An explosion of fire and energy erupted in between the two ships. As arrows soared some were redirected by wind mages. The enemy ship’s heavy arrows landed in a few spots with ropes attached. Workers began reeling in the ropes and pulling the ships together.

Ferrow’s bird began dive-bombing and attacking the ropes carefully to remove them. Most of the forces fired arrows back and forth. The merchants’ mages worked tirelessly and focus on attacking the lower decks of the ship. As more holes were opened in the enemy ship they pushed water into it.

Their air mages did a good job of blocking the incoming arrow, but the enemies pushed forward. The enemy ship fired the occasional arrow that required them to stop what they were doing and put it out.

When the captains of the two ships stepped out front they began engaging each other. Roger learned quickly of the enemy captain's strength. Both were slinging simple spells to test each other before moving to stronger spells. Roger was at a bit of a disadvantage because his focus was on earth spells. Something he lacked out here. Regardless of the limitation he released dust, sand, and rock from pouches all over him and began moving it around.

At the same time, the enemy captain controlled the wind to lift himself into the air. “Long time no see Roger. Why don’t you make this easy and turn over your goods?”

“It is about time someone knocked you down a peg. I hope it can be me today. You’ve harassed friends on other merchant ships long enough.” Roger fired off shots off a rock. He made sure to keep them in his control which forced the enemy captain to maneuver around them.

Roger scanned the ship and began assessing the danger his ship was in and the combatants within. Now that the ships were nearly beside each other the effects of the pirate ships shielding, and illusions had faded away. The pirate ship held seven people with magical auras while his crew only had five including himself plus Ferrow the druid.

He could also sense the life auras of everyone on both boats. Each one glowed with different intensities varying based on their age and if they had been injured during the fight. Roger knew his crew well and calculated the current damages. Because the crews had not begun boarding each other the damage was mostly limited to the ships. Occasionally a wizard on either side would get a lucky shot, but nothing was fatal as of yet.

Ferrow was someone who had few magical combat spells and was more focused on defensive and utility spells. The pair of birds worked quickly to break the ropes connecting the two ships. At this point, only a few had been removed and it was constantly getting harder. The enemy mages targeted the two birds whenever they could.

After repeated attempts two of the enemy mages were able to break the magic barrier protecting the two birds and injured one forcing it to limp back out of the air. Ferrow made sure to direct the second bird to protect the other from further damage. The ship’s water mages had stopped changing the stormy weather as it had become a waste of mana and were more focused on the water below them. Both boats shook with waves crashing the sides of them.

Jerrod watched the enemy ship’s flag to determine some of the effects of the wind when he fired his shots. He wasn’t very accurate, but it served as a good distraction to stop enemy combatants from firing. He remembered his training and made sure to stay behind cover as he reloaded and tried to target the four wizards on the deck of the ship.

Battling wizards without being one yourself was a tricky business. It was most often suggested to get up close and sneak attack if possible or to do actions that would force them to drain their mana. Suggestions and putting them into practice were something else entirely.

The only actions that seemed to stop the wizards were the heavy crossbows that blasted holes into the enemy's ship. It require two wizards working together to stop the bolt from hitting theirs now that the two were so close. The pirates had already used up their supply tying the two boats together with ropes.

Jerrod ducked behind barrels each time he fired a shot. Arrows whizzed past him. The less- ranged focused enemies waited eagerly for the two ships to properly meet. Some of them already held their swords in their hands already shouting insults at the merchant crew.

As the captain’s battle continued with the pirate captain, he directed commands to his first mate through mana for only him to hear. The first mate was still at the front of the ship and was guiding the ship to the left and was trying to pull away from the ship through force.

“I need you to continue ahead into the storm. We must use it to our advantage,” said the Captain. “We cannot lose these shipments.

“I understand.” The first mate spun the wheel and directed the one wind mage still assisting in driving the ship to push to full speed.

The water mages drew on all of their power as they fought off both the enemy mages and the water slowly leaking into the ship. With them so close to the water both of them were fighting at peak efficiency against the enemy mages, but so were the opposing water mages. Currents and whirlpools were generated around them and drew the unlucky few who fell off the sides of the boats deep into the water.

With a crash, the two boats rammed into each other now that the first mate was changing the direction of the boat. This however caused a new road of fighting to start. One with swords and shields.

The pirate crew rushed aboard the merchant ship and took the first swings at Roger’s crew. The bowmen stepped back as others took out their swords to meet the pirates. The bowmen focused on the wizards that were pelting their crew with fireballs and wind blasts. A few unlucky pirates were pulled out of the air as they jumped to the merchant ship as it shifted position and the merchant ship’s second wind mage took hold of them. With cries of alarm, they fell into the water or held on for a while longer on the side of the ship before getting stabbed through the same hole they held on with.

Down below deck, the merchant ship’s non-combat personnel worked to help the water mages remove water from the ship and block up what they could of the holes. They rushed to carry extra materials to the starboard side of the ship and prevent the current damage to the ship to become worse. They also use some of the new holes in the ship to remove the last few tethers from the ship with machetes. This change allowed the first mate to navigate away from the pirate ship once again.

The last bird in the air was finally taken out of the air with a fireball once both ships were side by side. Ferrow directed the bird back to its cage before focusing on the fight that was now on their ship. He began using his dwindling mana to buff the archers attacking the mages and to send a few weaker attacks towards the enemy captain.

Roger and the Pirate Captain were long past talking now and had begun punching it out in the air. Roger used what little fire affinity he had to get in the air to perform punches and kicks in the air. With each blow earth, energy and rocks covered his limbs and struck out with a bang against his opponent's own fists.

Roger swiped at the Pirate Captain and swirled the earthy dust around to hopefully disorientate him. It wasn’t very effective as the pirate was able to push away the debris with a swipe of his hand. The drain on man had begun to affect them and they had resumed their fight after returning to the ground of the pirate ship. It also didn’t help that they were now thoroughly soaked in the rain and so were all of the others. Thunder roared in the background and purple streaks of lightning shot through the air soon after bringing the image of the purple sea to life.

The water mages had used the rain constantly to their advantage on both sides. With a push there or a pull on the water elsewhere they had forced the sailors to slip when needed or with some extra effort create a life-saving barrier.

With the rain, the two enemy fire mages dropped in power over time. Ferrow’s buffs to the archers also helped pin them down until they had no more natural fire mana to draw from and were killed. This alleviated some of the stress on the merchant crew. With the tethers now gone and two mages dead the merchant crew pushed their advantage.

Two of the pirate mages were busy working below so only two were left above with the Pirate Captain. The merchant crew’s second air mage had also gotten some injuries as well and was forced to get below deck.

Ferrow fired off the last of his attack magic and exhausted himself of mana for the time being. The pure mana bolts fired off at the Pirate Captain and Roger’s fight. The first time Ferrow attacked the Pirate Captain he saw the attacks heading to him and was able to move out of the way but was unable to force Roger into its way.

That was one of the downsides of Ferrow’s attack magic. Because he had no formal abilities with it he couldn’t attack accurately, and it was unable to focus on a single target. The second time Ferrow fired off his multiple mana bolts Roger was in a position to take advantage of the almost stray attacks.

Roger threw out an attack and feinted to the side as the Pirate Captain moved to the side. Right to where Roger wanted him. One mana bolt flew past the Captain’s head while the other hit him in his right shoulder. The Pirate Captain grunted in pain as Roger pressed forward and took the opportunity.

The Pirate Captain was unable to raise his right hand in time as dust-covered his eyes blinding him. With quick and steady moves Roger punched him in the gut then hooked him right in the jaw. The Pirate Captain stumbled back and held up his hands in fists ready to brawl. Roger followed up with a kick to his side. The Pirate Captain fell over and grunted as he hit his head on the deck.

The weather was continuing to pick up as the first mate steered into the storm. The enemy ship was still next to them but came to a sudden stop. With a sudden flash of light and a bang, lightning struck the mast of the ship causing the wood to crack and splinter outwards from the ship. The boat shook as well with the strike that was inflicted.

The crew onboard dropped to the ground and covered their ears and heads as a second lightning strike came down onto the front of the ship this time. The merchant crew took this chance to fire off a few free shots, but the pirates were more worried about the burning mast now. The simple fibers of the sail caught fire quickly causing the ship to slow.

The pirate mages worked to extinguish the fire. The air mages left on the ship began killing the air around the fire while the last remaining fire mage drew the fire into himself and out of the mast.

The pirates who still fought on the merchant ship felt worry in their hearts. This fight was no longer going as planned. They were separated from their crew aboard their ship and despite their efforts, their ship was damaged. They would need to commandeer the Hearty Gourd’s ship to return to land successfully.

The sails were now torn to shreds with the combination of fire and the storm. The Hearty Gourds ship was in a similar state, but without the burns. The tears could be repaired but burned sails could not easily be replaced in the middle of the ocean.

“Forfeit your ship and your crew’s life. This battle is one you have lost. If you continue fighting I will make sure that both ships never leave this storm,” shouted Roger over the storm’s wind. He stood over the Pirate Captain. His long beard and hair dripped with water and was thoroughly ruffled by the fight.

“It is difficult to accept this loss, but it is harder to let by crew die in vain. Their lives are forfeit to you,” said the Pirate Captain. “My friends. I have lost. Lay down your weapons so we may live another day to sail these seas.” The captain used similar powers to Roger to project his voice to the entirety of his crew.

The arrows they had drawn and the swords they held were sheathed quickly. The merchant crew soon followed after. Roger threw cuffs at the Pirate Captain who swiftly put them on. The first mate rotated the boat around and began ordering everyone aboard. Every pirate dropped their weapon into a pile as they boarded before collecting their things.

Roger was not one to miss the opportunity he had and order the collective crew to bring aboard all of the valuable items the pirates had on their ship onto the Hearty Gourd. It would no longer be of use there now that it was nearly inoperable.

“Status Report,” asked Roger.

“We have collected various items totally about fifteen gold give or take a gold. With the damages to our ship, it might cover all of our damages, but I’m not sure. I’m also; not up to date on the bounty information for all of the pirates. With the now three wind mages at our disposal and the water mages we should only be delayed by a day or so due to the damages. I’ll have a more accurate arrival time tomorrow once the smaller repairs we can do now are complete. In total for casualties, we lost eight people and they lost eleven. I’m sorry to say Eric the apprentice water mage was among the dead.”

“Have Farrow heal those who are wounded and stabilize them regardless of which faction they were from. Other than that, you are dismissed. I will take my turn at the wheel for the rest of the journey.” The first mate nodded and retreated away.

The pirate crew followed along with the orders and the ship was prepared for travel once more. Soon the ship had loaded up with all of its new cargo and sailed away from the storm and towards their destination, the elven city of Zaria.