Part the One-Hudred Seventy-Fifth
In which: come on in, the battle’s fine!
On the main deck, it takes Lira a second to figure out what has happened. Reyu, she realizes. She must have wildshaped again. And that reminds Lira of another resource at their disposal. She puts Sheesak’s horn to her lips and blows for all she is worth.
The blast leaves her ears ringing, and Lira grins. Somehow, she doesn’t think that is going to summon a puppy.
###
Welk and Thatch continue to fight, ignoring the sudden sound of the hunting horn. Thatch because he is used to it by now, and Welk because… well… given how erratic his fighting style is, it’s hard to see what would throw him off.
Unfortunately, Welk’s erratic fighting style is well… erratic, and keeps Thatch from making best use of his sword. For the first time in a while, Thatch finds himself missing almost as often as he hits. Eva does what she can, loosing an arrow that hits Welk in the leg before she takes a flying leap into the ship’s rigging, looking to get a better vantage on the fight.
Welk, for his part, barely seems to notice the arrow in his leg and performs a crazy feinting maneuver that snakes its way under Thatch’s guard and slices open his sleeve.
“Is that the best you can do?” Thatch taunts. “I don’t even like this shirt!”
“Oh, I’m just getting started!” And with another crazed laugh the red-haired navigator is dancing out of Thatch’s reach again.
###
Finally at the surface between the two ships, Anvil treads water, and takes just a second to come to terms with the abrupt reversal in the party’s situation. It would seem that the alleged refugees are, in fact, in league with the pirates they claimed to have been fleeing, and those pirates are now attacking their ship.
He also reflects—with a certain amount of satisfaction—that putting them all over the side of the boat probably put more than a little crimp in their plans.
It is true, Anvil reflects, Ketennek rewards those who act Justly, even if in ignorance of his true designs.
And fortune (from whatever source) has remained with the loyal cleric, as Reyu has left him near a ladder leading back up to the deck. Anvil grasps the slick rungs, and pulls himself out of the water. From there, it is a simple matter for him to climb up the side of the ship and over the railing to the main deck, not far from where Captain Elsuki is in a battle with a man in a brown coat and tight pants (most likely the captain of the pirate vessel, Anvil decides) and his dark-skinned first mate.
Anvil is just about to join the fray when he feels a sharp pain in his chest. He looks down and finds the tip of a crossbow bolt just barely protruding below his sternum. Anvil feels just a little faint, and it dawns on him that he is losing a copious amount of blood. But he can’t see an enemy crossbow wielder anywhere. Where the hell did that come from? he wonders.
###
On the other side of the melee, Annika decides that the time for action has come. She’s pinned-in by the fighting in front of her and the door to the captain’s cabin at her back, but sucking up all of her courage, she drops to a crouch, casts defensively, and unleashes a lightning bolt.
The first things in its path are Zokuth’s twin cutlasses.
The crackling electricity arcs from one blade to the other and back again, held fast by Zokuth’s reflexively clenching fists as she screams.
But that is not the end of Annika’s swathe of destruction. She very deliberately angled the path of the bolt upwards, right at the crow’s nest of the opposing ship… and the longbowman standing within it. Annika watches in satisfaction as he loses his aim and sends an arrow flying wildly into the water. She imagines she can even see a wisp of smoke rising from his knitted hat.
As soon as the electricity dissipates, Elsuki presses his advantage against Zokuth, slashing down with his own sword as he shouts, “Back where you came from, Thanean swine!”
Zokuth is forced to tumble backwards out of reach, back up the steps to the top of the aft-castle.
###
Sakeem and Ragya come flying out of the water near the anchor chain, swooping through the air and making for the stern of The Tranquil Shore.
Sakeem carefully lands them near the ship’s wheel, placing his sister carefully beside him. He strokes her back reassuringly as she finds her feet. This has not gone according to plan, and Ragya doesn’t always react well to changes in her routine.
“Ragya,” he begins gently, “now is when you—”
He doesn’t even get a chance to finish the sentence. Ragya flinches away from his touch, and begins pulling at her hair, shrieking.
Sakeem smiles. He needn’t have worried. Ragya knows exactly what to do. A few seconds later, her first sonic ball goes off, centered on the other ship’s main mast. Not as effective, granted, as it would have been if she’d had the chance to web the crew there first, but still, quite satisfying.
###
The air over the mid-deck of the Fool’s Errand is rent by the most horrible noise that Kiara has ever heard. Coming from everywhere at once the cacophony feels like it is going to shake her teeth loose. Beside her, a sailor falls to the deck, writhing as he tries to clamp his hands over his bleeding ears.
The noise recedes, and Kiara scans for the source. She sees Sakeem and Ragya back on the other ship. That’s right, she remembers, if they were telling the truth about anything, then he’s a wizard, and she’s a sorcerer. Luckily, Kiara knows what to do about enemy spell-casters. She nocks an arrow and prepares to let it fly the instant either one of them make a move to cast again.
Behind Kiara’s targets, Aurelia appears, walking calmly as though up a staircase made of air to the deck of her ship.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
"
. And I want to see Anvil dispense some Justice despite a bolt in the chest.
