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[talien]

Ilmarė, in a small boat rowed by Mashudu, watched the pirates stare at each other in shock as her magic took hold. If there were any wizards on board, they wouldn’t be casting any spells.

But she hadn’t counted on the pirate captain. She was on the other side of the Nǎoké; with all the attention focused on Vlad and Beldin, they hadn’t seen her boat.

She slumped backwards, exhausted. It would have to be enough.

The crack of thunder boomed overhead and suddenly it started hailing around her. Mashudu bravely did his best to keep the rowboat steady, but it was a lost cause. She dove off the boat into the water; she was safer in the ocean than exposed in the rowboat.

Mashudu was not so fortunate. Seconds later, Cho Sun pointed at their tiny vessel and a swirling vortex pulled the rowboat under. She gasped for air, struggling to find the surface.

Osalian help us, she prayed. If not for me, then for my child.

A trail of bubbles streamed from her nostrils. She followed them heavenwards…

And burst through the surface of the choppy ocean, taking in a great lungful of air. Mashudu was nowhere to be found.

Surely the pirates would see her. She was an easy target.

Cho Sun’s attention was divided between the two rowboats on either side of the Nǎoké. He turned again to Ilmarė.

A woman popped up next to him in the crow’s nest. She kicked and Cho Sun hurdled over the edge, his scream choked off by Ilmarė’s magic. He spattered on the deck without a sound.

An eternity passed and the elorii wondered if her god had abandoned her.

Then a rope dangled in front of her. As Ilmarė clambered up the side of the ship, she saw Kham at the other end, leaning over the deck.

He smiled and managed to croak out. “Welcome back.”

Ilmarė put her hands on her hips and looked the crew up and down. “You’re the last person I’d expect to throw me a rope from this ship.”

“Pirate rules,” said Kham, his voice gravelly. The assorted men aboard ship, a motley bunch to be sure, had resumed their tasks. “Killed captain…take ship.”

“Actually,” Vlad frowned at Kham, “Cho Sun was pushed off his deck.”

Beldin held a white ring up to the sunlight, spattered with the captain’s blood. “Now that I have his ring.” He put it on one stubby finger. “I don’t think they’ll give us any trouble.”

Ilmarė leaned back on the rails of the ship. The exertion of swimming for so long had exhausted her.

“Are you all right?” asked Vlad, concerned.

She waved them off. “I’ll be fine. I am elorii, we don’t have the problems your human women do with childbirth.”

“I meant the part about where you nearly drowned.”

Ilmarė looked over the side of the ship. “Mashudu is dead. Osalian watches over me.”

“Thought he was…dead too,” croaked Kham.

Ilmarė ignored him. “There are not enough men to crew this ship.” Indeed, the pirates were busy tossing the corpses of their companions overboard.

Yolanda, recently freed from her bindings, rubbed her wrists. “When you didn’t return, we decided to go looking for you.” She looked sideways at Brother Egil, who was busy untying the others. “Baldric and his men preferred to wait.”

Kham smirked. “Let’s go get…our captain,” he husked.