Outcast Chronicles - Sanctuary Part 52

*Spears would be more use than knives,' her devotee muttered. *With spears we won't need to get too close.'

Sarodyti nodded. *Go fetch some staves from the Malaunje supplies, Parnia. We'll tie the knives to the end.'

She slipped away.

When she had gone, Sarodyti turned back to them. *Check the shutters.'

They'd already been checked more than once, but Ronnyn was happy to have something to do.

As they made sure the last shutter was secure, Vittor said, *I should be outside, with the other empowered lads.'

*At least they didn't try to make you drink a hot milk posset,' Sardeon said.

He snorted.

Ronnyn grinned.

Sarodyti's devotee returned with half a dozen stout wooden staves. She and Sarodyti began strapping knife hilts to the ends, their gnarled old hands flying. It seemed wrong for these two elderly women to be frantically preparing weapons, but the sea-vermin wouldn't spare them.

Ronnyn swallowed. He glanced to Sardeon. *Come on. We should help.'

They joined in, and the task was completed all too soon.

*I hate waiting,' Vittor said. *How long before they attack, gift-tutor?'

*We'll hear them attempting to board the brotherhood ships first,' she said. *The all-fathers have formed a circle around the three sisterhood ships.'

*There's only four of them,' Sardeon said. *It can't be much of a circle.'

The gift-tutor conceded this with a nod. *The smaller brotherhood ships will be in the most danger.'

At that moment they heard an eerie, echoing horn. To Ronnyn it sounded like the mating challenge of a sea-boar. Dimly, through the ship's wood, they heard shouting, and the clatter of metal on metal.

*It's begun,' Parnia whispered.

Ronnyn glanced to Sardeon. His new choice-brother trembled ever so slightly. Ronnyn hoped, for Sardeon's sake, that he wouldn't faint and disgrace himself.

If Ronnyn was honest, he hoped he wouldn't disgrace himself either.

Chapter Thirty-Eight.

TOBAZIM SHRUGGED HIS shoulders, feeling the brotherhood's all-father armour lift and settle. The helmet restricted his vision and dulled his hearing, but the sight of him and his two seconds in their traditional armour would inspire his warriors.

He gripped the rail as he watched the sea-vermin approach the fleet. There were so many vessels of all shapes and sizes that they had no trouble surrounding the fleet. A wall of sound grew as the sea-raiders' vessels manoeuvred into position, every deck crowded with chanting, screaming Mieren. Some of the vessels were so small Tobazim wondered how they dared sail out of sight of land.

*Pond sc.u.m...'a Malaunje sailor muttered.

*Don't underestimate the pond sc.u.m. They're brilliant sailors and they're desperate,' Ardonyx said. He caught Tobazim's eye and gave the slightest of nods, the agreed-upon signal.

Ardonyx might be commander of the fleet, but Tobazim was all-father of the brotherhood. The order to attack should come from him. Tobazim appreciated the courtesy.

*Norsasno!' Tobazim yelled down to the mid-deck. *Fire at will.'

The hand-of-force strode across the deck,yelling to the archers in the rigging. *You heard him. Make every arrow count.'

Hueryx's hand-of-force echoed his command.

A rain of arrows flew towards the crowded decks of the sea-vermin's vessels.

The enemy shouted abuse and waved their weapons, their faces painted to resemble vicious animals. It didn't seem to matter how many were struck down with arrows; others filled their places, screaming defiance. The sea-vermin seemed hardly human.

Fear crawled around Tobazim's belly like a hungry worm. Sweat broke out on his skin.

They'd prepared the ship as much as possible. Ceyne was below deck in one of the Malaunje cabins with the injured. Valendia had rallied and was at his side. Athlyn had volunteered to support the Malaunje on the lower deck.

Ardonyx nudged Tobazim and pointed. On the decks of the nearest enemy vessels, sea-vermin swung grappling hooks in preparation for boarding and archers let loose a rain of arrows. These rose, hissing through the air. Some hit the rigging, some overshot and a few landed on the deck.

Norsasno strode towards Tobazim and Ardonyx, the many panels of his armour glinting like fish scales. An arrow skidded across his shoulder.

*Why don't they let the grappling hooks fly?' Tobazim asked Ardonyx.

*I think they're waiting for...'

A horn sounded. It echoed across the sea as it was repeated from boat to boat.

Impossible as it seemed, the volume of sea-vermin's howls and screams increased. Grappling hooks soared, whistling through the air.

Thunk... thunk.

The hooks. .h.i.t the rails, bit into the wood and caught, weighted down immediately by eager raiders trying to scale the higher ship.

Axe in one hand, long-knife in the other, Tobazim severed the nearest rope, sending Mieren toppling into the sea between their vessels. But almost immediately, another three hooks bit into the rail within arm's length of where he stood and more agile raiders clambered up.

It was always the same with the Mieren. No regard for life, not even their own.

How would he hold the Victorious?

Paragian's ship had taken position on the far side of the causare's. The two smaller brotherhood ships had manoeuvred to the prow and stern of her ship. The two small sisterhood ships nestled in close to the causare's, but there was still enough s.p.a.ce for the sea-vermin vessels to worm their way between the T'Enatuath ships.

There were so many raiders, all willing to die. How would they save their people?

As he thought this, Tobazim realised he'd begun to think like Ardonyx. He fought not just for his brotherhood, but for the T'Enatuath.

ARAVELLE SAT WITH her back to a bale. Through the ship's st.u.r.dy oak planks, she could hear the roar of the sea-vermin's attack. Although muted, it was terrifying; like a great storm, battering the vessel.

Her two-year-old sisterlay stretched out beside her as she drifted off to sleep. Singing softly under her breath, Aravelle trailed her fingers over Itania's back. This was how her mother used to sing the little ones to sleep. But the gentleness of Aravelle's touch and the sweet melody were a lie. She seethed with anger.

They'd lost their home and their parents. They should have been safe once they joined the T'Enatuath. Instead, they had known only danger. Would the Mieren never leave them alone?

She'd tucked the knife into her waistband. Its pressure was a constant reminder of her promise. All-father Hueryx expected her to kill the children to save them from the raiders. It was no consolation that if the worst came to pa.s.s, he would also be dead.

A shout and running feet on the deck directly overhead made her look up. Redravia met her eyes then glanced to Hariorta, who looked grim but determined. Aravelle wondered if her face was just as grim.

Hariorta beckoned them both.

Aravelle checked that Itania was fast asleep. She tucked the blanket around her little sister, wondering if the next time she touched Itania, it would be to kill her.

Could she do it?

She'd been shocked when her father killed that unconscious fisherman who'd washed up on their beach. Da had wrestled with himself, but in the end, he'd done it. Now she understood why he'd had to. Hard times called for hard decisions, and this made Aravelle wonder if her parents had had a contingency plan in case they were attacked by their people's ancestral enemy.

Would her parents have smothered their children, rather than let them be taken by the Mieren? In the end, they'd been taken from their beds, their father murdered and their home burned.

Despite everything she had undergone since that night, Aravelle wanted to live.

More running boots on the deck above. Something had stirred up the young Malaunje defenders.

*Turn down the lamp, Vella,' Hariorta whispered.

Aravelle did so. They were plunged into a dim twilight.

She glanced to the sleeping children. Some were stirring. What if they woke, despite the drugged drink? She had a vision of chasing screaming children around the cramped storage hold as she tried to kill them before the Mieren could get in, and the horror of it made her nauseous.

*TOBAZIM?'

He waved to Ardonyx and plunged down the steps to the mid-deck. Meanwhile, his shield-brother forged through the fighting to join him. Tobazim hacked through another grappling hook rope, sending more sea-vermin back to the deck of their own vessel. One fell in the sea and the waves heaved the attackers' ship against the Victorious, crushing him.

As Tobazim grabbed the grappling hook, a painted, screaming creature appeared over the ship's side and launched itself at him. He buried one of the hook's p.r.o.ngs in the warrior's eye. With a cry, his attacker toppled backwards, taking the hook with him.

Something moved in the corner of Tobazim's vision and he turned in time to see his shield-brother deflect a blow that would have slid in under his arm and through his ribs. The armour had its weak spots and these sea-vermin were quick to spot them.

*How're the two smaller brotherhood ships holding out?' Tobazim asked *Sea-vermin are swarming over them like maggots on a carca.s.s.'

*We could a"'

*We can't. We're only just holding our own. We don't a"'

Shouts and screams carried on the wind.

Tobazim spun around. *The sisterhood ships.'

Ardonyx turned.

At the same moment, a wave of raiders came over the sisterhood side of his ship. With their strange, painted faces it was hard to tell male from female, or old from young. For each one Tobazim struck down, another two appeared in their place. They drove him apart from his shield-brother.

He fought through to rejoin Ardonyx. Together, they struck and backed up, and struck again. And still the raiders came.

Screaming Mieren forced Tobazim towards the wall of the rear-deck cabins. Only isolated pockets of Malaunje and T'En still battled on the mid-deck.

*To me! Norsasno, to me!' Tobazim roared, and the remaining mid-deck defenders surged towards him.

His hand-of-force made a desperate bid to join them, dragging several injured young initiates with him.

*Hold here,' Tobazim told him. *I'm going to check the rear-deck.'

Tobazim caught Ardonyx's eye and they fought their way to the steps, then up to the lower rear-deck. Here Tobazim found Ionnyn and Haromyr, among others, backed up against the door to the cabins. Raiders, four deep, surrounded them.

With a roar that went unheard in the din, Tobazim charged. He ploughed through the attackers' undefended backs, scattering them left and right.

The sea-vermin parted long enough for him to reach the defenders. Haromyr dragged Eryx to his feet. Haromyr was b.l.o.o.d.y, yet appeared unhampered by his injuries. Plucking a wicked curved blade from a dead attacker, he shoved the hilt into Eryx's hand. Eryx blinked blood from his eyes as he swayed, but he stayed on his feet.

Tobazim almost tripped over bodies piled two deep. Ardonyx steadied him. They'd reached the others just in time as a fresh wave of sea-vermin came up the steps, armed with weapons scavenged from every kingdom.

Soon they were pressed so tightly there wasn't room for skill, only furious blows. When Eryx fell again, Tobazim shoved the injured brother behind him and their circle contracted.

Something collided with the door at their backs. Tobazim thrust the door open. One of the attackers lay dead in the pa.s.sage, and Iraayel was running back to the captain's cabin. Beyond his head and shoulders, Tobazim saw leaping flames and Deimosh's thin body as he struggled with two attackers.

Ardonyx shoved him. *Go, take Eryx.'

With a curse, Tobazim grabbed the injured adept's arm and headed down the pa.s.sage to the cabin. Shattered shutters let in more raiders. Flames ran across the planks, licking at the oil spilled from an overturned lamp.

Iraayel struggled with several attackers and there was no sign of Deimosh.

Tobazim charged the nearest raider, driving his blade through the man's chest from behind. As the man fell, Tobazim kicked the long-knife free, then ducked a blow from a second attacker. Iraayel brained his a.s.sailant. Another sea-vermin leapt for Tobazim.

Eryx cut the man down and sank to his knees.

For the moment, there were no more attackers.

Without a word, Iraayel leapt into the flames and emerged, carrying Deimosh across his shoulders. He laid the gift-tutor down next to Eryx. Tobazim s.n.a.t.c.hed a blanket and, between them, they smothered the fire.

In the dimness, he could just make out what Iraayel was doing as he wrapped a cloth around Deimosh's head.

*They're coming again,' Eryx yelled.

Two more painted raiders appeared at the broken windows, even as a third smashed another window.

As Iraayel surged to his feet and stood guard over Deimosh and Eryx, Tobazim thought surely, after this, the brotherhood would accept the causare's choice-son.

Then there was no time to think, only react.

IMOSHEN STOOD ON the rear-deck, searching the Victorious for Ardonyx and her choice-son. Attackers swarmed over the brotherhood flagship. She'd spotted warriors in full armour, who had to be the two all-fathers and their seconds, but from this distance she couldn't tell who was who. At her side, Egrayne said nothing, but she felt the voice-of-reason's gift trying to break free. Unfortunately, the instinct to grab an attacker and drag him to the higher plane was useless in this situation. There were too many attackers, and their physical bodies would be vulnerable while they were on the empyrean plane.