Nicci felt an optimism that would have made even Bannon proud. “Good. Now we can eradicate this division.”
They fought with redoubled fury and decimated the invaders. Nicci was sad to see how many brave refugees also died in the forest, but over the next few hours they succeeded in wiping out the entire division.
Nicci stood exhausted, her black dress stained and tattered from countless slashes. The forest was a blood-soaked bog, and dead bodies lay piled several deep. Her surviving militia members rallied around her, proud that they had managed to hold the Hagen Woods, but an even larger battle was still taking place in the main city.
Suddenly the branches in the nearby trees whipped about, leaves crackled, and a shimmering feminine form appeared in the air, the green-haloed outline of Ava. She looked outraged. “Utros will send you to the Keeper!”
Nicci summoned the remnants of her gift to tear at the wavering spirit. “I killed you once already.”
The spirit recoalesced from the onslaught and swooped among Nicci’s militia, causing fear but little harm. “Our army is many times stronger! Our forces will crush you all.”
Nicci said smugly, “And yet you will still be dead.”
Screaming with frustration, Ava rattled the trees again. Nicci shoved with her gift, and the spirit swirled away. “I will tell General Utros where you are. He wants to be the one to kill you.”
After Ava vanished, Nicci looked into the empty air. Her defenders muttered in fear, but she scoffed. “Let him try.”
CHAPTER 79
The ships of the Serrimundi navy sailed north, following the Norukai fleet. The serpent ships raced along toward Tanimura, completely unaware of the armored vessels in pursuit. Olgya had summoned just enough mist to create a veil that hid them from the Norukai lookouts.
Harborlord Otto rode at the front of the Mist Maiden, wrapping his hands around the rail. Captain Ganley stood beside him, shading his eyes. “Are you tense? Or eager?”
“They are ahead of us, and I don’t want to miss the battle,” Otto said. “I’m glad we saved Serrimundi from destruction, but we’re still part of this war. Imagine how much harm a whole Norukai fleet will inflict on Tanimura! A small raiding party nearly wrecked Serrimundi harbor!”
Chuckling, Ganley stroked his beard. “But this time we know how to fight back. And when we come at them unexpectedly, it will be like a knife in their backs. It is what they deserve.”
Otto looked down to the water where the prow cut the waves into white foam. He was startled to see sleek figures swimming beside the Mist Maiden. At first he thought they were dolphins, but he recoiled when he recognized the human forms, the scaly skin, jagged fins. “Selka! Those are selka swimming beside our ship.”
Ganley watched hundreds of the sleek forms streak toward Tanimura, like escorts for the Serrimundi navy. “I don’t think we need to worry about them. The selka and the Norukai are mortal enemies. Ours is not the flesh they wish to devour.”
“We will feed them plenty after today’s battle,” Otto said.
All of the Serrimundi vessels had been armored with metal plating at Nicci’s insistence, and now their crews were trained with swords, spears, and boat hooks. Dozens of expert archers were aboard each ship, ready with baskets of pitch-wrapped fire arrows.
Olgya joined them at the bow, her hair undone from her usual braids, the strands uneven. She had used her gift to summon wind, pushing the metal-clad ships at greater speed and closing the distance to the Norukai. Now that they approached, she stretched out her fingers and relaxed, undoing the mist spell that had created a blurring veil around their ships. The fog dissipated, revealing them … but the Norukai were looking forward, expecting nothing from the open sea behind them.
Ahead, Otto could see Tanimura with its great harbor ten times the size of Serrimundi’s. The tremendous battle had already begun, and he heard the shouts and screams, the clang of metal, the hulls splintering as ships collided with the harbor blockade. The Norukai rowed furiously, slamming into the line of defensive ships.
“Nathan is there,” Olgya said, nodding to herself, “as well as Oron and Perri. They are putting up a strong gifted defense.”
Otto could see many wrecked serpent ships sinking after being battered by a succession of huge waves. “They’ve done good work already.”
“And we’ll do more.” Olgya spread her arms wide and brought them together with a resounding clap. With the release of her gift, she sent a shock wave through the water, creating a line that was at first a ripple, building higher and higher into a great rolling wave that hurtled toward the rear of the attacking serpent ships. “Our first blow will get their attention.”
In the smooth wake behind Olgya’s wave, the harborlord saw streaking scaled figures, hundreds of the muscular selka as they raced forward to join the attack. The rolling wave crashed into the rear line of serpent ships.
On their decks, the Norukai fighters whirled and screamed in outrage at the surprise attack. Then the selka surged up the hulls.
Otto laughed, and Captain Ganley shouted for his archers. Within moments, a blizzard of flaming arrows arced through the sky and pelted the wood and sails of the raider ships.
But that was only the beginning. Closing in like the jaws of a trap, the Serrimundi ships joined the battle.
Nathan fought to keep his head above the blood-churned water. Grieve’s damaged ship creaked against the weathered krakener, scraping the new armor plates with a flurry of sparks. When the waves buffeted him, he was nearly crushed between the two hulls, but he used his gift to shove the ships apart and just barely save himself. He sprayed water between his lips. “That would have been an embarrassing end for a great wizard.”
On the Chaser’s deck above, he could hear the fighting, the clash of metal and battering clubs. A dying Norukai splashed into the water beside him, clawing at the gaping wound in his chest.
Nathan’s boots and soaked cape weighed him down, but he kept himself afloat in the rough waves and worked his way along the side of the Chaser. He yelled up, “Someone throw me a rope! I can help if I get up there.” Since they were fighting for their lives, though, no one paid attention to the man in the water.
Nathan knew Bannon and Lila were skilled fighters, but the Norukai were nearly inhuman. Frustrated, he dug in with his nails, trying to climb the wet and slimy hull boards. His boot found purchase on a clump of old barnacles, and he pulled himself higher, reaching up until he caught the frame of a porthole above the waterline. He grasped the lip of wood with his fingertips and used it for purchase, straining to climb just a little higher until he was out of the water, dripping like a waterlogged dog.
Partway up the hull, he found himself stuck. He couldn’t reach the rail still two feet above his extended arm. He clawed for a higher grip, struggled to keep his footing, but the leather soles of his boots were smooth, and they slipped on the boards. He tried to hold on to the porthole frame, but found himself falling backward. Instinctively, he used the gift to create a wall of wind. Under normal circumstances, he would have used the push of air against an enemy, but now he used the same magic to form a cushion beneath him. With a hard shove, he used the burst of air to throw his body higher until he tumbled over the rail. He sprawled across the deck, which was slippery with blood and old slime.
He rolled to his feet, ready to fight. Bannon and Lila faced him, panting hard to catch their breath, both covered in blood. The headless corpse of King Grieve lay on the deck, with an apelike Norukai woman sprawled next to him.