Raehar put a finger to his lips and motioned for her to stay still. “Wait here. I will see what’s going on.”
He began to draw his sword, then sheathed it and shook his head before retrieving his pistol. He may have to take down many men in short succession, and a pistol was the best choice to dispatch their strongest before they had a chance to react. He muttered to himself. “Can’t believe this is happening.”
Climbing up to deck, he heard Captain Silvertongue’s orders over the ocean. “None of ye are to fire a single round! She bears the white flag and we must respect it, but be ready for anything.”
His nerves eased and he returned his pistol to its holster. Making his way to the bow, he saw the boat approaching in the distance.
“Follow the code. Kassina and I will take Lucia out to meet ‘er. If they so much as throw a splinter of wood in anger, then kill ‘em all!” Silvertongue said.
They cried back, “Aye, capt’n!”
“Give the ceasefire signal to Greenhaven! Let’s get this over with,” Kassina said.
Lucia surged and tore through the water at an unnatural speed and a torched arrow was fired diagonally from her deck on each side. In the distance, two arrows were also fired from Greenhaven’s parapets, to mirror the signal.
Damn. It has already started. How am I going to get out of here now, he thought.
Helenia watched the mirror image of the flamed arrows as they arced through the air, and splashed into the ocean. Turning around, she watched Greenhaven’s signal arrows fall through the sky. She knew that this was her purpose, and that standing behind the castle walls was not where she should be. It had been bothering her for a long time, but she wanted to face the enemy and make a change in the war,
Here we go.
She checked her armour and weapons, ensuring that they were securely placed and fastened. She touched some of the many orbs tied to the boat’s deck and made sure that they hummed from the activated magic inside them. This craft was built to explode in a big way, and she just had to make sure she was far from it when it happens.
You can do this, she thought, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them again to see the ship forming in front of her. The sun sank into the horizon, and they fell further into darkness.
Staring at the approaching ship, she noticed that the carved figurehead held a broadsword. Her heart skipped a beat as she watched it swing the sword around to a better position and stared at her.
Helenia puffed out a breath. “By the gods. What have I gotten myself info?”
She was past the point of no return and she knew it. The only way was forward from here.
“I have come to talk!” Helenia said, her voice changing pitch mid-sentence.
“Greetings, little princess. Remember me? Because I remember you. You have not come to surrender? After all, that would be the smart thing to do,” Kassina said, her dark form coming into view on the ship’s deck as they floated to a stop. The figurehead reached down to stop Helenia’s floating boat with one hand, while steadying her sword with the other.
“I have never seen anything like you before,” Helenia said, staring at the huge living carving.
“I am Lucia, and you had best not try anything, as I really don’t want to have to use this,” she said, her chest heaving from her heavy breathing.
Helenia raised her arms in the air. “Pleased to meet you, Lucia. I am Princess Helenia.”
Kassina snarled, “Enough of the pleasantries. You have our attention and my time is not to be wasted. If you are not here to surrender, then what are you here for?”
“I am here to ask for you to turn your ships around and leave.”
Kassina first scrunched her brow, then turned to Silvertongue and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear her. “They’re scared, like the little rabbits that they are.”
The pirates and vampires laughed.
The dark queen turned back to Helenia. “And why would we want to do such a thing? Let me make this really simple for you, as I obviously need to do so. Either surrender, or die.”
Helenia’s eyes narrowed as her voice darkened. “You think that we are afraid? Not at all. I was wondering if you would turn around, to save the needless slaughter of your lives. We are ready for you.”
Kassina raised her eyebrow, and rested her hands on her hips. “My dear child, if you were well prepared, then why would you be out here, talking to me?”
Helenia turned back for a moment and stared at Greenhaven’s walls, before facing Kassina again. “Because what you really want: Talonsphere, was never in Greenhaven at all. You were looking in the wrong place, and taking it back will gain you nothing.”
“Really, then why do I have a map that tells me otherwise? And Talonsphere is not all that we are after,” Kassina said.
“Our treasure? There is none of it left! It was all taken out of the castle and hidden, where none of you would ever find it. The map was a fake, and you were misled by my sorry excuse for a brother. So, go ahead if you wish. Let us see who wins this battle, but there will be no prize for your spilt blood.”
Kassina stared silently at the princess and focused, her face appearing strained before she snarled. “You have magic. How did you do this?”
“You mean, how did I stop you from reading my mind? You have no idea of what we are capable of. Turn around and go back, before we wipe you from the seas you float on.”
“You think you can come out here, threaten us, and we would just leave? You thought wrong. Maybe you are telling the truth or maybe not, but I will find out for myself. Lucia, run her through!” Kassina said.
Helenia had hoped this would not happen, but even with her temples pumping from the adrenaline, she did not hesitate. The princess stepped back, drew her hip swords, and said, “Iuxta bolem involam.”
Both swords hummed and ignited with fire from their hilts. Her armour emitted a feint white glow as the ships erupted in chaos.
“No! I will do no such thing. She is here under the white flag, and will be allowed to leave. That is the code. We never break the code,” Lucia said.
Kassina’s voice was harsh. “A ship with a conscience. Who would have thought?”
Helenia breathed easier, but was confused by a chorus of splashes behind the ships. She lowered her blades to her waistline and stared into the ocean. The ships’ many lit torches revealed movements in the water and splashing filled the air.
Captain Silvertongue leapt to tackle Kassina to the ground as a creature, half woman and half fish, leapt from the water with the speed of an arrow. She sliced through the air with her claws, snapping her razor sharp teeth as her bite narrowly missed Kassina’s neck, before splashing into the ocean on the other side.
Damn! Why did he save her? Helenia thought.
Cries of “Mermaids!” were soon drowned out by the popping of strange hand-held weapons, and clanging of swords.
Ships were surrounded by furious movements on the ocean’s surface, and overrun with attacking mermaids. As if time slowed down, Helenia watched as a flash of scales and light blue and green colours erupted from the ocean, rocketed over the deck of the ship, and collected a screaming pirate. The mermaid sank her teeth into the man’s neck, and tore out a chunk of his flesh before plunging him into the watery depths below.
They are not after me at all.
Helenia backed away from the boat’s edge.
I have to get out of here, now!
She strained her brain, trying to remember the words. Her heart raced and her mind clouded. She knew that casting some spells would come at a price, but this could be far more than she was willing to pay.
“Levis aqua, no that is not it. Damn it!” she said.
Kassina leapt to her feet, reaching down to her outer thighs. In a smooth motion, she threw daggers in the path of another mermaid, landing deep in its chest. It fell to the ship’s deck, shrieking as it morphed into a humanoid. Kassina drew her sword and smashed it through the mermaid’s skull. Its body
twitched before becoming still. Seeing Kassina in action again made Helenia shiver. Cannon fire joined the chaos as cross-fire damaged the ships.
The battle had begun.
Helenia’s breath quickened as she remained in the worst possible position. Everything was going wrong.
Greenhaven erupted from what appeared to be a break in the ceasefire, and fired a volley of burning missiles into the night sky, aimed at the furthest ships. She knew she had time, but the sand nearly depleted in her hourglass.
Strong winds blew, and blazing trails of fire landed on the ships as dragons took the opportunity to attack. Helenia lifted a burning sword high in the air and cheered as dragons’ breath unleashed on the ships.
The death cries brought chills down the princess’s spine.
I have to get off this boat, or I will die out here. Come on, you know you can do this, Helenia thought.
“Levis sicut... Levis sicut aqua, cito quasi vento!” she said.
Her body flashed blue and she turned toward Greenhaven, her confidence returned to her. The night sky brightened with lightning as Kassina fought off an onslaught of attacking mermaids.
“Here goes nothing,” Helenia said.
Bursting into a run, she launched from the boat and fled across the ocean surface, as if the water could carry her and her armour’s weight. Every step gave her more hope that she would escape this battle.
Kassina’s piercing voice reminded her that she was still very much in danger. “Kill the princess, now! She is getting away.”
Damn.
She glanced back to see a burst of arrows tearing through the air toward her position, their blurred forms streaking through a silhouette of moonlit clouds. She didn’t know if she could possibly outrun the raining death coming to meet her. There was one thing left to do. Her heart ached at the cost.
Helenia ran as fast as she could, leapt into the air and yelled, “Incendia intus vos quod exuro solvo!”
The last thing Helenia remembered before everything went black, was her body crushing against her armour as it turned into a missile, and her ears ringing from the power of the explosion.
The night lit up from the explosion. Andrielle instinctively raised her arm to shield her eyes. Shockwaves rippled through the ocean and initiated a small tsunami in all directions. Shanka shrieked on Andrielle’s shoulder before bursting into flight in the ships’ direction.
It took a moment to digest the devastation of what had just happened, and the queen broke down in tears.
“No, Helenia!” Andrielle wailed, scanning the horizon, gripping the parapet walls with white knuckles. The only answer she received was a barrage of cannon fire pounding Greenhaven’s walls. The parapets shook hard. Tears streamed down her face as her breathing quickened.
They will die for taking Helenia from me, and none will be left standing.
She knew what had to be done. “Damn the gods. Kill them all! Hit them with everything we’ve got, and don’t any of you stop!”
The ships were battling each other, as well as launching continual attacks on the stronghold. The pirate ships dispersed from Kassina’s ships.
She wanted them all to die.
The city shuddered with the force of the catapults unleashing another rain of fiery missiles. The onslaught left Greenhaven’s skies, tearing their way toward the approaching ships.
Her body shook and her teeth chattered, long after the missiles were in her view. She struggled to maintain control as her face contorted.
Why did I ever let her go out there? she thought, wishing that it was her in that explosion. Nobody could have possibly survived it.
Raehar stood on uneasy feet, his ears ringing and muscles aching from the explosion, and he surveyed their surroundings. Smoke surrounded him, and as it cleared, another barrage of dragon’s breath erupted nearby, setting a ship on fire. Many mermaids were killed by the explosion. Their bodies floated on the ocean’s surface like dead fish, twisted and torn, their blood seeping from their wounds. His stomach churned at the sight before him, and he breathed through his mouth to avoid the stench of death. This was the worst he had ever seen in his life, and he wanted to get out of there, as fast as possible.
Where do I have to go to? he thought.
The ocean exploded all around them as Greenhaven’s missiles rained down, water bursting in all directions.
Vampires yelled at each other, instructing their shocked ballista crews to fire on the attacking dragons. Bolts fired in all directions, with only a few finding their targets. Some managed to breach the dragons’ skin as they roared. One of them dropped into the ocean, sending waves in all directions.
The ocean once again came alive with mermaid activity, and a second wave of attacks began.
“Lucia!” Raehar said, scanning the dissipating smoke for the bloodship. If she had been hit, she may sink to the bottom of the ocean, eternally a living shipwreck.
The last of the smoke dispersed, and only fragments of the princess’ boat remained, and Lucia was nowhere to be seen.
“What is going on?” he said, looking around.
Two vampires that were hastily introduced earlier, Tusdar and Mestal, dispatched a mermaid on their deck. Raehar called out to them, “Where is the Lucia and her crew?”
A familiar voice yelled from behind him. “I am here! But the crew is gone. I had to roll the ship underwater to avoid being hit. I righted myself and they had gone.”
Lucia swung her sword through a leaping mermaid, cutting her clean in half. The mermaid shrieked as she fell to the ocean.
“Damn it! Wait for me, Lucia!” Raehar said, descending toward the cargo hold. There was one way out of this mess and this life that he was sick of.
This was not what he sailed the seas for.
Chapter 12 : A Storm Of Scales
“When the continuum of time is disrupted by stones of change, the ripple effects can collide in a spectacular fashion.
Things that we would never have foreseen, can happen right before our eyes.”
(Kai’En - Marithian Seer)
The distant crackles and pops aided his slumber as the warm night winds caressed his skin. He rolled onto his back and stretched his legs, yawning as he rose to his feet and shook off the dry leaves. He was refreshed and ready to head home. It may have been a wasted trip, but he knew that everything happened for a reason. Looking to the ocean, he saw that the fleet had disappeared. He mumbled to himself, “I must’ve slept longer than I realised.”
It mattered no longer, as he was accustomed to adjusting to a changing world, and at times, being a conduit to change.
Kai’En turned around to face a sword’s tip. Its blade shone the moonlight in his face, and he raised his arm to block the light. He recognised the man before him, and his eyes widened at the situation he found himself in.
Kai’En touched his face, feeling the foreign shapes under his fingertips, scratching at his face as if to ail an itch. To be recognised with this face could only be a bad thing. This was his secret life, where he played the players in their games, for his own benefit.
And he arrives, as I had foreseen. Damn spell should have worn off by now.
Vartan stared into Kai’En’s eyes, seeing a stranger as he lowered his arm. “Don’t you dare move a muscle.”
The prince looked over Kei’En’s coat and took a step back. He narrowed his eyes and said, “You?”
“Oh no. Vartan, it’s not what you think.”
Vartan’s party was in his peripheral, standing near with their weapons readied. Yuski’s bow strained as she said, “Who is this man? How do you know each other?”
The prince reached forward and grabbed Kai’En by the scruff of his neck and threw him to the ground before placing the tip of his sword on the man’s neck and gesturing with his other open hand for everyone to stay back.
“I saw you in a vision. It was you who organised the attack on Helenia, wasn’t it. You were working with Derian and made a deal with him. Give me one reaso
n why I shouldn’t run you through right now?”
Kai’En’s heart thumped through his chest. He wasn’t sure how to get out of this one. Ideas flooded his mind and he racked his brain for the best course of action.
Come on, you are always good at thinking on your feet.
“By the gods, Vartan, are you sure about this?” Anakari said.
Kai’En put his hands in the air after taking another moment to scratch at his face. “Vartan, I know what this looks like, but I did not organise that attack. I swear it.”
I can hardly believe this myself, but the man speaks the truth, Keturah said.
Vartan’s face contorted as he stared at the man before him. “But, how could you be telling the truth? I saw it through Nymira, and I saw you.”
Sharp intakes of breath reached his ears as Kai’En’s face twisted and changed its features. They watched as the man cried out, tears building as his body tightened. After a few moments, they stared in horror at Kai’En’s real face looking back at them.
Vartan stepped back as he realised that they had followed this man’s advice. If they were misled, then he wasn’t sure he could stop himself from hurting the seer.
“Kai’En? What are you... you better start explaining yourself!” Yuski said, drawing her own sword and bearing down on him. “We fucking trusted you!”
A few loud crashes came from Greenhaven, and they looked to the castle’s direction, watching the flashes light up the sky. He was so far from the stronghold that was clearly under siege.
“Kai’En, you were the man working with Derian? How much of what you told us is true?” Vartan said, before staring down at Keturah.
“It was all true, Vartan, but there are some elements that may have been altered,” he said, before Vartan ran the edge of the blade down the skin of Kai’En’s neck, grazing him.
Legends of Marithia: Book 3 - Talonsphere Page 14
