by K Hanson
She heard the sound of footsteps running down the stairs to the dungeon. When she whirled around to face the approaching enemies, a wall of wind flew toward them and knocked them into the wall with a crunch. Nereyda felt the wind sucked from her lungs and fell to the ground. As she tried to regain her breath, her body tingled with pain, as if the lightning had burned her nerves. Unable to stand, she crawled to the body of the head guard. She searched and felt around in his pockets until she found a set of keys. Pulling them out, she tossed them to Elvar in his cell before resting against one of the wooden beams.
After he had unlocked his own cell, he passed the keys to one of the other cells. “What was that? How did you do that?” he asked.
Nereyda shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s the first time I’ve ever done that.”
“I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff along the way, but I’ve never known of anyone doing something like that. Where did it come from?”
“I don’t really know. Something happened on the island. I’ll tell you about it when we have more time.”
Elvar asked, “Do you think you can use it again? It’d be a big help to getting out of here.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not really sure why I was able to use it now. Maybe it was the pain of being whipped. But I don’t know how to use it whenever I want.”
“A shame. Can you stand?”
“I think so. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Nereyda shoved herself to her feet with the help of Elvar. She was still feeling the effects of the magic that had surged through her. Her hands felt frozen, she still struggled to catch her breath, and the nerves over her whole body tingled on the edge of numbness. She walked over to one of the guards and took his sword for herself. “Everyone, grab a weapon if you can find one. This time, we’re getting out for real.”
As her crew wandered around the cell block to collect weapons, Nereyda saw a guard cowering on the floor next to the exit. His face was pale with fear, and he just stared out over the cavern where his comrades lay on the ground dead.
Nereyda walked over to him. “So you survived that, huh?”
“You’re…you’re some sort of demon. A witch. A devil. Get away from me.”
“Why should I do that? You were perfectly fine to watch my friends and me get tortured.”
“I just want to get out of here. I got drafted.”
“Now, I’m drafting you. And what you’re going to do is run ahead and tell every guard what you saw here. Tell them that a storm is coming and, if they don’t get out of the way, it will destroy them.”
After rallying her crew, she led them as they charged back up through the mine, hopefully toward an exit. The guard she had sent ahead must have either been convincing or terrified enough to send everyone else scattering. They encountered no resistance as they wound through the nest of corridors that seemed to lead toward the surface. When they, at last, reached the exit, Nereyda threw the door open and dashed out into the mining complex. She shielded her eyes against the sunlight of the surface. As soon as her sight adjusted, she ground to a halt before a line of guards that stood before her, Erhan at the front. Her crew stopped behind her, their backs against the mound they had just exited.
“You really don’t know when to give up, do you?” he asked.
“If you don’t want to end up like your friends down below, let us go. I’m sure by now you’ve heard what I can do. I’ll summon a storm that will destroy you all.”
“It’s true,” said the guard that she had sent ahead. “She killed everyone down there.”
“Don’t listen to her, men,” commanded Erhan. “She doesn’t actually have the slightest idea how to use her powers at will. She talks a good talk, but that’s about all she’s good at doing. The pirate captain here just wants to trick you into running away so she can escape. She knows that they can’t take us on all at once and survive.”
Erhan walked up to Nereyda.
“Now, tell your crew to drop their weapons, if you please.”
“Why should I do that? You’re going to kill us regardless.”
“We’ll make sure to leave enough of you alive that we can have some fun.”
“Why should I listen to you? I didn’t want to strand you on that island. If you hadn’t been an idiot, we could have left together. “
“And how do I know that you wouldn’t have killed me while we were sailing back to the mainland? You see, you are everything that I hate. I see that now. For a while, when we were sailing together, I thought that we could work together. I genuinely thought we could get some good work done in the Shattered Sea. But, then, our time on the island changed everything. I saw the true you come out when you used your magic on whatever poor creature you found. And then, you used it on me. You nearly killed me on that beach. Maybe you meant to, maybe you didn’t. If you don’t know how to control your magic, I say that makes you more dangerous. Who can say when you’ll be walking through a town and let out a storm of lightning and wind? Maybe one day you’ll learn to control it. I know what pirates are like. If I let you go free with what you can do, nobody will ever be safe to live near the coast again. How many people will die because I failed to kill you when I had a chance?
“So, here is what’s going to happen. You throw down your weapons, all of you. I made a bargain with your first mate to get your crew out of here. That is what I’m going to do now. You, captain, get to stay with me and pay for your whole crew’s crimes. Then, I will let all of them go free.”
“How do I know you’ll keep your word?” asked Nereyda. “After what you did to Brynja? You were supposed to let everyone go then, but you didn’t. You destroyed your own bargaining chip when you did that.”
“Should I start killing your crew off now, then? Is that what you would prefer? You, guard,” he gestured to one of his men. “Bring me that cute redhead over there.” The guard went over and grabbed the young woman.
Erhan shoved her to her knees, her hand scraping on the dirt as she caught herself. “Drop your weapons, or I will slit her throat.” He walked up behind her and held his sword across her neck.
“Come on, let her go. This is between us,” said Nereyda.
“It is, so do not let your crew members needlessly die when all I want is you.”
As the memory of what happened to Jovan rushed back to her, Nereyda turned to look back at her crew. “Do it. Just drop your weapons and let him take me. You can get out of here.”
Elvar shook his head emphatically, “No, there is no way I am going to abandon you here. You came all the way back for us and took the whip in our place. You are not going to die in our place, too.”
“I need to do this.”
Erhan shouted. “You’re taking too long. You have to the count of ten to throw down your weapons and surrender. One.”
The young woman on the ground looked up at Nereyda. “Don’t you dare surrender. You know he will kill us all anyway as soon as you do.”
“Two.”
“I’m not going to let him just slaughter you,” said Nereyda.
“Three.”
Elvar said, “She knew what would happen when she tried to escape. We all did.”
“Four.”
“I left you for months while I got to sail the world. I deserve this.”
“Five.”
“You do not deserve any more punishment, Reyda.”
“Six.”
“The worst part is that I enjoyed it. I loved being on the sea.”
“Seven.”
“That is who you are. You can’t change that.”
“Eight.”
“Look, Elvar, everyone, please drop your weapons.”
“Nine.”
“Don’t do it!” shouted the girl.
“Ten. That’s it.” Erhan drew his blade across her throat, slicing her from ear to ear. As blood poured from the wound, she slumped onto the ground in a limp heap.
“Who’s next?” as
ked Erhan.
“All of us are going to be next,” shouted Elvar.
Before Nereyda could stop them, Elvar and the rest of her crew charged forward with their weapons toward the line of guards.
CHAPTER FORTY
A boom echoed across the complex. All of the combatants, including guards, pirates, and Islanders alike, halted before they could clash.
“What the hell is that?” asked Nereyda, glancing around for the source of the noise.
“I don’t know,” said Erhan.
Again, a noise rumbled from the other side of the mining complex. It came from outside the walls. “That noise is coming from over the north wall,” noted Erhan. “I’ve never heard anything like that before.”
“It sort of sounds like cannons, but it seems too deep,” observed Nereyda.
She could see guards running along the tops of the walls. Bells rang out as reinforcements poured from the barracks nearest to the towers and gates in that sector of the compound.
A third boom sounded. After a couple of seconds, the north wall exploded in a shower of stone rubble. Guards flew through the air like rag dolls tossed by an angry child. The surviving soldiers nearby fled from the explosion and took shelter from the debris as it rained down.
“Who could do this? I’ve never seen a direct hit destroy fortifications so easily. Do you have friends coming?” The commander looked at Nereyda.
She shook her head. “If I knew someone who could do stuff like this, I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t have bothered trying to sneak in to get my crew out of here.”
Erhan looked between the new hole in the wall and the group of pirates that stood in front of him. Nereyda could tell that he felt conflicted about what he should deal with first.
“Commander, whoever did this is obviously dangerous. Let us fight with you. We’ll help you. After that, you will let us go. Is that a deal?”
Commander Erhan looked at the ground for a second, considering the offer. “All right, I accept your offer. However, no magic. I will not have you summoning whatever infernal powers you have. We will beat whoever is coming with our strength alone.”
“We will do whatever we can.”
“Fine, then, follow me.” Erhan ran off in the direction of the north wall, his guard command close behind him.
Nereyda took off after them, and her own crew and the Shattered Sea Islanders followed. Elvar caught up to her and ran at her side. “You don’t actually think he’ll be true to his word, do you?”
“Absolutely not,” answered Nereyda. “I just figure that working with him now gives us the best chance to survive and maybe find a good chance to slip away.”
While they ran behind Commander Erhan, a deep horn sounded across the complex. After a brief pause, it blew again. It repeated this several times.
“What does that mean?” she called out to Erhan.
He glanced over his shoulder. “That means that enemy troops are approaching. The horn is calling all available troops from the entire mining complex to report for action. Someone is trying to invade the Empire and capture the mines.”
Erhan led the group of guards, pirates, and Islanders to one of the towers on the northern wall. Without pausing to wait for stragglers, he entered the tower and charged up the spiral staircase to the top of the tower.
When Nereyda burst onto the top of the wall, panting to catch her breath from the sprint up the stairs, she saw Erhan staring out to the north over the land outside the walls. Her eyes followed his gaze, and she saw why the alarm horn had been sounded.
Pouring from the forest that lay a mile north of the wall, hundreds, no, thousands of troops in black uniforms marched steadily toward the walls.
“Are those Stalstan troops?” Nereyda asked.
“Yes, but I have no idea how they got here.”
“Could they have landed on the coast up north?”
“I suppose so. Normally, our fleet protects the approach from the Stalstan Islands to the shore. However, it was scattered by a storm. Although, the same storm that sent all of our ships to port should have prevented them from crossing in the first place.”
“Obviously, it didn’t stop them. This is your show, Commander. What do you want us to do?”
“Well, without guns, bows, or crossbows, you aren’t going to do much good up here. Take your people to the nearest armory and take whatever weapons you can. You will need more than pick axes versus what we are about to face, I think.”
“How about my own sword and dagger that you’re wearing like some kind of trophy?” She nodded to the belt that he wore around his waist.
“Fine, here it is.” He unclasped it and shoved it into her eager hands.
After wrapping it around her own waist and fastening it, she felt more at home with her usual weapons on her hips.
“Follow me, crew. Let’s go get us some new toys,” she ordered her people. The Islanders followed her, as well.
She dashed to the nearest barracks compound and moved to enter the palisade walls. A guard stepped in front of her. “Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded.
“Seriously? Have you seen what’s going on out there? We’ve been ordered to get weapons so that we can help fight them. If you prefer, we can just leave, and you can fight them without our help.”
The guard stood and ground his teeth for a moment as he thought about his options. “Fine, head on in.”
“Also, where is the armory here? We need some new weapons.”
The man pointed to a large building next to the barracks.
“Thanks,” she said as she dashed off in that direction.
The crew of the Storm Raven, along with their new Islander friends, ran into the armory. Unsurprisingly, it had already been largely picked over by the troops that called this compound home. Still, though, the members of her team scoured the weapon racks and secured a wealth of pistols, swords, and daggers. The Islanders went to the rack of rifles to arm themselves, along with taking some of the axes available.
When everyone in her makeshift unit had been properly armed, Nereyda led them back out to the courtyard, then out of the palisade to the larger mining complex. The guards were busy pushing carts in front of the gaping hole in the wall. They had set up two rows of wagon barriers. The first row, inside the hole itself, consisted of wagons that had been pushed onto their sides and lit on fire after being coated in oil. The second row was arrayed in an arc on the inside of the wall. Men with crossbows and rifles stood in the back of the wagons, aiming their weapons at the gap, ready for whenever the first Stalstan soldiers made their appearance. Nereyda found an opening on one of the wagons and climbed up to get a better view of what was happening, and so that she could give better instructions to her own unit.
Above on the walls, dozens, even hundreds, of guards were perched at the ready with their weapons aimed at the ground outside the wall. At other towers along the wall, soldiers were arming catapults and trebuchets with projectiles. Through the gaps in the wagons and flames licking the air, Nereyda could make out the large formation of Stalstan troops making their approach toward the breach in the wall.
When they were about one hundred yards out, the commanders of the artillery on the wall shouted orders to fire at will. In turn, each of the catapults and trebuchets launched their stones into the crowd of approaching troops. Each large projectile landed and crushed a number of men. However, the Stalstans appeared to be undaunted and undeterred by the casualties that they were accruing from the barrage. They maintained the same steady pace toward the opening in the wall. Nereyda heard the crunch of their boots on the dirt. They struck a regular drumbeat on the ground that gradually grew in a crescendo as they approached.
“Ready,” she heard from other commanders on the wall.
The guards lined up at the ramparts at the top of the fortification and raised their guns and bows to take aim at the wave of invaders.
Calls of “Fire!” sounded moments later and the sounds of gunshots and bows
twanging signaled the first volley toward the enemy. With her limited vision, Nereyda could see some of the Stalstan troops fall. The losses so far were a drop in the ocean of soldiers that were making their attack.
When the Stalstans had closed to within just a few dozen yards, they halted and opened a gap in their lines. Some sort of strange new gun rolled out from between their ranks. A second and third of the same strange device emerged behind the first, and they were lined up in a row, aiming at the barricade of flaming wagons. Another group of soldiers walked out of the gap in the formation to hold steel shields over and around the side of the gun battery. Bullets and crossbow bolts just clinked off of the shields.
Without fear of being harassed by gunfire, the crew operating the battery of guns slid a cylindrical projectile down the barrel of each gun, then they lit something at the back of the guns. A couple of seconds passed before anything happened. Then, instead of a bang like a normal gun, the projectiles shrieked out of the barrels with fire billowing behind them.
These strange new bullets blazed ahead and into the first row of wagons blocking their path. This first barrage broke up the wagons, but there were still large flaming hunks of wood strewn throughout the hole in the wall.
The soldier who had taken charge of the troops in the second ring of wagons shouted, “Take aim, fools.”
The guards raised their weapons and aimed at the crew of the artillery. However, while the gunnery crew prepared the next volley, another squad of Stalstan soldiers rushed ahead and knelt in front with shields.
Despite the obstacle, the commander in the wagons yelled, “Fire!”
Again, the volley of bullets and bolts bounced harmlessly off the shields, with small dents being the only visible evidence of damage.
When the shields in front of the cannons had been removed, Nereyda found herself looking straight down the barrel of one of them. She dove off of the wagon and rolled as she hit the ground. As she came to her feet, she heard the shriek of the artillery firing. Ducking down as chunks of wood flew over her shoulder, she turned back to see the damage.
