After hearing of the pirates and seeing the mayor safely back to his village, the crew of the Nyre discusses their next move at length.
Lilanne says, "What say you Constable?"
Rooker says, "Captain, set sail downriver. Move slowly and keep men ready at the oars in case the pirates try a surprise attack. Sirius, keep your men alert and ready with bows and full quivers."
Sirius shouts to his men, "Sling bows men and keep your arrows at the ready!"
The irritable Captain Sammar snaps out orders to his men and they rush to the oarlocks. The Angharan men-at-arms unsling their bows and make ready along the rails.
Rooker says, "Captain, might I speak to you privately below decks?"
Lilanne waits on deck, bow at the ready.
Sammar nods, then leads the down a short ladder belowdecks.
Rooker follws the Captain below and motions for Sirius and Lilanne to follow.
Lilanne and Sirius follow.
Sammar pulls a flask of liquor from his belt. "All right, Rooker, what's it?" he says, gulping and wiping his bearded lips.
Rooker says, "Captain, I would prefer to avoid a fight if possible. Our responsibility is to the King and to the Baroness. But we must prepare for any trouble."
Sammar nods. "Me men are ready. Been in a scrap once or twice my own self, as it were."
Lilanne says, "What is the reluctance? Scum like this must not be allowed to prey on the weak?"
Rooker says, "If you have any pitch or tar that we could use to make fire arrows, I'd like to get them made up quickly. And we run as quietly as we can, Captain. No yelling if we can help it."
Late afternoon is falling, with dusk coming in an hour or two. Tonight will be a double-crescent moon.
Sammar looks discomfited at the thought of no yelling. He thrives on it. But he nods. "Aye, Constable."
Rooker looks at Lilanne with a scowl. "If it were just me, I'd sink their damn longboats underneath them, but I have to think of the Baroness. If anything were to happen to her, it could cause problems for the King.
Lilanne says, "...It could also get rid of a big one for him at the same time..."
Rooker says, "As much as I'd like to strangle her myself, I've got my orders to see her home safely."
Lilanne shrugs. "As you wish."
Rooker says, "As His Grace King Henrick wishes, my wishes have little to do with it."
Janor, the young Tobon sergeant, appears at the top of the ladder above. "Sir! Someone's out on th'water, sir! Calling for help!"
Lilanne says, "Ooh...I believe that would be our bait!"
Rooker says, "Careful, it could be a trap!"
Sirius calls back: "Get a clear sighting on it. We'll approach slowly."
At the fantail, near the rudder, the pilot Erner points. "A woman, by th'sound." he rumbles. A few hundred yards off in the stream, a lonely head and shoulders bobs fitfully in the water, one arm waving. "Hello the ship! Please!" a hoarse female voice calls.
Late afternoon is falling, with dusk coming in an hour or two. Tonight will be a double-crescent moon. The riverbank to the south is a line of low cliffs, and to the north is a dense forest of old, dark pines. Beyond the pines, far to the north, is a black smudge on the horizon that is the land of Tol Nedra. The river is slow and broad.
Sammar grumbles, "A trap, no doubt. Move on, move on."
Rooker says, "Captain, what is the depth here? Are they trying to ground us?"
Sirius removes his mail then grabs a life save and jumps over the side to go to the womans rescue.
Sammar squints. "We've plenty o'beam, Constable. No danger o'that. See? She's right in the middle of th'channel, it's why she can't swim t' the shore."
Sirius plunges into the darkening river with a splash and kicks his way across the channel.
Rooker says, "Well, I guess that Sirius has it in hand. Keep a sharp eye out for trouble."
Lilanne watches over the side for signs of an ambush.
The ship glides along, Erner finding his way into the channel and sighting on where the woman floats.
Sirius kicks his way up to her. She's a young woman, with bedraggled blond hair, soaked to the clothes, wearing heavy robes. She is clinging to some flotsam. Janor and the men cheer Sirius on from the rail. Sirius holds out his hand to the young lady and hauls her over to the life saver.
Lilanne watches cautiously "This is too convenient..."
Breathlessly, the woman hurls herself at Sirius, clinging to him. Clearly, she doesn't know how to swim.
Some of the men make a lewd comment, rolling their eyes at their Captain affectionately.
Erner says, "I don't like it, myself, my lady Lilanne."
Once he has a hold on the girl, Sirius starts to swim back to the ship. With some gentle taps from the oarsmen, the ship coasts alongside Sirius' position, and a rope ladder is thrown down to Sirius. Sirius grabs hold of the ladder and hauls the girl up into the ship.
Baroness Mirana watches intently at Lilanne's shoulder. "Is she well, Sirius?" she calls.
Sirius yells back, "Seems to be."
Sammar snaps at his men, who are watching the rescue, "All right, all right, eyes front! We have work t'do! Pirates about, you Gods-damned sons of whores!"
Sirius yells, "Give her some air."
The young blond woman bows gratefully. "Thank you, sir, thank you. I thought I was going under for sure."
Erner passes her some hot tea. "Drink this, missy."
Sirius says, "Bring some blankets as well. How did you fall in the river, Milady?"
The Baroness steps forward and wraps a blanket about the younger woman's shoulders. "You're safe now."
The young woman looks fearfully towards the river. "It was pirates. A horde of Gholibin pirates, in two dreadful longships."
Lilanne says, "...and how did you wind up in the river?"
Rooker moves away from the crowd on the deck and scans the shore in the fading light.
She tells the fearful tale. "I was taking passage on a ship to Port Kalida...I am Arivere, a priestess of Ardis. The pirates were swarmed upon us and sank the vessel from underneath me. Taking what they could, they sank the ship and fled downstream. I am afraid I alone survived!"
The river is about to take a sharp bend southwards, just ahead.
Sirius shouts, "Men back to your posts. Stand ready!"
"The poor crew...I pray for their souls." Arivere weeps.
Sirius says, "Lady Mirana, perhaps you should take Arivere below deck where it is warmer and safer."
Erner returns to the helm, guiding the ship through the channel effortlessly and making the bend southwards. The oarsmen stroke the water softly in the dusk.
Sirius immediately goes to check on his mens readiness.
Mirana says, "Come along, Arivere. Lady Lilanne can remain on guard."
Arivere says, "You're King's Men? Are you going to fight them?
Rooker sighs deeply. "If we must. Only if we must."
Arivere pulls away from Mirana, "You'd best beware! These were like no Gholibins I have heard tell of before!"
Rooker says, "And how so, miss?"
The young woman explains, "Our ship was sunk like a toy by something I cannot describe. Almost as if the river were aiding them!"
Sirius says, "Aiding them in what way?"
Arivere says, "As if it sent its own waters to sink our vessel. I saw one man drowned as he stood on deck!"
Sirius says, "What do you make of this Lady Lilanne?"
Rooker says, "In my home it is said that the pirates sometimes used a water witch. A mage who could control the waves themselves, but I have never heard of one on the river."
Just after the bend, in the dusk, looms a small island, crowded with a dark forest. It stands in the stream nearer to the north bank than the south. A tall cliff cuts the skyline of the island almost like the prow of a ship facing you.
The men have been working busily at covering arrowheads with pitch, which is plentiful on board a leaky riverboat.
Lilanne says, "I do not believe that flaming arrows are going to be any good against a water mage."
Sirius says to Rooker, "Once we are in range, we should start firing on their boat. With any luck we will sink it before they can even board."
Arivere follows Mirana into the cabin. "I will help you fight their horde!" she promises before the door closes.
Sirius says, "We should at least try, pehaps the mage is not on board."
Rooker says, "We will fight if we must."
Sammar orders Erner, "Give that isle a wide berth! I like not its look."
Lilanne says, gesturing, "A half dozen Gholibin sentries are camped on that cliff over there...I'm sure they see us by now."
Rooker says, "Captain, keep a close eye on them and move slowly."
Sirius says, pressing his point to Rooker, "Would you not have us attack?"
Rooker snaps at Sirius. "And would you have your Lady Mirana dead at the hands of the pirates? Or worse? Your job is her safety, not glory in battle."
Lilanne approaches the fore of the ship, raises her bow and seizes the void...
Sammar squints. "Keep an eye? I can't see anything? Damned elven eyes!"
Lilanne releases an arrow from the masterwork longbow towards the cliffs, and quickly fires again
Erner skirts the channel, following the Captain's orders.
Sirius says, "I would not skulk around them like a dog. Set myself and half of the men near shore and we will deal with these brigands."
Rooker says, "The safety of your charge is your first responsibility, Sirius. If it were only us that we had to worry over, it would be different. But there are innocents to protect."
The silent death of the elves wings its way into the night and alights on the island twice.
Sirius says, "At least promise me that when we can get Lady Mirana to saftey we will return to deal with this foe."
Night is now falling fast.
Rooker says, "If the King has no other duty for me, we will return hence."
Lilanne says, "Gentlemen..we may not have a choice. Two are slain..more remain."
Rooker says, "You may fire when ready, Lilanne."
Lilanne quickly draws more arrows, remaining calm as she takes the enemy's measure. From the darkness of the island, four arrows wing back to you, but fall short in the river. You hear and see them land in the river nearby.
Lilanne quickly releases two more shafts into the night
The Reith can only watch. They have no idea what the Selandri is firing at.
Lilanne is the only one who can see the foe at this range and darkness. Her arrows spike two more sentries. Two remain. Terrified, they turn to run. She says to herself, "Not this time." She releases two more arrows towards the fleeing sentries, slaying each with swift silence.
Sammar shouts, "Is the gobbos dead?"
Lilanne says, "These creature have been dispatched to meet whatever abomination created them."
Sirius says, "My lady, I have never seen such an amazing feat of archery."
Sammar shouts, "We can slip past th'island now, Constable. Th'river ahead looks clear."
Lilanne looks to Sirius. "I am out of practice...normally three arrows would have sufficed."
Rooker says, "Thank you, Lilanne."
The twin moons, both crescents tonight, rise slowly in the west.
As the light increases somewhat, you can make out the island better. Rocky and covered with dark pines, it's perhaps quarter mile across at its longest dimension. A low strip of beach juts into the river just next to the cliff face...the sentries slain by Lilanne were overlooking it.
Sammar hisses, "Orders, Constable?"
Rooker says, "Steady on til light, Captain."
Lilanne observes the island as they approach
The ship scuds past the island into the swift part of the channel. You can hear it before you see anything. The horrid Gholibin music of squeeze boxes and bag pipes and Gholibin laughter.
And just past the island, a dark menacing shape sits low in the water. A single Gholibin longboat, single sail furled, oars in place, with many tiny dark figures laughing and singing. Then shouts of alarm.
Lilanne says, "Still want to wait to fight?"
The longboat is about three hundred yards off. But with shrieks of rage, you see the dim figures race to their oars and the longboat furiously cuts through the water toward you.
Sammar calls to Rooker from the fantail. "They're swifter than we are, Constable."
Rooker says, "Sirius, get your men ready. Lilanne, can you set fire to their boat before they close?"
The music wails. A teeth-grinding Gholibin symphony like a thousand burning cats. Rooker says, "Captain, keep us moving enough to maneuver, but don't tire your men trying to get away."
Lilanne grabs two arrows and holds them over the flame..sights and releases them towards the longboat
Sirius says, "Men fire at will when we are in range!"
Erner angles the boat towards the deeper part of the central channel, so as not to run aground.
The two flaming arrows arc into the night and thud into the enemy vessel. It keeps charging on.
Sirius tells his men not to waste their arrows, wait until they are in range.
Lilanne draws two more arrows, lights and aims at the sails. She says, "The wind is greater than I though. I need to adjust. " She fires two more flaming arrows at the longboat as it closes the range. They disappear into the water.
Janor stands on the rail, shouting. "Make ready! Stand fast! Strength and honor!!"
Sirius shouts back to the men, "Ready now lads we are coming into range!"
Rooker plugs one Gholibin piper in the prow of the longboat. His target plunges into the dark river.
Sirius, seeing Rooker score a hit, gives his men the go ahead to start firing. He picks up a tarred arrow, lights it, then notches it to his bow.
Lilanne's flaming arrows lance into the furled sail. Lilanne says, "We have fire....And more fire." Across the gap, the sail sparks to life. Figures in the dark rush to put out the flames. The Selandri warrior aims at the firestoppers in the rigging
"Loose...arrows!" Janor bellows. 20 men loose their arrows into the enemy ship.
The longboat is drawing alongside you. Opposite you, the Gholibin line up for a broadside of their own tiny arrows.
Sirius's flaming arrow thunks into the planking of the boat.
The flames on the enemy boat are suddenly extinguished with a splash, hiss and a roar. Steam rises. Music swells. The Gholibins cheer and loose a fearsome hail of black arrows.
Lilanne leaps nimbly behind some barrels as the flurry of arrows assail the ship.
As a flurry of tiny arrows fills the air, Rooker ducks nimbly aside, avoiding injury.
The men-at-arms take withering fire from the small horde of Gholibins on the other vessel. Many are struck, although the small arrows do not do much damage. One Tobon soldier topples into the river, however, dead. "They got Moogie!" one soldier yells.
Sirius ducks low and lets the small black arrows sail over his head.
The Gholibin ship, its flames extinguished suddenly, comes on rapidly. The music is now a screeching howl of rage.
Rooker says, "Captain, keep the ship moving. Keep firing, men!"
Mirana and Arivere are on deck, helping with the wounded archers.
Sammar turns to give an order to his men and a Gholibin arrow catches him in the throat.
He falls, gravely wounded, slumping over the rail.
Lilanne pops up from hiding and opens fire on the approaching Gholibins.
Rooker says, "Erner, take command of the ship! Arivere, the Captain has been wounded!"
Erner bellows at the men to stroke their oars for all their worth.
Arivere hurries to the fantail to assist the Captain.
Curls of steam from the Gholibin ship rises into the air. It was flaming a moment ago.
Lilanne's shots impale one Gholibin in the throat and the other through the face.
Not as able as Lilanne, Rooker manages to kill his second Gholibin with an arrow in the chest.
Sirius's arrow takes a Gholibin in the chest and he tumbles into the river.
The men-at-arms who are still able to now fire on the longship. The remaining Gholibins, to the sound of merry jig played on their squeeze boxes, return fire with a cloud of tiny black arrows. Rooker is hit and hit.
The Gholibin ship is closing. The Nyre wheels rapidly across its path, the sailors straining to guide it, when the galley beneath your feet gives an enormous shudder and stops dead. You barely keep your feet.
Erner curses at them. "Row! Row, you ugly fuckers!" But the ship makes no forward progress. The Gholibins in the other ship, preparing grappling ropes and hooks, giggle and jeer. The music plays on. Lilanne nimbly avoids the Gholibin arrows, setting up her next shot.
Rooker shouts, "Shoot the bastards playing the music!"
Suddenly there's a something large climbing--no, pouring---over the rail of the boat near where Baroness Mirana crouches tying bandages. Like an animated column of water ten feet tall. It swirls and bubbles and hisses...
It's only vaguely human-shaped, with legs and arms and perhaps a head...a transparent, liquid tentacle reaches out for a nearby man-at-arms and flings him overboard easily.
Lilanne, horrified screams, "Mirana! Behind you!"