Salveran Tides Ch. 05

Yesseil cursed in elvish and slung her rifle over her shoulders. She drew a small saber purloined from the ship armory. "A wave threw off my aim and I hit its shoulder instead of the head. It's coming."

Scarlet gave her a reassuring pat before drawing her two sabers. "You tried better than most could have. Keep your distance and keep this thing away from Leona. I'll do the hard part."

"Scarlet..." Lexaeus began.

"That goes double for you, Lex," Scarlet cut him off. "Keep her safe. This thing wants my head." She tightened her grip on her sabers. "I'm gonna make it bloody work for it first."

The boat shook a moment later as the Nemesis found its target. Scarlet heard wood crunch and crack around its hands as it used its raw strength to heave itself up the side of the ship. She drew the sabers, testing their weight with a few practice swings. It had been a while since she'd had to fight a Nemesis. The things were rare last time she'd checked, though that had been years ago. Church templars didn't break out their most powerful weapons without due course, but Scarlet had warranted Nemesis response ever since she'd betrayed the Church.

She was also, as far as she knew, the only person who had ever killed one rather than the other way around.

The Nemesis leaped aboard a moment later, hauling its prodigious bulk over the side of the ship like a monkey amongst a rainforest. The thing's sheer size made the deck timbers creak under its weight. Scarlet was no small woman, but the Nemesis towered over her by a good foot and a half. Its silhouette was recognizably human, but that was where all the humanity in it ended. The Nemesis had hardened skin that rose into ridges along its whole body that were impenetrable to even cannon shells. Its face, what had once probably been a very pretty woman, was now an armored mask, with two glassy eyes staring forward through hard bony ridges around its eye sockets. The hair that cascaded down from the top of its head was thick and matted; the thing had no need to be clean. The only clothes it wore were tattered rags knotted around its breasts and groin.

Wood cracked under the Nemesis' weight as its head turned, a predator seeking prey. Those glassy eyes locked on to the brand on Scarlet's hand, and widened in frenzied recognition. A hiss of steam surged from its nostrils. It bent forward and roared, a primal sound that carried across the water.

"What in the name of all the oceans is that?" Leona shrieked.

"Not your concern, Princess, keep us moving!" Scarlet answered, not taking her eyes off the Nemesis. It would have been infinitely preferable to fight the thing with solid ground beneath her feet, but the rocking boat deck would have to do.

Come to Scarlet, sister, she thought towards the Nemesis. Let me set you free.

As the Nemesis snapped its jaw shut to finish bellowing at her, it moved. Despite their bulk the living weapons were frighteningly fast. Wood crumbled as the Nemesis lunged at her, splinters flying out from underneath the thing's heels. Scarlet threw herself flat, trying a wild swing at the thing's hide. The blade skittered off the hard ridges on the Nemesis' skin. The monster caught itself on the railing, then spun on a dime and charged again. Scarlet was more ready this time, and pivoted on her heel just out of the monster's reach while slashing down at the back of the thing's knee. Nemeses were nigh-invincible save for the gaps in their natural armor - the back of the knees, the crook of the elbows, the nape of their neck, and the eyes. It was possible, though damned difficult, to kill one with precise strikes.

But the shoddy Navy sabers Lexaeus had armed her with were not constructed with the strength of her beloved swords Wolf and Lamb. Though Scarlet scored a hit, it didn't go nearly as deep as she thought it might. Going to have to go for the eyes right off, she thought. Can't waste time.

The Nemesis stumbled a little, making a confused rumbling snarl, as if the concept of pain and injury were foreign to it. Black, oily blood oozed from the wound on the back of it's knee as it glowered at Scarlet. Scarlet lowered her center of gravity, prepared to dodge in whatever way she needed to.

Both she and the monster repeated the dance several times. The Nemesis would charge, Scarlet would dodge and swing, and most of the time she scored a hit. Tough as Nemeses were, they were single-minded destroyers, which meant that they could be duped easily. So Scarlet thought, at least.

That thought vanished when the Nemesis wrenched a chunk of the deck railing free and hurled it at Scarlet like a boulder. Scarlet wasn't expecting that in the slightest, and the hunk of heavy wood drilled her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and making her stumble backwards against the ship's helm.

"Scarlet!" Lexaeus yelled.

"DId you just throw that shit at me?" Scarlet wheezed, picking herself up and clutching her stomach. The Nemesis stood still, glowering at her from a distance. There was something new in its eyes now, some kind of savage intelligence. The thing's sausage-like fingers flexed against another segment of deck railing, as if debating whether or not to throw it. "You're supposed to be dumb!" Scarlet spat, tasting blood. "When did you get so smart, eh? Eh?"

"You...betray..." the Nemesis said in a halting, hoarse voice that had been stripped of all vestiges of femininity it had once held. It clenched hard around the segment of deck railing and pulled, tearing the hunk loose so it had a makeshift club. "I...purify."

Lexaeus came to Scarlet's side. "Guess they must be juicing the mixture they use to make these things now."

"I thought I told you to protect Leona."

"Yesseil can handle that," the Otter said. He stood protectively over Scarlet as she hauled herself up. "Can you still fight?"

"Course I bloody can," Scarlet spat, even though her body was shouting maybe we bloody can't. Every breath hurt now; the impact of the hard wood had probably cracked a rib or two. But she couldn't show weakness, not in front of the Nemesis and especially not in front of Leona. "Princess, if you could hurry us up that would be really appreciated!"

"I'm doing the best I can!" Leona replied. "We should be getting close to catching the wind any moment-"

A loud bang sounded from Scarlet's left, followed by a scream from the mermaid. That made Scarlet look away from the Nemesis for a brief moment to see what had happened. In her duel with the Nemesis, she hadn't noticed one of the other cutters catch up to their stern, at a diagonal angle to the port side. She saw rifle smoke pluming up into the sky from someone who had taken a shot, a shot that had likely hit the mermaid. The sniper pumped his fist in triumph, only for his head to snap back as Yesseil blew his brains out.

Scarlet only saw Leona kneeling on the deck with blood oozing from her arm before the Nemesis charged her again. This time it swung its railing club down at her and Lexaeus. They both dodged in different directions, and the mighty swing crushed the ship's wheel into the decking below. Scarlet stabbed at the back of the thing's neck, only for the Nemesis to swing its club around. Her saber thunked into the wood, and was then ripped away from her as the Nemesis discarded the hunk of wood. Lexaeus went for its neck while its back was to him, the point of his sword striking home and drawing blood. The Nemesis roared and swung a fist at him backhanded, narrowly missing the Otter's muzzle.

Another bang came from the pursuing cutter as another sharpshooter tried his luck. His shot went wide, slicing a furrow into the decking a foot from Scarlet's boot. Still, any one good bullet could end her life, and Scarlet wasn't about to die here. "Lex, hold her here!" she barked, then ducked low and ran down to the main deck. From the rigging above, Yesseil was swinging back and forth along the ropes, dodging musket balls with her elf agility while returning fire.

Leona was bleeding heavily, but stirred as Scarlet drew close. The mermaid propped herself up on the Tidecaller, gritting her teeth and clutching her bloody arm. The bullet had caught her right in the meat of her bicep, blue blood seeping from the ragged hole in her scales. "Tides, this hurts," she whimpered.

"Hey hey, look at me." Scarlet knelt down in front of her and grabbed her face, forcing those blue eyes to meet her heterochromic ones. "Things are going to hurt a lot more if you don't get us out of here right now."

"They're winding up boarding lines!" Yesseil warned from above, before another roar from the Nemesis split the air.

"Princess, if you're going to do something, you need to do it now."

The mermaid royal set her jaw and picked herself up. Scarlet actually felt a little bit of pride at the sight. "Everybody hang on!" she yelled. She took the Tidecaller in her good arm, raising the weapon above her head.

A roar from above them was followed by footsteps pounding along the deck above. Scarlet's head snapped up to see the Nemesis jump down off the upper deck, as if the berserker was aiming to crush her and Leona underfoot.

The Tidecaller came down against the deck with a loud crack.

Scarlet was flung backwards as a titanic plume of water erupted from behind their ship, the force propelling them forward into the Pentacle storm as if they'd been fired out of a cannon. Leoan slammed into the cabin wall beside her a moment later, as they rocketed into the wall of wind and water. Scarlet was soaked in an instant, and was jarred into a prone position against the deck as the ship skipped along the water.

"That...was it," Leona groaned over the rushing sound of wind and waves. "That was all I had."

"Better the sea than the Templar swords!" Scarlet yelled. She flung an arm around Leona and held her against the deck timbers. "We're in the hands of fate now, we are!"

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Leona yelled.

Scarlet's affirmation was snatched away by the wind as they careened forward into the storm with no way of steering themselves. Yesseil hung on to the rigging for dear life above them, her body horizontal as if she was being blown like a flag. After a rough bounce against a whitecap Lexeaus came tumbling down off the upper deck next to her. "Where's that bloody mutant?" she yelled over the din.

"Flew backwards right over the stern when Leona launched us forward," the Otter said. He wrapped a heavy arm around Scarlet and held her tight. "Seems fitting that only a day after you rescue me you send us headfirst into a storm that could sink us easily!"

"Tis the life we live!" Scarlet yelled.

The sails were strained almost to the breaking point, pulled taut above them and straining at their lines. The wind pulled them forward, into a channel in the water as a massive wave rose above them. Scarlet gaped at the wall of water as a lightning flash illuminated the tumultuous sky beyond it. As soon as it crashed down on them, they'd be dead for sure.

Then all of a sudden, their ship turned and began to tack along the swell of the massive wave. Scarlet looked at Leona. Had the mermaid found some new strength to steer them? No, Leona was passed out again, her body limp atop the Tidecaller.

"Scarlet?" Lexaeus asked, his mind obviously asking the same questions as hers.

"Don't question it, Lex," Scarlet said. "There's a lot more magic afoot here than just our princess's."

Their cutter sliced along the swell of the massive wave, skipping up the sheet of water until it crested. As it did, Scarlet saw a break in the storm ahead, clear skies beyond. Their bow was pointed directly at it.

A few moments later, they burst free of the storm in a shower of water, landing in waters as still as a mountain lake. Scarlet and Lexaeus picked themselves up off the deck and looked around. Above them were clear blue skies, surrounded in a circle by the swirling Pentacle maelstrom. The storm seemed to be centered in this small area of calm, and at the center of the calm area was an island.

Yesseil shook her long hair out, splattering the deck below with water. "I never want to do that again," the elf said. She set her rifle against her shoulder and peered through the scope at the island shore ahead of them. Then, she made a gagging noise. "Scarlet."

Scarlet moved to the bow of the ship. "Aye?"

"Is that who I think it is on shore?"

It took Scarlet a moment to see what the elf could, but when she did, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her manic gamble had payed off. "Aye, it is."

Lexaeus looked as well. He let out an annoyed growl. "You knew about this."

"I might have had an idea."

"Hrmph."

Their ship came to a stop in the shallows of the island, right in front of the lone figure standing there. The woman on the beach was as tall as a Nemesis, but thankfully not as horrifically mutated. Her long hair was pulled into a ponytail that fell to the middle of her back. She wore simple clothes made of island plants, her bare feet covered in sand.

Scarlet hopped down off the ship and landed in the shallows. She waded ashore until she stood in front of the woman on the beach. A pair of violet eyes stared levelly at her.

"Hello, Vi," Scarlet said. "Been too long, eh?"

Vi stared back for a long time. "Aye," she said in a slow voice. "Too long."

Then she hauled off and slapped Scarlet across the face.