Ben's NaNoWriMo Log

Chapter 40 added Sep 23, 2005
Carathix opened his eyes and turned to Sarah. "Well, they're not taking any chances this time. It looks like they're shooting down any bird that comes within bow range of the ship." Sarah nodded. "If they're shooting down all birds, then they may not know we're here yet." "No, but they're expecting us." He looked out over the hazy sea in the direction he had sent his ill fated gull. "Fortunately, there's only the one ship. There are a lot of soldiers on deck, though; we're not going to be able to walk over them like last time." "What about wizards?" "I counted four. It looks like Alfred was able to get support from Stormwatch. I recognized one of them as Master Lagorse." Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Who is Master Lagorse, anyway? Syphar kept using that name." Carathix chuckled. "Lagorse is something of a joke at the college. He's famous for incredibly dull lectures and an amazing lack of either personality or humor." His smile faded. "Still, he's a Stormwatch Master, which means he alone is the equal of the three they sent last time. The others are probably his apprentices, so they'll be coordinated." We just have to hope our plan works. Sarah took the wheel and had her first mate plot an intercept course. There would be no chasing this time. As the sails moved to catch the wind, Sarah felt the ship begin to pick up speed. All eyes were trained forward, waiting for their target to appear on the horizon. The Just Reward's captain nervously fingered the hilt of her new rapier. Though it wasn't something she normally did, she silently prayed that all was well aboard the Burning Eye, wherever it was. After nearly half an hour of nothing but open sea, the lookout announced the first sight of the frigate. The tiny speck grew as they approached it at a steep angle. Even though both ships could see each other, they were still too far apart to do anything but look at each other. Carathix made his way to the starboard rail, looking out over the waves. When the two ships dew close enough that Sarah could barely make out individual people on deck, Carathix began taking items out of his satchel. He held a coppery sphere in the palm of each hand. As he lowered his head and began to hum softly, the balls rose up and began to spin. A few heartbeats later they were whirling like tops and glowing slightly. He tossed them upward and they arced high into the air, giving off a brilliant green radiance as they sailed toward the Navy frigate. Blue fire streaked out from two different places before they got near their target, and the projectiles were destroyed. The scene was repeated once more, with identical results. For all its flash, the display had no effect on the enemy ship, which continued on its course. Unperturbed, Carathix turned and held out his hands, once more increasing the flow of wind across the sails. Sarah pulled hard on the wheel, bringing the Reward around in a tight turn to starboard. The crew braced themselves as the ship heeled over. They were approaching their quarry rapidly now, on a perpendicular course across their bow. They could see the name painted there at this distance: Fortitude. If they kept their course, the Reward would ram the Fortitude's starboard side, but the difference in tonnage made such a proposition laughable. Instead, Sarah maintained the turn, slowly coming about to match their enemy's course. They were reaching the extreme edge of ballista range, and the Fortitude fired a volley of eight foot shafts across the waves. Most of them missed, but one of the projectiles slammed through the port hull. It was well above the waterline, but Sarah ordered a repair crew below just to be safe. They still had a few minutes before the real battle would begin. The Reward's ballista crews returned fire. The Fortitude, being both larger and still keeping a straight course, was an easier target, and two bolts stuck in the side of the frigate's massive hull. While the damage there was minimal, another shot struck the deck, sending both planks and sailors flying. First blood had been drawn. As the distance closed still further, Sarah could see four nearly identical robed men standing near the Fortitude's starboard rail. The first of them let loose a jet of blue flame. Carathix threw up his hands, and the fiery bolt splattered harmlessly on his magical defense. Almost immediately the second wizard followed suit, and so on down the line. The flames kept streaking across, targeting different parts of the ship, but Carathix's shield was strong enough to keep them from doing any damage. Their constant barrage, however, left him with no chance to retaliate. The Fortitude's marines began to mass near the rail, eagerly awaiting their chance for revenge. Arrows began flying back and forth, forcing sailors on both sides to take cover. The Reward's ballista crews were pinned down, but the frigate was still able to get off some shots, striking two solid blows across the Reward's deck. The two ships were running nearly parallel now. Sarah nodded to Mordial, who pulled another copper ball from his pocket. While he was unable to send it flying as high as Carathix, his toss carried up up over both ships, where it exploded in a flash of green. Even as Sarah turned the wheel sharply to port, shouts went up from the far side of the Fortitude. Carathix had said that the magical cloak he had constructed for the Burning Eye would not stand up to direct scrutiny, especially not from Stormwatch wizards. The addition of a mundane bit of misdirection, however, had turned that flimsy glamour into a devastating sneak attack. As soon as the final signal flare burst above the battle, the Eye's boarding party had begun its assault on the Fortitude's port side. As she joined her own boarders scrambling over the starboard rail, Sarah was amazed by the vicious assault coming from Grayson's crew. They whooped bloodthirsty war cries as they ran headlong into battle. Their captain was the loudest of the lot, dressed in even more outlandish garb than usual. Sarah had little time to gawk, however, as she was busy putting her new rapier to the test. Carathix had stayed behind on the Reward during the initial assault, and not only because he was drained from maintaining his mystical shield for so long. Up on the frigate's rocking deck, the crowd of sailors and pirates made the four wizards next to useless. They managed to get off a few destructive blasts when opportunities presented themselves, but as often as not they had no clear target through the swirling melee. Eventually the fearless raiders from the Burning Eye ran them down. The last of the apprentices jumped overboard rather than face them. As the bloody battle began to wind down, Carathix joined the boarding party. He helped to hold the hatches as the pirates re-enacted the looting of the first shipment. The remaining marines were bottled up on the fore and aft castles, held at bay by the bristling swords of Grayson's raiders. The standoff gave the rest of the pirates enough time to move the crates of weapons aboard the two grappled vessels on either side. In a few minutes the hold was stripped bare, and the pirates withdrew, victorious once more.
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