"So kind of swarm summon," Captain Xi'balak hissed. "Probably ant to take out our sails. Too bad for them!"
Xi'balak raised his hands, and the air in front of him rippled as if a disk of water suddenly appeared behind them. It spread out and shot forward at blinding speed. The bats let out a startled screech, but except for a few on the edges, they were engulfed by the water sheet, and Irwin watched in awe as the sheet rippled, then wrapped around the bats in a tight cocoon, dragging them closer and closer together. A mont later, it plumted down, vanishing with a loud rustle in the canopy.
"Let's see them try that again," Xi'balak growled. "How many are aboard those ships?"
Irwin finally took a look at the ships following them, and he gritted his teeth. All four of the ships were covered in tiny heatsigns, the distance causing them to blend together.
"Dozens, probably thirty to forty on each," he said. "But they are still too far to be sure."
"Great," Xi'balak snapped. "Well, they won't be far for long. They are bound to sacrifice one of their ship sails to catch and slow us down enough for the others to catch up."
"Don't you have a way to flee? You knew we might co across other ships," Irwin asked. He'd expected them to have so way to move fast enough to get out. Why were they even here if they didn't have a way to outrun enemies?
"Sure, one of my crewn can teleport us all back to Sesnanser, but that ans leaving the ship and the sails behind. I'd prefer not doing that," Xi'balak retorted, glaring at the incoming ships. "Trust , if we didn't need to figure out what is going on here, I'd not have co, not for a hundred sails."
But we haven't even found anything out yet, Irwin thought. Then he recalled the flying crewn Xi'balak had sent out.
"Did your crewn return?" he asked.
Xi'balak grimaced.
"He did. The Galubs have taken over most of the Shipyard and are building fortifications and docks. From everything he saw, it looked like they were preparing to stay while expecting company. Luckily, there's no sign of them rebuilding the ships to create a small fleet," Xi'balak said before he frowned. "However, he did say they are building sothing inside the hull of the largest remaining ship. It would have been better if we could figure out what that is, but it's best we head back now. Between those four sails you found and the information, we have gotten enough."
Irwin nodded, but sothing about the way Xi'balak said that they had found four sails made him worried.
"You do recall that half of the sails are mine, right?" he asked as he looked at Xi'balak. As much as he wanted to help the captain and the people of Sensnanser, he had more important things to do.
Xi'balak nodded, but his plates scrunched together so much that only his eyes remained visible. "I know. Let's talk about this when we return," the captain said, sounding tired.
"Xi'balak, I am right in thinking I can trust you, right?" Irwin asked as he crossed his arms.
"You are!" Xi'balak snapped before letting out a weary sigh. "Fine… listen, The Daran has issued orders that all ships are to be used to defend Sesnanser. You will get one of the sails for your ship, but the others are to be put on any hull we have remaining, the ships then outfitted with a crew."
Irwin turned his glare away from Xi'balak, looking at the still-chasing ships. So far, none had shown any sign of overcharging their shield, and he couldn't make out the individual beings on it yet.
"And what does The Daran expect us to do?" he asked.
"They will probably offer you a guard mission," Xi'balak said.
"What if we reject the offer?" Irwin asked, glancing at Xi'balak. "We are here for another mission, and I'm not interested in getting into trouble for delaying that."
Xi'balak's face plates moved around, causing slight ticking sounds. "You should be able to leave if you do so right after we return," he said.
"But with only one sail," Irwin said slowly.
"I would suggest you do," Xi'balak said, lowering his head. "This is beyond my ability to change, and our deal is not deed important enough compared to the order of The Dalan. I give you my sincere apologies."
Irwin sniffed as he focused on the ships.
Sure, and you only found this out now, he thought.
As he watched the ships, he saw one of them begin to shudder, the sail growing increasingly brighter. A mont later, it began outpacing the other ships.
"I will prepare everyone to be teleported and the ship to crash," Xi'balak said, sounding far calr than Irwin would expect of a captain. He had the feeling that there was a large difference between how Xi'balak thought of his ships versus how Captain Xi'kroak did.
Annoyed, he glared at the distant ship. He wished there weren't so many people here so he could just throw a burning hamr at it. The problem was that if he did that, it would be way too simple for soone to connect the dots. A large tallic man with a battle hamr would probably not make everyone think of a smith, but if he showed his fla? Especially if soone recognized it as a devouring fla? Now, anyone searching for smiths, or him specifically, would definitely connect those dots.
Wait… do I have to use my fla? he suddenly thought, focusing on the rapidly approaching ship's mast.
It didn't look too thick or sturdy. He thought back to the crashed ships he'd been walking over only a short while ago, and from what he rembered, the masts were just wood. What if he just threw his hamr against it? He'd managed to throw a hole in a ship before.
"What if I can snap the mast?" he asked as he turned to Xi'balak, who had been walking away.
"If you can drop their mast, do it already!" Xi'balak shouted in surprise. "Why haven't you already done it if you can do that?"
"It's still too far," Irwin said.
"How close does it have to be before you can do sothing?" Xi'balak asked.
Irwin frowned, recalling his training back on scour. "Eighty feet, and I can start trying," he said.
"Eighty… alright, that's sothing at least! We will probably have so of the Nyzir boarding us by then, but we can deal with those," Xi'balak said before walking away and shouting orders.
Irwin continued observing the ship, waiting for it to get closer and wondering if any of those aboard would be able to stop his hamr.
"So, what are you going to do? Throw a hamr at it?" Greldo asked as he moved beside him.
Irwin nodded. "It should work as long as they don't block it."
"Block it? I'd love to see soone try that. Do you even appreciate how big and heavy that hamr is to soone not built like an anvil?" Greldo said, shaking his head.
"Who knows what's on that ship," Irwin muttered before glancing at Greldo. "Did you hear what Xi'balak said about the sails?"
Greldo's smile turned ugly. "Yeah. Bastards. So their word is only good as long as soone higher up doesn't disagree. They really remind of the nobles back in Malorin."
Irwin didn't comnt on that, knowing his friend's distaste for nobles far outstripped even his, bordering on hatred.
"Anyway," Greldo muttered. "Daubutim went downstairs to hide the sails. He should be back soon, and I'll tell him."
"Make sure to stay close to him in case those Nyzir board us," Irwin said. "Daubutim doesn't have a good body improvent card and no regeneration one yet, and if I recall from you, these things are quick and slippery."
"Slippery, sharp and deadly," Greldo agreed. "I don't know if they have different types like Galub's do, but if they have an equivalent of a five-horn, we would be in major trouble."
"Let's hope they don't," Irwin said as he kept his focus on the incoming ship.
Seconds ticked away, and soon, he began making out the dark shapes moving about. They walked fluidly, arms and legs bending in ways almost as if they didn't have bones.
"Why do I say these things," Greldo whispered, and Irwin could hear the fear in his voice. "I should have just kept my mouth shut, dammit."
"What?" Irwin asked worriedly.
"You know how I told you that Nyzir's look like snakes walking on two legs? Well, there's one over there that has a tail and two sets of eyes," Greldo said, and he swallowed. "I've never seen one of those, and that has to be a bad sign. Also… it's been glaring at you nonstop ever since I noticed it."
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"Fantastic," Irwin grunted.
He tried to find the one Greldo was talking about. Although he could easily see the Nyzir now, no matter where he looked, he didn't see the one Greldo spoke about. Looking around, he saw Xi'balak standing in the middle of the ship, talking with two of his crewn.
"Go and warn Xi'balak, then stay with Daubutim. I'm going to start trying to bring down their mast in a mont," he said.
Greldo ran away, and Irwin glared at the ship. It was roughly a hundred feet away, gaining so fast that it should be in range soon. As he prepared his hamr, he blinked. There had been a dozen Nyzir on the railing a mont ago, where-
Pain blood from his back as sothing razor-sharp pierced his armor and went an inch or more into his body. At the sa ti, Xi'balak shouted from behind him.
"Boarders!"
Irwin turned around, flailing his arm around, only to feel another stab in his waist. This ti, there was no pain, and instead, he felt his card's kinetic energy fill up. A dark figure with small scales that glead wetly slithered back, having easily avoided his fist. It was looking back at him, and as alien as its narrow, snake-like face was, Irwin recognized the stunned disbelief in the narrowed eyes.
Irwin gave it a threatening glare, and the Nyzir took a step back. Irwin saw it cast a quick glimpse at its dagger, and as he looked at the blade, he saw it was covered in a thick green goo.
Poison? That won't work on , Irwin thought. He didn't sense anything from the wound on his back, nor did he expect it to.
Casting a second threatening glance at the Nyzir, he looked behind it to get a grip on the situation.
The deck behind his attacker had changed to a chaotic battlefield. Xi'balak's crew stood near the main mast, surrounding one of them that was glowing while tendrils of light flowed out of it.
The teleporter.
A dozen Nyzir were jumping and dashing around them, wielding dull black daggers as they flowed in and out of combat. Even grouped together, the crewn had no ti to attack as all they could do was dodge their ridiculously nimble opponents.
Daubutim stood with his back to a wall, wielding two shortswords in a glittering, flashing display of skill as he kept two of the Nyzir at bay. Still, Irwin could see from the speed at which they moved that Daubutim would never be able to hold them back for long.
Before he could even wonder where Greldo was, his friend dashed out of the shadows near the wall, slashing at one of the Nyzir attacking Daubutim. Greldo's dagger sliced across the Nyzir's arm, but he didn't remain to take advantage and dodged to the side. He was just in ti to evade a long, curved sword that seed to appear from midair, followed by an arm, then a tall Nyzir with a tail. Covered in tight leather armor, it looked like a piece of living shadow.
"Irwin, take care of the ship before it rams us," Daubutim shouted.
Irwin cursed as he saw another Nyzir head towards his friend, but he knew he was right. He could see from the fighting that if more Nyzir arrived, they would be in trouble. He suddenly realized that the Nyzir that had attacked him was gone, and he frowned as he looked around. Were they afraid of him? Why weren't they attacking him?
Later, he thought as he spun the ship only to find it was now so close he could see dozens of Nyzir waiting at the railing, ready to board it.
Eyes wide, he took a step back, then dashed two steps forward, snapping his arm forward. At the last possible mont, he summoned the largest hamr he possibly could, at the sa ti exploding all of the kinetic energy he had built.
A startling boom echoed out as a hamr the size of a barndoor shot through the air, leaving ripples in its wake. The Nyzir at the railing dodged as the hamr blurred where they had just stood, a foot past the mast before crashing into the cabin area behind it, ripping the wood apart in an explosion of wood chips and splinters before careening out through the other side. There was a mont of stunned silence as the Nyzir stared at the destroyed remains of the cabin on the stern of their ship, which had mostly been obliterated.
Irwin couldn't help but grin maliciously at the sudden fear in the snake eyes of the Nyzir.
Again, he thought as he released the hamr which had been falling to the canopy behind the ship. It disappeared in a flash, and he stepped forward, hurling another at the ship.
"Stop him!" Greldo's scream ca just as the hamr left Irwin's hand with a boom.
Irwin felt an odd sensation ripple around him that made his skin crawl. He jumped to the side, not even waiting to see if his hamr hit its intended target this ti.
Midair, he felt razor-sharp blades cut his arms, neck, and back. His kinetic energy began building up rapidly, and he spun around with a growl.
Sothing flickered towards his face, and he pulled his head to the side, using kinetic energy. His neck cracked while the tip of a flexible black blade pierced the space his head had been before making an odd swishing motion and striking his cheek.
Irwin's heart skipped a beat, but the sharp edge left a painful bruise but failed to pierce the skin.
That hurt you-
The blade pulled back a bit before streaking at his face again so fast he could barely dodge it, again resorting to using so kinetic energy to make his movent an explosive snap. Then it ca again, and before he fully realized what was going on, he was doing nothing but dodging, barely keeping up as the tip of the blade kept trying to take out his eyes. His neck turned sore within monts, his head throbbed, and the world started swirling.
The speed of it all left him with no ti to even contemplate focusing on his other cards. Slowly, he began to get angry as the attacks continued.
Finally, when the blade pulled back for another attack, he found a tiny window, and using more kinetic energy to move his hand, he grabbed at it. His hand almost reached the blade before it pulled back far enough for him to see his attacker.
The taller Nyzir with the tail stood before him. One foot before the other, his body turned sideways, one shoulder pointing at Irwin.
"You will pay for destroying my ship," the Nyzir said softly.
Irwin didn't even bother listening. He knew it would attack him again in a few monts, and he wouldn't be able to keep up. Irwin pulled on his Sweltering skill harder than he ever had. Within a mont, the air around them grew fuzzy as tendrils of superheated fog rippled out. The ship's movent and constant wind blew so away, but as he focused and more appeared, he managed to keep it together. It was costing a lot of energy, though, and as it trickled away, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up for a very long ti.
The Nyzir that had been observing him suddenly hissed and stepped forward, blurring into motion. Its sword cut through a tendril, but as his hand touched it, the Nyzir let out a startled scream. It yanked its head back and dashed away.
Irwin didn't bother caring as he pulled more of his steam towards him.
"Greldo, get everyone below deck," he whispered, praying his friend's keen ears would pick it up amidst all the screaming and shouting.
"You sure?" a shout ca, causing him so relief.
"Yes!" Irwin roared as he expanded the steam towards the Nyzir. Tiny bits and slivers of the steam were moving dangerously close to the fighting crewn while the vision around him beca hazy.
As the steam spread out, he sensed the Nyzir back up, then turn and move so fast he knew he'd never have seen the movent. Instead, he felt it pass through parts of the fog, heading towards the door leading down.
"Greldo, it's heading below deck!" Irwin shouted as he pulled as much steam between the Nyzir and the door as he could.
There was no response from Greldo, but the Nyzir let out a scream of pain as it passed through a thick amount of steam before vanishing through the door.
Irwin gritted his teeth as he sensed around with his steam. Daubutim and so of the crewmbers were gone already, and he saw Greldo appear and disappear rapidly, grabbing people and vanishing below deck. As soon as his friend was there, he shouted.
"Greldo!"
The shadowy shape remained this ti.
"What?"
"That big guy is below!"
"I bloody well know! Daubutim is handling it. Just get rid of the rest, then co help!" Greldo shouted before vanishing again.
Daubutim is handling it? Irwin thought, shivering at the odd fear in Greldo's face as he had shouted that. Sothing was going wrong down there!
He almost wanted to rush down, but instead, he spread out his steam, covering nearly the entire ship.
By now, the Nyzir had figured out what was going on, and unlike the Galubs, they didn't just charge in or do sothing without thinking. Within monts, they had spread out across the ship, then began vanishing, likely back to where they had co.
Looking around and triggering his heat vision, Irwin found the ship, which was far in the distance now. The only reason he found it was because he saw heat signatures start to appear on it slowly, and a few monts later, all of those that had been on their ship were gone.
Why can they teleport back now, Irwin thought, but at the sa ti, he was glad they had gone. The muted sound of clashing swords ca from the door leading down, and he wanted to help Daubutim.
He let the steam hang on the deck and ran to the door. As he was keeping the stream from entering, he stepped through the door and out of the steam, and as he did, he realized this was the first ti he was leaving such a massive amount of steam after summoning it. He had summoned smaller amounts away from his body, but never such huge quantities.
Irwin hesitated, trying to determine if the steam cloud would remain or if he was going to lose control. Nothing seed to happen, and he took another step down, then another. Shouts and sword clashing continued from below, and he quickened his pace to the staircase when he felt his heartcard's energy drain spike. Ten steps away from the steam, his expenditure doubled, and when he took another step, it doubled again.
By Gelwin's balls, why can't it ever be easy?
"Greldo! How are things?" he asked, refraining from screaming so he wouldn't alert the large Nyzir.
A burst of movent ca from his side, then Greldo appeared. He was in his towering, hairy form and had a long cut across his cheek and forehead.
"Quick, you have to co," he whispered, his eyes wide in fear.
Irwin dropped the steam without thinking. "Go back to the deck after to make sure they don't return," he said. "And bring the crewn back to sail the ship!"
Greldo muttered sothing as he grabbed his arm, then the world turned shady, and the next thing he knew, he was standing in the hold. The clatter of swords was deafening. Daubutim and Captain Xi'balak stood on each side of the tall Nyzir, and each ti it attacked one of them, the other would try to catch it with no avail. Although their constant pressure kept the Nyzir from killing one of them, it was too slippery for them to wound, while the sa couldn't be said for them. Daubutim's face was covered in scratches, and one of his eyes was closed, blood leaking out from it.
Irwin moved, using the massive amounts of kinetic energy bubbling in his body to propel himself through the hold. There was a dangerous cracking from behind him, followed by a startled shout by the crew, but he ignored all of it as he reached the Nyzir, reaching to grab it. The Nyzir moved its body out of the way, but Irwin had expected that. His foot stomped onto the Nyzir's foot, and it screeched, giving Irwin just the mont to grab its arm.
"Got ya-"
The Nyzir's arm seed to plop out of its shoulder, while Irwin felt the foot he'd been standing on seem to flatten. Then the Nyzir flowed around Daubutim's blade, jabbed his own back to keep Captain Xi'balak away, and flung himself to the side.
Irwin was montarily stunned as he looked at the arm he was holding, noting the fingers were still flexing and unflexing. Then he saw the Nyzir move. He tried to catch it, but it swirled around him, and as he turned, he realized there was a cracked hole in the hull from where he'd jumped. It wasn't any larger than his fist, but the Nyzir reached it slithered out of its leathery armor before turning into a long wrist thick tendril that flitted through the hole so fast Irwin only got halfway to the cracked hole.
"How…" he muttered before realizing sothing was touching his leg. Looking down, he saw the arm had folded, and the hand with long black nails was scratching his pants, tearing long cuts into it.
"Dammit," he roared, slamming the arm on the ground until it stopped wiggling. After a few more strikes, he dropped it and looked around.
Daubutim stood a few steps away; one eye still closed and a look of weary resignation on his face. Irwin swallowed as he stared at his friend's face.
"Is it… gone?" he asked softly.
Daubutim nodded and shrugged. "I think I know what type of card I'm going to need."
Irwin felt his stomach roil, but he ignored it as he forced a grin back. "No worries, I'm sure we will find so portals that we can farm.
Reviews
All reviews (0)