Chapter 314 - Pirates and Prayers VI
Claire flew for about an hour before the pirate called for her to stop. Retrieving a scryer’s orb from one of her pockets, Lana sat up straight and focused her mana into the ball. The artifact reacted as soon as its circuits were full. They came to life, expanding the sphere threefold.
The exact mechanism was outside the realm of Claire’s comprehension, but the tool effectively compressed all of the surrounding sights into a single image and projected it straight into the user’s eyes. That was why scryer’s orbs were typically operated in groups. The artifact burnt out the retinas of its observers, necessitating a replacement following each soldier’s temporary blindness. Such was the norm for military-grade devices. They were designed with the expectation that the soldiers using them were Cadrian, and they would be able to quickly regenerate any functions lost to the artifacts’ effects. It was a measure that made it more difficult for other countries to capture their technology, as most foreigners were too pain-averse to become well-versed in active regeneration. Lana, however, remained unflinching. She stared into the light for a solid five minutes before casually putting it away.
“They’re about fifty kilometers to the north-northeast,” she said. Following the wolf girl’s fingers provided no clear identifiers. Claire didn’t know how far fifty kilometers was exactly, and there were far too many ships sailing the open seas. There were even more of them out east than there had been near the shore, coming and going in all different directions. Summer was when the surrounding nations did most of their maritime trading. There weren’t as many storms as there were in spring or fall, and more importantly, the seas weren’t frozen over. The end result was a boatload—or rather many boatloads—of traffic.
It didn’t help that, unlike the in-combat pirates she had spotted earlier in the day and the legally exempt Penhorns, most hid their black flags until they identified a target to raid. In such a populated area, the pirates were much better off blending in and picking their prey than aggressively threatening to chase them down.
“How can you tell?” asked Claire.
“I recognize their ships,” said Lana. “They’re the smaller pointier ones that still technically fit into the privean class.”
“You’ll have to point them out when we get closer,” said Claire. It may have made sense to a sailor, but to Claire, the description was nonsense. She could tell that the ships were different sizes, of course, and it was easy to pick out the turberus-drawn boats from those propelled by sails or oars, but that was about the extent of her knowledge.
“Should I sink them?” asked Claire.
“Sink the two smaller ones,” said Lana. “Let the last one get away. We need them to show us to their base.”
“So like with bandits then.”
“Pretty much.”
Claire put a little more strength into her wings and accelerated towards the ships. They were far enough away from the capital that she had become an unusual sight. The sailors raised their eyes as her form was called to attention. Most stared curiously, but some were fearful enough to point their bows and ballistae towards the sky.
Their targets were in that latter category. They had their weapons trained on her before she began her descent, but to little avail. She couldn’t even be bothered to dodge. Sharp as they were, the arrows bounced right off her scales without inflicting a hint of damage. The pirates tried shooting their cannons at her as well, but they had to rip the weapons off their stands to get the right angle. And by then, it was too late. She crashed down on the first ship’s deck, snapping its hull and sending it straight into the sea.
She turned her eyes on its brethren, only to find them already in the midst of escape. They suddenly accelerated, boosting their speeds ten times over. The driving mechanism wasn’t clear. The ships had no oars, and it wasn’t like the winds had suddenly changed. Still, they only continued to accelerate. She could see why the Penhorns struggled to pursue, especially if their targets were given more advance notice. But Claire didn’t share their problems. She magically pulled the smaller boat in the direction opposite its movement. It didn’t suddenly stop or reverse. Unwilling to strain her circuits, she only used enough power to slowly sap its speed away.
A quick hop later, and the menace was upon the second ship.
Three cannoneers unleashed their weapons as she landed, but she barely felt it when they struck her. They felt more like flicks than real attacks. Her scales were dirtied by some of the soot that accompanied the violent explosions but otherwise remained unscathed.
Somewhat annoyed, she struck the gunners with her tail, breaking the people and armaments in a single fell swoop. Lana leapt off her head in the meantime. She wrecked the ship’s mast with a swing of the axe and jumped into the fray with her weapon dancing. Her blows were heavy but graceful, performed with none of the wild abandon that axe warriors typically embraced.
Her careful evasion nearly convinced the lyrkress to change her approach, but she continued disregarding the enemies’ attacks after a moment of consideration. Even ignoring the goddess’ voice, which revealed that the pirates were only between level fifty and a hundred, she could tell that they were too weak to use as practice. Their swings and stabs were haphazard, completely lacking in any notable technique.
Their elimination was such a boring chore that she couldn’t bother to be thorough. She put her front talons together and smashed the ship, cracking through its hull and shattering it to pieces. Grabbing only the still-rampaging wolf, she threw her on her back and lazily chased after the final transport.
For her, it was more of the usual—her targets often employed some gimmick or other and ran for their lives—but the pirates were nowhere near as nonchalant. The unit’s commander, a catgirl by the name of Larisa, was especially panicked. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she held the ship’s wheel and engaged the pedal that served to control its speed.
The Paunsean had never exactly wanted to be a pirate in the first place. In fact, just a year and a half ago, she had been a normal village girl, but the security in her nation had loosened when war broke out. Her hometown was raided; she had been kidnapped by a group of foreigners and sold into slavery abroad. Her pretty face allowed her to escape death by hard labour, but the work she was assigned was hardly any better. She served as a courtesan at an expensive brothel, where she eventually met and charmed the pirate that had bought out her contract and provided her freedom. He was the captain of the Kreentes, and he had made her both his lover and a key member of his crew.
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And so came the present day. She had gone from kidnapee to kidnapper, doing unto others as they had done unto her. The guilt never quite left her, so when she saw the giant, sparkling creature, she couldn’t help but think of it as punishment delivered by the gods themselves. She didn’t know what it was. But its form had imprinted itself into the back of her mind and inspired a deep fear in her heart—its hide was so tough that no weapon could pierce it, and its eyes were cold enough to show that it would slaughter them without remorse. But somehow, in spite of its gripping terror, she found the monster enchanting. Its scales glimmered in the morning sun like the gold of a crown and its piercing gaze shone like the jewels that adorned it. Even just seeing it for a moment robbed her of the ability to get it out of her head.
“What the hell was that thing!?” she muttered, with a shiver.
“No clue. Never seen anything like it,” said the man standing beside her. He was her second-in-command. Those were the official designations, at least, but everyone knew the truth. It was really the second that controlled the ship. Etienne was one of Captain Kreente’s most trusted men, assigned to the ship to make up for her inexperience and inadequacy. “But I think it’s safe to say that it’s out to get us. The girl on its back was one of the Penhorn sisters.”
“You’re telling me they managed to tame that?” said the catgirl. “It was strong enough to snap a ship in half!”
“Doesn’t matter if it can’t keep up,” said Etienne, as he looked to the rear. The beast was nowhere to be seen. “We can still outrun it, so we don’t really have to change up our strategy. Assign a few guys to watch the skies, and we’ll be good.”
“Can I leave that to you?” she asked, as she spun the wheel. They were headed back to headquarters. The captain needed to know the news.
“Aye,” said the man.
He stepped away from the helm, leaving the catgirl with her thoughts as she continued to navigate the seas. Their base was located in the middle of the sea. Specifically, it was set up on a ring-shaped island in a shallower patch of ocean. The location was one that most larger ships were unable to reach. Twice-ascended turberi could still climb their way over, of course, but there was hardly such a thing as a fleet with more than two.
Larisa’s heart calmed as she directed the ship towards the dock. They were safe at home. The whole island was a massive stone fortress, lined with guns much more potent than those aboard their ships. There was a mix of physical and magical cannons, dug up from the ruins within the island’s underwater core. They were powered primarily by the leyline that ran right through it, and it was that same leyline that had prevented them from being found so far. The excess magic it gave off was released into the air as fog; the area was almost impossible to navigate without specific knowledge or explicit instruction.
Breathing a sigh of relief, the catgirl docked the ship and hopped onto dry land. She didn’t bother shouting any instructions at the men. They already knew what to do.
She waited for Etienne to catch up before heading inside the stone fortress. A few turns later, they were in the dining hall, where the captain was merrily drinking the day away. Like Etienne, he was a lizardman, specifically one of the radioactive variety. For the most part, his grey scales were smooth, but a large crest erupted from the tip of his head.
His arms took the form of a pair of giant wings, with tiny hands growing out of the middle. They were without function when it came to wielding a weapon, but they served greatly in his everyday life, allowing him to bring his mug to his massive jaw. In truth, she despised the man, but she put on her best lovestruck smile and greeted him with a wave.
“Kreente!” she said. “We’re back!”
The man didn’t say anything, only nodding as he waved them over to the seats beside him. There were already drinks on the table, still in their bottles with their corks intact, but neither Larisa nor Etienne immediately helped themselves. In spite of the wine’s high quality.
Seeing the unusual behaviour, the captain set down his own bottle and creased his brow. “What’s wrong?”
“The Penhorns attacked while we were on our way back from a raid,” said Etienne. “One of their captains managed to tame a strange flying beast tough enough to ignore all of our weapons. The orum class managed to outrun it, but it got both of our priveans. I don’t know how much stamina it has, but we’re going to need to start watching the skies.”
Larisa bit her lower lip. “I think it might’ve been some sort of divine beast. It was so strong that it snapped one of the priveans in a single strike.”
The captain’s eyes gleamed. “What’d it look like?”
“It was long and slender and its body was covered in thick scales. Most of its body was white, with a faint hint of blue. It was kind of like a snake with legs and wings.”
“So like the thing standing behind you?” asked the captain.
Larisa laughed. “Oh, come on. I’m not falling for that one.”
“I’m serious,” said Kreente.
Gulping, Larisa slowly craned her neck and found a serpentine creature standing right behind her. Her whole body froze when she met its looming gaze. The only hint of movement was the shiver that made its way up the length of her spine.
“I would’ve assumed you noticed it following you,” said Kreente, “but I guess it doesn’t matter. This just makes it easier to settle the score.” He stood up and grabbed the giant chainsword leaning against the table. “You made a mistake marching in here alone, Penhorn. Did you think we were running away because we wouldn’t kill your asses?”
“That’s exactly what I think,” said Lana, as she grabbed her axe.
She leapt off her mount and prepared to engage with the momentum of her fall, but there was a thud before she could swing her weapon. Where there was once a lizard-shaped pirate, she found only a limb covered in silvery scales. And where there was once a wall, she found an equally lizard-shaped hole.
There was a brief moment of silence, with Lana slowly looking up at Claire, and the lyrkress not bothering to respond.
“What the fuck was that for!?” Kreente screamed as he pulled himself out from the hole. “Face me in a fair duel, coward! We fight one on one, goddammit! Them’s the rules of the seas!”
“I am just as confused as you are,” said the tiny wolf.
“The two of you were taking too long,” said Claire. “So I fixed the problem.”
“We just started…” said Lana. “I hadn’t even attacked him yet.”
“You wasted thirty seconds talking,” complained Claire.
“Yes, bu—”
“And there’s not really much of a point in talking when both of you are idiots.”
Again, there was a moment of silence, with both pirates slowly looking up at Claire, and the lyrkress not bothering to respond.
“Hey, Penhorn,” said Kreente. “Whaddya say we join forces and teach this thing some manne—”
A thud rang through the hall before he could finish his sentence, accompanied by a second lizard-shaped hole and a third moment of silence.
“And so, the Kreente Pirates were subdued,” said Claire. “With no other choice remaining, their captain gave in to the Penhorns and joined their ra—”
“Fuck you!” cried Kreente, as he slowly crawled out of his hole. “You piece of shit! Don’t just go ending m—”
Thud.
And so, the Kreente Pirates were subdued. With no other choice remaining, their captain gave in to the Penhorns and joined their ranks as a new recruit.