TRC - Lord of the Glass Desert Ch. 30

Velus's grin vanished as the crew of The Scarlet Bitch ignored the massive sleep spell and kept coming across the bow of their ship toward her. The mage must have warned them about the spell, but for such a large group, she found it odd that none of them even stumbled. It then occurred to her that the dust on the women and mage didn't glow as it should have.

That meant they knew about the spell and the ambush. Only two explanations occurred to Velus. Either the mage was a Diviner, or The Gazelle was no longer under Darrow's command. She knew which was more likely.

"The Gazelle has been taken!" Velus shouted as the male magic-user stepped onto The Bitch's foredeck. Instead of readying a spell, he picked up the cat next to him and launched her toward The Dauntless's mainmast with inhuman strength. The rest of the crew continued across the foredeck, bearing down on her with murder in their eyes.

Velus jumped backward onto The Dauntless's slanted deck and slid down to the starboard deckrail. Over on the maindeck, men screamed as the cat stood on the mast and rained daggers down onto the mercenaries. Velus noted the cat-girl wasn't aiming for the men directly but instead cut the ropes looped around the soldier's waists tied to the port deckrail. The men knew that falling into the water meant death and that knowledge came through in their terrified screams as they tumbled down the listing ship. The lucky ones hit the starboard-side rail and stopped, but their uncontrolled fall often left them with injuries. Those who missed the rail or tumbled over it barely got time to call for help before getting dragged underwater.

The mage shivered as she remembered the Dauntless's crew warning her away from the deckrails as they entered The Spine and told her about the sharks and other large fish swimming alongside the ship hoping for an easy meal.

Velus glared up at the women staring down at her from The Scarlet Bitch's bow with weapons at the ready. With the failure of the sleep spell they had the Dauntless at a disadvantage, but the crew seemed to be waiting for something.

"Kashka!" yelled a small voice from the top of the mainmast.

The cat sent one of her daggers spinning toward the water where it impacted a falling bottle. The resulting loud pop made Velus wince as the air surrounding the potion instantly filled with a dark purple gas. The cloud swirled for a moment before the wind swept it away. In its wake, the mercenary's leader hung limp from the rope securing him to the mainmast while a few of The Dauntless's crew lay slumped against the starboard deckrail where they chose to ride out the impact. Archers among the mercenaries used the cat's momentary distraction to brandish bows and chase her into the crow's nest.

Velus gritted her teeth. The bitches tried to do the same thing Darrow wanted her to do, but whoever dropped the potion from the top of the mast didn't take the ship's lean into account and nearly dropped it into the water instead. If it had landed on the deck this fight would already be over.

The Dauntless slowly righted itself as The Scarlet Bitch shoved it out of the way, bringing the decks of the two ships together. As soon as they regained their footing, the soldiers tugged the ropes' ends and unraveled the knots holding them in place.

A large cow-woman picked up a pale white monster girl and launched her onto The Dauntless. Her body unraveled as she flew through the air, carrying her over the mercenaries' heads. She looked like she was about to sail completely over the boat when a few tentacles shot down and grabbed the far deckrail as more launched backwards, extending to an impossible length before slapping into the backs of two men. Like a loosed slingshot, the tentacles retracted violently, lifting both mercenaries into the air, over the squid-girl's head, and off the ship. More soldiers ran forward with weapons drawn but the woman squeezed through the tiny gaps in the railing and disappeared over the side.

Women on The Scarlet Bitch's maindeck tossed a host of grappling hooks onto The Dauntless then looped their ropes around the anchor's capstan, locking the two vessels together.

Velus stared in amazement as the crew of monster girls prepared to board her ship. This was not at all how this was supposed to happen.

By the aft wheel, her employer screamed at the men on the maindeck. Many of the mercenaries stood ready to repel the attack, but a significant portion appeared to be waiting for orders from their now-unconscious leader. A shout from one of The Dauntless's crew informed them of their commander's condition. Just as quickly, a mercenary called out that their second-in-command's rope had been cut and he fell into the water. One of the men shouted toward the stairs belowdecks as the first women leapt across the gap.

---

Yalli saw the archers raise their bows toward her and curled into a ball as she soared across the gap between the ships. Arrows bounced off her plates just in time for her to unroll and land on the deck. Mercenaries raised their swords only to be gutted by the armadillo's massive claws designed for digging through hard dirt and clay. Those that did strike discovered their swords were no more effective than the arrows against her armor plates. Bludgeons were worthless against her and the few blades that did get through barely stung and only seemed to enrage the armadillo-girl further. Within seconds of Yalli touching the deck, the soldiers were back on their heels trying to keep the ferocious monster girl at bay.

---

Roka landed in a crouch behind Yalli but turned to make her way around the other side of the mainmast. On one arm she wore a kite shield, while in her other hand she wielded a scimitar as big as most the men in front of her. She usually needed two hands to hold the large blade, but Kal's strength spell made it seem no heavier than the smaller sword she usually practiced with.

Roka saw the archers nocking another arrow and brought up her shield, which looked more like a buckler in her hands. A fraction of a second later both men dropped clutching the elven arrows protruding from their chests. The bovine gave Tavorah a quick salute of thanks before swinging the huge sword in front of her. Wooden shields splintered and swords bent or flew from their wielder's hands as they tried to block the cow-woman's mighty swing.

She felt more than heard more women jump across from The Scarlet Bitch and smiled as she flipped her blade around and wound up for a powerful backswing.

---

More women jumped across the closing gap and took up positions next to their crewmates while the.

It all seemed surreal to Veles as she watched the elf loose a steady stream of deadly accurate arrows and the cat in the crow's nest joined in again with her daggers. These women's sheer ferocity and strength were decimating the men on deck. As the ship continued to level out it brought The Scarlet Bitch's mage back into view. She watched as he cast a strength spell on a silver-furred vixen with murder in her eyes before the monster-girl leapt across the gap and into the fray. The strength spell explained how these women were cutting down a trained fighting force so easily.

But the battle wasn't over. Arrows streaked toward the cat, elf and cow-woman from the stairs belowdecks. The first two women barely moved to the side and let the arrows pass while the bovine stopped the one fired at her with her shield. As the archers stepped aside and nocked another arrow, a flood of men began pouring out from belowdecks to bolster their struggling forces.

Darrow screamed at Veles to help the mercenaries, but The Scarlet Bitch's mage had her complete attention as he cast a few more strength spells then began walking towards her. The Dauntless had fully righted itself and the two ship's main decks were side-by-side but that had pulled the bows away from each other. A small glowing sprite hovering above the mage appeared to be reporting the progress of the main deck's battle as he jumped off the deckrail and floated across the gap to The Dauntless's foredeck.

"Tavorah and Kashka have taken out the archers and she's coming down the mast to help the girls below, Kal. Scarlet's joined in and Ratt just swung over. It looks like the rest of the girls still on board are throwing more grapples or trying to furl the sails," said the sprite. "Those on deck are barely holding their own and our side has taken a few losses.

Velus and the mage both glanced down at the maindeck where a couple of women were stumbling back from the front line clutching wounds and at least one lay unmoving on the deck.

Kal grimaced. "Then we'll have to finish this quickly. Ria, staff."

As the staff appeared in the man's hand, Velus said, "Liru, store my robe." The burgundy robe vanished into a mote of light as she reached up and pulled two curved daggers from a harness on her back.

As the daughter of a noble she was raised with the understanding that she would forever be a target for kidnappers, ruffians, or those just jealous of her wealth. Velus trained extensively with twin daggers growing up and had honed many of those skills since leaving home on her current quest.

But her quest was the problem. She was certain this man was the one she had been looking for. But he needed to prove himself first and with her largest crystal depleted she only had enough mana in her remaining two for some minor spells. It was nowhere near enough to test his proficiency with magic.

Gritting her teeth, she returned the blades to their sheaths. "I yield."

"A ploy?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. I think you are the person I seek, but I cannot test that here and now."

"Interesting. If you move from this spot before the battle is over, your life is forfeit."

Velus nodded while seething inside at being ordered around, but understood. Only a fool threw caution to the wind when turning their back to a magic-user.

The mage immediately dashed away and jumped down into the melee. The cat from the mast materialized beside him and together they pierced into the mercenaries. The other women formed up behind them, taking positions as directed by the red-haired human who matched the description of the other ship's captain. Within minutes, the last mercenary fell to the blood-soaked armadillo girl.

---

"Get them! Get them!" Darrow screamed at The Dauntless's crew. "Captain! Order your men to fight!"

The ship's captain just shook his head as the mage and The Scarlet Bitch's captain climbed the stairs to the quarterdeck. "If your soldiers couldn't stop them, my men have no chance," he said then darted to the side as his enraged employer drew his sword.

Darrow lunged at him. "Order your men to fight or I'll cut you down myself!"

"You should probably be more worried about me than chasing after your captain," said the mage.

He spun toward the magic-user and raised his sword.

Runes lit up on the mage's arms as he quickly closed the distance between them. To Darrow's surprise his sword didn't immediately slice through the man's wooden staff. The mage used the moment to spin the staff around and smack the inside of Darrow's leg, forcing him out of his stance. The Dauntless's owner was skilled with a sword and managed to mostly block the next few blows as he regained his footing but the mage still scored some hard hits on his upper arms.

With a burst of strength the mage knocked his sword wide but instead of going for a killing blow brough the staff down hard on Darrow's arm. It didn't break the bone, but the pain stole the strength from his grip and his sword clattered to the deck and he clutched his arm.

The mage whispered a word to his staff and the silver cap on the end grew into a wicked looking blade.

"What's your name?" said the mage, holding the spear at his throat.

"Crowell Darrow," he said as his face went pale.

"How much is your life worth?"

"What?" Darrow asked, confused.

"I have no reason to let you live," the man explained. "So I'm asking, how much is your life worth? All your possessions, contracts, and estates. Every, coin, concubine, and ship you own, give them all to me and I will not kill you."

Darrow smiled inside. He merely needed to play along until he could contact some of his people and any contract this man forced him to sign would be null and void. Then he could worry about getting revenge on The Intrepid's crew and the bastard in front of him. "Fine. If you don't kill me you can have it all. My land, ships, contracts, all of it. You can even have my whore of a wife for all I care."

The mage half-turned and shouted shouted, "Captains?!"

"Witnessed and heard," the mutinous captain of The Intrepid called out.

"Witnessed and heard," echoed The Dauntless's captain.

"Ria, is that good enough?" he asked, seemingly to the air around them.

"I think so," said the glowing sprite from the battle.

"Good, store his clothes," said the mage.

To Darrow's horror his red, gilded robe vanished from around his shoulders along with the rest of his clothing leaving him in nothing but his underwear. The man smiled as he stepped back and lowered the spear. "That'll do."

"Kal?" Asked the large cow-woman as she stepped up next to the mage.

He turned and began drawing a rune on the woman's arm. "I'm letting you know that I am a paying passenger on The Scarlet Bitch," he activated the red, glowing rune. "I'm not affiliated with its captain or crew and I do not speak for them."

confusion warred with humiliation and anger on Darrow's face. "Then what--"

"It means he won't kill you," said Roka. A swipe from her shield sent the man flying over the side of the ship, screaming in terror until he hit the water below. "But I still can."

---

Kal looked over at Kashka. "What the hell did I just do?"

The cat stared back at him with a look of surprise. "You didn't plan that ahead of time, did you?" she asked, but it was more of a statement than a question.

"If what Darrow said is binding then you just became owner of the largest slave trading enterprise in The Great River and Eastern Ocean," said the captain of The Dauntless. "You're also, coincidentally, my new employer. Captain Kolas, at your service."

"Oh my..."

"Let me guess, you didn't think this through at all," Scarlet asked.

Kal blushed. "Nope."

A loud thump from the direction of the stairs made everyone jump. The women standing nearby moved away to reveal Yalli collapsed on the deck. Kal rushed over and immediately began healing the woman. His eyes glowed blue as he watched the flows of magic heal her wounds. None of them seemed especially deep or life threatening but she did have quite a few cuts between her plates and even a few places where swords managed to pierce through.

The mage looked up at those gathered around. "I don't know why she collapsed."

"She collapsed like this after we took The Scarlet Bitch," said Roka. "She may just be exhausted. I know once your strength spell ran out I certainly was. I also had to drop my sword and grab one of the soldier's because I couldn't lift mine anymore."

Kal looked down at the maindeck where the elf tended to the wounded. "I'll worry about what I just did later. Tavorah needs my help," he said before vaulting over the quarterdeck railing and running over to the elf.

Watching him reach down and shove his hand between her breasts, Scarlet snarled, "This isn't the time for--Oh," she finished lamely.

"He was just giving her a mana crystal, Cap'n" said Kashka as Kal moved to the next woman and began healing her. "Tavorah's hands were busy so he needed somewhere else to put it."

Scarlet's expression softened when her eyes fell on the body of the silver vixen lying in a pool of blood. "What happened to her Roka? I wasn't on the ship yet."

"I think she went mad, Cap'n. We all know she was good with a blade, that's why she was with the vanguard. But before she went down she was holding her sword with both hands and chopping at them like they were firewood. I couldn't get to her in time to pull her away. As feral a she looked, she might have attacked me if I had tried."

"See if Kal can get her cleaned up, then send Emru back to The Gazelle to get Naura. Those two have been lovers for some time. She should be here."

Scarlet turned to the captain of The Dauntless and motioned for his sword. "Captain, order your men to the brig. We'll be down as soon as we can to speak with you about the future of this ship and its crew."

"I told me men to not lift a blade against you. I hope that counts for something," he said, handing her the weapon.

"It does," said Scarlet, "but some of us spent time on this ship in cages, and we haven't forgotten that."

"Fair enough," he said. Tipping his hat at Scarlet he began shouting for his crew to gather belowdecks as two armed women stepped up beside him. Most of his men were already in the ship's belly, only a few stayed above to trim the sails as needed. His escorts directed the former captain over toward Kal where they asked the mage to refresh their strength spells before dealing with the rest of the ship's crew.

With both ships' sails furled, the tethered ships drifted gently through The Spine until they passed near a thick spike of rock jutting out of the water. Emru swam one of the heavy mooring lines around the spire and back to The Dauntless to stop them from drifting further. The whale then had the somber task of fetching Naura from The Gazelle.

The crew of the smaller ship had dropped anchor to prevent crashing into the rear of The Scarlet Bitch or any of the surrounding rocks. But as Roka stated there was not enough crew aboard to lift the anchor again. They were effectively stranded.

The waters around The Dauntless frothed as sharks and other predators fought over the mercenaries' bodies. Where the crew was shown leniency, the soldiers were not. Any found wounded but still alive were dispatched and tossed overboard. The mercenary leader woke up long enough for Roka to show him what happened to the rest of his troop before throwing him overboard without the courtesy of killing him first.

Kal used his magic to clean the blood from the battle and arranged the fox's body in a resting pose. Tavorah sewed her wounds closed as Ratt fetched some of the fox's clothes from The Scarlet Bitch to cover her.

The elf looked up at Kal as they pulled her shirt down over her torso. "Any of those were deep enough to kill her. That she continued fighting long enough to get the rest of these... I can't imagine what was going through her head."

Naura's arrival was a solemn moment. The otter cradled the fox-girl's head in her lap howled for many long minutes as the rest of the crew stood silently by. As the intensity of her anguished wails faded, some of the other crew came over and hugged Naura or rested a hand on her shoulder or back if there wasn't room, their sobs joining the those of the grieving otter-girl.

Naura gave Kal a half-smile as he knelt beside the fox's legs. "She said she would never be put in a cage again. I guess she was right."

"Captain Scarlet said funerals had to be quick at sea, but hated that her final resting place would be beside those who killed her," he said, then looked at the sprite on his shoulder, "Ria?"

The avatar floated forward. "I normally wouldn't do this, but I can keep her body as it is right now until we get out of The Spine and have a proper burial."

Naura considered the offer for a few moments, then asked, "Can we bury her ashore? She grew up in the woods and always talked about building a place in the forest with a river nearby for me. If we can, I'd like to bury her somewhere like that."

Kal looked up at Scarlet who nodded her head. "Since we have this opportunity, we'll look for a matching place along the Azum shoreline. Plenty of it is wooded."