The lanterns hung about the deck of the Night Blade came into view beyond a spit of land covered in lush foliage that served as natural breakwater for a shallow cove. It was just as Rallin had told. The Bloody Whore’s sails billowed, as if eager to join her anchored sister.
Word passed among the Brothers to make ready. In a hushed voice, Daris called for more speed through the open hatchway. The remaining Kelrens-faced with the threat of suffering as Rallin had-put their backs to the oars, propelling the ship to greater speed. With Ulmek manning the rudder, the Bloody Whore rounded the breakwater. Like a black swan, the ship glided through calm waters glimmering in the light of the moon.
Hunkered behind a cluster of barrels near the portside bow, Leitos searched the darkness, but could not see anyone aboard the Night Blade.
“They will stay hidden,” Rallin had warned. “Only after the proper signals are given, will my mates respond.”
He had gone on to explain those signals, and what to expect in return. Ulmek had cautioned the Brothers that they should believe little, if any, of what the man claimed. “However, we will do as he said, while expecting the worst. But no matter what happens, our task is to free our brethren….”
Now the Bloody Whore veered toward the Night Blade, rapidly cutting the distance. Halan, standing at the bowsprit, signaled the other ship with a shuttered lantern, as Rallin had said they should.
After a long moment, a lantern on the Night Blade blinked in response. Halan signaled again. More quickly than before, he received two slow blinks, followed by four rapid flashes.
“They want us to come abreast,” Halan said over his shoulder.
Again, Daris commanded more speed, and Leitos heard the sweep and splash of oars increase their pace.
Keeping low, he moved to the rail. Sumahn nodded his readiness. More Brothers shifted amid the shadows, blades bared. As Leitos went over Ulmek’s plan again, his fingers tightened around the hilts of his sword and dagger.
Over the rail, he could make out the Bloody Whore’s ram, a great bronze beak cutting a path to their target. An emaciated harridan of wrought iron stood upon the ram’s top edge, her corroded hair swept back, and mouth spread wide around long fangs. It was an ugly thing, forged by Kelren hands, but this night it would serve the will of the Brothers of the Crimson Shield.
“Make ready,” Halan called softly, drawing his great scimitar.
Leitos’s heart began to thump.
Shouts erupted from the deck of the Night Blade, then a sea-wolf cried, “They mean to ram us!”
A moment later, the Bloody Whore speared the Night Blade’s hull at the waterline, and a thunderous crash of rupturing planks and timbers spilled out over the cove.
“Now!” Halan bellowed.
Leitos leaped a breath too late, and the jarring collision sent him flying over the rail. He landed on his face, and flipped across the Night Blade’s deck.
Sumahn, Daris, and the others rolled expertly, coming up in the midst of stunned Kelrens. The peals of clashing swords erupted an instant later, but were faint under the crackling din of the Bloody Whore impaling her sister’s bowels and breaking her keel. The mangled remains of the wrought iron harridan ripped a splintery gash through the Night Blade’s deck, splitting the ship in half.
Leitos gained his feet as the Bloody Whore ground to a halt. The Night Blade’s bow began to rise precipitously, and battling warriors stumbled down the deck. Deep groans and the rush of water told Leitos he had only moments to reach the hold before the front half of the ship sank.
Leitos raced forward, flung open the hatch, and jumped through. A single guard, dazed and bleeding, staggered drunkenly in the wavering light of a firemoss lantern. Leitos attacked without hesitation. The sea-wolf blocked his sword stroke, but missed his slashing dagger. Gagging on the blood filling his throat, the slaver plummeted into the hold through the second hatchway.
Leitos caught the lantern, and clambered down the ladder. He dropped into water deep as his knees. Aft, the splintered hulls of both the Bloody Whore and Night Blade strained against one another in mingled destruction. Seawater boiled into the hold, floating the dead guard, and rats by the score.
Chasing the lantern’s light, Leitos made for the sound of shouting men. Kicking apart a jammed bulkhead door, he found the prisoners. Filthy, scabbed, and hollow-eyed, they all squinted against the sudden light.
“Father!” Leitos cried.
“Leitos?” came the disbelieving response. Then, “Get the key! The guard wears it around his neck.”
Leitos splashed back through the doorway. The bobbing Kelren now served as a raft for a handful of chittering vermin. Leitos swept them aside, and found the key attached to a leather cord. He ripped it free, and made his way back to the prisoners.
By now, the rush of seawater had submerged the lower bunks. The Brothers chained to them fought to thrust their faces clear, their eyes wide with terror.
“There’s no time to free us all!” Ba’Sel shouted. “Unbind those you can, and escape before we sink!”
Leitos found him, a dark face almost lost amongst the others. Beside him stood Adham.
Forcing himself to remain calm, Leitos made his way forward, unlocking those Brothers’ shackles who were nearly underwater, then those who were chained to higher bunks. Where other men might have fled in panic, the freed Brothers stood fast, some guarding the doorway, the rest helping find locks for Leitos to unfasten.
“Fool, boy,” Ba’Sel grumbled when Leitos reached him.
Leitos unlocked his shackles, then his father’s.
Adham wrapped him in a fierce hug, then abruptly pushed him to arm’s length. “I take it you are not alone-unless you learned how to sail a ship?”
“The rest are above.”
“The sea-wolves said they killed you all, before the storm forced them to flee.” Unshed tears shone in his gray eyes. “I did not believe them. Not for a moment.”
Ba’Sel caught Leitos’s shoulder. “Weapons?”
“There is too much wreckage to be sure,” Leitos answered.
Ba’Sel ordered the hold scoured for anything with which to fight. In short order, the Brothers had armed themselves with iron-headed mauls, a pair of adzes, belaying pins, and splintered pieces of planking.
Leitos tried to press his sword into Adham’s hand, but his father took the dagger instead.
“I want to be close to these bastards when I spill their guts,” he growled.
In the brief time it had taken to arm themselves, the hold had almost become impassible. The Brothers swam to the ladder, and climbed to the rowing deck. Before they could join the battle on the main deck, a tremendous column of seawater shot up through the hatchway they had just escaped. What was left of the Night Blade’s hull shattered around them like an eggshell, and a foaming blast of seawater washed Leitos and the Brothers out of the wreckage, and across a coral reef.
Another debris-laden wave rolled Leitos off the reef into deeper water. Gasping, he struggled to stay afloat while holding his sword. Brothers bobbed to the surface close by, most coughing and entangled in coils of rope. A few stood on the reef, looking around in astonishment. More still swam away from the grounded ships, making for the distant shoreline.
“Leitos!” Adham called.
Leitos swam toward his father. After a few strokes, his feet touched the sandy bottom. “We need to go back for the others.”
“There is no need,” Adham answered, pointing at what was left of the two ships, the reef holding them fast.
Moonlight played across the debris, and Ulmek stood on the highest point of the Night Blade’s ruined bow. He raised a firemoss lantern, peering about. Behind him, some of the Brothers began lining up Kelren prisoners on the tilted deck, while others tossed lines to those swimming nearby.