“Why the hell you runnin’ drills, if you’ll just sod off about it?”
The horse took a swig of rum, his hooved feet clattering alongthe rail.“Oh, I just miss the navy, love.Them were proper times.Now it’s all magic this and spell thatand, Ivtarr’s cock, themwizards are just stealing all the—”
“Welton!”Vance replied.“Shut your hole!Load them cannons,ya drunken bastard!”
The horse blew a whinny.“Aye, captain!”
“Presly!”Vance shouted, turning.“Ten degrees to port!Bareit slow!”
Slumped over the helm, an elderly coyote raised a hand ofacknowledgement, using his other to dig biscuit crumbs from his chops.Preslyturned the large, spoked wheel with all the grace of a man walking in hissleep.
Vance returned the spyglass to Isaac.“Just a warnin’ shot, sir mage.They’re privateers.Would not dogood to kill Giovanna’s pardoned pirates, despite the want.”
Isaac made a salute.
Vance frowned.“Don’t do that.”
He saluted again.“Aye, capt!”
The otter snorted, fairly amused.She clapped him on theback as she passed towards the stern, expertly ducking beneath the swingingwall of the foresail.
Isaac raised the spyglass again, trying to judge thedistance between the ships.It was obvious, even to an untrained eye, that theprivateer vessel was on a hard course of pursuit, banking to intercept thembetween their stern and broadside, where they couldn’t easily return fire.Theymight not even bother raising the black flag—currently, they had draped thestandard of the feline queen across their foresail, depicting the piercinggreen eye of her royal majesty Giovanna IX, as well as a pedigree of snarlinggriffins and tridents of arms.It was the same flag that theArms of Hornhad raised herself.An inattentive observer might assume the interloper onlywanted to talk.
Isaac knew better by now.He judged the distance between thetwo vessels, doing some mental trigonometry.
If he could angle the spell—
“Isaac!Assistance!”
He turned to the sound of Zaria’s voice, just in time to seea rainbow of feathers rush towards his face.The tropical bird—a parrot, as hehad heard the name—barely avoided slashing him with its talons as it flutteredand squawked back into the open air, quickly flying up to roost in the lookoutpost above the back mast.Several leopard boys swung through the rigging,attempting to grab the bird, but it repeatedly flew off to a new perch,refusing to be caged.Isaac was horrified.It had taken him six days of hardbushwacking to collect this specimen, the process of which had cost him untoldsuffering in sweat, rashes, and bug bites, and he would not see the effort goto waste.
“Grab it!”Isaac shouted to the leopards.“Grab the bird!”
Below, the top deck of theArms of Hornhad become achaos of fleeing animals, their shapes rushing headlong from the depths of thehold.Fire-breathing rats rushed between the legs of the deckhands, singeingthe wet planks as they scattered.A pair of chelicerae appeared from the shadowof the hold as a megaspider peered through the doorway, blinking a dozenglittering eyes.At the helm, the elderly coyote—Presly—was trying to pet ayoung cockatrice while it nibbled on his coat.He seemed to be succeeding.
Isaac saw more movement from the hold.Something largeslammed into the megaspider, nearly cracking its thorax.There was a flurry offur, spikes, and wings.
“Isaac!”
Zaria emerged onto the top deck while riding on the back ofa manticore.Neither of them were enjoying the experience.The human facesnarled, the lion body twisted, and the scorpion tail was flailing and stabbingin equal measure, trying to wrest her from its spine.The hyena was wrappedaround its neck, trying to wrestle it down, but the chimera charged ahead,slamming through a tangle of deckhands, unfurling a canvas of thorny wings.Itwas trying to take flight, scattering the fiery rats with the wind of itsascent.
“No!”the manticore screamed, in the pitch-perfect tone of ahuman woman.“No, please, no!”
Isaac blasted the manticore with a gust of wind.He caughtthe chimera on one of its wings, and the force of the spell sent itcorkscrewing through the air, tilted off-balance.Still wrapped tightly aroundits neck, Zaria twisted, heaved with all her strength, and slammed it down intothe deck.The chimera thrashed, its lion body tearing through the planks.Zariaregained her footing and wrenched its head back as far as it could go, tryingto reattach the muzzle to its human face.Its tail reared back for a strike.
“Give me some fuckin’ help, Isaac!”
Isaac decided not to care about the specimen.He sharpenedlight into his palm and swiped it as a lance, slicing off the chimera’s tail.The manticore screamed in a sickening facsimile of a human voice.In one lastburst, the chimera attempted to bolt across the top deck, but Zaria yanked itdown by the strap of its leather muzzle.She kicked one of its knees, heaved tothe side, and flipped the beast onto its back.Half the hands immediately piledatop it.
After a few frantic screams, the manticore lay still on thewet planks of the top deck, its human voice mewling in fear.Zaria locked anarm around its throat, breathing raggedly.Isaac approached with a beam oflight still cocked in his hand.
“Are you alright?”he asked.
“Oh,” she said, managing a smile.“Like a cunt in silk,squire.You know that.”
“No,” the manticore whimpered.“No, please, no.”
At Isaac’s side, Captain Vance approached with a pistol, thesmooth bore aimed directly at the chimera’s face.“Step aside, boatswain.”
