“She’s a pursuit ship,” Amree declared. “Built for speed. I’ll wager she has an improved hull as well, something that makes her cut through the water much more surely than Swallow can.”
“That ship was gone for two days,” Iados said.
“Not gone,” Amree corrected. “Still out there. We just didn’t see her.”
“If she didn’t see us, then how did she stay on our track?”
Amree pointed up. “Ever known doves to fly so far from land?”
Shang-Li glanced up and spotted the two white birds cutting through the pale blue sky. The birds paced Swallow, flitting back and forth to overtake her and fall behind again.
“You might have mentioned them before,” Shang-Li said.
“I just noticed them this morning, when I was wondering how the ship had kept us in view.”
“It would have been better had you noticed them sooner.”
Amree shot him an unpleasant look. “Or I might never have noticed them. It might have taken someone pointing them out to me for me to see them. Like some others I could mention.”
Chastened, Shang-Li said nothing.
“If they make the mistake of losing sight of us again for a time,” Iados said, “I’ll take a bow and pluck their spies from the sky.”
“I think the time for games has passed,” Captain Chiang stated calmly. “I, for one, don’t like the idea of being taken by pirates. I won’t believe in whatever tender mercies they would offer us for a quiet surrender. It would probably go even worse for you, Master Kwan.”
Kwan Yung scowled at the ship. “The fact that they have come all this way makes it apparent these men aren’t after revenge for anything my son or our ship’s mage has done.”
“They’ve got the smell of treasure up their noses,” Thava said.
“That’s an idea even desperate men cling to.” Captain Chiang looked at his nearby crewmen. “Prepare to repel boarders. And get the archers to their posts.”
Fear and excitement warred within Shang-Li as he watched the ship quickly closing the distance. They were at a distinct disadvantage and everyone aboard Swallow knew that.
Shang-Li took several deep breaths. His heart rate slowed and a cold calm came over him. He ran his hands along the polished longbow and felt the smooth grain with his fingers.
“We’re going to know in short order if Chiang’s men have any stomach for fighting,” Iados said quietly. “Though our ship’s mage seems to be spoiling for a fight.”
Glancing over his shoulder, Shang-Li watched Amree standing on the ship’s sterncastle. She had her arms folded and her jaw was firm. If she had any hesitation about the coming confrontation, it didn’t show.
“She’s a scrappy one,” Iados said. “You might want to wipe that grin off your face before she catches you wearing it.”
Embarrassed, Shang-Li forced the smile away and focused on the approaching ship. The vessel was almost within bowshot. His gaze traveled the ship’s railing and the sailors gathered there. Nearly all of them were Shou.
“Well, accuracy isn’t going to be an issue for a time,” the tiefling commented. “They’re packed tightly enough that all you have to do is aim your arrow for the deck and you’ll hit one of them.”
“True, but their archers are going to be shooting back.”
“I’d suggest we concentrate on them at the beginning.”
“Agreed.” Shang-Li read the ship’s name, in Shou, on her broadside: Lotus Bee. She was decorated in red and black.
A white flag ran up the main mast.
Captain Chiang stepped up onto the stern deck beside Amree. The captain’s leather armor showed wear and tear from past encounters.
A Shou warrior in black chainmail hoisted himself up to stand on the starboard railing. He held himself in place by gripping lines on either side of him.
“Give us what we want,” the Shou warrior shouted, “and we’ll let you take your ship and leave these waters. We don’t want to kill all of you.”
Quietly, Shang-Li focused on the man and nocked a goose-fletched arrow to string. He kept the bow pointed down for the moment and had only a little pressure on the string.
“If you try to take this ship,” Chiang retorted, “we’ll kill all of you.”
Thava climbed the sterncastle steps and stood beside the captain. She wore her white plate armor and looked fierce as the sun reflected from the polished finish. She had spent her nights cleaning the armor and it gleamed as though it were new.
Despite the appearance of the paladin, the Shou warrior clinging to the ropes laughed. Several of his companions joined him. Shang-Li looked across the water and timed the slow rise and fall of the two ships. “How far would you say he is from us?”
“Two hundred paces,” Iados said. “Not an impossible shot from the deck of a ship and the wind against us, but a problematic one. Let him get a little closer.”
“I’m not giving up anything from this ship,” Chiang replied. “You’ll not draw a cup from a water barrel.”
“Don’t be foolish, captain,” the Shou replied. “All we want are the mage and Shang-Li.”
“Well,” Iados said, “they do remember you. Probably not fondly.”
“Not at all fondly,” Shang-Li replied. The Nine Golden Swords vessel had closed another twenty paces. The archers along Lotus Bee’s railing shifted a little. “Evidently their archers want to close the distance as well.”
“It would be a good tactic.” Iados took a fresh grip on the small shield he held.
“If I wouldn’t give you a drink of water,” Chiang replied, “what makes you think that I would surrender my ship’s mage or my passenger?”
The Nine Golden Swords warrior cursed fluently. He released his grip on one of the ropes and drew his sword. He pointed the blade with authority. “I’ll take your head, captain. Gods strike me down if that isn’t true.”
“He’s close enough,” Iados said.
Shang-Li was already bringing the bow up. Three fingers on the cord, he drew the arrow fletchings back to his ear until the broadhead rested against his first knuckle. Just as Swallow and Lotus Bee crested the latest wave, he loosed.
The arrow sped across the water, rising at first, then falling into its final trajectory. Shang-Li already had another arrow in flight when the first struck the Nine Golden Swords warrior in the throat.
Shocked for a brief instant, the man stood paralyzed, then grabbed at the arrow protruding from his throat. He lost his footing and plunged into the sea. At the same time, Shang-Li’s second arrow took another man in the eye and knocked him back into his companions.
A torrent of arrows flew from the Nine Golden Swords ship and was just as quickly met by those from Swallow. The shafts clanked and thudded against the yards above and whispered through the canvas and lines. Swallow’s crew took cover, but a few of them were hit. Wounded and dead quickly littered the deck and blood tracked the wood.
Thava took a step in front of Captain Chiang and used her armor to block the arrows that came near. The dwarven armor, rounded to better protect against arrows, kept her from getting pierced but made her an immediate danger to those around her as the deadly shafts ricocheted off it.
Kwan Yung flicked two arrows away with his bow, then loosed an arrow of his own. Another Nine Golden Swords warrior fell into the sea.
“The helmsman,” Iados said. “Can you hit him?”
Shang-Li tried to ignore the fact that he didn’t know where his father was and concentrate on his targets. He found the helmsman, certainly less than one hundred fifty paces away, and drew an arrow back to his ear. He aimed by feeling as much as by sight. An archer operated far beyond simple visual information.
He loosed the arrow and reached for another. In disgust, he watched the arrow deflect from a line, but took grim satisfaction when it lodged in the chest of another opponent. His second arrow sped from the bow and this one caught the helmsman under his right arm as he guided his ship into a parallel course beside Swallow.
The helmsman tried to maintain his hold, but death sapped his strength and he slumped over the wheel. Lotus Bee heeled suddenly to starboard and tracked toward Swallow.
