42

Another Ship

"Hard to port!" Felicia shouted as she turned the wheel of the ship, sending both crew and supplies rolling across the deck.

"Which one is going to kill us first?" shouted Gorplin as he grabbed onto the railing of the ship for dear life. "The cannonballs or our own bloody captain?"

"I'll toss you over myself!" she retorted before lurching the wheel in the other direction, sending everyone flying again.

She had outrun pirates and goblins. She had fought both on a ship she captained as well. She had maneuvered through rocky seas, bitter storms, and perilous winds.

But Felicia was now trying to let Holve and the others get enough time to steal aboard a ship while she directed the attention of all other vessels onto herself and her crew.

It was no small task.

Cannons still fired on them as the clouds cleared even more, allowing the moon to shine on them and give light to their predicament. Even the rain was letting up.

"Something's beyond them," Urt said as he leapt up to her side, pointing to the ships that were tracking them.

Felicia spared a glance behind her to see even more cannon fire.

"Praise the Suns they ain't shootin' at us!" she said as she put their ship on a straight path.

"Who are they?" Tory shouted as he ran to the back of the ship to get a better look at this new group of ships.

Felicia turned her gaze to see at least four other vessels, not the elven ones from Enoth, launching an attack on the ships that had been firing at them.

"Can't make out their colors in the night!" she said. They were too far off for her to tell.

Now she had a decision to make.

She could sail back to Lone Peak, or to another Darrion city, wait for the day and see if they could outwit and outrun the elves.

Or.

"Grab whatever you can and head for the lifeboat!" she commanded. "We're going ashore!"

"Now!?" Tory asked, his eyebrows raised high.

Felicia jerked the wheel again, pointing the ship north and sending Tory down to the deck again. He made a satisfyingly loud moan of pain.

"Or we'll leave you to steer the ship by your lonesome!" she replied. "Now!"

Gorplin and Jurrin began to load the small lifeboat with supplies while Felicia took a nearby rope and tied it from the rail to the wheel, hoping the tight knot would hold for an hour or two against strong winds and hard currents. Tory hobbled down to the lifeboat, hoisting a pack over his shoulders.

Urt was by her side.

"I really hate abandoning ship," she said as she secured her last knot.

"For Holve," he said simply.

Felicia trusted the old man. She had trusted him before the world had gone mad with wars and comets and she would trust him now.

And his last orders were to warn the Wood Walkers.

"Aye," she replied.

The two of them ran for the lifeboat and, with one last look at the deck of yet another ship she was giving up the privilege of captaining, lowered it into the sea.

The company came upon the sea shore without much difficulty. Urt and Gorplin hopped out of the boat and struggled to pull it to shore once the water was shallow enough.

In moments, the boat and all of its supplies and occupants were underneath the protective canopy of the forest.

Tory was taking stock of what they had, while Felicia restrained herself from slapping him every time he pointed out something they lacked.

“And whose bloody fault is that!?” she said after he mentioned for the third time that they hadn't brought with them enough meat to last more than a week. “Weren't you in charge of getting supplies!?”

Tory looked like he had a comeback prepared, when Felicia felt Urt at her side, staring hard at the soldier.

He grumbled under his breath and began to count again the meager supplies they had.

“Those ships sure are fast,” Jurrin said as he looked out from the trees out to the sea.

Felicia turned her attention back to the water as well. The moon lit up the sea and several boats were in view. Some were the old vessels of Darrion, hardly anything to be proud of. It seemed the city had managed to wrestle up a few ships that could still sail and follow the elves south.

Three were the great white ships of Enoth, as well as the anchored orange ship further off. The one Holve and his companions were trying to sneak aboard. The last few, were not vessels Teresa had seen in Lone Peak. But the flags she had come to know well.

“Who invited the pirates?” Tory asked as he too looked out and saw the same thing Jurrin and Felicia did.

“Nobody ever invites us,” a voice said from the trees a little further in.

The whole company drew swords, axes, and knives to face the owner of the voice. Urt nearly had his spear at the elf's throat before relenting. There was no way the five of them could take on fifty.

It was the black haired elf they had seen in Bestone, standing just as casually as he had then, as if the whole idea of his crew armed to teeth and facing off against a group of strangers bored him. Felicia snarled at him.

“What are you doing here?” she said through clenched teeth.

The black haired elf shrugged his shoulders.

“I came to get my boat back.”