Halcyon didn't lower his weapon even though he faced a superior officer. "Sir, no sir. I'm not jumpy, just surprised at your being here." He said this last in a shaky voice.
"Boy"—Wily's tone was friendly—"I know how it feels to want to be a part of your first combat. You don't want to see your first battle action within the walls of this room while your mates fight for their lives above deck. We have marines at both hatches; there's no need for you to stand here. I'm ordering you to man the blast-tube with your friends. Now go, that's an order."
"Really, sir." Halcyon couldn't believe his newfound luck. He sheathed his sword and went past Wily to the hatch. Before he opened it, he stopped. He breathed a heavy sigh and recited the first Article of War to himself and Officer Wily. " 'No officer, mariner, soldier, or other person of the fleet shall leave their assigned post during combat unless ordered by the captain of the ship or unless extenuating circumstances warrant the abandoning of the post. Such dereliction of duty will be reviewed by a board of court-martial. The penalty for such dereliction is death or other punishment as the court-martial board shall find suitable.' Sorry, sir, you don't know how much I would love to leave this post. I appreciate your offer, sir, but I have to stay here."
"Halcyon, Hal," Dire said, clearly surprised that Halcyon could resist going topside to join the battle. "No one gives a damn about those Articles of War that you are so adept at quoting. Go fire the blast-tubes and enjoy yourself, what?"
To Halcyon's ears, the first officer was only trying to let Halcyon free to do what anyone would wish for, but duty was important, he thought to himself.
"I can't, sir, but thank you very much for your effort on my behalf. I'll stay and guard the heart until I'm relieved. It's the navy way, sir," Halcyon said to the now-unsmiling Dire Wily.
"Blithe, your decision is probably for the best. I don't think you're old enough to know about the navy way, but you do have a wayward way about you, that's for sure. There's really nothing for it but for you and I to dance. Mr. Blithe, draw your steel!"
Suddenly, Commander Wily held a saber in Halcyon's face.
Blithe drew his weapon, doing what he was ordered to do, but still not knowing why he was ordered to do so. Was this some sort of training lesson? Could it be some odd test? Halcyon didn't know what to think.
"Dance, sir?" Halcyon had no idea what the commander was talking about.
"Blithe, sometimes it's hard to believe you come from a family proud of its generations of warriors." Wily's voice took on a deeper timbre and slurred as fangs erupted from his widening mouth. Wily's face and body started changing in front of the amazed Halcyon. Hands gnarled into talons and bones crackled and popped as Wily grew taller. Clothing tore and fell away as flesh took on scales.
"Oh yes, that's much better." Its voice was deep and menacing. "You little humans are such boring creatures. I do so enjoy your politeness. We've none of that in Maleen. Being polite has become sort of a hobby with me. The great dance, boy, life-and-death combat are what I'm talking about. Since you won't be living long enough to gain such experience, let me tell you about the great dance." The thing that was Wily started circling Halcyon. Its larger saber tip constantly pointed at Blithe's chest.
"Fencers have always called the fencing bout the great dance of life. We move back and forth to the beat of our weapons," the creature that was Wily said.
Wily lunged; Halcyon stood his ground and beat the blade away from his chest. Halcyon tried counterattacking, but the monster pulled back in a blur of motion.
"We're dancing now, but you're forced to move to my tune," Wily growled, and stamped his right foot, hoping to draw Halcyon's eyes downward. With the creature's unweaponed, now-clawed hand, it threw a lightning bolt at Halcyon.
The midshipwizard raised his left arm bracer and it absorbed the attack, turning it to dust.
"Your family has been far too generous with their gifts," Wily growled, as the now fully transformed monster stood before Halcyon. A huge, scaly face replaced Wily's human one. The creature's head held four eyes and two slits for noses. Huge fangs protruded from a long muzzle. "We Maleen handle our clutchlings differently from you sickly humans. My birthing female threw me out of the den, ten days after my birth. I survived in the wilds for five years before I was ready to join a clan. No one gave me anything. I took what I wanted." The monster rising out of Dire Wily's body made a feint with its blade that Blithe easily blocked.
Four blazing yellow eyes mocked the midshipwizard's attempt at swordplay.
Absence-of-blade, absence-of-blade, Halcyon thought. He didn't want his sword snapped in half, taking the blows of the obviously stronger creature in front of him. The shapechanger pushed him about the chamber, not intimidated at all by Blithe's attempts at lunge attacks.
"You just aren't strong enough," growled the monster. "Maybe if you lived another hundred years you could have managed to make some of your attacks work against me. Give up, little mortal. Why make this more difficult than it has to be?"
Halcyon went to shout to the marines on the other side of the hatch, and former Wily made a magical gesture. Suddenly the room filled with a light haze. It was almost as if floating feathers filled the area. The thoughts of the creature invaded Blithe's mind.
"There will be no shouting for help. You rise or fall on your own merits. I think we both know how this dance will end. You might have become quite a powerful wizard, human. It's a good thing I caught you before your training made you a danger to my kind." The creature's thoughts were foul things striking Halcyon's mind.
"You are the first one to thwart my efforts. You should be proud of yourself. On five other dragonships, I was able to destroy each heart in the middle of a battle and escape. I've become a bit of a legend among my kind. Many more of us will now walk among you destroying the things you hold dear." As the creature boasted, it continued its deadly attacks.
Lunge after lunge moved the young midshipwizard about the chamber. Several times Halcyon parried back and made deep hits on the flesh of the monster. Each time the red magical shield absorbed all the damage. Jumping back, Halcyon tried throwing his own lightning spell.
The energy washed over the creature and turned to black dust.
"I was a wizard of power before your famous father was born. You have no skills that can cause me pause. You've been a delightful bit of revenge, but now you really must die." The creature's thoughts filled Halcyon's mind.
Young Blithe was able to feel the intention of the monster as it attacked. He stopped each attack and made a deadly lunge of his own, right at the throat of the monster. The magic of the red shielding spell stopped the blade from penetrating, but the force of the successful attack drove back the monster, as the Drusan shield didn't dull the bruising pain of the thrust.
A huge talon batted Blithe's sword from his grasp. The monster reached out and grabbed Halcyon's throat.
"It's past time to take your life and get on with destroying this ship," the creature thought to Halcyon.
Gray draining magics flowed from the creature's talons to cover Halcyon's entire body. He tried to scream and cast protective magics, but the sound-deadening spell stopped his words. The death magics sucked at his very soul, stronger than the protections placed on his bracers. His hands tore at the massive scaled arm holding him up above the deck.
Unexpectedly, Halcyon dropped from the slack talons. His back hit the deck. Feet kicking, he kept moving until his head hit the ice of the heart.
The silence spell vanished.
A boarding pike erupted from the chest of the monster, spilling blue gore in all directions.
Halcyon heard Ashe Fallow's voice behind the creature. As it fell to its knees, the man appeared behind the monster.
"There's more than one officer aboard this king's dragonship who can unlock locked hatches, sir! I think you will find that a pike in the hands of an expert can be the deadliest weapon on a king's ship."
The creature's face slammed to the deck when F
allow moved forward and ripped his pike out of the back of the monster.
"You'll also discover, former First Officer Wily, that it's difficult to regenerate a head, even for a shapechanger." With that statement, Ashe used the blade of the pike to chop off the monster's head. "Well, my fine young officer, I thought our saboteur would try something while everyone else was busy."
"You knew Mr. Wily was a traitor?" Halcyon gasped as he rubbed his bruised throat and got up.
"I didn't have a clue. I've been hanging around these parts, by the liver chamber. I thought I would come over here to see how you were doing," Ashe said, smiling at Halcyon.
The Sanguine shivered as enemy shells started hitting the port side.
"I had to let it get distracted with you before I could strike. If it had known I was behind it, the battle would have gone a lot differently. Let this experience be another life's lesson for you, Mr. Blithe. If you can't be the most powerful, it's best to have a few tricks up your sleeve. After the creature bested me the other day in drills, I asked our good wizard how to get around the magic of the Drusan shield spell. He told me to coat my pike head in tannin oil. I'm never going on a ship without a barrel full of the stuff from now on."
"So it was just chance that you had the right thing to defeat the monster?" Halcyon, still in shock, didn't want to believe his life stood in the balance because of a smelly root.
"Being prepared is the duty of every officer and crew member. Call it fate, call it luck, but we Lankshire men think the more prepared we are the luckier we get, if you get my meaning," Ashe replied.
Ashe stabbed at the body of the monster. The thing melted on the orlop deck, turning into a mass of blue ooze.
"Nasty business, shapechangers. A smelly mess this has turned into, but it's better smelling it than becoming it. Now, normally I would make you clean this up, Mr. Blithe," Chief Fallow said.
"Aye, Mr. Fallow," Halcyon said.
"We Lankshire men must stick together. After the battle, and by the lack of shells smashing into our Sanguine's side, I'm wagering they are all running. I'll have some other poor midshipwizard come down to clean this."
"An excellent thought, Mr. Fallow. I'll continue manning my post until the all clear is sounded," Halcyon said, winking at Ashe.
"Well spoken. We'll make a fighting officer out of you yet. I'll let you report to the captain about this little encounter." Ashe handed Halcyon the blast pike that killed Wily.
Blithe found himself thinking that guard duty in the heart chamber wasn't such a bad duty after all. He would need to work on his defensive spells. Eight-foot-tall, ravening monsters shouldn't be able to kill him easily now that he knew what they were like. He was a Lankshire man, after all. He leaned against the wall of the chamber, suddenly needing the pike to hold himself up.
his majesty's articles of war: article xx
All spies, and all persons whatsoever, who shall come, or be found, in the nature of spies, to bring or deliver any seducing letters or messages from any enemy or rebel, or endeavor to corrupt any captain, officer, mariner, or other in the fleet, to betray his trust, being convicted of any such offense by the sentence of the court-martial, shall be punished with death, or such other punishment as the nature and degree of the offense shall deserve and the court marital shall impose.
Halcyon came up on deck and into the bright sunshine. He looked to the open sea and in the distance noted the last enemy frigate, fleeing under full sail, running with the wind.
The stern of the other frigate was tight against the port side of the Sanguine. The frigate's rudder appeared ruined from blast-tube fire.
Tupper ran up to Halcyon, blast-gel soot covering his uniform and face.
"Hal, you should have seen us, it was amazing." The excitement of the action still filled young Tupper. "While marines boarded the enemy first-rater, the frigate started tacking to come around our other side. The port broadside shot away its rudder. We won the fight on the Migol and the captain hailed the frigate and made it surrender without firing another shot. The whole thing was brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"
"I'm up here because Chief Fallow told me to report to the captain," Halcyon said, a little nervous. "I'm glad you did well. What of the others, Tupper?"
"They all survived. Mark has a bad shoulder wound, but all the other midshipwizards are alive and well. You better get to the captain. He's on the quarterdeck," Tupper told him, knowing that reporting to the captain took precedence over everything else on board ship.
"Thanks, Tupper, I'll come down and help here when he releases me," Halcyon said as he moved to the stairs leading to the quarterdeck.
Lieutenant Durand was at the bottom of the stairs. "Mr. Blithe, what do you need?" She held out a hand to stop him from going up to the quarterdeck.
"I've been told to report to the captain about the saboteur, ma'am," he told her.
"Really, who was it?" she asked.
"First Officer Wily was a Maleen shapechanger. Chief Fallow and I killed him. Actually it was more the chief than me." Halcyon suddenly found himself uncomfortable at the telling of the encounter. He felt as if he should have done more, now that the action was all over.
"The captain will want to hear what you have to say. There's a line of officers reporting to him on the port side of the quarterdeck. Wait your turn up there, carry on," she ordered, and let him pass.
"Aye, aye, ma'am," he answered as he went up the stairs to the quarterdeck.
Halcyon scanned the deck and mizzen, noting lots of damage. Shot away were the mizzen topgallant and mizzen topsails. The four portside blast-tubes were total wrecks. Half of one of the great wheels controlling the ship stood in splinters. Carpenters were putting on the spare wheel. Other crew and marines were working to clear the damage. The smell of tannin oil filled the area even in the gusty breeze. Crew brushed it on all the wounds of the dragonship's hull.
A short line of men stood in front of the captain's table. Captain Olden's steward gave each reporting crew member a tankard of something. They would take a sip and report.
A much-battered Major Aberdeen, with a huge cut across his cheek and chin, was reporting when Halcyon took a place in the line. By Aberdeen's jovial tone of voice, his spirit was up and he had good things to say. Halcyon was able to hear the tail end of the report.
"...Andool's blast-tubes had taken the fight out of them. The damage on the upper decks, as you can see from here, was staggering. The crew was beaten, but they didn't quite know it yet, when we boarded the Migol," the major said after taking a long pull of his wine. "As we rushed the decks, their quarterdeck filled to overflowing with Maleen marines and Maleen officers. We centered our efforts there during the main course of the battle. The bastards are tough fighters with their backs against the sea wall. I ordered a holding action everywhere else. Once we killed the Maleen officers on the quarterdeck, their command control ended throughout the ship, allowing us to force surrenders. The other decks fell to our blast-pikes and sabers in short order.
"What documents we could find show the Migol was fresh out of Malua. We found no dispatches to other enemy fleets or orders for the Migol. They must have been thrown overboard before we got to the captain's cabin."
"A few of my marines will be deserving medals when we get back to Ilumin. I'll have a written report for you to read tomorrow. What's left of the enemy crew are all cowed in the ship's hold. There are no Maleen marines or Maleen officers left alive," the major said, now slumping on the captain's table, looking exhausted.
"Steward, get the major a bench to sit on. Excellent work, Major." The captain's words were filled with praise. "We've landed a solid blow this day against the enemy forces. How many marines do you want to send over in the prize crew?"
"I'm thinking fifty marines and a lieutenant major; the Migol is a first-rater, after all," the major said.
"Send them over. I'll send Mr. Solvalson for its prize captain, he deserves the task, along with Midshipwizards Surehand and Murdock,
ten able seamen, and twenty junior seamen." The captain looked over to the smiling lieutenant who had just unexpectedly become a captain. "Mr. Solvalson, get that ship into the nearest friendly Arcanian port with all speed and wait there for further orders, understood?"
"Aye, aye, sir," Pierce said to his captain. He saluted and almost ran from the quarterdeck.
The major and the captain looked after him.
"Do you remember being that young, Topal?" the captain asked.
"Sure and it seems just a day ago that you and I set foot on the old frigate Ilumin not fifteen years past if it's a day," the major said, smiling after the lieutenant.
"Bide with me a moment more, Topal," the captain asked. "I want you to get that cut looked at. Don't go telling me it's just a scratch. You're oozing blood like a stuck pig. I need to hear the surgeon's butcher bill, but Updean is here to report on the frigate and I want your opinion on its disposition."
"Certainly, Captain, I'm completely at your disposal," the major said, still smiling.
Halcyon noticed that the major looked pale. There was a lot of dried and wet blood all over the front of his uniform. The major would be getting stitches, but most of the blood flow from the wound had stopped by now.
The ship's steward handed the surgeon a tankard of wine, and he drank it all in one tipping. The surgeon gave the captain a list of the dead, wounded, and dying.
"We got off lightly this time, Captain," he reported. "We've got twenty-two dead and twice that many with minor wounds. Six more will die before the sun sets. I'm finished with our crew here. By your leave I'll go over with my aides and help with the Migol's dying and wounded."
"Of course, Surgeon," the captain said. "They'll appreciate the good treatment and that makes the prize crew's job all the easier. Be back on board before the sun sets. We still have to get to Ordune and that blockade as soon as possible. Well done, Surgeon." The captain stood and shook the surgeon's hand.
Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe Page 24
