The Queen's Dirk, Part 4
A Novella by Diane Morrison ~ WorldAnvil Exclusive!
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Missed the beginning? Part 1 is here Part 2 is here Part 3 is here.
Part 4
Shaundar had no time to think about the casualties for now. They were just about on top of the rest of the fleet. “Captain!” gasped Shaundar, “I’m going to buzz the leader!” “Good, Mr. Sunfall!” acknowledged Captain Oleander. “Mages to the decks and prepare crew strikes! Aft weapons; return shot on the ship directly on our six only!” Shaundar felt the pounding of boots on his decks as the crew mages ran for topsides. He could hear them beginning their incantations. In the meantime, the artillery crews with rear-facing weaponry returned shot, though the “stinger” ballista was a little slow on the draw. Two of the three connected, but they only dented the hull. “Sails!” the Captain called. “Prepare to roll one-eighty larboard on Mr. Sunfall’s mark.” “Aye, sir!” “Mages! When you see the enemy’s deck above you, fire!” “Aye, sir!” Shaundar could make out Yathar’s voice among the responses. The lead ship was closing fast. The gun-captain bellowed, “Forward weapons; shoot!” The ballistae in the eye-ports, the foreward ballista, and the catapult all let fly. But their enemy must have shot at the same moment. Miraculously, their catapult stone and one of those fired from the orc-ship collided and sprayed debris everywhere. Neither found a target. Shaundar bellowed, “Roll!” The crew hauled up the sails to dead center. The second stone clipped the railing surrounding the fo’c’sle. A bolt missed entirely as they rolled around its trajectory. Then they were upside down to the other ship and passing over it as their bolts punctured its bridge with the groaning of torn metal. The Captain called, “Mages! FIRE!” Lightning bolts and fireballs, along with something viscous that was impossible to make out through ship senses, slammed into the deck of the enemy ship. For a moment, orc and elf eyes met as they stared up at each other. Then one of the fireballs ignited the splattered substance. As they finished the pass, the elves could see plumes of thick black smoke already fouling orcish air. The flames spread to the sails. “Nicely done, and well done to whoever cast that grease spell!” the Captain complimented them. Yathar laughed. “Thank you, sir!” The ship on their tail barely managed to pull up in time to avoid a head-on collision with the burning Hornet. But since the burning ship’s crew was blinded, it made no effort to avoid the inadvertent ramming maneuver. Some of the now-burning rigging got caught on the rudder of the other ship and the smoke began to poison their air as well. Then Queenie was almost on top of the last three ships, the ones that had been the slowest in the initial pursuit. “Hard starboard!” Shaundar banked sharply right and passed between two of them. “Shoot at will!” the Captain called out. The keel-mounted ballistae each took a pot-shot at the two ships they passed between, while the catapult swiveled to the aft and let fly on their smoldering pursuer at the same time as the “stinger.” None of the forward-facing weapons had a good target, so they held their shot. Shaundar couldn’t tell whether the ships they’d passed between had taken any damage, and the stinger missed. But with amazing good fortune, the catapult stone aimed at their pursuer carried burning rigging with it into the hole it punched in the cargo hold. Something inside exploded. The entire quarterdeck flew into space in flak and splinters, destroying their ballista and setting the ship ablaze. The two ships they had passed between returned shot, but they could each only bring a single catapult to bear. One stone missed. The other rolled along the bottom of the hull and smashed the landing gear out from underneath the Shrike. She jerked against Queenie’s belly with a crash. “You and you; help Mr. Oakheart tie that down!” commanded the Captain. “Captain!” the yeoman yelled out. “The two burning ships have struck their colours!” Queenie’s crew shouted their approval. “Good work!” Captain Oleander said. “Now let’s worry about the ones that are left. Hard to port, Mr. Sunfall.” “Hard to port, aye!” He veered left. The sail crew heaved to accordingly. “Larboard weapons, loose!” cried the Captain as they swung around the hindmost of the enemy ships trying to turn away. Both aft ballistae and the light ballista in the portside eye let fly as they passed by. They didn’t seem to do any appreciable damage to the ship, but they did scatter the weapons crews on the decks, preventing return shot. Shaundar could see their previous ballista bolt had made a small hole as well. Rolling naturally to port, they passed over one of the ships of the second flotilla that had not been damaged yet, once again facing deck to deck. “Mages, fire!” Captain Oleander commanded. Once again a magical holocaust rained down upon the beleaguered orcs. One of the enemy’s catapults went up as though someone had covered it in powder and struck a match. Queenie’s catapult and forward ballista twanged as they flew by. Both missiles scoured the weapons deck and scraped off a couple of orcs. “Finish the roll, Mr. Sunfall!” the Captain said. Shaundar did so, feeling gravity shift as they passed over the other ship. This brought their starboard weapons to bear on another Hornet, which was almost on top of the one they were blowing up with magic. Shaundar realized this was the heavily damaged ship they had pounded on earlier with the missing catapult, no ladder, and several ballista punctures. “Starboard weapons, shoot!” the gunny cried. The fore-mounted ballista punched another bolt into it, while the light one in the starboard eye tore sails and knocked down an orc. This proved to be the figurative nail in the coffin. The larger bolt struck the stern of the ship, sheering it off. The Hornet broke up after that. “Loose the stinger!” cried the gunny. Their stinger ballista drove a bolt directly into the ship they had blasted with spells. Within seconds it was striking its colours as well. Out of nowhere came another insectoid ship, which made to ram. “Evasive maneuvers!” the Captain said. Shaundar was already moving, spinning out of its path. One of its mandibles, which had been gored with several long marks, sheared off some of their rigging. Shaundar realized this ship was the one that had accidentally rammed its fellow. It had finally managed to pull itself free. “Hard to port!” Captain Oleander commanded. The sail crew had a little more difficulty responding with part of their sails tattered, but they managed to tack Queenie along the Airt to come up on their attacker’s stern. “Bring ‘er up on their starboard side,” the Captain told Shaundar. “Marines, stand by to board!” “Aye, sir!” they all acknowledged in unison. Yathar drew his sword and perched at the ready. His other hand curled into a ball. A spot of light formed in it. The other wizards also began their incantations. The warrior marines readied crossbows in one hand and boarding axes in the other. Other crewmates prepared boarding pikes or grapples and stood beside them. With the Sailmaster shivering a sail here and hauling one close there, Shaundar managed to pilot his way gingerly through the debris of the shattered ship to come up slightly beneath their attacker’s center of gravity, where its whirlpool formed spiral arms. None of its armaments were in any position to shoot at them as they made their approach, for fear of taking out their own people as well. The gravitational Airts of the elven ship reached tendrils out to the spiral arms of the orcish one, for all the Universe like joining hands. When they aligned gravity wells, they found a line of orcs standing on the quarterdeck with crossbows aimed down at them. The elves let fly with their spells and crossbows. Several orcs grunted or howled and fell from view. The orcs also let fly and a few elves screamed, struck with bolts. Blood splattered. It was hard to tell if anything might be lethal. Yathar released a blast from his hand. It exploded on the deck and electrocuted a handful of their foes. Without even waiting for the grapples to finish connecting he yelled, “Follow me!” and leaped onto one of the legs that served as oars. Crossbow bolts fell all around him as he ran up the leg and vaulted onto the enemy ship with a leap and a tumble. Then he began to dance on the deck of the enemy ship with a song in his throat. His sword blurred into a graceful fan of moving steel. Orcs and goblins began to die around him. To his credit, the Commander was right behind Yathar. More marines quickly joined them. As swords and spells began to fly, Shaundar lost his awareness of them. “Hold position, Mr. Sunfall!” the Captain said, and Shaundar did. He waited for the three remaining ships to attack. But the attack never came. It felt like forever, waiting there, holding Queenie as steady as he could in the Airt-flow. But his watch told him only a few minutes passed before the colours were struck on the boarded hornet-ship. “I count three surrendered, three sunk, one boarded!” the Captain said. “That leaves three more. Where are they?” It was Garan who replied. “Skipper, I think they’re routing!” He had his spyglass pointed towards the edge of the band of rings. Captain Oleander peered through his own glass. He smiled. “Confirmed! Mr. Sunfall, do you think you can catch them?” “Are they out of the rings yet, sir?” “Aye, Mr. Sunfall. They just reached the outer edge.” “Then no, sir, I don’t think I can,” he admitted. The Captain nodded. “All right, all hands not otherwise engaged, board the enemy ship and help the marines take prisoners. Lieutenant Naliatha, see to the butcher’s bill. Mr. Oakheart, I need a damage report. See the Druid gets it so that we can start repairs immediately.” He smiled broadly and clapped the shoulder of the yeoman, who happened to be the nearest crew-member to him. “Congratulations, shipmates; we have won the day!” The whooping and cheering rattled Queenie’s windows. Shaundar could not believe they had succeeded! He found himself trembling and pale with adrenaline. His stomach lurched and he grabbed the chamber-pot and vomited into it. But instantly he felt better. “How are you doing, lad?” came the Captain’s voice from the door. Embarrassed, and worried that the Captain would think him a coward, he hid the chamber-pot behind the helm. “I’m all right, sir.” Captain Oleander came over and put a hand on his shoulder. His eyes fell for a moment on the chamber-pot, but he said, “That was a fine piece of flying, Mr. Sunfall. I’m sure we wouldn’t have gotten away as clean as we did without you. Well done.” Shaundar smiled back thinly. “Thank you, sir.” “I need you to continue to man the helm for a few more hours. Are you able to do that?” “I’ll man the helm as long as I need to, sir.” The Captain chuckled. “I have every confidence you will, Mr. Sunfall! Good then, I’ll send someone back in about an hour to see what you might require.” “Thank you, sir,” Shaundar said with gratitude. “Carry on!” Shaundar saluted.
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The Queen's Dirk, Part 5
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