Thief by Night

The pirates of Hobnail attempt to recapture their airship.

10.

Thief by Night

 

The crews of The Ogre and The Yellow Jackal possessed the devil-may-care cockiness of their kind due to their assurance of the information from their spies.   Sent forth by their chief on the spur of the moment, they relished in the swashbuckler adventure of an impromptu raid to the very capital of the Losasidhe kingdom, to reclaim the captured Locust from the snow elves.

Cloaking their ships in arcane fog, they waited until the depth of night to descend upon the volcano island town.     The spies had promised them that there would be little activity that late, as the crew of the Losasidhe airship were sleeping before taking part in the trap set for them.

 

In complete silence they descended upon the elven capital and before them were The North Wind and The Locust, tethered to the Losasidhe’s new docking platform on the edge of the island, close to the water.

The crew grinned upon finding no guards around the platform nor any activity or lights coming from either ship.

“All sleeping off their feast,” Captain Branov of The Ogre said to his crew as they hovered overhead, “Rather than risk a fight, we’ll just steal ‘em.    Send a couple of the lads down and untie both ships’ mooring ropes, then bring ‘em up here and tie ‘em to the mast.   We’ll just tow them away behind us!   Those pointy-eared fools won’t even know they’re gone ‘til dawn.”

 

Cautiously, the pirates crept aboard both ships, but the decks were deserted and no sound was heard.     Minutes later, one of the mooring ropes from each ship was tossed over and lashed to the masts of The Ogre and The Yellow Jackal.

 

“This is simply too easy!”   Captain Branov called to Captain Sordex of The Yellow Jackal from the deck of his ship.

“Aye, but let’s get out of here.     Let ‘em wonder what happened to their ships.    Stealth is best.”

“Aye; wait until my lads are back aboard and we’ll be off.”

 

Soon all the pirates had rejoined their companions on their ships and Captains Branov and Sordex ordered that the drag anchors be hauled up, while each ship’s wizard chanted an arcane breeze to set them off before any of the sleeping Losasidhe knew they were there.

The spells filled the two ships. sails and they moved forward in the arcane wind, until they reached the limit of the mooring ropes connecting them to The North Wind and The Locust.   

Suddenly they stopped as if they were tied firmly to thick trees.

 

“What the hell?”  Captain Branov cursed, glancing over the edge of his ship in the darkness to see if in their haste, his men had forgotten to pull up the drag anchors of the two vessels they had in tow.

“Morris!    You and your men pulled up The Locust’s drag anchors, didn’t you?”  He called to his Second Mate, who had led the group to check out the ship.

“Aye, Captain - and Sordex’s men pulled up the elven ship’s anchors too!”

 

Perplexed, Branov stared over the edge, and then glanced off the starboard side to The Yellow Jackal.  It too was straining at the end of the thick rope connecting it to The North Wind as if the elven ship was a huge rock.

“We’re held fast!”   Sordex yelled over to him from his ship - something was keeping the two from moving.

From somewhere on the island below them, horns were sounding, raising an alarm.

“We’ve been discovered!”   Branov yelled back across, “It looks like we’ve got to abandon them.    Cut ‘em loose and we’ll get away before any of the elves can board ‘em and pursue us.”

“Aye!   Damned luck!”   Sordex replied, and then turning to his men called out, “Cut the mooring tether!”

Sordex’s men quickly chopped the rope connecting it to The North Wind while aboard his ship, his men cut the rope to The Locust.

Bracing himself for a sudden rush forward as soon as the lines were cut, Branov froze in position for a few moments, watching the cut rope fall free from his ship.

But The Ogre still didn’t move.

“What?!  What’s holding us?  Morris!   Cut all the mooring ropes connecting us to The Locust!”

“There was only one, Cap’n and its cut!   We should be moving!”

Below them, a large line of torches and magic lamps could be seen approaching the Losasidhe docking platform.

“Damnation!    Neither ship is moving!    We’re frozen in place!   Morris, get the wizard up here on the double!   We’ll need a Dispel Magic spell!”

“He’ll ask me what you want him to cast it on, cap’n!”

“How would I know?     Be quick about it, they’ve reached the docking platform - they’ll be boarding their ships soon!”

Before Morris could respond or act, there suddenly came a loud series of booms, coming from The Locust.    An instant later, large iron balls crashed through the rear starboard of The Ogre, tearing chunks from the deck and hull.    Pirates screamed as the balls killed several standing on the quarter deck.

The pirate captain glanced across and saw some large tubes sticking through the ballista ports of The Locust.   The tubes were pointed at them at an angle.     The Yellow Jackal, being directly in front of The Locust was shielded from attack, but his own ship was in the line of fire of the weapons.

There came a second series of booms, which, unknown to Captain Branov, were sonic booms from the force of the arcane cannons sending their heavy iron cannon balls forward faster than the speed of sound.

The second volley did considerable destruction, and to his horror he saw Morris and the ship’s wizard lying dead amid the debris.    

“We’ve got to take the fight to ‘em!”  He yelled out to his men, but they were in a state of panic and didn’t hear his rallying cry.

Elves were pouring onto the docking platform and onto The North Wind.   If any of the strange tube weapons were aboard the elven ship, it would find The Yellow Jackal as easy of a target as The Ogre was to The Locust.

 

On the deck of The Locust appeared two figures, a man and a woman.     The man put his hand to his face and suddenly his voice was magically amplified and projected loudly to everyone in the vicinity.

“Captains of the pirate ships!   Surrender at once or you’ll be destroyed.    Our cannons have plenty of ammunition, and your ships are held fast.     Surrender and you’ll live.”

“What assurance do we have?”   Branov yelled back across, knowing that escape was as unlikely as victory.

“I give you the assurance of the Losasidhe King!   Throw down your arms at once and have your men stand upon the decks of your ships with their hands above their heads.    They will not be killed or harmed if they surrender.”

Branov glanced over at The Yellow Jackal and found that Sordex and his men had already begun to comply.    With a frustrated sigh, he gave the order, unbuckled his cutlass belt and raised his hands in the air.

 

***

Half an hour later he and Sordex stood on the deck of The Locust, surrounded by elven guards.    Before him stood the Losasidhe King, the captain of the elven airship, an strikingly beautiful redheaded elven woman, and the tall, thin, elven man who had demanded their surrender.   

“Who are you, anyway?”   Branov asked the young man.

“I am Muld Mozzil, a Practical Magician.”

“Practical Magician?   What do those ‘cannons’ do, anyway?”

To the pirate captain’s surprise, Muld happily explained their function to him. 

“I can’t believe a magician stopped us.    But I don’t see how you held our ships fast.”

Muld grinned, “Well, actually, you did it to yourselves, captain.”

“What?”

“There is a practical magic spell called ‘Anchor’ which is used to secure things such as posts or poles, but it also is used on ropes to keep things in place.   Most of the time it is used during the enchantment process to keep something stationary while it is being enchanted.      When it is used on a rope, it secures whatever is tied to it in place.    I had the spell cast on all the mooring ropes of both ships at the docking station.   I figured you’d try to pull the ships behind you.”

“I still don’t see how it works.”

“It’s simple - when the spell is cast on a rope, the rope itself can be moved and lifted, but whatever it is tied to, that object is frozen in place until the knot is untied.”

“Alright, but why didn’t we break free when we cut the ropes connecting our ships to the other two?”

“Because it isn’t the rope itself that keeps something in place, but where the knot is.   When you tied the mooring ropes to your ships, those two knots anchored your ships in place as soon as your ships pulled the rope tight.   When you cut the mooring ropes, you still had the knots tied to your ships on the other end of the cut rope.    Cutting the rope does not dispel the effect; only untying the knots after they were activated.”

“You mean that if we had untied the mooring ropes instead of cutting them, our ships would have moved?”   Branov asked, incredulous.  

“Yes, but in your haste to escape, I’d hoped you’d not think of that, and you didn’t.   Now we have three captured pirate ships and after the Losasidhe wizards interrogate your men, we’ll know more about your master, Hobnail.”

Branov scowled at the Practical Magician, “You’re a smart fellow, aren’t you?    If I ever get free from here and find you, I’ll gut you like a pig.”

Muld smiled weakly, “Spoken like a true outlaw.”

Without further comment, Branov was led across the gangplank onto the docking station with the others.

 

***

 

“That was quite impressive, Master Muld,”   King Eiolmoel said to Muld the following morning after everyone had rested from the late night activities.

“Thank you, Your Highness, but it could not have been accomplished without the information that Syndi provided.”    He bowed slightly to the princess, who was standing beside him before the throne.     Queen Synthaeia shifted slightly on her throne, hiding her irritation over Muld’s success.

“Both of you make a brilliant team,”   The king admitted, and now Derych shifted slightly, smiling a weak, forced smile and darting a glance at the queen for sympathy.

“Thanks,” Muld and Syndi said in unison.

“So Master Muld, what are your plans now?”   

“Well, Your Majesty, that is something I would like to speak to you about.    I would still like to take the first airship - which I’ve learned is named ‘The Locust’- back to Westmark to fit it out into a more formidable vessel.    I have always dreamed of owning my own airship and it would make voyages much more convenient.    If you would permit this, I would leave the six cannons and the ammunition here.   I’d recommend putting two cannons - one on each side- on The North Wind and the other two pirate ships.   I will commence designing more cannons and will send enough to fortify each ship with twelve cannons.   I’ll also send molds and instructions for crafting cannon balls.”

“That sounds very fair, Master Muld,”    King Eiolmoel responded.

“I will also be glad to design and install vacuum tube engines as most of Marksylvania’s air fleet possess, though that may take a while.”

“I will pay for the materials and craft of the engines, as well as their installation, Master Muld.    It is the least that I can do to repay you for the capture of the pirate ships.”

“This won’t stop the pirates.”   Derych spoke up, “I overheard one of the pirates’ interrogations this morning --- Hobnail has nine other airships and our capture of three of his ships will certainly lead to retaliation.”

Muld nodded, “That is why it is essential to build up an air fleet with the best weaponry.     Lord Derych, I am fully committed to doing all I can - as quickly as possible- to build this fleet.”

“But that takes time, Master Muld, and during that delay, all we will have is three airships, all wind powered, and one of the two pirate ships suffered heavy damage from your cannons.”   Derych argued.

Muld looked at the king, “Perhaps, Your Majesty, Marksylvania could loan several of their airships to patrol until we can finish the project.”

King Eiolmoel considered this option for a moment, then spoke, “I will contact King Eleazar and discuss the situation.   Since the pirates are harassing both kingdoms as well as the dwarven realm, an alliance of forces would be beneficial to all of us.   Master Muld, you go ahead with your plans and we will formulate our own strategy.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.    With your permission, I will leave for Westmark as soon as I can secure enough of a crew to pilot The Locust.”

Derych turned to Syndi with his most charming smile.   “Princess Synthaeia, I hope you plan to stay and grace this court with your lovely presence.”

Syndi smiled sweetly, but to Muld’s delight, shook her head, “No, Lord Derych, I am afraid I can’t.    As you heard, the Practical Magician’s Guild is about to get extremely busy.”

Derych smiled a scornful smile.   “Yes, but surely you could be spared.”

“No, I am essential to the team, isn’t that right Master Muld?”

“Essential,” Muld agreed, “She’s my chief assistant.”

Syndi looked a bit surprised, but quickly hid it from the others.

“A pity,” Derych said with a slow sigh, “I have so enjoyed our time together.”

Syndi shrugged as if it was unavoidable.   “Duty calls, I’m afraid.”

Derych suddenly took her hand in his and kissed it while saying, “I look forward to your return, Your Highness.”

“It may be some time, Lord Derych, we will be busy for many months, won’t we Master Muld?”

“Many months,” Muld repeated happily.

“Well, we still have today and tonight as well,” Derych retorted, still turning on the charm, “Perhaps we can dance again this evening?”

Syndi shrugged.   “Perhaps… Master Muld, shouldn’t we see to removing the cannons to the other airships and instructing some of the wizards on their use before we leave?”

“Yes… I was just thinking that, in fact.”   He turned to the king with a bow, “With your permission, Your Majesty.”

“Absolutely!   We will see you both later this evening.”

 

Before Muld could even move, Syndi was already hurrying out of the throne room.    Muld rushed after her.

Reviews

[Elina]

"The spells filled the two ships sails..." I believe "ships" should have an apostrophe after the "s."
"...his men had forgot to pull up the drag anchors..." I think "forgot" should be "forgotten." ?
"It too was straining at the end of the thick rope connecting it to The North Wind as if the elven ship was a huge rock." This sentence is a little difficult/awkward. Perhaps a little rewording would help simplify.
"...the ship’s wizard laying dead amid the debris." Here, "laying" should be replaced with "lying."
"...Sordex and his men had already began to comply." You might change "began" to "begun."
"...an extremely beautiful redheaded elven woman..." Perhaps, instead of using "extremely beautiful," use a single word that conveys that beauty, such as "striking," "enchanting," "mesmerizing," etc.
"I will commence to designing..." Maybe, change this to something along the lines of "I will commence designing..."

[Eddie Davis]

Thanks, Elina