[Time for some swash and buckle!]

[Continues the story of Talita da Motta, a young woman training to be a Templar in Rivain, who is on her way to Fereldan in the early months of year 30 of the Age of the Dragon. The young mage trusted to her care isn't making that journey any easier...]

[The world of Thedas belongs to Bioware.]

Chapter 11: Fire and Ice

The fireball exploded above our heads, engulfing the main mast. I felt the heat of it against my back. Maker!

I scrambled to my feet. The mainsail was on fire! I looked around frantically for the dousing buckets- and stopped in my tracks.

Juca was climbing up toward the burning sail.

"What are you doing?!" I called.

"Putting out the fire!" he called down cheerfully.

The ship turned violently, angling to keep out of the enemy's direct line. Juca slipped, held on, then started to climb again.

I sheathed my sword and was climbing up after him before I could even think about what I was doing. Maker as my witness, I still do not know what I thought I was doing; he needed help, and I was going up.

Another fireball exploded where the ship had BEEN moments before. The shipped tacked again, hard. I had just reached Juca, and put a hand out to steady him. Flames licked the lines and sail above us from the first blast. We didn't have much time.

I felt the tingling gathering of power and he swung one arm wide as he motioned with his free hand.

A spray of ice doused the lower range of the flames. It was working! But it was not enough. He climbed higher, I followed.

Arrows winged past, some of the set with flame. Someone on the other ship had noticed what we were up to.

I had no shield.

"I'm going to use both hands this time!" Juca warned. Looking down, he smiled at me, a twinkle in his eye and not the least bit disturbed about the arrows flying past. "You'll have to get a bit closer, bonita!"

I could not believe I could have time to blush. One wrong arrow and one of us, or both, could be dead. Let alone the dark man with the penchant for fireballs. I climbed up behind Juca, and pressed my body against his to hold him steadily against the mast.

Trusting me completely for his safety, Juca let go with both hands. The next blast of ice was larger. The flames were out!

There was a cheer from below. I thought for a moment that we had an audience. Looking down, I saw that the crew had uncovered a ballista on the aft deck and had fired at the enemy mage.

A close miss, but the enemy mage was taking cover. It would buy us time, at least.

An arrow grazed my shoulder. I hissed, but didn't let go. Maker!

Juca frowned, and his dark eyes judged the distance between us and the approaching raiders.

"Hold on!" he warned me.

Arrows rained around us, as I felt magical power moving again. I held tightly to the ladder rung and pulled us against the thick wood of the mast, holding him steady. The side of my face was pressed against his back; I could hear his heart beating.

It must have been a longer, more complicated spell. I could not see around Juca to see what had happened on the deck of the Raider, but the arrows ceased abruptly.

"We should probably-" he began

For an instant, the world was flame as a fireball hit us directly! I screamed, and felt myself falling. Reflexively, I grabbed for the ropes.

An instant later, there was ice. The ice burned too, but it was a good burn, soothing. The magics seemed to cancel each other.

At my ankle, a heavy weight threatened to tear me off the ladder. I blinked, surprised at being alive, and glanced down.

Juca hung there, holding onto my ankle, frost still frothing from his other hand, his body swaying in the wind. He moved with the swaying (as I fought to hang on) and reconnected with the ladder himself on the backswing. He looked up and flashed me a confident grin. And a wink!

Maker, was there anyone else like him in all of Thedas?

If there were, we certainly were in trouble.

The ballista fired again, and there was a cheer as the raider mage burst into a splotch of bloody pulp. Maybe it was the loss of their mage, or the fact that Everado and Ivonetta, in full, shiney armor, had made it to the top deck, or that our sails were not yet on fire, but the raider ship turned then, and moved off.

Whew! I love a good action scene! Again, working on the pacing - please review, even if you didn't like it. LET ME KNOW! TY!