Chapter 194 – Impact
*** Alzi ***
"Dear, I promise it is Duchess Fluvis and her wife, Lottie," Elora whispers. "They are here to save us, not hurt you. Everything will be ok; just stay in my arms. Everything will be ok."
"No, I've cursed them too much," I cry. "They're tired of torturing me. No, no, no. I'm sorry!"
"I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry. Everything will be ok," Elora repeats. I press into my owner, hoping to hide from the Goddess, who is finally bored of the rape Alzi play. My sobs soak her robe. The cracks of divine retribution slam around me, teasing their cruel punishment. Any second, they'll find me.
"Honey, can you block out the sound with your mana?" Elora asks.
"No, I only ever made water," I cry out, the collar not giving me a break before my doom.
"Sorry, I need my mana in case Esiyae gets desperate and comes down here or tries to sink the ship," Elora says. "But nothing will get you in my arms. I failed once, and I won't again, my Love. I'm sorry I can't do more."
*** Fluvis ***
We've been trading volleys of magic for a while. With fewer ships to defend, their barriers are able to hold off my wife's skills and the cannons. Much of their fire power is useless with their cannons rarely lined up correctly.
The smog is an ever-present threat, and someone must have finally told the Princess where to aim her ice. She's now aiming for the waterline. She also gave up on freezing my whirlpool, but I can't grow it anymore while keeping control of our ships.
An annoying stalemate till one side starts to run out of mana. Both sides patching the holes the other manages to slip through. Unable to get close while the truly devastating skills are still possible.
But a stalemate works best for us. My mana outclasses the Princess's mana by several classes, and the extra firepower of the cannons lets us wear down their defensive magic a lot faster than they can. I'm sure my sailors are older and stronger as well, most working for me since the last war.
Beating up on Sighoda made it harder for her to keep her crew intact. Many just died out right due to my fleet. The rest ran from the memory of lost friends.
The smog always grows thick when the ships approach us in their personal whirlpool, blocking our vision and keeping us from taking cheap shots while their formation is most vulnerable.
The witch is the one thing making this a little worrying. No one ever found out her true strength. The best way to beat her was to run and take the fight somewhere else. Besides, she was rarely out on the sea, so I only heard the stories about what she could do. Killing women on both sides of the war if you gave her enough gold.
Though she did favor our northern neighbor. Especially at the end of the war.
"Dear, how much longer can you go?" Lottie asks. "You don't normally do this much."
"The sea welcomes my mana," I say. "I've got several more hours of this. But I won't be much use on the defense."
"I don't know about the witch, but the Princess is already starting to slow down," Lottie says. "But I will have to slow down soon as well."
"Just make it so we can board," I say.
"I know, dear. You won't join," Lottie says like I'm stupid enough to go waddling onto the enemy's vessel. I know my limits.
"I have no dreams of waddling over there," I say. "Bring them both back, and that Princess if you can. The mercenary must have a way out of here."
"Of course. She needs to pay for making my pregnant wife come all the way out here," Lottie says. I'm glad she agrees.
Their ships come around to pass in front of us, but the smog doesn't thicken like it normally does. Instead, the wind mages start to filter it out completely.
I would love to jump now, but she may just be hoping we come in close now. I'll have another chance in an hour, and hopefully, they'll be down another ship by then.
"Hold!" I command. "The witch may be hoping we get in close. Wind mages, be ready to filter her poison out! The rest, sink a ship for the Queendom!"
*** Esiyae ***
"Well done, you finally did useful damage," the bitch says.
"Like you have done anything," I say. Her stupid smog does nothing but keep the damn Duchess away from us. Feared mercenary that can only do crowd control. "Why not get your magic near them? So much prestige without anything to show for it."
"You would be captured already without me," bitch says. "I'm keeping the most dangerous captain in the world from showing her brilliance. If you could stop wasting your mana, maybe you would've beaten Elora once."
Just three ships are still floating. One is down a mast and all have holes in the hull somewhere. The only intact ship in the water right now is mine. The whore and slut are a great shield till Fluvis gets a chance to board.
The annoying whirlpool is starting to slow down. The mass of mana below my ship is beginning to fade away. It looks like the newest hole is requiring Fluvis to keep her mana close.
"Well, Princess, I'm at the limit for my mana," bitch says.
"Like hell you are!" I say. "Fluvis has done so much more than you have done, and I do not see her running out of mana. She has too much to control right now without her wind wife to steer her ships. Are you really this weak?"
This has to be a joke. Leaving me right now! I just need Fluvis to run out of mana, and her own ship will have to be abandoned. Fucking coward.
"I have more mana, but not enough if I want to keep my escape working. I'm not risking my head for your mistakes. Next time, wait when your advisors say wait. While that hole looks big, it won't sink her anytime soon. You are about to lose another ship, and you are running out of your own mana," the cowardly bitch says. "I've killed a few of her friends and don't wish to see if she decides to take revenge. Pregnancy messes with the brain, you know. Well, you will learn. So, have fun learning your actions have consequences."
"You will too, bitch," I say. "Keep running before the war catches you. I have a place on my wall for your head. I've got more than enough to finish this off."
"If you live long enough to catch me," the coward says. She pulls out a rune and crushes it in her hand, vanishing from my vision. How much of her war money did she just lose?
Well, at least I'm back in control.
"With the pool gone, can we outrun a ship with a hole in the hull?" I ask the useless captain. They will get stuck doing repairs back in Migate just like we did, and then we should have enough time to leave.
The three ships start to filter the damaged ship to the back, the other two sending yet another volley of cannonballs our way. Just like the coward said, another ship gets destroyed, the mast already gone and now filled with too many holes to stay above the water for much longer.
"We can run," the captain says. "But how far we get is hard to say. I'm sure Fluvis can repair her ship 'nough to chase us down or just force us to circle till Nesh can come to clean us up. We lose the rest of our escort, and they can simply harass us without worry."
"Does this ship not have cannons?" I ask. "Why are you acting like they would be free to act without danger?"
"Running, don't leave many cannons facing them, Princess Esiyae," she says. "That whirlpool is a new thing and ruined our chances. Too much time for 'em to hit us for free."
"So, another loss for you to add to your record?" I spit out.
"I suppose so," the captain says. "Hard to care when she be a champion of the Sea. Most of the crew is asking to surrender so we may have a chance to save those in the water still amongst the liven."
*** Fluvis ***
No more poison spread through the air.
I'm guessing the mercenary called it a loss and fled. She is not as strong when the enemy naturally stays away from her. I'm sure Esiyae is complaining right about now, losing the one thing keeping us from boarding them and finishing this off.
Hard to blame the witch. I would take her head and proudly offer it to the Queen for all the trouble she caused in the last war. Not to mention taking the father and mother of my children.
"Move to board!" I call out. "Time to bring our Princess back!"
My order brings a flurry of motion to the deck. The warriors hiding away below storm up and prepare their methods of boarding.
Planks of wood, harpoons, rope, and magic items get sorted between the groups. The hull is repaired enough to risk another shot. The last ship of the escort can hardly be called a ship anymore. My own will need plenty of work back in at the port, but a good showing for only having three ships against all this.
"You won't be going," Lottie says.
"Don't worry, love," I chuckle. "I'm not that stupid. I'll be below deck, focusing on keeping us afloat. Go bring Elora and Alzi back to us."
"Glad you have some sense," Lottie says. "They'll be back here. They have to answer for making you sail in your state."
"I'm happy to do it," I say. "BRACE!"
My officers join in the warning call. Damn, Sighoda hoping we would chicken out on the ram. The other ship simply crumbles after the impact, but the one with the target still floats.
"BOARD!" my officers call, my wife joining a random group. I shuffle back to the stairs, something I had to add last minute so I can make it off the deck. Kind of embarrassing not being able to swing around on the ropes right now, but no one would dare to call me out for it.
The little babies in my womb are not happy with my retreat, but they'll be satisfied when I get to hug their father. My crew is more than prepared to take on a tired princess. Sighoda will have almost all her earth magic, but my team has fought her enough times to handle it. Hell, she may just give up so we don't have an excuse to kill her.
That stupid Princess definitely broke the rules, so I can have a few accidents on the rough trip back, perhaps.