Sea Dragon (Dragon Knights Book 9) (25 page)

The middle ship swerved into the one next to it, colliding heavily and causing major damage.

“Hrardorr just took out the middle vessel,”
Seth reported to those who were waiting to hear in the Lair and in the sky above.
“The farthest ship is listing heavily to one side, probably taking on water, and the one next to it is tilting.”

In fact, it was hovering at an obscene angle, its mast clashing against the mast of the ship next to it that was already sinking.

“It’s mast hit the other mast, and they’re both going down.”

Men began jumping into the water and swimming for the shore, but Seth had to worry about the two ships that were left, which were still moving quickly closer.

Closer…

Closer…

“Fire!” Seth dropped his sword, signaling the farthest cannon to fire even as the enemy opened fire on them. The volley of flame and iron went back and forth, causing destruction on both sides. The rock wall was built thick for a reason, but now, large chunks of it were scarred and missing. It held, but it was damaged.

More successful shots in the same spots would crumble it. It was up to them to make sure the enemy didn’t get a second chance.

“The walls are holding for now,”
Seth reported.

Though out of practice, the harbor crews did a decent job. They were able to score several direct hits on the nearest vessel and at least one or two on the next closest, though it was somewhat blocked by the closer hull. Both began to list even as they sped past.

“Two slipped through, damaged, but still moving.”
Seth gave the signal to the guns farther into the harbor to take aim and fire at will. The harbormaster was in charge closer to the town, and he would see to them while Seth worked on the next wave of five ships, already on approach.
“Second wave is lining up.”

The line was somewhat staggered this time by the need to navigate around the three ships that were lumbering slowly, heavily damaged. Good. The staggered approach would give Seth’s gun teams more time and opportunities to fire. It would also mean the fresh gun crews on each of those ships would have the same, but there was Hrardorr to consider as well.

The moment Seth thought that, the farthest ship careened wildly off course, smashing into the vessel closest to it. And then, that one veered into the one next to it. Then that trio piled into the ships that were still limping along, sinking as they moved, from the first wave.

“Nice work, Hrardorr! Whatever you’re doing, keep it up,”
Seth spared a moment to send.

“Messing with their rudders seems to be more effective than anything else, though poking holes in the hull is good fun,”
Hrardorr said with a hint of glee in his deep voice. The old bastard sounded like he was having fun, and Seth got a hint of how Hrardorr must’ve been before his injury, as a fighting dragon, taking on the enemy from the air.

“Keep having fun, by all means,”
Seth encouraged.
“You’re well on your way to taking out most of the ships coming at us almost single-handedly. Just stay out of the line of fire. If we miss, the cannonballs sink at speed. I don’t want you hit by accident.”

“Yes, mother,”
Hrardorr teased, in the best mood Seth had ever witnessed from the dragon.
“I’m going to work on the third wave now. Be aware of the smaller boats attached to the larger vessels. They’re probably going to use them to come ashore and fight hand-to-hand.”

“Now who’s acting like my mother?”
Seth felt invigorated by the battle, the blood singing in his veins. He saw the small boats making for shore, along with the swimmers off the less fortunate ships. He knew they were going to be fighting shortly, man to man, sword to sword, and frankly, he couldn’t wait.

How dare these pirates attack a peaceful town? How dare they attack his people? His family? How
dare
they?

Hrardorr took out each and every one of the third wave of ships, effectively creating a blockage in the harbor mouth that the rest of the enemy fleet couldn’t get through in their large vessels. They started sending the smaller boats out, filled with armed fighters, but Seth didn’t see much more than that because, just then, the first of the enemy fighters made their way onto shore near him. Seth waited only to give the signal, loosing the reserve troops he’d had secreted behind the gun batteries.

And then, the battle was engaged.

Seth got to use his new sword, christening the sharp edge with enemy blood.

“I don’t like this.”
Gowan grumbled to his dragon partner.

He detested hiding from the enemy arrows, but by the same token, he couldn’t risk the dragons. For it was the dragons who would pay the price for confronting this pirate fleet without due thought and preparation.

“I don’t either,”
Genlitha admitted,
“but it won’t be for much longer. As soon as the ships with the dragon-killers on board sink, we’ll go down and engage them in the harbor. You knights can shore up the fighters on land while we dragons burn the damaged ships where they sit, creating a more dangerous barrier to the rest of the enemy fleet.”

That was the best plan their leaders had come up with, but it still felt wrong to Gowan. He felt like he should be doing more.

“Hrardorr is going to have all the fun if we can’t get down there soon. He’s pretty amazing.”
Truth be told, Gowan was heartily impressed at what the blind dragon was accomplishing all by himself.

Gowan had no idea how Hrardorr could perceive anything underwater. It must be some sense other than sight, but what it was, he had no clue. Something specific to his sea dragon heritage, no doubt. Gowan thought there were going to be a lot of questions asked in the Lair when Hrardorr returned. Maybe he’d finally get a bit more respect from the other dragons after this day’s work.

“Yes, he is.”
Genlitha sounded almost wistful.
“He always was. When he was younger…”
She trailed off as they watched yet another ship tilt wildly into its neighbor.

“They’re engaging the ground troops now,”
Gowan observed.
“Come on. When are we going to get the order to join in?”

“We should already be down there.”
Genlitha sounded as if she disapproved of the leaders’ rather cautious battle plan.
“Seth is fighting a group of them,”
she reported, her sharp eyesight able to pick out individuals where Gowan could only see shapes of people from this distance.
“He’s doing well, but when that other boat lands, they’re going to be outnumbered.”

Gowan was through with waiting.
“Can you get me down there without putting yourself in too much danger?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go. He needs help, and I’m sick of sitting on my ass, watching.”

Genlitha launched from her perch on a rocky crag high above. Silently, she plummeted downward, using all her flying skill to get her down fast, before any weapons could be launched at her delicate wings. In fact, she kept her wings folded tight to her back until the last possible moment, increasing her speed beyond anything Gowan had experienced before, but he trusted her. She knew what he could handle. He never questioned her judgment when it came to flying. That was her expertise and he trusted it—and her—with his life.

Genlitha landed quickly, and Gowan jumped off her back, his sword already drawn. He hit the ground running, even as she lifted off again, riderless.

Gowan ran into the fray, swinging his sword and shouting his battle cry. It had been a long time since he’d been in a ground action, but it was something he had been doing most of his life. That was his area of expertise, and he didn’t waste time finding his way to his newest, and perhaps most naturally talented, student’s side.

“Nice of you to join us.” Seth fought off an enemy soldier even as Gowan reached him. They turned back to back, as Gowan had taught him, each one guarding each other’s back.

“The so-called leaders are still hiding up top, but I figured I could be of better use down here. Can’t let you have all the fun.” Gowan grinned even as he faced a new opponent. The other man took one look at Gowan’s face, and his well-worn and bloody sword, and backed down to seek an easier target.

Gowan let him go. He wouldn’t be that easily lured away from Seth’s unprotected back.

“The harbor is blocked. I’m going to do something about the rest of the fleet,”
Hrardorr reported.

Seth worried about what Hrardorr planned to do, but he was a little too busy fighting for his life to ask too many questions. Seth was glad Gowan had come down off the cliffs when he had. The militia was doing well, as were the town guard, but the townsfolk were a mixed lot, unused to fighting for the most part.

There was a serious shortage of trained soldiers, and having Gowan here helped even the odds. One Gowan was worth a score of townsfolk in battle.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The mighty dragon rose from the sea. His dark wings shone with every color of the ocean—greens, blues, indigo, and even red and ochre. A dark rainbow of immense proportion, dripping with water while deep red flames shot from his mouth.

Flames that were aimed at the cloth sails of the rearmost of the enemy fleet, their weapons trained on the harbor or sky, not behind them at the open sea. They’d thought nothing could approach from open water. They’d thought they would see any dragon flying down from the cliffs and be able to track it as it came in for a flame run.

Nobody had ever heard of a sea dragon that could breathe fire. Nobody had ever heard of a sea dragon fighting alongside the folk of Draconia. And nobody had ever heard of a sea dragon, who was very obviously blind, doing so much damage.

The rear of the fleet was in flames when finally, somewhere far above, the leaders of the Lair gave the order for the dragons to do their worst. Arrows flew, but they mostly missed their marks as panic set in amongst the enemy sailors. Sailors feared nothing so much as fire aboard ship. Even surrounded by water, fire could destroy a ship and leave its crew at the mercy of the ocean.

The deadly diamond-tipped blades were mostly at the bottom of the harbor, except for those still hiding in the central mass of the badly disoriented fleet. They got off a few shots at the dragons, who were now swooping en masse, while the tight bunching of ships began to fall apart as captains broke ranks, turned their vessels around, and ran for their lives.

After his initial flame run, Hrardorr dove beneath the waves, out of reach of the diamond-tipped arrows and spears hastily aimed at him. But that left the opening for the rest of the dragon wings coming from the other direction.

Within a few minutes, half the enemy ships were on fire, and the rest were sailing away as fast as they could, no longer engaging in battle. The order came down from the Lair’s leadership to let them go and concentrate on those still in the harbor. Knights were dropped on land to help the fighting men of Dragonscove while their dragons flew an aerial dance, evading the dangerous arrows and spears as best they could—unhindered by the need to keep a rider on their backs.

It was quite a sight to see, and Seth had to stop himself from being distracted as he fought back to back with Gowan. He could feel the tide of the battle turning, and he suspected it wouldn’t be long before the fighters began to surrender.

Sure enough, it was only a few minutes more before the sailors realized they had lost and began to give up, refusing to fight when they saw that the townsfolk would have mercy on them. There was no way for them to win, and they knew it. They also learned they would not be summarily executed, so surrender was the smarter option at that moment.

Only problem was, the town jail couldn’t handle quite this many people. Other arrangements would have to be devised, but that would be up to the town council and the harbormaster. The latter was used to impounding entire crews when dishonesty was discovered. He knew how to handle large groups of men and how to segregate them so they couldn’t all plot together. He’d be able to advise the council on the best methods.

Seth’s groggy mind was already planning ahead, he realized, even as the fight drew to an end all around him. The victors began to cheer—the town militia leading the shouting—but Seth just felt too weary to do much more than follow Gowan’s lead as he began giving orders on how to deal with the prisoners…and the dead. At least Gowan had dealt with such things before and was willing to take charge on the battlefield. Seth was glad for his leadership just then. He’d had enough of command for one day.

For a man who, until yesterday, had been only a healer’s apprentice, Seth had been well out of his expected role. He found he liked it. He had reveled in calling the fire sequence from atop the battlements. He thought he’d done a good job leading the ground-based firing teams, even though he’d never even contemplated doing such a thing before. And he’d proved himself adequately when it came to fighting one-on-one. He was still alive and mostly unharmed, which meant he’d done well.

But it wasn’t anything he’d ever expected to do in his life. Not after he’d deliberately chosen to be Bronwyn’s helper.

“You did well today.” Gowan clapped Seth on the back, having returned from organizing the guard who were seeing to the prisoners.

“It was an honor to fight beside you,” Seth replied, still feeling a bit numb after the hellacious battle.

“Same.” Gowan grunted as they walked along the battlements, examining the dead. “These markings are not from anywhere near Draconia.” He pointed to the designs carved into blades, scabbards and shields that were clearly of foreign origin.

“I believe the town council and the leaders of the Lair will have quite a few questions for the prisoners. In the meantime, I’d better use my training to help those who are injured and might be saved…unless you need me for anything else?” Seth almost hoped Gowan would say yes, which made Seth question once again where his true loyalties lie now that he’d had a chance to learn more about the fighting arts.