The sloop’s deck glistened wetly as raindrops pelted her from stem to stern. The droplets felt tepid against the skin, as it was a tropical shower conjured by nature from the warm sea. But the situation was made miserably chill by the constantly shifting breezes.

Ahead, a vessel that could have been a twin to Caleb’s also fought through the rough seas. She had a single mast, but six cannon to the Spitfire’s four. For now, both flew the scarlet Myrkur banner emblazoned with a black skull.

Caleb remained on the quarterdeck next to Donal. His clothes were soaked as badly as the handful of crew remaining on deck. Tavia remained below with a hand-picked group of their best remaining hand-to-hand fighters, ready for the order to board the enemy ship.

Sienna crouched low on the afterdeck with Ferris Pender and the Murray triplets. Each of them had a pair of fully loaded rifles kept close to hand and under a scrap of leftover sailcloth to keep the firearms dry. Forward on the main deck, the single gun crew led by Lucas Whelan tried to keep their powder dry in the same manner.

Caleb’s let out a breath and tried to quiet his mind. It wasn’t the tension of the approaching action that bothered him. Earlier, he’d called up a bevy of spells, activating each in turn.

Weathermancy Spells:

Call Up Mist Move Fog Thicken Clouds Wind Cast, Minor Wind Shift, Minor

By themselves, none of the enchantments were difficult to cast. Yet invoking all five and keeping them running had produced an unexpected effect. A thrum that ran from his head down along his spine and out through his fingers.

But each spell played its part in approaching their target ahead. What’s more, it allowed him to try out a new strategy for taking a ship. So even with the additional mental strain, he expended the energy needed to keep all five up and running.

The Spitfire had run into a series of rain showers as she headed northeast to intercept their quarry. Caleb had decided to use the weather to draw as close as possible to the Myrkur sloop before being seen. He’d employed Wind Cast, Minor and Wind Shift, Minor to stay in the lee of the showers and keep his ship from view as long as possible.

He’d then added Thicken Clouds, Call Up Mist and Move Fog, and as they drew nearer. The first spell helped extend the rainclouds. The other two drew a rainy gray cloak between his ship and the enemy.

There had even been a small, unexpected bonus out of his action. Shortly after performing his invocations, a new screen had popped up in his Quest Window.

New Bonus Level Mini-Quest: Cast five or more spells at the same time to further a goal or enhance the performance of at least one spell. Your successful completion of this complex magical task has increased the XP Value of the next quest completed by 15%.

Only now, when they were practically within hailing distance, could he make out the name Disgraced Damsel painted in faded letters across the stern. Once again, a new screen appeared in his Quest Window.

Adventurer’s-Level Quest: Attack and take the Myrkur sloop. The difficulty level of this quest may be altered depending on its crew and equipment. STATUS: IN PROGRESS.

“Looks like it’s game time,” he muttered.

“What’s that?” Donal asked, from his post at the helm.

“Just something we say from time to time in my world,” Caleb replied. “When we’re about to go into action. What do you think? Continue our approach from the southwest, or swing to larboard?”

“If you can keep the wind from shiftin’ too much, I’d say steady on, Captain. Give it another ten minutes and we’ll draw close on the enemy vessel’s aft steerboard side. From there, we put your plan into action.”

Caleb nodded. “When I give the word, hard to larboard. We’ll cut across her stern and blow away her rudder. From there, she’ll be helpless.”

With that, he stepped forward and signaled to the gun crew below. Lucas Callum nodded. He sent a crewman forward to alert the boarding party below. Then he got his gun crew clustered around the forward steerboard cannon.

Next, Caleb called up to Sienna and her rifle squad.

“Prepare firing positions to steerboard!”

He heard a muffled Yezzir in reply. The sounds of rifles and men being shifted around came from above. Donal pursed his lips.

“As Lir’s my witness, I hope they’re not needed. Or the boarding party. Or even our favorite battle-ready drake, truth be told.”

“They’re all part of Plan B. As Lir is my witness, I’m hoping for the same thing you are.”

Suddenly, one of the boys who normally manned the lookouts emerged from the aft passageway. Ignoring the spitting rain, he ran up to the quarterdeck, a package held tightly under one arm. By now, Caleb was able to recognize the youngster by the shade of his blonde hair.

“Ethan, have you lost your senses?” Caleb demanded. “We’ll be going into battle in a few minutes! Get below!”

“Yezzir, Captain,” Ethan gasped, as he handed a bundle of cloth over. “But you’d given out orders earlier that needed to be followed. And I had to bring this up to you, before anyone started a fight over it.”

Caleb quickly unwrapped the bundle. Another lump of gold lay gleaming in the fold of cloth. The lump was smooth and tapered on both ends as before. Though this time it was covered with multiple semicircles of dull, flat marks.

“I found it in the space behind the bunk I share with Aiden,” the youngster explained. “So I’d like to share half the finder’s fee with him. If that’s all right with you, Captain.”

“What’s with all the marks on this?” Caleb asked.

“Oh, we wanted to see if it really was pure gold before I brought it to you, Captain. So we passed it around the entire compartment and let everyone bite it to make sure.”

Caleb fought to keep a straight face. Yeah, it’s going to be interesting if I ever reveal where this gold really comes from.

“You did right to bring this to me without delay. I’ll see that you and Aiden both get a hundred silver for this,” Caleb pointed back towards the aft passage. “Now, get below!”

The boy made an Avalonian salute and dashed off, clothes dripping.

“Good lad,” Donal observed, before looking back at the golden fewmet. “What do you plan to do with that?”

“Best to use it right away,” Caleb replied, as he hefted Daffodil’s dropping in his hand. It felt a good deal lighter than the first, perhaps half the weight.

He brought up the remaining spells he had left to activate under Weathermancy.

Weathermancy Spells available for individuals ranked up through Level Fourteen:

Wind Cast (45) Wind Shift (45) Call Up Storm, Minor (50)

Caleb grimaced. As useful as they were, the enchantments under that sub-specialty were simply too expensive for now. He brought up the remaining spells under Craft with Iron next.

Craft with Iron Spells available for individuals ranked up through Level Fourteen:

Extend Forge Crack (25) Assess Metallic Object’s Value (26)

Of the two, he had a hunch that Assess Metallic Object’s Value might be more useful in general, so he touched the fewmet to the (26).

Nothing happened.

Seriously? Come on, I don’t have time to figure this out right now!

Caleb considered and mentally weighed the lump of gold in his hand once more. If it was a tad under half the weight of the first fewmet brought to him, maybe it was worth slightly less too.

He moved the dragon’s leaving to the (25) next to Extend Forge Crack.

The fewmet vanished in a white flash, leaving nothing behind. Donal’s eyebrows went up, but he made no further comment. A new screen popped up in Caleb’s vision.

Extend Forge Crack: This spell is a significant upgrade to your base-level version, Extend Forge Crack, Minor. You can widen smooth or irregular cracks in metal of up to three feet in length, or cause significant spalling, chipping, or pitting in metal surfaces up to six feet in area. This spell can act over short distances but is most effective within the range of touch.

“Captain,” Donal said, “we’re drawing nigh to the enemy sloop.”

Caleb frowned. “Already? That means they’ve reefed their sails. They’ve finally spotted us.”

“At least they’re not running out their cannon or turning to broadside us.”

“Good. They’ve likely seen our colors, they think we’re part of the Myrkur fleet. They’ll want to find out our intentions first. Look there!”

Caleb pointed across the gap of gray water that separated the two ships. The crew aboard the Damsel ran a trio of colored flags up one of their mainmast’s lines. A sudden gust of wind howled between the two vessels. It made the banners flap wildly and the distance between the ships to shrink even more rapidly.

“Anything we can use to reply to their message?” Donal said jokingly. “I’d have a few choice curses for the friends of Myr!”

“Nothing that beats a cannon shot,” Caleb replied with a laugh. “All right…hard to larboard, now!”

Donal spun the wheel. The Spitfire lurched as Caleb shut down all of his spells. The wind spilled from the mainsail and the ship came about, their steerboard side facing broadside to the Damsel’s stern. The enemy vessel’s long vertical rudder sat in plain sight.

Caleb drew his cutlass and leaned up against the quarterdeck rail.

“Fire the cannon!” he bellowed, as he held up his sword and shook it at the enemy ship. “Send all the Myrkur aboard down to Lir’s Blue Cellar!”

All right, this is a little over the top, his mind chided him. But hey, if it’s more in keeping with a Corsair captain, and it gives us our powers back, it’s a small price to pay.

The gun crew let out a raucous cheer. They pulled back the canvas covering the piece and completed the firing procedure in seconds. A boom! rocked the ship as the cannon shifted backwards in its carriage with the recoil.

A split second later, a three-foot chunk of wood flew off the Damsel’s rudder with a sharp crack! Caleb pounded the rail with excitement.

That’s damaged it! But they can still steer with what’s left…

“One more shot!” he cried. “One more, shatter that rudder and the prize is ours!”

Whelan's gun crew hustled to the aft steerboard cannon. They pulled back the canvas, completed the prep, and yanked the firing cord–

–and the cannon made a weak paff!

The eight-pound ball shot limply out of the muzzle and fell into the sea halfway between the two ships. The Damsel came about sharply, helped by turning with the wind, ready to bring her guns to bear.

“Come about!” Caleb shouted. “Whelan, send a runner down to the boarding party, we’re going to need them in action before the enemy can hit us with her cannon!”

“Sounds like we’re heading to Plan B,” Donal said, as he spun the wheel once more. “Prayer’s up, I hope your little lutin of a dragon’s right about this ship’s crew.”

“She sounded like she knew what she was talking about,” Caleb said, as he checked the pistols at his belt. “And the clues fit. The only reason sharks will follow a ship is because they’re regularly finding flesh to eat. Knowing the Myrkur, that flesh is bound to be human bodies. A lot of them. And that means…”

Donal spat his next words. “It’s a slave ship.”

“Exactly. And when you need to transport large numbers of captives, you’ll be able to carry fewer crewmen. So I’m betting that we’ll be facing even odds once we board.”

I’d better be right about that, Caleb thought grimly, as the two ships swung about onto a collision course. Otherwise, this is going to be an extremely short battle.