The Burning Sea

by A. E. Rayne

  The men started to crawl about, gathering their belts in silence, their sleepy faces quickly tense with anxiety.

  Then one man, a Brekkan, yelled out. ‘Hey!’

  Fyn turned around and threw the man to the ground before he could make another noise, clamping his hand over his mouth. He drew his knife without hesitation and slid it across his throat, gasping at the horror in the man’s eyes as his life ran away from him. Shaking, and pushing himself off the dying man, Fyn turned towards the torch that Eadmund was now holding.

  Their men were all standing, struggling to wake themselves up, fully aware, though, that they were now fighting for their lives.

  ‘When we get to the ships,’ Eadmund whispered hoarsely, ‘grab an oar and slot it in. Quietly. Fyn and I will fire Haaron’s ships. Jael and the rest of them will meet us there.’

  Beorn nodded, tying up his sword belt, blinking into the flame from the torch, his heart racing, his mind rushing over everything he needed to do to get them away as quickly as possible.

  Haaron was furious to have been woken when he was sure he’d only just closed his eyes.

  Varna, the girl said. Varna needed to see him. He hurried to sit up, feeling his wine-soaked head lurch painfully. ‘Where is she?’ he rasped, his throat so dry that his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. He looked around, but there was no Bayla; she barely slept in their bed anymore. ‘Varna?’ he coughed. ‘Where is she?’

  The strange girl, Meena, stood there in her nightdress, holding a lamp, shivering with embarrassment and fear. ‘She is coming, my lord,’ she mumbled into her chest. ‘She is... slow.’

  Haaron could barely keep either of his eyes open as he stumbled towards the door, pushing Meena out of the way.

  ‘Lord!’ came the screeching cry as soon as she saw him. ‘I have seen terrible things, my lord! The Islanders, they are escaping!’

  Haaron blinked, confused. ‘Escaping? From what? Why?’ He peered at her face as it glowed menacingly above the lamp she was holding. He was too confused to understand what she was saying, but there didn’t appear any time to wait. ‘Where?’

  Then he heard the shout from down below.

  ‘Did you hear that?’ Karsten muttered, pushing Nicolene off him.

  She grumbled as he fell out of bed, groaning as his hip hit the flagstones.

  ‘What was that?’ he frowned, standing up, pulling on his trousers.

  And then another shout and the clashing of iron blades.

  He hurried now, snatching his sword belt, stumbling out of the room, leaving his naked wife frowning on their bed.

  ‘Axl! Take Mother and Eydis!’ Jael screamed. ‘Go!’

  Axl blinked, ready to refuse, then saw his terrified mother’s swollen face as she clutched Eydis to her. He sheathed his sword, picked Eydis up in his arms, grabbed his mother’s hand, and ran.

  Gant stuck his sword through the belly of one of Haaron’s guards and turned to Jael as more men came running out of the castle towards them. She glanced at Aleksander, then turned to see how far Axl was from the ships.

  He was approaching the entrance to the piers, she could see. The Islanders were pouring onto the ships ahead of him. And if they could just hold the Hestians off, they would all be able to escape.

  Eadmund had run to Ice Breaker with his torch, dragging a brazier out onto the deck and setting fire to it. He threw the torch into the harbour, his eyes up at the first clash of swords, watching as Haaron’s men swarmed into the square in front of the castle. ‘Fyn!’ he called. ‘Get the arrows! The fire ones too! Quick!’

  Fyn hurried into the house to grab the weapons and raced back to Eadmund, dropping the arrows onto the deck and handing him a bow.

  ‘Fire the ships! We have to stop them following us!’ Eadmund ordered.

  ‘But what about Jael?’ Fyn cried anxiously, grabbing his own bow.

  Eadmund’s heart was thudding as he nocked an arrow and dipped it into the flames. He drew back the bow, aimed at the neighbouring piers, where Haaron’s remaining ships were moored, and released the arrow. He quickly picked up another, watching as Axl ran down the long pier towards Ice Breaker, Eydis over his shoulder, Gisila by his side.

  His eyes went up to where Jael was fighting alongside Aleksander and Gant, keeping the Hestians back, trying to give Axl enough time to get on board, trying to give him enough time to destroy Haaron’s ships.

  He had to hurry.

  Haaron, racing down the stairs, his nightshirt flapping angrily behind him, nearly fell over Karsten, whose head was fuzzy and feet unsteady as he stumbled ahead of his father. ‘We need to kill them!’ Haaron yelled furiously as he ran past his son. ‘Not each other!’

  ‘Go!’ Gant called to Jael. ‘I’ll hold them off!’

  ‘Ha!’ Jael laughed as she lunged at an axe-wielding Hestian, spinning, kicking out with her foot, slashing Toothpick across his stomach, ducking another man’s sword blow, stabbing him in the neck. ‘I’m not leaving you!’

  She saw fire blooming out of the corner of her eye.

  ‘My ships!’ Haaron screamed, racing out of the castle, Haegen and Karsten, swords out, behind him. ‘Stop them! Stop them burning my ships!’

  Jael turned as some of Haaron’s men peeled away, heading towards the piers after Axl.

  ‘Keep firing their ships!’ Eadmund bellowed at Fyn. Changing his own arrows for iron-tipped ones now, he turned and aimed at the men who were racing down the pier after Axl, who was running towards him with Eydis over his shoulder, Gisila struggling next to him.

  Axl hoisted Eydis into the ship and helped his mother in after her. He drew his sword and hurried back to his sister.

  ‘Axl! No!’ Gisila screamed, watching him disappear, her hands over her mouth.

  ‘Ten men! Swords and shields!’ Eadmund cried. ‘Go with him! Get up there and bring back your queen!’ Eadmund’s eyes were up, squinting into the night as the moon dipped behind the clouds again. They were completely outnumbered now. And it would only get worse. He turned to his left, watching as Haaron’s ships caught fire, flames gusting from deck to deck, from pier to pier. ‘Villas! We need to go! Lud!’ he called to the man sitting nearest the catapult. ‘Untie the ship! Quick! All hands to oars, now! Not you, Fyn, you’re with me! We need to get out into the harbour!’ Eadmund drew back his bow and shot over the heads of Jael, Aleksander, and Gant as they fought off Haaron’s men, listening for a thud that never came, lost amongst the chaos. ‘Watch your aim, Fyn! Do not hit your queen!’

  Fyn pulled back his bow, drawing the soft fletching past his ear, releasing the arrow, watching it arc high over Jael’s head, hitting a man square in the face. He gulped and hurried for another.

  Ice Breaker was pulling away from the pier now, Eadmund’s men straining at the oars, not fully crewed. Sea Bear, with all hands on board, was still tied to its post.

  Beorn stood in the stern, waiting anxiously, his hand clenched around the tiller. His men sat at the oars, waiting anxiously, wanting to get out and help. ‘You hold those oars!’ Beorn muttered loudly to the jiggling oarsmen, one eye on the fighting Islanders. ‘You’re no good to me with only one arm!’

  ‘Load the sea-fire!’ Eadmund screamed above the noise as Ice Breaker’s oars slapped the water and his men pulled with every bit of strength they possessed. ‘I want it ready to launch!’ he cried. ‘Turn, Villas! Turn! We need to turn around!’

  Jaeger looked through the window, horrified by what he was seeing. ‘Help me!’ he growled at Amma who lay in their bed, exposed, defeated, unable to stop shaking. ‘Get dressed, and help me downstairs!’ he ordered, limping back to the bed, searching for his trousers. ‘It looks like your fucking family is trying to escape!’

  Amma sat up immediately.

  Axl.

  Jael dropped her shoulders and stepped back, quickly considering the situation.

  Karsten Dragos, shirtless and one-eyed, was charging towards them, at least 15 men on either side of him. The rest of the Hestians were su
rging towards the piers with Haegen, trying to save their burning ships.

  Aleksander, Gant, and Jael backed into one another, gripping their swords.

  ‘I remember how this goes,’ Gant growled, flicking his tongue over his teeth. ‘What were you, 15, 16, when we used to play this game?’

  ‘A long time ago now,’ Aleksander said, tightening his grip, his eyes on the men closing in around them.

  ‘There’s a lot more of them than I remember,’ Jael mused, watching Karsten as he rushed at her, spitting from the mouth, his sword glinting above his head. ‘But then again, we’re not 15 anymore, are we?’ She gritted her teeth and swung Toothpick up to meet Karsten’s blow.

  ‘You’re not going anywhere, bitch!’ he screamed, his eye bulging as he slashed at Jael, who caught every furious stroke on the edge of Toothpick’s blade.

  Axl hurried up behind them with a handful of Osslanders. ‘Everyone’s on board! We can leave!’ he called, torn, not wanting to go without Amma.

  Jael nodded. ‘Well, we can try,’ she grunted and lunged to her left, stabbing Toothpick into Karsten’s shoulder, kicking him in the chest, dropping to the ground and sweeping her leg into his, knocking him down. ‘Shield! Wall!’ she yelled to her men, scrambling to her feet.

  They raced up past her, in front of her, locking their shields into place in a clatter of iron rims, forming a protective wall in front of their queen and her men.

  ‘Now, let’s get out of here!’

  Osbert had been far too busy enjoying himself to stop and discover what all the noise was about, but the screaming and clanging of swords had finally driven him out of Keyta’s delicious arms and onto her balcony.

  He looked on in confusion and horror, watching the scene unfold, then ran for his clothes and sword belt, and hurried out of the room.

  ‘Hold!’ Eadmund yelled to the catapult crew.

  He watched as Haaron’s ships burned; fire spreading rapidly on a blustery wind. Haegen and his men rushed to scoop buckets of water onto the flames in a futile attempt to save the remainder of their fleet.

  Eadmund’s eyes snapped to Jael and the Islanders as they backed down the pier. But slowly. And more and more of Haaron’s men, and now Brekkans, were rushing into the square.

  Fyn was still firing arrows, but they would run out soon.

  Jael needed to get her men into Sea Bear and quickly.

  ‘Father?’ Osbert knocked on the door again, but there was no answer. Worried now, he turned the handle and stepped inside. ‘Father?’ he called into the dark chamber.

  Something reeked like an overflowing latrine. He crept in. ‘Gisila? There’s a commotion outside. I think it’s Jael.’

  He reached the bed and sat down, feeling around, but there was no one there.

  They must be outside too, he thought to himself, his head spinning, mead-thick, confused. He got up to leave, stumbling, his boots slipping on something wet and sticky. Reaching down, he stuck his finger into the liquid and brought it up to his nose.

  Blood?

  There were too many of them. Jael could see that. Too many in front of them now, too many swarming from the castle, from the sheds and stables. The Brekkans were hesitant though. They could see Jael, Axl, Aleksander, and Gant.

  They did not attack.

  Jael looked to see how far they were from the ships, surprised to see Ice Breaker out in the harbour, turning.

  Turning?

  She smiled.

  The Hestians scattered all over the square as Haaron bellowed orders from the back, sending men towards the Islander’s ships and yet more men to untie his own ships to stop the fire from spreading.

  ‘My Father!’ Osbert screamed as he raced down the steps with his sword drawn. ‘They killed my father!’ He turned to the Brekkans who had gathered on the left of the square; uncertain, confused. ‘Stop them! Kill them!’ he screamed, urging his men to fight.

  They didn’t move.

  Jael gritted her teeth, wishing for the hundredth time that there was no Osbert, and stabbed through the shield wall, taking one man in the neck, another in the thigh. She flinched, jumping back as a sword bit into her leg. ‘We’re going to run for Sea Bear!’ she cried over the chaos. ‘On me! Wait for my call!’ She backed away as the Hestians pounded on their shields.

  Karsten Dragos spat as he slammed his sword onto the shield in front of Jael, chopping into the wood in a frenzy. ‘Break their wall! Break their fucking wall!’

  Jael didn’t blink. ‘Axl,’ she said, keeping her voice steady as her heart hammered. ‘You’re going first. Untie the rope when we get to the ship. Gant, you cover him. Now!’ she yelled. ‘Run!’

  ‘Axl!’

  Axl’s head snapped around, and he froze as their men rushed past him, shields over their shoulders, chased down the pier by Karsten and his screaming Hestians. He knew that voice.

  Amma.

  He gripped his sword and ran the other way.

  46

  Caught between going after Jael Furyck or her brother, Karsten screamed furiously and turned for Axl.

  Because Axl was running towards Jaeger.

  Jael spun after Axl. ‘Get to the ship!’ she called to Aleksander and Gant as she drew her father’s sword from its scabbard.

  She knew this sword.

  Screaming to Furia, she gritted her teeth and ran after Karsten Dragos.

  Gant blinked at Aleksander, and together, they hurried after her.

  Eadmund watched from Ice Breaker, cursing his wife as she turned and raced back into the very melee he was about to send the sea-fire into. ‘Hold!’ he cried again to the catapult crew, hurrying to the bow, trying to see what was happening more clearly.

  His oarsmen were keeping the ship steady, but there was nothing they could do to help Jael if she didn’t get out of there. Eadmund lowered his bow and held his breath, watching as the rest of the Osslanders hurtled towards Sea Bear, the bulk of Haaron’s men now after them. ‘Three men, slip your oars! Grab your bows! Protect those men!’ he ordered, hoping there were some arrows left. ‘Keep firing, Fyn!’

  ‘Untie the ship!’ Beorn bellowed, his hand on Sea Bear’s tiller. He was well aware that he was missing some very important members of his crew.

  He hoped they could swim.

  Jaeger had abandoned Amma as soon as he’d found a warrior to help get him into the fight. Sword drawn, he had limped his way into the crush of bodies, towards Jael and her men as they backed away behind their shields. But now, as they broke, as the man holding him went down with an arrow through his throat, and Jaeger tumbled to the ground after him, he could only watch on helplessly as his wife ran screaming past him.

  Towards Axl Furyck.

  ‘Karsten!’ he yelled. ‘Stop her!’

  Axl rushed up to Amma, pulling her to him. ‘Ssshhh,’ he soothed desperately, his eyes everywhere. ‘I won’t leave you!’ He saw Karsten coming and Jael behind him.

  Karsten growled, slashing at Axl with his sword.

  Axl jumped back, protecting Amma, his eyes darting to Sea Bear, who was moving away from the pier.

  ‘Axl take her!’ Jael called, her head spinning. She saw Gant and Aleksander. ‘Get her onto the ship! Gant! Help him!’ She brought both swords around to Karsten, cutting off his path to Axl.

  ‘I’m going to gut you, bitch, but first I’m going to take out your eyes!’ Karsten roared in her face as he swung his sword towards her. Jael dropped her shoulder, sliced Toothpick across his knee, spun and kicked her leg straight into the side of his head. He fell to the cobblestones, screaming as she stuck her father’s sword into his side. There was no time for talking. They needed to get out of here. She turned to Aleksander, busy fighting off Haegen, who had finally abandoned his father’s burning ships. ‘We have to go!’

  ‘Karsten!’ Jaeger yelled as he dragged himself across the cobblestones.

  ‘Archers!’ Haaron was screaming from beside his flaming ships. ‘Where are my fucking archers? Stop them getting away!’
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  Aleksander kicked Haegen to the ground, stabbing him in the thigh.

  Jael heard arrows.

  ‘Duck!’ she called to Aleksander as the arrows screeched over their heads. Jael wasn’t sure whose arrows they were, but there was no time to find out. They had to leave. ‘Go! Go!’

  Aleksander turned, catching an arrow in the shoulder. Grunting in pain, he stumbled. Jael was at his side, helping him as they ran, arrows whistling in both directions now.

  There were no ships left on the pier.

  Gant turned around and slashed his sword into a Hestian’s neck. The man shrieked and pitched forward, into the dark water. ‘Jump!’ Gant yelled to Axl and Amma, pushing them off the pier as the enemy descended upon them. He couldn’t see Jael and Aleksander. ‘Swim! We have to swim!’ He jumped in after them.

  Beorn was watching. ‘Archers!’ he called. ‘Cover them! Tykir! Get the ropes over the side! Rowers, let’s stay steady now! Hold water! Wait for them to get on board. Three ropes! Move! Move!’

  Eadmund had his heart in his mouth, Fyn by his side, as they watched Jael and Aleksander stumble down the pier. Both of them were out of arrows now, all but two pitch-soaked ones.

  They were saving those.

  Eadmund lifted his eyes. He could see Haaron’s warriors charging, Osbert’s reluctant army gathering around him. He flicked back to Jael and Aleksander. They were far enough away now. ‘Jael! Run!’ he cried and raced back to the brazier with his bow and arrow.

  Jael heard the whip of the catapult as an arrow took her in the leg. She cried out, her right leg buckling as the sea-fire jar shattered across the square at the entrance to the piers. Aleksander snatched at her, keeping her on her feet, his face twisted in agony. Leaning against each other, they limped to the side of the pier.

  Jael gritted her teeth at both the pain in her leg and the thought of the cold water. She looked up and saw Eadmund with his bow, the flame bursting from his arrow. She turned to see the Hestians behind them, swords glinting in the fiery carnage of Haaron’s ships.