The double boom of Delacroix’s chase cannon echoed in Caleb’s ears.

A skin-crawling shriek as the cannonballs flew through the air. He spotted a pair of dark blurs for an instant. He tensed himself for the impact–

–and the shots landed a half-dozen yards off to steerboard with a wet-sounding ker-sploosh!

The splash roiled the fog and threw warm droplets into the air. Caleb felt a thin mist patter against his skin a few moments later, but that was all. He kept focused on keeping both spells working, keenly aware of his XP and magical energy running inexorably down towards zero.

He brushed the mixture of spray and sweat from his forehead.

Come on, come on, he silently urged. Just a little longer...

Caleb continued to slide his triple set of decoy lanterns off to the right, along the Spitfire’s original heading. The red gleams marking the eyes of the Stone Angel’s grim figurehead grew dimmer in the thickening fogbank. One finally winked out of sight, followed by the other as the frigate followed the magical lights like a man chasing the will-o'-the-wisp.

Soon, only the larboard profile of the frigate remained just barely visible. It reminded Caleb of a charcoal sketch done against a creamy gray background. Then even that vanished.

A dull-sounding double boom rippled through the air as the frigate fired again. The sound made him tense up once more. But this time, the shots landed harmlessly with a splash in the middle distance.

That’s it! They’re following the decoy instead of us!

Caleb’s mind went immediately to his triple set of gauges that measured his levels of physical well-being, stamina, and magical energy. The first was only slightly reduced. The second, marking his stamina, was below the halfway mark.

But he could barely make out a sliver of the yellow bar marking his magical energy level.

If that light spell winks out, that frigate’s got a decent chance of finding us again. How much longer can I keep it going?

He gestured, sliding screens aside until he found the description of the Dancing Lights spell he’d paid a dozen gold crowns for.

Dancing Lights: This spell allows you to conjure up to four globes of light in midair, each the size of a flaming torch or lantern. These lights can be of any color and can be sent anywhere within sight of the caster. Lights will continue to remain in existence for five minutes per level attained by the caster.

The last line drew his attention. He did the math and came up with a total of forty-five minutes. Then he shook his head.

It would be a lot better if I can keep Delacroix chasing ghosts for a couple more hours, when we’ll be over the horizon. Maybe there’s some way I can keep things going somehow. Fuel my spells solely off of my XP instead of my magical energy.

Caleb reached out towards the three orbs that shone ever-further off to steerboard. He visualized opening a battery compartment and sliding in a pair of nine-volts. As he did so, the bleachy smell of ozone surged into his sinuses again, forcing tears from his eyes.

He repeated the same visualization strategy with the Move Fog spell. Instead of piling up fog to the sloop’s stern, he moved the bulk of it off to steerboard. He wrapped the Stone Angel and the lights she continued to chase in an all-smothering blanket of mist.

No sooner had he finished his work than something went pop! in his head, like a lightbulb’s filament burning out.

The bar marking his magical energy level had gone completely black. While he didn’t feel drained physically, Caleb sensed an inner weariness. The closest he could come to describing the sensation was as if he’d just completed a difficult school test.

He took a step back and rested his sweaty brow on the cool wooden surface of the taffrail. A deep breath of the misty sea air, and he regained some of his equilibrium. With the flick of a finger, he switched over to the Quest Window.

New Bonus Level Mini-Quest:

Utilize two of your magic spells in conjunction with your Individual-Specific Specialty: COMPLETE. XP Value of the next quest completed increased by 25%.

Veteran Adventurer’s-Level Quest:

Attempt to escape a squadron of the Myrkur’s Naval Arm, the Sea Vipers.

Quest difficulty initially decreased by 25% due to a shortage of undamaged ships in Deephold Port.

However, quest difficulty has been subsequently increased by 100% due to determined pursuit by Lord High Captain Delacroix in the Sea Viper’s flagship, the Stone Angel.

STATUS: IN PROGRESS

With that, Caleb made his way down to the quarterdeck. He stood next to Donal at the helm. Every eye on the main deck, from human to griffin to unicorn, stared up hopefully towards him.

He decided to start off on a cautionary note. If he began by saying ‘we’ve escaped the Stone Angel’, then that might lead to a cheer. And right now, anything that broadcast their position could lead to their doom.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he began, in a voice that was barely loud enough to be heard by those on deck. “So we’ll have to run silent a bit longer. No cheers, no calls. I’ve got Delacroix chasing a false set of stern lanterns. If we can vanish from his sight before the fog gives out or dawn arrives, then we’ll know we’ve truly lost him.”

As if to underscore what he said, the Lord High Captain’s frigate fired her bow chase guns yet again. The thick fog muffled the double boom this time. Even Caleb’s triple set of lights were tiny glowing points, almost lost in the turbid moonlight.

“I know we’re all tired,” he went on. “We’ve been on the run and under fire almost the entire time until now. But we need to remain as ready as possible until I’m sure that we’ve escaped the Myrkur’s clutches. I’d like the teams assigned to our sails to remain on deck. It’s warm out, if a little wet. Rest if you can, but I want at least one person on each team awake and alert tonight.”

He got weary nods of agreement at that, so he continued.

“One last thing. I’d like volunteers to man the helm and the lookout positions midway up the mainmast.”

“I can remain where I am for now,” Donal said proudly. “After all that we’ve been through, I’m all up on tenterhooks. Wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink as it is.”

The two boys who’d snuffed out the stern lanterns piped up next.

“We don’t want to go to sleep!” Aiden enthused. “This is all so exciting!”

“And we want to see what amazing things you and your friends do next!” Ethan added.

Well, that’s just great, Caleb thought. Looks like everyone wants to see the next episode of the Caleb Ledger and Friends show. Only if the bad guys catch us, we’re sure as hell not getting renewed for another season.

“I appreciate the enthusiasm,” Caleb said. “But you’re both running on adrenaline right now. That’ll wear off, and I don’t want you falling from anyplace that high.”

Aiden screwed up his face at that. “What’s adeen-a-lean?”

“Maybe I have a solution,” Donal put in. “Bide a moment.”

He motioned to one of the older men on deck. The man saw the gesture and immediately came up to the helm. He carried a coil of rope in one hand.

“Noack, these two want to remain up in the fighting top for the night,” Donal said, as he pointed to the boys. “Can you make them a couple of rope harnesses to keep them from falling?”

“Aye, I believe so,” came the response, followed by a respectful bow to Caleb. “If that be in line with your orders.”

“It very much is,” Caleb agreed.

“Come along, lads,” Noack said, and the pair went off with him.

“That man’s one of the best with making or tying lines,” Donal explained. “They’ll be as safe as if they were in Danu’s arms.”

Caleb clapped his hand on his helmsman’s shoulder.

“Thanks. Again. Without your help in making sure everyone’s working together, we’d have never made it this far.”

Donal actually blushed at the praise. It made the bruise blossoming under his left eye look even more horrific.

“I’m not the one deserving of thanks. It’s you, Caleb. You and your powerful monster friends. Speaking of which, all three of you look more than a bit stretched. Unless you need to be here, perhaps a little rest for you would be in order.”

Caleb nodded, feeling the weariness settle further into his muscles at Donal’s words. The tang of ozone had begun to fade, allowing his sense of smell to return. That was a small but welcome relief.

“You’re right,” he said. “Donal, absent any alerts from our lookouts regarding breaking waves or some other obstacle, just hold our course for the rest of the night. We’re making decent speed on this heading.”

“Prayer’s up, I’ll make sure of it.”

That settled, Caleb leaned on the rail at the forward edge of the quarterdeck.

“Shaw, Tavia,” he said quietly. “I’d like you both to join me in the great cabin. We need to discuss a few things while we can.”

The griffin raised his head in surprise, while Tavia’s ears perked up at the suggestion. Yet neither objected to the request. Caleb went and held the door open as the two entered.

Tavia ducked her head slightly to keep her horn from brushing the top of the doorframe. Shaw had to inhale and keep his wings furled tightly together to make it through the door. Caleb followed, carefully stepping over the griffin’s tail and crossing the cabin to pull the shutters closed on the three stern windows.

“Tavia, could we please have some light?” he asked.

“Of course,” she replied. “I have just enough magic left for that.”

A blink, and her horn shone with its unique silver-gold phosphorescence. The illumination gave the cabin a homey, almost Christmas-y feel.

Homey, and a little cramped, Caleb thought. He made his way over to sit on the bed. That left enough room for Tavia to find a place over by the larboard-side bookshelves. The unicorn sat, gracefully folding her legs underneath her body as she did so.

Shaw looked surprisingly comfortable as he took up the entire forward half of the room. The griffin sprawled like a lounging jungle cat, resting his noble eagle head atop his leonine forepaws. Yet his great golden eyes remained alert.

“What dost thou wish to speak about, Caleb?” Shaw asked. “Mayhap it is too sensitive for the ears of the crew?”

“I would hope not,” Tavia added. “I dislike keeping secrets from those who are helping us.”

“It’s not too sensitive,” Caleb said. “Not really. It’s just that...the three of us need to figure out a little more about what’s going on here. Everyone else – Donal, Sienna, and the rest – won’t understand. They can’t. Because this is their world, not ours.”

“That much is for sure,” Tavia agreed. “We are strangers to it.”

“Not only that. The fact is, we’re all strangers to one another here.”

The griffin and unicorn traded a glance at that.

“Mayhap the blows to mine own head have addled me,” Shaw finally said. “Aye, we have all just met this very night. But methinks that we have bonded through battle and shared goals.”

“I agree with Shaw,” Tavia chimed in. “Circumstance has thrown us together, but we are united in our purpose for now.”

Caleb shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I didn’t mean we were strangers to each other until we met tonight.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“I mean,” Caleb said patiently, “that we’re all strangers to Avalon. Because all three of us come from completely different worlds.”