PreCursive

  I blinked, staring down at the small crossbow that Captain Isabel had shoved into my chest. I clutched it with my one remaining arm. “You’ve got to be joking.”

  The frazzled-looking pirate Captain turned away from her far eye long enough to growl at me. “Ye still shoot. Ain’t like you’ve got no arms.” I could barely hear her over the shouting and bustling on the deck of the Thorny Reef, her ship that I and my panions were being ferried on.

  “How am I supposed to reload it?!” I shouted over the din of the ship’s crew getting ready for battle. I fpped the pinned sleeve that covered the stump of my lost left arm uselessly in demonstration.

  “Ye’ve got at least one shot,” Bel said ftly. “Better make it t. Now get in lihey’re gonna be in range soon.” She nodded over the railing, in the dire she had been previously looking at. I followed her gaze.

  On the horizon, I could see two ships relentlessly pursuing us.

  They were definitely rger than the Reef.

  It had been two days now since we had departed Caer Drarrow with our rescued hostages on board. The mood on the ship had beey somber despite the nominal success of our mission. There had been a number of casualties both from Bel’s crew, and…among my own panions.

  I pushed that thought away. I didn’t want it lingering even in one of my other thought streams wrought from my skill, Ringed Mind. I didn’t have time to be maudlin right now.

  Instead, I did as I was told and hurried doweps of the helm ded onto the middeck. There, most of the crew was gathering for the battle that was likely to happehe ships pursuing us caught up. Many of them had pulled out bows and crossbows like my own, in order to raih on the enemy ohey were in range. Not far from our lihe ship’s ballista was being prepped by a few crewmen that I knew, Morlow and Laryn. They were looking decidedly bloodthirsty as they loaded the oversized crossbow. I guess they hadn’t gotten their fill of death for the loss of their friend, Curloch. Woodrick was standing off to the side, rapidly creating short wooden javelins that I suppose he was intending to throw. I exged a nod with him. The wooden Sculpted had been a little quiet over the st few days. I think he was feeling responsible for Aurum’s death. After all, the now-deceased healer had only e on our mission in order to help free him.

  However, among my group were both some other familiar faces, and ohat I was rapidly getting to know.

  Sylvia was holding a longbow for the first time since I had met her, my Sculpted friend standing eerily still with lumi blue eyes fixed on the pursuing warships. Her nodded shallowly in my dire at my approach, before resuming her vigil. Azarus was there too, holding a much bulkier crossbow in his broad dwarven arms idly. He smirked at me, eyeing my paratively tiny on. I just rolled my eyes at him.

  The third person standing with us was Renauld, the Gnoll that I had rescued in Caer Drarrow. He was surprisingly nont at the aspeore battle, idly twisting the mage's staff he had procured bad forth. He gri me, looking much more presentable after having at the ce to and repce his priss with a set of robes. “Hey friend, how ya doing?” He asked me cheerfully.

  I s his question. “Could be better,” I said wryly. I the fast-approag ships. “I could not be about to get into anht, for one.”

  Renauld literally waved my s off. “Oh, them?” He said dismissively. “They’re nothing to worry about. I’m sure old maon will scare them off, no problem.”

  I wish I shared his fidence. “It’s not us I’m worried about,” I heless ceded. “It’s the ship. They have to know that Grey is with us. If they were smart, they’d just start pung holes in us until we sank and the sea cimed everyone on board.”

  Some of the other archers turo give me dirty looks at my doomsaying. I winced, and decided to keep my mouth shut.

  “Ah,” Renauld said, pausing the twisting of his staff. He cast a wary gaze out at our pursuers, who were close enough now that we could see soldiers frantically getting into position with bows of their own. “I…didn’t think of that.”

  Speaking of Grey, my mentor was back up on the helm deck with Bel. Something about him was odd, though. The older man looked pletely rexed. He didn’t look like he reparing for battle at all.

  In fact, if anything, he looked a bit amused.

  I tilted my head up at him, fused. He must have caught the movement, as he looked back at me and did something ued.

  He winked.

  I blinked.

  What?

  I was startled out of the odd exge by the sound of a door violently smming open nearby. Jumping, I and everyone else ouro look.

  The door leading to the private rooms uhe helm had been thrown open so violently that it lintering. Stalking out of the now-operyway was Honoka, dressed in a nightgown.

  I…didn’t even know she had woken up yet after passing out on Caer Drarrow. I hadn’t seen her since. But she sure as hell was, and she looked pissed.

  She proved she was.

  “WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THIS RACKET?!” Honoka bellowed loud enough that I was sure the enemy ships could hear her, a haze of heat surrounding her form. “I’M TRYING TO SLEEP!” The varnish on the wood of the ship was starting to peel around her, from the searing aura she was emitting.

  A little afraid to speak, I simply pointed over the railing of the ship at our fast-approag pursuers. I could see that I wasn’t the only one. A number of other people, Azarus and Renauld included, were copying me. Sylvia though was just watg Honoka with a faint smile on her Mithril features.

  The older woman followed our pointing. Honoka s the sight of the warships and spat off to the side, spittle fsh dissolving from the heat of her aura. She turo give the gathered forces of the Reef an evil eye. “Bunch of pansies. If you’re just going to quake in your booties, I’ll deal with this.”

  With a flick of a hand, she jured the massive fming wings she had dispyed back at Caer Drarrow. Sweeping them downwards, she shot high into the sky with a burst of fme that billowed out from her position. Several of the crewman scrambled to stomp out the resulting fires.

  Bel leaned bad shook her fists furiously at the elder Cultivator, floating far above us. “WATCH IT WITH ME SHIP, YE OLD BAG!”

  I don’t think Honoka even heard her.

  With an amused grin, Grey leaned on the banister of the Reef to watch the show. I set down my noarently useless crossbow and copied him.

  I didn’t have to wait long.

  I watched as Honoka flew over the o to hover directly over the pair of pursuing warships. Fruitlessly, they tried to shoot her with their own bowmen, only for their shots to fall short. They even fired their own ballista’s at her, only for Honoka to literally catch both bolts out of the air and chuck them back down at the ships below. They spliheir way through the decks of the warships, causing them to begin taking on water.

  Honoka wasn’t dohough. She fred up bright enough to bee a sed sun in the sky, before cupping her hands to her side and visibly trating. In the hollow of her hands, a bright white energy began to coalesce. By this time, the crew of the pursuing vessels looked to be already abandoning ship. While some were frantically l the lifeboats, others were just ht jumping overboard into the waiting waters of the sea below.

  Good thing they did.

  With a shout that I could hear from even this distance, Honoka thrust her hands forward. From them an intensely bright beam of trated Ki nced out, ng through the hull of the ship on the right in an explosion of fire. She didn’t stop there, though. She first dragged the veritable ser beam through that ship, ly biseg it, before moving onto the other. In seds, both ships had been cut in half, leaving four hunks of wreckage floating in the o.

  Only when she had firmed that both ships were destroyed did Honoka cut off her attack.

  I took a deep breath at the dispy of power. That certainly was…something. It was almost chilling, how one person could pletely nullify such a rge force. I think I was the only oo be taken aback though, as the gathered crew burst into cheers and ughter at Honoka’s dispy. Mostly in relief, I think. Nobody on the Reef was going to need risk their life today.

  Honoka floated her way back over to our ship, and touched down on the deck. She dismissed her wings and then turo gre at us. “Keep it down, you sissies,” She hissed at us, before turning around with a snort and walking through the door to the private s. She tried to sm the door behind her, but it fell into splinters instead. It had already eoo much abuse. I don’t think she cared though.

  Honoka’s threat worked, as the crew quieted down. That didn’t stop them from celebrating much more quietly, though. I saw several different pirates dragging kegs out from below ded crag them open.

  Bel moaned in despair from above me at the helm. “My poor baby,” She mourned.

  Meanwhile, Sylvia shook her head with a fond smile, before turning to face Azarus and me. “I’ll go reassure the passehat the danger has passed,” She told us, before leaving to below decks.

  Azarus and I exged a gnce before almost simultaneously shrugging. My dwarven friend wandered away to go join the impromptu party, not oo turn down free alcohol. I noticed that Renauld was way ahead of him, already chugging down a mug of mysterious pirate booze. I guess the guy was a real party animal.

  Heh.

  I shook it off, and climbed back up to the helm deck to join Grey. Honoka’s assault may have ended, but my mentor hadn’t actually moved from his position leaning against the railing. He me in aowledgement, when I copied his posture as best as I could with one arm.

  We stood there in silence for a moment, merely gazing out at the sea while the crew partied on the deck below. It looked like some of the crew of the ships Honoka had bsted away had survived. Miraculously, it looked like a number of lifeboats had bobbed their way to the surface, and soldiers were scrambling their way into them. It didn’t look like they were eager to retry their assault on the Reef, however. The full lifeboats were very deliberately rowing away us toward nd, giving our ship a wide berth.

  Yeah, I’d probably do the same. I’d say better luext time, but holy, screw you in general.

  I dragged my gaze away from them to give Grey a side-eyed gnce. “You knew Honoka was going to do that, didn’t.” I wasn’t really asking a question.

  Grey smiled slightly, not turning to face me. Still, he nodded slightly. “I did,” He aowledged simply.

  “How?” I asked curiously.

  Grey took a deep breath and the out. “Oh, long, long, long years of familiarity. I felt her stirring below and quite accurately predicted what her respoo the situation would be.” He finally turo face me, and leaned in with a spiratorial smile. “The woman is a dreadfully light sleeper, you know. Quite ky when woken up as well.”

  I blinked slowly at the implication. Grey just wi me.

  Alrighty then.

  “Whitegull!” I heard Bel bark from behind. The two of us turo look at the pirate Captain. Bel was gl at Grey with her hands affixed to her hips. “Get over here and tell me where we’re going again.”

  Grey ined his head at her and did as she bade. I followed, since I had nothier to do. I don’t think Bel cared either way. She just unfurled a small handheld map and held it up against the helm. On it, I could see a representation of the eastern coast of the main ti.

  “I believe we’re roughly…here,” Grey said, ying a finger on the map. It was lying on a se of o that holy wasn’t very far from the coast. Maybe only a few days away, from my limited experience. “Our destination, as I’ve told you, is a small little fishing hamlet known as Sancthaven,” He said, moving his fio a point on the coast ahead of the ship.

  “Never heard of a ‘Sancthaven’,” Bel said doubtfully. “An’ I’ve been all up and down this coast.”

  Grey held up his index and thumb, piogether with a small spa between. “The emphasis is on ‘little’. I’m not surprised you’ve never been. Anyway, I was assured before leaving for this expedition that the Uprising will have stationed a in Sancthaven with the needed coaches to ferry both ourselves and our passengers back to safety. We should reach the vilge within the few days.”

  Huh.

  I guess my time at sea was going to be ending soon.

  Oddly, I think I was going to miss it.