The chase went on all afternoon, and little by little the exhaustion of the effort began to take its toll on the oarsmen in the merchant ship. Captain Olsen went on exhorting them to go on rowing with all their might, as though they were demigods whose strength would never fail them.
“They’re five hundred paces from us,” Ingrid said. She was watching the pirate ship with one eye shut and the other open to get a better sense of the distance between them.
“Can you hit them?” Eicewald asked. “They’re too far away for a spell.”
“Five hundred paces is a bit far, but we can try,” Ingrid said confidently.
At that distance she could not use any of her three bows. Punisher, the tiny one, had a maximum range of about twenty-five paces; Swift, the short one, would not reach a hundred and fifty; and Spot-on, the compound bow, would not reach two hundred and fifty. She nocked a bigger long bow and aimed. They were very unreliable, but at that distance they were her only option. Nilsa, who was much better than Ingrid with this kind of bow, did the same. Lasgol and the others, on the other hand, did not even try. They knew the distance was beyond them. The two girls waited a moment, gauging the shot. It was not an easy one at all, not only because of the distance, but because of the swaying of the two ships.
Viggo wrinkled his nose in protest. “This nutshell won’t stay still.”
Astrid was calculating with her eyes half-closed. “If it were only this one that was moving it would be easier, but the two ships go up and down ten or fifteen hand-spans every four strokes.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll make it,” Gerd said encouragingly.
Suddenly, as if they had come to a silent agreement, they both released. Ingrid’s arrow flew to the head of one of the pirates beside the figurehead, the image of a horrifying sea snake whose sole function was presumably to frighten the enemy. The arrow passed close to his head, but did not hit him. The pirate shouted in triumph, raising his scimitar in the air, and his partners beside him shouted excitedly. Nilsa’s arrow hit him fair and square in his chest. With an expression of disbelief, he plunged into the sea, and the shouts of his colleagues suddenly subsided.
“You’re pretty impressive at a distance,” Ingrid said to Nilsa.
The redhead shrugged. “I’ve got a good eye for long shots, don’t ask me why, or why I haven’t got it for medium and short range.”
“Keep shooting,” Viggo said. “See if you can lighten the load a bit.”
Nilsa winked at him. “Done,” she said as she aimed again.
“This time I’ll get him too,” Ingrid said.
Both arrows flew, and two pirates at the bow were hit squarely, one in the chest and the other in the stomach. They fell backwards on to the deck from the force of the impact, and a moment later they were dead.
“That’s the way to do it!” Viggo said.
“What amazing marksmanship!” Astrid exclaimed.
Gerd had a broad smile on his face. “One day I’d like to be as good an archer as you two are.”
“One day, he says,” Viggo teased him. “Not in a million years, with those great mitts of yours.”
Gerd smiled, looking down at his big hands. “What can I say? At least they’re pretty useful for smacking people around.”
Nilsa and Ingrid released again, and once more two pirates at the prow were hit and fell into the sea.
“They’re only four hundred paces away now!” Ingrid said. “Want to try?” she asked her partners, with a definite touch of irony.
“At your command, captain,” Viggo said. He, Astrid, Lasgol and Gerd armed their compound bows, nocked and aimed.
“We’ll release at the same ship,” Ingrid said. “We’ll cause the most damage like that.”
Lasgol nodded in agreement. “The one on the starboard?”
“That’s right, all at once. Aim! Release!”
The six arrows sped to the enemy ship’s foredeck. The pirates tried to seek cover, but there was not much space to hide in. Three of them fell, either wounded or dead. Three arrows fell short.
“Well done!” Ingrid said. “We’ll do it again! At my command!” She was gauging the distance and the swaying of the other ship. “Now!”
The six released at the same time, and the arrows flew straight at the pirates as they retreated to the center of the ship, some even as far as the stern. The pirate captain was going hoarse as he barked orders to his men, who did not seem too willing to obey them.
“Row with everything you’ve got!” Olsen’s voice was heard encouraging his sailors. The pirate ships were already three hundred paces away and would soon catch up with them.
“We need to shoot at the oarsmen!” Ingrid ordered.
“That’s complicated,” Viggo said. “They’re sitting down.”
“At three hundred paces, if you miss a sitting man you’re a disgrace as a Ranger!”
“My thing is close-range weapons, and in case you haven’t realized, their ship and ours go up and down at different rhythms, so it’s not exactly an easy shot.”
“Shut up, you numbskull, and just aim!”
They released again, and though it was a complicated business, their shots were all accurate. The front oarsmen fell dead on their rowing benches.
“The ship to port is mine,” Eicewald said suddenly. “I’ll deal with it.” He began to cast a spell with his staff raised above his head, intoning strange words of power as if in an ancient chant.
“We’ve got to stop them getting any closer,” Astrid warned them.
“We’ll get rid of their oarsmen,” Ingrid said. “That’ll delay them.”
The six went on releasing again and again, as
