“Get down, Cap’n,” Jolan hissed, grabbing hold of Keelin’s arm and pulling him down below the railing.
Keelin blinked the daze away and reached up to touch the cut on his temple. It stung like a nest of bees, but it didn’t feel too serious.
“Are we free?” he shouted.
“Rigging is caught,” someone shouted back.
“Cut it loose,” Keelin roared, and he gave Jolan a pat on the shoulder by way of thanks for pulling him to safety.
Keelin waited for what seemed like forever. Arrows still flitted back and forth between the two ships. One enterprising soldier tried to leap across and was quickly stabbed by the pirates hiding beneath the safety of the railing.
“We’re free and clear!” The shout brought a smile to Keelin’s face.
“Get us some speed,” he called, breaking from the cover and striding towards the main mast. An arrow flew past him and embedded itself in the wood. “Someone kill that fucking archer.”
The shield that covered the Everfire had an arrow sticking out of it. Keelin pulled it away and carefully picked up the jar of death. They were moving now, gaining speed and starting to slip away from the other ship. He broke into a sprint, holding the jar securely against his chest and hoping it wouldn’t spontaneously burst into flame. He mounted the stairs to the quarterdeck two at a time and slid to a stop, throwing the jar towards the other ship.
The Everfire sailed through the air, but they were simply too far away from the Five Kingdoms vessel. The jar dropped and struck the hull at the waterline, bursting into black flame only to be submerged in water the next moment.
Keelin watched as the dark fire defied the sea and began to climb the side of the ship, leaving an orange blaze in its wake. The Everfire reached the railing and climbed over. It almost looked like it was alive. The screaming started, but it was lost amidst the chorus of battle elsewhere.
Keelin glanced to starboard, then across to the port side. Everywhere he looked, ships were locked with other ships, the crashes and shouts of fighting drifting out across the water. At least five boats were already on fire, and even as he was counting them a pirate ship and a navy vessel sank down into the waves together, locked in a flame-kissed embrace.
North Storm was free from the fight, as planned, and was sailing behind the enemy, attempting to gut as many of them as possible. T’ruck would want to take the ship hunting as soon as possible, but Keelin could only hope the giant’s patience won out.
“Where to, Cap’n?” said Fremen.
“Bring us about,” Keelin said, crossing the deck to stand next to his navigator.
As The Phoenix started to turn to starboard, Keelin scanned the line and spotted Rheel Toa fighting an impossible battle with a Man of War. Deun Burn and his crew would be sorely outnumbered and in need of relief.
“There.” Keelin pointed. “Get us in on the opposite side to Captain Burn.”
Fremen nodded and barked out a laugh. “Aye aye, Cap’n. I hope the Riverlanders appreciate this.”
Keelin hoped the Riverlanders were still alive.
An explosion echoed out across the water, followed by another, and then two more. North Storm was listing to port with smoke pouring out of her belly. So much of the battle rested on T’ruck, his ship, and his crew. So many of their best warriors were aboard the gigantic boat.
“Captan?” Morley said. “Should we help?”
“No,” Keelin growled. “Stick to the plan.”
“North Storm is the plan.”
“She’s not sunk yet, Morley. T’ruck will keep her afloat.”
Chapter 61 - Starry Dawn
Elaina hacked at the shield in front of her again and again and again. Her sword did little damage to the wooden barrier, but it kept the soldier’s guard up high. One of her crew thrust a spear past her leg and up into the man’s groin. He screamed in pain and finally let his guard down. Elaina’s next swipe rent a gash through his screaming face, and he went down bleeding and mewling. Elaina moved on to the next fight, letting the man die in agony.
All the soldiers were carrying shields. Elaina hated shields. Only cowards hid from a fight, and that was what they all were – nothing but cowards trying to keep her from her throne. A small group of soldiers were crowded near the bow of the ship, hiding behind their shields while her crew darted forwards, trying to land a blow on the snivelling grots. Elaina ran at the shields, screaming with murderous intent, and launched herself at the closest soldier. They both went down to the deck and Elaina found herself lying on top of the shield with the man beneath it. She dropped her sword and dragged a knife from her boot. She stabbed around the shield, feeling the blade pierce flesh again and again as she screamed into the dying man’s face. Hot blood spilled out over her hand.
The other soldiers had fallen back and Elaina’s crew were busy pressuring them, pushing them towards the railing. She picked up the dead soldier’s shield and heaved it through the air; it banged against the hull of the other ship. She screamed a wordless cry of fury and plucked her sword from the deck, advancing towards the few soldiers who remained.
One of the men broke and ran, trying to leap back to his own ship. He failed the jump and dropped into the sea below. The other soldiers panicked, but it was too late; Elaina’s crew surged forwards, kicking and stabbing, and sent the remaining three Five Kingdoms men over the side and into the blue.
“We’re free,” cried one of Starry Dawn’s pirates.
“Then get us moving,” Elaina shouted. “And someone throw the bloody fire at them.”
Elaina didn’t wait to see her orders carried out. Wiping slick blood from her hands onto her trousers, she stalked aft towards the wheel, intending to pick a new target and get them close. She felt the need to prove her worth again, and that meant she needed to take more ships than Keelin, more than Morrass, and more than her father.
“Why isn’t Blu getting into the fight?” she said, the question directed at no one.
“Looks like he’s patrolling, Cap,” Gurn said. “Catching any that get through, maybe?”
“Trying his best to stay out of the fight, more like,” Elaina said, and spat on the deck. “Useless, cowardly rat cock.”
The ship shuddered beneath their feet and Elaina looked up. Their rigging was tangled with the navy ship’s, holding the two boats together. New grapples were thrown over the side and hooked onto Starry Dawn just as one of Elaina’s crew tossed the jar of Everfire.
Elaina watched in horror as the jar flipped through the air, bounced off the navy vessel’s sails, and dropped to its deck, exploding into living black flame.
“Cut us free!” she screamed as loudly as she could.
The soldiers and sailors on the navy vessel immediately set about trying to put the fire out, throwing buckets of water over the black blaze to no avail. The fire would consume everything in its path until there was nothing left, and even then it would live on for a while, scorching the sea. If Starry Dawn was still attached, she would go down with the other ship, if she didn’t burn to ash first.
Elaina leapt over the railing onto the main deck and ran to the first grapple she saw. She chopped at it with her sword, cutting the rope clean and taking a fair chunk out of the railing as well.
The fire was spreading fast on the other vessel, black flames dancing and spinning, trailing orange and yellow in their wake. The fire grew and grew, popping and crackling, and Elaina could smell burning wood and seared flesh.