A/N: A return from Nihon-Ja. Think of this as a sneak peak at Guide :)
Aubrey: Kane and Gabby are my favorite couple in this entire fanfic.
Raider: Hopefully I'm 100% moved next week and can start the next main story. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten! I'm just not going to commit to posting regularly until I've moved and have everything set up in the new place. Hopefully I can get internet connected quickly!
Saberin: Yeah...nobody's perfect. Roman's not the superstar big brother he appeared to be in earlier chapters, but Gabby still cares about him.
085: Pirates
Kane ducked just as an arrow whizzed over him. He felt its shaft brush the back of his neck. He drew out his knife and in one swift motion threw it as he turned. The blade plunged into the pirate. Kane turned back to Elizabet. He'd tied a cloth over her eyes in a sheepish attempt to protect her from nightmares. He picked her up and ran for the lifeboat. He dumped her into Kineta's arms.
"Get them ashore!" he yelled at the young Skandian bracing the rig. The boy stood inside the boat holding a rope, clearly intending to jump back onto the ship as soon as the boat was ready to drop.
"Kane, you…" Talia protested, but Kane didn't let her finish. With his saxe knife, a weapon he wasn't technically supposed to have as Royal Scout, he cut the rig. The boat fell into the water. The young Skandian moved to take the oars while Talia yelled up at him. He ignored her. If she didn't have Russ she'd be right by him, sending Kineta and Elizabet to safety before joining the fight.
"Why didn't you go with them?" Svein demanded as Kane sheathed his saxe and drew out his bow. He picked off two men swinging from the pirate's ship. They weren't that far from the Araluen docks. As the lifeboat holding Talia, Kineta, Elizabet, and the young Skandian boy, two ships with reinforcements neared them. If Kineta weren't so fragile the women could have probably swam to shore.
"You want me to see if I can catch up?"
Kane let another arrow fly. It severed a rope holding up the other ship's sail. Two more and the canvas whipped wildly out of control, causing the ship to give way to the current.
A canon went off. The Wolfwill jolted violently to the side.
"The bow's hit!" a Skandian man shouted out.
"What do we do?" another cried.
Kane went to a whiskey barrel and pulled the top off. "Svein, give me your shirt."
"What? But the Araluens…"
"Give it to me!"
Even as he spoke, Kane peeled his own off. The Skandians preferred to be bare-chested but out of respect for Elizabet they'd kept covered during the voyage. Kane took his saxe back out and cut their shirts into strips.
"What are you doing?" Svein demanded.
"Find me a couple of deck hands," Kane ordered. "We're going to light up their ship before they have time to reload that canon."
Svein nodded. He called two boys that couldn't be more than fourteen over and then rejoined the fight. Svein kept the pirates away from them as Kane quickly delegated tasks to the boys.
"You're going to cut strips and tie them to my arrowheads," Kane told the first one, handing over his saxe. "And you, you are going to dip the arrowheads in the whiskey. Here's my flint. Set the heads on fire and then give them to me. Ready? Go!"
The boys obediently set to work. Kane shot the flaming arrows one by one strategically at the ship. As all pirates, there were plenty of flammable alcohol barrels on deck to aim for. In no time the entire deck was aflame.
The canon exploded, jolting the wolfship again. The ship leaned heavily to one side.
"She's taking on water!" a Skandian yelled.
Kane looked around. Not one Skandian abandoned ship. The pirates who came aboard looked desperately between their own ship and the approaching Araluen soldiers.
"Send these bastards to their watery hell!" Svein shouted aggressively. His men were happy to oblige him.
Kane felt water slosh around his boots.
"Faster!" he ordered the boys. "Before we're sunk!"
He had four more arrows out before the water came to his waist. The ship tipped dangerously to the side.
"Come on! We've got to get to the higher side!" he urged. The boys began gathering up the last bits of cloth. Kane yanked the closest one away. "Leave it! The ship's capsizing!"
And capsize the ship did. Kane held the boys by the collars of their shirts as they held onto the railing on the higher side. The three jumped as the ship turned.
"Swim!" he shouted. "Towards the shore!"
The boys tore ahead of him. Kane swam out a few feet then turned back to the Wolfwill. He took a deep breath and went underwater. He swam towards the railing where a Skandian's foot was caught in the railing. It took just seconds to realize there was no easy way out as the ship began to sink. Kane took out his saxe once again and, with its hilt, beat the railing until it splintered. Blood seeped into the water but his foot was free. Kane pushed off, dragging the man up with him.
Back at the surface, chaos took hold. Pirates and Skandians littered the water. The Araluen ships began dropping lifeboats though some were already closing in on the shore.
"You alright?" Kane asked the Skandian as they swam.
"You saved me," the man managed to say between gags of seawater.
"Not yet. We have to get to shore."
Kane pulled the man's arm over his shoulders and began swimming. The man's injured leg would slow him down…and attract sharks. They needed to get to the shore quickly. They swam together, Kane dragging him along. A wave swelled, carrying them up and then crashing them down beneath the water. The two separated. Kane struggled to get back up but something slammed against his chest. It was the mast of the pirate ship, rotating with the current.
What little breath Kane had held knocked out of him. He struggled to get back up. The salty water stung against his new cuts. The mast rotated again and slammed his side. Kane tried to shout out but instead water filled his lungs. He grabbed hold of the mast and pulled his way up towards the surface, kicking off it to finally get to the air.
Luck was not on his side. The moment he surfaced an Araluen lifeboat clipped his shoulder. Kane cried out again. Several hands shout down and hauled him into the boat.
"Where's the medic?" someone shouted. "This one's banged up."
"Isn't that Halt's boy?"
"We need to get those wounds closed or he'll bleed out."
Kane shouted as his bare chest was doused with alcohol. His lungs wouldn't let him breathe properly. He coughed until seawater came up.
"Easy, son. You'll be fine."
"Sharks!"
Suddenly everyone melted away from him. All, Kane realized, but the one wearing an armband with the healer's hawk insignia. He must be the field medic.
"Easy," the medic repeated.
Kane blacked out.
