Chapter Eight

PIRATES OF THE SHALLOW SEA

EVELYN

Captain Arabella Storm stood at the helm of The Stormbreaker as she carefully wove the ship through the shoals and breakers of the Jagged Maw. It was a terrifying hidden danger to anyone unfamiliar with this stretch of the coastline and one she was using to great effect. Three days into their patrol, Stormbreaker and Kraken's Bane had stumbled across a pair of pirate ships, old merchantmen from the look of it, coasting right toward Siren's Reach. At first, they'd taken them for raiders, intent to use the unrest to fill their holds with slaves and treasure, and fell on them in a brutal midnight ambush. Captain Isolde Vane of her sister ship, Kraken's Bane, had planned the entire thing meticulously. Just listening to her drone on about it had put Arabella's patience to the test, but as usual, Isolde's strategy had been flawless. The two ships had been far more heavily armed than anticipated, and if they'd given the pirates a chance, they might have taken serious damage. But they hadn't, and the pirates hadn't even gotten a chance to load their weapons. Arabella and Isolde had been grinning ear to ear, ready to haul in two prize vessels, when the alarm had gone up about the other four ships closing in on them. Stormbreaker and Kraken's bane barely had a chance to get underway before ballista bolts and fire pots began raining down around them.

What they'd taken for raiders were, in actuality, the vanguard of a pirate fleet. Never had Arabella heard of so many of their ships working together. Typically, the raiders in the region were highly competitive and territorial. The pirate fleet had been following the two merchantmen, the slowest of their ships, when they'd all anchored down for the night and just hidden enough out of the line of sight not to be noticed before nightfall. The two merchantmen had been large, lumbering vessels, but they were nothing compared to the man-o-war leading the small fleet in pursuit now. It was even larger than Isolde's galleon and armed for war, not monster hunting. If it were that ship alone, it might have been worth the battle just to turn them around. But the monster of a ship was escorted by a brig that was every bit the equal of Arabella's own brigantine and supported by two schooners. Running had been the right call. They'd put on full sail and bombarded the defenseless merchantmen with firepots on their way out to ensure no one would be putting them back to pirating. It had been risky fleeing with all haste into the night like that, but they'd needed the cover of darkness to get out from under the weapons of the rest of the fleet. Unfortunately, the pirate fleet had mimicked their behavior, spreading out under full sail before finding them again and giving chase. Arabella and Isolde had gained some distance in the maneuver and could outrun the man-o-war, but it wouldn't matter. The brig and schooners were all faster than Stormbreaker and Kraken's bane. The harassing ships only needed to slow them long enough for the man-o-war to catch up. They'd led the pirates on a merry chase for two days, almost back to Siren's Reach, before they'd spotted three more pirate ships sitting just outside the harbor in a blockade and had to turn away, giving them a wide birth. Fortunately, the blockade force stayed in place, but it had cost them time. The watchtower had signaled them to head west – as if they had a choice, but at least there was some solace in knowing that their home port had seen their predicament.

With few other options, Arabella had flagged a quick message to Isolde that she would split off and force the pirates apart. She'd neglected to tell her she'd be dragging them through the Jagged Maw. Isolde would have likely twisted herself in a knot. That prim and proper woman didn't understand rolling the dice and letting the sea take you where it would. It had paid off, too. As they split, the brig had gotten several shots off at Stormbreaker at the edge of its range and tore her aft sail to uselessness. Sensing blood in the water, the brig had given chase, and one of the schooners had joined it. The schooner had closed quickly, at least a dozen fire arrows hitting the deck of The Stormbreaker, and even managed a ballista bolt into the rear mast. Not enough to cause immediate harm, but a few more shots like that, and she'd be fighting deck to deck. But that had been the idea. The Schooner had put on too much speed. Their captain wasn't familiar with the water or wasn't keeping track of their charts, and Arabella was happy to watch him pay the price for it. She stood tall, waving goodbye to them from the rear rail of her ship. The pirate crew had made a few rude gestures and was preparing their next volley when they slammed full speed into the breakers. The ship seemed to pop out of the water with the impact, its keel snapping as its crew were thrown in every direction. Where sailors landed, the water soon began to churn as the local sea life and monsters were quick to pounce on the latest victims of the Jagged Maw. Finally, her trap was complete, and she ordered the crew to begin reefing sails to make a more reasonable speed, just as the brig behind her did in a rush.

Now, it pursued at a safe distance, trying to mimic her every move. They were doing well, all things considered, but she could tell that their navigation skill was far below hers. The slight list they were developing made it obvious they were taking on some water from the two glancing impacts they'd had so far, but they were afloat. She could practically feel the seething anger of the captain behind her. The only thing keeping the grin from her face was the smoke beginning to rise from Kraken's Bane. Isolde had been in a hit-and-run battle with the other schooner for some time, weapons flying back and forth each time the smaller ship dove into range. She had lured it in too close twice, and the schooner was light several crew members and a sail for their mistakes, but it had allowed the man-o-war to get within weapons range. Now, the two larger ships were exchanging nonstop fire as Isolde tried to regain her lead over it. The fire on her deck was making that difficult. If Isolde could hold out, Arabella would soon be able to get free of the breakers and make for the man-of-war's rear. She would be within its engagement range for some time before she could return fire, but it would split their attention. More importantly, if she were able to cripple their rudder, it would effectively remove that ship from the battle, making it worth the risk. Planning that maneuver nearly caused her to miss the towering green plants under the water ahead, but a grin split her face when she finally caught sight of them.

"All hands! We're about to make a sharp turn to port! Everyone follow my orders precisely and be prepared to brace!" She looked to her bosun, who was already beginning to turn white with understanding. "Bosun, ready the port anchor for a drop on my mark. We need it to catch just right! Sailmaster, loosen the main and prepare to haul hard to starboard as soon as the anchor bites! We need to pivot fast if we don't want to feed the crabs!"

Commands began to fly, and the crew flew across the deck and into the rigging. As she saw the final marker, one last breaker on the port, she yelled out, "Everyone, hold on tight and be ready for a jolt! On my mark, this old girl will swing hard! Three.. two.. one… Drop the anchor!"

It took only a moment before a sharp jolt ran through the entire ship, causing it to shudder as the stern began to quickly swing to starboard. Immediately, Arabella spun the ship's wheel hard to starboard and called out, "Sailmaster, haul those sails! We need every bit of speed we can manage if we're going to clear the breakers!" but he was already yelling out to the crew with commands to haul away.

Creeks and groans ran throughout the ship with the strain, and the sails snapped in the wind as they were hauled into position. Arabella could practically feel the stress on the ship, but she knew what her Stormbreaker was made of. With one final snap, the sails filled with wind, and the ship lurched ahead.

She watched the ship clear the breakers by feet as it finished its swing into position, and the crew was moving again nearly as fast as she could call out, "Bosun, retrieve the anchor! Well done, everyone! Let's see those bastards do that!"

A cheer went up across the deck, and she took a moment to look back at the brig behind them, already trying to slow themselves and find the path clear. Arabella knew it was far too late for the brig. She didn't bother watching their end, content to hear the shattering wood and screams of the crew behind her. Instead, she focused on the ships ahead. This was going to be a hard fight. Thunder rumbled in the distance as if to punctuate her thoughts, and she glanced up to see the darkening sky. The clouds seemed to rush in, and a headwind came out of nowhere. She watched as several of the shots fired at the Kraken's Bane went wide in the gust, but one still managed to land. A ballista bolt slammed right into her main mast and stuck fast. And then, it exploded in flames. That was it. Isolde's crew was quick to begin putting the fire out, but they'd have to replace that sail while the other ship closed and continued to fire on them. The Man-o-war would have boarders over her rail before she had a chance to gain distance again, and the pirates would easily outnumber Isolde's crew. Isolde knew that, too, and she didn't hesitate for a moment. Arabella watched as Kraken's Bane turned hard to port, bringing a full broadside of its weapons to bear on the pirate ship. Every ballista and trebuchet on that side of the ship fired at once, all obviously alchemical loads and aimed for the rigging of the pursuing ship. The Man-o-War began to turn to port to evade and return fire when it was suddenly struck by lightning. The crew seemed stunned for a moment, with some of them tumbling from the rigging and giving Kraken's Bane the opportunity to turn back to run while she reloaded. But then, the man-o-war was struck by lightning again in the same mast. This time, the rigging and mast burst into flames in several places, and there was an audible snapping sound as cracks spread through the mast.

Arabella looked on in awe at the damaged ship, stunned by their luck. She was about to order a course change to skirt the disoriented pirates and rendezvous with Kraken's Bane when a streak of red fell from the sky, and the center of the man-of-war's deck exploded into flames. The pirates were under attack. This was confirmed a moment later as a storm of oversized ballista bolts came falling from the sky, each one detonating with incendiaries on impact. The entire deck was in a wash of flame, and the crew had begun to jump overboard when the next fireball crashed down. Arabella looked around for their unexpected ally, but the only thing she saw in the water was the pirate schooner. It had been circling around, likely to engage her from behind after replacing its destroyed sail, but it, too, was a burning wreck. When her eyes fell on Kraken's Bane, she saw their signalman rapidly flagging a message, but it only took a brief look to know he wasn't sending the message to her. In fact, they seemed to be watching the sky.

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I checked again just to make sure that the smaller of the ships hadn't sunk after its crazy maneuver, but they seemed fine, casually sailing along to meet their companion. I had intended to disable the giant pirate ship that was attacking my allies, but it seemed that Constance and Aric had other ideas – and they didn't include any measure of mercy. I had been focused on my weather control when the orders had gone out to attack, but with how Constance had been explaining the pirates of the Shallow Sea to Amélie, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. They didn't seem much better than the Fallen. If they had captured our ships below, the sailors of Siren's Reach would have likely fought without surrendering until they were forcibly captured. But seeing as the pirates were slavers, they had a lot of ways to make that happen. They'd kill anyone who resisted them or didn't look profitable, then beat and rape anyone left before selling them like cattle. As I watched the ship burning below, I knew I should feel something about the people who died, but I didn't. I felt cold. I was even easily distracted from the concept. Our altitude was dropping so we could offer aid and communicate more easily with our allied ships, but I was focused on the flames below.

Seeing how easily we'd destroyed a major vessel made me understand how deadly my ship was compared to seafaring ships of the modern era, especially if they didn't have any warning that we were coming. Dawn's Light wasn't invincible, not even close, but it did have a powerful built-in defensive spell shield, and it would be very difficult to attack without mages or specialized equipment. It was an overwhelming advantage, but there would always be limits. On a personal level, most spells and attacks had maximum ranges, even while firing on targets below. The ship's own weapons had limitations as well. The wind alone would make ballistas and trebuchets difficult to use effectively at long distances or high altitudes. But in most matchups, we would have a distinct advantage.

"Evie, they have some injured down there. Can you cast [Slow Fall] on us? I will jump down with Constance to introduce us and give them a hand."

I looked up to see Amélie's concerned face and Constance's widening, panicked eyes and nodded. "Of course. We should get everyone headed to the port for repairs, too."

Amélie only nodded back, eager to get down to the other ship, and I quickly cast the spell. Constance was far less eager to jump down but followed only a second behind Amélie when she went over the side. I felt like they were the perfect ambassadors for this situation. Amélie was proudly displaying her Princess title and would be landing and immediately helping to heal their wounded, and Constance was incredibly professional and knowledgeable in a way that would support her greatly. She also had many utility spells at her disposal that might aid the crew as they prepared to return to the city.

Nearby on the quarterdeck, our communications team was receiving and relaying messages to the other two ships using a flag system. Both ships had reported that they could sail, though Kraken's Bane was hamstrung until they could replace their burned mainsail. I was content to watch Aric work and learn from his example. He had just relayed an offer to tow the larger ship, which I hadn't known was an option. Little things like that always reminded me how much more I had to learn. Officially, I was the captain and the owner of the ship, but in reality, I knew that running a ship like this was something that you had to grow into. From the very beginning, I made it clear I understood that, and I planned for him to be as much my instructor as my first mate. If I objected to something, I'd tell him as much, but in situations like this, I followed his guidance. There was just too much of a chance that people could get hurt or die. I watched as the communications team handed him their notes on the messages being exchanged, splitting my attention between how he issued responses and trying to keep an eye on Amélie from time to time. It was a little distracting, but fortunately, it seemed all the excitement had passed.

And, because I had that thought, Aric looked up and said, "Captain, the last message was a warning of a blockade at Siren's Reach. It appears the ships we defeated weren’t the last of the pirates. I suggest we assist our allied vessels in preparing to move as soon as possible so we can intervene and break the blockade."

"Yes, agreed. Amélie has a little experience repairing damaged ships with magic, but let's send them what we can spare to get things moving. I should probably update ship orders to let Septimia know everyone is all right. I think we should have Dawn's Light escort Kraken's Bane and Stormbreaker to Siren's Reach for repairs and plan the attack on the blockade en route. What do you think?"

Aric's smile reminded me of a particularly pleased teacher in grade school. "Very good ideas, but we can begin planning right now." As he spoke, he motioned to the chart he was reviewing, and I took a few steps to stand across from him. "Currently, we know three ships are stationed in the blockade here," he said, tapping the map, "here, and here. Their forces are led by a man-o-war, similar to the one below – A heavy three-masted warship built for front-line combat. It has multiple reinforced decks containing a combined armament between ten and twenty heavy ballistae supported by a similar amount of standard ballistae. The main deck also has four trebuchets. They are reinforced by two brigs, a little larger than your fleet's brigantine but with a similar layout. Both are faster, more agile two-masted ships that we can expect to have between four and eight ballistae and may also be armed with one or two trebuchets. It is assumed they have orders to hold those positions as they did not try to intercept or reinforce the pursuit of our friends below."

He looked back up at me with a grin, "Your forces consist of an aerial battle cruiser, which you are intimately familiar with, armed with our six mechanized artifact ballistae, two arcane light cannon artifact weapons, and our array of light ballistae. We are supported by a galleon, which is three-quarters the size but nearly as heavily armed as the man-o-war. It also has an advantage in agility as it is much lighter and faster without the reinforced structure. The comparison between our brigantine and the brigs of the enemy fleet is similar, with ours being slightly smaller and more agile but close in armament. Considering this, what observations do you have?"

"Well, we overmatch them by a lot. The man-of-war's advantage is nullified by Dawn's Light. Still, if we engage in a direct fight, our support ships are going to take losses. We might be best ambushing them again."

He nodded, "Most likely, yes. But first, what else do we know about the pirates? And what information are we missing?"

I looked over to the smoke billowing up from the burning wrecks, reminding myself of my part in the battle and how far I'd come in accepting that. "They're evil. They are slavers and murderers, and they deserve what is coming to them." At my pause, he nodded and urged me to continue, so I thought about what I might be missing. And, exasperatedly, I ended up repeating myself. "They're slavers. We don't know how long they've been here, but one of their goals is obvious. They might have slaves aboard their ships. They are probably locked up in the man-o-war. We can't just sink it. We're going to need to take the ship."

Aric nodded, "We will need to take the ship if possible. Our forces are limited, and our foe will likely have between four hundred and six hundred men aboard. We can assume at least a hundred dedicated raiders and upward of eighty archers. We have thirty sky marines. A boarding action will not be easy."

"We will clear the main deck at range, and then I will go down myself. I will see who is willing to go with me. Unless there are several powerful classers aboard, I should be fine."

Aric held his hands up, palm out, "We are getting ahead of ourselves. First, we must win the sea battle. Use the information you have, and tell me how you would engage these forces."

I took a deep breath. Right. My eyes took a moment to go over the chart, but with all my lessons, it wasn't long before a simple but effective plan formed in my mind. "Well, I think surprise is still essential. They don't know about our skyship, and we can keep it that way until after combat has begun. I think I will keep this storm going and push it toward the town with some fog. That will keep us nearly impossible to see and make our returning ships even more of a surprise for them. We will be returning from the west, so I believe that a direct combined assault by Kraken's Bane and The Stormbreaker on this picket brig on the west side will be a good opening. With the storm coming in, I think the blockade ships will drop anchor to hold their position since the harbor is well protected in the cove from rough seas. That may give our fleet additional time to attack them unprepared.

"My spellwork will ensure that our ships have the weather gauge on the way in and out, giving them two solid opportunities at raking fire. By then, the man-o-war and the second brig should be in motion to intercept. Once they have ensured the second brig is engaging, our ships will perform a false retreat into the fog. The brig will outpace the man-o-war in an attempt to slow our ships down so its heavy firepower can be brought into combat and expose itself in the process.

"While this is ongoing, Dawn's Light will approach overland, where they will not suspect us. When we see the blockade ships begin moving to intercept, we will drop altitude to engage. Once the brig has pulled away to chase our ships, we will cross the T behind the man-o-war to rake its entire deck. We will need to use something that is not flammable but highly effective at neutralizing crew. Perhaps concussive explosions to knock them overboard and destroy the top deck weapons. Then, with the quarterdeck cleared, we will use it as a beachhead to take the ship from above. Our ships can return to engage the brig as soon as our attack on the man-o-war begins."

Aric looked a little surprised, "You have been paying attention after all! That is a better plan than what I had in mind. I should really account for your magic. It is a nice change to have so many mages aboard. Still, I am not certain that having you in the boarding action is our best option. You are very valuable, and I suspect that once we show them we have overwhelming power, they will negotiate and surrender."

I shook my head, "No, I will lead the boarding action. I am not going to send these men down there to risk their lives when I know I am much more durable than they are. When I go below to root out the pirates, they will help hold the entrances to the lower decks and arrest anyone who tries to surrender." Aric's face began to turn neutral, but before he could reply, another thought hit me. "Do the pirates normally work together like this? The pirate stories I know make me think they'd be too selfish."

That distracted Aric from my plan, and he took a moment to consider. "No, not like this. It would be rare for two or three ships to be working together. This is an entire fleet and highly organized compared to how they normally operate."

"Then either someone is uniting the pirates, or Blackstone actually hired pirates to attack us." The idea that they'd done something like that while knowing how evil the pirates were made me more than a little angry. I was going to have to do some interrogation.

Aric didn't seem thrilled with the idea, either. "There has been some unrest in the island nations, but there has been unrest everywhere. It is possible that there is someone trying to unite the pirates into factions or something bigger. They would not normally have ships so heavily armed, so the idea that they have been hired also has merit. I doubt they captured those man-o-wars."

I nodded, "I am not overly familiar with the island nations. I know where some of them are, but I haven't gotten very far with that in my studies."

Aric actually barked a short laugh at that. "I am not surprised. It is a complicated subject. The short version is that there are many islands in the shallow sea and beyond, and many of them are broken remnants of an old empire with less than honorable traditions. The smaller islands that dot the whole region are also great places for pirates to have their own small towns and hideouts. There are a lot of politics and unofficial rules out there. We can discuss it more when this is all settled if you like."

It was sounding more and more like I'd need that lesson, but before I could reply, one of the crew approached and said, "Excuse me, Captain, Commander, Kraken's Bane has signaled that they have completed repairs and Princess Amélie is ready to return aboard."

Aric nodded, "Very good. Send down a basket for her and ask their captain to come aboard. Let's also signal for the captain of the Storm Breaker to come up. We can go over our plans with them at once."