The rain had begun to drizzle and thunder sounded in the distance as the team rushed above deck. Raith looked in the direction everyone else was staring and saw an enormous wave speeding towards the barge from a much smaller boat a few hundred yards away.

  “BRACE FOR ANOTHER ONE!” someone shouted and the crew dove to grab onto a rope or anything secured to the deck.

  Thea and Raith found themselves next to a crate lashed securely to the barge and grabbed the ropes. Nyhm was still on the steep narrow stairs when the wave hit, and the impact threw him into the bulkhead. Raith saw his brother’s head strike the side sharply and he tumbled back down the stairs.

  “Nyhm!”

  Voices cried out in alarm and pain while the crew ran in every direction. Raith was having trouble sorting through the chaos of so much happening at once.

  “Tolliver was thrown overboard,” Thea yelled.

  “What?”

  She pointed to the side opposite of the barge from the oncoming enemies, presumably where the [Mage] had gone over. Raith felt his stomach fall out. The fight hadn’t even started and two of their teammates were already down. This was a disaster.

  As he turned to look, a bat flew up over the rail and turn back into a human. They both breathed a sigh of relief.

  A voice rang out across the water from the approaching vessel.

  “Prepare to be boarded. Your lives will be spared if you do not resist.”

  Captain Rayne poked his head out of a porthole on the bridge above them and called down to Raith.

  “We’ll not be boarded and they’ll not have my cargo. Kill them all and start with that damned [Water Mage].”

  A handful of selkies had produced crossbows and were setting up to engage the approaching enemy.

  This is all happening way too fast.

  [Life in Staccato]

  Ok, think. What needs to be done? Out of those things, what can my team actually do?

  He looked around, and was momentarily distracted by a puddle of dark red blood on the deck he hadn’t noticed before. It had spread thin from the pitching deck and the rain left little indents in the surface. Panic rushed up from his gut at the possibility that his brother was hurt and the rest of them would soon follow.

  Why did I think I could do this? I’m no leader.

  There was no time for that, and it was too late now, regardless.

  First thing, that [Mage] needs to be stopped. No one can shoot effectively with those waves, and there are surely worse spells to come. Then see about stopping that boat so they can’t approach and board us. Maybe sabotage the propulsion system or something.

  What is their propulsion? I don’t see a sail. Magic rudder?

  Last, check on Nyhm. It killed him inside to leave his brother until last, but they’d all be dead if the other things weren’t attended to first.

  He’s the toughest person I’ve ever met. He’ll be ok.

  Only half believing that last bit of self-reassurance, Raith set the world back in motion. First, he called to Silas on the top of the barge.

  “Target the [Mage] the second they’re in range.”

  Silas gave a thumbs up from his perch and Raith turned to Tolliver.

  “Recon that boat and tell us everything you can see about who’s on it. You can cast Silent Sphere in bat form, right?”

  The pale [Mage] nodded.

  “Good. Drop a Silent Sphere on that [Water Mage]. It won’t shut him down completely, but it may handicap him enough to stop these cursed waves. Try not to get yourself shot by an arrow.”

  “Or a magic bolt,” Thea added.

  “Or that. Got it?”

  Tolliver looked like he was going to throw up, but steeled his face and gave a sharp nod.

  “It is unlikely they will pay attention to a bat. I will return upon ascertaining the disposition of these pirates and silencing the [Mage].”

  That settled, Raith turned to check on his brother and saw him emerging from the stairwell, rubbing the side of his head but otherwise no worse for wear.

  Oh, thank the Weavers.

  The sound of the crew’s crossbows thrumming turned everyone’s head, and Raith caught his breath as bat-Tollvier was almost cut down by friendly fire on his flight across the water. The bat veered upwards and finished the journey well above the line of fire, just as a volley was returned from the approaching ship.

  Thea, Raith and Nyhm dived behind the crate as bolts skipped across the deck. Several screams of pain rang out, but Raith didn’t see who had been hit. He looked up to see Silas steadily working his bow, pausing between each target to take careful aim on the rocking deck.

  The rain began to fall hard enough to obscure their view of the approaching ship. No more waves had come, and he wasn’t sure if it was due to Tolliver’s spell or if Silas had managed to take him down, but it was a relief either way.

  “I’m going to run over to the boat and try to disable the rudder. If I see a chance, I’ll try to take a couple of the pirates out, too. You two stay under cover and be ready if they board.”

  Thea shook her head vigorously.

  “No way, that’s stupid. They’ll shoot you the second they see you running across the water.”

  “I’ll hop off on the opposite side and circle way around. I’m fast and the rain should help cover me.”

  Nyhm reached for the belt at his waist.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Here, take the Blur Belt.”

  “Keep it. I’ll be fine, and you’re as likely to get shot at as I am.”

  The elfling took his hand from the belt but didn’t look happy about it.

  “Be careful.”

  Raith gave his friends a hand to heart salute and backflipped over the railing. The water felt like firm earth beneath his feet as he landed. He began sprinting in a long arc to come up behind the enemy boat. Hopefully, no one would be looking that direction.

  Thea was right. This is stupid.

  ***

  “That was stupid, right?” Thea asked, turning to Nyhm after they watched Raith disappear over the side of the ship with a show-off backflip.

  She continued as they crouched behind a crate to avoid the incoming arrows.

  “How is that nit going to disable a rudder? Does he even know what a rudder is?”

  Nyhm returned her look with a tight lipped grimace while Captain Rayne’s voice bellowed out across the ship, ordering his crew to tack away from the oncoming vessel.

  “I feel so useless.”

  Thea reached into her seed pouch and felt around for one with some heft.

  “How far away is that boat, do you suppose?”

  Nyhm risked a quick peek around the side of the crate, an arrow zipping past moments after he ducked back.

  “Fifty yards maybe.”

  She handed him the seed, which he took with a confused expression.

  “Think you can throw this that far?”

  The elfling weighed the object in his palm for a moment before nodding.

  “Yeah, but I probably won’t be able to hit anyone. Definitely not hard enough to hurt with something this light.”

  Thea took the seed back and spoke to the life within, coaxing it to prepare for release and sending through enough aether to carry out her instructions. Unlike magecraft, the druidic arts required persuasion. The careful management of your relationship with the living, and a deep understanding of its capabilities and limits.

  When she was done imbuing the seed with her spell, she returned it to Nyhm.

  “That’s fine. Just get it on the deck.”

  Without hesitation, Nyhm stood up from behind the crate and took a long moment to consider his throw. He didn’t flinch as an arrow streaked past his head, and Thea had to stop herself from shouting lest she distract his aim. After what felt like an eternity, he cocked his arm back and hurled. Another arrow whizzed past while he stood and tracked his throw, and Thea reached out to yank him down.

  “Did you get it?”

  He nodded.

  “It made it to their deck. Looked like vines were growing out of it and causing a panic.” He looked down and touched his belt. “This seems to work well.”

  “I cast Grasping Thornvine. Ought to keep them busy for a bit.” She frowned. “You can still take an arrow to the face while wearing that thing, you know. Don’t make me explain how you died being an even bigger idiot than your brother.”

  He had the courtesy to look embarrassed.

  “Sorry for worrying you. I activated my Steelskin tattoo, so an arrow wouldn't have killed me. Probably. I wanted to see how well the belt works.”

  “Strange to see that whatever mental disorder afflicts you two, it’s not inherited.”

  Before Nyhm could respond, Tolliver darted towards them in bat form, transforming in mid flight and tumbling to a wreck in front of them on the deck. He groaned as he rolled over and looked up at them with wide, panicked eyes. Thea rushed forward, fumbling at her belt for a healing potion.

  “Have you been shot? Where is the wound?”

  The pale [Mage] shook his head and struggled to sit up.

  “Not shot,” he breathed heavily. “Just crash landed. Too much of a hurry and not enough practice. I cast Sphere of Silence on their [Mage] before I was noticed. He was furious.” He grabbed Thea’s arm with long, thin fingers and looked straight in her eyes. “We need to stop. Those are kingsmen, not pirates.”

  Thea flinched from the words and shook her head.

  “That’s not possible.”

  Yet as soon the words left her mouth, she knew it was very possible. She looked around the boat at the tattooed selkies who had been so uncharacteristically gruff and untrusting. Her vines had disrupted the incoming fire, and the crew smiled with a grim bloodlust as they unleashed bolt after bolt at the enemy vessel. That familiar heat of anger began to rise from the center of her chest, reddening her neck before spreading to her face. She stood up, tears of anger glistening in her eyes.

  “I’m going to fucking murder him.”

  And then the first fireball exploded across the deck.

  ***

  For all his bravado, Raith really didn’t want anyone shooting at him, so he took a wider arc around to the back of the enemy ship than was probably necessary. The incoming storm made the surface of the river more unstable than usual, and he had to take extra caution to run without tripping on the shifting water.

  Thank the Weavers for [Enhanced Agility].

  The details of the ship came into focus through the rain as he approached. Thankfully, there was no one on this side and he darted across the remaining stretch of water to hide tucked against the hull. If someone decided to look straight down the side, he was screwed. There shouldn’t be a reason for anyone to do that, so he was likely safe for the moment.

  Easing towards the back of the boat, he saw that a large paddle wheel was propelling the boat steadily forwards with loud thwacks on the surface of the river. It was twice his size, and each board as thick as his arm to withstand the incessant pummeling of water. Raith shook his head at the futility of trying to damage the wheel with his rope dart.

  There is no way I’m going to break that thing.

  Shouts from above made him freeze, and he could barely make out someone saying the [Mage] has been silenced. Raith smiled.

  Good job, Tolliver. Maybe I can sneak onto the deck and snag something big enough to jam into the wheel.

  There had to be a board or a barrel or something up there. He stepped back from the hull a bit to see if this side was still clear, and it was. The wooden planks provided ample purchase for him to scramble quickly up the side. [Squirrel Running] and his new boots made the climb almost too easy, and he briefly missed the thrill of a challenging ascent.

  Landing lightly on the other side of the rail, he immediately saw a coil of thick rope sitting on the deck. It was close to the edge of the center wall where he might be seen, so Raith crept carefully forward and strained his ears for anyone approaching.

  Shouts of alarm rang out from the ship again. A chainmail clad man jumped backwards into Raith’s view, narrowly avoiding a vine that whipped towards his feet. He quickly drew a longsword and raised it to chop at the vine, but froze with his arm in the air as his head turned to see Raith.

  Raith gave a little wave and smiled.

  “Uh, hello. This isn’t what it looks like.”

  Changing targets, the man roared and charged.

  “Infiltrator!”

  “Shit.”

  Raith’s hand shot into his bandoleer and withdrew a flash pellet that he hurled at the deck between him and the charging [Warrior]. Averting his eyes, the sound of the man cursing and stumbling cued the success of the distraction. Ducking a blind sword swing, Raith shoulder checked the man and sent him tumbling over the rail to splash into the Pruxling.

  These flash pellets are awesome!

  He dove to the coiled rope and grabbed it with a heave and a grunt, slinging a smoke bomb into the center of the group that had only just begun to notice his presence.

  Already preoccupied with the grasping vines, the smoke added a wonderful layer of chaos that Raith found quite in line with his desire to get out of there without getting stabbed. Without wasting an instant, he leapt over the back of the boat with his coil of rope, knees almost buckling as he landed on the shifting surface of the river with the load.

  This is way heavier than it looks.

  With a two-handed heave, Raith sent the coil into the churning paddles. The bulk of it wedged between the edge of one paddle and the boat, splintering the wood before the wheel continuing its relentless rotation. Just as he thought his plan had failed, the rope began uncoiling, tugged around by the spinning wheel. It fell to one side and draped on the wheel’s axle, loops growing thicker with each spin. The building pressure soon slowed and then ground the wheel to a stop, causing the ship to lurch and shouts of anger from above.

  I can’t believe that worked.

  “Enough of this. Dispel the silence on our [Mage] and kill them all!”

  That’s probably not good.

  Raith sprinted away as fast as he could, zig zagging to avoid any incoming arrows. None came, and he presumed their attention was on the selkie barge. Approaching again from the far side, he congratulated himself on a successful mission. They’d silenced the [Mage] and stopped the enemy vessel. Assuming none of his team was struck by an arrow, this couldn’t have gone much better. Now they just needed to get out of there.

  He was just pulling himself up over the rail when he was thrown back into the water by an explosion. The heat that blasted his face was immediately quenched as he plunged backwards into the cool river. Spluttering, Raith managed to use his boots to find purchase back on the surface as though he were climbing stairs.

  The moment he regained his feet, another explosion rang out over the deck. Several selkies dove over the side, transforming into their seal form in mid leap before disappearing into the water with barely a splash. Dancing flames raged across the barge behind them as they fled.

  Raith sprinted back towards the boat, fighting the urge to scream or throw up.

  Please let everyone be ok.