Caleb continued to lean on the larboard railing, spyglass pressed to one eye. The four sails spotted by the forward lookout grew as the distance between the Spitfire and the four new vessels began to close. He squinted, trying his best to make out details that would tell him more about what – and who – was coming their way.

He noted the layout of the new vessel’s sails. The size of their hulls. He tried to make out which pennants they flew, but the stiff breeze from aft kept their colors streaming at an angle that was difficult to make out.

Someone cleared their throat. He put down the glass for a moment and looked over to see an abashed looking Sienna standing on the quarterdeck next to him. A blush colored her cheeks.

“Captain,” she said, “I’m letting you know that the crew’s ready to resume their duties. And so am I.”

“Good,” Caleb replied. “Pass the word that no one is to be ashamed of what just happened. None of us lost our nerve at the critical moment. It was evil magic, that’s all.”

“But if so, couldn’t Miss Morningstar–”

“Not without depleting my magic,” Tavia said, as she came down the steps from the afterdeck. Two of Sienna’s rifle squad limped down after her. “No one was hit directly by rifle fire, but two of the Murray triplets took some splinters. I’m sending them down to Doc Harper.”

“It’s just a scratch,” Regan protested, as he pressed a bloodstained cloth against the side of his thigh. “Bide a moment to slap a bandage on and I’ll be in fighting trim.”

“Aye, this is no worse than a blue-bonnie,” Ronan added, as he held a hand over a splotch of red on his arm. “Good news, Captain. I took the wound on the same arm as before, so I’ll still be able to shoot.”

“That’s good, because we’ll probably need you,” Caleb said. “Go on, get Harper to patch you up, and then I want you back on station. We may be in for a fight. Soon.”

Sienna looked to Caleb as soon as the two men left. “Again? I thought we finally put one over on the Myrkur.”

“Maybe, but we’ve got four ships up ahead which we’re going to have to face.”

“Any chance of going past them? This channel seems wide enough.”

“Seems is the key word there.”

Caleb activated two his Corsair-related abilities once more to double-check.

Dead Reckoning Depth Sense

The blue-green wash of the ocean around and below them was tinted much more heavily green this time. Twin lines of islands and sandbars dotted the sides of the sea channel they found themselves in.

But the open water between each piece of land was bright green in his Depth Sense vision. That meant it was shallow. So much so, that the sloop wouldn’t have enough clearance under her hull.

“The channel’s deep enough for us out in the middle,” he said aloud. “But on either side, there’s just not enough depth to get us over.”

“You can’t repeat the spell you used before?” Sienna asked.

Caleb shook his head.

“My magic’s used up for now. And even if it wasn’t, I don’t think I could lighten things enough to get us through. I’d say there’s a much better than even chance of grounding again, even worse this time. On top of that, the hull’s already been stressed. We’d run the risk of springing leaks or even busting the keel.”

“So we’re going through them,” Tavia gritted. “Assuming they’re hostile.”

“They could be merchants,” Sienna said hopefully. “This is a major trade route heading towards Gilarska, after all. It’s why the Dromos Bay was out here.”

“Maybe, but my gut tells me that’s not the case.” Caleb put the glass back to his eye as he continued. “These vessels have small hulls, too small to be carrying much in the way of cargo. They’re also fore-and-aft rigged. So they’re set up for quick maneuvering, even into the wind.”

There’s something else, his brain added. You should know where these ships are from already. You’re forgetting what you heard!

A new thought occurred to Caleb. He might not recall something said, but he hadn’t been alone at the time. He turned to Sienna and Tavia.

“Didn’t Delacroix say something about ships approaching from the north?” he asked. “That’s the direction our friends out there are coming from.”

“I think so…” Sienna hedged. “But I don’t remember exactly.”

Tavia set down a forehoof on the deck with a clop.

“No, wait,” she said. “The Lord High Captain didn’t say anything. But his subordinate – Captain Jurek – did. He said that if the Gilarskans were telling the truth, they’d have already intercepted us from the north.”

Sure enough, on cue the wind shifted just slightly. Enough to make the ships’ pennants flare to the side. The rippling cloth shone both gold and purple. Gilarskan colors.

Finally, the distance had closed enough for him to make out some additional details. Sailors clad in similar colors crowded the small decks. Glints of silver came from the sides of the vessel’s hulls.

Caleb let out a curse.

“They’re Gilarskan, all right,” he said. “They’re pinnaces, which makes each warship around a third smaller than ours. Maybe even half.”

“‘Tis something that shall make our victory easy, then,” Shaw chuffed.

“Not necessarily. A pinnace is small, light, and very maneuverable. They’re not heavily armed, but they’re perfect to put boarding parties into action. Each of those ships hold around thirty or forty men, and they’re carrying rows of grappling hooks.”

“Say it’s thirty against our forty-odd,” Donal put in. “We could take at least one of them.”

“Maybe even two, if we’re willing to take some casualties,” Caleb agreed. “But not all four. As soon as we’re grappled, they can swarm us and overpower our crew.”

“I’ll go get the crew ready to repel boarding parties,” Sienna said grimly. “If we can’t slip past them or break out of this sea lane, we’ve got little choice.”

“Bide a moment. We need to consider our options. All of them.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll tell you in a moment. Shaw, your eyes are even better than mine,” Caleb said. “Do you see any cannon aboard those ships?”

“Nay,” the griffin said, after a moment. “Plenty of fighting men, ‘tis sure enough. But no cannon.”

“Quinton’s gun crew has all four of our cannon loaded,” Caleb continued. “So we can fire up to four shots in quick succession.”

“Will that be enough to sink one of them?” Tavia asked.

He shook his head. “Hardly. As I mentioned back at Deephold Port, it’s actually very difficult to sink a wooden warship. Wood floats. But it might be enough to give at least a couple of those pinnaces pause. So long as the weather gauge holds in our favor, we have the advantage.”

The mare let out a frustrated snort. “I know that I am not a seafarer, nor a being of the wind. Yet will someone please explain this weather gauge term to a land-based creature like myself?”

Donal and Sienna smiled at that but said nothing. Caleb decided to do the explaining.

“That means we hold the advantage of the wind. Whoever holds the weather gauge gets to dictate the terms of the engagement. For example, in this case the wind is coming from directly behind us. That allows us to steer straight for our opponents. Meanwhile, the Gilarskan pinnaces have to tack back and forth against the wind to close with us.”

“More of their crew will be spent manning the sails and steering, rather than firing at us,” Donal added. “If they had cannon, it would make aiming and hitting us much more difficult too.”

“In our case, I’d prefer to avoid a boarding action,” Caleb went on. “Unless the Gilarskans are exceptionally skilled at operating as a unit, all that tacking will open up a gap in their line. So long as the wind holds, we have a chance of plowing through them without doing more than exchanging a few rifle shots.”

Just as Caleb finished speaking, the breeze dropped away to nothing. The Spitfire’s sails went slack. Crewmen on deck looked up, surprised.

“What in Lir’s name…” Sienna whispered, into the sudden stillness.

Suddenly, the wind resumed again. It picked up so that it blew even more strongly than before. To Caleb’s surprise and growing dismay, he felt the full force on his face.

Oh, come on! Lir and Danu, can’t you give me one single damn break?

The direction of the wind had reversed, putting the advantage of the wind into the Gilarskans’ favor. The mainsail’s canvas slapped against their stays, as if confused.

“And there goes the weather gauge,” Donal groaned. “Captain, if we’re holding course, I need to take us a couple points larboard or steerboard.”

“At your discretion,” Caleb replied. “Keep us on course for now.”

“It’s Delacroix’s Weathermancer,” Tavia stated firmly, as the deck shifted slightly underfoot. “It must be, for such a sustained and unlikely change.”

Caleb glanced once more towards the oncoming pinnaces. The four ships surged forward with the wind, spacing out once more to block the channel. White foam sparkled from the waves thrown up by the small vessels’ bows.

He tucked away the spyglass and slammed his fist down on the railing in frustration. Caleb let out a breath and turned back to his friends on the quarterdeck.

“All right. Now we know what our choices are going to be. The wind’s against us, and I’m out of magic. So option one is to continue tacking to the north and fight our way through. We’re going to have to repel at least one or two boarding parties, so we’re sure to take casualties that way, possibly heavy ones.

“And option two?” Sienna asked.

“Option two is to swing back around south. The only problem is, we still can’t get out of this channel until we pass the Stone Angel on our larboard side. Obviously, she can’t board us as she’s stuck fast. But that exposes us to other dangers.”

“At least one broadside from her battery of sixteen cannon,” Tavia agreed. “But you said that it’s hard to sink a wooden ship with cannon fire.”

“Hard, but not impossible,” Caleb said. “Just one cannon shot to the powder magazine will take out any ship. But it’s certain we’d take damage. A hit to our rudder could jam it, a lucky hit to the mainmast could topple it, crippling us.”

“Delacroix might be able to get more than one shot at us,” Sienna pointed out. “We’ll be travelling at speed so long as we have the weather gauge. But the Weathermancer aboard the Stone Angel might well drop the wind as soon as we pass, stranding us within gun range. I say we continue north and try to fight our way through the pinnace fleet.”

Caleb nodded. “All right, that’s a fair opinion. I want to hear what the rest of you think. Tavia? You’re third in command, what do you say?”

“I say we turn about and risk the Stone Angel’s guns.” the unicorn said, with a toss of her mane. “It’s risky, but the odds against us holding off double our numbers or more in a boarding action are worse.”

“It’s only worse if we let more than two of those Gilarskans board us,” Donal put in. “Lir’s breath, I can surely thread our way through so that two of those ships miss us!”

“That’s two to one,” Caleb nodded before turning to the griffin. “Well, Shaw, I think I know you’ll be in favor of fighting our way through to the north–”

The drake shook his head. “Nay, Captain! I agree with the comely mare.”

“You do? All right, explain.”

“My one wing is held tight to seal a wound,” Shaw explained. “‘Tis fine otherwise. Shouldst the wind drop against us as we pass the frigate, I shall fly across the gap and take out the cannon crews on my own.”

“Delacroix’s men will shoot you down or hack you to pieces!”

“‘Tis a noble end shouldst I perish gloriously. In any case, I opt to head south and pass the Stone Angel.”

Caleb turned away a moment and looked out to where the four pinnaces continued to bear down on them. Either way looked fraught with danger. Either way, he’d be losing crew, taking damage to the ship, or both.

Lir and Danu help me, which way do I choose?