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[talien]

Vlad handed one of the oars to Kham. They were in the open sea, somewhere off the coast of Nyambe, completely at the mercy of Khitani pirates.

The Milandisian warrior didn’t need to look at his Solani companion to know that they were of the same mind. They weren’t going to go down without a fight.

“Do you think you can hit him from here?” asked Beldin. The dwarf squinted. It was over a hundred yards to the ship, and even further to reach the crow’s nest where Cho Sun held Yolanda hostage.

“No.” Vlad cranked his crossbow, his back concealing his actions to the pirates. “I don’t.”

Beldin grinned beneath his bushy beard. “Good. I was afraid this would be too easy.” He cranked his own crossbow.

Kham was uncharacteristically silent. With his throat cut by the King in Yellow he had difficulty speaking. He set to rowing, brow furrowed.

“Any wizards?” asked Vlad.

Beldin scanned the deck. “Hard to tell. Not familiar with Khitanis. But there’s a woman in robes on the aft deck. She’s as good a candidate as any.”

Vlad nodded. “This may be our only shot.”

“If I die, throw my body overboard.” Beldin loaded his crossbow. “I don’t want my stone in the hands of those mongrels.”

Vlad held his crossbow tight to his chest. “Don’t worry. I don’t intend to survive long enough to see you die. Ready?”

“Ready.”

Suddenly, the pirates, who had been jeering at them from the decks, went utterly silent. Vlad turned to see what happened.

The pirates were looking at each other in shock. Cho Sun struggled with Yolanda in the crow’s nest. The Khitani wizard was gesturing helplessly. Someone had magically silenced the ship.

Vlad dropped to one knee and took aim. “Now!”

He and Beldin fired simultaneously. The shots went wide.

“That was a mistake!” shouted Cho Sun in his clipped speech. He backhanded Yolanda, who crumpled. Then he stretched out one hand and concentrated.

Vlad looked up as a thundercloud formed overhead. “Oh crap.”