Then Scherlic saw a figure on the deck, calmly watching the approaching storm rider. He wore black clothing with embroidered silver thread, and his hair was the color of blood, slicked back to his head with streaks of black at the temples.
Scherlic felt red come to his vision as he roared the activation sequences now.
The black ship loomed over the smaller Buchalanti vessel.
The Infinity struck with a sickening crunch.
Scherlic lashed out a hand, grabbing hold of the mast to arrest his motion as the collision flung him forward. Buchalanti sailors fell from the rigging to land on the deck with shattering force.
Scherlic watched the figure in black rise into the air and disappear into the haze of the gun smoke. With satisfaction Scherlic saw he’d mortally wounded the black ship. It began to sink while the revenants swarming the decks launched themselves forward, running for the Infinity’s deck.
Scherlic called out more activations as he felt his ship tremble. A third of the symbols on the storm rider’s deck went dark. Finally the Infinity pulled away from its crippled enemy, but Scherlic’s eyes widened as he saw three revenants throw themselves into the air to land, sprawling, on the decks.
The Alturan bladesinger went into action.
His armorsilk flared up faster than the time it took Scherlic to take a breath, and his zenblade was suddenly alive in his hands. He threw Scherlic’s men aside as he lunged forward and before the first revenant, a woman in ragged clothing, could stand, he’d taken her head from her shoulders. The next snarling monster climbed to its feet and charged at the bladesinger, but the man somehow rolled under the blow, and his backswing cut the revenant in two. The third revenant, a big barbarian with a horned helmet, now faced the bladesinger and growled as it launched itself forward. It moved at a speed that belied its size, a blur of motion.
But the bladesinger was faster, and three successive blows sent putrid flesh flying in all directions. Panting, the Alturan checked his enemies by prodding them with the tip of his blazing sword. Finally, he threw the larger pieces off the ship.
The Buchalanti sailors cheered the Alturan.
Finally free from the grip of the sinking black ship, Scherlic willed the Infinity forward again as another enemy warship closed in, turning in a tight circle to present a row of cannon mouths. As Scherlic saw the unfolding disaster, a Buchalanti dreadnought appeared in the distance.
Scherlic called on his ship’s speed as he gave as much strength as possible to the weakened planking. He started to move away, but then the enemy broadside smashed the Infinity.
Splinters of polished wood flew in all directions as the cannon tore holes in sails and took chunks out of the deck. Scherlic prayed a hole hadn’t been opened up below the waterline, but though there was damage at all quarters, the storm rider could still sail.
Scherlic’s weapon master attempted a salvo of orbs, but the enemy warship’s range was greater; it was too far away.
The dreadnought fired.
A wide beam of golden light launched from the mighty vessel, striking into the heart of the enemy warship. The beam carved through the ship, instantly splitting it into two halves down the middle. In moments the warship was sunk, its clawing cargo of revenants dotting the water before they too sank.
Scherlic drew in a shaky breath, and the Infinity came up to support the dreadnought.
25
Deniz led his squadron down the line of enemy ships for the third time, but he knew this time he wouldn’t be as lucky as he had been thus far. The enemy had reduced his fleet down to eight warships, and though he’d sunk too many of the enemy vessels to count, still more targets presented themselves. Bodies filled the ocean, and the smoke of cannon fire and burning ships clouded the sea in a dark haze.
“Fire!” Deniz cried, and once more the Seekrieger lurched to the side as every gun in her port side fired together.
An enemy warship fired at the same time, and both ships trembled as they took crippling damage. Bodies and splinters of wood flew into the air on both sides. The Seekrieger shivered, and Deniz felt an immediate heaviness when he tried to keep an even keel steady to the wind, telling him that a hole had opened below the waterline.
Behind him the clustering Veldrin warships fired their own salvos, but it was ragged now as the loss of men and damage from responding fire took its toll.
Deniz wondered if he could tack once more and disengage, but then he saw ships flying enemy flags on both sides. He was embroiled, and his ship would soon sink. It would be a fight to the death.
Ahead of the Seekrieger a brightly-colored warship flew a golden pennant and a red flag with blue crossed swords. The ship was undamaged, and Deniz frowned when he saw a man calling out orders, standing with legs apart on the deck. The commander wore a three-cornered red hat and bellowed instructions to his crew.
Deniz remembered Beorn’s interrogation of the necromancer. He knew the standard, and he knew who the man was: Farix, the pirate king of Torian.