James Barclay - Beyond the Mists of Katura

‘Aye, skipper.’ Selas gazed forward briefly. ‘North-west plus one point to the wind, closing speed seven knots. Distance, two nautical.’

‘Send your guests down. There is work to do.’

Selas smiled at Auum.

‘You heard him.’

Ulysan laughed. ‘Everyone did.’

‘Let’s go,’ said Auum. ‘Fighting to be done. See you up here at dusk, Selas.’

‘It will be an honour to witness the sunset with you.’

Back on deck, Ulysan called the TaiGethen and Il-Aryn to their positions. Up in the crow’s nest, Selas was calling the moves made by the enemy fleet. Auum joined Esteren at the helm.

‘They aren’t breaking,’ said Esteren. ‘Either they’re inexperienced or they’re expecting to break us with heavily concentrated magic.’

‘I think we can assume it’s the latter,’ said Auum.

‘The Il-Aryn had better know what they’re doing or this is going to be a very short battle.’

‘Drech says that they do,’ said Auum. ‘I trust him.’

Esteren nodded and stared at the enemy vessels, on which they were coming up quickly. ‘Helm, two points west.’

‘Two points west, aye,’ said the helm.

‘Cleress, let me have the positions of your sisters,’ said Esteren, his voice gentle, almost reverential.

Cleress was silent for a moment, her Il-Aryn minder crouched by her, whispering encouragement. Auum saw her eyes flitting about beneath their lids.

‘ Blessing and Capricious on target. TaiGethen ready. Il-Aryn standing by. Takaar warns of shaman casting range. . shield early. . fighters should keep low. Stein will cast to the centre of fleet. Blessing turn across imminent.’

‘Message, Cleress, please,’ said Esteren. ‘ Blessing and Spirit free to turn at will. Free to engage at will. Relay Takaar’s advice as orders from me. Capricious to turn on my signal.’

Cleress indicated understanding.

‘Ready your people, Auum. Signals! Run the flags for fleet to come about. Quickly as you like. Helm, steady as she goes, but let’s not crash into anyone, eh?’

‘Aye, skipper.’

‘Crew! Prepare to repel borders. Stretcher crews stand by. Fire teams, stand by.’

The bosun’s orders reverberated from stern to bowsprit. Auum’s heart rate increased and his body energised in anticipation of the fight. He could see figures running around on the decks of the enemy ships, which still ploughed forward, but even to Auum’s untrained eye it was clear they would not escape the closing elven vessels. Selas reported they were closing up, and her estimations and calculations of angle and speed had been extraordinarily accurate.

Auum trotted down the main deck. As on all four elven ships, the TaiGethen were split five cells each to port and starboard, ready to board both of the ships they passed between. In a line between the TaiGethen stood twenty Il-Aryn. The other twenty were hidden but ready to respond to the call. The Il-Aryn leader on board was a Gyalan iad Auum had not seen before they put to sea but had since impressed him.

‘Istani, any problems?’

‘No time for problems,’ she replied, nodding at the enemy looming large ahead. ‘We’re ready.’

‘Trust us,’ said Auum. ‘Don’t second-think. You must protect the ships because should we fail, you can outrun them back to Calaius.’

‘We won’t let you down.’

‘Yniss bless you.’

‘Gyal kiss you with blessed rain,’ returned Istani.

‘Tais,’ called Auum. ‘We pray.’

Stein could feel the weight of the Wytch Lords’ power swilling through the shamen gathered on the enemy vessels. Standing next to the mizzenmast, he worried about the ability of the Il-Aryn to block what was coming, and of the TaiGethen to tackle the Wesmen. The shamen were powerful and their swordsmen strong and brutal. He could barely feel what it was the Il-Aryn said they possessed.

Yet Takaar would brook no doubts, and Drech, the one who spoke such sense and was a genuine scholar, had unstinting faith in his charges’ abilities. Still, Stein refused to be caught napping. Though he’d been asked to preserve his mana stamina for a possible rearguard action, there were still things he could do and the shamen would not be able to deflect because they’d have no idea he was there until it was way too late.

The enemy were mustering but unsure of themselves. Shamen were gathered in groups on the ships he could see and the Wesmen waved weapons, shouted abuse and postured in a faintly ridiculous but typical fashion. Stein felt the Wytch Lord power intensifying. He glanced over at Takaar.

‘Incoming,’ said Stein. ‘Imminently.’

Takaar glared at him but his face softened almost immediately. He nodded.

‘Credit where it is due, you’re right,’ he said quietly then raised his voice. ‘Drech, give the order.’

‘Raise the barrier,’ said Drech. ‘Enclose this vessel. Ix bless you for your strength, your belief and your talent. Deploy.’

The casting snapped into place with barely a pause. Stein hunched reflexively at the weight of magical power it drew. There was no mistaking what the Il-Aryn could do now, and he found himself staring, his eyes attuned to the mana spectrum.

‘Gods drowning, what is that?’

An ovoid covered the ship above and below the waterline. He could see it because he could both sense it and because it sharpened the focus of everything beyond it. Stein fought to understand what he was seeing. Lines of mana ran through the casting but in a way a lace might secure a boot rather than as the base fabric. It appeared to be made of little other than air and perhaps water but had an aura of incredible strength — that of the stormy sea and of the tempest’s energy. It shimmered occasionally as if reaffirming its shape and integrity, the Il-Aryn who had cast it sitting perfectly still, line astern, arms folded into their laps and their heads resting on their chests.

Takaar was walking towards him, his arms spread and a beatific smile on his face.

‘It is a wonder, isn’t it?’

‘It is,’ said Stein. ‘Will it work? What have you made here?’

The front row of Wesmen ships was past them, leaving the nearest enemy vessels in the second row less than a hundred yards away. The elven skipper pointed up a little into the wind, aiming for the gap between the first pair of ships. TaiGethen crouched beneath the port and starboard rails, waiting for the order to attack. They had no ropes and no grapples, but having seen what the Il-Aryn had done, Stein ceased to be concerned about their ability.

‘We draw on nature’s power. We manipulate the elements. There is nothing stronger than nature because even when we are all dust, it will endure. We have rendered the air about this ship and the skin of water encasing the hull solid as deep mountain stone. No power can break it.’

Eighty yards. The TaiGethen were praying. The intensity of the Wytch Lord magic was painful in Stein’s skull. He prayed Takaar was right.

‘But can I cast anything out of it?’

‘I don’t see why not,’ said Takaar. ‘It’s a repulsion field on the outside only. You could push your hand through it.’

Takaar paused and giggled like a child. Sixty yards. Stein prepared.

‘Oh yes, that’s almost the best part,’ Takaar said, apparently to someone else. ‘Shall we tell him?’

Stein wasn’t really listening; his concentration was focused solely on his casting, which in comparison to the Il-Aryn’s was a work in stately progress towards a less spectacular goal.

Takaar was still talking. ‘Don’t tell anyone else, but from the outside the barrier is opaque, like water cascading down glass. They can’t see through it.’