Page 157 of The Sea Witch
There was only one way to end this.
“Jane, Cecily, Cora,” Alys shouted. When the three women raced up, Alys commanded, “Summon every wind you can to get us out of here. Hua,” she added for the helmswoman, “set a course for open water.”
The witches nodded and collected together, their eyes closed in focus. A moment later, the sails began to fill with strong gusts, and the ship lurched as it started to move out of the bay.
“Polly!” After the boatswain appeared at her side, Alys directed, “The landing party and I will make for the beach. You’re to take this wind and get theSea Witchout of here.”
Though Polly looked concerned at leaving the ship’s captain and crew behind, she answered, “Aye, Cap’n.”
Alys pointed to the jolly boat. “Everyone in the landing party, we go now!”
Her crew obeyed at once, and as they clambered down the ladder, Alys cast a spell of impenetrable spiderwebs to protect them. Bullets lodged in the glowing silk.
“Take care of her,” Alys said to Polly.
“This ship’s my home,” the first mate answered gravely. “The crew’s my family.”
Alys clasped Polly’s wrist before she, too, climbed down the ladder. Once she was aboard the jolly boat, they pushed away from theSea Witch. The oars were taken up as Stasia chanted lowly, summoning the force of the waves to speed the small vessel quickly toward the shore. Susannah added a spell-summoned fog to disguise them.
Riding in the rear of the jolly boat, Alys looked back toward the battle. TheJupiter’s cannons fired, sending up clouds of smoke. Cannonballs battered against the shielding spell. One smashed through the protection. It crashed into the hull, breaking apart the wood.
A second naval ship approached from the opposite direction. It was the same ship that had sunk theBold Fortune. Beside it swam the ship’s kraken, its long tentacles trailing in the water.
TheSea Witchveered around the second ship. As they passed, cannons and bullets fired from the naval ship.
The barrage hammered against her crew’s magical shields. They smashed holes in theSea Witch’s hull, splintered the masts, and ripped jagged tears in the sails.
Her ship disappeared around a spit of land moments before the second naval vessel fired again. The fusillade shot intoempty air and the second ship was too slow to turn about. TheSea Witchwas out to sea, her crew safe.
For now.
When the tides turned, Alys would get her revenge against the navy. For endangering her crew. For killing Ben.
But she had to survive what came next.
If there was such a thing as Lady Fortune, Alys prayed the goddess of luck wouldn’t turn her back on theSea Witch.
The sounds of combat shook all around Ben. TheJupiter’s guns discharged in rapid succession, faster than he’d ever heard them fire before. And the flagship shuddered as a barrage of ammunition struck its hull.
Alys was in the middle of all of this.
Pulling on his manacles and shackles, they heated, searing his skin.
“Enough of that,” the seaman guarding him snapped, jabbing him with a bayonet.
The ship shuddered around them. Men screamed. Yet for all the chaos aboard theJupiter, it was nothing compared to what theSea Witchwas likely enduring. The naval muskets fired, and the cannons boomed. With Warne providing his magic to charge the ammunition, even the most skilled witch aboard Alys’s ship wouldn’t be able to offer enough protection to shield the vessel and crew from the barrage.
“Go above,” Ben growled to his guard. “They have better use of you than minding one prisoner.”
The seaman looked uncertain, but he stayed where he was. “Mr. Oliver promised a flogging if I desert my post.”
“Hear how the marines’ volleys are slowing? They’re losing men. The witches will turn into ravens and board theJupiter. You’ll be dead if you remain here.”
There had to besomethinghe could do to help. Not while he was caged and chained like a beast, stuck in the brig on a lowerdeck with no porthole to offer him the merest glimpse of what was transpiring outside.
The ship convulsed and men cried out. There was a booming, and the hull of the brig exploded. The seaman guarding Ben shouted in alarm, leaping out of the way as shattered wood went everywhere. Ben raised his arms to shield himself from the flying debris.
Looking up, Ben could see the gun deck through the huge gap, which revealed a terrible scene. TheSea Witchwas under assault, being hammered by gun and cannon fire from theJupiter. Some shielding spells had been cast by the witches, yet they weren’t enough to hold back all of the bombardment. Witches also cast spells to push a trio of sea creatures away. Yet the beasts fought against the magic and strained to get to theSea Witch.
