The Emerald Storm (The Riyria Revelations #4)

Shaken but not seriously harmed, Poe found another oil bucket and brought it to Hadrian. As the two ships came close, Hadrian found what he was looking for—a bucket at the feet of the archers. Leading his target, he held his breath, took aim, and released. The tartane’s bucket exploded. Hadrian spotted a young Dacca attempt to douse the flames with water. Instantly the fire washed the deck. At that moment, the Storm’s ballista crew, having loaded the weapon with multiple bolts this time, released a cruel hail on the passing Dacca. Screams bridged the gap between the ships as the Storm sailed on, leaving the burning ships in their wake.

Once more, the crew cheered their victory, but it was hollow. Amid the blackened scorch marks left by scores of arrows, a dozen men lay dead on the deck. They had not slipped through the trap unscathed and the red sails behind them were closer now.





***




When night fell, the captain ordered the off-crew, including Hadrian and Royce, below deck to rest. They went to their quarters and took the opportunity to change into their cloaks and tunics. Hadrian strapped on his swords. It brought a few curious looks, but no one said a word.

Not a single man slept and few even sat. Most paced with their heads bowed to avoid the short ceiling, but perhaps this time they were also praying. Many of the crew had appeared superstitious, but none religious—until now.

“Why don’t we put inland?” Seaman Davis asked his fellow sailors. “The coast’s only a few miles off. We could put in and escape into the jungle.”

“Coral shoals ring the shores of Calis,” Banner said, scraping the surface of the table with a knife. “We’d rip the bottom of the Storm a mile out and the Dacca would have it. Besides, the captain ain’t gonna abandon his ship and run.”

“Captain Seward is an arse!”

“Watch yer mouth, lad!”

“Why? What’s he gonna do that can be worse than the Dacca?”

To that, Banner had no answer. No one did. Fear spread through the crew, fear of certain death and the poison that comes from waiting idly for it. Hadrian knew from countless battles the folly of leaving men to stagnate with nothing else to occupy their thoughts.

The hatch opened and everyone looked up. It was Wyatt and Poe.

“What’s the word?” Davis asked.

“It won’t be long now men, make ready what you need to. The captain will call general quarters soon, I expect.”

Wyatt paused at the bottom of the ladder and spoke quietly with Grady and Derning. They nodded then went aft. Wyatt motioned with his eyes for Hadrian and Royce to follow him forward. Only empty hammocks filled the cramped space leaving them enough privacy to speak.

“So, what’s this plan?” Royce whispered.

“We can’t win a fight,” Wyatt told them. “All we can hope to do is run.”

“You said the Storm can’t outrun them,” Hadrian reminded him.

“I wasn’t planning on outrunning them in the Storm.”

Hadrian and Royce exchanged glances.

“The Dacca will want her and the cargo. That’s why we made it through the blockade so easily. They were trying to slow us, not stop us. If I had followed Seward’s orders we’d all be dead now. As it is, I only bought us a few hours, but they were needed.”

“Needed for what exactly?” Royce asked.

“For darkness. The Dacca can’t see any better at night than we can, and while they take the Storm, we’ll escape. They’ll bring as many of their ships alongside as they can to overwhelm our decks by sheer numbers. When they board us, a party of men I’ve hand-picked will take one of the tartanes. We’ll cut the ship free and with luck get clear of the Storm before they see us. Iarkness and the confusion of battle, it might work.”

They both nodded.

Wyatt motioned to Hadrian. “I want you to lead the boarding party. I’ll signal you from the quarterdeck.”

“What are you going to be doing?” Royce asked.

“You mean what are we going to be doing? I didn’t come all this way not to find Allie. You and I will use the distraction to break into the captain’s quarters and steal any orders or parchments we find. Just watch me. You’ll know when.”

“What about the elves below?” Royce asked.

“Don’t worry about them. They want the ship whole. In all likelihood, the Dacca will treat them better than the New Empire has.”

“Who’s in this hand-picked team of yours?” Hadrian asked.

“Poe of course, Banner, Grady—”

“All hands on deck!” Temple shouted from above, as drums thundered.

“See you above, gentlemen,” Wyatt said while heading for the hold.

The sky was black. Invisible clouds covered the stars and shrouded the sliver of moon. Darkness wrapped the sea, a shadowy abyss where only the froth at the bow revealed the presence of water. Behind them, Hadrian saw nothing.

“Archers to the aft deck!”

Hadrian joined the others at the railing where they lined up shoulder to shoulder, looking out across the Emerald Storm’s wake.

“Light arrows!” came the order.

From across the water they heard a sound, and a moment later men around Hadrian screamed as arrows pelted the stern.

“Fire!” Mister Bishop ordered.

They raised their bows and fired as one, launching their burning shafts blindly into the darkness. A stream of flame flew in a long arch, some dying with a hiss as they fell into the sea, others struck wood, their light outlining a ship about three hundred yards behind them.

“There,” Bishop shouted. “There’s your target men!”

They exchanged volley after volley. Men fell dead on both ships leaving the ranks of archers thin. Small fires broke out on the tartane illuminating it and its crew. The Dacca were short, stocky, and lean with coarse long beards and wild hair. The firelight cast them with a demonic glow that glistened off their bare, sweat-soaked skin.

When the tartane lay less than fifty yards astern, its mainmast caught fire and burned like a dead tree. The brilliant light exposed the sea in all directions, and stifled the cheers of the Storm’s crew when it revealed the positions of the rest of the Dacca fleet. Four ships had already slipped alongside them.

“Stand by to repel boarders!” shouted Seward. He drew his sword and waved it over his head as he ran to the safety of the forecastle walls.

“Raise the nets!” ordered Bishop. The rigging crew drew up netting on either side of the deck, creating an entangling barrier of rope webbing. Under command of their officers, men took position at the waist deck, cutlasses raised.

“Cut the tethers!” Mister Wesley’s voice cried as hooks caught the rail.

The deck shook as the tartanes slammed against the Emerald Storm’s hull. A flood of stocky men wearing only leather armor and red paint stormed over the side. They screamed in fury as swords met.

“Now!” Hadrian heard Wyatt shout at him.

He turned and saw the helmsman pointing to the tartane tethered to the Storm’s port side near the stern, the first of the Dacca’s ships to reach them. Most of its crew had already boarded the Storm. Poe, Grady and others in Wyatt’s team held back watching him.