Page 72 of The Lord who Seduced Me
The cannons were loaded and ready to fire, Cabe had the ship in position, and he raised his hand in the air, and then brought it down.
The cannons were fired and hit the Renegade’s ship in several blasts, making men scream and for the ship to throw debris and fire.
“Reload!” Cabe yelled, positioning the ship so they could get closer and hit the Renegade’s ship again.
When the men were ready, Cabe yelled, “Fire!” and the explosions along the Renegade’s ship were bigger.
Men jumped from the ship or were thrown into the water and Cabe heard someone from the Renegade’s ship yell to “Load the cannons!” And Cabe could see a few men trying to get the others to their stations.
Cabe held the wheel hard, maneuvering his ship as best as he could to not let the cannon fire damage his ship.
He would not lose another ship to this man. Nor would he lose what little ground he had gained by surprising them the way he had.
The ship was fired on, and while it was hit once, or twice, there wasn’t any real damage to declare and no one was injured.
Nathaniel was on the deck, directing his crew of men with skill, yelling for the cannons to be readied again and for the men to be ready to shoot on anyone that was within their range.
They fired on the Renegade’s ship again, and this hit caused a lot of damage as the cannonballs hit the ship hard.
Cabe saw one of the smaller masts splinter apart, sending debris flying as a cannonball from his ship hit it. It broke off and fell in an arc across the ship, making men scream and jump out of the way as it came down in a massive wave of fabric, wood and rope.
Nathaniel yelled for the cannons to be reloaded again and for the men with guns to shoot all of those they could.
It was pure chaos on the Renegade’s ship, but they were trying to get under control.
They hadn’t really succeeded and now with one of the masts gone, chaos reigned and Cabe knew it was time.
Cabe could see the Renegade on deck, yelling at his men, screaming obscenities their way and trying to get the chaos under control.
With the fire on the Destruction of the Sea, the dark night was lit and Cabe was glad they were able to see what they needed to.
Cabe gave the man a head nod when he looked his way and he could see his jaw clench with anger and hatred flash through his eyes. Cabe yelled to his men to fire when ready.
They did so, and the damage to the Renegade’s ship only grew. Debris was flying and men screamed as their ship was hit over and over. And the Renegade had to duck from getting shot at by one of his men, and from a cannon ball that hit the deck near his feet.
Cabe was doing his best to keep maneuvering his ship to not get damaged, and so far, had done a fine job of it. His ship had minimal damage, compared to The Destruction and Cabe felt it was sweet justice.
The men on the other ship tried to load as many cannons as they could, but as Nathaniel yelled for his men to fire, they had to duck to avoid being shot or hit by cannon fire.
They were close enough now that cannons would rip apart each other’s ships without question, but Cabe wanted to do this his way. And he would figure out a way to fix his damaged ship.
He would never again be the Renegade’s puppet, not ever would he let the man pull his strings again. The Renegade wanted war and war was what he got. Cabe could see he was woefully unprepared for it. And that made him smile.
He could see the Renegade’s face still, and the man was livid at the state of his ship and the loss of his men.
Cabe just nodded, knowing this was not over. Not even close.
The Renegade’s men tried valiantly to fight them back, but Cabe’s crew had damaged their ship too much and with Cabe’s ship constantly throwing cannonballs their way along with rifle fire, the Renegade’s men had no choice but to do the best they could to just stay alive.
They hadn’t succeeded with any of their attempts at fighting back and Cabe could see the frustration on the men’s faces and how this wasn’t at all going the way it normally did.
The men had no idea what to do in a fight, and Cabe had a feeling they hadn’t really been in one before. Not a real one anyway. Not like this.
Most of the ships they overtook were too far gone, or had no idea they were there and or weren’t experienced in fighting, so Cabe guessed that the Renegade’s crew had never had to do much besides let the Renegade intimidate them into surrendering their ship to him.
It was a bold strategy, but it had worked for years. Until now. And Cabe felt a surge of hatred for the man.
That he could act like he was this fearsome pirate and that his crew was just as deadly, but in reality, they used their ship and their cannons to do their fighting and they didn’t have the experience with someone who fought back.
