Tide of Shadows Ch 22: Charge
Jos’s lungs and chest muscles burned. She shoved up onto her tippy-toes to ease some of the stress on her arms. Iron shackles reached from her wrists up and around the support beam in the ceiling.
The extra inch or two made it slightly easier to breath, but did little for the searing pain in her muscles. She gave a weak cough as her left cheek throbbed. The flesh there already felt hot and angry from that sylvari’s sucker punch.
Jos shook her head. Here she was, chained to the ceiling aboard the Inquest’s ship. To her right, an unconscious Danni hung, likewise shacked and dangling from the overhead beam. But, on the other side sat the massive crate that held the asura-infused war golem. And her crew… Within the next few minutes, her crew and her ship would be blown to smithereens .
At least Nexx won’t have to live with my failure. Poor guy. She knew she’d miss him, even if it was only for the next few hours until they decided to kill her.
As if the situation wasn’t bad enough, a tiny, very thirsty voice reminded her that she was also stone-cold sober.
Jos thought back on how things had gone so wrong, how her plan had failed so miserably.
***
Light clouds dulled the shine of the moon off the starboard bow and a gentle breeze ruffled the captain’s hair. In the distance, the faint orange flicker of lanterns blended with the red glow of asuran hardlight magitech, broken only by the dark stern-end of the Inquest’s ship. Jos kept a portion of her mind dedicated to keeping her illusion up. It was a simple one, making their sails black instead of white, but it still took effort. She only hoped it wasn’t enough to completely tax her by the time they reached the enemy.
Beside her, Nexx sucked in a breath and whispered, “Blast Dreeax and her sweeps. We have sufficient velocity, that without those sweeps we’d have caught up hours ago.”
Jos grunted.
“The sun’s coming up. We gonna lose our advantage?” Jorg strolled up the stairs from the main deck and paused when he was at eye-level to the captain.
Jos grunted again. “No. Focus on the job. What we can do, not what we can’t or what’s making it harder. If Danni can keep this speed up, we’ll reach them in the next few minutes. Ready the crew.”
“Yes Captain,” the two men said at the same time.
“This...uh…” Danni’s voice wavered. With her eyes closed and her face straining with effort, her face dripped with sweat and wisps of her hair were plastered to her forehead. “I’m...not sure...how much...longer...can keep...up.”
Jos wanted to put a hand on the young asura’s shoulder but didn’t for fear of distracting her. Instead, the captain turned to Jorg. “Get Nahg. It’s almost time.”
“I’ll do one last weapons check,” Nexx whispered as he marched away.
The next few minutes passed without a sound other than the gently lapping waves. As Hiraeth drew closer and closer to the Inquest’s ship, a voice in Jos’s head started to question the plan. This wasn’t something new for her. Every past battle she’d led, that voice crept up. And every time, she shoved it down.
Jorg and Nahg appeared at her side. The charr stood at attention. “Ready, Captain.”
“Good.” Jos took a breath to pace herself. “Now get him up onto the forepeak. As far foredeck as possible.”
The pair left and Jos continued to watch the enemy ship draw closer.
“Cap...tain.” Danni’s voice cracked with exhaustion.
“I know. Just a few seconds longer.”
Finally, Hiraeth was close enough to see the few people on deck. Jos sidestepped and took control of the ship’s wheel from the crewman manning the helm. From her position, she could see that her ship would run right up alongside the enemy’s starboard stern. She gave the wheel a slight nudge to port. The forepeak angled, and moved to her right. As soon as the beam at the fore of her ship lined up with the windows of the captain’s quarters, she leveled out the wheel.
She waved the crewman back over. She ignored the confused expression on his face. On the enemy ship, a sailor patrolled the outer railing of the vessel and came to a stop. Little more than a dark blob against the soft glow of lanterlight, she couldn’t tell if the sailor was looking at them or not.
Then suddenly, she was.
The figure jumped back and screamed, “All hands! We’re under attack!”
“Shit.” Jos let her illusion drop and turned to Danni. “Give me one last push, and you’re done. As hard as you can.”
The young asura peeked through one squeezed-shut eye and gave a small nod. Danni took a deep breath and—through gritted teeth—growled.
The deck beneath Jos’s feet lurched and the rigging overhead groaned with the extra strain. Hiraeth lunged forward. She whipped around and cupped both hands around her mouth. The few dozen feet between her ship and the enemy’s started closing with alarming speed. “NOW!”
On the forepeak, crewman Nahg stepped forward and vanished in a puff of smoke. A split-second later, smoke puffed right next to the anchor release on the enemy ship. He didn’t hesitate as he kicked the release lever. The massive iron anchor on the enemy’s ship plunged into the water. A few seconds later, the Inquest vessel jerked.
Then Hiraeth’s pointed forepeak smashed through the enemy captain’s quarters stern windows.
“Grapples!” Nexx yelled from the main deck.
Jos reached back. “Danni, stop.”
The sails went slack and the young asura’s legs gave way. Danni dropped to her knees, her chest heaving.
“Watch over her.” Jos pointed at the asura. Drawing both of her pistols, she bolted for the forepeak. There, she found the two ships lashed together. A momentary flash back to Pact training made her smirk. The ships were stuck together just like a row of Pact recruits waiting in a line formation. Her old sergeant had called it nose to ass. In this instance, Hiraeth’s nose was quite literally up the Inquest ship’s ass.
Nexx came up next to her. “Ready on your command, Captain.”
An asura poked their head up from the back of the enemy ship’s poop deck, their face perfectly illuminated by the large lantern hanging there. Jos grinned and raised her right gun. With the enemy’s face centered between her sights, she fired. “Charge!”