Champions Vol. 02

During this month David also learned the Erosian calendar. Their day lasted almost exactly the same length as an Earth day, and thankfully a year here was only one day shorter (although they reckoned the time as 'a winter'). Their calendar was divided into 13 months, with each lasting a full 28 day lunar cycle of the larger, white moon. The smaller, blue moon was also on a 28 day cycle. Once he learned how close Earth time and Erosian time were, he decided to set one of the times on his digital watch to the local date and time. His Timex® could be programmed with up to three times into it, so he kept the Central Standard Time Zone and Afghanistan Time Zone programmed in. If he ever returned it would be useful to know if the elapsed time here was the same there.

Noting his interest in the lunar cycles, the Sophia's Navigator, Phaidros, offered to teach him basic astronomy and navigation. David readily agreed, both to continue the cover story of trying to find a way back to his homeland, and also because both would be useful skills in this new world. His experience with map reading and land navigation in the Army proved invaluable, and Phaidros was impressed that David's small lensatic compass was as accurate as his own larger ship's compass.

Sadly, his astronomy lessons had to start from scratch. No star or constellation was the same, and David had to pretend he knew nothing about them rather than risk answering difficult questions. He quickly realized that wherever this planet was it was far, far away from Earth.

However, amongst all the learning and growing that he was doing during the voyage, David's favorite instructor was Leontios. The Sophia's master-at-arms was a skilled swordsman, and challenged David daily to improve. He also taught Sapphire, whose lamentable skills steadily improved under his guidance. Leontios was even able to instruct Laurena in the proper use of a staff, and her skill with the weapon increased dramatically.

Additionally, David took time each evening to conjure ammunition. It took only a few days to replace what they had expended that single night near the Field of Woe, and then he set about conjuring more. More magazines for the rifles were crafted and filled, more belts of ammunition for the Mk48 as well, and finally more clips for the pistols. The ammo pouches of David, Sapphire, and Laurena were filled to capacity, and the rest was stored in Sapphire's saddlebags.

Finally, both David and Sapphire noticed that the magical bond between them was growing. They could occasionally sense each other's emotions during the day, and during sex it was almost as if they possessed a window into the other's mind. Yet, rather than disturbing them they actually found it to be quite wonderful. Whenever one of them felt an exceptionally powerful emotion, the other could feel the echoes of it. It was reassuring...most of the time.

Each day of the journey was both an exercise in fighting off boredom and a journey of discovery. But between the combined efforts of the crew and the travelers most enjoyed the peace. Sadly, it was a peace that would not last.

* * *

"Ship sighted," was announced by the spotter in the crow's nest. The news was unexpected, and unwelcome.

"Direction, Bion," shouted Captain Epaphras.

"Behind us, Captain, and sailing our way," replied the spotter.

Unpacking his spyglass from a chest nearby, the captain raised it to his eye and searched the waters behind them. David rushed below-deck to his shared cabin with Sapphire. Stacked in the corner of the room, right where it should be, he found what he was looking for. Returning to the top deck with his prize in hand, David shouldered his M14 and used the powerful scope to search.

"I see a ship but it is too far to identify," Captain Epaphras announced.

Looking to see where the captain was focused, David returned his eye to the scope and directed his attentions there. He soon found the ship and was able to spot some details on it. Handing the rifle to the captain, he instructed Epaphras on its usage. Once the captain understood his meaning, he raised the rifle and looked through the scope.

"By Eros, this thing is amazing!" he exclaimed.

"Can you see enough to determine anything?" David asked.

"It is like no ship design that I recognize," the captain replied, "but I have never sailed this far west of Erosius. All I can say is that it is unlike any vessel I have seen before."

"Do you believe it's following us?" David inquired.

"I cannot imagine any other reason for it to be out here," Epaphras answered. "According to Priest Philotheos' charts there is no other habitable land between us and the Isle of Eirini."

"How far away from the isle are we?"

"At least a week more," the captain responded.

"I suggest we slow, and allow them to come to us," David offered. "We can assess their intentions and act further. We can't afford to lead them to the isle, even by accident."

Captain Epaphras considered David's plan. It did not appeal to him, but the instructions he had received from Philotheos were clear. The island was a secret by command of Eros. He had no intention of failing his god. That did not mean that he planned to sacrifice his ship, however.

"We could change course," the captain countered, "and lead them away. According to the chart there is a small island southwest of us about three weeks travel away."

Shaking his head, David replied, "We're already racing against the clock, according to Eros. I doubt an additional month and a half delay was in his plan."

Epaphras looked at him in shock. David had spoken directly to Eros!?

Realizing his mistake, David cursed himself quietly. He, Sapphire, and Laurena had worked hard to conceal any mention of their meeting with the deity. Now he let it slip in a moment of unguarded talk.

"You cannot change course captain. We must speak with this ship and turn it away if possible."

"And what will we do if they do not wish to be turned away?" Epaphras demanded. "There are only eighteen crewmembers on this ship, and little more than half are able fighters. I know you and your lady are powerful, but I carry the Champion of Eros on this vessel. I cannot risk losing."

David replied with a grin. "Captain, the magic you've seen us use is powerful. But if you think that is all we have...well, there's a saying where I come from. 'You ain't seen nothin' yet.'"

*** Chapter 21: Conflict on the High Seas ***

261700MAY13 DW

6^th of Pyanepsion (6^th month), 2351 EC (Erosian Calendar)

The Great Sea, aboard the Sophia en-route to The Isle of Eirini

Standing on the deck of the Sophia, David waited for the unknown vessel to finish its approach. His plan required all of the sailors to hide out of sight, in case the other vessel proved to be hostile. He assumed that it would be, and his certainty had made it that much more difficult to get everyone to agree to this plan.

As the other ship made its final approach, he was pleased to see that they were coming alongside the Sophia from the east. Once David convinced Captain Epaphras to allow the meeting, he had insisted that they do everything in their power to ensure that the sun was at their backs, even demanding that the chase be extended to ensure that sun was low in the sky for the meeting. The soldier wanted every advantage if this became a fight; and having the sun in his adversary's eyes was a plus.

Of course, those final bright rays of the low sun illuminated an important feature that he had not been able to make out before. The occupants of the approaching vessel were all armed. Nearly thirty sailors were positioned on the deck of the other ship, and they were carrying a mixture of short bows, knives, clubs, and a few short, curved swords. David had no idea what the swords were called, but they looked like a hybrid mix of a cutlass and a gladius. Stepping to the railing of his own ship, he hailed the vessel that was closing on his.

"Ahoy there. What do you want?"

David winced immediately afterwards. He had wanted to sound non-threatening, but his choice of words and tone came off more challenging than he would have preferred.

"We are the Eye of Amenemhet, lead scout ship of the grand Navy of the United Kingdom of Amandure. You will be boarded. If your crew comes out from hiding immediately and converts to the glorious worship of Sekhmet none of you will be harmed," a man on the deck of the other ship replied as it continued to approach.

Looking at the other man, David noticed his sword seemed a little better quality than the others, and he was the only one wearing armor. It was only a light-weight leather hauberk, but it was still armor. David decided to think of him as HMFIC (Head Mother-Fucker In Charge). The Eye of Amenemhet had been slowing down as they talked, and it was now only twenty feet away from the Sophia and slowly drifting closer.

Addressing HMFIC, David asked "What if we don't want to convert?"

With a sneer the man motioned with a hand, and all the bowmen nocked their arrows and drew back their bowstrings, aiming at David.

"Then you will all be killed," the man growled.

"Well that answers that," David mumbled to himself, before giving a quick whistle.

As soon as the sailors hidden below heard his signal, they began charging onto the deck, armed with their own weapons. A handful of them also had grappling hooks, and David already knew that a four-man boarding party was waiting on the other side of the forecastle door with their planks. They would be called up as soon as the Eye of Amenemhet was trapped with the hooks.

HMFIC was enraged by the Sophia's crew, and ordered his archers to fire.

David quickly whispered one of the few command words he had taught his magic, hoping it would work. He was nearly pulled off his feet, and he heard a low boom as nearly all the oxygen, nitrogen, and every other gas molecule in the air rushed in to form a solid, mostly clear shield directly in front of him.

The arrows struck the shield, and while some of them stuck into and/or through it, none of them fully penetrated. David would have breathed a sigh of relief, except he had expelled everything in his lungs and was waiting until the near vacuum (it wasn't a full-on vacuum thank god) around him refilled with precious air before trying to breathe again. Grinning, he momentarily thought about how he had discovered/invented the spell.

He and Sapphire had argued over and over about spells to protect against arrow volleys. She had taught him all of the ones she knew; but David had argued that they all took too long to cast. Protective spells were too complex, with too many caveats and addendums to the instructions woven into the spell for him to be able to train his magic to do it quickly. Conjuration could be cast quickly, but all that matter had to come from somewhere, so it took time for the object to form. He could use telekinesis to redirect the arrows or move an object into their paths; but that was heavily dependent on distance, time, concentration, and what was lying nearby.

Nearly ready to admit defeat, David finally had a "eureka" moment as he was drifting off to sleep one night. Why not use a combination of all three types of spells. He would conjure a powerful directional vacuuming force in a location, then telekinetically 'pull' all the air in the area into it, with a simple protective spell that would not allow the air back out. While the idea required three different types of magic, each one was extremely simple. It took him less than a day to train his magic to do all three at once, and two additional days to train it to do the entire process instantly when he spoke a single command word. Shield.

While he could change the size and shape of the shield with a few additional words in the full spell version, his command word version was a specific size, six feet wide by ten feet high, and six feet directly in front of him. The drawback was that there was not a lot of breathable air in the area around him; thus the boom from the air in the surrounding areas rushing into the extremely low pressure area, and the discomfort for David and those near him.

The crews of both ships stood motionless, momentarily stunned by the air shield. Meanwhile, David kept his eyes on the archers. Starting with the ones furthest from him, two at a time they fell. In the confusion of his spell, the ladies had joined the fight unnoticed.

* * *

Tucked under a blanket the same color as the deck, and hiding behind some wooden barrels out of sight of the enemy vessel, Sapphire and Laurena waited for the ship to approach. Sapphire had her M4, and Laurena had the M14; both rifles had been temporarily enspelled for total silence.

David had given them strict instructions. They had to remain absolutely still until either he gave the signal, or the people on the ship attacked him. Once they began shooting, they were supposed to target any archers first, and then target any leaders they could identify next. Unfortunately, the wait was driving them both nuts.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the ship was close enough for David to hail them. As Sapphire scanned the ship she quickly surmised that a peaceful resolution was unlikely. As she and Laurena waited for David's whistle, she counted the number of archers and then started looking for anyone that might be in charge.

Hearing the words of the man from the other ship, she looked at him and decided he looked 'in charge' enough for a bullet. There were ten bowmen, so as long as Laurena didn't miss any of her shots then Sapphire's sixth bullet was going in that asshole's forehead. Starting to grin at the thought, she heard David give the signal and immediately shifted her aim to the far left archer. Laurena would start at the far right and work her way inward.

Sapphire wanted to start firing the instant she saw the bowmen shoot at David. How dare they try to kill her man! But she held her shot until three seconds after David cast his spell. She had watched him work on it, and knew that all the air movement from the spell could ruin her accuracy. Counting the seconds, she focused on the pulse of her heartbeat, and pulled the trigger when she was ready.

Her rifle bucked noiselessly, and the head of the man centered in her optics was flung back as the kinetic energy of her round was transferred into his brain. Adjusting her aim slightly to the right, she targeted the next archer as she felt Laurena's body shift backwards. The Champion of Eros was a few inches taller, and at least fifteen pounds heavier, than the slight framed Sapphire; but the recoil of the larger rifle was still more than she could handle. Realizing that Laurena would not be able to fire, recover, and fire again as quickly as she could, Sapphire adjusted her earlier prediction and decided that her eighth round would be the one with 'the talker's' name on it.

Laurena's shoulder hurt now. When she took her first shot she had forgotten to tuck the rifle tightly against her shoulder, and the large M14 had recoiled backward painfully into her. This was her first time engaging another person since the Field of Woe, and she was nervous. Casting a healing spell on herself with barely a thought, she decided that once this fight was over she was going to insist that David give her more shooting practice. If he was going to continue to make her use this infernal rifle she was going to make sure it did not beat the Hades out of her shoulder anymore. Also, a nice thick pad for her shoulder would be good. Returning to her task, Laurena took a steadying breath and targeted the next bowmen in line. They would make every effort to preserve life, but these bowmen had already tried to kill David. Had they targeted someone else then that person would likely be dead now.

Reminding herself of David's words after her first experience with dealing death, she resisted the part of her mind that screamed at her to stop. He was right, these men had made the decision that lives would be taken this day; and because of David she did have the training and forethought to ensure that it was their lives, not hers. This was not murder, it was the protection of the people she loved, and those she was now responsible for as the Champion of Eros. She squeezed the trigger for the second time.

Watching patiently as Sapphire and Laurena systematically eradicated their enemy's ranged capability; David counted down the number of archers remaining while keeping his air shield in place. Their opponent finally figured out something was wrong after the sixth bowman dropped to the deck screaming with a bullet in his gut. Looking toward his man, HMFIC paused and took in the number of his bowmen that were down. Then he turned back to look at David with rage in his eyes. David just shrugged. This guy was an asshole, and pretty soon he'd be a dead asshole.

Even as this thought entered his mind he realized this could be an excellent opportunity, as long as they didn't screw it up.

"Sapphire! Laurena! Don't shoot dick-breath wearing the armor; we need to interrogate him," he called out quickly.

Even as he was saying this he noticed the last two archers fall, and began to call out to the women again. "Sapph-"

"We heard you David," Sapphire called out in annoyance. She really wanted to kill the man that had dared to threaten her love, but she would do as he asked. "Carl is all yours!" she continued.

Laurena cast a quick glance at Sapphire, confused.

Noticing the movement, Sapphire turned her head and saw her friend's inquiring look. "I've heard David say 'Shut the fuck up, Carl' a few times when he was annoyed with someone," Sapphire explained. "Well, that man's actions annoyed me, and I really want to make sure he shuts up, permanently. It seemed appropriate."

After a moment of introspection, Laurena responded matter-of-factly with, "I think you are using it wrong."

"Oh."

Both women then returned their attention to their rifles and resumed shooting the enemy sailors.

David just shook his head. By God he loved Sapphire, but sometimes that woman could absolutely murder his phrases.

Bracing himself, he banished his spell and leaned into the strong wind he knew was coming. He had modified his banishment spell to force as much of the air as possible forward, but some still came back towards him, causing his braced frame to sway lightly. Of course, the wind in his direction didn't even come close to the rotor wash off of a CH-47, so he easily remained upright. The effect on the ship in front of him was a little more powerful.

Sails that had been lowered to slow the ship quickly filled and snapped in the 200-plus mile per hour winds. One section of sail tore free, and tangled up with an Amanduran sailor that was stumbling backward and trying not to fall overboard. The now entwined sailor and sail section blew off the ship and into the surrounding ocean. The rest of the sailors on the deck of the Eye of Amenemhet were blown backwards across its surface. Some of them were struck by loose debris, while others stood their ground but lost their weapons in the powerful wind.

Looking at the force arrayed against him and the sailors of the Sophia, David was impressed with how well his plan had worked so far. Chaos, panic, and disorder...my work here is almost done, he thought with a grin. Drawing his M9 from his leg holster, he ordered the grappling hook teams to begin their work and started scanning for targets.

Sapphire and Laurena were systematically working through the sailors of the Eye of Amenemhet, focusing on wounding rather than killing. This was the part of the plan where Laurena had fought David to a stand-still, eventually getting him to concede to her wishes. If the unknown vessel ended up being hostile -- which it did -- she and Sapphire would target and eliminated the archers first, because they were the greatest threat to their own forces. However, once they were neutralized Laurena had insisted that the remaining sailors be captured if at all possible, rather than killed.