The Reckoning and the smaller Sarrik courier, the Swiftsure , are grappled together in the channel just off Islay Cay now. The pirates have slung ropes to the main deck of the blue-painted Sarrik vessel. The spring day is sunny and bright, the sea calm and green, the current swift.
Rhyll is on the rail, ready to lead the boarding party over the side. About fifty pirates, wielding swords, spears, clubs, axes, and pikes, are eager to cross. The boarding action will leave only a skeleton crew behind. The gap between the vessels widens from six to ten feet and back as the ships roll and jostle on the waves.
Candra and Kell stand close to Rhyll, one at each shoulder. Over two score eager men form loose ranks around the three. Behind all, Prilehn, a slim Reith woman with her long hair in a single braid down her back, forms a half-dozen archers into a small rank.
Dacien ties his rope off to a belaying pin and leaps atop the Reckoning' s pinrail, balancing there, awaiting the signal from Rhyll.
Baj moves to the head of the ladder leading from the quarterdeck to the main deck, barring the way to any bluecoats that might attempt a boarding action of their own.
A squad of Sarrik archers climbs into the tops of the Swiftsure, taking aim on the boarding party.
Baj calls out over the decks, "Deeshon! Prilehn! Archers in the tops! Fire at will!"
Rhyll turns to Candra and Kell and says, "Follow me to the quarterdeck. We'll take the Captain and make this quick." Raising his cutlass, he cries out to his men, "Forward, you sea dogs, the prize is ripe for the taking!" With that, he leaps across the gap.
Dacien leaps across the chasm between the ships and flies into the fray.
Rhyll skips across the grappling line like a circus tightrope walker, landing perfectly on the courier's maindeck. He takes a quick look around and, with a grin, he snarls, "Yield to the Reckoning, dogs, and maybe we'll spare your worthless lives!"
The bluecoats are ready for you. Their grey-bearded Captain, on the quarterdeck at the stern, slashes with his rapier, giving a signal, and the archers send a deadly torrent of arrows into the mass of pirates now storming the ship.
Three Sarrie marines, wielding long, heavy falchions, charge Rhyll. "We'll not yield, you vermin! You meet your death today!"
Rhyll swirls his cutlass around with a flourish and shouts back, "Ah, my first victims of the day!" He sidesteps, turns, and trips the first marine in mid-charge. The man stumbles, flying headlong over the rail and splashing into the frothing water below. Rhyll parries a blow from the second marine, but the third man's falchion drives home, slashing Rhyll under the ribs and opening a bloody gash.
Two more marines crowd close around Dacien. The marines' falchions hack and slash at the Tobon, but Dacien nimbly dodges both attackers.
Rhyll gives no notice to the gash on his chest, turning to meet his foes, "You'll have to do better than that! Now taste my steel!" Rhyll's cutlass opens the second marine's belly just under his ribs and the man pitches forward, dead before he hits the deck.
As the Sarrik archers rain arrows down on the boarding party, Baj yells, "Port side, even numbers, FIRE!"
In the rigging of the Reckoning , Deeshon and two other crewmen aim crossbows and return fire while below, on the main deck, Prilehn and her archers do the same. Bolts and arrows wing their deadly way into the tops of the courier, slashing flesh and sails.
At the scorpions, crewmen loose their deadly bolts. The massive projectiles slam into the maintops above the fighting, delivering swift death to some of the archers crouched there.
Dacien looses his chain and spins it in a vicious figure-8 in front of himself, "Come and get some, ya blue-bellies!" He lashes out and his chain wraps around a marine's neck. The man tries to grab at the weapon with one hand while he slashes at the Tobon with the other.
With an ear-piercing Urag shriek, Candra drives one of her swords through the heart of Dacien's second foe.
The squad of marines press their desperate attack, but the main body of sailors behind them seems to be wavering and on the verge of panic as more pirates arrive.
Rhyll tries to block a blow, but fails, taking a bloody cut to his cheek. He gives ground under the renewed assault, his back to the rail.
Dacien evades the marine's desperate strike, but two more are right behind, bearing down on him and Candra in the narrow space before the mainmast.
Rhyll looks around and sees a line dangling from a yardarm. He jumps up onto the rail, grabs the line and swings into the nearest bluecoat slashing at him. As he goes by he yells, "You should have given up when you had the chance! Time to meet your maker, mate!" His cutlass slices off the marine's head, and it tumbles over the rail into the sea. His body staggers forward and Kell, nearby, shoves the beheaded corpse overboard.
Dacien snaps his chain loose from the marine's neck and whips both ends around in a brutal twin arc at one of the two Marines coming at his back.
Candra, at Dacien's shoulder, whirls to deal with the other marine.
Dacien's chain whacks one of the marines in his left temple, sending him sprawling over some barrels of fresh water.
Rhyll sprints past the shocked sailors, gaping at the sight of so much blood, and heads for the quarter deck to face the Captain.
Aboard the Reckoning, as more pirates crowd aboard the smaller ship, Erris leaps across the gap, rolling to his feet acrobatically and drawing his rapier. The maindeck about him swarms with pirates and bluecoated sailors, and a few Sarrik marines. One of the marines, an old sergeant, whirls his falchion at Erris as he comes on.
Erris, a gleam of death in his eyes, readies his long, deadly blade. As the old marine sergeant slashes at the young man's head, Erris parries the heavier sword easily, ripostes, and sinks his blade into his foe's eye. The man slumps forward, without a sound, and collapses to the rolling deck at Erris' feat.
Erris says, "That will teach you, old man, to fight the likes of me."
Another marine yells furiously at Erris, "You'll pay for that, boy!"
Aft, on the quarterdeck, the grey-beared Sarry Captain seems to be busy with a dark-haired woman. He's shielding her, urging her below, but she seems unafraid of the pirates swarming the deck. She turns away for a moment, then strikes steel to flint and lights a small fire on the quarterdeck, which she then stomps out.
Rhyll is scrambling up the short ladder to the quarterdeck. A Sarrik officer moves to intercept him, a two-handed boarding pike in his hands. The pike impales Rhyll under the armpit as Rhyll reaches the top of the ladder, but the young man fights on.
Kell pushes past two dead marines, trying to join Rhyll on the deck, but his path is blocked by the swirl of battle.
Rhyll dances away from the Sarrie officer, feints a fall, then comes up with a thrust of his cutlass. "To the Far Fields with you, dog!" Rhyll's sword slices open the man's leg, but with a sneer, the foe whirls his pike and readies his next attack.
"It'll take more than that to kill me, you vermin!", the officer shouts.
On the Reckoning, Captain Tyree holds the rudder steady, keeping the ships from colliding.
The archers in the Reckoning's rigging and on her deck fire once more, killing the last of the Sarrie archers.
Dacien spins back to his original target and snaps his chain at the man in a wicked slice. As the stunned marine rises, Dacien's second blow smashes his skull open, and he topples, dead, before the mainmast.
Kell, Candra and Vendig shove past three marines lying wounded and bleeding. Vendig grins as he swings his wicked flail into the man's shoulder, crushing it and laughing cruelly as the man drops his own weapon before falling back onto the deck. The other sailors are backing away from Kell, Candra, Vendig and the other pirates, hoping that if they don't resist, they won't be slaughtered.
Erris says, "My blade is thirsty again!" He wipes the blood off his blade on his shirt and looks towards the oncoming furious marine.
The charging soldier is whirling his heavy falchion above his head, eyes bulging with rage. Erris says, "In a hurry for your death?"
As the furious marine charges, roaring incoherently, Erris waits for his moment, then reaches out with the tip of his blade and opens the man's throat. As blood runs down his neck and belly, he gapes wide eyed at Erris, then collapses before the young Reith.
Erris says, "Two for me!"
The Sarrie officer on the quarterdeck looms over Rhyll on the deck. He takes the pike in both hands and tries to impale Rhyll through the belly, but Rhyll rolls clear of the strike.
Dacien grins a lopsided grin as he faces his last foe, "Drop the blade, laddie, and I might persuade me Captain to only drop you over the side."
The marine facing Dacien is a young man, pale and untried. He throws down his falchion and holds up his hands.
Dacien smiles wide, "Now, that's a good boy-o. Sit your ass on the deck afore I change me mind and split your skull for ye."
Rhyll scrambles to his feet, "We'll see yet which one of us stands before the Warrior this day!" Rhyll's whirling cutlass lops off the man's leg and he collapses, clutching at the stump of his severed leg, blood spilling over the deck.
Now, on the quarterdeck, there are only the Captain, the dark-haired lady, and Rhyll, but Vendig, Kell and Candra are bounding up the ladder.
Baj surveys the wreckage that the Reckoning crew has made of the Sarrik crew and steps forward to the rail, hailing across at the top of his considerable lungs. "Mister Rhyll, the Captain is willing to accept a surrender at this point in time! No conditions!""
With a worried look over his shoulder at the lady behind him, the Captain draws his sword. Then he reverses it, grasping it by the blade, and offers the hilt to Rhyll.
Erris says, "You give up like the ladies you are!""
The lady shrieks, "Surrender? Captain, I will have you in irons for this cowardice!"
Rhyll says, "Wise move, Captain." He takes the Captain's sword and gives a curt bow, "First Mate Rhyll of the Reckoning, at your service."
Tyree grins alongside Baj. "Every job should be this easy, Mr Mirko."
Baj says, "Indeed it should, sir."
Tyree tells Baj, "Both ships drop anchor, Mr Mirko."
Baj says, "Aye, Captain." He turns to the foredeck of the Reckoning and snaps out orders, "Make preparations to set anchor!"
The remaining crew on the Reckoning follow orders, eager to get to the real business of pirating: the looting.
Baj calls down to the twins, "Farlan! Ferlan! Get across to the prize and make her ready for anchor."
Dacien gathers his fellow crewmen and begins to round up the surviving Sarrik sailors and marines.
On the maindeck, the pirates obey Dacien as they herd the remaining Sarries to the fore of the ship.
Dacien says, "Pat 'em down good, lads, we don't want a repeat o' the incident with that flatlander and his pig-sticker, now, do we?"
The Captain, a dignified old man, bows as well, "Captain Mabius, of His Grace's vessel Swiftsure . Be good to my crew, Mr. Rhyll, I pray you."
Rhyll says, "We are businessmen, Captain. We only kill when there is profit in it."
The lady is furious and looks like she'd like to scratch out Rhyll's eyes with her nails. "You'll rue the day you chose this ship, you Yandar whelp", she tells him.
Rhyll turns to the woman and says, "And who would this young lady be, Captain Mabius?"
The raven-haired beauty says haughtily, "I am Lady Izmeralda, of Mazirin. And I say you will hang for this."
Rhyll smiles at Izmeralda, bows and says, "A pleasure my lady. If I'm correct you will bring a nice fat ransom."
Izmeralda sneers, "You won't live to spend it."
Erris mutters, "If not a ransom... we will get our worth out of her!"
Rhyll smiles sweetly and say, "Perhaps, but lets find out shall we. You have spirit lass, I like that in a woman."
Dacien bounds up the ladder to Rhyll's side, "Beggin' yer pardon, Mister Rhyll, there's less than a score of 'em left alive. Should I offer them the normal terms?"
Erris says, "Over the side with 'em?"
"What...is to become of us?" asks a young sailor, his face bloody, his eyes red.
Erris says, "Stop your cryin'!"
Kell turns to the mass of pirates on the maindeck, the tattooed man raising his war spear, "The ship is ours. Cheers for Mister Rhyll!"
The pirates pause their work to cheer and roar. "Rhyll! Rhyll! Rhyll!"
Captain Tyree tells Baj, with a smirk, "Let's go aboard as well. But ask permission first, of course. My compliments."
Baj says, "Aye, Captain."
Dacien presses Rhyll for an answer to his question, "Mister Rhyll, sir? The prisoners? What terms shall I give them, sir?"
Rhyll turns to Dacien and says, "The Captain will set terms. These two are too valuable to harm. The rest will be given the chance to take the oath, I suppose, or sail a raft home."
Dacien says, "Aye, sir, we'll await the Captain's decision." He turns and trots off down the ladder.
Baj steps to the rail and calls out, "Mister Rhyll! With the Captain's compliments, sir, we request permission to board. "
Rhyll calls back to Baj, "Come aboard, Baj, 'tis the Captain's victory as well!"
Baj smiles as he calls out orders to the crew, "Set anchors and take up slack! Prepare to take possession of the prize!"
Tyree claps Baj on the back, laughing warmly.
Rhyll calls out from the quarterdeck, "Three cheers for Cap'n Tyree lads and three cheers for the crew of the Reckoning! The sweetest ship to sail the Crimson Coast!"
Cheers, ayes and acknowledgments sing out across both ships as the pirates set to their work.