'Melcorka has learned,' Machaendranathar approved, from within Bradan's mind. 'Battles are won with the will and the mind as much as with muscle and steel.'
Despite the time they had been gone, the Singhalese had made no progress across the sand. Bradan and Melcorka joined them within half a dozen steps.
'Where have you been?' Chaturi looked puzzled. 'We've been walking for hours.'
'The island does that,' Bradan said. 'It warps and distorts time and distance. We'll be on the boat soon.'
'Here we are already,' Kosala said. 'I swear we covered that last mile in only a few steps.'
The boat lay as they had left her, hauled up above the rippling sea with her mast at an angle and the tide no different to when they had left it, half a day or five minutes before.
'Hurry!' Chaturi urged them on. 'We must get the Siddhars back to Sathuragiri before the rift widens further.'
'The Siddhars are moving as fast as they can,' Machaendranathar said. 'We know the dangers better than you do!'
The second they stepped into the boat, the seascape altered. For one moment, Bradan had a vision of a vast continent that stretched as far as he could see to the south and east, and then, without a sound, there was only the sea, blue and warm and shifting.
'Hoist the sail,' Chaturi spoke quickly. 'Get to the oars. Hurry, before the Thiruzhas are out searching.'
'I think they already are.' Banduka pointed to the north, where the sails of a small flotilla punctured the horizon.
Chapter Thirteen
'Hurry!' Bradan had never seen Chaturi more agitated. She pushed the crew into their places. 'How far is the land?'
'It's only about two miles away,' Bradan said. 'We should reach it long before these vessels reach us. With luck, they might not even see us.' He gave quick instructions. 'Don't hoist the sail as it will make us more visible. Row, fast and hard.'
Taking the steering oar, Bradan pointed the bow toward the double-peaked hill. 'Pray to Shiva, people, and I will pray to my own God.'
'I think we're too late,' Banduka said. 'They're altering course.'
The shape of the Thiruzha sails had altered, as the vessels moved toward the Singhalese boat.
'They're much larger than us,' Bradan said. 'They are two-masted Thiruzha scout ships. They'll carry thirty men and twenty oars each, with two or three times our speed.' A shift of wind brought the thunder of drums to them.
Bradan glanced at Melcorka. 'I won't let them take you. Forget what I said and hoist the sail. Move!'
The sail bellied for a moment, pushing them forward, then sagged as the wind died. The boat's speed dropped.
'Everybody row,' Bradan ordered. 'Everybody, find what you can and row as if your lives depended on it. You too, Melcorka!'
'More than our lives depend on this,' Chaturi said. 'The balance of the world depends on us.'
The Singhalese fishing boat was broad-beamed and bulky, built for carrying a cargo of fish, not for racing predators across the sea. The Thiruzha scouts outmatched them, approaching at an angle, trying to cut off the Singhalese boat before it reached the land. Bradan glanced at the scouts and then at the line of palm trees that marked the land. They might make it. They might not.
'Row!' Bradan ordered. 'Row!' He again heard the beat of the drum as the Thiruzha shipmasters urged their slaves to greater effort. The bow-wave from each Thiruzha vessel was tall and silver-white, with spume and spindrift rising in a manner Bradan would have found beautiful if the situation had been different. As it was, he saw only the menace. Now, the Thiruzha vessels were so close that he could make out the features of the men on board. He saw the glint of sunlight on spears and helmets and heard the hoarse cries of the warriors.
The first arrow whizzed out a moment later, to fall a cable's-length short in the smooth swells of the sea.
'They're firing at us,' Banduka said.
'They are,' Bradan agreed. He glanced ahead. They were less than a quarter of a mile from land, with everybody straining to row, but the Thiruzha scouts were nearly within hailing distance and arrows were landing all around.
'One last effort!' Bradan urged. He saw Kosala eyeing a bow and shook his head. 'No, Kosala. I know you want to fight back, but it's more important you use your muscles to move us forward.'
Chaturi nodded agreement, ducking when an arrow thudded into the planking at her side. 'Row!'
They hit the beach with a crunch of timber on yellow sand and tumbled out before the next wave broke. The beach was long and smooth, backed by a line of rustling palms, with a group of shacks from which bewildered villagers stared at them. A woman in a long pink sari waved, while two plump-bellied children laughed to see these curious strangers on their beach.
'Run!' Bradan shouted. 'Run for your lives! The pirates are coming!'
'No,' Chaturi said. 'Don't warn them. They might distract the Thiruzha, which will give us space and time.'
Bradan shook his head. 'I'm not sacrificing these innocent people just to save our lives.'
'We're not sacrificing these people to save our lives,' Chaturi said. 'We're sacrificing them to save the lives and souls of thousands, perhaps millions of people for all eternity.'
'Sometimes,' Machaendranathar said, 'the few have to be sacrificed to save the many.'
'Not this time,' Bradan said. 'There will be no sacrifices.' He raised his voice, 'Run you, people! The pirates are coming!'
With his warning given, Bradan grabbed Melcorka's hand and pulled her up the beach toward the palm trees.
'It's nice here,' Melcorka protested. 'I want to stay.'
'Not this time, Mel,' Bradan said. 'Run!'
Inland of the palm-thatched village, a network of paths ran in every direction. For a second, Bradan hesitated until Machaendranathar's voice spoke inside his head.
'Follow the map,'Machaendranathar said. 'Follow your instincts.'
Glancing over his
