The Huntsman's Amulet (29 page)

His success in striking the nerve he had been aiming for was evident immediately. Rui exploded with rage.

‘Fuck your captain. What’s to stop me from fucking killing you right now?’ he screamed. ‘Then going out and killing your fucking captain as well? Taking his fucking money? Sancho Rui is afraid of no man! Tell your fucking captain that I’ll be out at dawn to cut his fucking heart out! Tell him I’m going to eat it when I am done killing you and every one of his fucking crew!’

Even in the dark, Soren could see the spittle flying from Rui’s mouth, tiny silhouettes created by the light on the deck of the
Bayda’s Tear
behind him. He smiled.

‘I’ll relay your message to Captain Varrisher,’ Soren said. ‘We’ll await you at sun up.’

He gestured to the boatswain to get the jolly boat underway. They had a tough fight ahead of them, but Soren found himself looking forward to it.

Chapter 43

A Duel of Ships

S
oren watched the Bayda’s
Tear
appear out of the entrance to the cove a few minutes after the sun rose. The
Typhon
and her crew had spent the night at anchor beyond the distance over which a ballista bolt could be fired from the shore. Despite Rui’s declarations of murderous intent, Soren and Varrisher were under no illusion: he would try to set the
Typhon
alight if the opportunity presented itself.

No one had slept well that night, least of all Soren. He was already awake when the call to station was made shortly before dawn. Varrisher wanted them all wide-awake and alert well in advance, so the anchor was raised and the sail set as soon as everyone was ready. They had been tacking up and down one of the channels between the submerged reefs in wait, but now that Rui was showing his nose Varrisher gave the command to go straight for him.

Soren stood next to him at the bulwark on the quarterdeck of the
Typhon
, feeling his excitement rise as they watched the distance between the two ships diminish. He had been a passenger on board for too long; now he would get to show his worth.

‘How does this work?’ Soren said. He had never seen a naval battle before, much less been involved in one. The capture of the
Honest Christophe
was as close as he had ever come.

‘We’ll manoeuvre to come alongside one another and we’ll fire a volley with the ballistae to try and clear their deck a little. They’ll probably try to do the same, so be ready to duck. Once that’s done, all the sails will be taken in and we’ll grapple the ships together. When we’re close enough, it’s over the side and at them. I’ll leave some men up in the rigging to fire crossbows down at the deck, but we’ll win or lose on what we do with our swords. That’s where you come in,’ Varrisher said. ‘Until then, you should stay out of harm’s way. It would be unfortunate to have come all this way only to be taken out of the fight by a well-aimed shot. That brings me on to the other thing that I need to discuss. If I should be killed, Rodin will take command of the
Typhon
. He’s a good man; you can trust him. Whatever way the fight turns out, if
Typhon
is still floating at the end, I’ve instructed him to take you wherever you wish to go, as we agreed.’

‘I’m sure that it won’t come to that,’ Soren said.

Varrisher nodded. ‘I hope that I’m being overly dramatic, but it’s often best to prepare for these eventualities before things get started.’

The
Bayda’s Tear
was close enough for Soren to make out the individual features of the sailors on board when Varrisher ordered the ballistae fired. The ship shuddered as they launched their heavy, steel tipped bolts toward the
Tear
where they shot across the deck. Each bolt cut a swathe through the sailors massed there.

Rui responded in kind, but the
Typhon
carried fewer crew so her deck was less crowded. Soren counted a half dozen casualties at most, far fewer than Rui had suffered, but the speed and ferocity with which they had been killed still shocked him.

Varrisher moved to the wheel. He manoeuvred the
Typhon
aggressively, steering left and right on Blasco’s instructions to keep her away from the reefs as the two ships continued sailing parallel to one another. The deck pitched with each turn but Soren found that his sea legs had finally become more reliable, on the larger ship’s deck at least. The sudden and unpredictable movement made him feel sorry for the sailors who were up in the rigging trying to aim their heavy naval crossbows.

Blasco stood next to Varrisher at the wheel, frequently pointing to some unseen hazard lurking beneath the surface of the water. He was wearing a foul weather hat that obscured his features. His knowledge was an advantage to them, all the greater while Rui was unaware of it.

Rui had brought the
Tear
close to the
Typhon
, but maintained too great a distance to attempt grappling. It seemed that his plan was to run the
Typhon
onto a reef. Soren smiled at the knowledge that it wouldn’t work. He wondered how long it would take Rui to figure that out.

Blasco directed Varrisher to steer the
Typhon
into another clear channel, forcing Rui to follow and hope that his opponent would blunder onto the next reef. He had clearly expected the
Typhon
to founder as he had already begun to turn the
Tear
to pounce on her once she had struck the reef. When it didn’t happen, it left him out of position and even to a landsman like Soren it was obvious that he was uncertain what to do next.

Varrisher was not one to allow an opportunity to pass by. Soren had to admit that, although he might not have been much more than a competent swordsman, he was a superb sailor. After confirming with Blasco that there was room to manoeuvre, he called out a nautical term to his crew that was beyond comprehension to Soren, and turned the wheel hard over. The
Typhon
responded instantly and Soren was forced to grab onto the bulwark to stop himself from falling overboard.

The
Typhon
spun about in a circle tighter than Soren would have thought possible, and Varrisher aimed her directly at the
Tear
, her bow pointing toward the stern of Rui’s ship. Soren’s heart leapt into his mouth. Could Varrisher be intending to ram? The space between them was dropping away rapidly and it seemed to Soren that even if a ramming was unintended, it was now unavoidable. Just as he began to tighten his grip in preparation for impact, Varrisher called to the crew once more and threw the wheel over in the opposite direction. The
Typhon
turned sharply once again. Soren stared down the length of the
Typhon
toward the bow, his heart still in his throat as the side of the
Tear
raced past the
Typhon’s
bowsprit, no more than inches away. He felt a wave of relief as clear air appeared, leaving the
Typhon
alongside the
Tear
, and well within grappling range.

The
Typhon’s
momentum and the close proximity meant that a collision was inevitable, but it seemed to Soren that this was Varrisher’s intention all along. Side to side, the
Typhon
and the
Bayda’s Tear
slammed into one another with a thunderous boom and a jolt that would have thrown Soren off his feet had he not been still gripping the bulwark with fervour.

‘Grapples away. Go at them,
Typhon
s,’ Varrisher shouted.

Soren could hear the sound of crossbow bolts fizzing through the air and thudding into wood and flesh. Screams of pain intermingled with shouts and battle cries as the crew of the
Typhon
hurled grappling hooks onto the
Bayda’s Tear
. As soon as the two ships were secured, they followed their grapples. Soren had been so caught up in the novelty of the naval combat that he almost forgot this was the moment when his own skills came to the fore.

He vaulted the bulwark, drawing his sword. The Fount appeared as soon as he desired it and he smiled as the mass of men on the deck of the
Bayda’s Tear
were shrouded in a flickering blue glow. Movement began to slow, and for the briefest time Soren considered allowing his connection to remain open a little longer, to see if he could temper the flow to sustain his need and no more.

The memory of the fight outside
The Drunken Rover
was too fresh in his mind though, and he resisted the temptation. If things were going against them, he could always draw on it again.

He forced the connection to the Fount to close and waded into the fight. The
Typhon
s who had crossed over to the
Tear
had formed a pocket, pressing into the mass of Rui’s crew. Varrisher had all of his men tie a strip of grey cloth around their heads or upper arms before the
Bayda’s Tear
emerged from the cove, grey being the state colour of Ruripathia. It made life far easier for Soren in the heat of battle.

Soren pushed his way through the
Typhon
s to get to the enemy. He had the image of Sancho Rui’s face burned into his mind and he was eager that Rui should fall to his blade rather than someone else’s. Rui was the priority irrespective of his personal motivations. The
Typhon
s were outnumbered, but Soren reckoned that if they could kill Rui his crew would surrender.

Finally faced with the enemy, Soren was able to set himself to turning the tide in their favour. He had chosen to use a rapier rather than his shorter sword. He knew that the longer blade would be difficult to wield in a tight press of men, but with his elbows he cleared the room to move his arms and used the tip of his sword to clear the space in front of him.

The clash of metal and the shouts of fighting men filled the air, drowning out all other sounds. A pirate slashed his short sword at Soren’s head. Soren parried it high and drew his dagger with his left hand. He pushed forward putting the pirate off balance and stabbed him in the guts. The pirate grimaced and Soren finished him off before shoving the body to the deck. Another man took his place before Soren had the chance to step over the body. His rapier was still held high so, as the pirate began a thrust to Soren’s midsection, he cut down hard and split the pirate’s head open.

He pushed forward into the space, slashing out with both sword and dagger to either side as he went, adding to his tally. It put him in the midst of Rui’s crew. A man bumped into Soren as he tried to get through the mass of his own crew and at the
Typhon
s, not realising that he was faced with an enemy. Soren barely paid him a thought, lashing out with his sword. The pirate parried it away, which came as a shock to Soren, and grabbed his complete attention. The pirate countered and his blade came at Soren far more quickly than any of the previous pirates had managed. He countered it, but it was clear that the effect of the Gift was already ebbing, and was doing so quickly.

It seemed that the small draw he had made in the Fount was not enough to keep the Gift going for very long. Even without the extra benefit of the Fount, he was still more than a match for any of the pirates on the ship, but whether he would be able to have the impact on the battle that he wanted was another question. As soon as his desire to draw from the Fount returned, it appeared once more. He felt the rush of energy flood through his body. He scooped the pirate’s sword out of his way with his dagger, then ran him through with his rapier.