“Should I send for Speaker Nadler?”
Hothgaard shook his head. “No…we’ll wait. If there’s no word by tomorrow morning we’ll contact the High King. Now let me rest and get over this damned sickness. Have the doctor brew more tea.” He ordered and moved back to his bunk. His fever was returning and with it the chills. He crawled back under the covers without another glance at his fellow Captain. For the first time in his life he was actually grateful for the siege; it allowed for the luxury of rest.
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“ Port oars!” First mate Armitage yelled and with smooth precision half the ships oars were raised and pulled inside the trireme for safety. Captain Wicks grabbed tightly to one of the reinforced railings that weaved throughout the ship and hung on as the bow of her trireme struck the smaller Rhondono vessel in the aft quarter. Almost immediately the Toranado ship, the Universe, lurched and shuddered, but its momentum carried it through the smaller ship with a colossal explosion of wood and noise. Planks, oars and beams cracked and tore under the massive force of the ramming and the collision threw large splinters of wood all about the wounded vessel. Wicks was vaguely aware of the screams of men and boys, and caught sight of a few enemy sailors as they were hurled out and into the sea below.
“Archers!” Armitage shouted but there was no need, already nearly two dozen men were launching flaming arrows down at the stricken vessel. “Starboard full oars!” the first mate added over the noise and chaos and immediately the oarsmen began to pull for all they were worth. The grinding of the two ships continued for several long minutes and then quite suddenly they were through and in the open sea once more.
“Turn us about,” Captain Wicks commanded loudly but with her unusual calm. The large ship began its slow turn, and the ship’s archers rushed from the port side to the starboard. “Hold you fire,” Wicks added, glancing at the wounded ship and watching dispassionately at the mad scramble. The enemy sailors were trying desperately to stay out of the sea while their vessel quickly foundered. Wicks knew the stricken Rhondono ship was doomed and any additional shot was just a waste of good arrows.
Captain Wicks turned, looked out to sea and saw a mass of destruction in the wake of the two colliding fleets. Nearly a dozen Rhondono ships were now damaged and sinking, some slowly and some incredible fast. An equal number were now disabled and floating dead in the water. Only four of the Rhondono ships managed to successfully make their way through the Toranado threat and were now heading toward open water, all pulling full oars.
To the north Armitage spotted and pointed out a Rhondono ship that failed to pull their starboard oars in time before the Blue Bull, another Toranado trireme struck, and now the side of the Rhondono ship was a mass of splintered wood. The starboard oars on the stricken vessel were now useless, but the ship was still largely intact. Once through, the Blue Bull angled south and zeroed in on another small galley. Wicks could see the crew of the damaged Rhondono vessel scrambling to push pieces of the shattered oars out into the sea while shifting a portion of the port oars to the starboard side.
Wicks nodded grimly. “Make way…full oars, ramming speed,” she said calmly and the ship slowly began to turn in the direction of her new victim. The Universe was pushing through the light seas at nearly full speed by the time the Rhondono vessel finally began to right itself and get underway, very slowly.
“You’ve seen the flag?” Armitage asked softly standing close to Captain Wicks’ side.
The Captain glanced up expecting to find the royal flag of the Rhondono. She’d not given the matter any thought, and in fact had not even bothered to look until now; an enemy ship was an enemy ship, no matter who was on board. But what she saw caused her heart to skip a beat and excitement to swell in her breast.
The flag was easily recognizable, a stark yellow griffin on a field of black; the flag of the High King.
“Could it be?” She wondered aloud as the distance between the ships steadily declined. The Rhondono vessel was now moving directly away from them no more than three hundred yards ahead, but with only half its oars cutting through the water it was moving at a much slower pace.
“Should we continue?” Armitage asked, clearly concerned about mounting an attack on the High King of the Inland Sea.
But Captain Wicks did not answer directly. ‘Here was the man who’d given his blessing to the attack on Toranado; here was the man who’d ordered the destruction of her beloved fleet; here was the man who was the ultimate killer of her mentor Admiral Cantu. And here, High King Caiman Mastoc would die at her whim, at her hand.’
A smile slowly spread across the face of Captain Wicks. “Full speed…full speed! Prepare the archers.”
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High King Mastoc watched in horrified fascination as the Toranado heavy trireme steadily gained on the slightly smaller Rhondono vessel.
“We need more speed,” Captain Astis of the Temple Knights said loudly.
The Rhondono Captain ignored the obvious statement as foolish. There was little he could do but run as fast and as far as they could and hope that perhaps another Rhondono ship would come to their aid. But as Deihm scanned the nearby sea, he realized that there were no friendly ships near enough to reach them before the Toranado trireme. He was both gratified and disappointed that the Hermes, the flagship carrying King Donnis, was successful in running the gauntlet and was presently moving away from the battle at top speed.
“We’ve three men to every oar,” Maglo, the first mate informed the Captain, meaning they were moving at their maximum speed. Normally they pulled two men to an oar but with twice the number of oars, but working with a full complement of oars was no longer an option.
“Aye,” Captain Deihm answered quietly, continuing to watch the gap between the two ships shrink. When it was gone it would undoubtedly mean the death of his ship, the Cardinal.
“We should turn,” Maglo offered. “Hope they make a mistake.”
Deihm shook his head. “We’d never make it with half oars.”
Maglo made no reply, He knew his Captain was correct, so the four men just stood and waited for the inevitable, which was nerve racking.
“Archers!” Maglo yelled when the Toranado vessel was within range, and soon flaming arrows were flying across the shrinking expanse between the two ships
“Make for land!” Mastoc ordered moving away from the arrows that were now falling on the aft section of the ship.
Captain Deihm glared at the High King but made no reply instead after a few moments he yelled. “Prepare for impact!”
Mastoc rushed by the Captain and his first mate, the Temple Knights in his wake, but they all stopped and turned as the Deihm yelled out another warning. Mastoc gasped. The trailing trireme was now only fifteen yards behind and growing impossibly large. Mesmerized, Mastoc stood frozen and just watched as the heavy ship surged closer and closer until it finally hit. The impact was far greater than the High King would have guessed. It was loud and violent, throwing the Mastoc to the deck along with nearly half the Rhondono crew.
The Toranado ship struck the Cardinal in the rear, just to the right of center, and smashed through the tail section causing the smaller ship to violently swing to port. Just before the collision, the heavy trireme pulled in its own oars for protection, but its momentum continued to push it through the wounded ship with terrifying force.
High King Mastoc climbed to his feet, watching in awe as the large ship slowly smashed through the rear of his own and then it was by and gliding past. Arrows flew steadily from the Toranado vessel and they fell all around; a few struck dangerously close to the High King. Mastoc shifted and crouched behind a low bulkhead until the Toranado ship sailed farther on.