AS TRISTAN READ TRAAX’S BATTLE REPORT, HIS HEARTfell. Nearly a quarter of his warriors were dead, as were a third of the highlander horsemen. Rafe, Ox, Scars, and Duvessa had survived, but even they had been shaken by the recent battle’s savagery. Despite his losses, Tristan planned to start the final assault on the Recluse within the hour.
From the bow deck of theTammerland, Tristan looked out over the bloody field. The midday sun was bright. Flies and carrion birds had started gathering on the corpses, to avail themselves of the unexpected feast. Wigg and Shailiha stood quietly beside Tristan, waiting for him to give the order. Aside from the three of them, theTammerland ’s topside was deserted. So were the topsides of the other three Black Ships, resting nearby in their earthen cradles. Seeing the vessels’ decks without warriors or highlander horsemen atop them suddenly seemed strange, the prince realized.
By his order, every fighter waited in the sweltering areas belowdecks on their respective ships. So too did Adrian’s acolytes, whom Tristan had been holding in reserve and whose numbers had been equally divided among the four vessels. As the ships neared the castle he wanted everyone hidden from attack until the last possible moment. Faegan, Aeolus, and Jessamay were aboard their vessels. When they saw theTammerland lift into the air they would immediately empower the ships and follow her.
Tired of battle plans and casualty reports, Tristan angrily tore up the parchments he was reading and cast them to the wind. The pieces flew away as quickly as had the warriors’ and horsemen’s lives accounted for on their pages. He looked down at the deck, thinking.
The Black Ships had been readied according to his plan, the fighters were itching to go, and the Conclave mystics knew their jobs. There was nothing left to do but to give the order. As he thought about the impending battle, he could feel hisK’Shari Forestallment churning his blood as never before, begging to be unleashed. But as he stared back at the mighty Recluse, his heart remained unsure.
Taking a step closer, Wigg put one hand on Tristan’s shoulder. “There is nothing more to be done,” he said quietly.
Shailiha gave her brother a supportive smile. “Wigg is right,” she said. “It’s time.”
Tristan took a deep breath. “All right,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Tristan led Wigg and Shailiha toward the bow hatch and down the stairway. One deck down, he exited the steps and entered a hallway.
After escorting Wigg and Shailiha into a specially prepared room, Tristan shut the door. He knew that Faegan, Aeolus, and Jessamay would be seated in similar chambers aboard their respective vessels as they waited nervously for theTammerland to lift into the air. Adrian and all the acolytes stationed aboard theTammerland were there waiting for them. Tyranny and Abbey were also present.
Tristan glanced around the room. The aft wall was flat and held the door through which they had just come. The sidewalls curved with the ship’s hull, and their opposite ends joined to form the point of the ship’s bow. Tristan had ordered Minion carpenters to cut rectangular viewing ports into the hull, one on each side of the bow joint. Each window was a meter wide by half a meter high, and was angled to provide an excellent view forward. As he and Shailiha neared the port window, Wigg and Tyranny walked to the starboard one. Tristan gave Wigg a knowing look.
“Are you ready?” he asked. “Remember, we must have as much momentum as possible for this to work.”
Wigg nodded. “I understand,” he answered. “And may the Afterlife be with us.”
Tristan turned and looked at Sister Adrian and the acolytes. He knew that they were nervous; everyone was. But he also knew that when the time came, they would do their duties.
“And you?” he asked them. “Is each of you ready to do her part? If you don’t work as a team, thousands will die needlessly. Remember-do not use your gifts until you hear my order. Until then you must save your power.”
“We understand,” Adrian answered for the group. Then the normally staid First Sister gave Tristan a wry smile. “Let’s go and kill some Vagaries servants,” she added softly.
The First Wizard turned his attention toward his window. Wigg raised his hands. Almost at once theTammerland ’s great bulk lifted from her earthen cradle and into the air. Soon the ship was flying over the bloody battlefield and heading straight for the Recluse.
As theTammerland gained momentum, the aft door opened and Traax appeared. “The other ships are also in the air, my lord,” he said. “They are matching our speed and following us in single file.”
“Good,” Tristan answered. “Alert me at once if anything changes. Otherwise, you know your orders. And good luck.”
Traax clicked his heels and hurried from the room. Tristan turned back toward Wigg. The wizard was shaking noticeably as he tried to grant theTammerland all the speed that he could.
Soon the ship started to shake, and her timbers groaned from the strain being placed on her. Tyranny shot Tristan a worried glance. As the Black Ships tore over the body-strewn battlefield, Tristan unsheathed his sword; Shailiha and Tyranny did the same.
Just then they all heard an explosion, and the ship rocked violently. While Wigg struggled to keep theTammerland on course, Tristan looked to the Recluse. The expected bombardment had started.
From atop the fortress walls, Serena’s consuls were hurling azure bolt after azure bolt toward the attacking fleet. The bolts came in such great numbers that their combined glow lit up the sky. Wigg had confirmed that the Black Ships were built to withstand a certain amount of endowed bombardment. But even he couldn’t be sure if they would hold together if Serena’s consuls attacked in force.
Suddenly another azure bolt slammed into the ship, this one striking the deck directly above Tristan and his friends. The topside planks shattered, then speared threateningly down into the room as pointed shards of black wood rained down. The bolt’s power forced the ship to angle down dangerously, and nearly plow headlong into the earth. Straining to his utmost, Wigg righted her again. Suddenly another bolt went whizzing by to narrowly miss the starboard bow. With a great explosion it plunged into the ground and exploded. Tons of dirt and sod went flying into the air. As the bombardment intensified and the explosions grew louder, everyone in the room hung on and hoped for the best.
With the coming of the bombardment, Tristan worried about how the other ships were faring. The single-file formation had been his idea. The narrower their profile facing Serena’s consuls, the less damage the ships would incur. But this strategy also made theTammerland the prime target. Faegan commanded the next ship in line. If theTammerland went down, the crippled wizard would lead the charge.
Just then another bolt hit the flagship, this one sending her plummeting out of control. Tristan watched in horror as theTammerland angled downward so steeply this time that all he could see from his window was bloody grass, and the scattered bodies left behind on the battlefield.
Adrian didn’t want to go against Tristan’s orders, but she knew there was no choice. She immediately raised her arms. As she and Wigg strained mightily, Tristan felt theTammerland ’s bow start rising. He held his breath as he wondered whether it would come up in time.
Just as the ship leveled she hit hard and her metal keel plowed a gouge in the earth. As theTammerland skidded dangerously across the bloody grass, Shailiha and some of the acolytes were thrown to the floor. Straining with everything they had, Wigg and Adrian managed to take the violently weaving ship skyward again.
Azure bolts rained down with greater ferocity, and the ship suffered another direct hit, forcing her to rock sickeningly. Tristan heard a mast crash down atop the deck above. Then another mast crashed, this one landing atop the bow area. To his horror, he suddenly smelled smoke. He spun around to see a dark plume drifting down through the damage that had opened up in the deck above, and he knew.
The sizzling azure bolts had set theTammerland afire. But with no warriors stationed topside, little could be done about it. Acrid smoke poured into the room, and everyone started coughing. The acolytes were able to use the craft and rid the room of smoke. But the fires above had already become so intense that there was little the women could do about them.
Coughing violently, Tristan helped Shailiha stand, then looked out the starboard window. So many azure bolts were raining down that they seemed to crowd out the sky, and they thundered into the earth in such numbers that the air was literally filled with smoke, flying dirt, and clumps of sod. Tristan strained his eyes to look at the Recluse. Wigg had them dead on course again, and the blazingTammerland was picking up speed.
Then another bolt hit the flagship, nearly throwing Tristan and Shailiha to the floor. TheTammerland ’s groaning timbers and the fire raging topside made him wonder what was keeping her together. He helped his sister to her feet.
Tristan looked toward the Recluse again. The time had come. He turned toward the waiting acolytes.
“Now!” he shouted. “You must do it now!”
The acolytes immediately called the craft and joined their powers. Raising their arms, they sent azure beams forward to fortify the bow joint where the port and starboard walls met. As the beams saturated the walls and their connecting joint, the black exterior of the ship’s bow started to glow with an icy blue.
Tristan snapped his head around to look out the starboard window again. As the ship closed on the Recluse, he nodded to Tyranny. She quickly gazed over Wigg’s shoulder to help him stay on course while the wizard strained to give the vessel every last bit of speed.
“Come five degrees to port!” she screamed. His muscles nearly cracking, Wigg steered a course correction.
“Too far!” Tyranny shouted. “Come back two degrees!”
A sense of helplessness gripped Tristan as he realized that he no longer controlled the situation. Now everything depended on Wigg, Tyranny, and the acolytes. Wrapping one arm around Shailiha, he grabbed a wall cleat and braced himself. He looked out the window again. The great ship was still dead on course and gaining speed.
“Steady!” he heard Tyranny shout. Amid all the noise and explosions, her voice might as well have been a distant whisper. “Steady…”
Forty meters to the Recluse, Tristan guessed. Thirty, twenty, ten…
With a massive crash, Wigg set theTammerland down directly atop the stone bridge spanning the muddy lake bed. Sparks flew from her metal-lined keel as she screeched agonizingly against the rough stones and tore across the bridge toward the Recluse.
In a massive explosion of wood and iron, theTammerland ’s bow plowed straight into the Recluse drawbridge.
Everyone was thrown to the floor as the fortified bow smashed through the wooden drawbridge, obliterating it. As the ship jammed her bow through the stone drawbridge arch, her abrupt stop brought her stern into the air. Then her keel crashed back down atop the wide bridge in a cacophony of broken wood, split stone, and mortar dust. Tristan held his breath as he wondered whether the bridge would hold the ship’s weight. It did. But with no cradle in which to rest, she would soon heel over to port or starboard on her deeply curved hull. If she rolled too far, all could be lost.
Tristan scrambled to his feet and ran to his window. His plan had worked! TheTammerland ’s bow had obliterated the raised drawbridge, and it protruded deeply though the stone archway that had once surrounded it.
Suddenly theTammerland started to heel far to port. With her bow still held fast by the archway, it was being literally twisted away from the ship’s hull. As her massive black timbers groaned and snapped, the room holding Tristan and his group started to drunkenly roll. In mere seconds theTammerland would break away from her bow altogether, heel all the way over, and tumble off the bridge. Tristan frantically turned to look at Wigg and the acolytes.
“Now!” he screamed. “Bring her about!”
Wigg and the women raised their hands again. While azure bolts continued to rain down and fires still raged topside, they struggled with all their might to free the ship. To his delight, Tristan suddenly felt theTammerland right herself and move astern. With a great wrenching sound, she freed her bow from the stone archway. As the ship retreated, the archway lintel and parts of its surrounding walls fell in, accompanied by shards of black, battered wood.
At once Wigg and the acolytes rotated their arms, and the massive ship pivoted in the air to again land atop the bridge. But this time her stern faced the castle. Tristan felt her settle; then he heard the huge stern door drop open and his fighters start charging off the vessel.
Tristan ran to take Adrian by the shoulders. “You know your orders!” he shouted. “You must stay aboard and keep theTammerland balanced on the bridge until everyone is off! Then get out of here! After that, if you have no choice but to let her tumble onto the lake bed, do it!”
“I will!” Adrian shouted. “And good luck!”
Tristan and the others left the room to go charging down the hallway. They finally reached the stern stairway and ran down to theTammerland ’s lowest deck.
By the time they reached the stern launching area, pandemonium reigned. Just outside the lowered hatch, azure bolts were exploding everywhere, and warriors and red envelopers were crisscrossing the air between the ship and the castle. Minions by the hundreds were hurtling themselves off the hatchway deck, trying to get airborne. Struck down by azure bolts or quickly seized by envelopers, many died before they could snap open their wings. Angry shrews prowled the muddy lake bottom, greedily feeding on fallen warriors both living and dead. So many screams cut through the air that they combined to form an uninterrupted cry of anguish.
Tristan stared out the hatchway to see the remains of the drawbridge archway. Behind him, hundreds of mounted highlander horsemen waited for the first waves of warriors to clear a path so that they could charge across the bridge and into the Recluse. But shrews by the hundreds stood in their way atop the bridge, fighting the Minions and making an advance impossible.
When the warriors realized that theirJin’Sai had arrived, they quickly cleared a pathway for Tristan and his group. They soon reached the stern hatchway. Just meters away, shrews, envelopers, and Minions were dying in droves as the terrible battle seesawed back and forth atop the bridge and smoke-filled air. As his hand closed tighter around his dreggan, Tristan searched the sky.
Where are you? his heart begged. We need you now!
Just then the sky went black as the keels of the other three Black Ships loomed overhead. With the acolytes aboard them empowering the vessels, Faegan, Jessamay, and Aeolus were finally free to do some death-dealing of their own.
At once azure bolts tore from gunwales of the Black Ships to strike the Recluse. Following Tristan’s orders, the acolytes were keeping their ships high. This meant that the only targets Serena’s consuls had were the ships’ keels, while the wizards and the sorceress rained destruction from above.
Azure bolts tore into the guard paths lining the tops of the castle’s red-stained walls. Parts of the barbicans exploded, bringing screaming consuls down with them. Many were on fire as they fell to the mud and the floor of the inner ward. Then more bolts rained down, this time tearing into the herds of shrews barring the castle side of the bridge. Shrews and warriors alike exploded and blew skyward. Tristan mourned the warriors, but he knew that their deaths couldn’t be helped. Soon a gap in the fighting opened up, allowing a brief window of opportunity to cross the bridge and storm into the Recluse. Refusing to wait any longer, Tristan turned around to look searchingly at the women he cared so much about. Then he turned to Wigg.
“Watch over them,” he said.
“On my life,” Wigg answered.
After giving Shailiha a final look of farewell, Tristan turned to face the fighting. Closing his eyes, he raised his arms and called on hisK’Shari Forestallment. At once he felt it surging through his blood, strengthening his heart and calming his mind for battle.
But this time he sensed something more. The hundreds of martial techniques the Forestallment held suddenly burst through his mind and his nervous system, granting him their immediate use. Opening his eyes, he was about to charge across the bridge when he heard a familiar voice.
“Not so fast, dango!” Rafe called out. “Let me give you a ride!”
Tristan turned to see Rafe and his highlanders charging down the path opened by the warriors when theirJin’Sai had entered the room. As the highlander chieftain neared, Tristan smiled.
Tristan stretched out his left arm. As Rafe charged by, their two hands locked in a firm grip. With hisK’Shari Forestallment active, theJin’Sai ’s movements had become one with him, like there was no longer any need for conscious thought. Tristan effortlessly threw himself up onto the horse’s back, just behind Rafe.
Their swords held high in the afternoon sun, Tristan and Rafe charged across the bridge and into the heart of the Recluse.