Miranda said, “What was that?”
“What was that?” shouted de Loungville as orange light exploded at the docks.
They had been making steady headway against the running tide as they crossed the boundary of the estuary and entered the river proper. The winds were picking up and the rain increasing, to the point where Erik was bailing in earnest.
No one had spoken for a while. Despite their efforts to stoke the fires before leaving, the rain had been defeating them. Even the biggest fire was starting to diminish. And whatever Nakor’s idea, it hadn’t been manifested. Then a hum had sounded in the distance, followed a moment later by a bolt of white energy arcing down from the bridge to strike the center of the shipyard.
A huge ball of orange flame climbed into the air, followed by a rising column of black smoke. The sound of the explosion had hurt their ears even at this distance, and a moment later a hot gust of air struck them like a stinging blow.
“Keep rowing!” yelled Calis.
Erik bailed, but he looked over his shoulder, past Sho Pi, who also looked back. “Look!” shouted Sho Pi as a tiny dart of blue light rose from the docks and struck at the leading edge of the bridge of light.
Within seconds another massive bolt of energy rained down on the harbor, exploding buildings and sheds into flame. Two previously intact ships resting at anchor, waiting to be hauled out for repair, caught fire as flames touched their sails.
Now half the shipyard was aflame, and hot enough, apparently, for the rain to have little impact. Calis and de Loungville pulled hard, and a few minutes later another blue bolt of light rose up and struck the bridge.
The third blast from above was as large as the first two combined, and fully half the waterfront was engulfed in fire. Suddenly de Loungville let out a harsh laugh. “Nakor!” he said.
Even Calis couldn’t hide his astonishment.
Erik said, “But he said he didn’t have any magic that would work against the bridge!”
De Loungville said, “But they don’t know that!” He jutted his chin at the bridge, starting its descent toward Maharta.
“Whatever he’s doing, they think it’s an attack, and they’re doing our work for us! They’re going to burn down half the city trying to fry the little maniac!”
Suddenly Erik started to laugh. He couldn’t help himself. The image of the little man dashing madly from place to place, somehow avoiding the terrible destruction the Pantathians were throwing at him, was comic to consider.
“It’s an illusion,” said Sho Pi. “The serpent priests are so ready for combat, they don’t trouble to look at what is only an illusion. They act as if it were real.”
Another tiny blue bolt shot skyward and another thundering response answered, and more of the city’s waterfront erupted in flame.
“Gods,” said Erik in a half-whisper. “How’s he going to get out of that?”
Miranda squinted against the bright image in the ball. “What is going on?”
“Someone has the Pantathians convinced they’re under attack, and they’re spending a great deal of energy trying to destroy whoever it is.”
“Can we help?”
Pug said, “There’s enough going on that I think I can slip something in to make merry hell for this Emerald Queen.” He closed his eyes and Miranda felt power flowing toward him. He moved his lips slightly, and, like music, the pitch of the energies in the room shifted.
Miranda sat back to watch, and to wait.
Each time the flames grew and Erik was convinced Nakor must finally be dead, another tiny blue bolt would strike the bridge, and another globe of hellfire would descend on the city. The entire waterfront was now ablaze, from the ship-builders’ estuary to the main harbor. As they took the river to the ocean, and rode the outgoing tide past the harbor mouth, they could see mighty ships burning at the dockside. Erik tried not to imagine Roo stuck on the docks in the midst of that fire and panic, trapped with no way to escape but to jump into the harbor.
As they steered clear of the rocks, they began to follow along the long breakwater they had used to enter the city. Movement caught Erik’s eye and he said, “What’s that over there?”
In the rain he could barely see, but Calis said, “Some of our men.”
He told Sho Pi to move closer, but pulled up short of letting the boat get too close to the rocks. Erik looked and saw three of the men who had been lost in the river the night before. One looked seriously injured, and the other two waved frantically.
Calis stood and shouted, “You’ve got to swim. We can’t risk coming any closer.”
The men nodded and one slipped into the water. The other helped the injured man in, and the two aided him as he slowly swam to the boat.
One of the men was Jadow, and Erik was glad to see a familiar face. But of his own company, only Sho Pi was left. Roo and Luis were not with these men. Neither was Greylock.