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I find three men at a cannon, pull them under my spell. It’s not hard to project a new image into their minds, make them think the bottom of their own ship is actually mine. They start to pull the cannon away from the gun port, aim it at the base of their own ship.
But then I lose one. He was killed by his own men once they noticed what he was up to. I grab another man, have him help with the task. One finally manages to clean out the carriage, another reaches for a cannonball, but I lose all three of them. Someone is putting up a good fight over there. Luckily, though, it’s pulling the rest of the gunmen away from their own cannons as they try to stop their fellow men from blowing holes in their ship. I keep them busy, seeking out live men when the previous ones die, just like I did at Vordan’s inn.
Sorinda races toward me, ducking behind the barrier we’ve fashioned. With four of us, we’re all pressed shoulder to shoulder.
“Acura eels have surfaced,” she says.
I smile. “How many?”
“At least two. One is enormous.”
“Perfect.”
I switch tactics, singing to the men on the top deck, enchanting them to jump into the water. As soon as they leap, I release them, searching for men still aboard the ship with my voice.
“Keep firing,” I tell Riden and Niridia. I grab another loaded musket and an extra pistol, then race with Sorinda over to her previous position, blocked from attack by barrels storing freshwater.
I peer into the sea.
Men shriek as the eels circle them. The eels like to toy with their food first. It’s when they dive below the surface that one needs to worry. That’s when they’re readying to charge. They’redeadly carnivores that spend most of their time on the sea bottom, sensing for disturbances in the water.
Their nostrils stand out prominently, giving them an even fiercer look. They’re navy blue on the top half, white on the bottom: the perfect camouflage, not that they need it.
Acura eels are far worse than sharks. Sharks only kill when they’re hungry. But eels—they don’t leave anything alive, whether hungry or not.
One of the eels currently in the water must be at least twelve feet, teeth twice the length of a finger. Tylon’s men swim desperately for the ship, clinging to its sides—before they’re dragged under.
I can’t sing and fire at the same time, and the men at the gun ports are back to loading the cannons. I reach for them with my song once more, and I finally enchant one of the men to light the fuse at the cannon pointed downward.
I hear the blast seconds later, and it brings a smile to my face. That’ll keep the gunmen busy as they try to stopper the hole.
My father is visible from this vantage point. His voice bellows over the sounds of my ship’s cannons firing again.
I spot one of Tylon’s men right next to him. With my song, I promise him riches lie in the water if he’ll only jump. My father watches as the man tosses himself overboard.
An eel circles him, spinning the current around him, before diving. Seconds later it drags his scream under the water.
Kalligan searches my ship. When his eyes land on me, they narrow.
I wish I could take Father out, but he’s too skilled of a fighter. He’d only be momentarily distracted if I sent men to fight him. And it would take all of my focus just to keep him busy.
A breeze ripples across my forehead as I utter one last note, sending three more men overboard, and my song officially runs out.
But my father doesn’t know that yet, and I hear one word rise out of the chaos.
“Retreat!”
He’s done playing with us. Now we’ll face the fleet as soon as he and Tylon’s ship are out of the way.
I wipe the sweat from my forehead, shoot my musket at another man through a gun port, just as another comforting breeze wafts over my heated skin.
The breeze…
“Riggers! Get those sails down!” I shout.
The girls leave their safe places to race for the masts. Riden hurries to join them.
“Not you, Riden! Keep shooting!” I tell him.
