and an enormous, glowing hand snatched the war spirit out of the air.
Heat poured over the bay as Karon roared to life. He stepped out of the smoke, his great feet searing the stone of the storm wall. The lava spirit’s glowing face was split in a wide grin as he hefted the war spirit in his hand and, after a windup, threw it back. The war spirit shot out of the lava giant’s hand like an arrow. It flew screaming, leaving a streak of smoke behind as it barreled across the bay and landed with an enormous crash in the palace ship’s hull.
The palace ship rocked under the impact, slamming into the seafloor with so much force Josef felt it through his boots. The Empress’s soldiers screamed as their ramp tipped into the water, capsizing the launching ships and toppling their passengers into the bay. Up on the cliffs, an enormous cheer went up from the Oserans. Down on the wall, Eli held his arms up in answer.
“Stop cheering and keep firing!” Josef shouted. “We’re still under attack and you’re only puffing up his head!”
The men scrambled to obey, sending another rain of arrows down on the invading ships. The wizards on the palace ship were running madly now, too busy patching the hole from the returned war spirit to launch another. Meanwhile, the flow of soldiers from the open nose of the palace ships slowed to a trickle as the crews retreated to help deal with the damage. This left those already in the water unguarded as the Oseran arrows rained down like black hail, and for a moment, Josef almost believed they’d stopped the charge.
“Sire!” a voice shouted, shattering the illusion. “South!”
Josef turned just in time to see a second palace ship crash into the wall of the sunken fleet at the bay’s southern tip. The crack of wood drowned out every other sound as the boat ground forward. This ship was going much faster than the first, cleaving into the bay in an attempt to break the barrier. But for all its power, the stubborn tangle of anchors held, and the enormous ship slammed to a stop, sending soldiers skidding off her decks.
Josef gave a triumphant shout. But even as cheers began to ring from the cliffs, the second ship’s prow fell, and a fresh surge of soldiers poured into the bay.
“Don’t stop!” Josef roared, firing his crossbow at the new boats. “Keep firing! Don’t let them reach the shore!”
The sailors on the cliffs answered him with a rain of arrows. The bolts whistled as they flew. Some hit nothing but water, others landed in the heavy shields the enemy took shelter beneath as they pushed the line. A few lucky shots struck true, sending soldiers toppling out of boats. But with so many firing from the cliffs, those few lucky shots had been enough. Just barely. But now, as the second palace ship began disgorging its troops in earnest, the Oserans started to fall behind.
“Keep firing!” Josef shouted again, grabbing another quiver of bolts. “Focus on the ones in the water!”
He had just launched another bolt when he heard a crash above him, and Josef looked up to see Eli’s lava spirit grabbing the edge of the cliff. Karon’s glowing hands cut easily through the stone, carving out an enormous boulder. Down on the storm wall, Eli was shouting words Josef couldn’t hear, pointing at the new palace ship. Karon nodded and hefted the boulder in his hand. He closed his fingers, firing the stone to a red-hot ember before launching it at the second ship.
The boulder struck true, hitting the palace ship’s enormous tower of a mast. Josef covered his ears against the crack of shattering wood as the mast snapped and fell, its top plummeting into the deck below. This, plus the impact of the stone itself, was enough to crack the ship’s keel against the seabed. The palace ship broke with a scream of wood, and then the air was filled with a rushing roar as the water began to gush in.
Josef screamed in triumph, raising his arm to Eli, who bowed in return, a huge grin on his face. Karon was grinning too as he reached out to cut another boulder from the cliff.
Nara clutched the railing of her balcony, glaring furiously at the enormous, glowing giant sinking her ships. Even at this distance, there was no mistaking the lava spirit for anything other than what it was, and that raised a new problem. No mere wizard could command the fire that ran through the heart of the world. The Oserans had a star fighting for them.
She clenched her teeth. What star would dare oppose her? She was no longer the favorite, but she close enough that it shouldn’t matter. Even forgetting that, how could there be a star here when Benehime herself had ordered this island burned to the ground?
Nara paused, thinking quickly. Perhaps the Shepherdess didn’t know? For all her power, she wasn’t omnipotent. Maybe she wasn’t aware that one of her stars had turned rogue? It wouldn’t be the first. The Lady had been forced to put down the Great Bear not long before this. If a star was interfering with the invasion, the wise thing to do would be to call the Shepherdess and get her blessing before continuing, but Nara hesitated.
The Lady loved her as a conqueror, an Empress. An Empress ruled with absolute authority. An Empress rolled over everything in her path. An Empress did not run crying to the Shepherdess whenever trouble appeared. Nara pursed her lips. Until the Lady told her differently, the order to burn Osera stood. Whoever this star was, they would soon learn what it meant to challenge the soon to be recrowned favorite.
Smile returning, Nara opened her spirit again and sank down into the sea. This time, she ignored the great current, grabbing a smaller one instead. The current cried and begged, but it obeyed like all the others in the end. As it fled to do her bidding, Nara sat back on her couch to see what the star would do.
Josef didn’t notice the admiral’s absence until the old man returned, his face grim.
“Sire!” he yelled over the roar of snapping bows. “We’re running out of bolts!”
“Can’t be,” Josef said, launching the last bolt from his quiver. “Finley had six months’ worth laid up.”
“Six months of normal fire,” the admiral said. “Not for this.”
Josef turned and looked, his heart falling. He hadn’t had time to notice in the heat of battle, but the crate he and the other men on this part of the cliff had been using was empty. So was the crate it sat on.
“They’re on the last box on the south side as well,” the admiral said. “A runner just came asking for more. I had to turn him away.”
“So there’s nothing left?”
The admiral shook his head. “We emptied the tower armory as you commanded. Every last bolt was here.”
Josef cursed and looked down at the bay. He could hear it happening already. The whistling roar of the bolts was shrinking, the light on the bay brightening as the rain of arrows began to dissipate.
“Send runners to the other cliff,” he said, tossing his now-useless crossbow on the ground. “Tell the men to finish the bolts they have and get down to the wall.”
“What can we do on the wall?” the admiral said. “We’ve a hundred royal guard left, but the rest of these men are sailors, not infantry.”
“Then it’s time to switch vocations,” Josef said. “We’ve five hundred men here. That many of the enemy are lying facedown in the water already, and we haven’t even made a dent in their numbers. But we’ve still got terrain on our side. If Eli’s message got through, the Council fleet should be on its way right now. All we have to do is hold a little longer.”
“If we go down there we’ll be slaughtered!” the admiral shouted.
“We’ll be slaughtered anyway!” Josef shouted back. “If you want roll over for it, be my guest, but I mean to die as an Oseran should: fighting.”
And with that, he left the admiral gaping and stomped down to the storm wall.
Eli was waiting for him at the base of the cliff, though he didn’t look as smug as Josef had expected. He was smiling, but his face was pale and his eyes were dark with exhaustion.
“You all right?” Josef said as the thief fell in beside him.
“Fantastic,” Eli said.
Josef didn’t buy it. “You look like you’ve been running for three days straight. If you can’t keep it up, say something. I’d rather fight without a lava spirit than have it go out on me at a bad time.”
“I can keep this up as long I have to,” Eli said firmly, glancing up at the lava giant as it stepped aside to make room on the storm wall for the gathering troops. “It’s just that there’s not much for Karon to burn for energy here, so I’m having to feed him some of my own.” He laughed. “It’s disgustingly Spiritualist-like, actually. My only comfort is that Miranda isn’t here to see it.”
“Just don’t push yourself,” Josef said. “I can’t have you and Nico down at the same time.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Eli said, his voice suddenly serious. “Think of this as my chance to pay a little back
