Chapter 11: Timing

Around the edges of Jos’s ship, pink energy flickered on and off. An explosion reverberated through the deck from below. A puff of smoke billowed out from the stairwell leading to the lower decks. A second later, Nexx and Danni stumbled out, covered in black. Singed and crispy bits also marked the ends of their hair.

“What the hell is going on? My ship better not be on fire.” Jos stormed over to the pair of asura.

Danni coughed and cleared her throat. “No. There is no conflagration Captain, but I fear we may have a considerable level of difficulty in reassembling the subharmon—”

“To the point, progeny.” Nexx cut in, “The harmonic refraction matrix has been rendered utterly inoperable. We will have to fight.”

Jos glanced over and saw the undead tendril leaning back out of view. “Grenth’s balls.” 

Another fear-inducing roar filled the air. Three crew members, including Danni, turned to bolt in the other direction. Jos snagged Danni’s coat again to keep her in place. A second later, Jorg’s shout followed. “Shake it off!”

“Fine.” Jos shook her head in frustration. “Take three crew with rifles and destroy that tendril as fast as you can. And pray to The Six they throw another Preserver and not that Abomination.”

“What will you do?”

Jos checked the load on her pistol. “I’m gonna kill anything that gets over here.” 

Nexx nodded and ran for the line of crew members firing at the enemy ship. Danni cleared her throat and stepped in front of the captain. “What can I do?”

Jos shrugged. “I dunno. What can you do?”

Danni held out her hand and a small flame appeared over her palm. 

The captain nodded. “Elementalist, huh? Any good with wind?”

“Indeed.”

Jos angled her chin upward. “Think you can do something about my slack sails?”

The young asura’s large eyes went even wider. “I...I’ve never done anything like that.”

From the corner of her eye, Jos spotted the wet, brown mass flying toward them. She slammed her open palm into the center of Danni’s chest, tossing her back several feet. The ball of sludge splattered on the deck right in front of the captain, the liquid shrapnel sent her sprawling backward. Her head rang with pain as it bounced off the railing. She struggled as the darkness pressed in on her, but held her ground.

Shaking off the pain, Jos opened her eyes to see the one thing she dreaded most. In the middle of the quarterdeck, a massive form rose up. Dead, gray skin covered hulking muscles. The thing’s face was twisted and misshapen. As it rose to its full height, more than twice Jos’s own height, it thumped the giant club in its right hand on the deck twice. The undead creature opened its mouth and in a flash, Jos knew what was about to happen. Beyond the Abomination, Danni was getting to her feet. If that monster let out its fear-roar, she would run the other way, straight over the side of the ship. 

Jos scrambled for her pistol, but the weapon had slipped from her grip when she was knocked back. Can this get any worse?

The Abomination’s chest puffed up as it sucked in a massive breath. 

She glanced back at the small asura. No!

A brilliant blue beam of energy from somewhere behind Jos slammed into the Abomination’s face, knocking it back. The monster shook its head in confusion. Then it looked up and its face contorted in rage. 

Another beam of energy sliced through the air, this one striking the Abomination square in the chest. The impact knocked the monster back several more steps until it hit the railing, teetered for a second and fell backward over the edge. 

Jos craned around to see where the energy beam had come from, and her day actually got worse. Just a few hundred feet away, The Fury of Tyria, The Pact’s latest airship hovered. A faint, glow emanated from one of its broadside energy cannons.

“Crap. That’s worse.” Jos scrambled to her feet, snatched up her weapons and dashed the few steps to check on Danni. “You gonna live?”

The young asura was shaken, but unharmed. “The probability is much higher now, thank you. What was that?”

Jos scoffed and stood. “Someone I’d rather not see right now.” She helped the asura to her feet then headed down to the main deck. Another blue beam punched through the fog and shattered the Undead Tendril.

Amid the gunfire, Jos found who she was looking for. “Nexx! Nexx!” 

Her first mate rose up from his kneeling position. His gaze passed over her to find the airship. “The Pact’s timing could not have been more precisely advantageous, captain.”

“Yeah, it could have. Would’a been better if they’d not shown up at all.”

“Captain?”

Jos glanced back, her lips pressed thin. “That’s The Fury of Tyria.”

Nexx shrugged. 

“Captain O’Quinn.”

Nexx’s eyes widened. “Ohhh. That Fury of Tyria.”

Jos gave a flash of a fake smile. “You can handle them, right?”

Another beam hit the boneship. Shards of bone and bits of undead limbs went flying.

Nexx rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

“Good.” Jos glanced at the airship again and headed for her cabin. 

A breeze rustled her hair and she looked up. For a brief second, the ship’s sails filled with wind. Hiraeth lurched and the odor of burning decayed flesh wafted on the brief draft. Up on the quarterdeck, Danni waved her arms as she worked a spell. Another gust of air puffed up the sails, this time for a couple seconds. The ship lurched again. 

For a third time, the sails caught on the wind, this time they stayed full. Jos looked up at Danni and gave a thumb’s up. “Nice work.”

The small asura shrugged. “That wasn’t me.”

Glancing around, Jos noticed the fog dissipating and the bone ship sinking. As the gunfire died off, a cheer rose up from the crew. From behind her, Nexx called out.

“Captain, should we furl canvas and wait for The Fury?”

She stopped in her tracks and turned back. “What? Why?”

Nexx strode right up to her. When he spoke, his voice was hushed. “Well, they did just rescue us. I don’t think it would be prudent to give them the wrong impression.”

Danni appeared next to the captain. “Or the correct one.”

Jos glared at the younger asura. “Ha. Ha. Fine, whatever. Just… Get us away from that bone ship wreckage.”

Nexx smiled and gave a salute. A faint smile creased his face as he headed off to give commands. “Aye-aye, Captain.”

“Why are we trying to avoid that ship?” Danni squeaked.

Jos jumped. She’d already forgotten Danni was still there. “What? Um… Let’s just say O’Quinn and I don’t get along.”

“Why not?”

“I may have, um... “ She let out a sigh. “Whatever. Do you get along with your exes?”

Danni’s head tilted a little. “I don’t have any exes.”

Jos scoffed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Shaking her head, she turned and headed for her cabin. “I’m gonna need some rum for this.”