Kargan suddenly bawled orders to his crew and the Nexotardis sharply turned to the right. The Phalesians attempted to change their galley’s trajectory, but with her greater speed and power the Nexotardis began to draw away; the gap between the two vessels increased.
Then Kargan roared again and the Nexotardis cut a sweeping turn to the left, heading into the Phalesian galley’s side. Arrows flew through the air on both sides and Solon ducked under the rail as a shaft skewered the air where he’d been a moment before. He felt a lurch and heard a sickening crunch as the Nexotardis’s ram raked along the side of the Phalesian galley, scraping a hole in the opposing ship’s side. Poking his head over the rail he saw the Phalesian ship tilt to the side as water rushed in. The galley sank swiftly as Kargan’s archers loosed arrows at the next closest enemy vessel.
Looking along the line, Solon saw more of his captains making contact. Two ships met head on, the collision shattering both vessels as the rams tore gaping holes in their opposing bows. Another bireme captained by a stocky woman with short bleached hair struck a Phalesian ship with a perfectly executed attack.
Cries filled the air as ship after ship went down, the Phalesians taking heavy losses but inflicting few casualties of their own. Ignoring the danger of whistling arrows, Solon stood at the bow and watched with his heart racing. He cursed each vessel of his own that went down, taking hundreds of his soldiers with it, men who were needed to seize the city.
The waters around the ships boiled like a cauldron as thrashing gray serpents battled, their scaled bodies coiled one around the other, making it impossible to tell them apart. Merfolk grappled and gasped as well-matched opponents sought to drown each other. With the eldren under Triton’s command facing an opposing force of their own race, perhaps traditional tactics would determine the confrontation between the warships.
But then Solon saw a leathery wedge-shaped head with a silver frill lunge at the Nexotardis from the left side. The serpent struck the vessel hard, attempting to push the bireme’s bow to the right and open her up to two approaching Phalesian galleys. Arrows flashed down from the ship’s rail, bouncing off the tough hide, but the serpent merely roared as it continued to push. Solon found himself unable to look away from the monstrous jaws and the crescent scar on the side of its face.
He realized the creature’s tactics were going to be successful. The two war galleys were so close he felt he could reach out and touch them. When they struck the side of the ship Solon was currently standing on, the bireme would shatter into pieces. There was nothing he could do but hold on with a white-knuckled grip.
As the danger grew another larger serpent lunged out of the water and smacked down on top of the monster with the crescent scar; Solon had seen Triton in serpent form enough to recognize the eldran king. The two became embroiled. Kargan bellowed orders. The Nexotardis began to turn, straightening its approach to the two galleys.
They passed on either side as the Nexotardis slid between them. The Phalesian archers let loose a volley of iron-tipped arrows. Kargan’s crew and marines either fell under the hail, clutching the shafts that sprouted from their bodies, or like Solon ducked under a rail.
Solon climbed shakily back to his feet. He couldn’t believe he was still alive.
He tried to assess the battle, but the sea around Phalesia’s harbor was a confusion of sinking warships and writhing eldren. At every instant vessels were grinding up against each other. With nowhere else to seek refuge, the yellow-cloaked soldiers thronging the decks of the biremes hid under the side rails.
Then two more Phalesian galleys went down and Solon saw that there were no more of the enemy’s open-decked galleys remaining. Two Ilean biremes joined the Nexotardis on either side. The line of warships slowly reformed. Solon counted his ships and saw that only four had been crippled or sunk, leaving twenty remaining.
Blood filled the water as the corpses of serpents, merfolk, sailors, and soldiers knocked against each other, bobbing on the surface. The rest of the eldren, evidently spent, had split into two forces, one heading for the safety of the harbor, the other climbing ropes to clamber shakily onto the warships’ open decks, unable to risk further changing.
The Ilean vessels now approached the white-pebbled shore of Phalesia.
And Solon saw with satisfaction that only a thin line of soldiers stood between him and his prize.
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