I am sorry, his eyes said.
Me too, said mine.
“They’re here,” said Echo abruptly, and all heads turned.“Three ships.Rhi’Ahr.”
I knew the look. He was cleerseeing, thoughtspinning, all the things he did that made him a mage.
“TheTouchstoneawaits the order to engage, sir.”
“Engage,” said Thanavar.
And the dining hall echoed with the boom of cannons.
26. Deep Waters
I remembered the sight of Hodgetown, shattered by cannon fire and burning like a matchbox. I remembered the screams from the docks and the chaos of fleeing seamen. I remember the smell of oil from the wharf and gunpowder. And I remember feeling grateful that I wasn’t in Hodgetown when the attack had come, for a city under siege is a horrible thing.
Cannon fire from threeRhi’Ahrships struck the city wall, smashing sandstone and raining blocks onto the docks below. Booths and shanties were shredded as balls tore through them, and wood shards blasted into the air like arrows. Palm trees cracked and statues toppled, and the entire city was alight with chimeric as it crackled between the buildings. Her ramparts fired back, dozens of long guns loosing lethal rounds over the water. I hoped a few hit their marks. There was no way theTouchstonecould meet all three.
The setting suns painted the harbor in gold as we ran, fear for our ship giving me strength I didn’t know I still had. We cast hold shields and protection spells while dodging chunks of stone that smashed all around us. Down the ramparts now, and I slowed to take stock of the port itself. With over a hundred guns, theRhi’Ahrships pounded the city. I immediately recognized theMarelethanwhen, behind her, theTouchstonerippled into view.
She brought her guns to bear on theMarelethanalone, executing a perfect rake and turning the mizzenmast, transom, and rudder to kindling as she swept behind. And then she was gone, veiled again in the hiding spell of sunsset and chaos. Other small ships had left their berths, creaking out into the bay to pepper the cruisers, but none were warships. Even with theTouchstone, they were sorely outgunned.
Thanavar stopped suddenly and whirled on Fahr and me.
“Aro’el, can you direct the chimeric?” he asked. “Not a hold or imbue spell, but can you channel it like a spear?”
“From here?” I barked over the roar of the cannons.
“No!” And he stretched out his arm, pointing to the shore. “Shoot it from there, in the water. Send it to one ship and one ship only. Burn the Forge out of her keel! Can you do that?”
“I can!”
“Go!”
Fahr grabbed my arm, and we raced down the ramparts and onto the rocky shore.
I stuffed my gloves into my sash and ran forward, sloshing to my knees in the water and plunging my arms up to the elbows. And again, just like that first day, the water boomed, and patterns swept out across the waves.
Focus, I told myself. Take out the keel. Burn it like a roasted kipper. Smoke it like a toasted eel.
There was no spell for that. And yet, in Bilgetown, I’d cast a bind/hold/protection spell to keep that floating mess together. The chimeric leaned into wylde magik, and I was as wylde as they came. Besides, I had brought Devanhan Fahr back from the dead. Surely, I could fry a keel.
I closed my eyes and imagined the water. I imagined I was a shark, swimming through the currents, setting my sights on the darkness of the hull and the blade that was her rudder. I could see the barnacles that covered her like the pox, their ragged shells and razor plates. And there, the smooth fin that ran beneath that was her keel.
My hands were throbbing, but no spear was sent, and I realized what I lacked.
“Spin it!” I barked. “Spin the water! Give the chimeric a path!”
He sloshed into the water next to me and began casting tight circles, his fingers sparking with rune. The chimeric shot frommy hands, rippling through the deep as though channeled.
It struck the keel, and patterns burned their way across her timber, all glowing embers and oil and spark.Terrebith Faewas her name. I knew it the moment the chimeric touched her, searing the keel from both sides until they met, turning the timber to ash. Then, it was gone, chimeric dissipating into the sea and turning the keel to ash along with it. But even still, her sails billowed, her cannons boomed, and she swept through the waters, defiant and proud. I dropped to my knees in the salt waves, sighing at what had been a bull of a plan.
But suddenly, her masts jerked hard, her cannons fell silent, and an ominous crack echoed across the bay. My heart leaped as theTerrebith Faebegan to roll.
TheTouchstoneappeared then, smashing holes in her hull with the heavy cannons, the chimeric devouring her from the shot I had laced. As she tilted, the angry fleet of private ships fell upon her, loosing their batteries and swarming her bulwarks. I knew that, soon, the entire crew of theTerrebith Faewouldfeed the fishes of Corvallan Bay.
TheTouchstoneswept back toward theMarelethan, passing her with a volley from starboard cannons. TheMarelethanwas larger and heavier armed, and she had no issue responding with a barrage from two decks at once. TheTouchstone’s gunwale and second deck shattered, and I prayed for the boys to be safely down. Chase guns next, but the Ship of Spells disappeared from view, and theRhi’Ahrshots splashed into the waves. TheMarelethanchanged tack and banked hard, cutting her losses and sweeping out to sea.
