Chapter 5: Retribution

Author’s Note: There is a brief scene with anal in this chapter. If that's not your thing, feel free to skip forward to the next scene break. Enjoy!

*****

It was still dark when Luke Ravencross emerged from his quarters on the Valiant and headed to the nearest hatch to go topside. Taking in a deep breath of morning air, Luke tapped his knuckles along the railing of the ship until he made his way to the bridge. He only bothered to go to the bridge so early because he knew Kim would still be on her watch duty.

Sure enough, the stunning redhead could be found at her command post studying a report with a noticeable look of worry on her face. Luke approached her from behind and slipped his arms around her waist, causing her to nearly jump.

“Oh! Oh, it’s you,” she said, her tone going from fright to amusement in the space of mere seconds.

“Who did you think it might be?” he asked with a chuckle.

She turned to face him, a small smirk worn prominently on her face. “Oh, just one of my many, many lovers. It’s hard to keep track of all of you.”

Luke promptly let his arms fall and turned away from her at the words. She reacted quickly by grabbing his arms and putting them back in their usual resting place on her body.

“I’m just teasing!” she said with an exasperated sigh. “You're so sensitive in the early morning.”

“You better be teasing,” he muttered under his breath, fixing her with his stare.

“Oh, stop right there. You know I only have eyes for you,” she said with a grin before reaching up to kiss him.

“That’s better,” said Luke before gesturing to the report on her desk. “What’s got you so worked up already?”

She let out a disapproving groan. “How could you tell?”

“I could see the worry on your face from the moment I walked in.”

“Am I that easy to read?”

He grinned. “Only to me.”

She stuck out her tongue before grabbing the report off his desk and handing it to him. Luke quickly scanned it and then pursed his lips at the end.

“This leak is becoming troublesome. We’re surrounded by engineers and yet no one can find where it’s coming from?”

Kim shrugged. “I’m told they’ve explored just about every facet of the plumbing in that area. Short of ripping into the bulkhead, they just can’t find the source.”

“And we are nowhere near a port to be able to do that kind of work.”

Kim nodded. “The only thing they’re able to do at this time is to keep the pumps working by siphoning out the water.”

“If this continues much longer, we may need to take the Valiant back to Quiller’s Cove. If it gets more serious, we could be in trouble,” said Luke.

Kim’s face filled with worry. “I’d hate to leave Jack out here on his own. With just the Tiger to help out.”

“As would I,” said Luke. “But we won’t be of much use if we're nursing a ship that needs repair.”

“Maybe Daimanos will let us fix it here,” said Kim with a hopeful smile.

Luke approached the window of the bridge and looked out to the rest of the harbor. “I rather doubt that. Fixing one of those old, wooden ships is quite a different process from fixing steel. We’d need a dry dock at the very least and I don’t see anything here that would help facilitate that. Hell, he has to beach his own ships to prevent them from sinking.” He pointed to the small stretch of sand on the other side of the port where about fifteen vessels were lined up in various states of disrepair.

Kim nodded after looking at the broken ships. “I just rather not have to sail another two weeks just to be out of commission while they make the repairs. Who knows how long we might be out?”

Luke looked at her and chuckled. “You’re starting to sound like me. Maybe you’ve been around me too long.”

She shot him a coy grin. “You make that sound like it’s a bad thing.”

He leaned in to kiss her. “Not in the slightest. I’m just not used to being the one that’s advocating retreat instead of advance.”

“Perhaps I’m influencing you? Maybe you’re starting to change after so long?”

“Perhaps,” conceded Luke. “Anything is possible,” he said after a small shrug. He rested his good arm on the command station in front of her.

Her eyes soon locked on his arm. “By the way, how’s the arm feeling now?”

He grimaced as soon as she mentioned it and started to stretch it around his body. “It's still stiff but getting better. That damned bullet had to go right through the muscle.”

“At least it’s getting better,” she said with a hopeful tone. “Maybe soon, you won’t have to lie to Jack when he asks you how it feels.”

Luke smirked. “It’s not lying exactly. Just stretching the truth a little.”

Kim giggled. “That’s stretching the truth a lot. If you call that stretching the truth, I’d hate to see what you call an outright lie.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “Just a few more days and I’ll be as good as new!”

“We can hope,” she said sarcastically, earning a rear end smack from him. She yelped and then glared at him.

“Behave yourself, Luke,” she scolded.

“At least my arm is good enough for a smack on the ass,” he said with a grin.

“Now is not the time or the place to test that particular observation,” she said with an angry look.

He stepped closer to her. “What about later?”

“Maybe.”

“Just maybe?”

She continued to give him a suspicious look. “Yeah, just maybe!”

Luke sighed playfully. “The story of my life.”

She patted his good arm reassuringly. “Something tells me you’ll live.”

By this time, Kim had once more made her way to the window on the bridge and looked up at the palace. Her expression darkened almost at once. “I really wish they would point those cannons elsewhere. I feel like they are dead centered on us.”

Luke came to stand by her side. “I don’t like it either. But we aren’t exactly in the position to tell them how to defend their own harbor. We can just hope they aren’t given a reason to use them. Besides, it's not like those old bronze cannons can do much damage to us. We'd just need to shelter the initial onslaught and move out to sea. Probably would take very little damage.”

“Still,” she said with a shiver. “It makes me uneasy. Doesn't it seem like there are an awful lot of soldiers milling around up there?”

Luke grabbed his binoculars and looked up to the bluffs. From his vantage point, he could see a large number of soldiers, and they seemed to be attending to each gun. Some were even stacking ammunition just behind it for immediate use.

“Do you think they know something we don’t?” he asked while giving her a worried expression.

“I sure hope not.”

Luke looked back to the hill. The soldiers up there did seem to be hustling a little more than soldiers who were off duty or just on patrol. Yet, there was a war going on. And Daimanos didn’t get to this position of nearing victory by being careless.

“Let’s just keep an eye on them. We need to remember they’re fighting a war and being prepared is half the battle. If you notice anything suspicious, please let me know,” said Luke.

“Aye, sir,” said Kim with a playful salute.

“Your bottom is about to get another swat,” he growled.

At that moment, the door to the bridge opened and Cory Renner stepped in while in the middle of a yawn.

“Later,” Kim hissed at seeing Cory and then gave a brief wink before giving the new man a proper greeting.

“Morning to you both,” said Cory, finding his seat amongst another yawn.

“Late night?” asked Luke.

“I couldn’t sleep worth a damn. Those engineers have been pounding away at that leak all night. It kept me up,” said the sleepy lieutenant.

Luke nodded and then looked at Kim. “Another reason for us to get this fixed as soon as possible. Can’t have a sleepy Lt. Renner on the bridge.”

Kim shrugged innocently. “Maybe he could bunk in your quarters until it’s fixed?”

Luke looked at her with an incredulous smile. “My room is way too tiny. You know that.”

“That I do,” she said with a whisper under her breath.

“By the way,” said Luke while straightening up. “Where is Bill at? Is he still sleeping too?”

“Not sure, but the light was still on next to his quarters when I left mine,” said Cory.

“I should radio him and find out,” said Luke as his hands went to his waist. He patted a few times at the empty radio holster. “Damnit.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Left my radio in my room,” said Luke with a sheepish smile.

Kim let out a tsk-tsk. “That’s no place for a radio."

“I’m so glad you’re around. Where would I be without you?” asked Luke sarcastically.

She grinned. “I hope we never find out.”

Luke rolled his eyes and turned to Cory. “Will you radio Bill and find out where he’s at? I’m going to head down to my quarters and grab my radio.”

“No problem,” said Cory as Luke headed for the exit. He heard the engineering division head make the initial callout before the bridge door closed and he bolted down the stairs to the main deck. Luke was about halfway to his quarters, rapping his knuckles on the railing once more, when a large explosion sounded from the top of the palace hill.

Catching his attention immediately, Luke turned to see a ball of fire begin near the lines of cannon, immediately followed by a low whistling noise. It was too late to reach anything. He watched helplessly as the shot arced just above the city before coming crashing down on the waiting Javan ships below. The first shot came down and scored a direct hit on the bow of the ship, just a hundred yards from his position.

Luke crouched to cover his face before being knocked to the floor by the force of the explosion. Above him, a billow of smoke poured from the ship as pieces of wood and metal fell from the sky after being blasted by the shot.

“What the fuck . . .” he swore before reaching for his command radio spot and remembering it was empty. The bastards had shot at them!

Another shot opened from the hillside, followed by another. Suddenly what had been a peaceful morning was now riddled with the sounds of cannonade as the entire East Sorellan battery began to blast the positions of the Javan cruiser.

“Battle-stations!” roared Luke, using the only thing he had left to communicate—his voice. “Get to battle-stations now! We’re under attack! Get this ship out to sea away from the cannon fire!”

The sounds of battle immediately attracted the attention of the crew and several faces popped up from below deck at the explosions that now riddled the space around them. Luke began to run to the nearest hatch before screaming his warning once more down the open space, hoping that the sound would carry to those sailors below.

Time was now of the essence. They were in grave danger from the land-based artillery whose direct hits were showing the East Sorellans took the time to dial in their positions. Luke watched as another shot exploded in front of the Valiant just twenty feet from the bow as he ran about trying to get the sailors to position. The smell of burning wood and bilious smoke soon filled his lungs as devastation reigned around him. Thankfully, the ship’s alarm system began to blare shortly after as the bridge sounded the official warning to the crew.

Luke at once began to move back to the bridge and found himself near the middle-rear gun emplacement when he just so happened to look toward the cliff at the latest explosion. He noticed two things. One, there were many East Sorellan soldiers on boats that were now rushing toward the Valiant. Secondly, he could see a fireball headed for his very position, a surreal experience as his legs worked at full function but brought him no further from the oncoming cannon. Luke felt the extreme horror at realizing there was no way he could escape his fate. There was nothing but noise as the cannon made contact with the gun emplacement right next to him. Luke saw a combination of fire, light, and pressure as his body was blasted away from the explosion and his world went black shortly after.

*****

The standoff was still just as intense as it was at the beginning. Jack looked back and forth between the assembled faces of Nikias, the West Sorellan king, Heron, and the rest of their soldiers watching them from the balcony. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he tried to figure out what to do next. Every option in front of him seemed equally distasteful.

"Why should I trust you? Not only with my life but with the lives of my men?" asked Jack, gesturing to Greg and the twenty marines around them.

Nikias tossed his weapon on the ground and held up each hand. "I have no reason to lie to you, Jack. You don't know the real Daimanos. What you saw was a carefully designed facade. He's not your friend."

"But to betray him like this? In the middle of battle?"

"It was Daimanos that be betrayed you. He gave orders to hold back the final attack until your forces were inside the city. They would then ambush you when you least expected it and wipe you out to the man. Those that survived would go back to the camp you saw on the coast. Those that weren't killed initially would be crucified by nightfall," said Nikias quietly.

Jack hazarded a glance up to Heron on the balcony as the king watched him and silently appraised him. The gesture was noticed immediately by Nikias.

"That right there is the true king of Sorella, Heron," said the minister while pointing up to the regal figure. "If you've come to this island seeking an alliance, he's the only one honorable enough to consider."

"How can we even begin to consider this offer when your men are still holding us at gunpoint?" asked Jack while looking up to the king. "You tell us to trust you but you are still staring down your barrels at us. Where we come from, trust must go both ways!"

Heron nodded while he considered their request. After several moments, he raised his arms and then lowered them slowly. "Take your weapons off the Javans. We must do our part for Sorella."

Slowly, the entire force ringing the balcony lowered their muskets to the ground, many of them relaxing from the firing position and giving Jack reason to hope that they might just be telling the truth.

From that point, Heron called out to Jack directly. "Will you meet with me, Jack Easterbrook? We have a little under an hour before the main attack by the rebels. I'd rather not be at odds with you too when it occurs. Will you take time to meet with me?"

Jack paused before answering. He turned slowly to look at Greg who merely shrugged his shoulders. There was danger in either option but their show of faith at lowering their weapons earned them enough of a respite to consider an offer.

"We'll meet with you. On one condition though, Heron," said Jack. "We'll meet in one of the houses in this plaza. I don't want to be far from my men in case something goes wrong."

Heron nodded gracefully. "I accept that condition. I will come down shortly." After he spoke, the man turned to exit the balcony and temporarily disappeared from sight.

Jack moved over to Greg and whispered to him. "What do you think?"

"I think a lot of things right now, Jack. None of them good."

"We've been in worse situations," said Jack.

"True but if this goes badly, we could still be just as screwed as when we first entered this plaza."

"I guess we have to make sure this goes well then. We have no other options," said Jack simply.

Greg gestured to Nikias. "Do you think he can be trusted?"

Jack scratched at his chin. "I don't know. It doesn't give me a lot of hope when a man can just kill a colleague in cold blood."

"Maybe he should have been in the army after all," said Greg with a half chuckle.

At that point, Heron emerged on the street level and strode up to Jack. Compared to Daimanos, Heron wasn't adorned as elegantly. A simple, golden diadem was worn on his head yet his own tunic was noticeably holed in several places. He wore a pair of worn sandals with leather laces, and his expression was almost unreadable from the start. Beyond his eyes was the look of pure determination, someone who was utterly committed to serving his people, but also the look of deep sadness as well that Jack couldn't help but notice.

Heron gestured over to Nikias and the two of them approached the nearest house. Seeing it empty, they pushed open the door and turned back to look at the two Javan commanders. "This one will do. Are you coming?"

"Just a second," said Greg while holding up a finger. "Captain Reynolds?"

A split-second later, a stony-faced marine appeared at Greg's side. "Yes, Major?"

"I want you to get word to all the marines assaulting the beach. Have them set up a defensive position at their current spots and wait for further orders from us. While I'm in this house, you're in charge. If you are attacked for any reason, fight back." Greg then pulled the marine closer, issuing orders that only he and Jack could hear. "If the attack comes from within the city, execute a fighting withdrawal back to the ships. If the attack comes from outside, I want the men to rush to the city wall and prepare a defense. Are we clear?"

"Crystal clear, sir," said Captain Reynolds as he began to rush about and get the men settled. Satisfied with the orders, Greg returned his attention to the West Sorellan king. "We're ready now."

"Come with us," said Nikias, and together the four of them entered the empty house. Clearly, the house was not totally abandoned as Jack and Greg entered what had been a dining room and set themselves against the opposite wall. Whoever the occupants were, they had left in a hurry. Plates with moldy food could still be seen on the table.

Folding his arms, Jack awaited the start of their meeting with the two Sorellans. It was their job to convince him that all he'd been told about their island from the start wasn't the truth and he was feeling skeptical about their intentions.

Heron was the first to speak. "Thank you, Jack," the man said with a bow of his head.

Jack's brow wrinkled. "Why are you thanking me?"

"For giving us a chance to explain the situation. You could have easily ordered your men to open fire, and none of us would be standing here," the king explained. "For that, I am thankful."

Jack leaned up against one of the dining room walls. "I really just need to find out what's going on here. Ever since we left East Sorella, nothing has added up, and I can't tell who is being truthful."

Heron nodded. "That's understandable. Daimanos has always been a little devious. Our father used to chastise him for his lies quite regularly when we were boys. It seems he never really grew out of it."

Jack squinted. "Your father? So you mean . . ."

"That's correct, Jack," said the king with a smile. "Daimanos is my brother."

"That's an odd way to treat your brother," interrupted Greg, earning the attention of the rest of the men. "I mean, he is trying to kill you over here, right?"

Heron nodded. "He didn't always use to be so bloodthirsty. When we were boys, that aggression was focused on other channels such as sport, hunting, and the like. Daimanos always needed an outlet for his aggression but it wasn't until we were men that he decided to turn on his own family. Our father always seemed to know just how to deal with him. I'm afraid I haven't done nearly as well as he had." The king ended the statement with a heavy sigh.

"I take it your father is no longer with us?" asked Jack.

"That's right, Jack. Our father, Alecto, ruled over the entire island. In his day, there was no east/west division. There was only one Sorellan people. Father was a great man," said Heron while running his fingers along the table. "Sorella prospered while he ruled."

"What happened to him then?" asked Jack.

Heron grimaced and looked away. "He was assassinated. About five years ago."

"That's terrible," said Greg. "It must be awful to lose a father in that way."

"It nearly killed me," whispered the king. "He was not only the father of the Sorellan people but he was a kind father to us as well. The fact that he could have been assassinated after nearly forty years of rule still stymies the mind."

"Did you ever catch the perpetrator? Who did it?"

"Oh, we caught him all right," said Heron with a grim look. "And he was dealt with in a manner to fit the crime. However, he never released the name of his bankroll. To this day, it's not officially known. But I would bet all that I have left it was Daimanos."

Greg gasped. "You think he would have killed his own father?"

Heron nodded slowly. "I do. Daimanos was always sensitive to the fact that he wouldn't inherit the throne. When we were younger, he only accepted that fact reluctantly and he would change the subject as quickly as possible. The older we got, the sorer it became for him. At one point when we were nearly men, he had a screaming match with our father during a festival for the people to our main god, Malicoe. It was of great embarrassment to our father and any other king might have harshly punished him for obstinance. Father just looked the other way though."

"It sounds like it might have gone better if your father had just taken the belt to the little shit when he was acting like that," said Greg. " Might have saved us all a lot of trouble."

Heron chuckled. "It's not often that the very thought doesn't cross my mind."

"So what happened next?" asked Jack.

"My father recognized Daimanos' aggressiveness for what it was and thought he needed a good way to channel all that energy. In doing so, he put him in the army. At first, he served like any other soldier, but being that we haven't been at war with an outside foe in nearly fifty years, he saw little real action. So he began to climb the ranks. He was supposed to be the eventual commander of the Sorellan army when I took over as king. For centuries, that's how it had been with two or more male heirs in the royal family—the first born takes the throne and the rest take the muskets."

The king took a deep breath. "But he wasn't happy even with that outlet for his aggression. He began to crave even more, even wanting the kingship for himself. When I married my wife, he threw an incredible tantrum because now there was a way for me to have my own heirs and further remove him from the succession. When my son, Theo, was born, Daimanos went missing for days. They eventually found him out in the countryside trying to shake off a drunken stupor but I knew it was because he figured out his chances of inheriting were lower than ever."

"So he decided to take matters into his own hands?" asked Jack.

Heron locked eyes on him. "That's what I believe. As I started to adapt to life as a new father, my brother became more withdrawn. He started to drift toward dangerous people in the army. People with nothing to lose and everything to gain. That's how he met Barak."

Jack pursed his lips. "Barak? You mean the first minister?"

"First minister," said Heron with a chuckle and a head shake. "When I knew him, he was just a sergeant in the army. He probably wouldn't have risen any higher than that if my father was still around. He was always the brooding type and as nasty as you can imagine. That man's file is filled with too many cases of abuse to his fellow soldiers. Yet, his nature meshed well with Daimanos and so it didn't surprise me to see him rise so high in his government."

"Don't forget Alcydes," muttered Nikias from the side of his mouth.

Heron nodded. "That was the other one. Alcydes used to be a colonel. A particularly nasty one at that. About eight years ago, there was a rebellion by a village on the north side of the island. The people did have a legitimate grievance though. They had such a high tax on their fishing industry and that was the way they made their living in that village. It could have been solved with diplomacy and father had sent the army to monitor the situation. Of course, Alcydes happened to be in charge of the unit that was nearest to the village."

"No one knows what really happened but shots were exchanged and Alcydes led his entire regiment into the village. He killed everyone—men, women, even children. He had the ringleaders crucified as a warning to nearby villages. Nasty business," said the king with a shiver.

"We saw a camp of people as we sailed over here," said Jack. "Several of them were set up and crucified. Many of them were women and otherwise older, non-military people."

Hero nodded solemnly. "Ever since he took over as Daimanos' war minister, that's been his preferred method of sending a message."

"I don't get it though," interrupted Greg. "How did he get in the position to become king of half the island?"

"You can say it started when our father died," said Heron. "The circumstances around it were fishy from the start. Daimanos was the one to find him already dead in his bed. I had just barely seen his still body before Daimanos was already proclaiming me king. I still remember the way he thrust my hand into the sky and whispered 'Hail Heron, King of Sorella' before father's body was even cold yet."

Heron shuddered. "Needless to say, our father had shown no inclination of being sickly to that point so it came as much of a surprise. Daimanos insisted on a quick funeral. My guess was to disguise any evidence of foul play. Our tradition calls for the burning of our dead and it wasn't several hours later that his body went up on the pyre to be burned."

"Was there anything about him that made you suspect that he had been assassinated?"

Heron nodded quickly. "His face. When I saw it, it was tinged in a heavy green color. His tongue stuck out from his body and contained numerous boils. I've seen poisoning like that before and it matches the profile. I believe Daimanos had him poisoned and rapidly burned to prevent anyone from finding out."

"I can understand how removing the king would bring him closer to the throne but you had a son already at that point, right?" asked Greg. "He was still too far away in succession to be king."

"You're right, Greg," said Heron. "Except for one part. My son was sickly. Theo was never able to string along more than a couple months when he wasn't down with some kind of malady. It was just shy of his tenth birthday when he breathed his last breath."

Jack crossed over to the king and put his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that, Heron. No father should have to bury his son."

Heron wiped a tear from his eye before looking back at the Javan commander. "I still have two daughters. However, under Sorella custom, men are supposed to inherit the throne. You can understand how Daimanos must have seen his chance at that point."

"Since his only brother was now without a male heir, he knew he could still become king," said Greg.

"That's right. I had only been king for about two years by the time he became much more difficult to work with. He had made too many remarks about my leadership and hinted at what might happen to our family house should I not have a proper heir. He did everything he could to stir the other members of government against me. Finally, I had enough. I told him to leave our city and go be the governor of the city that is now his capital."

"East Sorella," muttered Jack.

"That's right, Jack. Both a country and a city. It wasn't long that once he was on his own, he began to spin even more tales about me. I should've realized that if I had kept him here, I could've kept him contained. Putting him on the other side of the island just lengthened the leash that he had to work with."

Jack nodded. "When did he rebel?"

"Last summer," said Heron. "I had gotten a rumor that he'd been telling anyone who would listen that I wasn't really our father's child. That our mother had cheated on Alecto with one of the royal servants and that I was the result. Of course, his story involved father finding out about it and killing off the servant for his adultery, conveniently a full two years before Daimanos was born."

"To take away any doubt of his paternity and cement him as the one, true heir," said Jack.

"Precisely," said Heron. "As you can imagine, I was enraged by the rumor. I ordered Daimanos to come back to the city and be stripped of his responsibilities. It was then that he used his contacts in the military to split the army. He then went public shortly after. He called me a usurper to the throne and ordered a war be fought to remove me. It was also then that my suspicions about the poisoning of our father became more public. Only, they came from his mouth—he suspected me of doing the deed."

"He accused you of what he did himself," whispered Greg.

"I believe so. It's the sort of shiftiness that he's always been known for. His little rebellion split the army pretty evenly. Most of the commanders stayed loyal to our house and remained on our side. However, Daimanos offered raises to the common foot soldiers so many of them deserted and decided to fight for him. As you can imagine, it's set a predictable tone for the war to follow."

"A war between generals and soldiers. It seems pretty one-sided," said Jack.

"It has been, for the most part. With our lack of soldiers, our generals have been able to fortify our city and make them pay for every inch of land. They've taken heavy casualties trying to take over our lands. It was only a few months ago that he began to call me a butcher for how many men we've cost him."

"That he does. He just mentioned it before we started this expedition over here," said Greg.

Heron nodded. "As you can imagine, civil war on the island met with much chaos and confusion. Many of the outlying villages had no idea what to do or who to support. Of course, Daimanos didn't take kindly to that. Any village that didn't recognize him as the true king he set Alcydes on. Many people would run to escape the village on the approach of soldiers but they would be chased into the countryside and killed where they stood."

"When we first arrived here, we found numerous dead bodies close to the coast. Women and children. Non-combatants. Was it Daimanos' work?"

"More than likely. We don't have the manpower to get that far from the city anymore nor could any real king allow the slaughter of his own people," said Heron with a grim stare. "Daimanos on the other hand hasn't stopped killing since this war began. He's even been killing those in the countryside where all the food is grown. As you've no doubt noticed, there isn't any Sorellan alive with any extra weight."

"Except perhaps Daimanos and his government," said Jack. "He seems to be getting enough food."

"The rest of us, not so much," said Heron while rubbing his own stomach. "Not that it matters much anymore. With so many of our people now dead, there's not as much of a need for grain."

"What about your defenses though, Heron?" asked Greg. "How long can you hold out in the city?"

Heron shook his head slowly. "Not long, I believe. Although the war has claimed many lives, Daimanos' forces still outnumber us. We only have a small portion of this land under our control. Outside of these walls is Daimanos' territory. My soldiers have been withered down to next to nothing. I'm afraid if he attacks in force, he'll overwhelm what's left of us."

Greg shot a look over at Jack, a questioning gaze that echoed the internal struggle going on in Jack's own mind. The very things he questioned most about Daimanos never seemed to give him any clarity. Yet, the words of Heron now seemed to paint a fuller picture, one that made more sense with the events. Jack's eyes settled on the haggard king whose worn and tired eyes did little to diminish the look of hope contained within. The same look even appeared to be written into the face of Nikias as he stood not far from the king and another question formed inside.

"What about Nikias?" asked Jack while gesturing to the man. "Where does he fit into all of this? He seemed to be doing a great job of being standoffish while we were in East Sorella."

Nikias lowered his head as Heron walked the few feet over to the man and rested his hand on his back. "Nikias has been my most trusted advisor. He only came to my service after our father had already left and Daimanos had moved to his side of the island. He has shown himself to be both intelligent and crafty. It was his idea to infiltrate Daimanos' side, and he has been my mole in my brother's government for some time. It is Nikias that passed along the word of your coming, Jack."

"Not to doubt Nikias here, but it seems like a short amount of time to have worked your way into Daimanos' government. How did you manage that?" asked Jack while looking at the minister.

Nikias shrugged. "I'm amazed sometimes with how quickly he made me a minister. The thing about Daimanos is that he only wants to hear what he believes or what he thinks can help him. If you tell him what he wants to hear often enough, he'll keep coming back to you."

Heron chuckled lightly. "My brother hasn't changed in many years. Having to listen to tough news is part of what makes you a fair king. He wants to be remembered as a great king of Sorella, yet he never learned the first lesson."

"It does feel good to be home," said Nikias with a genuine smile. "And it felt even better to kill that brutal bastard, Alcydes. His death was a little too quick for my liking."

"No doubt countless families will rest easier now that the butcher is dead," said Heron with a head nod.

Jack strummed his fingers along the dining room table in thought. So many questions still swirled inside his mind, and he struggled to decide which path he should take. Heron, to his credit, noticed the look on Jack's face and approached the Javan commander.

"Jack, I'm not sure if it's my place to ask you to fight with us, but I could surely use your help. With our forces so weakened, I'm afraid we won't hold out much longer."

Jack nodded. "You make a good case, Heron. And what you've told us makes sense. What I'm having the most trouble with is the fact that we've signed an alliance with Daimanos. I've given not only my word but the word of my country to come to their defense and align against their enemies. I'm not sure how well that would be taken to break an alliance so soon."

Heron nodded and looked especially crestfallen. "I understand, Jack. If anything, this allowed us to set the record straight. You know the truth now about Sorella."

"Wait, my king," interrupted Nikias. "Jack, your forces are in significant danger right now from Daimanos."

Jack squinted. "But we've signed an alliance with him. He's pledged to us just as much as we are to him."

Nikias shook his head. "Daimanos has no need of alliances. Not now when our backs are against the wall. In his mind, he's already won. But there is one person here who can change the balance of that. That's you, Jack."

"Wouldn't it be better for him to ally with us than to be hostile?" asked Greg. "What use does it to him to make a powerful enemy?"

Heron turned to look at Greg. "You may be powerful but there are only a few of you. He'll look to betray you when you're divided and weak. When you can't strike as a single force."

"Like right now," whispered Jack. "Our ships are separated and our marines are exposed here in the city. If he wanted to strike, it would be the perfect time for him to do so and catch us off guard."

Heron approached Jack and put his hands on the commander's arms. "Your people are in grave danger, Jack. My brother will stop at nothing to win ultimate power over the land of Sorella."

*****

Sirens blared overhead and chaos reigned on the Valiant as Kim Cross struggled to get the light cruiser moving. Around them, the sky had filled with thick, dark clouds—the only remains of the artillery fire that now devastated their position in the inner harbor. Her fingers trembled as she gripped the command radio in her other hand so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Amongst the chaos, a flurry of orders was issued from within the bridge of the ship.

"I need all boilers firing right now, Lieutenant," yelled Cory, his voice still hoarse and scratchy from just having woken up a short while ago. The radio crackled with the noise from the engine room and even as each minute felt like an eternity, the ship roared to life and sent vibrations running along bulkheads.

"No, you put some covering fire on those hills," roared Bill as his fingers pointed aggressively to the artillery positions beneath Daimanos' palace. "You need to give us a break to get out of this harbor!"

The sounds of rifle fire could be heard from the main deck. The Sorellans who were trying to sneak about were dropping in droves but they were having a hard time keeping the ships deck occupied with all the cannon fire from the hills.

More than anything, Kim was concerned about Luke's whereabouts with the bombardment only starting once he was on the main deck. She struggled to find him with the gaggle of sailors crossing each and every way, all trying to rush to their battle-stations to put up a fight.

"Where the hell is Luke?" yelled Bill as he put his command radio down. "He's not responding on the officer channel!"

"He went down to get his radio," said Kim as she crossed to the other section of the bridge to try to find him once more. Her eyes followed the path he was likely to have taken back to his quarters but she saw nobody that matched his resemblance. Fighting to keep her heart from beating out of control, she set about trying to stem the flow of chaos but they were leaderless without Luke.

"What kind of ordnance do you want to throw up? Armor-piercing, high explosive or shrapnel?" asked Bill, looking back over to Kim for an answer.

At the same time, Cory looked over as well. "There's a chain that is pulled across the mouth of the harbor and preventing our exit. What do you want to do, Kim? Ram it?"

She looked at them with her mouth wide open. "Why are you asking me? Luke will make those decisions!"

Bill shook his head. "Luke isn't here. You've got the next most seniority. Until he shows up, you're in charge, Kim."

She approached the window with a worried expression on her face. Searching ceaselessly for Luke and simultaneously praying he was all right, her heart thumped wildly when he wasn't anywhere to be found.

"Kim, we need an answer. We need you in the game," yelled Bill, snapping her back to attention.

She turned and looked at them firmly, a steely glint now present in her eyes. "Load the guns with shrapnel. Let's try and take out as many of those crews as we can." She then turned to face Cory. "Ram the damn chain. We need to get out of this harbor and out of the range of those guns."

Both officers gave a swift approval and set about to carry out the orders. It wasn't much more than a few minutes later that the first round came exploding out of the forward gun turrets. Kim brought her binoculars to her face to scan the damage and was entirely satisfied to see the hillside covered in a small fireball as two gun crews in particular were completely taken out by the shot.

"Direct hit," she called out while looking back to Bill. "Fire another shot and keep going!"

Just as the ship had started to pull closer to the mouth of the harbor, an accurate shot had slammed into the main deck near the stern, sending smoke billowing into the early morning air. It was then that Kim finally caught sight of Luke, making his way along the starboard railing and on his way to the bridge.

"There's Luke!" she said excitedly, feeling her heart pound in her chest at seeing him alive and well. He moved quickly along the railing and just reached the rear turret directly below the entrance to the bridge.

What happened next had her screaming in agony. Another shot from the hills raced down and put a direct hit on the deck not far from where Luke was walking. The explosion was enough to throw his body several yards from where he stood, her pained eyes watching the entire event unfold as her lover took the full blast of the shot.

"Luke!" she screamed as she watched his body hit the same railing he had just been walking along, immediately crumpling against it and turning lifeless.

Kim nearly collapsed at the sight, all confidence now shattered at watching the event with her own eyes. Beside her, Cory grabbed the command radio from her hand and dialed it into Jack's frequency as the ship snapped the enemy chain along the mouth of the harbor.

"Jack, come in. Jack, this is Cory Renner on the Valiant. We're under attack by Daimanos!"