Page 156 of The Sea Witch
Back on the main deck, she watched as the ship dropped anchor a short distance away from the island’s beach. Strange that so much relied upon a tiny strip of land, and yet everything to this point had led them here.
This was the end of their long search. Ithadto be.
The jolly boat was lowered to the water. A moment later, Eris swooped down, shrieking a loud alarm before landing on Stasia’s shoulder. Her feathers were ruffled and she danced from foot to foot in agitation.
“The navy,” Stasia exclaimed.
“Enemy approaching,” Dorothea shouted from the crow’s nest.
Everyone ran to the gunwale, and a collective gasp rose up.
TheJupiterraced toward them.Threemassive sea creatures towed the flagship: the leviathan, the kraken, and a gigantic shark the size of a sloop. Hooks were embedded in the beasts’ skin, and ropes were lashed from them to the man-o’-war. With three creatures towing the ship, it cut through the water at an impossible speed, foam flying into the air and waves parting as if cleaved by a gargantuan blade.
“How the hell did they find us?” Jane cried.
Stasia turned to Alys. “Did he...?”
“He’s no ally to the navy,” Alys said at once. “It must mean—”
Her heart sank to the seafloor. She hadn’t felt anything from Ben. Distance wasn’t to blame.
He was dead.
At that moment, the crack of dozens of muskets rang out. Glowing bullets shot from the upper deck of theJupiter. They sped across the water, propelled by mage-derived magic.
“Hit the deck!” Stasia roared.
The crew flattened against the wooden planks as bullets slammed into the masts and tore holes in the sails. Woodensplinters rained down onto the company and Alys threw up a protective spell, sheltering the crew from the fragments.
Crouching, Alys and the company rose up just enough to look over the gunwale. TheJupiterhad untethered itself from the sea creatures and aimed its heavy guns directly at theSea Witch. Unlike Alys’s ship, the naval vessel had two gundecks, along with several swivel guns mounted to the top deck. TheJupiteralso boasted hundreds more crew members, including marines all armed with weapons charged with the mage’s magic.
And the sea creatures were swimming straight for theSea Witch.
Fear congealed in Alys’s stomach. This would be a bloodbath. It would take the intervention of every goddess in the firmament for any of her crew to make it out alive.
“Raise the anchor,” Alys bellowed.
The crew obeyed quickly to haul up the anchor.
“You and you,” Alys said, pointing to two of her crew. “Keep the kraken at bay. Use whatever magic you can to push them back. And you two,” she added to another pair of witches, “the same for the leviathan, and both of you,” she continued to a third duo of witches, “on the shark.”
“Aye, aye, Cap’n,” the witches yelled.
They raced to the gunwale. Brows furrowed in concentration, they held up their hands as they threw spells toward the sea creatures. A whirlpool swirled around the kraken, sending it spinning. The sea surrounding the leviathan began to boil, and the beast roared as it swam backward, out of the heated water. The shark struggled to move closer as the witches churned the sea around it, creating massive waves.
“And you,” Alys shouted to a cluster of witches. “Do what you can to keep the naval ship’s barrage from hitting us. Fire back when you can.”
The naval vessel’s cannons boomed. At the same time, cracks rang out as marines fired long guns. Several witches gatheredtogether, facing theJupiter. As more magic-charged cannon fire and bullets raced toward theSea Witch, a glowing spell shaped like a huge tortoise shell encircled the ship. The navy’s ammunition slammed into the protective shell. TheSea Witchshuddered, yet the spell held, and the enemy’s projectiles fell into the sea.
More witches fired magic toward theJupiter. Spells began pouring from them: fiery rain, metal-shelled locusts, beetles that gnawed with red hot mandibles. Every conceivable defensive spell was launched at the naval vessel. The screams and cries of the seamen rose up above the din.
Stasia ran from crew member to crew member, to all the women who had no magic. The second-in-command charged their bullets and cannonballs with green glowing energy. Thus empowered, the crew fired back at theJupiter. Bullets smashed into the naval ship’s hull, some of them piercing the wood.
“The fucking mage is so arrogant,” Alys muttered. “Didn’t think we were enough of a threat to shield the ship.”
That, at least, was in their favor. A moment later, a red net of energy encircled the flagship. TheSea Witch’s cannons and bullets ricocheted off the shield. Until Dorothea, Susannah, and Thérèse joined together to summon a counterspell, and theSea Witch’s cannons and bullets reached theJupiteragain. But it wasn’t enough.
Other crew worked the sails to keep theSea Witchdancing in evasive maneuvers.
