by Dean Cadman
He suddenly realised that he no longer had the right to risk the lives of these men—and certainly not to simply reach Lamuria a few days sooner than they might otherwise. If he had not been here to protect the Pelorus, it would have been destroyed for sure, and everyone aboard killed. He found that he could no longer morally justify asking the Captain and his men to travel any further south, not when he knew full well they would have to retrace the same route home without his protection. Every extra mile they travelled further south, made it less likely these men would ever make it home alive, and that was something Lusam could change.
“Captain, may I have a word, in private, please?” Lusam asked, as the Captain started heading for the main deck.
“Of course,” he replied, gesturing that Lusam should follow him.
“I think you should all come too. What I have to say affects all of us,” Lusam said to Renn, Neala and Alexia, who all exchanged curious glances, but remained silent and followed Lusam to the Captain’s cabin.
They all entered the Captain’s cabin, closing the door firmly behind them just as the quartermaster began issuing orders for the men to return back to work. Captain Waylon took to his chair behind his dark wooden desk, waiting expectantly for Lusam to speak.
“Captain, I would like you to drop us off at the next available port we come to,” Lusam said bluntly, and without preamble.
“But, we had a deal,” The Captain replied defensively, sitting up straighter in his chair, ready for an argument. Lusam held up his hand to the Captain, indicating he should listen.
“Yes, we did,” Renn agreed from Lusam’s side, looking at him curiously.
“Yes, I know we did. And we still do. I am not suggesting we renegotiate the payment terms, Captain, only the destination. Captain Waylon, let me ask you this: what would have happened to you, your ship, and its crew if I had not been here today? I’ll tell you, Captain—exactly the same thing that would happen to you on your return journey, when I’m not here to protect you. I cannot ask you, or your men to risk their lives any further than you already have for us. Every minute we sail further south, is one extra minute you must travel back north, alone, and unprotected. I have to live with my conscience whenever I kill our enemies, but I can choose not to live with your deaths on my conscience too. And so, I ask again, Captain. Please drop us at the next available port, and take your men and ship home, safely,” Lusam said, almost pleading with the man.
Captain Waylon looked to Renn for direction, as it was with him he had made the deal, and wanted to make sure he was in agreement with Lusam before setting out any new plans. Renn nodded mutely to the Captain, then returned his gaze back to Lusam. ‘How he’s grown, in such a short space of time,’ Renn thought to himself, no longer recognising Lusam as the innocent boy he had first met only a short time ago. It reminded him of something his old friend and tutor, Hershel had once told him: ‘Sometimes the prize is not worth the eventual cost, and often, men discover that too late to be of any use to them.’ Renn felt a great sense of pride in Lusam, that he had seen what he himself had not. And an equal sense of shame for himself, because he had been so blinded by his own mission to reach Lamuria, at any cost, even at the expense of these innocent men’s lives.
“Lusam is right Captain, we cannot risk your lives any further on this trip,” Renn agreed, placing a hand on Lusam’s shoulder and giving it a small squeeze.
“Very well,” Captain Waylon said, leaning over to a map rack and retrieving one of them. He unrolled it on his desk, weighting each corner with a brass weight, and began to study the coastline. “Here’s the closest port to our current position. In fact, we should be almost there,” he said pointing to an area on the map. Renn looked closely and read the name: Prystone.
“Prystone it is then, Captain,” Renn said. “I guess we should gather our things together if we’re already so close. Well, Captain, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”
“Likewise,” the Captain replied, standing up and offering each of them in turn his hand. When it came to Lusam’s turn, he said, “And thank you, young man. We all owe you a debt of gratitude. One which I hope I can repay someday.”
“Knowing that you and your men are safely on your way home is enough for me, Captain,” Lusam replied shaking his hand. Captain Waylon smiled and nodded.
The quartermaster was on the main deck when they all stepped out, and the Captain gave him his new orders to pass on to the helmsman: they were to dock at Prystone, then return home to their families in Fairport.
“Yes, sir,” the quartermaster said enthusiastically, obviously relieved that their trip was being cut short.
It didn’t take long for the good news to spread throughout the ship, as was evident by the men’s lifted spirits. Many of the crew sung old seafaring songs, and there was a noticeable spring in the step of almost every man aboard ship.
Neala was busy packing her things away on the lower deck, and Alexia had gone to return the board game she had borrowed earlier from one of the crew, leaving Lusam and Renn to themselves on the aft deck of the ship. Lusam noticed Renn watching him, as he watched the crew go about their own work on the deck below. He was smiling at Lusam in strange sort of way, which surprised Lusam quite a bit, considering he had just scuppered Renn’s plans to reach Lamuria as fast as they might have, if they had gone further south before making landfall. He was about to ask Renn what was up, but he spoke first, breaking the silence between them.
“You know, I’m really proud of you, lad,” Renn said beaming a smile at Lusam.
“Proud of me… for what?” Lusam asked, slightly confused.
“For seeing what I couldn’t, or at least, what I chose not to see. For putting the lives of others before your own goals. And for using your own morality to guide your actions. I saw how hard you struggled with yourself, when you were faced with ending the lives of those Empire men, and for that I thank Aysha. Not because it caused you great pain to have to kill those men, but because you paused long enough to think about it, before you did. There’s no doubt that you wield great power now, Lusam, but with that power, comes even greater responsibility. And having witnessed that responsibility in you today, is what makes me so proud of you, lad.”
Lusam had been thinking of little else since he had destroyed the enemy ship and its crew. Each man aboard probably had a family of their own back home in the Empire. One they would never see again. He knew Renn had seen his fair share of combat, and wondered how he dealt with it.
“Renn… how do you do it? How do you live with yourself after you’ve killed someone? I know that I killed those Empire agents outside Coldmont, but that felt different somehow, especially at the time. They had been trying to kill us for days, and it seemed almost reasonable to kill them for what they had done to us. But those men on the ship… they were just following orders. I know they would likely have killed innocent people if I had let them live, but what gives me the right to choose who lives and dies?” Lusam asked in a quiet voice, looking to Renn for guidance. Renn remained silent for quite a while, trying to think of how best to answer such an important question.
“That’s a very difficult question to answer, lad, but I will say this: killing is never easy. Nor should it ever become so. But it is sometimes necessary. Always remember, in war there are no such thing as innocent soldiers, they have either killed already, or will kill eventually, given the opportunity. That is true, of course, on both sides of any war. But, it is not the war that will eventually decide who is right or wrong, it is whoever is left standing at the end of that war. I have always put my faith in Aysha, that she will guide my hand to do what is necessary, and grant me the wisdom to see when it is not. I also truly believe that Aysha would not have granted you these powers if she did not intend for you to use them justly, in defence of our people and lands.
“I will also say this, Lusam: the day you stop feeling bad about killing is the day you are truly lost. Up until that day, you must choose your action
s according to your own judgements, and pray that day never comes,” Renn replied stoically. Lusam nodded at Renn’s words of wisdom.
“Thank you, Renn. I think I understand better now,” Lusam replied, feeling a little better about it than he had a few minutes earlier.
It wasn’t long before Neala had finished her packing, and Alexia had returned from her own chores and joined the others again. Both Lusam and Renn had already packed their things away earlier that day, and all they were waiting for now, was to dock at Prystone.
When the small port came into view about ten minutes later, it didn’t take them long to realise that it had already suffered its fate at the hands of the Empire. Many of the buildings were completely, or partially burned to the ground. The dock had also suffered minor damage by the look of it, but it still appeared to be usable.
“What do you suppose happened?” Neala asked, knowing the answer was quite obvious looking at the damage strewn village.
“If I were to guess, I would say at least one of those Empire ships decided to dock here too,” Renn replied.
“I don’t see any people moving around,” Alexia said, scanning the streets and houses she could see.
“The Empire don’t tend to leave many people alive after they pass through a place. Many of the sea ports on our southern shores have been destroyed over the past few years. The only reported survivors were the ones that were either smart enough to run at the first sight of trouble, or the ones who were lucky enough to be out of the towns or villages when they were attacked in the first place. In each case, the Empire destroyed the village or town completely. They didn’t steal anything, they simply destroyed it: buildings, people, animals and crops alike,” Renn said.
“Maybe they got interrupted here,” Lusam suggested, nodding towards a few remaining buildings that were left standing.
“Possibly, but it’s more likely they were simply in a hurry when they passed through here. On their way to Lamuria, no doubt,” Renn replied. “Alexia, keep your bow handy, you might need it soon.”
“Oh?” Alexia enquired.
“Like I said, the Empire don’t tend to leave much behind them, but one thing they often do leave behind, are their reanimated minions. They use them to kill or dissuade any returnees of the villages or towns. I suspect it’s quite effective seeing a dead loved one, or neighbour walking around and trying to kill people,” Renn said sarcastically.
“I bet,” Neala agreed grimacing.
They were now only a short distance from the dockside, and as if on cue, both Renn’s sword and Alexia’s bow started to glow blue with the presence of the undead nearby. Renn simply tilted his head to the others, as if to say, ‘I told you so.’
“Okay, get ready. There may be an entire village here to deal with. You better stay close to one of us, Neala,” Renn suggested.
“No need. Lusam enchanted my knives so I can kill them now,” Neala replied grinning.
“Ah, so that’s what Lusam was doing with them the other day. I forgot to ask you about it with everything that has been going on. And yours too, Alexia, I take it?” Renn asked. Alexia nodded, performing a fancy twirl with a knife in each hand as she did so.
“You’d think she actually knew how to use those things, wouldn’t you,” Neala said, teasing her friend. Alexia inclined her head, smiled, and returned the two spinning blades back to their sheaths in one fluid motion, without even looking.
“Show off,” Neala said, rolling her eyes.
“You’re only jealous because when you try it, your knives usually end up in lover-boy’s foot,” Alexia replied, trying very hard not to laugh.
“Hey! I told you, that was an accident. And you promised not to tell anyone that I told you about that,” Neala said, scowling at her friend.
“Oops… sorry,” Alexia replied, finally laughing at her friends pouting face.
Renn looked inquisitively at Lusam, then at his foot. Lusam sighed, and said, “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it later.” Renn simply nodded, picked up his things, and headed to the starboard side of the ship, where they would soon be disembarking. Lusam followed his example, as did Neala and Alexia, but not without jostling each other all the way there first.
Renn wished he’d had enough time and foresight to warn the crew about the possible danger, but it was too late by the time the ship was approaching the dock. Men were shouting commands to each other, and things were generally noisy aboard the Pelorus. ‘More than loud enough to attract some unwanted attention from within the village,’ Renn thought to himself. And even before the ship made contact with the dock, the first of the undead villagers appeared at the far end of the street, quickly followed by several more.
“It’s okay, I’ve got these,” Alexia said, removing her bow and nocking an arrow in one fluid motion. Her aim was true, and each of her five remaining arrows found their targets with a dull thud, dropping the undead minions where they stood. Just before the ship made contact with the dock, two crewmen jumped across the narrow gap onto the wooden platform and began to fasten thick ropes to the dock moorings, both nervously looking towards the direction of the undead creatures. A moment later the ship made gentle contact with the dockside, and Renn, Alexia and Neala all jumped down onto the wooden platform of the dock. Fortunately the tide was low, and the wooden dock was only a couple of feet below the side of the ship.
Lusam was just about to jump down and join the others, when he was knocked off his feet by a huge explosion further along the dock. Broken timbers, ropes and sea water rained down on the ship as he struggled frantically to regain his feet. His immediate concern was for Neala and the others, but when he finally managed to stand up again, he noticed they were already further away from the dockside, engaging with the undead minions. Instinctively, he raised a shield around the Pelorus, then ran to the other side of the ship to see where the enemy was firing from. The Pelorus’ crew were all now aware of the enemy vessel closing in on their location, and the two men who had been securing the ship to the dockside had removed the ropes again, freeing the Pelorus from the restraints of the dock. There were many calls in Lusam’s direction, all trying to make sure that he was aware of the enemy ship, and that he was also prepared to defend them against it.
The Empire ship had appeared around the headland to the south, giving them little warning of its approach. It didn’t seem likely that they could have seen the Pelorus approaching Prystone, so either they were intending to dock here anyway, or more likely Lusam thought, they had been summoned by someone aboard the ship they had destroyed earlier. Lusam knew the Empire agents had the ability to communicate with each other using their Necromatic rings, and guessed that was the most likely reason for the sudden appearance of this second vessel.
Although Lusam had already erected a force-field to protect the side of the ship facing the enemy vessel, nothing had yet made contact with it. At first he thought the aim of the men aboard the Empire ship was bad, but then he suddenly realised with horror, they were not actually firing at the Pelorus, they were trying to hit Renn and the others on the shore instead. They had obviously mistaken Renn’s brighter aura for his own. There was no way Lusam could protect them from so far away, and the incoming missiles were too high above the ship, arcing through the air, and intentionally avoiding the Pelorus. Lusam watched as Renn intercepted two massive fireballs on his blessed shield, both winking out of existence as they made contact, but not before sending him crashing to the ground each time with the force of their impact. Neala and Alexia were busy fighting their own group of undead minions, but thankfully, Alexia spotted the danger to Renn, and took down two of them that were about to attack him while he was still flat on his back. Lusam thought he heard Alexia shout something to Renn, but he couldn’t make out what she said over the noise of the crew and the explosions coming from onshore.
Renn got back to his feet just in time to see three more huge fireballs heading directly for him. He didn’t even try to block any of them this tim
e, instead he dived to the side out of their path, and they exploded at the precise spot where he had been only a heartbeat before, incinerating the two dead minions, and unfortunately both of Alexia’s precious blessed arrows. Lusam knew he had to quickly draw the fire of the enemy ship off Renn and the others, and onto himself. He lowered his mental shutter, revealing the true strength of his aura to the men aboard the Empire ship, then sent a powerful fireball of his own towards the bow of the enemy vessel. It struck the front of the ship, exploding a huge section of the forward deck, sending debris and bodies high into the air. It was hard to tell the exact number of men who died, but Lusam thought he had felt at least twenty death-pulses, maybe more.
There was a long pause in the Empire ship’s attack, as the men aboard gathered themselves once more for another assault. Lusam planned to swiftly end the ship and the crew the same way he had the first, and began searching the enemy vessel for the telltale signs of their leader’s brighter aura. It took him only a moment to realise that there was no obvious leader aboard their ship. Then he realised, any commander would most likely have been on the bow of their ship as it sailed towards its intended quarry, so he could see his enemy targets, and command his men to attack them accordingly. The men aboard the Empire ship had not been expecting any attack to come from the Pelorus, and had put all their efforts into the power of their attacks on Renn, instead of shielding themselves. Lusam’s missile had hit them whilst they were unprepared, and had killed their leader outright, as well as all the other men in the line of fire behind him. He knew he could no longer drain the remaining Empire agents using the same method as he had used with the first ship, because only higher ranking agents could draw magical power from their subordinates, therefore his previous tactic would now be useless against the regular agents who remained aboard.
It wasn’t long before the assault resumed from the Empire vessel. Lusam had expected the focus to shift to him and the Pelorus, but instead—possibly due to the lack of command aboard the Empire ship—they decided to split their efforts between the Pelorus and Renn. The Pelorus was now slowly moving away from the dockside, but not nearly fast enough for Lusam’s liking. His shield had already taken over forty direct hits, and he was beginning to feel the effects of every one. The faster the Pelorus turned towards the enemy vessel the better. That way he would only need to shield the front of the ship again, instead of its whole length. He needed a way to speed things up and swing the bow out towards the Empire ship much faster than it was moving right now. Lusam glanced back to shore to see how the others were doing, but could only see Renn. Many of the buildings near Renn were burning or completely destroyed, and the air was thick with smoke and debris. Lusam guessed by Renn’s actions that he was intentionally drawing fire to himself, and therefore splitting the attack of the Empire ship between himself and the Pelorus. Lusam was grateful for his help, but hoped that it wouldn’t end badly for Renn.
