148. Seabreeze: Ruku.

I took a look around. We were well offshore now, and I could see two ships swarming with people. They will be after us soon. I kept looking around and saw two harbour patrol vessels on intercept. They are smaller, faster ships. They don’t have cannons, but they do have grapple harpoons and boarding parties.

“What is the best way to deal with the patrol boats,” I asked Anita.

“Cannons,” was the curt reply. “Hard port,” she said suddenly.

I spun the wheel, and the ship slowly turned. “Why are we turning?” I asked.

“Never sail in a straight line when the range of cannons, especially fix emplacements,” she said that like she was quoting a manual. She probably was.

I looked back to the fort, and there was a lot of activity on the walls. “What is the range of the fort’s cannons?” I ask.

“Anywhere in the harbour,” she replied.

I figured. There would be no point otherwise.

“There is a second fort across the harbour,” she pointed in the distance.

It made sense. If I were defending the place, I would have backups as well. That is basic military practice anywhere. Anita had me shout orders to the crew. Knut arrived loaded with armour and some weapons. I had him look for anything he could use, and he found a jerkin that would fit, but there was nothing there sized for dwarves. I had him take over the wheel and Anita’s mouthpiece and went to figure out what I could do about the patrol boats that were closing.

When you are in a tight situation, you need to play to your strengths. I stripped out of the Patrol Leaders' uniform. I was a Marine Commando specialising in Aquatic infiltration. I should be able to take out a couple of small boats, even without our normal set of equipment. Sione from MI outfitted us before we left, and I brought everything with me, so I do have some small explosives. The trouble is I only have four, and there are bigger boats out there that they would be useful for. I grab two anyway and some small jars of Gwaed’s Liquid Fire. We have to make it to the ocean first.

I suit up in the civilian divers gear and load some pouches with the jars. I grab my knives and a spear. There may be water bonds around. I go back on deck and lower myself into the water. The boats are coming from different directions, which is a blessing and a curse. They can’t assist each other, but it will take me time to get from one to the other. I head for the closest first.

When I say the patrol ships are small, they are smaller than the Schooner but large enough to comfortably carry two squads of soldiers plus crew. Twenty soldiers plus crew. I can’t let them aboard the Seabreeze, and preferably not within the bow or harpoon range. I swam toward the first boat entirely underwater, and I remembered to stop using my Inspiring Aura. I need all the energy I had left for this. My sonar was not picking up anything in the water that might be a bond. Yet.

As I neared the ship, it suddenly changed course, and I could see a lot of faces looking over the side. They do have an underwater detection ability on the boat, and I have been detected. They probably also have some underwater explosives to deal with threats like me. I sped up, using all my speed Skills while pulling out two items. I explode out of the water, leaping high into the air, much to their surprise. My practice with the dolphins on the way here is paying off. I throw one of the jars of Liquid Fire onto the deck and then follow with the explosive. I grab one of their sail lines on the way past, changing my trajectory, and even then, two arrows glance off my Whirlpool Shield. I crash back into the water feet first and immediately speed away. Even then, the explosive they throw after me shocks all the air out of my lungs but does no other damage. I switch from Tough Hide to Permeable Skin and start taking in oxygen again.

A smaller explosion happens on the ship, and flaming planks land on the ocean. The ship is still afloat. I didn’t think the explosive would penetrate through the decks to the hull, but hopefully, it would have damaged masts and sails and set the Liquid Fire burning. I see the reflection of the fire as I swim for the other Patrol boat. These explosives are supposed to be placed on the outside of the hull. When I think I am far enough away, I take a small low leap to see what is happening and to take a breath. The first patrol ship is dead in the water and well aflame. The first objective is complete.

I make my way to the second ship at a moderate speed. I have to conserve energy. I pass by the stern of the Seabreeze on my way. Those fan things just seem to be adding to the drag on the ship rather than helping. As the Patrol ship comes into view, I see I am too late. It already has a harpoon piercing the side of the Seabreeze. It goes through the hull but is above the water line. Half the soldiers are working a winch and dragging themselves closer, and the harpooner is loading a second harpoon. Their archers are keeping our crew out of the rigging, and as I move toward the ship, one of my slave bonds disappears. Young Tim has been killed.

This time I head the bow of their ship and cling to the hull, still underwater, with Suction Grip. I am hoping everyone is too busy to check their alarm system. I won’t be long. I clamp the explosive to the hull, and then I swim off as fast as possible. The explosive rips a hole in their hull, and they winch themselves full of water. I get back to the Seabreeze and launch myself out of the water, and land on the deck.

We need to get the harpoon out of our hull, or it will drag us to a halt, being tied to a sinking ship. I check on everybody, and Anita is no worse. Knut and Abigail are with her. Abigail has another shield, and there are two arrows stuck in it. Robert and Suzy had made it below deck, but Tim had been too high in the rigging. His body had fallen into the sea. He should have sheltered in the crow's nest as that was protected against arrows, but Anita had ordered everyone below deck, and he didn’t have the Mental Strenght or Agility to choose a better option. Useless Slave Class.

“Abigail, we need to get rid of this harpoon and at least do a temporary fix on the hull,” I yelled.

I saw her nod, “I’ll sort it,” and she disappeared below deck.

I was exhausted and rested for a few minutes. I disengaged all my Skills and reengaged Inspiring Aura. If I had been here with Inspiring Aura active, would Tim still be alive? We would be being boarded about now, so we would probably all be dead. I heard wood cracking, and then there was a splash. I guess we were free of the harpoon. I heard the sound of hammering as the ship picked up speed again.

I limp my way slowly back to Anita and Knut at the helm. Anita just ordered another course change to Starboard. Just as I reach the helm deck, the ship is washed with water as an explosion erupts off the port side. That is a bloody big cannon they have in the fort. It is just possible my Inspiring Aura just saved us. I wonder what their rate of fire is.

I figure the Forts held off firing while the Patrol boats were on approach, but one is now at the bottom of the ocean, and the other is a beacon of flame behind us. We are not far from the harbour entrance. I look back, and the first of the chase ships are leaving the dock.

Another explosion happens off the bow, close enough to damage the forward spar. There are two forts, and how many guns per fort? Abigail heads forward without orders She takes Knut to help as he has an Apprentice Carpenter class. Using her initiative. I am missing people who have initiative, and I have only had the slaves for a few hours. I take over Knut’s role as Anita’s spokesperson, but I sense the potion has done good work. How do I sense that? I look at my Status, and her Slave bond has levelled to two, and I am getting a sense of her health. So that’s how it works. The higher the slave bond grows, the more information I will get about her. I take the opportunity to use Interrogate Status on her; she is an open book to me. The Slave bond bypasses her defences. I see a Skill that might hide us once we get out of the harbour. In the meantime, she has all her necessary skills hard at work. I noticed her Spiritual Energy was dropping as she tried to boost the ship’s speed.

I glimpse a fireball bearing down on us from the other fort. They are using their catapults to send them. Cannons use expensive alchemy ingredients, so catapults are often cheaper and effective enough from land-based defences. They can also throw a wider variety of things. The fireball goes through the foresail and sets the rigging alight, damaging some of the crossbars. Fortunately, it missed the foremast and the ship itself. Our speed is slowed as we now only have the mainsail. Anita is fine enough now, and I move forward to put out the fire with my water. Anita changed course again. We were almost out of the harbour, and I wanted to put the land spit between us and the forts.

Both chase ships had now left port and had sprouted oars. They wouldn’t be far behind us. Another catapult load splashed next to us from one fort, and then suddenly, we were hit by a scattershot. Scattershot's throw a lot of small projectiles, usually rocks. They are good at clearing decks of people, and I suddenly have high-speed rocks slamming into me. My Whirlpool Shield softens them, and my Tough Hide reduces the effect further, but I still feel two ribs crack.

I turn to check on the crew. Abigail is fine with her wooden shield up in time, and she manages to shelter Knut. Suzy was lying on the deck, but she was still moving. Her leg was obviously broken. Robert was up the mast and was above the shot. Anita is down with her skull caved in. Her bond disappears from my status.

I head to Suzy and grab a piece of the spar that was lying on the deck to straighten and bind her leg. I then head to the now unmanned helm. We can’t sail this ship with three healthy people and two wounded. I will need to see if Thorsson has anyone with the Sailing Skill amongst the Enchanters.

We have rounded the bend now, so we are out of sight of the forts, but the chase ships are coming fast. They are bigger than the Patrol boats, and my remaining explosives might slow them. They may not even penetrate their hulls. I am running out of options. I could use the explosives to scuttle the ship and swim for sure. We would then be evading the land search parties. I could do it, but not with the slaves, even without the broken leg.

Then we pick up speed. What the… Do my wishes come true now? Thorsson burst out of the cabin, “We did it!” he exclaimed. “We started the engine.”

We were really starting to pick up speed now, faster than the Galleons chase boats. “That is fantastic news!” I responded in relief.

“It takes Spiritual energy,” he explained. “The enchanters will take turns feeding it with energy. They will last about a half hour each before they have to rest about four hours.”

Three enchanters mean we have the engine for an hour and a half every four hours. It might be enough.

“It was awesome,” Thorsson said, “We really felt inspired down there. I have never done such good work so fast before.”

Of course, I knew my Inspiring Aura reached below decks. How could I forget that?

Then Thorsson said something that changed everything. “The enchanting down there is set up to be powered by a Monster Core. If we had one with a water or air affinity, it would last 16 - 24 hours, depending on the size.”

I almost collapsed in relief. A flying fish Monster core has to be either Water or Air affinity. I fished it out of the waterproof bags and handed it to Thorsson. “Alternate this with the enchanters, and we will see how much distance we can put between Northport and us.” He looked at the Moster Core like it was the most precious thing on earth, and right now, it was.

We still had a long way to go and a navy to avoid, but our chances just massively increased.