by Ben Hale
Near Mae, Trin stood his ground just as well, although in a far different style. His longsword had a greater reach than nearly all the weapons around him and he took full advantage of its length. Pirates fell left and right as he chopped and swung with incredible strength. Each swing and furious shout plunged fear into any pirate within view, causing more than one to shy away from the tall swordsman.
For a few minutes the four fighters and the sailors of the Sea Dancer managed to hold their own—until the other pirate ships drew close and tied on to those already connected to theirs. Now there were four vessels tied together side by side on their left, and two on their right. A moment later, the one he’d gutted managed to catch up and tie on as well. Bloodthirsty pirates roared and flowed across vessels like an unending wave towards the besieged ship in the middle.
Liri ducked an ax swing and cut the wielder down. Continuing her turn, she ended up next to Taryn. “Do you see the little girl by the helm of that ship?” she asked, breathless as she blocked another attack and then whipped around like lightning to slice him across the midsection. The pirate grabbed his stomach and dropped with a groan.
Taryn thought it was an odd question, but he spared a look where she’d indicated, and sure enough there was a young girl next to the pirate at the helm. Between parrying two swords and an axe at the same time, he noticed her hands were tied to the rail.
“Mae says there are other children on the other boats too,” Liri said beside him, ducking under his extended sword to fight an incoming charge by several more pirates from Taryn’s left.
Taryn reversed Ianna to rest on his forearm and spun around to look at the ship on the other side, in the process using the flat of his blade to brutally knock a man down when he whipped the tip of his sword out at another attacker.
It took a second, but he caught sight of another child, this one a young man that looked to be about twelve. Taryn ducked underneath a swing from an off-balance pirate and before the man could regain his balance, brought his knee up into the man’s stomach. He dropped like a stone, gasping. A hard tap from Mazer’s hilt on the man’s temple and he went down for good.
Taryn suddenly caught on to what Liri was suggesting. The kids had to have something to do with the way the pirates had communicated—and if they were kids, the leader had to be next to one of them, probably an older child, or perhaps an adult.
“Can you handle this side for a second?” Taryn asked Liri, but before she could answer he sheathed Mazer and morphing Ianna, sent four arrows into the men directly in front of them. Each of them hit in the shoulder so hard they flew backward, blasting others to the deck.
“Sure,” she said ruefully, “but only for a moment,” she added as another wave started climbing over the bobbing rail, daggers clenched in their teeth.
Taryn nodded and raced for what was left of the rigging. On the way he punched a man that was about to gut the captain but didn’t wait to see the man drop. Sheathing his mother’s sword, he leapt up the rigging as fast as he could. In a heartbeat he reached the nest, and in another instant he was running on the crossbeam towards the pirate ship. When he reached the end, he leapt up and out. Sailing through the air above the brutal fight below, he landed hard in a crouch—on the crossbeam of the neighboring ship!
Without hesitation, he stood and sprinted across the spar until he reached the end and leapt again to the next ship in line. In this manner he crossed all three ships until he came to the fourth and last pirate vessel. As he ran across each boat, he searched for and spotted a child next to each helmsman, but when he got the last one, he looked down and saw a haggard looking man chained to the rail. Beside him a large pirate stood, shouting orders laced with profanity.
Taryn paused for a moment and studied the pirate leader. Dressed in black leather, he had long black hair tied back and wore several knives as well as a rapier at his belt. From the deference the other pirates showed him, he appeared to be an epicenter of activity as other pirates jumped to do as he commanded. Seeing a route to the captain, Taryn looked for the fastest way down.
Still in his crouch from jumping onto the spar, Taryn slipped off the beam and dropped towards the deck over thirty feet below him. There was no rope to grab to slow his descent, so he landed hard and rolled forward to take most of the force. Finishing his roll he spun in a full circle with his leg extended and dropped two astonished pirates before they could draw their weapons. Giving the others no time to take action, he jumped up the steps to the pirate at the helm.
One man leapt towards him as he came up the stairs, but Taryn angled his body to the left and let the man’s sword glide harmlessly past him, an inch from his face. The pirate had evidently expected resistance, because he stumbled as he tried not to fall down the steps. Taryn easily slid past him and tapped the back of his head with his elbow to send him sprawling down the stairs. Racing forward towards the man at the helm, he drew Mazer and smacked the flat of the blade against the pirate’s sword hand, forcing him to drop his half-raised weapon. In an instant the long katsana was at the leader’s throat.
“Call off the attack,” Taryn said in a voice as hard as steel, and hoped the man didn’t call his bluff.
The pirate captain hesitated, at which Taryn dug the tip of his sword into his neck enough to draw blood and make him wince.
After a moment more, the man glared at Taryn and said, “You have no hope. I will have you killed before you can take two steps.”
The pirate captain’s eyes flicked to the left, and Taryn instinctively snapped his body around. Before his mind had time to register the danger, he had hooked a throwing knife from his belt and snapped it through the air to sink into the attacker’s arm with such force that it slammed him into the post behind him, sticking him fast while his loaded crossbow crashed to the deck.
Rotating back before anyone could even blink, Taryn removed his weapon from the man's throat only long enough to smack the flat of his blade into the pirate's face. The sheer speed and strength behind the thrown knife had left the men in view visibly shaken. The pirate captain shook his head and swallowed at the unwavering blade at his neck, eyes wide as he looked at the fire in Taryn’s.
“Tell everyone to retreat to their ships,” he spoke—not to his shipmates, but to the shabbily dressed man chained to the rail behind him. The prisoner closed his eyes and after a few moments Taryn could hear the sounds of battle slowly diminish, and then stop altogether.
In a flash of steel, Taryn drew Ianna and placed it at the pirate’s neck while at the same time he used his father’s sword to slice right through the chains that bound the man. Mazer glowed dimly blue as it cut the metal chains.
“Your prisoners are no longer yours,” Taryn said evenly. Without taking his eyes off the pirate in front of him he addressed the now released man: “Get the children onto our boat.”
The man nodded gratefully and left to gather the children. Out of the corner of his eye, Taryn wasn’t surprised to see the boys and girls be freed by their captors before the man reached them and work their way slowly over rails until they achieved the relative safety of the Sea Dancer.
“What are you going to do, hero?” the pirate said in front of him. “You can’t kill us all, can you? Come on . . . my name is Raize, I can make it worth your while if you—.”
“No!” Taryn cut him off. “Come with me, and tell your men to jump overboard as we go.”
Raize looked like he was about to argue, but a flick of Ianna at his throat and he called to his men to jump overboard. For several long seconds, no one moved. Truthfully, Taryn didn’t expect the pirates to listen. They were pirates, after all, but the way they had coordinated the attack told Taryn that there was something unified about this group, and after what seemed like an eternity of glancing back and forth, one of them dropped his weapon and jumped over the rail—encouraged by the tip of Mazer.
One by one, the others followed the first man into the sea. Several men looked like they were going to resist, but t
heir hesitation cost them. One moment was all Taryn needed to disarm them and kick them into the ocean. When they were done with the first ship, he retrieved his throwing knife and moved the captain from ship to ship, forcing the pirates of each vessel into the water. As he went, Taryn took the time to disable the helm and sails. Some hadn't seen him before and tried to resist, but Taryn blocked every attack with his father’s sword and simply knocked them overboard—all while maintaining Ianna at Raize’s throat.
Once he’d cleared all four ships on this side, he returned to his own. As he crossed with his prisoner, he told the captain to get ready to sail as quickly as possible. Every time Raize tried to speak, Ianna cut into his neck a little, making it clear that Taryn wasn’t there for conversation. It only took another couple of minutes to empty the last three ships of their crews. For good measure, he cut the sinking one loose from its neighbors. Without oarsmen or anyone to bail water out, it settled deep and began to tip, falling quickly behind.
As soon as he got back on the Sea Dancer with his pirate prisoner, the captain called out to cut them free from the pirate’s boats. As they began to pull ahead, their surviving crew rushed to repair the sail and rigging damaged in the battle. The experienced sailors worked fast to raise the ragged mainsail into the strong wind and they picked up speed. Before the Sea Dancer had even moved off, pirates began climbing back onto their ships, but there was no way they could fix the damage that Taryn had left in his wake—not in time to give chase.
Erix let out an explosive sigh as the pirate ships got smaller in the distance behind them. “Well done, mates. Hun, bind Taryn’s friend and take him below. Make sure he can’t get loose. I don’t want someone getting killed because he frees himself. Frey, lay the dead out on the deck and get the injured below as well. Tend to them as best you can.”
“I can help with the injured,” Mae said.
“I can too,” Trin offered.
“You are injured,” Liri said with a small smile as she noted a bleeding cut on his arm.
He smirked and shook his head, but followed Mae down to help with the wounded.
“Liri, would you take care of the prisoners that were freed?” the captain asked. She nodded and moved towards the man and the children who were huddled in one corner of the deck.
“Taryn, would you mind helping with the dead?” the captain asked soberly.
Taryn nodded and left the captain giving orders to other members of the crew. He helped Frey gather the sailors that had been killed in the attack, as well as any dead pirates, and lay them out on one side of the boat. Of the forty-two sailors, nine had been killed, twelve were severely injured, and almost everyone else had minor injuries. Few had survived unscathed.
As he sifted through some wreckage, Taryn heard a groan and moved a board to reveal the pirate he’d kneed in the stomach. He was a short man, and young too, barely out of his teens, with light hair and stubble on his chin. Taryn cleared some more debris until he could get to the man.
“I found a pirate, and he’s alive,” he called out.
“Cut his throat and toss him overboard,” a sailor said under his breath behind him, but the captain frowned.
“Tie him up as well, but keep him separate from the other one,” he ordered. “I don’t want them talking.”
After Taryn took care of the other pirate he returned to the deck to find the captain had asked the entire crew to meet together.
Once everyone was gathered, he began, “You all fought well. I was proud to fight alongside you.” He glanced around and gave a small smile. “We have survived for now, but we are in a tough situation. Our ship is damaged and almost half of our crew is either dead or too injured to help us sail home. From this moment on, every crew member is on double shifts.” A hard look at Taryn and his friends showed that they were included in that statement.
“No one is going to get much sleep over the next week, so pace yourselves.” He broke off and looked at the nine bodies that were lined up on the port side of the ship. Shaking his head he said, “We have lost some good men. Let us have a moment of silence for their sacrifice for us.”
Taryn joined in with the crew in remembering the dead and watched sadly as one by one their bodies were committed to the deep. The captain said a few things about each man that had perished before they were reverently slid into the ocean. As Taryn listened to his words, a numbness set into his mind at what had happened, and he found himself regretting something but not knowing what.
Just then, Liri leaned against him and he caught her soft look. Knowing she understood did make him feel better, but the faces of the men that had been killed would stick with him, and he found himself wishing there had been a way to win without bloodshed. Deep down he recognized that hadn’t been possible—but he still wondered if any one of the men lying in front of him would have survived if he’d slain any of the pirates.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of one of the children they’d rescued, and he looked at the young men and women crowding around the man. In that brief moment he understood a little of what his uncle had said about protecting the weak, and like a ray of light his profound sadness was softened by a warm feeling of having done something right. It didn’t completely dispel the emptiness of seeing so many men die, but at least it gave a reason for the price paid.
The captain finished his memorials, and the last of the dead sailors disappeared into the dark waters. Each man and woman contemplated the loss of the brave men whose blood stained the deck under their feet. These men had lost their lives so that others could live, and the living recognized the profound sacrifice.
By the end of the day, six more would join them.
Chapter 7: Thacker’s Tale
By the time they got the deck cleaned up, the sun was setting, and some of the crew were off to some much needed sleep. Taryn and his friends stood on the rail looking out at the fading light. No one had said much after the battle, with each person focused on the individual tasks to be accomplished, but with the breeze filling the sail and a beautiful sunset in view, it was difficult for the seasoned sailors and young fighters to dwell on the dead. In the end, it only took one remark to change the mood.
“I don’t think the pirates like Taryn very much,” Trin said.
Liri tried not to laugh. She even covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to stifle it.
Trin saw her and continued with a straight face, “Seriously. . .” He looked at Taryn with a sober expression, “What if they couldn’t swim?”
She couldn’t help it, and the sound of her lighthearted laughter floated across the ship like the cool breeze that pushed the vessel forward. The soft tinkling sound lifted the hearts of the surviving sailors and washed away the evil morning more effectively than anything else could have. Within a few moments sailors began talking again—subdued conversation, but at least it replaced the silence.
When she had gotten control of the giggles, Liri turned a serious expression on Taryn. “Why did that even work anyway?”
“I was wondering the same thing,” the captain spoke up behind them. They turned to see him striding towards them. “Pirates aren’t known for their loyalty. At the sight of their captain in trouble, someone should have tried to kill you both.”
Taryn returned the gaze of the captain and scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t know why they didn’t just go after me—but it wasn’t the only odd thing about the pirates. All of them grouped together like that is one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen. What would cause pirates to unite like that?”
That statement left all of them scratching their heads. Trin gave up first and blew out his breath in exasperation. “I don’t know either, but I’m happy for whatever it is. It certainly saved our skins today, anyway.”
Erix smiled and nodded in agreement.
“Perhaps we should get some answers,” Mae mused.
Liri looked at her and nodded, pursing her lips. “Hmm. Perhaps it is time to get some answers
from the family, if they are ready to talk.”
The captain was quick to agree. “Let’s go see if they’re awake. You aren’t the only ones with questions for them, but I do believe that the room they’re in is too small for all of us to have a quiet conversation. Why don’t I invite one of them to join us in my cabin? You can all meet me there.”
Several minutes later the man Taryn had rescued walked tiredly through the captain’s door and crumpled into the offered chair. As the four fighters and the captain found places to sit around the small office, Taryn took a moment to study the man. He hadn’t gotten much of a chance before, and the only thing he knew about him was that his name was Thacker. As he looked closer, he began to notice much more than he’d seen at first glance.
Thacker’s clothes were light and made of homespun material, and although they were quite dirty, looked to be stitched well, as if they had been tailored specifically for him. Probably made by someone close to him, a wife perhaps? Beyond his stained tunic, his hands and face were darkened by the sun in a way that could not have been recent. This was a man who worked outside frequently. Taryn wondered briefly if he was a farmer, or maybe a fisherman.
As he looked at the man’s face, Taryn felt his heart go out to him. He appeared to be exhausted, worn beyond compare. When he sat down he gave the impression of settling into the seat like he would never get up, like he lacked even the energy to stand. Bags under his eyes showed white through his tan and his hunched shoulders carried unseen weight.
The captain cleared his throat. “Thank you for being willing to talk to us and answer some questions. We will try to be brief so you can get some rest.”
Thacker nodded and blinked, trying to focus. “What would you like to know?”
