Water exploded in a geyser of steam and mist. The boat rocked and the Mystic Ballistae sang as they unleashed a stream of elemental energy in return. Several such exchanges had occurred over the last few finger spans. Arlie couldn’t tell who had an advantage but it seemed the two ships were evenly matched.
Two of their four beams slammed into the Black Princess, her wards flaring with mystic energy. The other pair struck low and the sea detonated in a spray of mist and steam. Her vision was obscured for a moment but when the fog cleared she found the Black Princess undamaged, her shields holding. She had no doubt the wards had been drained at least a little by the blow but they had no way to tell how much. The same wasn’t true of their own wards.
A crewmen had been kind enough to educate her on the shields. The ship shields were divided into several smaller quadrants. Bow, Stern, Port Bow, Starboard Bow, Starboard Stern, Port Stern, Ventral and Dorsal. Although one could ignore the dorsal and ventral shields, they didn’t matter as much in a naval battle. Each shield section had its wards powered by a dedicated mana reserve crystal. Beyond that, it was much like the wards of fortifications. When a weapon strikes the barrier, the barrier tries to absorb the hit, drawing energy from the reserve crystal. A weak hit will be absorbed completely, while a stronger hit might ‘bleed’ through the shield to strike what was underneath. Between hits, the crystal draws energy from the generator array to recover spent mana. If enough hits of sufficient strength strike the ward in a short enough time they’d deplete the reserve crystal and the wards would fail. Leaving the hull vulnerable to a hit, but only in that section, the other sections would remain shielded.
What defined a hit as ‘strong’ or ‘weak’ was pretty simple to understand. In simple terms a ward had a strength value that determined how much energy it could easily disperse. Anything below that strength was easy to block, but anything above would pierce the ward to strike what it protected. Albeit at a greatly reduced strength since the ward would have absorbed most of the energy behind the strike. Well it would, unless you were dealing with something an order or two beyond what the ward could handle.
The ship rocked between her feet, another hit glancing off their wards. A crewman shouted, “Black Princess now entering Enchanted Ballistae range.”
“Adjust heading 4 degrees port, stand by portside ballistae batteries.”
The Black Princess responded, adjusting along the same angles. Between the two ships was roughly three hundred meters of ocean. Close enough that they could shout to each other. No need to signal with flags. Neither side bothered with doing that, too busy shooting each other with magic. Arlie could probably throw some spells at this point, but her magic might be better spent helping charge the wards or something. Not that she’d been tasked with either.
Fae stepped forward, and shouted, “Fire!”
Wind runes relayed her orders to the batteries of enchanted ballistae below decks. The crew responded quickly, making final adjustments before firing. In the same moment, the Black Princess opened up with her single deck of Enchanted Ballistae.
A hail of large heavy bolts shot across the space between them. Arcing only slightly, the bolts aglow with mystical energies before slamming into the wards. The ship rocked as the bolts detonated, unleashing a potent burst of fire and lightning. The port bow and stern wards flared brightly but held. “Reload batteries! Helm turn us to port 90 degrees!”
“Aye ma’am! Closing head on!”
“Mystic Ballistae ready!” came a report moments after they were closing head on. The Black Princess changed course slightly but seemed intent on keeping her broadside facing the Iron Maid.
“Fire!” she said, giving no order to adjust their heading. The three forward pairs of Mystic Ballistae discharged a stream of deadly elemental magic. All three scored a hit on the Black Princess, her wards flaring as they absorbed the strike.
The distance closed.
“All gunners report reload complete!”
“Noted.”
The Black Princess opened fire again, enchanted bolts and mystic fire raking the hull. Some of them splashed into the water, sending great bursts of water and steam into the air.
Fae turned to her helm, “Hard Starboard! Show ‘em our broadside!”
Now much closer to the Black Princess they turned, the broadside coming into alignment. Fae waited only a moment after they were in position to give the order to fire.
In a flash of magical light dozens of large caliber bolts flew from the armored ports. Many of them striking the Black Princess with solid accuracy. Explosions of fire and lightning raked her hull, the wards held strong, while the crew rushed to reload.
Arlie shifted in her seat. She couldn’t help wondering if they were winning or losing the battle. Something that would likely become clear soon enough. From her position she watched another exchange. The ship rocked as bolts from the Black Princess exploded against the shields.
A moment after another volley from the Iron Maid raked the side of the Black Princess. Her shields flared, flickering under the barrage. An instant after, four beams tore into her Starboard bow quarter, punching through the shields the mystical combination of fire and lightning tore into the hull. Plating ruptured, wood splintered, fires erupted on the deck. Sailors responded instantly dousing the hull to put out the fires.
Others rushed to reload the Ballistae and as soon as they were loaded they fired another volley. Arlie felt the ship rock under the barrage.
“Port Stern shield failing!”
“Mages to port stern! Where’s my reload?”
“Ballistae ready!”
“Focus aim on their Starboard bow and fire!”
More bolts slammed into the Black Princess. This time aimed more towards the fore but plenty still struck amidships and towards the stern. Each one exploding in a fiery burst of fire and lightning. Shields flickered again, the hull peppered with bolts that punched through plating before exploding. Wood splintered and caught fire but was once again quickly put out. Ships were not easily sunk. Battles between warships could last handspans.
Fae suddenly turned to her, “Keep that sword of yours ready.”
“Huh?”
“Oceri can read this battle as well as I can. She’s losing but her ship is faster. If she doesn’t run after the next salvo, she’ll close for boarding.”
Arlie gripped her blade. For once she was happy to have it, at sea there was no earth which removed one branch of spells from her arsenal, her weakest branch but it was still gone. Meanwhile ships were made of wood, which meant fire was out of the question and furthermore required her to be careful with lightning spells. Both of them could ignite fires, and burn the hull. While she had some knowledge of water, she had no affinity for it, which left her with only Shadow magic and her sword skills. That would be fine if she’d studied any shadow aligned combat spells, but she used that mainly in alchemy not combat. So really all she could use was her sword skills. Using her breath would obviously be a bad idea. A shudder went down her spine at the thought. Curse her luck for a battle at sea, this was just terrible for her. Arlie made a mental note to study a few combat spells that she’d be comfortable using on a ship.
The ship rocked as one last exchange occured. “Port Stern shield breached! Minor damage to the hull, fires contained.” came a report as the ship fired one final volley at the Black Princess. Her shields buckled, the hull ruptured in places, sending splinters of burning wood into the sea, but otherwise the damage was rather contained.
Mere fraction of a fingerspin later, she began to turn. Shifting not away but towards the Iron Maid, her mana engines pulsing at full strength. “Black Princess closing!”
“Brace for close combat! All marines stand ready to repel boarders!”
Arlie noticed a swarm of activity on the deck. Horon and Thron both joined the marines on deck now sporting full combat gear. The twins Lily and Rose, also in full gear joined them briefly before taking the ladders up to the top of the rear castle, where she could no longer see them from the bridge. Arlie felt that location made sense for them, they were archers, so the rear castle was likely the best place for them to make use of their bows.
The Mystic Ballistae fired one last time, striking the bow shields of the Black Princess. They flared brightly but held. Not long after, she swerved hard and the ships crashed together. Bolt throwers with ropes fired, lashing the ships together, while in the same moment the small bolt throwers on the Iron Maid were used to sweep the deck of the Black Princess. Several pirates took hits, blood sprayed and flesh charred. Several others were hit by the secondary lightning discharges from the enchanted bolts.
That was all that happened before pirates were swinging over to the Iron maid. Where they were soon peppered with repeater bolts, or struck with arrows. Yet more than a few made it over to clash blades with the defenders on the Iron Maid. The large ballistae on both ships, Mystic and Enchanted alike, remained silent for the first time since the battle began. Only the clash of swords filled the air. Unlike land battles, spears were largely absent, they weren’t well suited to battle on ships. Especially below decks where there was no space to properly maneuver a long weapon. Swords, hand axes, and other shorter weapons were favored.
On the deck, Thron parried the blade of a pirate, and Horon took full advantage of the opening. His axe connected with the pirate’s chest, armor split and as the axe drew back blood sprayed out onto the deck. A second pirate filled the gap, a vicious grin on his face, rage in his eyes, a battle cry on his lips as he swung his blade. Thron met the strike with equal measure, sparks flew as their blades slid against each other. Horon supported with a swing of his axe, but his weapon met only air, the pirate stepping out of the path with a smooth motion, then blocking an arrow with his shield.
Behind him several more pirates landed on the deck to clash with the marines defending the Iron Maid. From the Rear Castle, freshly reloaded bolt throwers fired, catching a couple in mid air.
Arlie couldn’t help noting the ferocity of the battle. “Are fights between pirates like this normal?”
Fae sword in hand, growled, “Hell no. These aren’t pirates, they are soldiers pretending to be pirates.”
Arlie gulped, a knot sat in her belly. She had to admit something was off about this, alright. Fae’s statement only reinforced that growing feeling. Her eyes landed on the deck again, a new figure crossed a boarding ramp freshly secured from the Black Princess. The figure was female, regal and powerful. Flowing black hair sat beneath a prominent, wide-brimmed hat, fierce amber eyes regarded the battle, while a silver-teal cuirass protected her torso, concealing her breasts. Twin blades sat sheathed on her waist. In addition to the cuirass, she wore a pair of black gauntlets that transitioned flawlessly into a pair of matching leather gloves with large emeralds flush against the back of her hand. She wore a black leather skirt, silver-teal knee guards and a sturdy pair of boots, which she paired with knee-length socks.
The woman strode onto the deck with confidence. Two arrows slammed into a shimmering barrier of light and bounced off. A pair of bolts followed, exploding against the ward. Arlie knew what that meant, the woman was a mage. Several marines rushed her, swords flashing. She weaved and danced around their blows, then countered with magic. Blades of wind shot from her palms, slicing through armor and flesh alike, leaving deep bleeding wounds. Several pirates rushed from behind her, attacking the wounded marines. Arlie watched her bark orders, two men joined her side and rushed for the door to the rear castle. Fae spoke, “Sealord Ocari. Draw your sword, we are about to face her in battle.”
Realizing she’d been spoken to, Arlie drew her blade. Skylord’s Wrath felt at home in her hand, but she could not help feeling nervous. This would be the first time she fought anyone with the family blade and she was about to face a seasoned battlemage. Worse, it was a battlemage at home with the field of battle, where Arlie felt like a fish out of water.