Realms of War

'We should attack them while they're confused,' Rasche said.

'No. That spell won't last long. Swim if you would live. I've got one more trick up my sleeve.'

There were a few muttered oaths, but the sea elves swam together.

When he whirled in the water, Rytagir saw that the sahuagin had once again taken up pursuit. He was no longer dependent on the lucent coral alone to see them. Pale gray light from the sky above penetrated the water too.

He reached into his shoulder bag and took out a small bag of sharks' teeth. Then he waited as a score of sahuagin swam at him. Many of them suffered wounds from the hands of their fellows.

'Rytagir!' Irdinmai shouted.

When he knew he could wait no more, Rytagir spoke the words sharply, traced a sigil in the water, and shoved the bag forward. Heat nearly scorched his palm as the spell consumed the bag of sharks' teeth.

A silvery ripple shot through the water and spread out, eight feet wide and almost forty feet down. The enchanted water shredded the sahuagin like sharks' teeth. Bloody gobbets of flesh, limbs, heads, and torsos floated limply in the water after the spell exhausted itself.

The sea elves cursed again, and Rytagir knew they would never trust him again.

'Swim,' Irdinmai ordered.

Captain Zahban and his sailors had their hands full repelling the sahuagin. The sea devils tried to board the ship, but the crew fought them off.

'Captain,' Rytagir shouted as he broke the surface, 'permission to come aboard!'

'Come ahead with ye then,' Zahban shouted back. He yelled out orders to his crew, and eager hands swept down to pull Rytagir and the sea elves from the water.

Archers stood to arms and feathered as many of the sahuagin as they could.

'You're a fool for staying,' Rytagir said.

'Ain't ever been one to cut an' run,' Zahban replied as he cleaved a sahuagin's skull with his cutlass. Blood and brain matter splattered the deck. 'But I wasn't gonna give ye much more time, I'll warrant ye that.'

The sea elves fell into place with the ship's crew. Together, they fought to keep the sahuagin from the deck.

'Where'd ye bring them beasties up from?' Zahban asked.

'They came up on us unawares,' Rytagir shouted. He thrust his long sword through the throat of a sahuagin that had climbed up the side of the ship. Then he kicked it off his blade and back into the ocean.

'From where?' asked the captain.

'I don't know.'

'I've never seen so many in these waters.'

'There appear to be more coming.' Irdinmai pointed to the east.

After booting another sahuagin in the face, Rytagir looked in that direction. There, on the crests of the sea, he saw four strange vessels making for them.

The vessels, mantas, were almost eighty feet across and two hundred feet long. They looked like a shambles, pieced-together craft from several wrecks. As Rytagir watched, several of the sahuagin aboard revealed glow lamps, glass globes stuffed with the luminous entrails of sea creatures.

10

'We can't stay here,' Rytagir yelled as he hacked at another sahuagin.

'We're not.' Zahban shifted his attention to Irdinmai. 'Lady, can ye an' yer warriors hold these animals off while we make ready the ship?'

'Yes.'

'Then we'll leave ye to it.' Zahban yelled orders to his crew and they broke off from the defense to raise sails. 'Mystra watch over us.'

Rytagir remained with the elves. His arm grew tired from the constant attacks. The elf next to him went down and a sahuagin crawled triumphantly onto the deck. Rytagir sank below his opponent's sweeping blow and hacked at the sea devil's legs. His effort severed one of them and bit deeply into the other.

In the next instant, Rasche planted his trident in the center of the sahuagin's chest. Rytagir rose and planted his shoulder into the sea devil's midsection and shoved him from the ship with the sea elf's assistance.

Rasche crowed in victory and clapped Rytagir on the back. Rytagir responded in kind, and they turned back to the battle.

Azure Kestrel rocked as canvas dropped and filled her yards. She heeled over so hard once in the crosswinds that Rytagir thought the ship was going to tip over. For a moment they were almost face to face with the sahuagin.

Then the ship righted.

'Bring them sheets about!' Zahban ordered. 'Let her run, lads! Let her run!'

The ship leaped forward as the sails caught the wind. The elves kept fighting, aided by the ship's archers. Gradually, then faster, Azure Kestrel broke free of the sahuagin.

But the mantas, powered by oars wielded by the sahuagin, surged after them in quick pursuit.

'We can't outrun them,' Irdinmai said.

'We ain't gonna outrun em,' Zahban roared from the stern castle. 'Fortrag and his apprentice have got a thing or two to show em.'

Rytagir raced up the sterncastle steps and joined the sea captain. The ship's mage and his apprentice stood on the rear deck. Ancient Fortrag, gray beard whipping in the wind, yelled incantations and held out his hand. Flames gathered there, growing larger and larger.

The four sahuagin mantas had closed the distance to less than eighty yards. Their oars dug relentlessly into the sea.

When the whirling fireball stood almost as tall as a man and the heat was so intense it drove back those near the wizards, Fortrag flung the fireball. It arced across the water and split into four separate fireballs. Three of the four hit their targets and the mantas disappeared in a maelstrom of flames.

Fortrag called out again. Rytagir felt the wind accelerate around him. A moment later, a waterspout rose from the sea and danced toward the last manta. Despite the sahuagins' attempt to steer clear, the waterspout overtook them and broke the vessel to pieces.

The ship's crew and the alu Tel'Quessir cheered, then they turned their efforts to saving those among the wounded that could be saved.

Two days later, Azure Kestrel put into port at Mordulkin. Rytagir was nearly exhausted. In addition to helping tend the wounded and taking turns at keeping watch, he'd documented everything he could of the attack. He reproduced from memory the sigils the sahuagin had been wearing, as well as those of the sailors and the sea elves.

The whole port was in upheaval when they arrived. They quickly learned that theirs hadn't been the only ship attacked. In fact, Azure Kestrel was one of the few to make port safely. Several others remained unaccounted for.

Zahban found himself buried in several offers of employment to get perishable goods across the Sea of Fallen Stars, but only foolish men were putting to sea at the moment.

Irdinmai was in a hurry to get back to her family, but her foremost thought had been to get medical help for those of her group that had been injured during the attack. Almost a third of the elves had died, and nearly the same number of Zahban's sailors.

After he'd helped the clerics tend the wounded and squared away the cargo, Rytagir tracked Irdinmai down. She remained with her warriors.

'Lady,' Rytagir said.

When she looked up at him, he could see how tired and hurt she was. Rytagir knew the look from other