Salveran Tides

Chapter Five: The Pentacle

"Our people have long memories. Conflict rages on the world above, with empires turning like the tide. But underneath, the Altaeans are eternal. We laid claim to the seas uncounted years ago, and our claim shall remain for uncounted years to come." - An Altaean historian, instructing a young Princess Leona and her brother.

Leona awoke with the Tidecaller clenched to her breast, her legs wrapped protectively around the weapon's haft. The previous day came together in her head a moment later, as the crazy sequence of events fell back into place. There was the arrival, the sneaking about, the awful,

awful

underground tunnels full of things she'd rather not think about, then their flight and her collapsing from exhaustion. All possible thanks to the wondrous weapon she held in her hands.

She stared at the blue blade for a long time, running her fingers over the metal. Strange how such a powerful artifact had never been mentioned by any of her teachers, or her mother. Her kind were old, and had a long racial memory. How had something like this slipped through the cracks? Had it been lost to history and she'd found it by pure happenstance? The odds seemed astronomically slim that that was the case. Had it been placed there by someone? If so, who? And how?

The thinking back and forth gave her a headache, so she decided to see what was happening with her newfound allies. Leona slipped off the bunk, winding her makeshift weapon sling around her body before slipping out the cabin door to the deck. They were in calm seas, though the weather overhead was overcast, clouds like fire smoke rolling gently above.

"Ah, Her Majesty graces us with her presence."

Leona scowled as Scarlet's voice cut through the still air. The pirate couldn't let it be quiet for even the smallest amount of time, could she? She replied, "If by which you meant to say, 'Good to see you, Leona, glad to see you're not dead,' I would politely respond with a 'yes, thank you for your concern.'"

A low chuckle came from above. "I like this one."

Leona turned to look at the upper deck. Scarlet was at the helm, leaning over the wooden wheel with that ever-present smirk. Beside her, sharpening a sword with a whetstone, was a creature she had never seen before. Well, she had seen one similar to him, but it was only a couple feet long and had darted away back closer to shore before she could interact with it more. This Otter was an Anthra, a curious group of animal peoples that came from regions far to the northwest that walked on two legs like humans.

Scarlet inclined her head towards the Otter. "Feast your peepers on the fruit of your rescuing labors, Princess. Meet Lexaeus an Riitir, best blacksmith in Siraglia and maker of some damn fine bread too."

"I haven't had the chance to make ration bread in ages," the otter said. "I hope I still have the touch. A pleasure to meet you, Princess Leona. Thank you for helping rescue me yesterday."

Leona was taken aback by the Otter's polite, even, rather alluring rumble of a voice. "It was nothing," she said quickly, looking away from the pair of pirates. "No trouble at all. Where's Yesseil?"

"Up here." The elf leaned out of the crow's nest atop the main mast and waved before pulling herself back into the basket.

"Feeling rested and recovered, Princess?" Scarlet asked.

"Rested yes, recovered sort of. Why?"

Scarlet inclined her chin up to the crow's nest. "I don't think we're out of the woods just yet. We have a head start and left Port Corrin in a bit of a state, true, but Liblac Corrin's got one hell of a murder boner for Lexaeus and she's sure to have sent more than a few someones after us. Yesseil's keeping watch in case they show, but I need to know what you're capable of doing without passing out on us - or bloody killing yourself."

Leona's entire being ached at the thought of having to shift water against like she had yesterday. The effort had drained her entire body of energy, making her feel like a clump of seaweed as she'd collapsed on the deck of the ship. "I honestly don't know," she said.

Scarlet pursed her lips. "Then save your strength for now. I'll figure how best to use it when the time comes."

"What about our deal?" Leona asked. "You agreed we'd stop and look places on our way to recover your ship."

"And we will, Princess, don't get your tail in a twist. We just can't afford to be making pit stops with what's sure to be a small flotilla on our tails."

"Fine." Leona couldn't keep the irritation out of her voice.

"If you want to be useful, climb the rigging and help Yesseil keep watch for a spell." Scarlet's smirk deepend. "Or we could stay here bandying words back and forth."

Leona immediately made for the rigging. The tight rope felt strange in her hands, made of fibers rather than the grippy seaweed she was used to back home. Still, it was easy to grip and held her weight. Leona's arms were strong like the rest of her from a lifetime spent swimming underwater. She picked her way up the ropes carefully, mindful of them swaying in the wind.

At the top, Yesseil reached out a hand to help her into the crow's nest. "This is one of the parts I didn't miss," the elf said as Leona found space to sit next to her.

"Which part?"

"Watch duty." Yesseil was using a long rifle as her optical enhancer in lieu of a spyglass, the barrel steady on the rim of the wooden basket. "Not because I don't like doing it, mind, the ocean's beautiful. But I know

something's

going to happen soon and that tension gets to me." The elf passed Leona another firearm she had sitting next to her. "Here. You can use this."

Leona took the weapon from her. It was heavier than she expected, and she fumbled with the long rifle.

Yesseil snickered. "Good thing I didn't load these. Here." She showed Leona the correct way to hold the gun, with the barrel propped on the edge of the crow's nest and the the thick rounded part - the stock, Yesseil called it - tucked into the crook of Leona's shoulder. The position was comfortable, allowing Leona to look through the rounded scope and peer out over the sea.

"These implements are fascinating," Leona said as she scanned the horizon behind them.

"Aye?" Yesseil asked. "Don't have anything like this underwater?"

Leona shook her head. "We have something similar to the thing you were working on the other day. The... crossbow?" Yesseil nodded. "Underwater where I live we have what we call the boeywang. It's like the crossbow, but fires a sharpened rod of metal about twice the size of the little bolts you showed me. Come to think of it, it almost looks like a cross between the crossbow and this weapon." She gestured with the rifle.

"Sounds almost like a speargun of some kind," Yesseil said. "I'd love to get a look at one and take it apart."

"Perhaps one day." Leona peered over the edge of the crow's nest down at Scarlet and Lexaeus. "Scarlet made a big deal out of rescuing him, but I have no idea who he is to her."

"Their relationship is...complicated," Yesseil admitted.

"How so?"

The elf pursed her lips, her ears waggling a little as she thought. "Lex has been with Scarlet longer than anyone else I know of, or that she's told me about. They've saved each other's lives and mine more times than I can think of. I also think Scarlet has a thing for him, but on the one hand, she'll never admit it, and on the other, Lexaeus has his...hangups."

"Are these 'hangups' part of the reason we had to rescue him?"

Yesseil took a few moments before answering. "Aye, they were. Time was, Lexaeus had two mates and lived in a small fishing village up north. Didn't bother anyone, just wanted to have his home and forge. Denwin Corrin, son of the governess of the port we ransacked yesterday, thought it would be a grand old lark to take a crew up north and pillage the villages along the way for the crime of being Anthra."

Leona gasped. "In what way is any of that a crime?"

"Ask the bloody Flame Church." Yesseil reached up and tapped her pointed ears. "They're always looking for an excuse to put anyone that's not human to the torch. Think they're lesser, that their very existence is blasphemy. Long story short, both of Lexaeus's mates wind up dead, and Lex was never the same after that. He'd never killed anyone before, but you can bet he took his forge hammer and caved in the skull of the royal and as many men as he could get his paws on. 'Course, Lady Corrin didn't take kindly to her son being killed, and she's been hunting Lexaeus ever since."

Leona sat up a little and peered over the edge of the crow's nest. Lexaeus didn't look all that much like a killer - in fact he looked almost like an aged father. Her eyes lingered on the brawn in his frame, the heavy muscles like rolling hills, and she reasoned that yes, he very well probably could kill someone easily if the desire took him. "How did he and Scarlet meet?"

The elf opened her mouth, then clamped it shut and resettled herself behind the rifle scope. "I've said too much already. Pick their brains if you want the full story."

Leona frowned, but didn't press the elf for more information. She let her weight rest against the side of the crow's nest and peeked through the rifle scope. She swung it to her left, panning across the horizon line. All of a sudden, the overcast sky ended, and what took up the horizon was a massive wall of mist and clouds rising up out of the ocean. "What is

that

?" Leona asked. She jerked her head away from the rifle scope, a bit relieved to see the crazy weather was way in the distance.

"That there is the Pentacle," Scarlet answered from below.

"The what now?" Leona leaned her head over the side so she could look at the pirate.

"The Pentacle!" Scarlet repeated. "A big stagnant hurricane that sits right over several leagues of ocean."

Leona turned and took another long look at the weather formation. The clouds seemed to descend from the sky all the way to the sea, their puffy surfaces whipped into a smooth wall of mist and moisture by the force of the wind whipping around. Leona could feel the air 's tug even from as far away as they were. "And

why

are we this close to it?" she asked.

"We're skriting it," Scarlet said, adjusting their tack with a turn of the wheel. "Just gonna skim the outside because it's easier to do that than sail all the way around to get to where we're going."

Yesseil suddenly tensed and stood up. "You'd better make the skimming fast, Scarlet," she said. "They're here."

Leona looked through her own rifle scope in the direction that Yesseil was looking. Sure enough, there were a dozen ships on the horizon, bows pointed towards their little vessel. Half were ships bigger than any Leona had seen yet, big three-masted vessels that surged gamely onward despite their mass. Between them, what she assumed were going to be the more immediate problem, were smaller, sleeker craft like theirs. Going off her burgeoning knowledge of how human vessels moved, they were catching a stronger wind than they were, and would catch up to them quickly.

Scarlet's hair whipped in the breeze as she gazed behind her. "Yesseil, what's their status?"

"Full sail and then some," the elf answered. "The sloops are practically skipping along the waves to get at us. Should catch us within the half hour at our current pace, so long as we keep our breeze."

"Colors?"

"Corrin family coat of arms, some Church banners."

Scarlet drummed her fingers on the wheel, her eyes unfocused as she thought. Leona reached down and ran her fingers along the haft of the Tidecaller. She could conceivably push them forward, but how much of a lead would that give them? And how long could she keep it up before collapsing again?

"Everyone, make ready to fight!" Scarlet barked. She twisted the wheel. "I'll take us in closer to the Pentacle storm, see if we can't catch a bit of the air current and we can use that to outrun them!"

"We can't face down four full crews in combat, Scarlet," Yesseil said. "We're good, but not that good."

"Don't worry, Yess. I've got a plan B." Scarlet stared at Leona as she said that, and the altaean gripped her weapon a little tighter.

Yesseil and Leona picked their way down the rigging from the crow's nest as Lexaeus went below decks to fetch whatever weapons were stashed on board the ship. Scarlet kept them on course, looking back over her shoulder every minute or so to check the progress of their pursuers. They were gaining on them, fast.

The Otter reemerged a little while later, carrying an assortment of implements in his arms. "Take what you need," he rumbled, setting the weapons down on the deck.

Leona eyed the assortment of blades and knives. "I'll stick to what I have, thanks."

"Can you handle yourself in a fight?" Lexaeus asked her.

"I think so."

That earned her a raised eyebrow. "I'd feel better if you had a little more confidence."

"Hey, it's not like I've had any reason to fight above water before!" Leona protested. "All I've ever had to fight were sharks and squids, and practice duels with the palace guard."

"No practice duels here." Lexeaus took a particularly broad cutlass for himself, giving it a few swings to gauge the weight.

Could she kill another sentient creature? The hostile animals that lived in the ocean's depths were one thing. It was another to have to look a living thing in the eye and stab at it with intent to injure. Leona didn't want to mention that she'd often faltered in the practice duels at home, her nature getting the better of her. It disturbed her the way the pirates' thoughts on violence were so casual.

"With any luck we won't have to fight," Scarlet said. "Little closer and the sails should catch the Pentacle winds and carry us all to safety."

It was, of course, at that moment that the air around them went still. There seemed to be no real explanation as to why - the wind simply died, the sails falling limp and empty.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me." Scarlet raised her hand, waving it frantically back and forth. "Where's the bloody wind gone?"

"Did we sail into a calm path or something?" Yesseil asked.

"There's no calm patches near the bloody Pentacle, Yess." Scarlet said. She ran to the back railing of the ship, still waving her hand about to see if she could catch even a single eddie of breeze. She turned and ran back to the helm, glaring down at Leona. "This ain't some of your bloody mermaid trickery is it?"

"It's not me!" Leona protested.

"That's not what I was saying!" Scarlet raised a finger. "The storm that appeared a couple days ago, with the red lightning. Now all of a sudden we lose the wind. Could one of your people make that happen?"

Leona realized that Scarlet had arrived at a similar conclusion to the one she had in the wake of the sudden storm: that she, rather than the pirates, was the target. If her mysterious assailant could create a giant storm like that, it stood to reason they could still the wind as well. "It could be," Leona answered. "I have no idea though."

"Alright, plan B time!" Scarlet pointed forward. "Use that stick of yours to carry us forward!"

Leona followed where Scarlet was pointing. Her nail was pointed straight at the wall of wind and water that was the Pentacle storm. "Are you mad?"

"If it's a hurricane, it stands to reason there's a calm point at the center," Scarlet said. Lexaeus ascended the steps to the helm and passed Scarlet two sabers, which she thrust into her belt. "If you can brute force us through the storm using that weapon to guide the ship, we can reach it without going under. Corrin's ships can't chase us through the storm!"

Leona looked back and forth between the pirate and the storm, then set her jaw. "All of you hang on," she said. A press of her thumb made the Tidecaller tessellate out to its full length, and Leona felt its power swell within her. It felt like a divine will, a pure

force

that could be directed into the water below and steered by her needs. She set the butt end of the weapon against the deck timbers and directed the force down into the water, commanding it in her mind:

Forward.

Their ship began to move forward, slowly. "Atta girl," Scarlet said. "Yesseil, Lexaeus. If they catch us, keep them off her. She goes down, we're dead in the water."

"Aye," the elf and the Otter chorused.

"See, this is why you should never underestimate me," Scarlet laughed. "I've always got a plaaaaaaaugh!"

The pirate's scream of pain broke Leona's concentration. She turned to see Scarlet collapse to her knees by the helm, the pirate clutching her hand. "What happened?" Leona asked.

Scarlet lifted her hand, the back of it facing Leona. The altaean gasped. On the back of Scarlet's hand burned a red-hot symbol, thin wisps of smoke rising from what Leona had thought was just another of the pirate's many scars. Light pulsed from the lines in Scarlet's skin, her hand spasming in pain.

"Don't stand there gawking," Scarlet hissed through gritted teeth. "Keep us moving, Princess! Or you're about to find out what nightmares are made of."

Since when did the bloody Church take Nemeses out to sea?

Scarlet sank her teeth into her arm to keep the pain of the Nemesis brand burning in her hand compartmentalized. She heaved herself to her feet, biting down hard enough to draw blood. The secondary pain gave her something else to focus on as her hand screamed in agony. If they'd drawn the Calling sigil, that meant that the Nemesis was on board one of the cutters. They didn't have much time.

"They

really

decided to pull out all the stops," Lexaeus commented.

"Aye, been a while since we had to fight one of these bints." Scarlet shook her hand. The ache was fading now, only the smell of her seared skin lingering in the air around them. "Definitely would prefer to do it on land though."

The cutters chasing them were close enough now that Scarlet could pick out individual figures on the decks of the ships. Most of them wore the standard Navy blue-gray, but scattered among them like pox on skin were the bright red uniforms of the Church templars. A little longer and she'd be able to look them in the eye.

"Want me to pick off a few?" Yesseil asked. The elf stood with her rifle raised. No human would have been able to make the shot land at the distance they were at, but Yesseil was a cut above.

"Save your shot," Scarlet said. "If they hadn't popped the Calling sigil I would've suggested maybe you shoot the Nemesis fetters and let it run wild, but it's already got the scent. Maybe try to peg it when you see it come above deck." She looked back over her shoulder. "How's it coming, Princess?"

"I'm trying my hardest!" Leona snapped back. "It feels like something's fighting me, dragging us in the opposite direction!"

There was definitely more magic afoot than what Leona could muster, then. The storm before and now this bizzare dead zone were too direct and coincidental to be anything but. Question was, who was behind it? The Church was virulently anti-magic, and unless Liblac Corrin had somehow hired a wildling witch or druid, it would be impossible for her to manipulate the weather like this. But Scarlet didn't think she was the target, which would be the case if it was Lady Corrin. The lightning strikes in the storm the previous day had ignored them when Leona jumped overboard, instead lancing down into open ocean as if they were blanketing the ocean in search of their real target: the princess. So who could-

Scarlet's train of thought was jarred loose by Yesseil firing her rifle. She quickly thumbed the lever on the side to rotate the chamber and fired off another round. Ears ringing, Scarlet turned to see what was happening. She could the briefest glimpse of a massive shape diving off the bow of the lead cutter before splashing into the water.