanned the line and spotted Rheel Toa fighting an impossible battle with a Man of War. Deun Burn and his crew would be sorely outnumbered and in need of relief.
“There.” Keelin pointed. “Get us in on the opposite side to Captain Burn.”
Fremen nodded and barked out a laugh. “Aye aye, Cap’n. I hope the Riverlanders appreciate this.”
Keelin hoped the Riverlanders were still alive.
An explosion echoed out across the water, followed by another, and then two more. North Storm was listing to port with smoke pouring out of her belly. So much of the battle rested on T’ruck, his ship, and his crew. So many of their best warriors were aboard the gigantic boat.
“Captan?” Morley said. “Should we help?”
“No,” Keelin growled. “Stick to the plan.”
“North Storm is the plan.”
“She’s not sunk yet, Morley. T’ruck will keep her afloat.”
Chapter 61 - Starry Dawn
Elaina hacked at the shield in front of her again and again and again. Her sword did little damage to the wooden barrier, but it kept the soldier’s guard up high. One of her crew thrust a spear past her leg and up into the man’s groin. He screamed in pain and finally let his guard down. Elaina’s next swipe rent a gash through his screaming face, and he went down bleeding and mewling. Elaina moved on to the next fight, letting the man die in agony.
All the soldiers were carrying shields. Elaina hated shields. Only cowards hid from a fight, and that was what they all were – nothing but cowards trying to keep her from her throne. A small group of soldiers were crowded near the bow of the ship, hiding behind their shields while her crew darted forwards, trying to land a blow on the snivelling grots. Elaina ran at the shields, screaming with murderous intent, and launched herself at the closest soldier. They both went down to the deck and Elaina found herself lying on top of the shield with the man beneath it. She dropped her sword and dragged a knife from her boot. She stabbed around the shield, feeling the blade pierce flesh again and again as she screamed into the dying man’s face. Hot blood spilled out over her hand.
The other soldiers had fallen back and Elaina’s crew were busy pressuring them, pushing them towards the railing. She picked up the dead soldier’s shield and heaved it through the air; it banged against the hull of the other ship. She screamed a wordless cry of fury and plucked her sword from the deck, advancing towards the few soldiers who remained.
One of the men broke and ran, trying to leap back to his own ship. He failed the jump and dropped into the sea below. The other soldiers panicked, but it was too late; Elaina’s crew surged forwards, kicking and stabbing, and sent the remaining three Five Kingdoms men over the side and into the blue.
“We’re free,” cried one of Starry Dawn’s pirates.
“Then get us moving,” Elaina shouted. “And someone throw the bloody fire at them.”
Elaina didn’t wait to see her orders carried out. Wiping slick blood from her hands onto her trousers, she stalked aft towards the wheel, intending to pick a new target and get them close. She felt the need to prove her worth again, and that meant she needed to take more ships than Keelin, more than Morrass, and more than her father.
“Why isn’t Blu getting into the fight?” she said, the question directed at no one.
“Looks like he’s patrolling, Cap,” Gurn said. “Catching any that get through, maybe?”
“Trying his best to stay out of the fight, more like,” Elaina said, and spat on the deck. “Useless, cowardly rat cock.”
The ship shuddered beneath their feet and Elaina looked up. Their rigging was tangled with the navy ship’s, holding the two boats together. New grapples were thrown over the side and hooked onto Starry Dawn just as one of Elaina’s crew tossed the jar of Everfire.
Elaina watched in horror as the jar flipped through the air, bounced off the navy vessel’s sails, and dropped to its deck, exploding into living black flame.
“Cut us free!” she screamed as loudly as she could.
The soldiers and sailors on the navy vessel immediately set about trying to put the fire out, throwing buckets of water over the black blaze to no avail. The fire would consume everything in its path until there was nothing left, and even then it would live on for a while, scorching the sea. If Starry Dawn was still attached, she would go down with the other ship, if she didn’t burn to ash first.
Elaina leapt over the railing onto the main deck and ran to the first grapple she saw. She chopped at it with her sword, cutting the rope clean and taking a fair chunk out of the railing as well.
The fire was spre
ading fast on the other vessel, black flames dancing and spinning, trailing orange and yellow in their wake. The fire grew and grew, popping and crackling, and Elaina could smell burning wood and seared flesh.
Navy soldiers and sailors alike gave up the idea of putting the blaze out and started abandoning ship, many making the jump over to Starry Dawn, but Elaina had no time to fight them. She needed to save her boat.
“Cut us free!” she screamed again, hacking at another grapple as a soldier landed on the deck behind her.
The hulls of the two ships bumped together, and Elaina was close enough to feel the heat of the fire. She hacked away another grapple, then put her hands against the navy ship’s railing and pushed.
“Push!” she cried, closing her eyes tight and shoving with every bit of strength she could muster.
The heat was intense, uncomfortably hot on Elaina’s hands and face. She opened her eyes; the orange blaze was close, far too close for comfort. The black flame, having already set most of the deck on fire, was spinning and turning as it hunted for something fresh to consume.
There were folk all over the railing now, pushing with everything they were worth, and slowly – far too slowly for Elaina’s liking – the two ships started to drift apart.
The black flame shifted course and began to twist towards Starry Dawn, snaking its way across the blazing deck. The heat became oppressive as the other ship was turned into an inferno. The dark fire reached the railing just a few feet away and Elaina backed up a step, her eyes wide and pinned to the monster. The flame held there for a moment, and Elaina wondered if it was watching her somehow. Then it spun away to hunt for easier prey.
A scrap of burning sail floated down into the chasm between the two ships as they drifted apart, the last stretch of fire mercilessly cut away from Starry Dawn. Elaina took a deep breath and coughed from the smoke she inhaled.
“Good job,” she managed to wheeze out. Her heart was racing and her hands were shaking a little from the excitement. She clapped the nearest man on the shoulder and gave him a wild grin. The Five Kingdoms soldier grinned back.
Chapter 62 - North Storm
T’ruck opened his eyes to deep blue smudged with black. The sky was cloudless and beautiful, marred only by scant wisps of smoke. His head rang like a bell struck too many times, and he felt sick to his stomach. He was floating, soaked through, and he tasted salt on his lips. The hulking mass of North Storm drifted into view on T’ruck’s right. It was impossible to mistake the behemoth for anything else.
Slowly the ringing started to get quieter. There was something else, another sound, something above the lapping of waves against the creaking hull of his ship. Screaming. The screams of the dying, awash in pain, were a peculiar noise. Nothing else in the world sounded quite like a man who didn’t want to die.
T’ruck breathed in deep and brought his legs down to start treading water. For a sailor and a pirate, T’ruck wasn’t a good swimmer, and it took him longer than he would have liked to paddle over to North Storm’s hull. The ship was riding low in the water and listing over towards him, but even so there was nothing to grab hold of, no way to pull himself up out of the water.
With a growl of frustration, T’ruck dug his fingernails into the hull, trying to hook them into the little seams between the planks of wood that made up his ship. Once he deemed his fingers secure, he pulled himself upwards, scrabbling against the hull with his boots. Hand over hand, with his nails tearing and screaming in pain, T’ruck began his climb, anger fuelling every inch.
With bloody hands and fingernails ripped from their beds, T’ruck clung to the side of his ship like a determined spider. But even he had limits, and this was one of them. He screamed, raw frustration lending volume to his voice.
A face appeared over the railing, looking down. His first mate, Pocket, spotted with blood and grinning like a serpent’s maw.
“Thank fuck, Captain. I ain’t ready to lead this ship.”
“Rope,” was the only reply T’ruck could manage.
“Aye aye, Captain.”
T’ruck felt another fingernail begin to rip free from its bed and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the searing pain. Something slapped against his back and he opened his eyes. A rope was dangling from above, Pocket staring down at him once more.
T’ruck pulled his remaining nails from the side of his boat and pushed off with his feet, grabbing hold of the rope as he did so. His back bumped against the hull and he started to pull, dragging himself up hand over hand.
Reaching the railing, T’ruck swung a leg over and rolled onto the deck of his ship, wasting no time in regaining his feet and taking in the damage. North Storm was in chaos. Whatever trickery the Five Kingdoms dung slugs had used on them had caused damage and carnage on a grand scale.
“We’re fucked, Captain,” Pocket said. “Boat’s barely moving and we lost a lot of people, still not sure how many. Below decks is even worse.” He paused. “And the cat is dead.”
T’ruck glared at his first mate. Pocket backed up a step and held up his hands.
The main mast was down, the deck around it splintered and broken. The mast itself lay half across the ship and half in the water. Nearby there was a hole in the main deck, scorched wood and bits of men and women dotted all around. Injured pirates were clustered here and there, some tending to their own wounds, some in the lengthy process of dying and letting everyone nearby know about it.
“We’re drifting,” T’ruck rumbled. Beyond the chaos of his ship, the battle was still waging. Ships entangled with ships. Boats on fire, both black and orange. Wreckage floating on the waves. An explosion thundered across the water and one of the other pirate vessels started sinking, a section of its hull bursting outwards and upwards and smoke billowing forth. He knew that kind of explosion well; black powder was the cause, and lots of it.
One of the navy ships, a Man of War yet untouched by the battle raging around it, detached from its neighbours and turned towards North Storm. T’ruck judged they had very little time before they would be wading through blood, both Five Kingdoms’ and their own.
“Get the mast cut away,” he said to Pocket, and scanned the deck of his ship.
Lady Nerine Tsokei was standing aft, near the wheel. Her dark brown skirt was ripped in places and her green blouse could be seen through similar rents in her jerkin. The witch’s hair was tousled, and her dark eyes looked like a predator’s, searching for prey.
“You’re alive,” T’ruck said with a smile. He’d feared the witch might have been caught in one of the explosions, and not just because he needed her help.
“Alchemy is nothing but a pale mockery of magic,” Lady Tsokei said through gritted teeth. “I wish to strike back, Captain.” Blood was dripping from the fingers of the witch’s left hand. She was wounded, but her pride would never let her admit it. T’ruck respected that stubbornness.
“There.” He pointed at the approaching Man of War. “We need time to recover from the attack, time to get my ship in order. They’re all yours – if you can take them.”
Lady Tsokei shot a dark glance towards T’ruck, and he felt the fear she projected so intensely that he took an involuntary step backwards. The witch looked away, and T’ruck felt his courage return.
“You and you,” he said, pointing to two nearby pirates, “grab a shield and protect the lady at all costs.”
“I do not need protecting, Captain,” the witch said.
T’ruck stepped close and looked down at the smaller woman. “You are aboard my ship, and I’ll damned well protect you if I want to. No matter the magic you possess, I doubt you are immune to a well-aimed arrow.”
Lady Tsokei nodded.
T’ruck grinned and turned away. “Kill them all.”
Chapter 63 - Starry Dawn
The soldier went for his sword. Elaina reached down and put her hand over his, stopping him drawing the blade, her other hand going for his neck. They wrestled for a moment until the soldier grabbed
hold of Elaina’s tunic and pulled her close, throwing his head forwards so it connected with her chin.
Ignoring the pain, Elaina struggled to keep the man close, one hand pinning his own to his body while she pushed against his head with her other, forcing him to stare at the sky.
They growled and snarled at each other as they wrestled, each one aware that one wrong move could spell the end. The soldier was bigger than Elaina, and probably a little stronger too, but she was no weakling and had been raised fighting men larger than herself. Even so, Elaina found herself pushed backwards and felt the railing bump against her arse. The soldier managed to slip his chin beneath her hand and bit down on the flesh between her fingers. Elaina cried out in pain and threw herself backwards, over the edge of the ship, taking the soldier with her into the blue below. She let go of him as they fell. He wasn’t so quick, and they both hit the water awkwardly, the impact driving the air from her lungs. Gasping in saltwater, Elaina kicked to get her head above the surface, coughing and drawing in beautiful air, but the soldier was still holding on to her tunic.
Elaina kicked and punched and managed to free herself from his grasp. She paddled away a little, giving herself some distance to face him as she began treading water. The soldier’s head broke the surface and Elaina pushed herself up out of the water and towards him, landing a heavy punch across his face as he tried to blink away the water from his eyes. He reeled from the blow and kicked towards Elaina, catching her in the stomach with a steel-plated boot. Coughing and spluttering, Elaina paddled away. By the time she’d recovered, he was facing her, treading water and paddling with one hand while the other was hidden below the surface. A thin shimmer of silver betrayed the sword he was holding.