Chapter Four Hundred and Twenty-Five - Full Broadside

Chapter Four Hundred and Twenty-Five - Full Broadside

Chapter Four Hundred and Twenty-Five - Full Broadside

Hard to starboard! I shouted.

Hard to starboard! Clive repeated as he sent the wheel spinning.

On the deck, the Scallywags and our harpy crewmates rushed to pull in the sails that wed been deploying earlier.

The Beaver took a hard turn to the right, the entire deck shifting underfoot so hard that I had to shift my stance to stay standing. Our turn was probably unexpected for the pirates chasing after us. We had slowly been climbing for a while, and the Red Wings had followed suit. It meant that our speed dropped a little and it meant that theyd have an easier time catching up.

It sucked, but if we were going to fight no matter what, and if we had the choice, it was probably best that we decide when the fighting happened.

Of the three pirate ships, one was quite large, twice as long as the Beaver and just as wide, with a massive balloon above it and a dozen engines sticking out on stalks along its sides. It had metal plates bolted to its sides and seemed like it had been in plenty of scuffles. The figure head at the front was a rather undressed harpy woman, her talons wrapped around a banner with the ships name. The Red Scourge.

The Scourge was to the far left of the Red Wing formation, and our turn would take us away from it and closer to the other two ships.

These were a bit more reasonable in terms of size. One was half again the Beavers length, but was much thinner, the Firestrike.

The third, the Red Whale, was a little longer that the Beaver, a ship entirely contained within a single large balloon, with only some protruding decks on the side and a gondola on the bottom for the crew.

They had something of a naming theme going on.

Get ready! I shouted to the starboard deck even as I rushed over myself.

Amaryllis, Caprica and Calamity were on the deck, all three looking very serious and ready for trouble.

Then the floor shifted and Awens rapid-firing crossbow turret click-clicked out of the hold below and slowly turned to face our right.

Dont put all of your power in your first shot, use it to range, Amaryllis suggested.

I swallowed. Okay, I said.

Our turn, as hard as it was, still took some time to finish. By the end of it, we were perpendicular with the Red Whale, the ship on the far right of the Red Wing formation. Our kilometre-long lead was growing shorter every second. Clive knew what he was doing, though.

I turned and looked past the other side of the ship. The Shady Lady was keeping even with us, using the Beavers balloon to stay out of sight.

The plan was simple, and we were all pretty sure it wouldnt work, but we had to try something.

Here goes nothing, Calamity said. He nocked an arrow onto his bow, put a foot on the railing ahead of him, then grunted hard as he pulled the string way back. The entire bow creaked and bent from all the force he was putting into it.

The Red Whale came a bit closer.

Calamity loosed.

There was a loud thwack as the arrow shot away so fast that all I could see of it was a faint blur. I squinted towards the approaching ship and caught sight of the arrow arcing down before it punched into the very front of the balloon.

Nice shot, I said.

Mhm, he said as he reached into his quiver. Now we can start making it interesting. He held an arrow up and stared at it for a moment. Then the tip started to glow.

Nice hit, Calamity said. Think thatll slow them down?

Amaryllis hummed, then started to count the engines on the side of the ship. They were much smaller than our engine, of course. Four to a side, thats eight small engines. I dont have the mana for eight spells like that. Though I imagine only taking out a few more would cut their manoeuvrability in half. Thats the advantage of ships with multiple engines like that, theres a level of redundancy that we cant afford with just one engine.

Right, Calamity said.

Three hundred metres, Caprica said. Well be within the longer range of smaller spells soon.

Hows your mana? I asked Amaryllis.

Fine. That took out about half, but I regenerate quickly, she said. Dont worry about me, I can pace myself.

I nodded. That had been an impressive spell, I was sure the pirates were rethinking how easy of a target wed be now!

It was time for me to do my part. I moved up to be closer to the railing, then looked at the distant ship. I dont imagine that Cleaning magic will help much, I said.

Itll save them some time cleaning the decks, maybe, Calamity said. He nocked another arrow and let loose. He had a small stack of arrows to work through so there wasnt any reason for him to hold back.

I frowned, then used the only other spell I knew how to use fairly well, fireball! One day Id get proper fireballs, with the huge explosions and everything, but for now Id just pepper the pirates with little fist-sizes bursts of flame.

I reached out towards the Red Whale and prepared my first brace of them, putting a little bit more mana than usual into the spell so that theyd cross the distance without trouble. Next to me, Caprica did the same thing.

We fired at the same time, and I looked at her firebolts with a bit of envy. They moved a lot faster and were brighter. Then again, she probably had more training and time to practice with the spell than I had.

The little balls of fire splattered against the distant ship, and it was hard to tell if they were doing anything.

Youll have to hit the same spot a few times to burn through the canvas, Amaryllis said.

That sounds hard, I said. The airship was a big target, but it was far away, and when Id fired my brace of fireballs half of them zipped right past the ship, missing it entirely.

Theres a psychological effect too, Caprica said. Those onboard will know that were attacking them and that were not stopping.

Exactly, Amaryllis said. Ill be at the bow, I want to see if I cant get a better angle to the engines on the opposite side. If we dip lower, I might try to hit the forward gondola. Itll give their crew a nice shock.

I paused between castings to look at the other ships. The Firestrike was turning, and it looked like it was going to cut in behind the Red Whale. The Red Scourge meanwhile, was only just starting to turn. A ship that large couldnt be all that manoeuvrable.

Hey, whats it doing? Calamity asked.

I focused ahead again, then blinked. A section of the canvas at the front of the Red Whale was opening up. It looked almost as if the ship now had a mouth, which was all kinds of strange. Within the opening was a deck, with a few crewmates and... Oh no, I said.

A massive ballista was fixed within the ship, with the opening giving it a fairly wide arc to fire from, and it was aiming right at us.

A loud thawng sounded, and I ducked by reflex as a ballista bolt shot past.

It missed the Beaver going a little low, but it had come closer than I liked.

Stop gawking and keep firing! Amaryllis shouted. We need to take that thing down!

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