It is back, it’s better than ever, The New and Thrilling Adventures of James Drake.

Watch as he flies without pants through the skies, ties up naked women, eats bugs and kills defenseless men. He surely should be made a role model for all our young people.

I really have to wonder about the direction that I’m taking this story after I thought of that advertising blurb. I’m thinking about adding it to the Story description, do you think it will cause me to gain or lose readers? For that matter have I lost you?

As always if you spot any mistakes please point them out, thank you.

The partial descriptions for the decks normally found on frigates, brigs, brigantines, and schooners in the Swamp Boy Universe. Brigantines do not have forecastles or quarterdecks; they have a smooth unbroken spar deck from bow to stern, which is normally described or referred to as a flush deck. Schooners do not possess forecastles. I know this is different from the real world but it’s how I’m doing things. Currently I am calling the largest warships Carracks or War Carracks, perhaps Galleon might have been a better word but I’ve always associated that word with Galley. I am looking for a new word to use for the giant warships in my story and I would rather not use the term, Ship-of the-Line. If you have any ideas please leave a comment.

Before I continue with the deck descriptions, just a note, sailing ships and all that they entail have become a part of the Swamp Boy story but just a part. James is not going to become a sailor. If you like sea sagas, you should read the Horatio Hornblower series by C. S. Forester, it’s out there free on the internet, just do a search for it.

Deck Descriptions

Forecastle Deck or Bow Deck: Raised deck in the bow of a ship, beneath which the senior enlisted crew members may be housed.

Quarterdeck or Stern Deck: Raised deck in the stern of a ship, above what is commonly called the aftercastle, sterncastle or aftcastle. Captain’s cabin is located within the aftercastle. If the sterncastle is large enough it might also contain cabins for other officers, passengers, the ship’s healer and/or the officer’s dining room.

Waist or Middle Deck: The deck that lies between the forecastle and the aftcastle on a vessel.

Spar, Weather or Upper Deck: Any deck exposed to weather, topmost deck of any ship.

Tube Deck: Lies below the middle deck. The tube deck is used for kraken tubes and officer sleeping quarters. Some enlisted may also be berthed there. This deck is a new addition to sailing vessels because of the recent invention of kraken spears, old ships have been converted and new ships built incorporating this deck. The tube deck is not present on any warship that is smaller than a brig. Kraken tubes on those smaller vessels are primarily kept on the upper deck, though some might be housed in a ship’s sterncastle.

Berthing or Lower Deck: Main berthing area for enlisted men also contains the ship’s galley/kitchen.

Orlop Deck or Hold: Contains provisions.

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Chapter 15: Sailing for Sweet Port

The water was still rough but nothing like before. I was able to carry my crate of mugs and bread to the weather deck this time instead of crawling with it like on the other ship.

As I passed sailors I would hand them a mug and a loaf of bread. I would normally receive a nod of their head in thanks, maybe it helped that I stopped singing that stupid song. Behind the ship’s wheel there were four sailors talking, they quieted as I approached.

“Hello, I mentioned my name before but you may not have heard. I’m James Drake and I’m currently a student at the Royal University in the Gulf Kingdom. The Gulf Navy has just learned how the Kingdom of Fata has been enslaving people and changing how they look as well as their speech so they can’t go home again. It is also known how they do some kind of mental conditioning to their slaves so that they are unable to talk about their pasts. I’m a magic user and I’ve already helped liberate slaves from five HSMS schooners, not including this one. I don’t know what your plans are, however if you want to go to the Gulf Kingdom, you will be welcome there but as far as I’m concerned this is your ship and you can do with it as you please. I wouldn’t mind getting a ride back home but if you want to go someplace else, I’ll figure something out.

Here’s some broth that I made and some of this ship’s lousy bread. I’m a potion concocter so I added a health booster to the brew; I hope it’ll make you feel better.”

They quickly took the mugs from me. A tall skinny man began talking. “Please call me Reyes. We would all like to return to the Gulf Kingdom, and we thank you for freeing us.”

“I was slave to a Blood Witch for over six years; so I might know a little about how you are feeling right now. Who’s going to be the Captain until we get home?”

All four of them looked startled and Reyes spoke once more. “You’re a magic user; we thought you’d be in charge”

“I don’t know anything about sailing a ship. If you need a potion or something enchanted please call on me. To give you an example of how helpless I am, two days ago I was on another ship just like this one. We were struck by the same storm as we’re in right now. Well, while delivering food and drink the freed crew of that vessel, I got swept overboard. It was only thanks to my magic that I survived but I came close to dying too many times to count, despite my magic. So telling you all, how to sail or for me to command is crazy. I would just like to get back to Sweet Port and I’ll support you in any way that I can.

I do have a couple of questions. Do you think we are in any danger from anything besides this storm?”

The lone woman in the group of four answered me. “Hello James, my name is Margo and that’s what we were just talking about. This storm has driven us at least a third of the way to the Freed Continent. By the time the wind finally stops we expect to be at least half way there. We know that there were other HSMS vessels, caught up in this storm with us and we also know that there is a large HSMS fleet somewhere between us and Freed. That fleet has at least four huge carracks and a number of frigates besides a whole host of smaller ships. All those vessels have the new kraken tubes that the wizards invented.

If that isn’t bad enough there are many countries that will look at what we’ve done onboard here as either mutiny or piracy. There is danger all around us and if we’re spotted before making it to Sweet Port, I don’t think much of our chances.”

I let out a big sigh. “Okay, you might not believe me but it wasn’t the wizards who made the kraken spears, they were invented in the Gulf Kingdom. You’ve already seen me fly and some of you might know that I can make myself invisible. I’m not a very good spell caster but I do know runes, wards and potions. I can probably put magical shields on this schooner and I can make the kraken spears work. I’ll need to find what supplies the wizards had on board but I should be able to do something. Also if anyone is sick or hurt, I do have some medical concoctions and if there are any potion ingredients on this ship, which I kind of doubt, I can make more.”

The group of four; were starting to look a little hopeful and less depressed. Reyes looked at the others and they all nodded back to him. He spoke, “I guess I’m the acting Captain then. We do have some people that are feeling poorly, can we send them to see you?”

“Sure, I’ll be in the galley for now. I can examine anyone and at the same time give them something to eat. If possible I would also like to test everyone for their magical potential. Even a person with minor abilities can activate some enchanted devices like the kraken spears, which would be a help to us all. I doubt if anyone on board has such potential but you never know and it doesn’t hurt to check. I just have to sit and stare at them for a little while, as I ask them questions and to do various things.”

We conversed for a few more minutes and then I went down below again, this time I made it without being swept over the side.

Soon I had my first patient. He was an old stoop shouldered man that obviously had trouble seeing. “Hello I’m James,” I greeted him.

He muttered hiding his mouth. “I’m Emile, Lord James.” It looked like he was missing all of his teeth on the left side of his mouth.

I snorted back at him. “I’m no lord. My parents sold me when I was three to a witch. I grew up in Drake’s Swamp, eating swamp pig. Please sit down and have a bowl of this soup, while I examine you.”

He did as I instructed and shyly answered questions as I asked him about his aches and pains. I used true sight throughout my examination and I discovered something. Emile had a tiny bit of magical power, almost none, but he had enough to activate many of the devices that I’ve created over the years. However, he did not have so much power that he could charge them. I had a hard time getting him to let me examine his mouth but he finally let me do it.

“Emile, are you the oldest person on this ship?”

Looking down at his feet, he mumbled, “I guess so.”

“You see Emile; I have a special potion that’s good for an older person. Actually it’s good for anyone but I normally only give it to someone that is older. I call it my Red Health Concoction. I will need to see you once a week to give you the four treatments but it should make you feel much better. Here’s the first dose, so please drink it.”

I handed him concoction one from the Red series of longevity potions. I nodded my head encouragingly when he looked at me suspiciously but he drank it down. Next I brought out my blindness cure. His left eye looked milky white from an injury and his right eye had a cataract. I put a series of drops into both eyes. “Emile this potion will fix your right eye but it might not do anything for your left one. It will take up to two hours for the concoction to work. When we get back to Sweet Port, I have other medical potions that I can give you, that will make you feel even better. Give me enough time and I’ll give you back your pearly white teeth too.”

He looked up at me with startled expression.

“There is one other thing. Inside of you, you’ve got a tiny bit of magic. Enough magic to activate runes and wards. Later on, I would like to train you to do that, so you can help me defend this ship if it becomes necessary.”

His startled expression turned to absolute shock. “You’re kidding me?”

“Nope, you’ve got magic, not much but enough to activate most runes. If you’re not careful when we get back home, the Gulf Navy will recruit you as a kraken tube man.”

He left with an almost cheerful expression on his face. He was the first of twelve people that I saw. I doled out healing, fever and health potions to all that came. I wasn’t so sure about the fever concoctions that I handed out because many of their illnesses weren’t what my fever potions were designed for, at least the ones that I had with me. But I could only use what I had and when combined with a dose of the health potion, I thought that they might work.

There were far more women on board than men and many of them had infections in their nether regions courtesy of their rapists. Almost all of those women were pretty damn miserable because of their illnesses too.

My sixth woman patient got quite angry with me, when I presented her with a small clean stick and I asked her for a sample of the yucky stuff that was in her vagina. I needed it in order to better match my available fever potions with her infection. She was so angry that she almost didn’t eat the soup I gave her. She did give me the sample but she almost threw it at me. Upon examining it with my witch sight, I found that one of my fever potions was almost certain to cure her. She got that concoction and a dose of my health potion. But she had another surprise coming; I know I had been astonished.

“Delta, I had a little surprise today when I was examining Emile. I discovered that he has a tiny amount of magic within him. Enough magic where he can use enchanted devices if he gets proper training. You’ve given me an even bigger shock. You almost have enough magic to be a mage. You have more than enough to activate runes and you can even empower them too. Along with Emile, I would like to train you during the next day or two, so if any wizards do show up; you can help me defend this ship.”

She looked back at me with an almost feral expression. “Do we get to kill them?”

“We will certainly try.”

She left the galley with a fierce and happy expression on her face.

I needed a secluded place where I could work and store all of the magical paraphernalia that was on this vessel. Reyes wanted me to have the Captain’s cabin but I had refused. Instead I took a smaller double cabin that was on the berthing deck.

It was a dangerous chore for me to gather all of the magical books, tools, potions, and devices that the wizards had left behind but it was necessary one. I needed much of what they had and in many of the trunks that the wizards had secreted their magical items, were also ordinary valuables such as gold, silver and rare gems, which were assets that the newly freed crew of this ship could use to rebuild their lives. But those chests were warded to discourage people from even touching them and more dangerous still, they had both magical and mundane traps designed to incapacitate or kill anyone who tried to open those trunks without the owners’ full cooperation.

I had five tools to defeat those traps. I had my personal shield and the correct keys. I was knowledgeable on the subjects of runes as well as poisons. But most importantly of all, I had the time to do things slowly and carefully. I didn’t have to worry about an angry wizard bursting in and killing my ass while I was robbing them. I might make that my new maxim, “If you’re going to steal from someone, kill them first, it makes things less stressful and it also makes it easier to take their keys.”

Reyes was very happy when I moved the former Captain’s personal trunk out of his new cabin; it had been making him uncomfortable. What I needed immediately were some inks for creating runes. I had some on me but not nearly enough. Once I found those materials I put all of the trunks in a corner of my room and I would get back to them later. I had already destroyed some harmful runes and wards on the chests, and I disabled a couple of spring loaded poison traps too. Well I didn’t so much as disable them as trigger them while wearing my shield and maybe I was poked once but the poison was really lame and my immunity from being exposed to numerous poisons, venoms and their antidotes over the years, made it so I barely noticed anything more than the scratch that I was given.

What with seeing patients, moving the wizard’s former belongings and breaking into things, over twenty-four hours had passed and the storm had weakened even further.

I was seeing a lot of Emile, he kept checking on me to see if I needed anything. When I expressed an interest in finding something like a glaive, he got a big toothless grin and he returned in short order with this wicked looking winged spear that he called a partisan. It wasn’t a glaive and the blade wasn’t enchanted, which can only be properly done while it is being forged, but it would do. It would do very well. Evidently the Fata Navy issues them to their Marine sergeants and corporals. I had been afraid that the only thing that would be available would be boarding pike which while it is a good weapon, in my opinion it’s not nearly as versatile.

I needed to get to work on a shield for this schooner and in order to do that; I needed to make careful measurements so that I could figure out exactly where to place the required runes. If I didn’t do it correctly they could interfere with one another or leave a spot unshielded altogether. Emile helped me with that chore, and even though he was still in bad shape, he moved much more adroitly about the ship than I did.

The ship would need seven runes; three on each side and one on the stern. I didn’t have enough of my inks to make the runes, so I had to use the wizards’ stuff to concoct an ink that I thought would do and that I could also mask. It wouldn’t be perfect but it was the best that I could do for now. I certainly didn’t want an enemy wizard getting a look at my shield runes. As far as I knew the only way that they had to put a shield on a ship or structure was by using a spell, which took constant focus to maintain, wasn’t as strong and frequently had weak spots. But said “shields” tend to stand off from or even surround what they were protecting; while my rune generated shields mainly propagate through solid matter and then radiate out from that matter, or at least that’s what the runes I gave the Gulf Kingdom’s Military do, the same ones that I’ll put on this vessel.

I found some wood in the ship’s small carpentry shop as well as some tools. I made seven sign boards which I engraved runes into; I applied the inks, filled them with energy and then disguised them with a masking paint. They needed to dry but once they did and the storm stopped, I would then glue them at the top of the vessel’s hull, in the spots that Emile and I had previously marked.

During that same day, I had Emile find for me, two of the shields that the Marines had used, I placed runes upon them; they would be for Delta and Emile to practice with. I would begin teaching them how to activate a rune, after I got some sleep.

The following day the weather was much calmer. Emile helped me as I leaned over the sides of the ship and glued the shield rune signs into the appropriate places. I breathed a sigh of relief once I was done, because they would at least give us a chance to go down while fighting.

I next began teaching Delta and Emile. I showed them how to start then I let them work on their own while I engraved runes into my new partisan spear. I would look up from time to time to correct what they were doing or offer encouragement. Emile knew that it would take him longer to master the skill than Delta but he had a determined expression on his face.

Delta seemed to be very interested in what I was doing to the spear. To pierce through a powerful wizard’s personal shields when they were at full strength takes massive force and an enchanted blade. A normal blade will usually break when hitting a powerful shield what with the force necessary to puncture it.

If an anti-ship, fifty-seven pound kraken spear hits a wizard’s shield dead on, that wizard is normally going to wind up dead but if it hits at an angle there is a strong likelihood that the shield will withstand the blow. Even a shoulder launched kraken spear can pierce the shields of the weaker wizards. I learned that while fighting in the Eastern Empire. Multiple spears can be used to weaken more powerful shields allowing subsequent spears to penetrate them. The problem is staying alive while that is happening.

One day, I was with a group of soldiers out in the field and we were being devastated by this one insanely strong wizard. We tried killing him with kraken spears but we just couldn’t get enough solid hits on him. After watching another man be turned into a flaming torch, I got angry, stupidly angry. I decided to deliver a kraken spear to that swamp leech up close and personal. I charged him and my old crude shield runes withstood his magical strikes against me. Now I am pretty sure, that his shield had weakened or what I did would not have worked. But I thrust forward with the short spear, using my witch sight to align it perfectly, and just before it hit his shield, I triggered the spear’s movement runes.

The result put friction burns on my hands, dislocated my shoulders, damaged my elbows and put a hole through the wizard big enough for my leg to fit through.

Two days later with the help of a blacksmith attached to the Fifth Regiment, I made my first enchanted spear. It took us three days to make that pole-arm but it was worth it. I needed to learn how to use that weapon to best effect while not injuring myself. Since then I’ve optimized a combination of movement runes for that type of use and I’ve switched to using a glaive. What I do, is not something that a normal person can do, because it requires more than simple activation of the runes, it is necessary to be able to control them.

As for the partisan that I was enchanting, I could put some surface runes on its blade which would strengthen it slightly and help keep it sharp but it wouldn’t be as good or as strong and sharp as a properly enchanted weapon. However movement runes could be applied at any time, so there would be no deficiency in that respect.

Delta spoke up. “If I learn how to activate runes, can I get a spear like that?”

I looked at her and sighed. “Maybe, but I will have to think about it. You see Delta, I am not as of yet a competent spell caster, actually I’m pretty awful. I don’t like how wizards do it nor do I like how Gulf Kingdom mages cast their spells. But what I can do well is enchant things. You might know this already but magic duels are commonplace throughout the known world. In a few months, I may very well be challenged to such a duel which I won’t be able to refuse. I know that there are wizards who want me dead and I think there are some mages that wish for exactly the same thing. The only way for me to survive is to have better shields and a weapon like this spear. The magic users who know what a pole-arm like this can do, are all dead but for me. If I make you such a weapon, my secret will probably get out and I’ll lose the edge that I might need in order to win a magic duel.”

“I swear to you James Drake that if you make me such a spear, that I will go my grave before I reveal its secrets.”

“I too Lord James, will gladly make the same vow.” I glowered at Emile. He kept on popping off with this Lord nonsense. If he keeps on doing it, I’ll make him call me Lord Iron-Balls.

It took four hours before Delta learned to activate her personal shield, now she just had to practice. I had my partisan done and I had improved the movement runes on three of the ship’s kraken spears which should give us a range advantage in any fight.

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Viscountess Gamble was furious at the situation she was in. Not only had she failed to save Landgrave Thorne and his fleet but she had also lost twelve of her own ships as well. Five of them had simply lowered their flags and as far as she could tell, they hadn’t even been attacked by that tiny enemy ship with its fearless crew.

Of her eight surviving schooners, now the HSMS 31 was failing to check in, had it been lost in the storm? She used her ship’s message caster to send an order to all of her scattered fleet to start a search for the 31. She hoped that one of her ships was close enough to the missing vessel, so that its enchanted tag could be detected.

Two hours later, she got a report back from the HSMS 30, squadron mate of the 31, they had detected the missing vessel and it was no more than seven leagues away from them. She ordered the 30 to make contact with the 31 and ascertain what was going on. She did warn them that it was possible that the ship had been captured or perhaps the slaves on board had mutinied. She also ordered the rest of her surviving fleet to rendezvous with the HSMS 30 but they were all at least thirty leagues away; with the 31 reportedly sailing due west and away from them all, towards the Book Continent.

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I took a walk around on the weather deck, looking carefully out to sea. I still remembered how I had been surprised, that first time, by an invisible ship and I didn’t want that to happen again, so I kept careful watch with my witch sight whenever I could. Not seeing anything I went below, it was time to make a lookout table.

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The Captain of the HSMS 30 was frustrated, the winds were fickle and the 31 was drawing away from his ship. He planned on remaining in pursuit but he hoped that the Viscountess; would be understanding if he failed.

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Hearing the 30’s report, Dalphyne reluctantly contacted Admiral Sowell. Perhaps one of his ships, out on patrol, had the 31 in range.

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Admiral Sowell was in a foul mood. He couldn’t believe the storm that; that Stupid Bitch Viscountess Gamble had called up just because her entire pitiful little fleet of schooners had been in jeopardy of being defeated. That cursed storm had nearly wrecked his fleet of warships which had taken decades to build, whereas her little ships had taken only months to construct.

Now she wanted him to find one of her little lost chicks. Reluctantly he sent a message to his ships out on patrol, and ordered them to perform the necessary complicated ritual to detect the HSMS 31’s tag. By his reckoning, only three of his patrol groups had a chance of finding anything, even with the aid of the tag system.

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Patrol group Manticore, based on the frigate HSMS Manticore along with the brigs Wolfhound and Staghound, was sailing far to the southwest, of Admiral’s Sowell’s fleet. They had been hoping to collect a rich prize or two, such as a Gulf Kingdom merchant ship sailing to the Freed Continent. Now they had to break off their money making venture and look for a little lost schooner. All three Captains were angered by their orders but they knew better than to disobey.

It took over a half an hour to perform the ritual to seek out the 31. Captain Fisher of the Manticore muttered a curse, they had succeeded in locating the missing schooner and it was heading almost directly for them. He estimated that at their current speed, the HSMS 31 should arrive in the vicinity of his forces an hour or two after dawn. Instead of going to meet them he decided to wait.

He didn’t know what was going on but he would play the anvil and let Viscountess Gamble’s pursuing schooners, be the hammer.

It took me six hours to get a pilfered table enchanted into being a lookout table. The area beneath the raised stern deck of our vessel was split into two rooms. One being the Captain’s cabin and the other was the officers’ dining room. Captain Reyes gave me permission to set up the table in the dining room.

Margo, Delta, Emile and Vella, the girl who I had originally found in the Captain’s cabin, were appointed by Reyes to watch the table in shifts. Vella wouldn’t meet my eyes, so I kept a look out in case she pulled a knife on me.

We had a problem though, one I hadn’t noticed until I had the table setup and working for awhile. According to the table, somewhere on our vessel there might be a magical tag. When I came up with my final design for the Gulf Navy, I thought it would be a good idea if their tables could detect those magical tags. The only problem was that I had never possessed a tag that was still working and for some reason I couldn’t reactivate one of the stupid things, which was very frustrating for me. So I had guessed at what a magical tag detection system might need, not knowing if it would work or not.

My new lookout table was showing me something that might be a tag but it was an extremely weak magical construct. My best guess, was that it was hidden somewhere in the Captain’s cabin which was right next door.

It took me two hours to find the bloody thing, time I could have better spent sleeping. I could barely sense it, even while holding it in my hand, so I had to wonder how the wizards could actually utilize such a tiny thing. My thoughts turned to the possibility of sympathetic magic supported by a ritual with at least three or more wizards participating but that was just a wild guess. One good thing was now that I had actually held and sensed an active tag, I could design a better detector but I would be surprised if I got very much range out of it.

I got a jar out of the galley, put the tag inside and threw it overboard. If anyone was using it against us, hopefully they will now be looking in the wrong place.

Dawn came five hours later and the ship’s lookout in the crow’s nest reported seeing the sails of a vessel just on the horizon. I guess I didn’t get rid of that tag soon enough.

I went to talk with Captain Reyes. Emile was with me and explaining to me what it means. “James it could be that the ship our lookout is seeing, hasn’t seen us yet. You see, if that’s a taller ship, we can see the top of her sails before someone aboard her, can see our itty bitty ones. But even if their lookouts have seen us, they’re probably still a good five leagues away.”

Captain Reyes was nervous but he still seemed to be in control. “Hello James, we’re taking our ship further to the south now, in a bid to avoid that vessel. We don’t know who she is yet but we’ll be taking no chances.”

I sighed, “Captain, I’ll be either in my cabin or the carpentry shop making preparations in case we have to fight. There are things that I might be able to do, even if we’re confronted by a formidable foe. But I’ll need to be kept constantly informed about any threats that this ship might be facing. I will also need Emile’s and Delta’s assistance in making my preparations.”

“I’ll keep you informed James, you can be sure of that.”

I departed for the spaces below decks, Delta and Emilie followed me. We went to my cabin first and I spoke with them. “Do all the HSMS vessels have slaves on board them or are these schooners unique?”

Emile answered me. “The bigger the ship, the more slaves aboard her, we’re cheaper than freemen and they’ll have us do the most dirtiest and hardest of jobs.”

Delta nodded her head angrily in agreement.

“Okay then, we’ll plan on me doing the same thing that I did on this ship here, to that one out there, if they’re the enemy. I have no desire to drown a bunch of our own countrymen. I know that the Gulf Navy might have to do that and I won’t condemn them for it, if that does happen but I’ll avoid it, if it’s at all possible. In order to for me to have a chance of success, I’ll need to improve my equipment and weapons. To do that quickly, I’ll need your help. I’ll also ask you to keep my secrets.

You already know about the shield runes that I attached to this ship. The ridiculously large and numerous buttons on my jacket serve the same purpose but they don’t hold enough energy for a long battle against numerous powerful wizards. I was going to make several more sets of buttons and sew them onto my jacket but I don’t have time now and I thought of something better. I’m going to only replace one of the buttons from each set, with a larger piece of enchanted wood. Those new pieces of wood will be large energy reservoirs for my war jacket. If they’re big enough, they can easily hold six times the energy of my small buttons. I’ll have to juggle the enchantment while I use it but my idea should work. I need your help to charge them Delta, because we’re short on time.”

“I’d be happy to.” She gave me a sharp and vigorous nod of her head.

“Now, this harness that I wear over my jacket is what allows me to fly, though it gives me a terrible pain in my man parts when I do.” I grimaced and indicated where the harness straps crossed between my legs. I need to add a large button or two, to the harness in order to provide it with more energy and thus give me more flying time. As it is, my flying time can vary from seconds to minutes, depending on how fast I am going.”

You both know now, how to launch a kraken spear and turn on this vessel’s new shields. What I need you to do now, is to find and shape the wood that I need for my extra large buttons, while I modify a few more of those kraken spears to give them longer range in case the worst happens. Once I get a spear modified, I’ll have you Delta charge it and Emile can keep on helping me with my personal gear.”

I showed them what I needed in terms of button size, they quickly left and I went in search of an old style kraken spear.

They were done before I was and they both seemed a little nervous. Emile spoke, “James I was thinking about the pain you suffer when you fly. I was wondering if you could attach two really big buttons on your pants where each of your butt cheeks are. If you did that do you think you might be able to fly sitting down on those buttons, instead of all your weight being on your balls?”

I looked up startled. “That’s a great idea Emile. Yes, I am sure that would work, if the buttons were big enough.”

“It was really Delta’s idea.” He said with a grin, as Delta presented me with two pieces of wood that looked just perfect to my eyes.

“I guess I don’t need to change my name to Iron-Balls any longer.” I said with a smile. They both laughed and we all set to work. Emile fetched me tools and materials, while also keeping track of what was happening topside. Delta helped me to charge what I was making; she didn’t have as much energy as a real mage but every little bit helped.

We started getting bad news. The lookout was now seeing the sails of two other smaller ships, one of which was far closer to us than the first one that had been sighted. And from what she could see of the first one, it had to be at least a frigate while the other two were probably brigs. According to Emile, depending on the winds, all three ships had comparable speed to ours. It was soon obvious that they were trying to cut us off from heading any further westward.

“Emile even if I could, I don’t want to sink those ships and there is no way that I can capture one of those larger vessels by myself as I did this schooner. What are their weak points, what single thing can I break or destroy on them, that will make it so they can no longer block our way or pursue us?”

He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Either their rigging or their rudder, you wreck one of those two things and they won’t be able to chase us.”

With that answer, I set to making something new and I didn’t have much time to do it, those three ships were drawing closer and our vessel’s lookout had just reported seeing the flag for the Kingdom of Fata.

Emile had installed leather reinforcement panels on my pants and he then attached those carefully shaped pieces of wood onto my pants with thick leather laces. I had added a dollop of glue as well.

As for myself, I had combined some things from my communications board design, with the idea of the tag system and made a magical device which I hoped would lead me back to this schooner eventually.

It was time for me to leave. The closest enemy ship was no more than a league behind us. I had given Delta instructions on how to work the new device that I was leaving behind. The three of us were each holding an old style kraken spear while standing on our ship’s weather deck.

Those three spears together weighed more than I did, which would drastically reduce my harness’s propulsion time but it was the only weapon that I thought had a chance of doing what we needed done.

I collected hopeful nods from all those that I was leaving behind as I gathered up the three fat spears into my arms. Everyone stepped back, and I lifted off slightly before activating my shield. I again made my shield as large as was practical, because I needed the air. But this time I made the shield in the shape of a fish. I flew over the side of the schooner and dove beneath the waves. I didn’t know the wizards’ secret of invisibility yet and my own ward of invisibility only worked at short range. Going under the ocean, was the only way that I thought I could use, to successfully sneak up on them. But a person with witch sight might see me anyways; I just had to hope that they mistook me for a large fish.

I also had to hope, that there were no large ocean creatures out there that might want to eat me.

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Partisan Winged Spear, there is a YouTube video out there with a guy using it as a slashing weapon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BgQTNOgr4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partisan_(weapon)