Chapter 45 - Clash at Sea

  Several cycles following, South Kovar was still in repair. Hands were short and skilled workers too few. Many a hole had yet to be patched and torn walls rebuilt. Viper hid himself between two buildings and observed work done across the street. Men hammered, shouted, placed wood planks, and then hammered some more.

  Wood construction was rare in the Illeyan Alliance where buildings were made of sand bricks or mud. An intriguing process. He would need to make time to study it later.

  Viper waited as this side of town emptied and gathered on the island's white beach as they'd been ordered. The passing rogues showed no sign of discontent, nor uttered any ill against their new captain. None from among them had raised any opposition to the changing of their head. Their former leader, Vemo, was still strung up on a pole at the town's center, now nothing more than a wrinkled corpse with bones sticking out some parts. A reminder for his former crew should they step out of line.

  Viper slipped into the Umbra and latched onto one man's shadow as he headed for the docks next to the beach. Xenaria was coming at last to reclaim what was theirs. And Dhorjun was sending Eksa and her newly established fleet of six ships to stall them at sea while Hawthorne set a trap on the island.

  Viper wasn't fond of it. He changed from shadow to shadow until he found himself aboard The Scarlet Reaver again. He traversed the Umbra and went below deck where he found Aaron sitting on his bed leaning forward with his hands clasped together. His coat was beside him and the chronary blade in his lap.

  Viper rose to the material world. “I still think she should reconsider. Dhorjun's definitely sending her to die. Sending us to die.”

  “Crow's idea probably,” Aaron mumbled.

  “And? The Xenarians have a reported twenty galleon fleet. We're six mid sized ships. Not even Eksa can maneuver against those numbers.” Eksa had served her usefulness, but now that the island had been captured, Crow would stop at no attempt to be rid of her. And he had Dhorjun's ear with which to do it.

  Aaron ran a hand over his weapon's scabbard. “She accepted the task,” he said mundanely. “Maybe we should have some faith in her.”

  Viper crossed his arms. “This isn't about her. It's about you,” he accused. “You want to fight the Xenarians.”

  Aaron looked up. He touched the magic weapon's hilt. “It's no good. The blade feeds off my hatred and supplies me with strength. But no matter how much it feeds, I can't get the memory of my ancestors' slaughter out of my head. It fills me with more anger and hate to dispense.”

  “They're your people, Aarondel.” Your responsibility damn it.

  “And yet I haven't given a care seeing them bound in chains and abused every day on this island.”

  Viper sat down next to the young prince. “We didn't have a choice then. We can stab them in the back and sell the pirates out to the Xenarians.”

  Aaron sighed. “You're still pushing me aren't you?” he smiled. “That won't work. The townspeople will speak against us even if we do aid in liberating them. We will be tried and imprisoned or hanged. And then whatever it is you push me towards will not matter anymore.”

  Viper twisted his lips. He hadn't thought it through. He sank to the Umbra again. “You really think Eksa can pull it off?”

  “Five of our new boats are galleys with large groups of rowers —a mix of slaves and rogues. Eksa says they're excellent for maneuvering around sail ships no matter the size.” Aaron shrugged. “Honestly can't say. We're only stalling for time. She'll pull out if it gets dangerous.”

  Slave rowers. It wasn't like Eksa to approve of such things. Perhaps she felt for them and thought she might provide better treatment to them compared to other officers of the rogue fleet.

  Jack walked into the doorway, juggling two knives. “Those smiths do good work. Razor sharp, these.” As if to prove his point, he dropped a knife. It hit the floor blade first and sank an inch into the wood. “Woopsy. Sorry Viper. Didn't mean to hurt you.”

  “That's not how the Umbra works,” Viper said. “The gate into the shadows is accessible only by the Shieda. None else can affect it.”

  Jack waved his hand and rolled his eyes. “Bah. I told you not to sweat the details,” he said, before marching off while humming. His knife was still stuck in the floor.

  Aaron slipped on his coat and weapon belt, adding this new knife to the collection. “Xenaria,” he muttered, before going above deck.

  ***

  A high wave crashed against The Scarlet Reaver's side. Many deckhands were doused in water. Aaron felt a spray upon his coat. He manned the helm as Eksa stood at the front with monocular in hand. Her hair was done in a braid again.

  The ship tilted up, climbing over a wave, before crashing down for another spray of water. A storm roared somewhere closer to Xenaria, sending strong winds against Eksa's band. Angled sails pushed the ships forward still, though at a slower pace. Light rain pelted the deck. Aaron welcomed it. Late summer heat was more than a nuisance.

  Eksa pointed to her left and Aaron steered the ship that way. She wiped the spyglass lens with her shirt and returned to peering through it. She was not wearing her tricorne and her hair quickly took in the rain. Loose strands stuck to the sides of her face, which Aaron found rather appealing.

  Dark clouds soon drifted off west, rumbling as if vowing to return stronger. Grey clouds followed to take their place, bringing with them a gentler rule of mellow winds and no rain. Aaron dusted off droplets from his coat. His cuffs and shoulders had grown heavy from dampness. The ship still bobbed up and down, waves not yet calmed. Eksa pocketed her monocular and returned to the helm. “I see them,” she said. “Send an order to the five galleys to break off to the right!”

  Aaron did as he was told, shouting the orders. They were passed along in shouts to all vessels. The five broke away. He wondered just what his captain was planning. “Are you expecting them to ignore us since we're one only?” he asked once returning to her side.

  “Ten coming forward,” Jack cried from atop the crow's nest. He'd taken over Aki's task since her departure. “Five breaking off left and five to the right!”

  Aaron narrowed his eyes as his captain merely grunted at the news. It seemed awfully like she was abandoning her own ships. “Eksa, you don't mean to surrender, do you?” he asked.

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  “Of course not,” she said, as if it were obvious.

  “But you've sent those five to handle five galleons without your guidance.”

  She bit her lip. “Their captains have my orders. You'd be surprised how mobile galleys can be compared to sail ships. Ours are smaller too while our enemy's are too tall. Their ballistae cannot sink us. They might only ruin our sails if they aim for it, but I don't think they will. Please. Trust me on this, Aaron. I know Hawthorne sent us here to die. But I've been on a vessel as large as those warships. They cannot aim their ballistae low enough to harm us. That is their single greatest flaw. A simple flaw easily fixed, but a flaw that's never been exposed.”

  He stared into her eyes for a long moment. He then pushed a wet clump of hair behind her ear. Eksa closed her eyes as his fingers grazed her cheeks. “I trust you,” he said. “But what are we doing all alone?” She had also nearly doubled the amount of men aboard. The Reaver now had eighty.

  Her expression turned grim. “I… do want to surrender. That's Lord Coraine's fleet we're up against.”

  Aaron flinched. House Coraine. Traitors. He touched his sword and let it eat his anger. The need to grip it —to draw it, filled him, but he forced down that urge through sheer strength of will.

  “But I know we can't,” Eksa continued. “It's far too late for that. I'll do it. I'll win and prove to all of Kovar what the Red Serpent can do! And one day, when the island is ours, I will pay recompense to Xenaria.”

  Eksa's voice had broken off near the end. She turned away to hide tears Aaron knew was there. She resolved herself to sink people she had no interest in fighting. And she spoke of paying recompense for that, knowing full well how hypocritical and absurd that was.

  ***

  The Scarlet Reaver struggled on through rippling waves left by the leaving storm. Xenaria's leading force pushed ahead, ignoring both Eksa and her own detachment of five lesser ships. This was insanity, she knew. Challenging five warships with a vessel half the size. No one had ever dared to stand before one of Lord Coraine's galleons. And thus the flaw in their artillery had never been exposed. Assuming they're using standard issue naval ballistae. But why wouldn't they if it has worked thus far?

  Eksa breathed in, getting a measure for the wind speeds and wave sizes that would persist throughout the battle. She flexed the muscles of her limbs to stop them from trembling. Not even Aaron's presence could put her at ease. I'm going to sink them. Dear Flames, I'm going to sink Theodore's men.

  Or they'll sink us.

  She half preferred to lose and die instead. The lives of her crew —a band of rogues, weighed against what she could only assume were vengeful and honorable soldiers out to reclaim their homes. Responsibility versus morality. Eksa swallowed.

  She steered further to the right. The shaking in her arms grew worse. Somewhere far to the west, thunder rumbled again.

  “I'm here,” Aaron said, standing right behind her.

  She grit her teeth and nodded. To fulfill a captain's duty. The deck was stacked with men ready for a fight. Every ballistae was cranked and prepped, more than a dozen iron bolts left next to each with one loaded per.

  A series of horns blared from up ahead. The Xenarian vessels got into a diagonal formation, as if meaning to surround The Scarlet Reaver. Eksa sucked in through her teeth. They were close now. Close enough for her to make out the tiny forms of the men aboard. Closer yet for her to feel the sheer weight of their shadow alone. Those ships were massive. On more stable waters, they might have just tried ramming her caravel and mowing past it.

  “Eksa, they're aiming at us,” Aaron murmured. “They've ten ballistae on each side.”

  “Trust me,” she said in too soft a voice. She didn't trust herself. But she had timed it right. Xenaria's artillery had the same range as her own. Any second now.

  She blinked. The Xenarians fired. Their bolts whistled through open air. Eksa clenched shut her eyes at the sound. Her hand slipped from the helm. She found herself off balance as her ship climbed a mountainous wave, bobbing up. Eksa panicked as she felt herself fall, but Aaron caught her, his firm hands holding her waist tight. Half a dozen bolts crashed into the water mere meters before the Reaver.

  Eksa opened her eyes. “I did it. I saw that wave coming. I timed their moment of fire with —no. Twenty-five seconds to reload. Can't slack off now. We'll be on them by then.” She felt Aaron's fingers on her neck. He gently pulled on her braid. She took it as a compliment, heart pounding now in excitement rather than anxiety. Her arms still trembled as she took hold of the helm again. That diagonal formation was a problem. It allowed the second warship behind the first to continue firing upon her with reduced risk of friendly harm. Eksa pulled out her monocular. Another wave was coming. The Xenarians weren't watching their rear for it. This one would be a more risky gamble. But choosing was a luxury unaffordable. “Aaron, order the men to fire once we're close enough. Hit low to break their mobility and sink them quickly.”

  “Hmph,” was all he said.

  Would it kill him to call me captain once? The Reaver pulled up beside the first Xenarian warship just as their reloading process finished. “Raise the sails and hold fast to them!” Eksa ordered seconds before they were fired upon again. She was right. They couldn't aim low enough to hit. Their bolts whistle above her ship. One tore a hole through a sail raised too late, and another struck her second mast with a thud, but nothing severe.

  “Fire!” Aaron bellowed soon after.

  Eksa's own artillery blasted holes into the warship. Her deckhands rushed to reload and add to the damage. She kept her eyes on the second warship coming up. They had their weapons prepped and fired exactly when she'd predicted. The wave arrived a split second late, but it saved her from harm once again, one bolt tearing a hole into the rear of her ship, though too high for any chance of water getting in. Eksa's own artillery fired another around just as the second ship got even with the Reaver's left side. “Go on,” she said to no one in particular. “Fire at me. I dare you.”

  Another wave arrived, lifting Eksa's ship high enough to be aimed upon. But the Xenarians missed the timing, firing only after the smaller caravel was descending the wave. Eksa ducked, as did everyone else aboard. The bolts flew overhead, and crashed into their opposing warships. Eksa smirked, but found it soon wiped away by the cries of Lord Coraine's men. She squeezed shut her eyes for a split second. I can't forget who I'm doing this to.

  “Fire!” Aaron roared again.

  Both warships began sinking. “Unfurl!” Eksa ordered. Three left. There was a chance the Xenarians would fire upon her while sinking, but she wagered against. They'd be too occupied panicking at the water building up inside.

  “What now?” Aaron asked her.

  “Now we pretend to run. They'll try rescuing their fallen and become sitting ducks then. Without a proper formation, I can outmaneuver their artillery fire,” she said with confidence.

  Jack came down from the main mast. “Hey Captain, I'm bored.”

  She frowned at him.

  “This sucks,” he continued. “If it were night, I might have had enough strength to leap aboard one of their ships.”

  “Go back to the main mast and stay on the lookout for anymore Xenarians coming our way,” Eksa ordered. Jackrin stuck out his tongue and made a noise before putting on his mask and doing as told while humming a song. “You need to teach that one manners,” she told Aaron. “And tell him to stop writing grotesque songs about me!”

  Aaron shrugged, keeping an eye on the three Xenarian warships moving to help their sinking comrades. “The songs bolster your reputation.”

  “I don't need my reputation being about how beastly and cruel I am! Or whatever it is he writes about. Red Serpent of the devouring tide. What in Flames is that supposed to mean? That I'm gluttonous?”

  Aaron shook his head. “Does it matter what image others on Kovar might have on you? Better something fierce and to be feared.”

  “And ugly?”

  “I'll never think of you that way, Eksa. And that's all you'll ever need.”

  She flushed and turned away. He just called me pretty, right? She shook her head. Now was not the time for these thoughts. Though, she wanted to dwell on them further. Every second spent focusing on the battle reminded her of just who it was she was fighting and why. The Xenarians were the liberators and she was a pirate. She spun the helm once The Scarlet Reaver had gone far enough to return for a second attack.

  All three Xenarian warships stuck near to the sinking two, throwing lines and creating bridges to rescue as many as they could. They noticed Eksa's return too late. She sailed her ship between two and Aaron again gave the order of fire. Her crew managed four rounds, amounting to twenty bolts per ship before sailing past them and towards the final galleon. They fired upon the Reaver but Eksa timed their actions with the arrival of waves again, distorting their aim and using their reload time to close the distance and lay ruin to them.

  Five warships felled by a single caravel. Hundreds sentenced to the abyss, if not thousands. Eksa left the scene with a heavy heart and chased after the main Xenarian force of ten sailing for Kovar.

  “Red Serpent! Red Serpent!” the pirates chanted.