The Sorcerer's Return (The Sorcerer's Path)

by Brock Deskins

  Daebian slipped behind the sailor who had shown himself be especially unforgiving of Lewis’ jostling and slipped his hand to the small purse at the man’s belt. He untied the strings securing it in place with unnatural dexterity while using Klaraxis’ infernal power to make himself less noticeable to those around him.

  With purse in hand, Daebian watched for Lewis’ return. As he expected, Lewis threaded his way back to his table using nearly the same path he cut just minutes before. Daebian slid through the crowd with the ease of schooner using its sharp prow to cut through the water. Tacking an intercept course with Lewis, Daebian slipped the purse into his pocket as he passed. Lewis never saw Daebian as he disappeared back into the masses like a ghost ship in heavy fog.

  Daebian tapped the grizzled sailor on the shoulder. “Excuse me, Sir.”

  The man jerked his head around, one hand flying to the knife at his hip. “What do ya want, boy?”

  Daebian took half a step back and gave the man his most frightened look. “I just saw a man pilfer your purse, sir. I thought I should tell you.”

  The sailor’s other hand immediately slapped against his now vacant hip. He leaned forward and grabbed the front of Daebian’s shirt. “What man stole my coin?”

  Daebian pointed a shaking finger at Lewis just as he was sitting back down at his table. “That man there. I saw him slip it off your belt and into his right coat pocket.”

  Several of the men sitting nearby stood with the sailor and motioned for others of their crew to follow the angry man to Lewis’ table. Sensing impending violence, patrons began sliding away as the crew barged forward.

  “You stole my coin, you scurvy-ridden rat!” the sailor shouted as he glared down at Lewis.

  Lewis had to scoot his chair away to stand and face the man. “I didn’t steal no purse!”

  Zeb’s crew stood as well and the two sides squared off. Daebian spotted Zeb trying to push through the hostile mass of bodies to prevent bloodshed, but everyone’s attention was focused on the two men facing each other down and impeded his progress.

  “What’s that in your coat pocket, then?” the sailor asked and gestured to the slight bulge.

  Lewis looked at his pocket, and then at the coin purse he drew out of it in confusion. It was a simple matter for Daebian to feed a tendril of Klaraxis’ black power into his victim and stoke the fires of his anger. The sailor snaked a hand forward and closed it around the pouch and Lewis’ fist. He then pulled Lewis forward and buried his knife into his guts. Lewis spotted Daebian smiling near his side just before darkness overtook him and had a brief understanding of the source of his demise.

  There was a slight pause as Lewis’ body crumpled to the ground before all hell broke loose. Blades and bottles appeared in the hands of the two sides and a massive melee broke out. Daebian felt a hand grab his shoulder and pull him back just a chair went flying near his head. He released his grip on his dagger when he saw it was Zeb.

  “Stay with me, boy, and keep your head down!”

  Zeb pulled him in his wake as the crew beat a fighting retreat to the door. Masses of people spilled out onto the street from the inn’s entrance. The aggressors, figuring the matter largely resolved with Lewis’ death and not wanting to add themselves to the list of dead, did not press far beyond the inn.

  Several of Zeb’s crew sported wounds and three men had to be carried through the streets and back to the ship. Zeb ordered the gangplank drawn in and posted a watch in case the other crew decided to continue hostilities. After seeing his wounded to the ship’s infirmary, Zeb went topside to join those on watch.

  He spotted Daebian near the rail and stood next to him. “You all right?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “I never took Lewis for the thieving type,” Zeb said with a sigh.

  “Looks can be deceiving.”

  Zeb clapped Daebian on the shoulder. “I guess you’d know that better than just about anyone. That fool Lewis’ deception just cost him his life.”

  “My weapons master always told us that nothing will kill a man faster than his own foolishness.”

  “Aye, that is so.”

  Zeb ordered the cattle loaded aboard before first light so they could ship out at the earliest possible moment. Just because no one from the city watch had come to question them about the tavern brawl yet did not mean no one would. Zeb had no fear of the legal ramifications, but such an inquisition could hold them in port for days if not weeks.

  The ship pushed out to sea the moment the tides allowed the hull to clear the shallowest reef. With Southport and any angry sailors or inquisitive law behind them, the crew soon fell into a relaxed routine. Balor was once again tasked with Daebian’s seafaring education and was busy teaching him the importance of splicing line.

  “Like I told you before, line is what holds a ship together, and those lines can snap at any time. When a line snaps, you have to splice it back together. This is called an eye splice.”

  “Why do we have so many people in the rigging?” Daebian asked as Balor wove the loose strands of line into itself to create the eye.

  “We’re leaving Valerian waters now, which means the navy isn’t patrolling out here. Sumara never increased their navy size much after our build up. They probably didn’t want to look like they were preparing for war. Politics you know. That means a lot of the pirates who used to hunt our ships up north moved down here.”

  “Do you think we will see any pirates?” Daebian asked excitedly.

  “Doubtful. Even without a strong naval deterrent, pirates prefer to hit ships farther out to sea where there’s less chance of a merchant getting away or running into another ship that might come to their prey’s aid.” Balor handed the line to Daebian. “Look that over and see what I done.”

  Just as Daebian grabbed the line, the ship bucked wildly, tilting the tall masts steeply to the side. Daebian tightened his legs around the yardarm, gripped the rigging over his head, and unconsciously drew upon Klaraxis’ power to increase his strength and balance.

  Balor was less fortunate. He was off his center of gravity when the rogue swell hit the ship. His arms flailed as he tried to grab a line. His hands brushed a rope but grasped only empty air as he fell. His leg caught a line ten feet below and arrested his fall, but his perch was a precarious one.

  Daebian looked at the eye splice in his hand, pulled the rope through it to make a lasso, and threw it at Balor’s other leg as he hung upside down. Balor lost his feeble grip on the line as the ship righted itself and swung back the other direction. Daebian leapt off the yardarm into empty air just as Balor resumed his plummeting. Although much lighter than Balor, the yardarm acted as a fulcrum and he was able to arrest his fall.

  Daebian shinnied down the rope until he was eye-level with the upside down Balor. “So, did you have something else you wanted to show me, or are we just going to hang around up here a while?”

  Balor laughed deeply as he swayed on the end of the rope. “I don’t know how you made that throw, but I owe you my life!”

  “That and a few pieces of silver ought to get me a decent meal at a good inn.”

  A shout from the crow’s nest cut off Balor’s renewed laughter. “Sails, three points ahead of the starboard beam!”

  “Give me a push toward that rigging,” Balor ordered.

  Daebian braced his feet against Balor’s shoulder blades and pushed off. Balor arched his back and swung his body toward the lines crisscrossing nearby. As soon as he had a firm hold, Daebian slid down his end of the rope and climbed out onto another set of lines. Swinging almost apelike through the intersecting ropes, Daebian dropped onto the deck near Captain Zeb.

  “Captain, is it pirates?”

  “It’s too early to say.” Zeb called up to the crow’s nest. “What are ya seeing?”

  “Looks like a schooner, Cap’n, and headed right at us at a fast clip.”

  “Pirates?” Daebian asked again.

  “I don’t know for sure, but not many sh
ips go out of their way to sidle up to another just to wave and say hello.” Zeb turned and shouted toward the lower deck. “Put up every piece of canvas we can string up! Helmsman, find us some more wind and tack us ten degrees to port.”

  “Ship’s tacking to maintain intercept and closing, Captain.”

  “Unless they got that schooner piled to the rafters with men, they can’t expect to take us with a ship that small, much less make off with our cargo,” Zeb mused aloud.

  The crow gave him his answer an hour later. “Another set of sails beyond the schooner! Looks like a frigate!”

  “Looks like we found your pirates, boy. Our bad luck they’re a smart bunch too.”

  “What do you mean, Captain?”

  “They’re using the schooner to run us down like dogs. They’ll probably hurl chain and shot into our sail to slow us down so the frigate can catch up with us. Then they’ll both board and take the ship. If the Majestic is badly damaged in the fight, they can load most the cargo onto the frigate.”

  “Do you think they can take us, Sir?”

  “Not without one hell of a fight. We aren’t just some merchant taking his goods to market. This is a fighting crew with as much, and probably more, combat training than most of the ships in the King’s navy. It’s gonna be a bloody affair, I can tell you that. That frigate and schooner may be smaller than us, but I bet they each pack a crew as large as ours. Probably half again as many on the frigate alone.”

  “What do we do?”

  “We fight. You stay in my cabin.”

  “Captain, I am not a child and I can fight as well as any man on this ship!” Daebian argued heatedly.

  Zeb narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow. “Meaning no insult, boy, I don’t rightly know what you are. Are you six, or are you twelve or thirteen? What I do know is your father asked me to make sure you stay safe, and that’s what I’m gonna do. If those ships close and board, I want you in my cabin out of the way. There’s a crawlspace between decks you can access through a hatch beneath the trunk near the window. Do not argue with me about this. I’m the Captain, you’re the crew, and you’ll follow orders!”

  “Aye, aye, Sir,” Daebian answered in a low voice. “May I make a suggestion?”

  “I’ll listen to advice from any man if it has a chance of saving my ship.”

  “From what I understand, the greatest threat is their superior numbers if they board us. If we can slow their boarding party, we can pick them off with crossbows and thin their numbers some.”

  “It’s a sound idea. You have a plan on how to do that?”

  “When Balor fell, the only thing keeping him from splattering onto the deck was the crisscrossing lines that arrested his fall. We could run line and netting above the railing to create an additional obstacle for the pirates. Our ship sits higher in the water than the schooner and frigate, so they will have to climb over or breach it to gain the decks. The time it takes to do so gives our men an opportunity to put a bolt or blade through them before they do.”

  “Balor, you understand what he’s saying?” Zeb asked.

  “Aye, Cap’n. It sounds like a good idea.”

  “See to it, and we’ll talk about your fall later.”

  It would take hours for the pirates to catch Majestic, so the crew put the time they had to good use erecting barricades and obstacles like Daebian’s nets and ropes. They set buckets of caltrops on the forecastle and quarter decks where the crew would make their final stand. These they would hurl onto the main deck below to cripple the mostly barefoot invaders.

  The Majestic tacked a wild course in hopes of catching a better wind and keep as much distance between them and their pursuers as they could, but the schooner closed rapidly. Within a few hours, the schooner crew could be seen with the naked eye manning catapults mounted at the bow and stern. The frigate was also visible against the horizon from the deck as it closed on Majestic.

  “Crew the heavy weapons. I want everyone else below. No sense in standing on the decks to catch whatever they start flinging at us,” Zeb ordered.

  The sun was setting rapidly and Zeb felt a glimmer of hope. If they could slow the schooner enough, they had a chance of escaping into the night. Unfortunately, the schooner extinguished that hope as it came within range to hurl shot and chain into the sails and rigging near dusk. The crew remaining on decks hid behind the bulwarks and the simple shields made of wood banded with iron attached to the railing.

  Stones and chain tore through sails and line and rained onto the deck. Zeb shoved Daebian through the door to his quarters then ran to help Will at the wheel. Majestic returned the assault with heavier stone. The pirates’ attack was hindered by their desire to avoid sinking their target, but Zeb had no such impediment.

  The schooner’s lighter shot gave it an advantage on range, and the crew did their best to maintain their distance. Within an hour, Majestic’s sails were severely shredded and they quickly lost speed. As the schooner closed, crossbow bolts began hissing through the air, burying their heads into timbers and any crewman who failed to keep his head down.

  Zeb ordered his full crew to the decks to repel the boarders as the schooner’s catapults hurled a dozen grapnels attached to stout ropes. Zeb had to remark on the pirates’ cleverness even as they drew their ships together.

  The value of Daebian’s anti-boarding nets quickly became apparent as the pirates struggled to climb over or cut through them. It gave Zeb’s crew time to aim and bury crossbow quarrels, spears, or cutlasses into their exposed bodies. Several pirates tried to swing across by throwing hooked lines from the upper yardarms, but this provided the Majestic’s crew with exposed targets. Those who did achieve the deck fell quickly.

  The two sides exchanged crossbow shots, but few found anything more than wood or the open sea beyond the ships. Pirates used long-handled axes and hatchets to hack at the ropes and nets denying them access to their prey, but it was a slow and often painful assault. Zeb’s crew pushed the pirates back time and again, but their numbers were greater and the damage they inflicted on the barriers and crew were taking their toll.

  Even so, Zeb was feeling confident in his defense until the frigate drew near. Her crew added their own crossbow volleys to the fight and scoured the deck with heavy shot, making it even harder for the defenders to repel boarders as the assault forced them to hunker behind their barriers. Then the real nightmare began. A bolt of lightning arced from the frigate, shattering crates and scorching the defensive netting.

  “Damn it all to the abyss,” Zeb shouted, “they have a wizard!”

  Pirates began forcing their way through the barriers and swarmed onto the ship. The ringing of steel on steel created an awful din as swords clashed and men fought for their lives. The pirate mage sent orbs of arcane power streaking into the defenders with pinpoint accuracy and lethality. Within minutes, Zeb’s crew was fighting a retreat to the reinforced forecastle and stern.

  “That sounded like lightning,” Daebian remarked as he listened to ensuing battle outside.

  I sense magic at play. It is difficult for me to gauge it with my current limitations, but I sense it is a hedge wizard of some sort. He lacks the structure and control of an Academy trained wizard.

  “Zeb does not stand a chance if the pirates have a wizard on board.”

  The blood of a mage would greatly increase the power I can share with you.

  “Zeb told me to stay here.”

  When have you done what you are told? Zeb wants to keep you from harm. I can keep you safe, and Zeb is going to lose this ship and you along with it if the mage is not neutralized quickly. You wanted to meet some pirates. Let us go say hello.

  Daebian opened the cabin door and found himself staring into the filthy face of a pirate. The man flashed a gap-toothed grin as he saw the boy barring his way inside in an attempt to find some loot while the battle still raged. His smile vanished when Daebian thrust his dagger into his gut.

  The pirate dropped to his knees, looking at
Daebian in confusion as Klaraxis absorbed his dwindling life force through the blood washing over the boy’s hand and onto the black gem. Daebian felt his bond with the demon grow as Klaraxis fed off the dying man’s soul.

  Zeb looked at the cabin door past the pirates battering against his defenses and watched Daebian stab the pirate. He tried desperately to fight his way through, but there were too many men between him and the boy.

  “Daebian, get back inside and bar the door!” Zeb shouted above the raucous tumult.

  Daebian smiled at Zeb, scooped up the pirate’s fallen cutlass, and vanished into the press of bodies. He used Klaraxis’ abyssal power to help him go unnoticed just as he had at the inn. Klaraxis showed him how to bend the shadows to his will and use them to help cloak his form when the simple deception was insufficient to avoid notice. Daebian struck from those shadows with lethal efficiency, killing and critically wounding pirates as he slipped his way across the deck in search of the mage.

  The demon’s power and Daebian’s ability to wield it was limited. Several times a pirate took notice of him, but Daebian’s skill with the blade and demonically enhanced speed and strength allowed him to quickly dispatch his attacker.

  Climbing up the mainmast, Daebian grabbed a line connected to the far end of the yardarm and swung across over the heads of those engaged in the melee and the short expanse of water separating the two ships. Every hair on his body stood on end as a lightning bolt went sizzling past his head just as he dropped to the deck.

  “Find the infiltrator!” Daebian heard the mage shout as he crouched behind a wooden crate.

  Daebian cloaked his body in shadow and darted around the mainmast as three men ran to the crate with cutlasses and dirks held at the ready. The men cursed as they searched and were unable to find the intruder. Daebian scampered around the deck, ducking behind coils of rope, crates, and masts, striking from the darkness and leaving bodies in his wake.

  The mage conjured a bright orb of light and set it floating over his head. While it did illuminate the darkness-shrouded deck, it also created even deeper shadows in which to hide. The pirates still aboard the frigate scoured the ship in groups of three after seeing several of their fellows fall to Daebian’s guerilla tactics.