A splitter-bolt, true to its name, fragments into multiple glass shards in flight. A brewer, who was also a scholar of glass, discovered fracture glass (later known commonly as splitter glass) about 30 years ago. Splitter glass breaks rapidly when cracked, blowing itself apart with a small pop. With care it can be etched into thin, finned bolt heads. When fired from a crossbow, an installed quartz crystal point near the crossbow's front splits the bolt, sending a hefty salvo of glass shards at your target. The glass is commonly weighted with lead to give it the extra punch needed to cut through flesh and bone.

Grath's little feint had worked, but he was still surrounded on two sides. He stepped sideways and rotated on his heel, facing his two uninjured opponents: one to his right, another to his left. The third pirate, the burly man, was doubled over, blood spilling from his chest and gut. He didn't have long. The lean, older pirate aimed his own crossbow. His eyes narrowed. He had been waiting for Grath to move. Shooting Grath before would have risked hitting his captain; now Grath was almost clear. The lean pirate lunged sideways to get a better angle. The captain leaped clear in sync with his subordinate. Grath flung his sword with all his might. The flat blade cleaved through the air, striking the crossbow. The splitter-bolt jolted free of the crossbow and tumbled through the air. The lean pirate recoiled a bit. It looked like the blade hit one of his hands. Maybe he broke a finger? Grath fumbled for his dagger at his waist. The captain lunged at him. Grath barely blocked with his dagger before falling back. He continued to block feverishly. Fragments of shale and glass whizzed out into the sky as blades collided. Grath could barely block and was forced to keep backing off. He couldn't take the glass blade head-on. The captain saw this and pushed harder. He swung a full-force slash for Grath's chest, forcing him to block or back-step even more. Grath chose to back-step, but the balloon was too steep. He fell, tumbling backward. He landed on his back on one of the pirate ship's pectoral wings and struggled upright. With the semi-taut fabric bending under him, it was impossible to move quickly. He looked up. Cloudless death and foggy grave, the pirates stood above him. The lean old man leveled his reloaded crossbow. The splitter bolt aimed dead center at Grath's chest. To add insult, he carried Grath's sword in his spare hand.

FWSHINKKK!!!!

Grath pulled his knees to his nose, flung his arms around his head, and curled into a ball so abruptly his feet left the ground. Glass shards ripped through canvas with a series of eerie "skkrrchh" sounds like a giant cat ripping a tapestry... but he was NOT HIT!!!!... What? Grath looked up. The lean old-timer looked like a red-spotted leaf in fall. His clothes dripped with crimson. The canvas of the deck under him was torn in twenty or so places. One singular shard of glass still dripped with blood as it stuck loosely out of the man's gaping chest... And up, up, on the Flounder's deck, a young, short man stood. He held a heavy, lever-action, bone-handled crossbow in his hands and silently began to draw the large single lever on it back. The strong wood of the bow bent back as the lever forced it to arch. Grath looked up at the captain. The captain looked at him and then sprinted and dived towards his comrade's dropped crossbow. Grath's own sword had fallen down the ship's side and lay only a few strides from him. Grath swan-dived for it. Cloud Shrike style, modern defense method... fan. Grath whirled the flat of the blade between him and the crossbow. The captain unleashed his bolt. Splitter glass sped through the air and embedded itself deep in Grath's blade. At this range, the spread was barely larger than the blade's width. A few shards slipped by... Grath had turned his body sideways, barely enough. A shard ripped his chest, cutting a line through his skin and surface muscle before streaking past him. When splitter bolts had first been invented, the idea of wearing full-body wooden armor was immediately brought up... and abandoned. Piercing bolts hit a heavy slow target more easily than a light unarmed one, and piercing bolts ignored even the hardest wooden defenses that weren't more than half a digit thick. So shields and broad leaf blades were still employed... to varying degrees of success.

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The captain rushed back along his ship to the safety of the lift balloons. The farmer atop Grath's ship was still reloading his massive crossbow. "THROW THE FIRE JARS FROM MY TENT!!!!" Grath screamed up at the Flounder. The farmer nodded, shuffling back towards the tent, still loading his crossbow simultaneously. Chitonbrain!! Go Faster!! Grath shouted mentally before sprinting to his own ship. He climbed nimbly up the middeck cabin wall, leaping inside to gain cover before carefully reaching a single arm out to cut the harpoon line. And!!... his shale knife was way too dull. Even on a good day, when its edge hadn't been dulled by striking glass, that wouldn't likely have worked. Grath cursed his stupidity and scrambled for his cord-cutter, scanning the pirate ship as he did for any sign of the captain. He cut the line with a tug, and the Flounder began to rise. The captain reappeared with another loaded crossbow. He leveled it towards the Flounder's top deck. "HE'S GOT ANOTHER CROSSBOW," Grath roared, "DON'T STICK YOUR HEAD OUT." He heard no reply from the farmer. The captain scowled at Grath. His unusually pale skin ghost-like even in the bright day sun. He leveled his crossbow, but Grath leared back at him. If he fired, he would have to waste time reloading. Grath was certain he could duck before a bolt could reach him anyhow. Only his head was exposed in the mid-deck cabin. The two surveyed each other, one captain to another, then a fire jar splashed down from above. Its twirling arc was significantly off. It had likely been thrown blindly. But flaming liquid spilled out like a cloak of sunset as it fell. The jar splattered mostly on one of the pirate ship's broad wings before rolling unceremoniously off the ship and into the branches below. The pirate captain sprinted for his top balloons and cut one of them loose. He was running now. Grath scrambled up to his top deck, desperate to help throw jars, but... judging by the smoke as he reached the upper deck, he surmised he was already too late. The pirate ship had cut its losses and dove out of range. Without flaming bolts, they couldn't retaliate. Grath set to work ensuring his escape was true and quickly steered his ship higher above Harsh Forefather's now flaming upper branches. The great cloud pine had been no match for the fire jar. Finally, it had irrevocably caught fire. Its heat grew like a blooming flower. Soon the flame would spread, and the updraft of the inferno would lift Flounder like a cork on a tidal wave.