Thus, when I saw black clouds on the horizon and felt the first rustlings of hurricane winds rippling my cloak, I was by no means surprised.
“All hands on deck!” I yelled as soon as I caught wind of the brewing storm in the distance.
The pirates, the monks, and my party all hurried up onto the deck of the warship.
“Shiver me fuckin’ timbers, that’s one hell of a storm coming” Percy stared in horror at the thick black clouds on the horizon. Shears of lightning were already flickering through their bulbous masses.
“Should we try to go around it?” Elyse asked, looking worried.
“Impossible,” Percy answered grimly. “Look across that way,” he continued, pointing right, “and there,” he said, pointing left. “It’s unlike any storm I’ve ever seen. It’s coming at us from all sides, like an army that’s surrounded us completely.”
“That’s because this is no natural storm,” I said. “This is Elandriel’s doing.”
“How seaworthy is this ship?” Friya asked Percy.
Percy shrugged, and there was a bleak look of dread on his round, ruddy face. “She’s as sturdy a vessel as any, this warship; the Church of Light Navy may be a bunch a’ yellow-bellied cowards, but they know how to build ships well. But I can’t think of any ship I’ve ever seen that could survive a tempest like the one over yonder.”
“We’re going to have to work together to get through the storm in one piece,” I said. “Everyone who has some sort of magical power is going to have to chip in.”
Even Rami-Xayon looked worried. “Vance, that storm is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Even if we combine all our powers, and you draw on the full Death strength of your undead army, I don’t think I can create a wind strong enough to blow against a monstrous hurricane like that.”
I smiled. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to have to fight against the power of that storm.”
“We can’t outrun it, and we don’t have any shelter from it,” Rami-Xayon said. “We’re surrounded on all sides; I don’t see how we could possibly get through it.”
“We don’t need to try to outrun it or go through it, because there’s a much easier way to deal with it,” I said.
“How?” she asked.
“Simple,” I said. “We go under it.”
“Er, Lord Vance,” Rollar said, “I know that you have many powers that are beyond the comprehension of mere mortals, even Fated ones such as myself, but I hope you haven’t forgotten that the rest of us cannot breathe underwater.”
“I’m capable of many things, Rollar, but breathing underwater isn’t one of them,” I said. “But under the waves I’m going to be breathing air, just like you are. It’s going to take some effort, and it’ll be a bumpy ride, but I’m pretty sure that my plan will get us through this hurricane unscathed.”
“Pretty sure?” Isu said, raising a skeptical eyebrow and folding her arms defiantly across her voluminous bosom. “And if your plan doesn’t work?”
“Then we’ll all drown—that or be crushed to death inside the ship when it implodes,” I answered, grinning cheerfully.
A look of sudden comprehension flickered to life across Rami-Xayon’s beautiful face. “You’re going to use a reversed tornado to suck air down from the surface into the hold of the ship, aren’t you?” she asked. “That’s how you’ll give us air to breathe, and keep the inside of the ship from being flooded, right? I understand that part, but how are you going to get the ship under the water? Having air inside it is what keeps it afloat, and if you start pulling air in via a tornado, it’s guaranteed to keep it up on the surface, and then it’ll get battered to pieces by the forces of the storm.”
“I realize that, and that’s why I’m going to use an equally powerful force to keep the ship underwater.”
“Cap’n Chauzec, if I could uh, present the opinion of a veteran seafarer at this point?” Percy asked nervously.
“Go ahead Percy,” I said.
“I mean no disrespect, but you can’t simply pull a ship like this below the waves with air inside it and expect it to stay intact. The water pressure alone will crush it.”
“And that’s why I’m going to fortify the whole ship with Death magic. I’ll make these timbers stronger than steel. I’ve got my entire army down there on the ocean floor. There’s enough strength to draw on to fortify a whole naval fleet. Trust me, the water pressure won’t break the ship once I’ve fortified it.”
“What about getting it under the waves in the first place?” Rami-Xayon said. “You said you’re going to use a great force to do that, but if you’re using the Death power to fortify the body of the ship, what are you going to use to get the ship underwater?”
“Have you forgotten about one very special, very powerful undead creature of mine?” I asked. “What’s one thing krakens are notorious for? Why don’t you tell us, Percy?”
“Um, pulling ships under the…” he trailed off, and his frown of consternation became a gleeful grin. “Cap’n Chauzec, you’ve done it again! You’re going to use the ol’ kraken to pull and hold the ship under, fortify the timbers against the water pressure with Death magic, and then use a reverse tornado to stop water flooding in, and keep us breathin’ air instead of suckin’ water into our lungs! But uh, I do have one more question…”
“Go ahead.”
“With a tornado raging in the hold, how are we going to avoid being flung around like dry leaves in a gale, and stop our heads getting pounded to bloody pulp
