“Foul fiend!” a soldier cried out. “You will be vanquished.”
“Do you all share that opinion?” I yelled back. “None of you want to surrender and give up your vessels?”
“Never!” a unanimous cry came back.
“What I did to your captain was a mere taste of my abilities,” I said. “Surrender, and you may live another day. Or die. You have until our ships meet.”
I flew Talon back to my ship and found my party—including Anna-Lucielle and Rami-Xayon—gathered on deck, ready for battle. Secured to all their bodies were crossbows armed with grappling hooks that could be fired to pull themselves onto a ship.
“They’ve got some pretty impressive weaponry,” I told them. “But there are only five warships. We might have to sink one or two of them, but I want to capture at least three and add them to this fleet. Ready to kick some ass?”
They cheered enthusiastically, and even Elyse seemed a little pleased with the notion. Was her loyalty to the church giving way to loyalty to me? I sure hoped so, even if it meant Elyse might become a different person than the one I’d met all those months ago. Still, she remained loyal to me and would do whatever I asked. It was a bright, sunny day, and she would be able to use her Light magic to excellent effect.
“Drok want feed people to sharks!” Drok clashed his twin battle-axes together. “Drok want feed people to sharks!”
“And feed people to sharks you will, my barbarian friend,” I said. “But to the point. The advantage they have over us right now is their ballistae. Anyone know what sort of a range they are effective in?”
“They can put a hole in a merchant ship hull from 500 yards,” Rollar said. “At least, that’s what one of their captains once told me.”
“If we give them a clear shot, they’ll put a hole in our hull, and we’ll sink, no question, Captain Chauzec,” Percy said. “And right now, with the ocean so calm, I’d say they’ve got a decent chance of putting a good few shots on target.”
“No point taking that risk,” I said. “Rami-Xayon?”
She nodded. “I’ll create a minor hurricane around them. They’ll have their hands full trying to keep their ships upright, and they won’t be able to aim their ballistae.”
“Just remember we need some of those warships in one piece,” I said.
“If you and I can combine our magic,” Isu said to Rami-Xayon, “I can infuse your rain with my acid.”
“I like the sound of that,” I said.
I walked over to the edge of the ship and peered into the water, where my zombie whale and sharks were swimming alongside us. “Percy,” I said, still staring at my undead sea creatures, “you’ve been a seafarer for decades, haven’t you?”
“Aye, Captain,” he answered. “Since I was a wee lad, I’ve been on boats an’ ships. I’ve spent more nights at sea than I have on land.”
“Have you ever seen the inside of a whale?”
“Aye. I worked on a whaling ship for a time. It’s bloody massive inside there, which you can imagine just by lookin’ at the beast. Crikey, this one is almost as big as our ship, isn’t it? Whales can dive down to the deepest depths o’ the ocean, I’ve heard, and can stay underwater for hours, even though they have to come up to breathe air. They’ve got a pair o’ lungs in ‘em big enough to park a wagon in. Hell, with a whale this big, you could drive a wagon down its throat all the way down to its lungs.”
“I thought as much,” I said, still staring at the whale.
“Vance,” Layna said, looking concerned, “this is... fascinating. But we’re going into battle, how about some focus?
“You’ve got grappling hooks on this ship, right, Percy?” I said, ignoring Layna for the moment.
“Aye, Captain, plenty. We’ve got a few that can be shot with crossbows too, for extra range.”
“Get me a couple of those and load them up. I’m gonna need them.”
“Aye, Captain,” Percy said, and he turned around and started barking out orders.
“Who out of you lot are strong swimmers?” I asked, turning to the rest of my party.
“I am,” Rollar said.
“As am I,” Friya added.
“Me too!” Drok yelled enthusiastically. “Drok love swim!”
I wouldn’t have thought, given how Drok reeked, that he had never even dipped his toes into a body of water, but all the barbarians seemed to be naturals.
“We Arachne are gifted with the ability to swim as fast as we can run.” Layna rubbed her spider legs together.
“And I’ve loved swimming ever since I was a little girl,” Elyse said. “There was a river running through the village where I grew up. I used to swim every day, even in winter.”
“Excellent,” I said. “All of you, grab your weapons and jump overboard.”
They stared at me, mouths agape or wearing confused frowns.
“Vance, have you lost your mind?” Isu asked. “This is a naval battle we’re about to fight, not a swimming race!”
“You just stay on deck and use your acid cloud with Rami-Xayon’s hurricane. But both of you, I’m going to need you to call off your storms when I give you the signal. I’ll send Talon swooping low over your heads.”
“All right,” Isu said uncertainly, “but I still don’t get why you think it a good idea to swim at this moment.”
“We’re not going swimming,” I answered. “We’re hitching a ride. Elyse, we’re going to need you to use a little Light magic for the trip we’re about to take. You can light up that mace of yours, right?”
Elyse smiled, waved her hand across the flanged head of the mace, and it started to glow as if it were a burning torch.
“I can keep this light burning for a long time,” she said. “Energy-efficient.”
“Good. I don’t think our ride will take too long, though. That whale swims fast,
