Fenther answered for her, “Mostly,” he said confidently. “They’ll be using shadow runes to make them appear in a different location. Of course, once they’re close enough to actually engage the enemy, they won’t be any safer than we’ll be, but by then they’ll be too intermixed with the elven forces for them to properly use their artillery.”
“We can hope.” Chass added.
“Our biggest worry is the behemoths, but those will be hard pressed to fire, if they survive Ginger’s rockets, once the ground troops are in close quarters with the enemy.” Sajani said. “I’m confident you all know the plan and I know that you know how important this is to slowing the elven forces.” Her eyes met each of her officers’ one at a time. They each nodded to her once. She then spoke slowly and quietly. “This is for Ghenis. This is for Cutter. This is for each soldier we lost that night.” Her voice hardened, “Indira is my blade and my vengeance.”
There was a fire to her voice that it seldom contained. They each knew of her past and the things that forged her into what she was today, but she seldom allowed them to see the part where she had sought vengeance for the wrongs done twenty years before. Simon had seen it. So had Mauro and Westa. But the oaths she’d made when she’d entered her paladin order, she hadn’t invoked in years. Up until now it had been all about protection and defense and homeland and family. Vengeance hadn’t been a part of her in almost a decade, but she allowed it in tonight.
Her crew sensed it. They straightened and saluted and said in unison, “Kra’la al’ark.”
She nodded.
A distant explosion could be heard from outside. “That still makes me nervous.” Sajani said bitterly.
Fillo answered quickly. “They’re hoping it does,” he said confidently, “but there’s no way they know where we are.”
The Copper Wolf shrugged it off. “Let’s get this show going then.” She turned to Simon. “One good firework from you and we begin.” The conman nodded and started towards the upper deck as she addressed the rest of the staff. “Ground forces to the main deck. General quarters.”
Tess poked her head out of the door and relayed the orders. The ready room was soon empty except for the captain and first mate. The younger wolf had a sly smile across her face. “I know you were hoping Sestus would be here for this, my lady…”
Sajani countered with her own teasing, “And I know you were hoping to lead the ground troops…”
“Oh no,” Tess answered back to Sajani’s surprise, “I’ll get a better view of the carnage from up here and it is much easier to track Chass down there than me.”
Sajani wasn’t sure if the short wolf was being sarcastic or not. “That’s a good dog,” she said cynically, “Keep biting that chew toy.”
The Lady of Rust was surprised to see that didn’t have any effect on Tess’s resolve. “I’ll be on the deck if you need me, my lady,” she said cheerfully and started out the hatch. “If you see Ginger before I do, tell him he’s not off the hook. He still owes me dinner.”
Sajani laughed. Tess had been having that message relayed by everyone in the crew for the last two weeks and refused to tell anyone what it meant. Ginger just stammered if anyone asked. She pressed the rune on the table to turn off the image of the terrain and turned to remove a cane that was fastened to the wall.
It was Ghenis’ cane. She didn’t draw the blade, just stood motionless with it in her hands for a moment. Since the old gentleman wolf’s death, she’d only shed tears for him twice: once when she learned of it and once at the memorial service. She almost cried tonight a third time, but she strengthened her resolve and replaced the cane to its holders on the wall. If the ambassador wasn’t upset at his own death, and she had good reason to believe he had welcomed it in at least a small way, then neither should she.
The wall itself contained a single memento of every crew member they’d lost. There was an army cup, and chemistry book, a medical satchel and about a dozen or so other provincial items: things that had seemed ordinary in life that managed to capture the spirit of those who departed. A good number of her crew, in that morbid way that only combatants can muster, had already donated their items for the wall. They sat in a chest beneath the memorial, including Simon’s old rapier from the crash, which Tess had purchased from the flimflam artist for that exact purpose. There was a fire opal and ivory cameo of her mother, although the reason for Sajani putting something in was much different than why the others did.
The Copper Wolf wanted her crew to know that the mission was important: more important than her own life. She wanted them to know that if she did die, the chain of command was clear and the Wisp was to keep flying.
She stood there for a moment, pondering the wall and praying that those people would be avenged. It was the firing of the first torpedo from behind the wall that brought her from her reverie. The ship leaned to port and accelerated. She should be up on deck. There wasn’t much for her to do there, but her crew should see her during this important time. The Copper Wolf found herself unable to leave the wall.
“I thought,” came the voice of Westa from behind her, “that you’d grown up and left petty revenge behind you when you left that order and took up archery and woods craft.” There was a sadness to her words and they came across much less harsh than the same speech would have on its own.
Sajani glanced down at her hands, but didn’t turn around. She spoke quietly and slowly. “Is it wrong to hope that a willing sacrifice isn’t in vain? Is it wrong to believe that somehow their lives will bring about a greater good, not just for the families who suffer their loss, but for the world as a whole? If that is revenge then yes, I still wish for it.”
Westa’s words were motherly and kind. “If you allow it to consume you and base all your actions on it, it is just as harmful as if it were done for petty and selfish reasons. Revenge is like charcoal—you can’t touch it without it blackening your own hands.”
The Copper Wolf turned to face the den mother. “Then let my hands be black as the deepest lodestone. Aren’t you supposed to be on deck to see off the ground crew if needed?”
“Yes,” Westa said plainly. Apparently, she felt like there was nothing else to add. She turned with her head still held high and walked out the hatch. Another torpedo fired and the ship slowed and again turned to port. This was followed by an explosion on their starboard side. The elven cannons fired explosive rounds that were meant to cover an area of the sky, rather than target something specific. But now that they knew how to use the protective runes properly, nothing short of a direct hit would do any damage.
Sajani stepped through the hatch and went down a ladder to the gun deck, where ‘fang and a full contingent of artillery crew, a few of them newly recruited from their last stop in Vharkylia, sat doing their jobs on both sides of the deck. ‘fang was on the far side, near the helm and was issuing her orders with a laugh in her voice. She stopped briefly when she saw the captain enter.
“Firing pattern is going just like you wanted, my lady.” She said suavely.
“Rate of fire seems slow…” Sajani began.
‘fang didn’t wait to hear the rest. “You heard the captain!” she barked. “Step lively! You can go at least twice as fast! Onha!” The sailor hopped up and saluted, which made the master gunner grimace and jump over a couple benches to get to the console she was manning. “What’s the holdup?” ‘fang touched the console in a couple of places and two rockets near the hatch ignited and shot out.
Chass’s voice could be heard from the helm. “Increase speed, hard to starboard.” Another explosion, this time much closer than the previous ones, rocked the ship slightly to the starboard.
‘fang was already back at her position at the bow. Onha had said nothing to the rebuke, but a crew member next to her was shooting her a sympathetic look.
Sajani crossed the gun deck and passed through the hatch to the helm. “Start moving towards Phase Point 2,” she said to Chass.
“Aye Captain! Are the
Zenache forces in…”
In answer, the night became full of the sounds of artillery fire, this time, not directed at the Wisp.
Chass laughed. “Apparently, the diversion is in progress Captain.”
The Copper Wolf allowed a smug smile to cross her face as she left the helm and headed towards the main deck. She hadn’t known that was going to happen, of course. She just wanted to get the ship closer for Ginger’s rockets to start taking out the behemoths.
The ship’s rate of fire had increased noticeably and the elves were answering with occasional blasts in their direction, but the diversion was doing its job and the few times their fire was returned, it was far from them. There was no way to know for sure, but there should be fewer and fewer artillery left as they neared the depot itself.
She trusted ‘fang. As she neared the main deck, she could hear the occasional percussion of the behemoths’ main guns, but the hope was that they were firing for effect, since the partisan forces should be well mixed in with the elves by now.
On the main deck, she was greeted by Tess, who stamped her peg leg twice into the deck in what passed for a salute from her. “They should be down half their artillery by now and we’re almost in range for…” A jet of smoke shot out from the starboard side across the deck as Ginger fired the first of his rockets. “…that.” Tess finished.
“One down, fourteen to go.” Sajani said. “Shield?”
“Phhht!” Tess said. “Haven’t even had to touch the runes once.” There was another thud sound as the first mate thrust her peg leg down on the deck again. More smoke poured over the pair as another rocket was fired, this time by Fillo. Tess looked over her shoulder at the spark and shouted, “Hurry it up! There won’t be time for you make me dinner tonight if you keep taking your time!”
Sajani thought she heard a slight laugh from Ginger just before another rocket went off. A couple seconds later, the spark sighed. “Now you made me miss.”
Tess turned around and started towards him, “Made you miss?” she began with a laugh.
The captain turned her attention away from the odd couple’s banter and to Harg and the twenty or so vykati standing with him on deck. Her petty officer saluted casually as she approached. “Ready, waiting and hoping, captain,” he said quickly.
“Hoping we don’t need you down there?” Sajani ribbed.
Harg scoffed at her. “Wanting a fight like a feral vykati in Vidava,” he countered.
“We wouldn’t need you at all if this thing had a proper way to provide ground support.” This was something she had bemoaned often since their first mission, when they retrieved Benayle.
“Aye captain.” The torpedo fire continued somewhat rhythmically, but the enemy artillery fire had slowed noticeably.
And then the artillery fire stopped altogether. It was followed by silence from the behemoths and then a moment later, even the small arms fire that could barely be heard through it all, also ceased. The rockets from the ship stopped and Ginger had just barely fired another rocket himself when Chass’s voice could be heard coming from the bow hatch. “Cease fire!”
Sajani turned to see her massive second mate smiling broadly at her. A blue flare suddenly went up in the air behind him, launched from the partisans below apparently. “They..” she began.
“There’s an important looking elf down there with a white flag. The artillery and behemoth crews are leaving their vehicles and gathering with him.”
The anger that rose up in Sajani came unbidden. How dare they? They should all die, like they tried to do to her and her crew the first time. Nothing was to be left standing on this mission. Nothing. She was about to belay the second mate’s order when she turned to face Westa. She had obviously been happy to hear Chass’s news up until she caught the Copper Wolf’s expression. And then a deep sadness entered the priestess’s eyes. The brown wolf held up her hands and either from some trick of the lighting or some random spell someone else had to have cast, her hands were black—a deep black.
A memory of Westa’s voice came back to her. It was a younger voice and not one she wanted to hear at the time. The priestess often said things the others didn’t want to hear, but needed. They were standing over the Rhidayan bandit leader’s still body and Simon had only just barely stopped her from continuing to slash at it. “You can’t bring her back.” Westa had said. “He didn’t even know your mother, but if he had, all this still can’t bring her back.”
She’d do the right thing then. “Move the ship to his position and then deploy the ground troops. I’ll talk to him personally.” She then rushed back to the ready room and kneeled before the wall. As she sat there for a few quiet moments, she thought of Ghenis and of Doc. Neither wanted this war. Both had chosen to fight in it. She had spent years learning the compassion and empathy that made her what she was today. Or what she should be today. A moment of weakness, that’s all it was. There would be other moments of lapse she was sure.
Looking down at her hands, she noticed with relief that they were still copper.
The elven troops were in a formation before her and her crew and the Zenache partisans. They stood with their hands behind their backs and their feet apart and all had a look a stoicism mixed with relief on their faces. The supply depot commander, Lieutenant Colonel Wayse, held out his hand to her, which she shook.
The colonel had expressed concern that Sestus would take the loss out on him personally, but that it was better to save his soldiers if possible. With the loss of half of his artillery and a good portion of his behemoths without so much as making a dent in the opposing forces, there didn’t seem like many other options. He did take a particular interest in the Wisp, but stopped short of asking any questions.
With the help of Westa’s spell she spoke to them all. “I accept your surrender. You will be allowed to leave, single file. March north with this at the lead.” She held up a large banner of the Copper Wolf that had replaced the white flag Colonel Wayse had held earlier. “The Lady of Rust is not in this war to kill, only to save her own people.”
Wayse took the flag and started off with his soldiers following him.
Sajani turned to Tess and said, “Detonate the charges.”
Tess nodded once and turned to ‘fang, who then pressed the lever down on a large box. Explosion after explosion then lit up the night sky as each of the large warehouses and the other buildings on the depot grounds were demolished in quick succession.
The night was lit and obscured by fire and smoke. The partisans began to disperse back into the night, but the pirates stayed nearly motionless until the last of the elves had passed before them and then Tess dismissed them so they could start taking the platform back up.
And even after the last of the crew had returned, Tess, Chass and Sajani stood before the flaming buildings and said nothing at all. They just watched until the flames, both within and without, had died down to embers and then they returned to the waiting ship.
Conclusion
When the Drtithen Council requested that Sajani bring the Wisp to their location-in-hiding, she ignored it. She did the same when a similar request came from the Riteyai Lords. A little while after that, when Simon brought word that Lord General Crore had requested her presence, she considered it, and politely refused. But when Benayle himself passed word through the conman that he would really appreciate her coming to visit, there was no way that she could refuse.
She did not say when she would arrive. There was too much to do along the route and too many opportunities to take from the elves and give to the wolves. So no one, not the Drtithen Council, not Lord General Crore, not even Benayle himself knew when she would be arriving. When she did get there, she kept her ship hidden until it stood exactly over the chambers where the council was meeting.
And then, because she could, she brought the ship down so that it stood only two meters from the highest point of the building and had Fillo drop the ship’s cloak. That had its intended effect. Children who were outside th
eir homes playing saw it first. They motioned to their parents so that they could see. The adults then called out so that people in nearby homes started coming. That brought the ship to the attention of the guards who were outside the entrance. One of those guards went into the building and informed the council, who then came out to see it.
Sajani didn’t see the king and queen anywhere, but it was entirely possible, and tactically smart, that they were elsewhere.
Benayle was the last to walk out of the building. His wounds were fully healed and Sajani was happy to notice from her perch, that there was no trace of physical scars. He said nothing, but smiled up at the ship as though he could see her through the rails. He might have, but the Lady of Rust doubted it.
Stepping near a tied off rope that she had earlier placed for this exact purpose, she kicked the coil overboard and watched it unfurl until it was only a couple of feet from the surface. She grabbed ahold of the top part with a single gloved hand and slid down quickly, coming to a stop just before her feet touched the ground. The glove was very hot, but no one needed to know that.
One final, almost dainty step, and she planted both feet on the ground. There were no cheers or applause. Every eye was on her as she walked within a few feet of where Benayle was standing, still smiling at her. She bowed with a flourish that was more show than humility and said in a loud voice, “You called me?”
Benayle bowed formally. “We, the wolves of Vharkylia, wanted to thank you…”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, old wolf,” Sajani ribbed. “I’ve not finished the job yet.” A few people laughed.
The wolf leader ignored her comment and continued, “Hope’s work is never finished. It waxes and wanes and must be constantly renewed.”
“Did you steal a line from a play again?” There was a little more laughter.
“Honestly, my dear, I did not. I got it from one of Fenther’s books—The Hidden Warehouse.”
Sajani laughed, “I’ve never read it.” After a short pause, she added, “Never really cared for tripe.” A little more laughter came from her audience.
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