Page 252 of Scorched Earth
Teriana shook her head because overconfidence was starting to look like stupidity on behalf of the Cel. Yet she knew that the targets on the far side of the Reath—those under Marcus’s control—would be far more vigorously defended.
“They’ve seen us!”
Teriana watched the Cel sailors stare at the Maarin fleet with no real concern on their faces. Blue sails meant trade, not war, and they seemed more interested in the storm front rolling in behind them, nothing about it natural.
“We’ll take the port side,” she ordered, lifting a flag to signal one of the other ships to move in on the starboard. “They’ll have the powder in the hold. Take as many casks as you can, but for the love of the Six, do not allow it anywhere near flame.”
“Prisoners?” Yedda asked, and Teriana shook her head. “No. Don’t mistake their confidence in their own waters for weakness. If they learn what we’ve stolen, they’ll suspect our strategy and be ready for us. No witnesses.”
Her crew gave grim nods, their fingers brushing over the hilts of their blades. Not soldiers, but life on the high seas came with inevitable conflict, so they knew their business.
But so did the Cel.
Some of her crew would be injured. Some might die. This was a taste of what it was like to be Marcus when he sent men into battle. Or what ithadbeen like to be Marcus, because she doubted he cared much about casualties any more. Or anything at all.
Teriana lifted her spyglass again. As she watched, the first signs of concern began to show on the Cel crew’s faces. As theQuincenseand theFuriadrew closer still, the Cel abruptly seemed to realize their intent. They exploded into action, readying to repel the attack.
But nothing could prepare them for what lurked in the waters below.
Teriana’s vision shifted, taken over by Magnius so that she could see what the demigod saw beneath the waves: the hull of the Cel ship.
“Now,” she whispered, and as Magnius put on a burst of speed,her vision became her own again. Just in time to watch as the Cel ship shuddered from the impact of Magnius’s tail.
It heeled over with a groan and spilled several sailors into the water. Their screams cut off as theQuincenseandFuriasailed over them—there was no room in this moment for mercy.
“Lower the sails!” she shouted. “Ready the hooks!”
Sails dropped, but theQuincense’s momentum kept her moving, sliding alongside the floundering ship full of stunned sailors. “Now!”
Her crew threw the hooks, the thick metal catching the railings of the Cel vessel, and men and women strained to pull the vessels together even as Teriana shouted, “Board!”
With a roar, her crew surged, leaping the gap between ships or swinging across on ropes to land on the deck amidst the Cel. Teriana ran with them, the sea a flash of white foam as she jumped, landing with a thump.
A blade flashed toward her face, but she parried. Quintus’s training served her well as she fought the man before her, looking for an opening and then dragging the tip of her sword across his stomach, sending his guts spilling onto the deck. There was no time to reconcile herself to what she’d done, for another soldier took his place, murder in his eyes.
All around her was chaos as Maarin fought Cel in pitched hand-to-hand, the Maarin on theFuriathrowing hooks on the starboard side, then swiftly boarding to add their blades to the melee. The deck was slick with blood, pitching from side to side on the rough seas, the screams of the injured and dying deafening.
Her arm shuddered from the impact of the soldier’s blows, but Teriana gritted her teeth and kept matching him. His foot slipped, and she struck, stabbing him in the chest. He toppled sideways, jerking her weapon out of her hand.
Another gladius stabbed at her, and she threw herself sideways, rolling into the legs of those who were fighting before regaining her feet, her knife in hand. “Get to the hold!” Teriana screamed, and raced to the hatch, leaping over the fallen.
Not all of whom were Cel.
Her heart ached, but there was no time for grief. She reached the hatch at the same time as Yedda and Polin, the three of them pulling it up while others defended their backs.
“They’re going for the powder! They’re going for the powder!” the captain screamed. “Scuttle the ship!”
Teriana leapt into the hold, then barely got her knife up as a shrieking Cel sailor came running at her. His deflected blade sliced across her forearm, and she hissed in pain, stabbing him in the neck. As he dropped, she took a step forward and peered into the darkness.
The hold was full of small casks, each about the size of her torso.
“Gods,” she breathed, entranced and horrified by the danger. The watertight casks packed the space, and all of it would be destined for Emrant, which meant that Marcus intended to use explosives in some capacity.
Yedda dropped next to her, her eyes going immediately to Teriana’s injury. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine. We need to get these casks out of here.”
Bracing, she lifted the one nearest to her, which was heavier than she’d anticipated. With shuddering arms, she lifted it to Polin’s waiting hands. “Go!”
