“My-re killed us all!”
“We can not out run it!”
“We should’ve sailed to the far shore!”
“The patches aren’t stopping the water from coming in!”
“The beast will not come up to fight!”
“We’re going to sink!”
“Run away!”
“Control yourselves!” Sheila Greywand roared over the crew of the Nightie.
The Primus warriors, stopped, collected themselves, and continued to finish the task at hand. Things were growing dark and desperate, as the tower guard scrambled to extinguish all the lanterns and torches and along with it, light’s reassurance. Hope faded. The Lake of the Mist monster relentlessly battered the hull of the ship. My-re could hear the despair of the rowers below. They couldn’t row fast enough to outpace the creature. The patches were only slowing the water from pouring in. Any maneuver only lost the creature momentarily, before renewing its attack. Think, My-re think!
“This was your plan. Lead them,” Sheila said grasping her arm. “Get them home.”
My-re saw the panicked faces, morale had all but collapsed, and fear was taking hold. It had already made a nice little home in her gut.
“Stop extinguishing the lights!” My-re bellowed.
“Are you mad woman?! That was your plan!” Darien, Lady Greywand’s military attaché, yelled.
My-re ignored him. “Captain Phetmolge continue full ahead and wait for my orders!”
The captain nodded.
“Ssskah, tell Rao to abandon patching the hull. I want everyone rowing to make best possible speed.”
“The ship will sink!”
My-re ignored her. “When I signal, reverse course, and row backwards.”
“You are mad! At this pace the oars will splinter under the strain, if not lose them all together!” Ssskah shouted.
“No, we’ll lose half of them. Keep half of the oars up and half down in the water.”
“Madness,” Ssskah said shaking her head and descended below deck. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
The tempo of the rowers increased and the ship was moving faster. The nighttime wind blew stronger through My-re’s hair. They were listening to her. At this speed stopping the Nightie and reversing course backwards would likely cause them to lose the oars. Ssskah was right. The 7 foot tall Captain Phetmolge gripped the massive steering wheel at the aft of the ship with strength the gods would envy and watch her intently.
“Come with me Lady Greywand,” My-re said as they pushed through the Lord Protectors to the bow of the ship. “Darien, gather the men with the remaining torches and come with me.”
They all followed.
THUD!
The creature had caught back up to them and began ramming the hull again.
“Breach!” a panicked voice called from below.
“Everyone with torches! Gather at the bow!” My-re called out to the Lord Protectors. Come on! Come on! A few more seconds, thought My-re. “Gather! Hurry!”
“Were taking on water!”
“My-re!”
A few more seconds.
“My-re!!!”
“Reverse course!” My-re roared. “Hold on!”
Everyone grabbed the railing as the ship lurched backwards. The Nightie strained. Wood creaked in loud protest, threatening to break at any moment. The sounds of oars snapping like twigs carried on the nighttime air. The ship was lamenting its doom. But the Nightie began moving backwards.
“Throw the remaining torches and lanterns high and forward!” My-re bellowed. “Now!”
The lights sailed into the nighttime air and gave the illusion the ship was traveling forward. The Nightie went dark.
“Captain! Hard to port!”
The ship lurched to the left.
A bulge from the water appeared from the bow of the ship. It was going straight and following the lights. The Nightie was shrouded in darkness.
“Greywand! Blast that thing back to the nine hells!”
A bolt of electricity shot from her wand, hitting dead on, causing a massive geysers to shoot up from the water upon impact. She fired several more bolts as the Nightie continued to retreat. Water sprayed the entire bow of the ship.
Several heartbeats of silence pasted. The waters calmed. Nothing stirred on the lake. My-re shook the water from her short black hair and licked it from her lips.
The head of Ssskah appeared from below deck. The tuxedo colored were-cat had a wide grin plastered across her face. “The patches are holding. Barely, but holding.”
Wet, cold, and exhausted, My-re moved through the throng of the elite tower guards from Primus to the aft of the ship.
“Lord Protector,” came a solitary voice from the crowd.
More acknowledgements for My-re followed. Darien came forward, nodded his head in approval, smiled, and patted her shoulder. “We’ll done.”
“My-re, your orders?” Ssskah said, as the captain listened on.
“Get the remaining oars going and start bailing water from the ship. Captain Phetmolge, take us home.”