Mya pressed the map flat to her table.

“We’ve made good time, though tomorrow we encounter our first obstacle. The singing shoals.” She tapped on the map, a light line carved from Anvil Spike to the shoals, then beyond to the Coral Bastion.

“The Shoals are part of a natural formation of rocks that cut through this area. If we want to go around it will take a day and a half. We’ll have to take our time moving through the shallow waters here, razor sharp rocks lay below the surface. Thankfully we know the way. Though so does everyone else.”

“Expecting the ambush to be here?” Desari said.

“I’m pretty much guaranteeing it. Damn I think its going to be right here,” Mya pointed to a location. All of the passages through the shoal converge here, tall rock on either side that we can’t see beyond, but a ship can hide till we exit.” Mya dragged her finger through the stone corridor.

“What’s the plan?” Petor asked.

“Soon as we come around this point here we start piling on as much speed as possible. They might be expecting us, though they probably won’t anticipate our speed. We’ll approached the shoals under the cover of night. Desari,” Mya fixed her with a look. “Do you think you could guide us through in the dark?”

“We will have to go slow and the water calm, though I should be able to.”

“That sounds really risky,” Petor said.

“These weapons are on a timeline and if they are waiting for us. If we can get through there before even first light.” Mya rapped her knuckles on the table. “We should be able to cut them right down.”

“When do you think we’ll get there?” Desari asked.

“I’d say after midnight,” Mya said. Her words turned question.

Desari grimaced. “I’ll do my best, but might be after first light though.”

“Pirates are rarely well trained or adhere to schedule. The earlier we can hit them, the more they’ll be on the back foot,” Mya said.

“Seems a bit risky, what if we were to circle around, hit Coral Bastion and then come back and hit the pirates?” Petor asked.

“We don’t know if they’ll be there, pirates usually have a network of people that are willing to send them information. We come into port then they might sail through the straight and just hang out on the other side waiting for us to come back this way,” Mya said.

“Seems dangerous,” Petor said.

“Hit them hard and fast,” Mya said.

Petor looked at them, and Valter. The plan was sound, but it was born out of a desire to be fast. It would also be futile to argue with them.

He crossed his arms. “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. We might be a lot stronger than when we started this journey, but we shouldn’t rely on that to get us out of situations we could have avoided.”

Silence hung heavy.

“They’re expecting us in the day and as merchants, not fighters. We’ll go in ready for a fight. In one shot we can take them out and get our merchandise to its customers. They might not even be there,” Mya said.

Petor tilted his head in acquiescence.

“Thoughts?” She looked to the others.

“Hard and fast,” Valter said.

***

The passage went smoothly, the water’s currents carrying them forth with the wind, conjured or blowing.

Petor stayed at the tiller with Valter as Mya and Desari slept in the day, catching a few hours as darkness feel.

“Its time lads, shoals in sight,” Mya’s voice called through the timbers.

Petor breathed in, going from asleep to fully alert from one heartbeat to the next. He nodded to Valter as he stretched in his hammock. He let the tension out of his muscles, swinging over the side of the hammock, pulling on socks he’d laid out before and stuffing his feet into his boots.

They rolled up their hammocks and stored them, glowing mages lights swung with the ships movements, highlighting the loaded and readied cannons lining the deck.

Petor climbed up the walkway into the spray of sea air.

Lightning cracked in the distance, the wind trying to come in from another direction.

Petor reached out to Desari, feeding her mana.

“Thank you!” She called from the poopdeck.

Petor looked through the night, the water an obsidian black as it broke itself against the rocky shoals pointing out of the water like shark’s teeth.

Petor squinted into the distance, a wall of stone cutting across the sea, a hundred meters tall and many thicker.

Most of the sails were being rolled away as they neared the shoals, a mourning dire being played throughout.

“Wish they were known for a more hopeful song,” Petor muttered to Valter as he made his way to the bow, his armor appearing around his body as Valter did likewise.

“Seems like our luck.”

“Keep a weathered eye,” Mya’s voice followed after them as they reached the bow, each taking a side.

Mesurial slid between visible and hidden rocks, the water crashing against them, washing back and trying to shift their course.

What damn use am I going to be? Get out there and push us off a rock with a spear?

They got close to the rocks so the spray of waves covered Petor.

Mesurial grunted and groaned at the forces placed upon her.

The ship jolted as they hit something, Petor grimacing as the ship shifted away.

More of the sails were stored away, the sway of the oars shifting one side going harder than the other, then vice versa.

A rough grating noise came from the ship’s timbers, Petor could picture the wood scraping through the layers of wood, grimacing and waiting for the calls to head below and close up the holes.

Petor kept his thoughts locked in his head, Desari and Mya were fighting their own battle and they didn’t need distractions. Their voices a constant background noise, unintelligible through everything else.

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The darkness brightened by degrees as they closed with the passage through the rock wall.

A jerky shove made Petor grab onto the railing else he be pushed sideways. He stared over the side, seeing the froth covering a rock just below the surface.

A few seconds and a meter and that would have been carving through our hull.

Darkness made one last bid before the sun cut through, breaking the day in.

Mya and Desari commanded the air, the water, helm, oars and currents to carry them forth.

The wood scraped against stone before veering off, then they were through, entering the weaving passage through the stone wall.

Don’t want to know what the underside is going to look like.

Petor felt mana flowing through the ship to the areas scraped raw by the stone, sending his own through the railing to assist.

“Well that’s the first bit done,” Mya said through the timbers as the oar’s pace picked up, the sails starting to unfurl once more as the wind filled them. “Remove the cannon caps.”

Petor moved down the starboard side, pulling the corks from the cannons, storing them in holders, moving down levels to do the same.

The deck before the water line was wet but bilge pumps were working to clear the remaining water. He glanced through the hatch to the floor below, it was wet, but without clear signs of flooding.

“Damn risky,” Petor grabbed onto the rope bannisters, running up the stairs for the higher decks.

“Open up the main deck hatches,” Mya ordered.

Petor got up top to Valter hauling a hatch up and away, the cranes unfolding themselves.

He got to work, the cranes reaching into the holds below pulling up crates. Each crate was different but Petor knew what they held. The crates cover’s fell away revealing the metal orbs and their twin rifle barrels.

Four locked into place on either side of the ship, ready to be mounted at a moment’s notice.

The morning sun was overshadowed by the cold rock of the wall high above as Petor walked around the forward most crane-sphere. His clothes kept him warm, his armor a comforting weight upon his body. It felt good to have a scarf, and not have to rely on just a helmet again.

Though he’d had one made up just in case.

“Copper for your thoughts?” Valter asked, his runes a low burning red to Petor’s green.

“Was looking at the rifles mounted under the sphere and it made me think of the seeds the different plants I’m working on spit out. Then it got me thinking about plants in the sea. Sure I’m effective on land, but out here, I have to rely on my normal weaponry. Same could be said about the air now I’m thinking about it.”

“Okay,” Valter shifted where he sat, a curiosity in his own voice.

“Made me think, well corals, they look like stone but they’re grown right? If I was to use that to create platforms on then I could grow the other plants ontop of them? Kind of like the brambles how they make the largest coverage and then support the other plants.”

“Plants do not like salty water?” Valter asked.

“Some don’t others don’t mind. I can juice up the plants on mana but if they have natural resources to use then less drain on me.” Petor tapped his lip. “Its not a very elegant solution thought now is it?”

He grimaced and put his hands on his hips looking up into the sky. “Then there’s that bastard to defeat.”

Valter cast his gaze up. “The air?”

“Right, there aren’t plants up there, well there might be seeds and such?”

“We have seen a great number of odd things, it is not so far fetched that we might see plants that can grow in the air,” Valter said.

“That is a good—point?” Petor frowned at a noise. Valter turned his head, eyes moving to track it to.

A series of successive noises like cracks bounce through the walls.

“Mya, you hear that?” Petor asked.

“What?” Her voice came through the timbers.

“That,” Valter said. Singular noises in a sort of rhythm rang out.

“That, its,” Mya paused inbetween pulling her thoughts together. “That’s a barrage.”

“The pirates fighting amongst one another?” Valter asked.

“Or against someone else,” Petor said.

“Coming around the last corner, be ready on the cannons,” Mya said.

Mesurial’s speed climbed as she came around the bend in the walls.

Petor ran to the bow, holding onto the railings and leaning forward to see what lay beyond sooner.

The stone gave way to the last section between the walls.

“Large galleon moving across the mouth of the opening, beyond it by three hundred meters. Its firing!”

Petor ducked his head unconsciously. No shot hit the passage.

“Its aiming for either side of the passage!” He yelled back as he lost sight of the ship, the stone of the passage blocking it from sight.

Cannon fire, much closer rang down the passage.

“I think that the galleon is fighting the pirates.” Petor silently cursed himself for not checking the ship with his spyglass.

He rode the bow as it lifted up, the passage of Mesurial creating waves that lapped at the stone they passed.

“Ready on the cannons!” Mya yelled.

Petor moved next to the first cannon and grabbed out a slow burning wick lighting it with a flare of mana.

Valter pinched his to start it smoking. The wind pulled at Petor’s scarf as he tucked it under his armor, the hood pulled back to see clearly.

“Here we fucking go.”

The sea spray cut at him as Mesurial was an arrow unleashed upon the water.

The passage howled behind them. Petor looked back to see a wall of wind, angry and whipped white, picking up the turmoiled waters of their wake. A grin spread across his face as it parted around the ship, focused into clear eddies.

“Brace!” Desari’s voice was the wind itself.

Petor grabbed onto the railings as Mesurial was kicked forward and kept gaining speed, the rear of the ship pulling up from the force of the wind.

Under his hands the polished wood turned gnarled and aged, runes ran through her timbers. A cackle came from Mesurial’s totem of a grinning woman spinning a golden coin in her hand.

Her eyes filled with the white flame that filled Mya’s.

“Any waiting beyond the cove I doubt are here to give us a nice hello. Lets return the gesture.” Mya’s voice was cold steel.

Petor checked his wick, watching as the walls passed away. The wind that pushed them blowing out in every direction.

“Three ships Starboard!” Petor lined up the first shot, lowering his wick. The ships appeared to have been lined up with their broadsides pointed at the passage’s exit, each ship further away from the passage was also back more so that they wouldn’t be seen before whoever might come through saw the first ship.

Now their sails were being hurried down and the ships were halfway turned, lining up to create a straight V shape. Even Petor could read the disarray in their positioning and the movement upon their decks.

“Two Port!” Valter yelled.

Petor’s cannon rocked back as he ran to the next, checking and touching wick to powder. The cannons on the deck’s below fired as well.

Wood sprayed off of the ships as the shots impacted and tore through their hulls, spraying those within.

Shot covered in Mya’s spells crossed the gulf between Mesurial and the waiting ships.

And we were supposed to go up against all five of them?

“Reload starboard guns as they go!” Mya yelled as she drew the ship to the port, giving the guns getting a better shot up the length of the ships.

Petor checked his aim and applied his wick, continuing on his run down the length of the ship.

“Hold fire, give more to the second ship!” Mya yelled. Petor put the smoking wick into a holder, drawing out a brush covered in an already wet rag, the cannon smoked as he shoved it down, twisted and withdrew it, carrying through the steps to reload the cannon as fast as possible. He shoved the cannon ball in place, making sure not to use all of his strength, lest he get it jammed.

“Ready!” Mya yelled. Petor glanced up as he withdrew his smoking rag from a second cannon.

Valter was down the bow of the ship, reloading with all the speed his core gave him.

The first ship had gone silent, the sounds of fighting ringing out, of blade and man.

Petor glanced out at the galleon as its cannons bellowed once more, hitting the two ships on their port side.

Petor threw his brush into his storage and grabbed up the wick. He sighted down the cannon, upping the range of the cannon. One and a half twists counter-clockwise.

“Fire!”

He dropped the wick to the powder, it flashed, and the cannon rocked backwards but Petor was already moving for the next. A turn and a half of the elevation wheel a check of direction-the ship was being hammered with shot, gouts of wood blowing up into the sky. He ignited the powder.

The deck rumbled beneath his feet with the cannon fire below as he ran to the next cannon, repeating the process.

“Last ship is turning!” Desari yelled, her voice audible as he’d become close.

“Valter, Petor, reload the lower decks from the bow back!” Mya yelled.

They’d caught the enemy on the back foot out of position and harried, they were starting to recover.

Petor threw the smoking wick into his storage, it would snuff it out, but better than a fire on the ship. He ran for the nearest hatch, glancing over to the two ships on port. Each held two decks of guns but they’d been hammered down by the galleon’s fire and Petor had felt at least a few cannons from that side buffeting them.

He reached the second deck, Valter already at work, moving down the line of cannons. Another drop through the next stairwell and he ran across the maze of wood and rope to the cannon closest to the bow and fought to reload the cannons.

One great thing about this new powder. I can actually see without waiting for the sea breeze to shift the smoke.

The third pirate ship on the starboard fired, but their target was the galleon, not Mesurial.

Wonder just who the hell they are.

Mya would make them pay for their forgetfulness, Petor just hoped the distance and the mess that the pirates were in would mess their aim and help the galleon.

“Ready on cannons!” Mya yelled.

Petor finished reloading his last cannon and moved away.

“Clear of cannon!” He yelled.

The ship jerked, opening up her broadside. Petor watched the cannons bellow, hurled back into the ship as they fired one by one in series towards him.

Petor ran to the port side of the ship and started reloading the port cannons.