“That’s why I’m here,” I assured her. She nodded, then allowed one of the crew to lead her below deck.
The rest of us took to battle stations. Gabin had us maintain the sails for a dozen more minutes, and then pulled us off. Too much speed would become a hindrance in naval battles, and he wanted us to conserve the rest of our mana for actual combat. I watched his cobalt-blue eyes narrow as he stared ahead, probably running calculations through his mind for various ship maneuvers.
A moment later, and the ships were visible even from my viewpoint on the deck. The first three ships were all large, at least half again the size of our caravel. The middle one looked like it had been dipped in sludge, and the oily black liquid dripped from the masts and the sides of the deck. Oars coated with the same material stuck out of the sides, and they propelled the ship forward with powerful strokes. The muck on the ship was sickeningly familiar to me.
Breena, I sent nervously. Is that…
Pit muck, she agreed, sounding nauseated. And Horde oil. That’s a Horde ship with a Pit inside. I don’t know how they were able to build it, Wes, but this means they’ve found a way to make Horde Pits mobile.
Val, do you still have one of the Ball-ees? I sent next.
“Di-rec-tive?” a voice chirped from Val’s pack. “Seek? Save? Heal?” She nodded unnecessarily.
Alright, that’s probably our most valuable target then, I sent to the team. Assuming the other two ships don’t have captives as well. But Emarina said they don’t.
I turned my attention to the other two ships. They looked like standard wooden constructions, albeit well-made, but a closer inspection revealed that they also had prominent glyphs on some of their visible structures.
Crap, I thought. Gabin, is that the same magic that—
Amateurs use? He interrupted, his thoughts dripping with scorn and disgust. Yes. They look like they just discovered the art, and immediately started feeling proud of themselves. But back in our time, we would teach better ship-glyphs to the other worlds free of charge.
If you guys really did that, the art still died out, Breena said. These four groups are the first ones I’ve ever seen use the art for as long as I’ve been alive.
The Atlantean harrumphed, but said nothing more.
We’ll have to see what they’re capable of, he finally decided. We’re still out of range for now. They may not have even noticed us yet… never mind. They definitely haven’t noticed us yet. We’ll turn to get a better view of that small ship in the front.
As he spoke, the ship on the right fired a smoking orange fireball at the small boat it was pursuing. The blast fell some distance away, but as we began to close the gap, I could see a single figure leaping around frantically, grabbing rigging and pulling the sailboat-sized ship around in what seemed like nearly a ninety-degree turn to the starboard side. The move brought the tiny vessel just close enough for us to make out more detail, and Breena gasped in my ear.
Wes, that’s her, she choked. That’s Via.
“Looks like she has a small handful of passengers,” Gabin said, and I realized that tiny glyphs were floating just in front of his eyes. I’ve gotta learn that spell, I told myself. Then Breena reminded me through the mindlink that there was an Air magic spell that had nearly the same effect. We cast it together, and it allowed us to see a small group of Seaborn Islanders huddled as low as they could get in the bow of the small ship, while a woman, moving too quickly to make out, leaped over them to adjust the sail and otherwise steer the ship away from the vessels launching fiery blasts at it. Another one flew through the air, but she had already changed course again, and it splashed harmlessly into the water behind her.
Got it, Breena pumped her fist. I can see her, and she’s in range. Gonna cast a whisper spell and let her know we’re here.
That was right, I realized. Fairies can do that.
I wondered why Breena didn’t do that during the time Merada thought I was an imposter and tried to kill me, but I’d ask her about it when we had time. For now, though, I let her concentrate.
The figure maneuvering the wooden sailboat looked up, and whipped her head in our direction. I was still maintaining the scry spell, and my breath caught at the sight of her face.
She had dark, beautiful, olive skin, just a touch lighter than Emarina’s, with long curly black hair that was tied up in a ponytail. She wore loose a loose, practical cotton shirt and durable looking black pants. She was a bit shorter than Merada had been, but just as fit. Her eyes were widening in shock as she looked in our direction, and I realized that her face was a mix of desperation, hope, and bone-deep fatigue.
You noticed it too? Teeth asked me, and for once, I was proud of him.
Yeah. We need to get over there quick.
Definitely, he agreed. Because her hips look as amazing as Merada’s legs.
Really? I growled at him. Right now, of all times?
I don’t make our hormones, I just acknowledge them, he told me shamelessly.
I tuned him out, and waited for Breena to finish her conversation with her fellow Satellite.
“She managed to get aboard the Horde ship,” Breena said out loud, taking a breath. “There’s a Pit inside, like we thought. Those people on board with her are the only ones that weren’t already thrown in. Those are all the ones she could save.”
Two more fireballs catapulted at Via’s ship. The olive-skinned Satellite had once again predicted their attack, already moving her boat out of the way the moment they had begun to fire at her.
“She’s also warning us that their ships have some kind of magic,” the sprite added dryly. “Because she was worried we might not have figured that out.”
“She’s probably really stressed,” I replied. “Let her know we’re here to help.”
“Right,” Breena continued in her dry voice. “Because she might not have noticed that yet.”
Nice zing, Weylin said over the mindlink. I ignored them both and tried to think for a minute.
Why are they even risking an attack like this? I wondered. Cavus wants her alive. They could drown her or burn her to death.
Either way, we had to rescue the hostages and bring down those three ships. But I needed to make sure we could even do that.
How confident are you in handling the other three ships in combat? I asked Gabin privately. He snorted at me, and I realized I should have asked much earlier.
They’re bigger, so they probably have more weapons and will take longer to sink, he sent back at me. But as long as we’re careful and make good use of your retinue’s magics, we should be fine. Just don’t get impatient with me. My lord, he added at the last minute.
No worries, and I appreciate your patience with my stupid questions. Give me one moment.
“Breena?” I asked my pink-haired friend as she muttered under her breath.
“Just a second,” Breena replied. “She’s yelling at us and asking where we’ve been all these years. And that we’re distracting her while she’s trying to get away.”
Another fireball splashed into the water, close enough to rock the fleeing Satellite’s ship ever so slightly.
“Tell her she can yell at me personally when this is over, and that I need to know if there are captives in the other two ships or if I can just sink them outright.”
Breena blinked, and relayed the message.
“She says the other ships are empty of prisoners, because the magic in them does something to non-Earthborn. She also repeated her warning about the other ships having magic, and wanted you to know that your ship is a lot smaller than the other three you somehow think you can handle on your own,” Breena sighed. “She’s usually a lot nicer than this. I promise.”
Gotta respect that level of sass, though, Teeth said approvingly to me. I ignored him to focus on saving lives.
“Tell her that I’m an Earthborn myself, that I’m familiar with the enemy’s technology, and that my own ship is equipped with a better version of it. Then ask her whi
ch of the three ships presents the most danger to her own vessel, in case they are not identically equipped.”
“Nice commander voice there, Wes,” Weylin said approvingly. “But we don’t have our glyphs just because of you,” he reminded me, and the nearby Atlanteans nodded in angry agreement.
“Correct,” I affirmed. “But saying we have it because this is an epoch-old vessel built and crewed by the lost Atlantean race would probably be met with more disbelief. The first explanation has enough truth and believability to keep the conversation on task.”
The crew around me grumbled reluctantly and went back to work. Gabin just rolled his eyes and shouted for them to stay on task.
Breena kept whispering, but she began waving her arms around angrily, like she was engaging in a shouting match with someone far away, and they were both back in kindergarten where they still had to use their inside voices.
“She says it doesn’t matter, just pick one and leave her alone. She says she can probably get away if we start distracting at least one of them, instead of distracting her with all this talking. She also says not to do anything stupid, because she’s already saved everyone who wasn’t already thrown in the Pit inside. And she didn’t believe me when I told her you could pull people out of a Horde Pit.”
“Alright, tell her I appreciate her patience and that we’ll talk more after we’ve destroyed the enemy vessels. That’s the end of my message.” I turned to Gabin. “Captain, we need to capture the oozing ship in the center, liberate its captives, and sink its two escorts if at all possible. Since this is naval combat and you have been informed of our abilities, my team and I are yours to command.”
“Very well, then,” Gabin said. “Everyone take one final moment to ensure you are ready for combat. Armor up and recharge your mana. We return to battle stations in fifteen minutes.”
Everyone scrambled until they had everything ready and were standing in reasonably secure positions. I did what I could to refresh my mana, shocked by how much I had left. I had been saving it out of habit, because often a spell was much slower than an axe swing, and my weapons and natural strength were powerful enough in their own right. In many of the previous fights, the simplest solution had been the best solution, and the simplest solution was usually to smack my enemy in the face with Toirneach before they could activate their own magic. Now, though, that wasn’t really an option. I couldn’t just throw off a quick lightning bolt or fireball and then immediately move into combat.
This was going to be an artillery fight. And it was time to see what myself and my team of wizards were capable of.
I felt my Woadtattoo burn under my armor for a brief moment. The three ships ahead of us finally seemed to notice our presence. They fired one more volley of fireballs at Stell’s Satellite, and began turning toward our direction. The three blazing orbs smashed all around Via’s boat, and I finally realized that they were trying to capsize her vessel instead of hitting her directly. Gabin snorted, still unimpressed with his opponents, and we casually continued sailing in their direction.
Minutes strolled by. I finally remembered all the naval stories I had read where the heroes spent hours, sometimes days, before they were in combat range. After about thirty minutes, I gave up on remaining silent and selfishly decided to message the man I had put in charge of the fight.
Do you have time for me to ask you something, or do you need to concentrate? I queried, trying to be at least a little respectful.
Even after going to battle stations, the next hour will be horribly boring, the Atlantean told me, so I have time, as long as I can keep looking forward.
Thank God, I replied, belatedly realizing he may not understand the expression. So, you seem like you’ve already gotten a read on these guys. And that you have a low opinion of their abilities.
Those are both correct, Gabin replied. But respectfully, it’s because you keep referring to them as Earthborn. And their level of competence… conflicts with my previous experience regarding members of your race.
I take it my people used to be much better at magical sailing? I asked, feeling a little numb about all the amazing stories people kept telling me about my Prehistoric ancestors.
Your race used to exchange research with us in the art of naval magic. They were at least our equals, even at the pinnacle of our magic. The old Earthborn would have noticed us long before now, and either hailed us, or turned the battlefield three-dimensional, going above or below us to launch an attack. These men are fools playing with technology they were probably given by someone else, and they are not even using it to its full potential.
Speaking of potential, I began. I noticed that you call yourself a marine, but you also know how to command a ship, and do magic.
I am primarily a soldier, Gabin admitted. But our people take sailing, scholarship, and magic all seriously. I rank as a Practitioner in all three areas, and a High Practitioner in naval combat.
High Practitioner was an artificial title, used to differentiate between the early and later levels of the Practitioner ranks. I would not qualify for High Practitioner in any of my skills until I gained at least another ten skill ranks.
These fools are barely in the upper stages of the Journeyman ranks, judging by how sloppy their navigation is. Even then, they are failing to use their ships intelligently. For example, they could have spread out and chased your ally from multiple directions, but instead they squander their advantage in numbers and stay together, where she can find all three of them with just a glance.
But that doesn’t mean they’ll make mistakes with us, I pointed out, because they were bound to take a larger ship a little more seriously.
A single fireball hurled out of one of the ships, not even making it halfway across the distance to us.
That does, Gabin replied. They just showed me they don’t even know the range of their own spells. Either they’re running an incredibly elaborate ruse that began long before they ever saw us, for which they would have needed to know we would be arriving at this exact spot, or they are completely unused to fighting another glyph ship. You are right, they still possess the potential to hurt us, and we will have to battle intelligently, especially because they outnumber us with ships that are much larger. But I remain… disappointed over the caliber of my first naval opponents in untold ages.
Well, if it makes you feel any better, capturing the middle ship will require some kind of boarding action. Which will either be a challenge for you to plan, or an opportunity to relieve stress by stabbing things.
That does make me feel better, the sailor-marine admitted. Thank you, my lord.
There was nothing left to talk about, so I relinquished the mindlink conversation. As Gabin had estimated, our enemies were finally in position to engage within the hour. Via’s vessel continued to sail away. Every now and then, Breena would message her, and begin muttering angrily at her fellow Satellite’s response.
I tried to figure out why our enemies had been so easy to deal with. The wyvern-riding Malus knight I had fought earlier had been much more competent. True, he still died, and he lost control of his Horde wyvern, but he still managed to separate me from the rest of the group and deliver Merada to Cavus. These guys looked very unsure about what they were doing, and as Gabin pointed out, probably should have already been able to capture Stell’s local Satellite. Then again, I remembered Stell’s warning about this world being so depopulated. With most of the local resources secured, and with some hostile, Icon-killing threat lurking around, they probably weren’t risking their strongest troops. And this group probably wasn’t even expecting to run into Via, though I didn’t really know why.
I’d have to get answers from their corpses, I decided. Which I could literally do now, thanks to my Blood magic.
Our distance continued to close, and the Malus ships finally began to act more proficient. They spread out a little more, making themselves slightly harder to hit, but still close enough to provide supporting fire.
My
Captain remained unimpressed.
“Full speed,” he commanded. “Send a bit of Air magic to give us an extra kick for a few more moments. I’ll let you know when you should stop.”
Breena and I complied for about fifteen minutes. Gabin brought our vessel around portside to flank the Malus trio, where only one ship would be able to target us. He commanded us to slow down, and we waited for a few more tense moments.
He abruptly commanded us to pour air magic back into the sails, increasing our speed, just as the closest ship sent two burning balls after us. At the same time, on the Captain’s order, our own ship sent a blue bolt of energy hurtling toward our opponent. Their attack missed us completely, while our blue bolt slammed into the side of the Malus escort. The enemy ship’s glyphs flared on the impact, but the bolt still powered through and left a scorch-mark high up on the side of the ship. Gabin grimaced.
Too high above the waterline to help sink it, too low to get any damage on the deck. We’ll have to make some adjustments.
Our blast had come from a large staff the crew had braced against the side of the ship. It resembled the wand I had made for Breena in a number of ways, with glyphs suggesting the use of both Shaping and Script magic. Gabin had explained to me earlier that we had two staves total, and that the other one was atop the crow’s nest. He shouted again, and the second bolt fired, striking the enemy ship on the sails. Again, red glyphs flared to absorb the blast, and our attack was deflected completely.
I was wrong, Gabin sent with a mental grunt. They’re halfway competent. They thought to protect the sails. He frowned as he stared out at the enemy ships. This will take a while at this range.
More dark-red fireballs arced over in our direction. One of the other ships had managed to get a clear line of sight on us, and they began firing as well. A total of four burning orbs splashed into the water, still out of range, but far closer than the earlier attack had been.
We’re going to have to get closer, my captain finally confided. Our caravel doesn’t have enough armaments to take them down at this range, and it was never supposed to. Normally, I’d stay at this range and risk a long engagement, but we need to make sure your ally can escape, and I’m concerned that the creature we saw in the distance earlier will make another appearance. But closing in will risk damage to our ship, as our enemies will have an easier time aiming and be able to bring more weapons to bear.
Lighting Distant Shores (Challenger's Call Book 4) Page 33