“What is it?” Cried a voice from the ship.

“Is it magic?” Cried another. All the ship’s crew had their eyes turned towards the sky as the strange waves of light flowed through the hazing fog and blue sky of morning. It was like watching a living rainbow, it danced and weaved through the sky made of colors not thought to be possible.

Somwang clambered her way up the center mast, trying to see it closer. Other soldiers were doing the same, trying to investigate what they were seeing.

“Singing! I can hear singing!” Someone yelled.

“I hear it too!”

It was the strangest thing, but indeed Somwang heard a soft melody drift past her ears, as if someone was singing. But that couldn’t be… she marveled.

As the entire crew of the ship stared up at the drifting lights, the waters below began to sway gently, a tide rolling across. Somwang felt the wind shift and took her gaze back to the deck of the ship, she looked at the surrounding ocean. The tide was calm this early in the morning, but it was shifting slightly, small waves moving towards them, as if some other boat was causing disturbance.

Somwang quickly set her eyes to the horizon, scanning for ships. There, off the Starboard bow, in the distance was a large silhouette of a ship. “Ship to starboard!” Somwang hollered. At first there was no reaction, all her crewmates still star-struck by what was going on above. Somwang angrily tried again, louder this time “SHIP TO STARBOARD!”

This time the crew heard her, quickly snapping to reality and rushing to gather themselves. Namaari hurried to Somwang’s side. Without words Somwang pointed to the horizon, where the silhouette was growing larger.

“Bring us closer to the ship! Ready arrows!” Namaari ordered. At her command the sails were lowered and quickly caught wind, bringing the ship on a steady pace towards the stranger’s ship.

As their ship grew closer, Somwang began to make out more details. The first thing she realized was that the ship was not silhouetted, but in fact made up of very deep colors of black and red. The next thing to become clear in her vision, was the sails, as well as the banners hanging from them, and immediately after, she saw the crew of the ship, yelling and with swords raised. This was no merchant vessel.

“PIRATAS!” Namaari barked, “PREPARE TO FIGHT! NO PRISONERS!” The crew hollered in unison, readying staves and swords as well as drawing back bowstrings.

The pirate’s ship drew closer and it became obvious that as the Kumandran ship bore towards it, so too was the pirate’s ship approaching them with speed. “Slow sails!” Somwang called, “We can meet their Starboard and board!”

“Do as she says!” Namaari cleared the order, and the sails were raised a bit to slow the ship’s pace.

As they drew in range of the ship, Raya gave the order. “Fire volleys!” Immediately the distance between the ships was filled with arrows, all of which hit marks. Whether or not fatal no one could yet tell. The archers knocked their arrows again and repeated a volley of arrow fire, never missing a shot. Somwang began to see pirates fall under the volley. In response, however; she saw something much worse. A massive cast iron barrel was brought to the side of the pirate’s ship and pointed towards them.

“CANONS! BRACE FOR IMPACT!” She barely had time to scream a warning before an ear-shattering boom was heard and the ship was rocked with a massive blast, wood splintering into the air. Most of the crew stumbled under the tremor and fell to the deck, Somwang included.

What piratas have gunpowder? She slammed her fist on the deck and sprung to her feet, now staring across the deck from a snarling and bloodthirsty pirate, they had reached their side, and it was time to board.

Without hesitation Somwang let out a warcry and swung into action, her glaive a spinning whirlwind above her head as she flipped over her side and clashed the blade with the pirate’s own. Her cry was met with a chorus of whoops hollers and screams from around her as the two ships erupted into a cacophony of clashing blades.

Somwang expertly wielded her blade as if it weighed nothing, keeping the pirate at distance with wide strokes and punishing him with quick parries. She smiled with the confidence of the trained warrior she was as she flipped her staff and butted the man in the head with the end of her staff. With a low roll she sprung up and caught the blade of another pirate who was currently locked with a soldier from Heart.

The soldier gave her a knowing smile and a nod and they paced forward at the pirate, countering every futile strike she made with ease. The pirate took a swipe high, but Somwang easily swept her staff up to meet it. However, the pirate quickly changed course and went low, moving faster than Somwang was prepared for. Time seemed to slow down as Somwang watched the pirate’s sword speed past her abdomen and enter the chest of her fellow soldier standing behind her. Blood spurted from the new wound as the Heart soldier’s eyes went wide. Somwang swore that in that moment she felt his heart stop as well as her own.

“No!” She cried, shocked that after all the days they had spent on the ocean, one of their own had fallen. No pirate had ever been skilled enough to best a Kumandran, none could even dream to match the speed and precision wielded by a Kumandran warrior. Yet she couldn’t deny her eyes as the man collapsed to the deck, clutching his chest. Somwang looked up at the pirate again, who was laughing now, an evil laugh that curled her face into a sneer. Behind the pirate, Somwang was horrified to see more of this, more of her comrades falling to the pirates.

Fire flooded into her eyes, suddenly all she could see was red. Whether it was her mind filling her head with rage or the blood of her comrade, Somwang’s vision was tinted with blood, and she yelled.

No more was her form one of taunting and flourish, now she fought with extreme surgical precision, she wasted no time piercing her blade forward into the pirate’s parry, then immediately feigning for a drop and severing her tendons. As the pirate dropped to the ground, Somwang fiercely ran her glaive through the animal’s back and out the other side, pulling it back and letting her drop to the ground.

She spun around, her teeth bared, her eyes scanning the pirate crew, and finding their target. A tall man danced through the crew, the sword in his hand swinging and slashing, parrying strikes as effortlessly as an acrobat leaping. The tails of his coat flourished as he spun and his hat was dipped low over his eyes, showing only his smile. The Captain.

Somwang wasted no time, dipping her head low she roared as she made a beeline for the aloof man. She raised her blade and fluidly swung it into a downward arc, ready to sever him in two. As her glaive whistled through the air, suddenly Somwang heard a female voice cry out. “Captain!”

Somwang watched in bewilderment as her powerful swing was caught along the blade of a small knife. A shorter woman followed behind the blade, sliding into position under Somwang and pushing back against her strength. Somwang stumbled back from the parry, then whipped her head up to face her new assailant. She lost her breath as she stared deep into a pair of oceanic eyes.

“Lynn?”