'You see?' Kulothunga laughed. 'I am the better shot.'
'We'll try again.' Melcorka did not like to be second best at anything. Fitting another arrow to the bow, she fired quickly, and missed again, while Kulothunga's arrow thudded into the quarter-deck of the Thiruzha craft.
'Archers!' Jasweer yelled. 'Show these two land clowns how it's done. Show them how Jasweer's Sharks fire!'
The archers grinned and loosed, with every single arrow finding the enemy ship. Melcorka watched their technique and copied it as best she could, so her next arrow landed closer to the Thiruzha vessel, and then there were other things to worry about than a contest with Kulothunga.
'We're approaching the main Thiruzha fleet,' Jasweer said. 'I want every available sailor and marine on the port side, and everybody to have a bow. That means you two boasting land-sloggers as well.'
Fifty strong, the Thiruzha fleet carved through the sea, every ship wearing two flags, the yellow-and-blue leopard of Thiruzha and a plain black flag.
'What's that black flag?' Melcorka asked.
'It means no quarter,' Kulothunga said. 'The Thiruzha are not taking prisoners.'
'There is Bhim.' Melcorka touched the hilt of Defender and, in an instant of sudden clarity, she saw Bhim drinking from a gold-and-pearl-mounted skull. Bhim raised the skull and red liquid dribbled down his chin. In that second, Melcorka knew with utter certainty that Bhim was drinking blood; he was not human. The creature who posed as Bhim was a rakshasa. The knowledge sent a cold chill through her. She had been unable to kill one of these demons; how could she destroy two?
'We are facing forces from another place,' Melcorka said, 'a place of shadows and horrors beyond our imagining.'
'Is that so?' Kulothunga caressed his sword. 'Well, I would gamble all the gold in the Empire that my sword and I are the equal of any number of rakshasas.' He raised his voice to a shout that carried across the intervening water to the Thiruzha flagship.
'Did you hear me, Bhim? I am Kulothunga, and I am not afraid of you, whoever or whatever you are. I am not afraid of any man, any woman, any warrior or any demon in this world or the next.'
Bhim altered his stance to stare directly at Kulothunga. For one fraction of a second, Melcorka caught his glance. She shuddered at the force of pure evil in his smoky yellow eyes.
'Be careful, Kulothunga. It is better not to stir these creatures up.' Melcorka put her hand on Kulothunga's arm.
'I will not stir it up,' Kulothunga said. 'I will kill it.' He raised his voice again. 'Do you hear that, Bhim? I am going to fight you, and I am going to kill you.'
In response, Bhim lifted his skull-cup in salute, took a deep draught and turned his head away. He must have given an order, for the Thiruzha flagship pulled out of formation and headed directly for Jasweer's loola.
'We've caught their attention.' Jasweer's voice carried to every quarter of the ship. 'I want everybody with a bow to fire at the Thiruzha flagship. Fire and keep firing as fast as you can. Don't stop until you have no arrows left. Try and kill Bhim. Oarsmen, keep rowing. Helmsman, wait for my orders. All the rest, I want you to retrieve any enemy arrows that land on our ship and give them to our archers.'
Jasweer guided them to within seventy yards of the Thiruzha ship, with long-range arrows humming from both sides. 'Helmsman! Hard a-port. Archers, move to the stern.'
Melcorka knew that the next few moments would be dangerous as the loola slowed down to turn and presented her vulnerable side to the Thiruzha flagship. Sure enough, the Thiruzha vessel closed the gap, and more of her arrows found a mark, but Jasweer had timed her move perfectly, allowing the loola to escape with only two casualties. One female archer had an arrow through her stomach, and a male oarsman shrieked with an arrow in his groin.
'Attend to these wounded,' Jasweer ordered. 'Oarsmen, keep the pace. Don't increase it.'
'Don't increase it?' Kulothunga grinned. 'I see! Jasweer wishes Bhim to board us so I can kill him man-to-monster. In fact, I will kill them all.' He spared Melcorka a glance. 'You may help if you wish.'
'Thank you.' Melcorka gave an exaggerated salaam. 'However, I believe Jasweer has other ideas. Rajaraja wants Jasweer to lure the Thiruzha into a trap, much as the Thiruzha did to our last fleet.'
Larger and more powerful than the loola, the Thiruzha vessel surged through the waves with the archers firing non-stop. In return, Jasweer jinked from side to side, using her boat's greater agility to dodge the enemy missiles. Other Thiruzha vessels had broken formation and were streaming behind their flagship, so the sea astern of Jasweer's loola was a mass of enemy ships. Scout vessels tried to close with Jasweer, while the heavier vessels powered through the waves in showers of spray and spindrift.
'Look ahead,' Melcorka said.
The Chola fleet was also approaching, mighty thirisdais with the war machines on board, fast vajaras that had already closed with the more impudent of the Thiruzha scouts and the dharanis, the workhorses of the fleet with their crews of seamen and marines.
'The Thiruzha have seen them,' Kulothunga said. 'They're turning away.'
'Too late, I think,' Melcorka said, as the Chola vajaras sliced through the Thiruzha scouts in a welter of broken oars and fragmented men, followed by the indestructible majesty of the massive thirisdais. 'What a sight! Now, that's something I can tell my grandchildren about.'
'Ha! Wait until you see me at the forefront of the battle,' Kulothunga shouted. 'Your grandchildren will listen with open mouths to the tales you tell them.'
'No doubt.' Melcorka heard Bhim roaring to his oarsmen to back water, but the weight of the Thiruzha flagship kept her moving forward.
'Hard to port!' Jasweer shouted. 'Oarsmen, row as if a hundred rakshasas were breathing fire on your collective arse!'
'Our captain has
