The Tracker: Book 1 of the King's Hand Series Page 21
“I had no idea you could get a magic shield. I can’t turn down that much of kind of power. Who made this thing anyway?”
“I have no idea. The guy who described it didn’t say who made it or where he got it. It was a gift to the orcs and so I stole it from them.”
“Who was the idiot who gave it to the orcs?”
“That would be the good pirate Captain Baal. He is on his way here with three ships. To take the crowns new ship that is almost finished and any other ship he can take. What is the plan to stop them?”
“How would you know the good Captain Baal?”
“He had two gold teeth. I would have to say the teeth looked stupid. He is a big man so if you’re going to tell him how stupid he looks just remember a pirate captain is probably a blood thirsty person. Now, what is the plan?”
“We wait here till they show up. When they start coming off the ship we come out of our hiding places and attack them. The ship they are after is finished and it has more than a full crew. They are aboard the ship and they have ballista loaded and waiting. We have Odelia who will shield us if they have a mage and we have a fire mage who will target the ships.”
“So you are going to surprise them by being ready and then hit them as hard as you can and hope they run?”
“That sounds about right. Keep it simple.
The sounds of battle started first thing the next morning. The orc shaman was sending balls of fire towards the city. The mages guild had provided 5 mages just for that side of the city. They were spread out so that they could easily shield against the flames. Horns could be heard directing soldier movements. The morning drug on without any sign of the pirates.
It was harder to listen to the battle than to be in it. Or at the moment it did. No one knew if they were winning or losing the battle. No one was relaying messages to those men hiding at the dock. According to Mateo, Warner had split the forces almost evenly. Half were here and half at the wall. Those at the wall had the majority of the mages. They could hit big and hard but then they were done till they renewed their mana. Hopefully some were able to hit the horde of orcs heading their way.
At the moment of wondering suddenly three ships were coming around the corner into the bay. They were the same three he had seen a few days ago. They were flying the flag with the arm and sword. They were impressive. Pirates were standing shoulder to shoulder at the railings. They were a motley looking bunch. Shadow was sure he could smell them already and the breeze was heading towards the bay.
One ship peeled off towards the docks. The other two were headed for the crown’s new ship. Roland was thinking that maybe they should have realized something was wrong when they could see that the crown ship had ballista on the deck of the new ship. It looked like the pirates didn’t have any opposition till the ship heading to the dock actually touched the dock. The pirates were pouring off the deck onto the dock.
Mateo was the first to head out the tavern and toward the docks. He was leading the way with his new shield. The pirates coming down the dock suddenly stopped. They were just realizing this wasn’t going to be the walk in the park they thought it was going to be. The pirates parted and a man came through their ranks. He was winding up to cast his magic. It was a rogue mage.
Mateo took the fire ball on his shield. It was like the shield sucked the fire ball into itself. The rogue mage seeing the problem turned around and ran back to the ship. The pirates around him were smart enough for that and they rand toward Mateo to kill the man. Damari and two other warriors were next to Mateo. It looked like a wall of shields moving down the docks. The pirates didn’t have a shield among their numbers.
The ship that had been sitting at the dock came to life. Instead of pouring out of the boat the men began to set sails. They cast off and were headed to the pirate ships. They were going to attack from behind the pirates. The crown’s new ship came to life at almost the same time. Men were manning the ballista and were taking aim on the pirate ships that were coming into range.
Back on the dock the shield wall slammed into the pirates. The pirates had come to a dead stop on the dock before the collision. Mateo and Damari along with the other two shield bearers were at a full run. At least four pirates went flying off the dock into the bay before a weapon was swung. Mateo was his usual push, stab, push stab. It was very effective. Damari was holding onto his spear about halfway down the shaft and was imitating Mateo, push, stab, push, stab. The four men in front were destroying the pirates.
The first pirate ship was closing in on the crowns new ship. Archers were in the sails of each ship. They were losing their arrows and men on both ships were falling. The ballista fired. One hit the railing of the pirate ship. It took out the railing and a handful of pirates waiting to attack the crown’s ship. The second ballista struck the hull above the water line. The third ballista went high and took out a spar and one of the sails came crashing down to the deck. It was at that moment the first ship spun hard to port, and was trying to get away from the ballista as fast as possible.
She second ship was stuck in a position that would bring it directly to the crown’s ship. The first pirate ship was blocking its was to port. They couldn’t go to starboard or they would hit the docks. So they kept coming directly into the ballista. The ballista that had fired were reloaded and were waiting the command to fire again.
The fight on the dock was going well for Mateo hand his fellow warriors. The pirates were trying to retreat and pirates from behind unaware of the death being dealt out to their fellow pirates were pushing forward stopping any retreat from happening. The docks were treacherous with all the blood being spilled. Bodies were being pushed into the bay. Yells to retreat were coming from the pirates in front. Yells from the pirate ship were screaming to attack. It was complete chaos.
The ship that had turned hard to port was getting its distance. The ballistae were now firing on the pirate ship that had been trailing the first. Captain Baal could be seen on the quarter deck screaming to his pirates to get his sails fixed. The sails had lost their wind and was slowing dramatically.
The ballistae now fired in unison at the second ship to attack the crown’s ship. Two wen across the deck striking down a line of pirates. The second ballistae hit the main mast. A large crack could be heard and the sails fell over the starboard side. When the sails and the main mast hit the water it caused the ship to spin towards the sails. They were acting like an anchor. The two other ballistae hit the bow of the ship and were sticking out at strange angles. When the ship stopped moving the quarter deck was facing the fully functional crown ship. Now the ballistae were striking the quarter deck killing the captain and the pilot. The ships wheel was completely destroyed. The ship was at the mercy of the crown’s ship and they didn’t seem to have much mercy for pirates.
The pirate ship at the dock was slowly realizing their men were being destroyed. The call to retreat was being yelled by all now. Odelia was right behind the main group fighting to get to the ship on the dock. When the call to retreat could be heard she started a chant. Roland had been shooting at targets of opportunity. With Odelia doing so much preparation for the spell, Roland could feel the huge amount of magic being built up. He was backing away when she let lose her spell. A lightning bolt sprang forth. The thunder it produced was immense. Everyone on the dock fell flat. The lightning struck the ship and immediately caught fire.
Odelia was on one knee. She had sent every ounce of magic she had with that spell. Roland couldn’t hear at all but he picked Odelia up and was getting her back to the tavern. She was done. His ears were ringing and his eyes were trying to adjust from the incredibly bright flash to normal lighting. Vena might have to heal him just to get his hearing back. He got Odelia sitting down in the tavern and he headed back to the fight.
The ship on the dock was completely ablaze. Pirates were jumping into the water because it was death to stay on the ship and death to go back onto the dock. The rope that had been tied to the dock to secure the ship wa
s cut and they were trying to push the ship away so the docks wouldn’t catch fire.
Captain Baal’s ship was finally under control and they were headed out of the bay. They got out to open ocean and they turned south leaving their other two ships to fend for themselves. Soldiers were taking control of the pirates who did make it to shore. Quite a few drowned. You would have thought living on a ship all the time they would have learned to swim. The ship that had lost its main mast had dropped it colors and was trying to surrender. They got the mast cut and the ship floated towards the dock. Soldiers were there to take the prisoners. All that was left to do was clean up. What could have been a big surprise and defeat for Port Orchard ended up being a huge victory. The pirates had lost two ship and the third was badly damaged. Captain Baal had escaped but he wouldn’t be a problem for a while. The crown’s ship would get it’s sails and it would be out chasing the pirates. The powerful ballistae made all the difference in fighting another ship.
Colonel Warner showed after the fight. Everyone thought he was needing men for the wall but according to him they had repelled the orcs. They hadn’t even gotten over the wall. The weak wall near the water had been fixed the two days before the orcs showed up. They had run to what they thought would be an easy place to enter the city and found it blocked. Without a way to get over the wall or through it they didn’t stand a chance. The shaman had case four fire balls at the city. The mages blocked them and returned their own attacks. It was assumed the shaman by either lightning or it might have been ice shards raining down on him. His body was recovered and not much was left of it.
Everyone was still under crown rule for the next several days. The clean-up took longer than anyone expected. Burning the bodies seemed the best solution but that took a lot of firewood. Roland was on the group cutting up wood to complete this task. Shadow stayed away in the woods waiting for the smell of orcs to go away.
By the time he had a chance he looked at his status panel. He had gained 2 levels while fighting the last few days. He put 5 points into endurance and 5 points into intelligence.
Status Panel
Level
21
Age
17
Health
320
Title:
N/A
Mana
590
Heath Regen
0.001/Second
Stamina
375
Mana Regen
0.0005/Second
Vitality
32
Stamina Regen
0.01/Second
Strength
25
Race
Half Elf
Endurance
50
Bonus
Dexterity +2 per level
Dexterity
74
Wisdom:
68
Active Status Conditions
Intelligence
50
Animal Bond
Charisma
9
Available Points
0
He was happy that his mana was still going up and his dexterity was looking good. He had good stamina too. Those three things in themselves were what helped him more than anything in what he was doing these days. The ability to be stealthy and his ability to move about and track was making him very unique compared to others in the guild. He wasn’t just weapons or just magic, but a mix of weapons and magic. Almost a hybrid. Well he was a hybrid, human and elf. It made sense to him.
He noticed on his illusion skill he had gained another skill. This time it was persuasion. He wanted to try that out on someone but wasn’t sure who he could try it on. When he thought about it he began to wonder if his mother had ever cast it on him. There were a few times when he lost the desire to argue with this mother. He was definitely going to confront her the next time the met.
Illusion - Expert Level 4
You seek to change the appearance of the world around you.
Passive Abilities
Detect Illusions 35%
Active Abilities
Change Appearance (20 Mana)
Change Others (40 mana)
Cast Invisible on self-3 min. (50 mana)
Cast Invisible on others 3 min (75 mana)
Cast stationary Illusion 2 hours (100 man)
Cast moving illusions 5 min (100 mana)
Cast Persuasion (75 mana)
Gaining levels had really slowed down for him. He wasn’t too worried about it because he had a good team to work with and they liked to have him around. He was only 17 and he had a few hundred years to work on it. He finally opened the last pouch of money Warner had given him. He almost forgot about it. But while he was cleaning out his pack from the last fight he found it at the bottom. It was another 40 silver. 20 for Shadow and 20 for himself. He took that over to the guild office and paid his taxes. The pay for the last fight was only 10 silver apiece. He still had more money than he would ever spend.
Mateo and the team were still staying with Dagmar. Vena was still healing everyone. Everyone at the docks had to have their ears healed. According to Odelia that was the biggest cast she had ever done. She used all her mana in one shot. She didn’t want the pirates to get away and she was angry. Roland made sure he never made Odelia angry.
Warner had left a message for a meeting at the Vulgar Bard. They met later that night. The tavern was full and people were in a party mood. Roland cast his illusion for the ugly angry face to keep people away. Warner was sitting waiting for him.
“What can I do for you today Warner? Need some orcs killed or do you want me to go after the pirates?”
“Neither, and quit using my name in here. The man you work for is very appreciative of all that you did. If it wasn’t for the intelligence you found the whole situation might have been much different. It hasn’t gone unnoticed either that you’re very young. Your stealth abilities are just amazing. We would like you to go back to the capitol with the next caravan. Mateo has already picked up the job from the guild.
“The reason for traveling back to the capitol is for some assessments of your abilities. We don’t want to know what your abilities are necessarily we just need to know what you can or can’t do. We wouldn’t want to send you someplace that might kill you. This is more for us than it is for you. You surpassed all my expectations and beyond. I thought you would be a good tracker. When you got into my office without me knowing it was something I never would have dreamed anyone could do.”
“The next reason for sending you is that we would like to get you some specialized training. You broke my lock on my window so I know you came through it to get in my office. We want you to get into places that are locked up tight but we don’t want anyone to know you’ve been there. That type of training takes a lot of time and it also takes a lot of money. We are willing to invest in your future because it will be an investment for us too. I would normally give you some type of bonus at this time but since you are going to get some training that will be your bonus.”
Roland was about ready to thank him when Warner got up and walked out without another word. He sat there thinking about all that occurred the last couple of weeks. He was in contemplation when a bar maid came over to his table. With the illusion on his face he was surprised she even approached the table. He had an idea though. He cast persuasion on her. “I want an ale, but I don’t want that horrid stuff you serve normally. I want a nice ale that I can enjoy. Please get me a good ale.”
The bar maid when over to the bar and started talking to the bartender. He looked angry and she pointed back at the table he was sitting at. The bar tender went into the back for a minute and came back out. He handed her a tankard and she headed back to his table. “It will be 5 copper. It’s more expensive but you should appreciate the quality.”
He paid for the ale, tipped well and she walked away. Now the moment of truth. He hesitantly took a sip of the ale. It was actually good. If he was staying here that woul
d be his regular drink. It was his last night in Port Orchard so it was probably the last time he would be here for some time to come. No reason he couldn’t have another before he left.