Advent of Eternity - Chapter 143 (Patreon)

The sea lapped at the sides of the Withered Rose. Knell leaned against the railing near the helm, watching the land pass by them on the side. It had been several days since they’d set out again. They’d yet to spot the bandits that were supposed to be chasing after them.

Knell had spent his time meditating and forming bullets from the magical crystals for his flintlock. There wasn’t all that much else to do, so he found himself occasionally caught up in a game of tug-of-war with Coal, with the rope being a piece of jerky that the bird would bring to him.

The rest of his crew were equally as bored. Cyll and Maya spent their time sparring on the deck, while Stix would sit in the crow’s nest and just watch the sea around them. Knell had seen little of Lillicent ever since she’d gotten the materials that the Veil had given him. She’d retreated to a corner of the ship and had been tinkering around with them ever since.

But, that morning, as Knell sat and leaned, something was off about the horizon. A spot of dark that hadn’t been there the previous night sat silhouetted against the rising sun. Even as Knell squinted at it, Stix called out.

“I think there’s a ship on our tail.”

Knell looked up to the crow’s nest. “Can you see any specifics? Or is it too far?”

“It’s pretty far, but yeah. My Artillerist path has slightly improved sight at long range. It’s not a ton, but enough to see that it’s a huge ship. Maybe two or three sailing right next to each other. There are a lot of sails.”

“Any markings on the sails?” Cyll asked, walking up from below deck and moving to peer over the railing.

“None that I can see from here,” Stix called down. “It’s got to be the bandits though, right?”

“Probably,” Knell said. He squinted at the black blob, but it was well and truly out of sight for him. “We should be prepared one way or another.”

“What’s there left to prepare?” Cyll asked through a yawn. “This is a blessing, Cap. I’ve been waiting to kill something for days. It was so boring.”

“Hey,” Maya complained, poking her head out from the hatch. “We’ve been sparring. It isn’t that boring.”

“It’s not the same when I can’t kill someone.”

“You’ve got your priorities wrong.”

“Bah. Killing is the best part of the fight,” Cyll said. He rested a hand on Lassie’s hilt and licked his lips. “I hope those are the bandits.”

“Should I move us away from the shore so we have more room to maneuver?” Maud asked. “If the ship is large, it’s unlikely to be as quick at changing directions as the Withered Rose is. We’d be better off in an open sea battle rather than one where we can only move in one direction.”

“Do it,” Knell said with a nod. He pushed back from the railing and Coal fluttered off his shoulder, flying up to join Stix at the crow’s nest. Perhaps, with him on it, it was a raven’s nest.

Knell suppressed a grin. Then he settled down to wait as Maud spun the wheel, turning the Withered Rose deeper toward the sea.

“So, what’s the plan?” Maya asked, squinting at the splotch on the horizon. “If they’re as big as Stix said, we’re going to be at a huge disadvantage. They’ll have a lot of firepower we don’t. Can you stop all of it?”

“Some of it,” Knell replied with a thoughtful frown. “It’s going to depend on if there are actually multiple ships, or if there’s just one large one. If there are multiple, our best bet will be to get Cyll on one of them and have him cause chaos. We keep that ship between us and the other one so they can’t both fire on us. Then we can force the battle to be on the decks rather than at sea, which will benefit us unless they’ve got multiple powerful Path users.”

“Won’t they probably have that?” Stix asked, slipping down from the crow’s nest – much to Coal’s displeasure, having just flown there.

“Most likely,” Knell said with a nod. “That’ll be Cyll’s job to locate once he’s on board. Stix, you’ll stay on the Withered Rose and provide support. If you can’t get a good angle, then try to either use the crow’s nest or get onto the second ship once Cyll has their attention. Maya and I will board at that time as well.”

“What if there’s just one ship?” Cyll asked. “That means they’ll all be in one spot. Not the best idea to storm it.”

“Two things. First, regardless of how many ships there are, we’ll be using the cannons early. I’ve made some from the crystal we liberated,” Knell said. “They should work exactly the same as the flintlock does, meaning we’ll have a long range and should do quite a bit of damage. The bandits will have them too, of course, but like Maud said – we’ve got more maneuverability. There’s a pretty good chance they won’t expect us to have figured out how they work yet, but even if they have, we’ll be able to start shooting when they do. Hopefully, Maud can keep us moving enough to avoid getting hit back.”

“And second?” Cyll asked.

“I use Anchor and we launch you out of the cannon at them.”

Cyll blinked. “Oh, shit. Now that sounds interesting. Maybe we can–”

“I was joking. We’re not doing that,” Knell said flatly. “Evidently, I’m not very good at it. If there’s just one ship, our goal will be to maneuver behind them and pepper them with shots while I protect us with Warp. If that doesn’t work, board them and kill their captains. We just need to make sure to find out if Milo is somewhere on their ship.”

They all nodded. Knell turned back to the spot on the horizon. It was gaining on them. That hardly surprised him. Considering the previous bandit ship had someone who could increase their speed in the water, it would have been strange if the main fleet didn’t.

Of course, there was still the possibility that the approaching speck wasn’t actually the bandits but someone else entirely, but Knell wasn’t a huge believer in coincidence.

Maud soon had the Withered Rose turned completely around and heading toward the other ship. With every hour that ticked by, it quickly grew larger in their vision. Stix confirmed it first, but everyone else was close enough that the others could see as well.

“Two ships,” Stix said. “Sailing pretty close to each other. No markings on any of them, but it the people walking around on the deck don’t look too savory. If they were pirates or adventurers, I’d expect a flag somewhere.”

“The bandits, then,” Cyll said. “Not really a surprise.”

“I don’t suppose you see anyone out of place on the deck?” Knell asked hopefully. “I doubt Eliza’s brother would just be strolling around without supervision, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“Nothing right now,” Stix said, shaking her head.

Knell squinted through the rising sun at the approaching ships. One of them was practically a barge. It was three times as wide as the Withered Rose and scaled equally in length. If it was any bigger, it would have been a floating fortress. The one beside it was considerably smaller, but it was still bigger than the Withered Rose.

“I presume we want to keep the small ship as the in-between?” Maud asked.

Knell nodded. “If we can. That’s… bigger than I was expecting. Cyll, how good are you at swimming?”

“Decent enough,” Cyll replied with a frown. “Why?”

“Because I’m having second thoughts about my strategy. That ship is bigger than I thought. There are easily four levels of cannons on it. Even with Warp, that’s not going to be easy to block if we get out of position. I want you to try to get onto the flagship and cause as much chaos as possible. Maya and I will handle the other ship.”

Cyll pursed his lips. “How am I supposed to get onto it?”

Knell grinned. “I’ve got a bit of an idea. I can’t say it’s my best, and there’s probably a pretty high chance you end up dumped in the water instead of on their ships, so you could have to swim onboard.”

Cyll thought for a moment, then shrugged. “If it gets me in the fight faster, I’ll do just about anything. What do I have to do?”

“That’s the best part. You won’t have to do much of anything,” Knell replied, squinting at the approaching ships. “Maud, turn the Withered Rose around. We want to be just ahead of them.”

Maud nodded, spinning the wheel. The Withered Rose slipped through the water, turning away from the nearing bandit ships. Almost immediately, both of them redirected to give chase. They tried to get the Withered Rose into their line of fire, but Maud kept them directly before the bandit ships’ bows.

“They’re gaining,” Stix warned. She drummed her fingers on her ballista impatiently. “We could probably try to start shooting at them soon.”

“Hold off for a little longer,” Knell said, chewing his lower lip as he gauged the distance between them and the approaching ships. “We don’t have any experience with the crystal cannonballs yet, and I’d like to make sure that you can land our first shots. Also, if this is going to work, Cyll will have to be a bit closer to them than I originally planned.”

“How close?” Cyll asked. “We’re not that far from normal cannonball range right now.”

“Hm. About a minute,” Knell replied with a wry smile. “Stix, get ready to fire. I’ll give you the signal when. And Cyll – well, be ready to swim. I’m going to cast Anchor on you very shortly.”

Stix nodded. She left her bow on the deck and jogged down to the cannons.

Cyll frowned for a moment, then let a grin replace his expression as he realized what Knell was planning. “Ah. I see. That’ll be interesting. What if I pop out inside one of their walls?”

“There’s a reason I chose you and not Maya,” Knell replied. “Put Lassie to good use, one way or another. We’ll be there to help you soon. Just make sure not to get caught too early, or this is all going to waste.”

Cyll gave Knell a sharp nod. “Oh, I won’t. There’s too much fun to be had to go down early.”

Knell glanced over at the bandit ships again. They were gaining quickly and, more importantly, were directly behind them. He’d been gauging how quickly they were growing on them, and if neither ship changed speed, Knell was pretty sure it was just about time. Luckily, he didn’t have to be too precise because of how large the large bandit ship was.

He laid a hand on Cyll’s shoulder and cast Anchor. A wave of green energy washed over Cyll’s body.

“Good luck,” Knell said.

“I don’t need luck,” Cyll replied, rolling his shoulders and sending a hungry look back at the approaching bandit ships. “I’ve got everything I need with me. Just don’t forget to pick me up. It’s a long swim to the shore.”

“I won’t,” Knell promised.

The seconds ticked on. They all watched the bandits tersely. Knell was pretty sure he’d guessed the timing right, but there would be no way to know for sure until –

Cyll vanished with a pop, pulled back to where he’d been standing a minute ago. They all squinted at the water.

“Does anyone see him?” Maya asked.

Knell shook his head. “Looks like it worked. Get the ship turned around, Maud. Stix, get those cannons ready. Let’s get this started.”