by Dean Cadman
Lusam heard Captain Waylon’s voice before he saw him, shouting orders to his crew. After their last encounter, Captain Waylon also seemed to know that the best course of action was to steer the ship directly towards the enemy vessel, and gave those orders loud and clear. Lusam had an idea how to help the ship turn more swiftly towards that goal, and shouted to the Captain.
“Captain!” he yelled. The Captain turned towards Lusam’s call and raised his chin in query.
“Tell your crew to brace themselves, I’m about to give us a push off from the docks. I don’t want anyone falling overboard, or out of the rigging,” Lusam yelled to the Captain.
“Understood,” The Captain replied, and relayed the information to his crew. Once Lusam was sure the order had been received by his men, he formed another force-field between the Pelorus and the docks, then rapidly expanded it to force the bow of the ship towards the approaching Empire ship. As soon as the huge pressure was applied against the dock, it shattered and splintered loudly, as it tore free from its foundations, completely destroying that section of dock.
“Oops,” Lusam said to himself cringing, as the Captain raced to the ship’s rail to see if it was his ship that had just been torn apart, or only the dock. His relieved look suggested only the latter, much to Lusam’s own relief. He shifted his shield to the bow of the ship, and immediately felt the benefit of only having to shield a much smaller section of the ship, even though the frequency and ferocity of the attacks remained unchanged. Lusam had already contemplated destroying the enemy ship whilst they were still at the dockside, but that would have simply allowed many of the surviving men to swim to shore, and wreak havoc on anyone they came across later. He knew the destruction of the enemy vessel and its crew had to be absolute.
Captain Waylon had ordered full speed ahead, and they were now rapidly closing in on the Empire ship. More and more of the fire-power aboard the enemy ship became targeted against Lusam on the Pelorus, as the distance between the two ships rapidly reduced. Lusam’s magical reserves were beginning to run low, and he acutely felt the impact of every missile his shield now absorbed. He doubted he had enough reserves left to kill each man aboard the Empire ship individually, not while having to maintain the shield around the Pelorus at the same time. A shield which he would soon have to expand to cover the entire length of the ship again, as they approached the enemy ship on a parallel intercept course. As they drew side by side with the enemy vessel, both ships dropped their sails to avoid sailing past each other, leaving both ships only about fifty paces apart, and parallel to each other.
Lusam watched nervously as the eighty or so Empire agents spread out along the entire length of the deck opposite him, preparing to fire. He couldn’t simply assume they would all target him, and not the Pelorus. If he did, and tried to only shield himself, the Pelorus and her crew may be lost, so he had to shield the entire ship. A moment later the assault started. Lusam’s shield absorbed the massive impact of over seventy missiles, dropping him to his knees with the sudden spike of magic required to maintain his shield. Instinctively, he sent two missiles of his own, neither of which were particularly powerful, but they still tore through their shields, killing at least fifteen of their numbers. Lusam was quickly back to his feet, and could see clearly the disarray he had caused aboard the enemy vessel. It seemed many of them were now having second thoughts about having a direct confrontation with such a powerful mage, and with no one in command, their ranks were beginning to quickly fall apart. Two of the Empire agents willingly dived overboard into the sea, obviously calculating their chances of surviving the swim to shore, as better than a direct confrontation with Lusam.
Lusam knew the Empire agents who were swimming to shore would soon become a problem for his friends if he didn’t stop them, but he couldn’t afford to concentrate his attention on only two men, not when there were still over sixty men aboard the enemy ship. He needed to end this now, before they regrouped and once more started a co-ordinated attack against him. It was actually the men jumping overboard that gave him an idea, or at least, the necessity to stop more of them jumping overboard. For a brief moment he thought about erecting a second force-field around the enemy vessel, to stop any more Empire agents trying to swim to shore. He soon realised that he neither had the magical reserves, or the need to do such a thing. He only needed to erect a single shield around the enemy vessel, not both ships. That way it would prevent any more of them escaping into the sea, and prevent their missiles from reaching the Pelorus.
Lusam quickly replaced the Pelorus’ shield with one around the Empire ship, making sure to completely encase the vessel. The Empire ship was smaller than the Pelorus, but it still took a lot more energy to surround the whole vessel. He noticed one of the Empire agents create another fireball and attempt to launch it towards the Pelorus. Lusam felt the impact as it exploded on the inside of his force-field, but what he didn’t expect to see, was the Empire agent half-incinerated by his own fireball, when it exploded against his shield only a short distance from his hand. Three other Empire agents who were standing nearby also suffered burns from the explosion, and were now screaming in pain as their fellow magi tried to extinguish their burning clothes.
At that precise moment Lusam knew he had won the battle. The Empire agents could no longer fire any missiles without causing injuries or deaths amongst their own men, or at the very least, badly damaging their ship in the process. Lusam took full advantage of the confusion aboard the enemy vessel, and started to shrink his force-field with devastating results. At first the Empire ship started to groan loudly under the immense pressure. Then one after another the main timbers gave way with a loud snapping noise, sending both the bow and stern crashing together as the ship folded in half in a mass of broken timbers, crushing every man aboard in the process. Lusam’s force-field was now no bigger than a tenth of its original size, and contained no life within. He released its broken contents into the sea with a loud splash, then turned his attention to the two Empire agents who were still trying to reach the shore. He located the two men easily, and encased both inside a force-field, letting each one fill with water until there was no air left inside either of them. Then he rapidly froze both, killing the men instantly.
Lusam collapsed to his knees once more, partly through exertion, and partly through his own revulsion at what he had once again been forced to do. He prayed to Aysha for the souls of the men he had just been forced to kill, and asked for the strength to complete whatever she had ordained would be his destiny.
Lusam remained motionless on his knees for a long time before Captain Waylon approached him, his vision blurred, and his head thundering with pain.
“Are you alright?” he asked, with an air of concern in his voice. Lusam wasn’t sure if it was actually concern for his welfare, or his own, after witnessing what Lusam had just done to the other ship and its crew. Lusam gave a stifled manic laugh to the Captain’s question.
“As alright as I’m ever likely to be again,” Lusam replied quietly, mostly to himself. He tried to stand, but his legs buckled under him, forcing Captain Waylon to catch him before he hit the deck.
“Steady there, son,” the Captain said, helping him back to his feet. “You better take it easy for a while. You look completely exhausted. You’re welcome to take my bunk for a while until you regain some of your strength…”
“No. No, thank you, Captain. I need to go help the others, right away. They’re all in danger, and I must help them,” Lusam interrupted.
“I don’t think you’re in any fit state to help anyone right now. Is there anything I can do to help?” Captain Waylon asked. Lusam thought about it for a moment, knowing the Captain was absolutely right about his current ability to fight. But if they waited here too long and another Empire ship turned up, they would all perish. The Pelorus needed to be underway as soon as possible to give them the best chance of making it back to Fairport alive.
“Captain, I do know one way that you and your crew
could help me,” Lusam said reluctantly, knowing what he was about to suggest would sound bizarre to anyone, let alone a group of superstitions sailors.
“Anything, just name it,” Captain Waylon offered, far too freely for Lusam’s liking.
“Well, if you would allow me, I have the ability to take a small amount of magic from each of your crew to replenish my own reserves a little. I can assure you, it’s completely painless, and won’t affect any of you in the slightest. And whatever I take will be restored naturally over the next day or so anyway,” Lusam said, keeping his voice low so the crew wouldn’t hear.
“What do you have to do to take the magic?” Captain Waylon asked, also keeping his voice low.
“Nothing much, just touch the person,” Lusam replied, grimacing at the pain in his head.
“Anywhere imparticular?”
“No, it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s skin to skin contact,” Lusam replied. The Captain nodded, then offered Lusam his hand.
“Show me,” Captain Waylon said. Lusam nodded, took his hand, and immediately located his magical reserves, syphoning off a small amount of that power and adding it to his own, all in the time it took for a brief handshake.
“That’s it?” Captain Waylon asked, shocked at the brief contact. Lusam nodded. “I didn’t feel a thing.”
“I said you wouldn’t feel anything,” Lusam replied grinning, his throbbing head easing a little.
“Then I don’t see why anyone else needs to know about it. Don’t get me wrong, I know we all owe you a great deal more than this, but sailors are a superstitions lot when it comes to things they don’t understand, and I don’t want them blaming this on every minor thing that goes wrong during our journey home. In fact, they’d probably use it as an excuse for the next few months,” Captain Waylon said laughing.
“So I’ve heard,” Lusam agreed, smiling back at the Captain.
“Just leave it to me,” Captain Waylon said winking at him. Within five minutes every man aboard ship was lined up against the starboard rail waiting to shake Lusam’s hand, and thank him for defending them twice against the Empire ships. The magic Lusam was able to take was nothing compared to what he had just used, but it did ease his throbbing head and steady his legs somewhat. He was under no illusion that he would lose a battle against another ship full of Empire agents, but at least for the time being, he did now have enough reserves to defend himself and his friends against lesser foes.
“I guess we should take you back to shore now, eh?” Captain Waylon said after Lusam had finished shaking everyone’s hand.
“No need, thank you, Captain. It’s pointless you wasting precious time taking me to shore when I can get there easily enough by myself. But before I go, let me check the area for any other Empire ships first,” Lusam replied, levitating himself high into the air. The look on the face of the man nestled in the rigging was hilarious as Lusam levitated past him; he almost fell from his perch with shock. Lusam levitated himself higher than he had ever done before. So high that the ship looked like nothing more than a shoe-sized object floating on the water far below. He was able to see for many miles in all directions, and was relieved to note that they were the only ship afloat for as far as he could see. He quickly descended to the deck of the Pelorus and gave the good news to the Captain.
“Doesn’t that use up magic too?” Captain Waylon asked, pointing upwards with his thumb.
“It does, but only a very small amount. Besides, it was worth it to know you will all be safe on your journey home. Good luck Captain, I hope we meet again,” Lusam said, shaking his hand one last time.
“Good luck to you too,” Captain Waylon replied, as he watched Lusam levitate from the deck of his ship, and head towards what was left of Prystone dock.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Renn, Alexia and Neala were the first to jump down onto the wooden dock a few feet below the ship’s rail. Alexia had already destroyed five of the undead minions with her bow, but more were now heading their way from further down the street. As soon as their feet touched the wooden dockside they all started to run towards the new undead minions. The intention was to keep them well away from the Pelorus while it left the dock again, and could head for the safety of deeper water. Neala glanced back over her shoulder to check where Lusam was, but was suddenly blown off her feet by an explosion further along the dockside. Shards of broken wood, ropes and sea waters came raining down on top of her as she quickly regained her feet. Both Alexia and Renn had managed to stay on their feet despite the explosion, and after retrieving her five arrows, Alexia caught back up with Renn at the far end of the street.
Neala kept her head down as she ran towards the others, who were now engaged in battle with the undead minions at the far end of the docks. Concerned for Lusam’s well-being, she kept looking back towards the Pelorus, and was very relieved to see him stand up a moment later—seemingly unharmed. She scanned the horizon, and noticed an Empire ship that had just rounded the headland to the south of them. Cursing their bad luck, she focused her attention back on the undead minions ahead of her, and hoped that Lusam was capable of defeating the Empire ship alone, like he had the last one. Removing two of her enchanted knives, she engaged the first group of undead minions, dropping two of them instantly, as her enchanted blades made contact with their skin, completely draining their small amount of magical power.
Renn noticed a large group of undead minions heading their way from another direction, and went to intercept them before they could join up with the first group that Alexia and Neala were still fighting. He knew how dangerously strong the undead minions were, but as long as they weren’t allowed to surround them in large numbers, they should be relatively easy to kill with their blessed and enchanted weapons. A far more pressing issue for him right then, however, was the rapidly increasing number of fireballs that seemed to be targeting him from the newly arrived enemy ship. As he moved towards the approaching undead minions, the incoming missiles also seemed to track him down the street, and several of them came close to hitting him. Thankfully, it didn’t take him long to dispatch the new group of undead, and he was able to swiftly turn his attention back to the much greater threat now coming from the Empire ship. And not a moment too soon, as he was forced to take a massive fireball dead centre of his blessed shield. The fireball was instantly dissipated by his shield, but the force behind it was not. Renn was knocked clean off his feet, and landed hard on his back in the centre of the street. He barely made it to his feet again, before a second fireball struck his shield, and sent him crashing onto his back once more, knocking the wind right out of him. Dazed, he didn’t even notice the two undead minions until their shadows crossed his vision.
“Renn… look out!” Alexia shouted from somewhere to his left, quickly followed by two loud thuds, as her blessed arrows struck and killed both of the undead minions about to attack him. Renn rolled to his feet, shield at the ready, and scanned the sky for any more missiles. Not seeing any, he turned to Alexia and shouted his thanks.
“You’re welcome, don’t forget my arrows though,” Alexia shouted back, and watched open-mouthed as three huge fireballs arced through the sky towards Renn. Fortunately, Renn spotted them in time, and dived to his right, narrowly avoiding being completely incinerated by them. Unfortunately, however, her blessed arrows were not so lucky. “Damn,” she said, under her breath. Now she only had three left.
‘I’m getting too old for this,’ Renn thought to himself, as he got back to his feet for the third time in less than a minute. As he scanned the sky for yet more missiles heading his way, he noticed a bright aura appear on board the Pelorus. He immediately knew it was Lusam’s, simply by its intensity. At first Renn feared that Lusam was trying to scare the enemy ship away again—by revealing his aura to them—but a moment later, he saw Lusam’s attack. The whole front of the enemy ship exploded, showering the surrounding water with debris and bodies, and Renn felt the distinct death-pulses of at least twenty magi. Renn was
thankful for the sudden lack of fireballs heading his way, but soon realised why they had targeted him in the first place. They must have mistaken his aura, for that of a weaker mage’s. Even though Renn was not capable of performing any complex magic himself, his aura would have still appeared to be the brightest around, making him the natural target to everyone on board the enemy vessel.
Renn knew that Lusam had revealed his presence aboard the Pelorus intentionally, to draw the fire off of him. But he hoped he hadn’t tipped his hand too soon by doing so. The Pelorus was barely away from the dock yet, and still broadside to the enemy ship. Renn felt sure that Lusam had already used a lot of his magical reserves fighting the first Empire ship, and now that he had revealed his presence on board the Pelorus, he was about to take another pounding. He just hoped Lusam had enough reserves left to defeat the enemy ship quickly, and not let his conscience get in the way of what must be done this time. Renn said a silent prayer to Aysha, asking her to grant Lusam her infinite wisdom, and the strength to do what he must. A moment later, the attack resumed. Renn had fully expected the Empire agents to concentrate their fire-power exclusively on the Pelorus, since Lusam had revealed his presence there, but to Renn’s bewilderment, they split their attack between the Pelorus and him. Why any commanding officer would issue such an order, he had no idea, but he was more than happy to see the missiles heading his way, instead of pounding at Lusam’s shield. ‘If it would buy Lusam some extra time to get into position for an attack, he was more than happy to remain a target for the Empire ship, albeit a quick moving one,’ Renn thought to himself wryly.
