CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Tell me more about the creature. All may not be as it seems.
—Hidden correspondence from Khato to Bayne. 20thof Summer, 071.3E.
Isprinted to the small cabin below deck, strapping on the double leather scabbard and gathering my bow and quiver. My hands shook as bloody images of Odessa flooded my mind. I squeezed my palms shut as the Obscura raced through my veins, pounding for its release. My stomach dipped at the thought of letting it loose in a battle once again, putting our own soldiers at risk as I remembered the piles of ash and unintended lives I took. I wouldn’t allow that to happen again. I’d fight without this power as long as I could.
Elven sailors took up positions above deck with lethal efficiency. Vienah found me a moment later, and I ushered her and Carina below deck.
Carina wholly ignored me and moved across the deck to converse with the captain at the quarterdeck. The three crow’s nests held two archers each, and twenty more lined the prowrails of the deck. The remaining crew members took up positions below deck, taking aim with the dozens of air cannons on board. Elven mages spaced themselves out in the center deck, strengthening the shield as we hurtled toward the ship.
Vulcan moved to the foremast crow’s nest, earning an earful of rumblings before he silenced them with a look. He took aim, two arrows already nocked. I found Ronan and the others near the stern, armed and ready for whichever Lord of Marisarma sailed toward us in the approaching ship.
I squinted, trying as best I could to make out the ship. A carved, wooden female broke through the fog, framed by six hideous serpentine creatures that sprang from where her legs should have been. TheScylla.
The monstrous figurehead ripped through the waves as the captain shouted, “Hold!”
Nerissa loosed a breath beside me, glancing to Ronan. He nodded, his mouth forming a thin line.
“We need to play this carefully,” Ronan muttered a warning. “If Lord Astraeus has been in touch with the captain of theScylla, he’ll know.”
His eyebrows raised at Nerissa as she pursed her lips.Shit. My stomach sank at the thought. Lord Astraeus knew exactly what power Nerissa wielded.
TheScyllacleared the fog, and the looming Marisarma flag flapped into the misty light. The crimsonMrippled like blood against the black fabric as the mages’ blasts of wind careened into its shield.
A deafening boom echoed as theScyllafired three air canons at our ship. We rocked as they bounced off the shield, our mages standing with legs braced and brows furrowed in concentration. A volley of arrows followed, their metal tips bouncing off the complex elven shield.
“Fire!” the elven captain commanded from the helm.
Canons erupted from below, shaking the deck. I widened my stance as Ronan caught my elbow, steadying me. A volley of arrows followed the cannons, aimed at the precise location where the cannonballs met theScylla’sshield to weaken it.
My thoughts scattered as Vulcan shouted, “FIRESHIP!Starboard!”
My gaze shot to the right, where a raging fire blazed through the waves. A foreign wind pushed the burning ship toward us. The center mage flung his hands up toward the sails, sending us flying the other direction.
I lost my balance at the maneuver, scuffing my knees against the smooth wooden deck and scrambling to get upright as theCenturionbarely skirted past the approachingScylla. The burning ship careened into the shield behind the stern, sending a ripple of damage up the invisible defense. A barrage of cannons and arrows rained down from both ships.
“Fix that!” the captain shouted at the rear mage, but the elf had been knocked unconscious.
The remaining mages were red in the face as they poured energy into repairing the shield that had been damaged by the flames.
Shouts erupted from the starboard side of the deck as I struggled to my feet. I staggered, thumping back on my knees, as all attention moved to theScylla, now a mere twenty feet from our ship.
Another volley of cannonballs rocked our ship, and a second mage fell limp, passing out from the power needed to sustain the shield against the attack.
“Your Highness!” the captain shouted in warning.
Carina strode past the unconscious mage in the center of the deck and steepled her hands. A massive shudder of wind ripped through theCenturionas the young princess locked her own shield into place. Nerissa’s eyes widened as she took in hercousin, power rippling from her small frame. The third mage, still standing, shook his hands out in relief as he moved to the rail, sending blasts of wind against theScylla.
I reached the port side of the deck, clinging to the rail as the two ships continued to pummel the others' shields. I scrambled up the side of the rail, ready to brace for the inevitable impact.
My eyes briefly scanned the small islands in the distance before my stomach sank, and I bellowed, “Hydraincoming!”
There was no doubt in my mind it was Lord Astraeus’s blue coat that flashed at the prow of another ship approaching from the west. Vulcan echoed my cry, and then quickly corrected it.
“Marisarma ships!KrakenandCetusfrom the south.Hydrafrom the west!”
My heart lodged in my throat.Three more ships.I threw a glance to the south, where two more ships stalked us in the distance.
