Page 7 of Take No Prisoners
Efren
"That's a big fucking ship," Tovey said. He handed the scope back to Efren with a grin. "That's also Vadim. I'd recognize his ass anywhere."
Efren cleared his throat. Vadim had a nice ass, it was true, but he didn't need to be reminded of that right now.
"I meant his hair," Tovey said. "I'd recognize his hair anywhere. White. Death. Scary." He waved his fingers above his shoulders and stuck his tongue out.
"Enough," Efren said.
"The crow's nest can't see us from here and no one on deck has looked this way," Olivia said. "We'll surprise them, as you wished."
"Are you ready?" Efren turned to Tovey. While weaker in earth the way Stan was weaker in air weaving, Tovey was the strongest air weaver Efren had ever met. With Stan's control of earth, Tovey's control of air, and a touch of Hannah's lightning,Starlight Specterhad scourged the sea of many a naval vessel, thanks to their blazing missiles.
"I'm on it." He turned. "Stan? We're up."
Stan had more finesse with earth than Tovey did, which is what they needed for their current endeavor. While Stan concentrated on gathering anything that would burn from the nearest coastline and smashing it into a tight ball on shore, Efren approached Tovey.
"Thank you for still speaking to him," Efren said under his breath.
"I'm nothing if not professional." Tovey's eyes sparkled. "I'm sorry for throwing a temper tantrum in your cabin. It won't happen again."
Efren left it at that. He lifted his scope to monitor the naval ship's deck. There wasn't much wind in their sails, almost as though they were waiting for something.
Once Stan condensed the pile into a projectile to hurl at their enemies, Tovey surrounded it with air and pulled it toward the ship. Thank the gods they weren't letting their little spat affect their success.Imperial Foolwas a giant ship, larger than most Efren had seen before, and they would need all the help they could get to bring her down.
The wind whirled around them, carrying the tight bundles of detritus to hover just off the starboard railing.
"Hannah!" Tovey hollered.
"Ready," they shouted from the crow's nest. Their brown hair streaked with blond hung limply beneath their bandana, an uncommon sight. Usually, their hair streamed out behind them like a short sail of their own, but the ship sat completely still in the water, the crow's nest positioned behind a copse of trees on the island to make it almost invisible.
Tovey lifted the first volley of two compressed balls of tinder into the air. Lightning crackled overhead and forked, striking each. Tovey sent them hurtling towardImperial Fool. They hit the deck right above her name.
"Hit them in the side, you fools," Efren muttered under his breath.
"Well, they know we're here now," Olivia said, taking the scope from him.
The second volley was more devastating, punching giant holes in the front and back of her, right below the water line.
"I doubt those are repairmen." Olivia handed the scope to Efren.
She was right. A line of sailors approached the side of the ship. The next volley of fireballs hit a wall of air and sank into the sea.
"Fuck," Tovey said. "That was too quick."
"I told you not to fire a warning shot," Stan said. "Bastard doesn't deserve our chivalry."
"That's enough." Efren wasn't ready to concede just yet. The naval sailors hadn't yet launched their own attack, so they had time. "What else have we got?"
An enormous wave crashed over the prow of the naval ship, thanks to Hannah. They were a true stormcaller. Supposedly, water and lightning were two sides of the same coin at one point, same as fire and ice, air and earth, or life and death, but those with both elements were few and far between. Hannah was a pirate of many talents. They also had more stealth than any one person deserved, and they used it to startle Efren and the rest of the crew all too often.
The wave hit the ship just right and dropped her low in the water. She started to list toward the prow, thanks to the original holes on the deck. Water also poured through the holes in the side of the ship.
"Wasn't a warning shot." Tovey winked at Stan. "I knew what I was doing."
Efren added his water to the mix, combining his weave with Hannah's. The air weavers aboard their target ship tried to block the wave, but their combined wave, aided by Tovey and Stan's gust of wind, was taller than their shield and swamped the deck again.
When Tovey and Stan launched two more balls of fire against her side, the shield disintegrated, allowing another direct hit just below the water level.
