Novel 2. Royal Justice

The next four days were a real rest for the squad — the unwilling allies slept a lot, diligently reduced the stock of provisions bought in the port, and exchanged stories. Master Carlon built a homemade rod and tried to fish for bread crumbs — to no avail, but the magician enjoyed the process. The ship's crew was quiet, shunning the passengers. The sailors often cast interested glances at the girls, but the glances never went further than that. Still, Captain Valria did not allow her companions to relax. Elfess assigned night watches, told everyone to keep their weapons handy and regularly check the serviceability of their equipment. She was cleaning her rifle, cleaning a small cavalry crossbow with a magazine for five arrows, and polishing her sword.

— It's called a stress response, — the black-bearded mage confided to Armando. He made sure he was within earshot of Valria, though. — If she hadn't kept herself busy, she would have been seasick long ago.

— Is it possible to get seasick on the river? — De Gorazzo, who was not well versed in such things, asked incredulously.

— She can, — the master assured him. — Valria is incredibly talented.

The elf's vigilance paid off towards the end of the voyage. Before turning to the west, the Senara swelled wide, and its bend looked more like a lake with calm water and many tiny islands. The "River Nymph" approached this section deep in the night — as Armando later decided, Captain Gianobatto had calculated so on purpose. De Gorazzo was on duty after midnight, and it was he who heard the suspicious sounds. First, someone crept to the cabin door and rattled something metal. Rust squeaked. "A padlock," Armando realised, sitting on the floor at the time, with his naked sword in his lap. He feared to lie down in the hammock, for he was sleepy, and there were no chairs in the room. — "Someone had hung it on the door outside." He recollected that he had seen suitable iron shackles on the sash and jamb. Meanwhile something heavy had begun to be moved across the deck. Probably a crate or a barrel of fresh water.

— Wake up! — De Gorazzo whispered in Gotech's ear, pushing his friend in the shoulder at the same time. — We're in trouble.

A minute later, the whole group awoke. Outside the heavy cargo stopped creaking, and something massive pushed against the doorframe. There was silence again, broken only by the splashing of the waves against the sides of the ship.

— My diagnosis is betrayal, — Valria said softly, tipping her hat and loading her crossbow. Sergeant Dallan beside her was hurriedly loading captain's rifle. — We'll treat by sudden, unplanned piracy. Carlon, can you bring the door down with the siege amulet?

— Of course. — The mage reached into his travelling bag.

— Ahem. I would elaborate. — Gotech coughed into his fist. — Master, can you take the door out with the amulet without punching a hole in the deck and setting the ship on fire?

The imperial mage froze. Pulled his empty hand out of his bag:

— Um... I'm not sure.

— Then I'll do it. Prepare for battle. — The black-skinned giant stood up, approached the door, pressed the sash with his palm, as if assessing its strength. He stepped back a little... and lunged forward with a mighty shoulder. The impact seemed to shake the whole ship. Rotten splinters flew. The flimsy sash flew off its hinges, but hit the heavy object behind it. Gotech was not deterred; the giant clutched at the jamb with his hand, leaned down, and pushed the obstacle away, along with the sash that was crumbling before his eyes. Then he hurriedly collapsed to the ground and crawled backwards. Just in time, the bowstrings rattled, and a pair of long arrows flew where his torso had been a moment before. One struck a jamb, the other the back wall of the cabin. The elfess fired back, yanked the lever behind the magazine, fired again. Armando couldn't see where the girl was aiming, but she didn't miss — as confirmed by two painful shrieks. The squad went on the attack, rushing to get out of the cabin that had almost become a trap. Sergeant Dallan and Lady Maria in their steel cuirasses were the first to leave the room, followed by the unarmoured former bailiffs, than the elf, mage and lizard. They met no resistance on deck — the smugglers were either extremely cowardly or extremely clever. The sailors scrambled overboard as soon as they saw the angry passengers. Armando had no time to blink when he discovered that only two dead archers were left on the ship, each of them having been shot in the eye with an arrow by Valria at the beginning of the fight.

— Scoundrels and cowards — said Lady Maria calmly, simply stating the fact. The pale girl halted at the masthead with her sword drawn. In the moonlight her smooth skin and straight hair seemed milky white, and her armour shimmered ghostly silver. — They didn't even dare to fight.

— They may be cowards, but I don't think they're fools, — the elfess said. — Maria, make sure the horses are all right. Dallan, follow me.

The sergeant and captain climbed the ladder to the high bay. Dallan took the rudder the helmsman had left behind, and Velria looked around. Suddenly, swearing in Old Elvish, she pointed her finger:

— Look! To port, off the island! Can you see it?

The waning moon shone brightly enough for de Gorazzoo, who had no elven eyesight, to see where the girl was pointing. From one of the forested islets, two river galleys were heading towards the "Nymph". The miniature ships with square superstructures on their bows seemed to glide through the calm water to the measured stroke of their oars. One of the galleys was a little behind the other.

— River pirates, — Gotech grinned. — The most convenient place for them...

— Valria was right, Gianobatto is no fool. — Armando put his sword back in its scabbard — no need for it yet. — He wasn't going to capture us himself. He must have realised something in Phletsius, sent a messenger to his friends on the coast... And it would be good if it was only to them.

The silver moon was eclipsed for a moment by a black winged shadow. Valria leaned over the railing of the stern and shouted:

— Carlon, signal! The rest of you, battle stations. Dallan, take the wheel. The current will carry us to the south shore. We'll ground the ship and disembark. We have horses and the pirates are on foot, we'll lose them.

The black-bearded mage squeezed between the agitated horses with a dexterity unexpected for his size, ran to the blazing brazier on the bow. He poured into it the contents of one of his many pouches. With a soft hissing sound, the flames flared brighter, turning an incredible violet colour. The black silhouette flashed against the moon again — but the former bailiff would have sworn it was smaller now than last time. And could a dragon fly in the same direction twice? It wouldn't have had time to make a circle.....

De Gorazzo was prevented from realising this fact by a shot that rumbled over the water. A light flashed on the bow of the lagging galley, something whistled over the stern of the Nymph, and fell into the water with a splash.

— Excellent. They have a gun — Gotech said. Armando could not tell from his voice that he was particularly upset.

The pirates' gun was not far from the calibre of a salute cannon, but the rotten "Nymph" was no match for a galleon with oak armour.

— They're marking the stern, — said the mage, who had returned from the brazier. — They want to smash the rudder, I guess.

— What are we going to do? — The elven woman asked from the stern. Despite the danger, she didn't move a step away from Dallan, who was holding the wheel. — I've only just taken command of my own ship, and I don't want it to be destroyed at once.

— I've got a trick I learnt in the army, — the mage began. A third cannonball struck the stern, making a hole in the fence of it. The girls at the helm fell to the ground.

— Valria! — The mage shrieked, rushing to the stairs. They ran up the stairs with Armando.

— I'm... fine. — The elfess hastily rose to her knees and stood up, pressing her palm to her head. Picked up her hat. — Dallan?

— It's all right. — Sergeant was already holding the wheel again.

— There's blood on your face.

— It's nothing. A chip scratched it.

The elfess pulled a white handkerchief out of her waistcoat pocket and pressed it to her friend's cheek. She asked irritably:

— Where is that demon-damned dragon?!

— We've only got a couple of minutes, hurry up! Help me. — Ignoring her words, master shoved Armando an object that looked like a huge copper nail with a silver mirror replacing the cap. — Stick it into the edge of the platform at this angle.

The magician showed him, and hurried to the other end of the deck with a similar object in his hands. De Gorazzo diligently complied with the Imperial's instructions and stepped back, leaving the mirror sticking out of the planking. Master Carlon touched each of the objects in turn, muttered something under his breath, waved his hands, and an almost transparent wall grew over the deck. It looked as if someone had suspended a plate of clear glass from the port side by invisible strings.

— A force shield, — Valria nodded understandingly. — But it's enough for one hit. Two, if the cannonballs are small and rocky.

— That's enough, — the mage smiled enigmatically.

The magic shield flashed blue, reflecting another projectile. Because the transparent wall was tilted at an angle, the cannonball flew backwards and downwards rather than upwards or sideways, burying itself in the water between the sailing ship and the galleys.

— Change the tilt of the amulets! — Master Carlon commanded. — Half a finger lower and a little to the left!

— Demons be damned, you've got a great idea! — Gotech, who was watching the magician's manipulations from the deck, exclaimed. As a former siege engineer, he had appreciated the idea before Armando.

The fifth shot had to wait longer. The galleys were steadily catching up with the sailing ship — it was clear that it would not be able to get ashore and avoid boarding. But the pirate commander, probably, did not give up the idea to deprive the "Nymph" of the rudder, because in the end the cannon rumbled again. But all this time Carlon and Armando had been adjusting the tilt of the force shield, keeping it at a certain angle to the approaching ships. A blue flash... and a projectile bounced off the shield and flew back-right. Straight into the lead, unarmed galley. Even though he understood the mages's plan, de Gorazzo had little faith in its success — but now he could see the result with his own eyes. The cannonball had struck under the galley's bow. A large hole was formed above the waterline, but the ship still swerved. The rowers were out of rhythm.

And then, at last, Armando heard the sounds he had been waiting for most in these tense moments — the roar of the dragon, the whistle of air cut by the giant wings. The former bailiff threw back his head. Charcoal was swooping down on the pirate ships, obscuring the stars. The sight was marvellous until Valria, who also looked up, exclaimed:

— There's a second one!

It was only then that Armando noticed a dark spot above the Charcoal — another dragon, barely visible from the deck, was following Donna Minerva's dragon. It was lagging behind, but it was no doubt chasing the big black one.

— Carlon! Do something! — The always feminine and elegant elfess bellowed hoarsely. Tearing the loaded rifle from her shoulder, the pointy-eared girl knelt down and rested her cheek against the shiny, polished butt of the gun, aiming at the dragon. Meanwhile, the mage was doing... apparently doing something. Stumbling, he rolled down the stairs and hurried to the bow, fumbling in his belt pouch.

In the next few seconds, several events happened almost simultaneously. The Charcoal, which had been falling as a stone, spread its wings and flew horizontally over the water. The dragon swept over the armed galleys with incredible speed, clawed at their only mast. The thick, short mast snapped like a straw, but the momentum still rocked the ship. The galley scooped up water with the port oars, and human figures spilled into the river. The gun in the elven woman's hands slammed down, sending a lead bullet towards the second dragon. At the same instant, the mage who hadn't had time to run to the bow swung round and tossed some sort of pouch into the blazing roaster. He shouted:

— Close your eyes!

Don de Gorazzo barely had time to follow his advice before the pouch fell into the flames. He covered his face with his palms just in case, but the white flash still stabbed his eyes through his eyelids. Armando pulled his hands, fearing he had missed something important — and rightly so. Despite the specks of light dancing in his eyes, the former bailiff saw a dark mass the size of a good peasant's house fall from the sky into the river. No one had alerted the second dragon and its rider to the flash. Blinded and stunned, they delayed for a moment in coming out of the dive — and paid for it. The surge was titanic. The unknown lizard struck the side of the armed galley, which had levelled itself, and broke off a whole piece of its side, at the same time breaking all the oars on one side with its carcass. Almost immediately he surfaced, floundering like a drowning dog, striking the long-suffering ship with his unnaturally curved wing. The Charcoal, which at the moment of the flash was gaining altitude with its back to the "River Nymph", was not confused. He laid on the wing, made a semicircle and attacked the second pirate ship. The giant lizard simply landed on its bow, clung to the superstructure with its clawed front paws and widen the core hole. The crew made no attempt to stop it; instead, the sailors fled in panic, jumping overboard or rushing to the stern. Armando, blinking, saw in the pearly moonlight a slender white figure run along the ridge of the Charcoal and, arms outstretched, dive into the water.

— Now at least we know what Donna Minerva was doing while we were fighting here, — said Captain Valria behind de Gorazzo's back, in a slightly hoarse but familiar calmly mocking voice. — Don Armando, Dallan, look after my weapons.

— Weapons? — Armando turned round and found that the elf had already thrown off her gloves, waistcoat and blouse, and was now pulling off her high boots. — Captain?

— I don't know why Donna went in the water, but I think she's looking for something. Or someone. — The girl got rid of her trousers and undershirt, set her right leg back. — Given the number of foreign bodies floating around, she could use some help. Keep heading for the shore. We'll be back on our own.

— Yes, — Sergeant Dallan nodded gravely. Three steps were all it took for Valria to get up and then she pushed herself off the deck and jumped overboard, the railing that had been knocked down by the fire not blocking her path.