AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jonas roared in vengeful delight when the first crack of splintered wood shattered the bowsprit. Again, and again, cinder stones collided with the mast, the hull, the rails. A direct hit to the center sail punctured a gaping wound through the angled canvas.
Aleksi whooped and hooked an arm around Mira’s neck as they cheered until what looked like black tides misted around the sails, the masts, the hull.
My heart stilled when Larsson’s vessel simply faded like the spray of the sea.
Then came Erik’s voice, calm, dark, urgent. “Down! Take cover.”
I faltered back a step. With a riotous roll of waves, the phantom ship split through a wall of water. Hulls slammed against hulls. Wood and bone groaned and protested. Screams of crewmen clinging to the rails, tumbling into the sea, burned in my skull.
“Make ready to board!” Tait, Erik, maybe it was Aleksi who’d called the command.
Board. This was the moment I’d feared and craved since Larsson Bonekeeper stole me from my king.
Dread and anger burst from my chest in a cry against the rain. Decks of the enemy ship were so close, I could see the silver buttons along the gambesons and cloaks of the elven folk. Black sails crashed with crimson. Rigging tangled with masts and sails. Both ships rocked and swayed, finding their bearings in such close range.
Chaos wrapped around the deck.
I needed to stand by Erik, needed to ready our blades. Burly arms surrounded me, covering my head, before I had a chance to reach for my king.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
THE SERPENT
Valen abandonedthe helm when Larsson’s ship crashed against ours. He’d covered Livia; I breathed again.
“Reload!” I shouted in a snarl so ragged it scraped like slivers along my throat. My arms yanked on the helm, drawing the bow about—an attempt to break free of the hold from Larsson’s hull. “Keep the wind in those sails, you bastards!”
A brilliant flash of lightning speared through the heady billows of swirling clouds. Drenched from Stormbringer’s rain, my men covered the ember spear touch holes, desperate to keep the flame alive to fire.
“A little more, Finn!” Celine cried, then to Stieg. “Prove what earth fae can do, Warrior.”
Both Stormbringer and Stieg had hooked one arm around rope near the rails, then lifted their palms. Gusts of frosted wind swept across the deck, snapped at crimson sails. Groans and shouts of surprise lifted to the skies when dips and lulls of the sea rocked the ship. Stormbringer gritted his teeth, tense and on the verge of giving out.
Celine sprinted over the rails like a wraith in the night and heldtightly to his waist, embracing him. Mouth half opened to curse and spit my rage, I swallowed it back.
Stormbringer let his shoulders drop, and the sea rolled violently.
His song was growing. Enough that the bow of the Ever Ship tilted and slid away, giving a bit of space between the two decks.
Some crewmen from the deck had tumbled into the thrashing waves. Others aboard the elven vessel had been swallowed into a pit of needle teeth and siren songs. Merfolk lunged from the waves for men on the rigging and rails of the phantom ship.
Peaceful looking most days, fearsome and beastly when they fought. Retractable claws extended like curved branches on their long limbs.
My fingers ached around the handles when I recognized Nixie, a loyal maid, who spent too much time attempting to get my crew to take a swim. She hissed and snapped her sharp teeth, hooking her barbed fingers into the belly of an elven man dangling by a rope over the edge of the ship.
I needed to get to Larsson. My voice was rough as chipped glass when I bellowed, “Make ready!”
Spears on starboard, make ready!
Steady on, me boys!
Aim for the head or them cocks!
Commands and warnings flowed up the deck. The din fierce and deafening, I could hardly take note upon which ship the orders were leveled. We had our ember spears, but—
“Dark tides, little eel!” Sewell cupped his hands around his mouth, hollering and pointing at the elven ship.
Dark tides—danger on the water.
