The Gift of Battle (27 page)

Gwen could not
fathom what had possibly happened and she wondered if she were seeing
things—when suddenly she spotted a single ship, what appeared to be a
commandeered pirate ship, flying a banner she recognized, cutting through the
Empire ranks. Her heart raced to recognize the people on board—there, at the
bow, was Reece, joined by O’Connor, Elden, Indra, Matus, Stara and Angel. They
sailed solo, cutting through the ranks of Empire ships from behind, clearly
none of the massive fleet of the Empire expecting to be attacked from behind by
a sole ship.

Reece and the
others sailed headlong into danger, hurling spears left and right, taking out
dozens of Empire soldiers before they even realized what was happening. They
aimed for those manning cannons, sparing Gwendolyn, and they cut a path right
through, between ships, as they broke through the ranks and entered the bay.

They never
slowed, even as the Empire caught wind and fired arrows at them. They fired
back and continued sailing, their commandeered pirate ship sleeker and faster
than all the others, sailing all the way to Gwendolyn’s ship.

Gwendolyn
realized at once that this was the diversion that she and her men so
desperately needed; she could no longer afford to sit there, trading volleys
with the Empire, which was still closing in. Nor could they afford to race for
the shore—which they would never make in time—and which would leave Reece and
the others alone in the harbor, vulnerable to attack.

Instead, they
had to do what was counterintuitive, what the Empire would never possibly
expect: they had to attack.

“TURN ABOUT!”
Gwen yelled, “AND ATTACK!”

Her men glanced
back with stunned expressions—but none hesitated to execute her command. All of
her ships slowly turned around and sailed headlong, straight for the Empire
fleet.

The Empire
commanders of the dozen or so ships before her stared back, baffled, clearly
not expecting this; they immediately scrambled to man their cannons.

And that was
exactly what Gwen wanted them to do. She knew that if she came close enough, it
would render their cannons useless, the angle too steep to maneuver for firing.
It would give Gwen and her people the advantage, forcing their ships to battle
each other one on one, cause a backlog, and allow her men to fight
hand-to-hand. They could board the Empire ships and kill them in close
range—and once they boarded Empire ships, the greater fleet would be stymied,
as Empire could not fire upon Empire.

Gwen saw the
looks of wonder and consternation on the Empire faces as her fleet approached
theirs. They turned their cannons frantically, and she could see their look of
dismay as they realized the angle was too tight.

“FIRE!” she
yelled.

Her rows of
archers fired volley after volley, killing the stunned Empire at close range,
while Kendrick and the others hurled spear after spear.

Moments later
her ships reached theirs, bumping into them roughly with a jolt—and the second
they did, dozens of her men threw their ropes and hooks and tied the ships
together, while dozens more, swords drawn, let out a great battle cry and
followed Kendrick, Koldo, Ludvig, Kaden, Ruth, Darius—and even, Gwen was
surprised to see, Godfrey—as they all threw caution to the wind and leapt
overboard onto the Empire ships, Dray following Darius.

At the same
time, Reece’s ship reached theirs, and Reece and the Legion joined in, leaping
onto Empire ships from the side.

The stunned
Empire soldiers barely knew how to react—and it was clear that the last thing
in the world they were prepared for was a direct attack.

Gwen’s men
sprinted all throughout the Empire ship, up and down the decks, each zeroing in
on another Empire soldier, and fighting them one on one. They slashed and
stabbed as they ran, spreading through the unprepared ship like a storm. Darius
shouted and tackled two soldiers, knocking them to the ground and punching them
before wresting their swords away and stabbing them. Gwen could see the
vendetta against the taskmasters in his eyes. He was a one-man killing machine
as he gained his feet and tore through the ship, killing Empire left and right,
Dray at his heels, killing all those that dared come too close.

The men of the
Ridge were no slouches either. Led by Koldo, Ludvig, Kaden and Ruth, they
landed on the Empire decks with a great battle cry and never slowed, stabbing
the stunned Empire left and right, darting through their ranks and meeting
soldiers as they charged for them. Kendrick, Brandt, and Atme led the remainder
of the Silver, along with more soldiers from the Ridge, and Godfrey, Gwen was
proud to see, joined them as they fought brilliantly, wielding swords, axes,
flails, and spears, catching Empire soldiers by surprise and hunting them down.
The soldiers outnumbered them and fought back intensely—but they were no match
for the superior fighting skills of the Silver.

Even Godfrey
managed to do well, ducking beneath a sword slash and raising his shield and
bashing an Empire soldier in the head. He then grabbed the disoriented soldier
from behind and threw him overboard.

Reece and the Legion
attacked the Empire ships from the other side, fighting to meet up with
Kendrick in the middle. Reece fought like a man on fire, like a man fighting
for his homeland, as he ducked and rolled from several slashes, and wielded his
halberd brilliantly, it flashing beneath the sun as the stabbed several men.
Indra threw her spear, killing two soldiers at once, then ran and extracted it
and threw it again. Elden swung his battle-ax sideways and, with a great blow,
knocked two Empire soldiers over the rail and into the sea. Matus swung his
flail, knocking swords from hands before they could do damage, and then
impaling soldiers in their chest. And O’Connor wielded his bow as if it were
alive, firing up and down the ship and saving his brothers before they were
struck.

Gwendolyn joined
in, leaping onto the ship with the others and leading the remnants of her men,
Krohn at her side, snarling and killing several soldiers as they approached.
Whomever Krohn did not kill, Steffen did, the clanging of swords all around her
as he blocked blows on all sides. Gwen ran before her people, raising her bow
and firing three arrows, killing three Empire soldiers who charged her from
three sides.

Now that Gwen’s
men had boarded the Empire ship, she figured they would be safe from the sea of Empire arrows firing down from the fleet. But she was shocked as she heard their
distinctive whistling, and as another volley landed on the ship all around her.

Shrieks rang out
as soldiers all around her were shot—not only hers, but Empire soldiers, too,
killed by their own people, their own arrows, shot in the back. Gwen ducked,
barely missing an arrow as it sailed past her and found a target in a soldier’s
throat. Another volley came, and Gwen could not believe that the Empire would
keep firing on their own people, killing as many of their own men as hers. They
were ruthless; they didn’t care about their own men, as long as they killed
her.

More volleys
came, more shrieks rose out, with nowhere to hide; the Empire ranks began to
thin out, and so did hers. Even with her men fighting brilliantly, all of them
hand-to-hand, all of them taking the battle to the Empire, even with her having
taken control of several Empire ships, still, with all of these arrows, the
tide was turning against them. More and more Empire ships were entering the
harbor, and as more arrows sailed down, Gwen realized they had taken this fight
as far as they could. They had gotten farther, had done more than anyone could
have expected of them, but now it seemed, there were no moves left to make.

Gwen cried out
as an arrow pierced her arm, grazing it, and she reached over and felt the
blood trickling down—and as she let down her guard, two Empire soldiers came
charging for her, raising their swords and bringing them down before she had
time to react.

The sound of
metal rang out and she was showered with sparks as Steffen stepped forward and
blocked the blow of one soldier, then wheeled around and stabbed him in the
gut. At the same time, Krohn, beside her, snarled and leapt and sank his teeth
into the other soldier’s throat, forcing him to drop his sword and pinning him
to the ground.

Gwen, her arm
bleeding and in terrific pain, many of her men dead or wounded, looked out at
the harbor, filled with more and more black, and knew this was a lost cause.
They had come so close—and yet they remained so far. They would die here, in
this harbor; she knew that for sure.

She looked up
and searched the skies, saw no sign of Thorgrin, of the dragon, and her heart
sank. She searched everywhere for Argon, but saw no sign of him.

It was all over
now.

Then suddenly,
scanning the horizon one last time, Gwen saw something that filled her with
hope, with possibility. There, gleaming on the horizon, came a fleet of golden
ships, approaching the Empire from behind. There must have been hundreds of
them, and their banner, she was elated to see, was one that she recognized: the
Southern Isles.

She knew
instantly that there could be only one person leading this fleet, and as she
looked, she saw that he was, indeed, standing at the bow of the lead ship.

There, shining
beneath the sun in his golden armor, was Erec.

And he had
brought an army with him.

*

Erec rushed
forward on the deck of his ship, his veins pumping with adrenaline, flanked by
Strom and his men as he led the fleet from the Southern Isles, dozens of ships,
thousands of the finest warriors in the world, all ready to lay down their
lives to take back the Ring. All ready to leave the Southern Isles behind and
make the Ring their new home—or die trying in the process.

As Erec sailed
into the Shallow Bay, he expected conflict—yet he had not expected her to be in
such dire straits. His heart fell to see her trapped, surrounded, to see
thousands of Empire ships blocking their way. He had hoped to reach her sooner.

His fleet moved
quickly now as they hoisted the sails to full mast, his men rowing for their
lives, rowing to save Gwendolyn. The one advantage they had was that the Empire
did not expect an attack from behind; Erec hoped they wouldn’t spot them coming
until was too late.

Erec sailed his
fleet into the bay, attacking the rear of the Empire fleet like a sudden storm,
and as they bore down on them, he shouted out his first command.

“FIRE!”

Up and down his
ships, his men fired arrows and hurled spears, turning the sky black with their
weapons as they whistled through the air.

They landed with
a deadly precision, and hundreds of Empire soldiers fell. So preoccupied were
they with attacking Gwendolyn before them, they were woefully unprepared to handle
an attack from behind.

Erec did not
give them a chance to collect themselves. He put his ships into full battering
mode, directing them all to follow him single file, and to ram a path through
the Empire blockade. He led the way, and with his iron-tipped hull, he smashed
into the first Empire ship, creating a hole in its side and sending dozens of
its men overboard with the collision.

The Empire ship
listed and bobbed out of the way, and as Erec’s ship sailed past, all of his
men fired arrows and hurled spears, killing all of its soldiers at close range
before they could mount a defense.

With an opening
created in the Empire fleet, Erec continued to smash through the blockade, his
ships falling in behind him, until finally he burst through the other side,
into the Shallow Bay. As they passed, Empire soldiers, their ships in close
proximity, fired back; some tried to leap onto Erec’s ship, but Erec and Strom
led their men in a defense, stepping forward and stabbing and slashing the
attackers, kicking them backwards over the rail, back into the sea. The
soldiers of the Southern Isles were too hardened, had seen too much battle, for
them to be deterred by any foe, and to ever back down. Days like this, battles
like this, were what they lived for, what they dreamt about as small children.
Erec’s men fought like men with their lives to lose, and soon the Empire
soldiers realized what a mistake they made in trying to board. The waters were
filled with flailing and wounded Empire soldiers, their ubiquitous splashes
filling the air.

Alistair stood
on the deck, near Erec, and as more than one Empire soldier broke through the
ranks and charged for her, assuming he had found low-hanging fruit, she,
standing there poised, calmly raised a palm and aimed it at the men. As she
did, the soldiers stopped in their tracks, falling backwards and landing flat
on their backs, dead.

Erec glanced
over in the thick of battle, and he had no worry for her; he could see her
power had been restored, and that she was stronger than ever. The Empire men
could not get within ten feet of her.

As Erec’s fleet
progressed further into the Shallow Bay, he directed ships to the Empire ships
that were surrounding Gwendolyn and her men. He rammed these, breaking through
the blockade and finally freeing her and closing the gap, so that he and his
ships now joined up with hers, all of them one unified force, facing the Empire
together.