Cold Iron

by Stina Leicht

  “They’re not giving up, I take it?” Dylan asked.

  “I’m afraid not,” Suvi said. “I don’t want to ask but—”

  “I can’t,” Dylan said. “I’m done in. Used all I had to keep us ahead of them.”

  “Oh.”

  “But Dar has an idea,” Dylan said. He didn’t look too happy about it.

  “He’s a weathermaster too?” Suvi asked, relieved. “That’s lucky.”

  “Ah, no,” Darius said, moving forward. “I’m usually in charge of messages.”

  Suvi frowned. “How is that going to help us?”

  “It’s how I send messages,” Darius said.

  “Oh. You’re a bird handler?” Suvi asked. “Wait. Waterborne don’t use birds.”

  Darius said, “I use any available sea creature.”

  Suvi blinked. “I’m sorry. I still don’t see how that helps. We’re too far from Eledore for another ship to arrive in time. And Clan Kask isn’t going to declare war on Acrasia.”

  Grinning, Darius said, “That wasn’t the message I intend to send.”

  “Enlighten me,” Suvi said.

  “I can call up something big,” Darius said, “and ask it for help.”

  Suvi turned to Dylan and then back to Darius. “Is that possible?”

  “Theoretically it is,” Dylan said. He folded his arms across his chest with a grumpy glare at Darius.

  “I’ve never done it before. It might be a bit dangerous,” Darius said. “But I think it’s worth trying.”

  “Why? You’re not Eledorean,” Suvi said.

  Darius asked, “What do you think will happen to me and Dylan if the Acrasians board us?”

  “What do you think they’ll do to our clan? My father signed a contract with Eledore guaranteeing passage through Clan Kask waters,” Dylan said. “A contract that is aboard this ship.”

  “Right,” Suvi said. “Darius, what do you need?”

  Darius paused. He took a deep breath as if steeling himself. “Reassurance that I won’t be lost in the water. And someone to see to it I that don’t drown in the process.”

  “I think we can arrange that. Captain Hansen,” Suvi said. “Let’s get started.”

  FOUR

  The early morning was chilly and humid, and the wind was slow but steady. Suvi was glad she’d taken a moment to go below and finish dressing. Her injured leg was aching and stiff due to the lack of rest. Piritta had made her drink a bitter-tasting potion for the pain. It had yet to take effect. Leaning over the starboard side, Suvi watched as Darius climbed down the ratlines draped over Otter’s side into the ocean. Dylan followed him but scrambled into the waiting longboat instead.

  “Shit! The water’s like ice,” Darius hissed. “Stop rocking the boat. Hold still.”

  “Yes, sir,” Dylan said. “Shall I hold your head under the water for you, too?”

  They were keeping their voices low. However, due to the fog and the water’s surface, Suvi could easily overhear what was being said.

  “Look, do you want me to do this or not?” Darius said, gripping the longboat’s side from the water. His short spirit knots and wet clothes gave him the appearance of a surprised otter.

  “To be honest? No,” Dylan said. “But no one consulted me. Did they?” He didn’t take up the oars. He untied the ropes used to lower the boat and let her drift. The cable anchoring the skiff to Otter slapped the water as he slowly uncoiled it.

  “At least I informed you first,” Darius said.

  “Is that what this is about? Why did you take me back? To punish me for the rest of my life?”

  “Maybe a little,” Darius said. “Oh, come on. Give me a kiss for luck.”

  Dylan grunted.

  “Don’t be like that,” Darius said. “It only makes everything more difficult. Please?”

  Dylan sighed, leaned over the side, and granted Darius his wish.

  “Thanks,” Darius said. He looked up to speak to her. “I’ll check below first. See if I can get the Acrasians’ positions.”

  “Thank you,” Suvi said.

  Taking several deep breaths, Darius released the side of the skiff and went under.

  Suvi held her breath. She listened for some sign of trouble and was startled when one of the Acrasian ship’s bells signaled the top of the hour. It echoed weirdly across the water. How close are they? She’d started to worry that Darius had drowned himself when he surfaced. He wiped water from his eyes and face, and then swam to Otter’s ratlines.

  Suvi whispered, “Did you get something?”

  Darius scrambled up the ship’s starboard side. When he reached the rail he waved her and Captain Hansen over. “Was only able to communicate with a few fish. They aren’t the smartest, but it was enough. I’ve a good idea of where the Acrasians are.” He gave them all the information he was able to get.

  With that, Captain Hansen left to talk to the signaler.

  “Good luck, Darius,” Suvi said. “Thank you.”

  Darius smiled up at her. “You’re welcome.” He climbed back down the ratlines and returned to the skiff.

  Captain Hansen returned.

  Keeping her voice low, Suvi asked Hansen, “Is everything secure?” She shivered and huddled inside her wool sea marshal’s coat.

  “As secure as we can make it,” Captain Hansen said. “If that skiff slips its cable, there’ll be no retrieving them. Not in this fog. And if the Acrasians attack while—”

  “We still have the weather gage on them,” Suvi said. “Yes?”

  “We do.”

  “You were able to signal Commodore Björnstjerna? Does he know the plan?” Suvi asked.

  “He acknowledged receipt of the message,” Captain Hansen said. “You’re taking a big risk with that tactic. The Acrasians will only need to get one good shot down Indomitable’s stern—”

  “I know,” Suvi said. “But Otter can’t withstand a line of battle, and we both know it. This is the best we can do under the circumstances. Our only advantage is speed.”

  Again, Captain Hansen nodded. “I’m only registering my misgivings. I didn’t say I’d have handled it any differently.” She paused. “With the exception of dropping our weathermaster over the side, of course.”

  “I understand the danger. So do they,” Suvi said. “And if we’re boarded, more than likely Darius can get a message to Sea Dragon, and they can pick them up. They won’t be abandoned for long. And at least they won’t be taken prisoner by the Acrasians.” She’d taken his intent at face value. Still, it was an aspect of the situation that she understood even if neither Dylan nor Darius had mentioned it. Darius said there must be space between Otter, Indomitable, and whatever answers his call.

  She watched the skiff vanish into the mist and bit her lip. Please let them be safe. She told herself that everything was going to be fine.

  Assuming something answers—something Darius can control. She thought of the Acrasian warships and their three hundred guns.

  Please let something answer.

  Indomitable had already formed a line with Otter by moving to the fore. The Acrasians will bring as many guns to bear as they can. And we must present the least appealing target. And that was what Otter and Indomitable were doing, provided Darius’s information was correct. If so, then the two lines would form a letter T. Still, Captain Hansen had every right to be concerned.

  Suvi thought again about Dylan and Darius out on the water. Alone with whatever creatures he calls. Unfamiliar with what lived under the ocean, she didn’t know what might answer. Sharks? A whale? She was caught between wanting Darius to succeed and wanting him to fail. “Don’t lose them. You hear?”

  “Yes, sir,” Captain Hansen said.

  Unable to see, Suvi held her breath and listened. The crew didn’t have to be told to be quiet. They knew what was at stake. No one moved. Sounds reflected oddly on the mist-covered water. If there were any doubt that the Acrasians were out there, from time to time, one caught the slap of the wind in sails not the
ir own. Sometimes, Acrasian chatter would surface in the fog. When it did, Suvi didn’t make much effort to translate. There was no need. It was easy to discern meaning by the tone. Time moved like maple syrup on a winter day. She counted the heartbeats thudding in her ears. The coffee she’d swallowed earlier in a rush had left a sour taste in her mouth.

  Movement in the water drew her attention. She rushed to the rail again. Checking the water, she spied a thick russet tentacle as it arched up out of the ocean and slithered alongside Otter’s hull before vanishing beneath the surface. An image from one of the Waterborne mosaics she’d seen on Treaty Island sprang to mind—the one with the tentacled creature wrestling with the ships. At the time, she’d thought that the scale was impossible. However, if anything, the ratio of ship to sea creature in the image was smaller than the actual. A startled curse came from the mainsail top. A lieutenant standing nearby made a quick blessing sign with his right hand. Several of the crew muttered prayers. A marine officer silenced them with a sharp hiss.

  “What in the name of all the gods was that?” Captain Hansen whispered.

  “It seems Darius has made a friend,” Suvi said, keeping her voice low. “Great Mother help us.”

  A strange rumbling-bubbling call echoed across the water. It sounded hollow and low.

  “Did anyone bother to ask how the beast was to tell the difference between our ships and the enemy’s?” Hansen asked.

  “I did,” Suvi said. “Darius said most sea creatures would be able to taste the difference.”

  “Would that be before or after eating the ship?” Hansen asked.

  Another splash pulled Suvi’s gaze to the water. Three tentacles the color of drying blood—each the width of an Eledorean pine tree—surfaced briefly and then sank.

  “You know, that was a detail he neglected to mention,” Suvi said.

  From the fog off the port side, alarm bells sounded. Someone screamed in Acrasian. A loud crack split the air. More screams followed.

  “Get ready!” Get ready? Suvi thought. How do you get ready for a monster emerging from the water?

  There wasn’t time to for an answer. An Acrasian frigate’s figurehead, a golden eagle, floated into view off of the port side. Another ship took form in the murk to the fore. Many things happened all at once. Two explosions shoved the air against Suvi’s ears as the first Acrasian ship’s carronade—small cannon mounted in the ship’s bow—fired, adding a giant cloud of burning sulfur-laced powder smoke to the mist. She ducked in reflex. Both blasts overshot the deck. She heard a scream as bar shot landed in the fore shrouds. Small gunfire went off—marines shooting from aloft from both Acrasian and Eledorean ships. The position of the Acrasian frigates shot a bolt of frozen terror into her guts.

  They’ve got us! They’ve formed two columns! We’ll be caught in the middle!

  Captain Hansen shouted an order to prepare to drop the anchor off the port bow. Sailors bolted up the mainmast shrouds at great risk of falling to sort the sails in anticipation of her next order.

  “Port guns, fire at will!”

  Otter’s marine gun crews answered the attack one by one. To the fore, rapid flashes blinked in the fog and smoke as the Indomitable’s guns did the same. The deck shuddered under Suvi’s feet, and she was deafened. Otter’s gun crews performed well under pressure. They’d taken into account the roll of the ships, the wind, and the positions of the enemy. The angle on the first three shots was near perfect. Cannonballs, one after the other, tore down the length of the enemy ship perpendicular to Otter, leaving behind wakes of destruction as they went. Wood exploded. Sailors, armed and unarmed alike, died. Rigging fouled. Gun crews scrambled to reload.

  Suvi knew why Hansen had ordered the anchor to be dropped but didn’t think Hansen would be able to spin Otter fast enough to prevent the Acrasians from returning the favor as the first Acrasian ship slid into position between Otter’s bow and Indomitable’s stern, and the second eased itself perpendicular to Otter’s stern. She knew Hansen’s maneuver for a last-ditch effort to minimize the damage. A broadside attack at close range was awful enough. Designed to withstand broadside attacks, ships of the line were weakest at bow and stern. Facing broadsides was a standard tactic.

  A series of loud wooden cracks and screams from the Acrasian eagle ship followed the hits. Fire bloomed bright orange and yellow in the fog but did nothing for visibility. Shouting, the Acrasian crew rushed to put out the fire. Acrasian carronade roared again. One. Two. Wood splinters were sent spinning by the explosions. Suvi registered musket fire thumping the poop deck. Sulfur-infused gunpowder grit filled her nose and mouth. She couldn’t help thinking how absurd it was to be standing inactive in the midst of such chaos and destruction. Yet she wouldn’t allow herself to hide. To do so would be considered cowardice. She had to take her chances with her crew or lose their faith.

  “Again, port side! Fire at will!”

  Once again, the deck rumbled under Suvi’s feet as Otter bore the stress of her guns. For the time being, Otter and Indomitable held the most advantageous position, but that wouldn’t last. They had to pour as much destruction upon the Acrasians as they could while they could. A third set of blasts went off, and cannon after cannon fired one after another. The marines in the rigging shot into the mist. Sails ripped. People fell. Splinters flew. The fog swirled. Cannon fire blossomed even more warm orange-yellow balls of light, resembling a storm.

  “Drop anchor! Now!” Captain Hansen roared the order at the top of her lungs.

  Sailors clamored secondary orders, passing them to the crew below. All scrambled to obey the captain’s instructions. Sails were adjusted for the abrupt course change. From the windlass belowdecks came a series of muffled, staccato clanks, and a splash indicated the anchor had dropped.

  “Ninety degrees hard to port! Now!” Captain Hansen slapped a hand on a rail. “Hold on!”

  Otter responded to the change in course with a low, creaking shudder. The deck tilted under Suvi’s feet, and she braced herself with a hand to a nearby rail. She tried not to think of what was happening to Dylan and Darius in their little skiff and failed.

  What going to happen to them? Where is Dar’s monster?

  Tilted as the ship was by the turn, hitting the closest Acrasian ship’s decks would be impossible. Therefore, Otter’s gun crews waited. Suvi could only watch and pray as the angle of Otter slowly veered away from the Acrasian ship. The golden eagle was now pointing at Otter’s stern as she slid past, and the angle wasn’t the desired ninety degrees. That was good. She also saw that two of the Acrasian frigate’s masts were fouled and broken. That was better. Carronade and cannon roared again. Otter was struck. The port railing off the stern disintegrated in a cloud of wood splinters and smoke. Bar shot the size of Suvi’s body tumbled past. Close. Too close. She was knocked off her feet and landed on the deck with a hard thump. Her wounded leg protested. Quickly checking herself, she saw that she was mostly unscathed. She winced, getting to her feet, and then searched for Captain Hansen. Hansen was moving, as were most of the other officers.

  The wheel spun on its own. The helmsman was gone.

  Limping, Suvi rushed to the wheel and shoved at it with all her might to get the ship back on course. Blood made the huge wheel slick under her palms. She couldn’t let the Acrasians retake the column. If that happened, they were sunk. Unfortunately, the ship’s wheel required too much strength to budge. The best she could manage was to slow the wheel. She took a chance and stood on one of the rungs to use all her weight. It worked. Pain shot up her leg to her hip and back as she walked from rung to rung. Otter resumed her course to port. Suvi continued her awkward progress, focusing on preventing legs, feet, or hands from getting caught in the wheel. Finally, she was joined by a fresh steersman. Once she was sure he had the ship in hand, she hopped down. Gulping for air, she shoved hair from her face. A freshening wind tugged at the mist. Glancing across the water, she spied what was ahead and choked.

  The broadside of another A
crasian frigate—twenty-two guns. Otter’s bow was angled perfectly for their cannon.

  “Enemy frigate dead ahead!”

  Suvi heard Hansen swear.

  “Slip anchor! Slip anchor! Now, damn it! Now!” Hansen’s orders were passed below. Then she gave a fresh course to the new helmsman.

  This is it, Suvi thought. We’re sunk.

  The helmsman steered Otter for the new Acrasian’s bow. However, Suvi knew it would do no good if they didn’t slip the anchor fast enough.

  Enormous red tentacles shot up out of the water with a huge splash. They wrapped around the third Acrasian ship in an instant. Sails and rigging were ripped from yards, spars, and masts. Two cannon fired before they and their crews were crushed. Blood-tainted spray hit the water. An unearthly roar of rage and pain erupted from the sea monster. It was so loud and deep that Suvi felt it vibrate inside her chest. The Acrasian ship pitched and rolled as the huge monster hauled itself up onto the poop deck in a flash, smashing everything and everyone in a fury-driven rush. Serpentlike arms twisted and snapped the masts. Screams drifted across the water. Suvi’s mouth dropped open as the powerful frigate was reduced to little more than a flaming barge. The fire stretched higher into the morning sky, and then just as suddenly, the creature slid into the water. The powder storage caught, and the doomed craft exploded. Suvi flinched and put up a hand as if to protect her face. Chunks of burning ship’s timber rained down on the water and nearby ships.

  As if blind, the creature’s tentacles seemed to feel in the water for a new target. The Acrasian frigate between Otter and Indomitable was closest. A bloodred tentacle stretched to the Acrasian’s stern.

  Dylan and Darius. Are they all right? Suvi ran to Otter’s stern rail and found where the skiff had been tied off. The cable was stretched tight. That’s a good sign. She bent down, grabbed the line, and turned to the closest lieutenant—the handsome one with black curly hair. Noronen? “Get over here! Help me haul them in!” Together, they worked to pull the longboat to the starboard side.

  “Dylan? Darius? Answer me!” Suvi couldn’t see the boat—not yet. Around them, the battle progressed. The giant sea beast’s roars of pain and rage echoed off the water. Suvi didn’t turn to look but concentrated on the task at hand. Her muscles strained against the weight of the boat and those aboard. Who’d have thought that a skiff would weigh so much? Again, she was reminded of her shortcomings as a sailor. Has it been that long? How much have I forgotten? At last, the prow of the skiff slid into view. Suvi’s heart stopped. The boat was swamped—nearly full of water and sinking. Neither Dylan nor Darius were on board.