“I’m not sure exactly what I saw out there ahead of us,” Caleb said, as he nodded towards the bow of the ship. “But I saw a flash of red light out there too.”

“Could it have been a ship?” Sienna asked. “Was it moving?”

“Couldn’t tell. I was somewhat occupied at the time.” Caleb turned to Shaw next. “Well, now. Did the rescue you just pulled off sate your appetite for adventure?”

“Sate?” Shaw chuffed, before scraping the deck with his taloned paw. “‘Twas but a tiny appetizer. Mine own thirst for adventure has merely been awakened!”

“Good. Our two lookouts are either in the infirmary or the mess. And since we’ve got a sunrise coming to illuminate your way, I could use your eagle eyes aloft.”

“Never fear,” Shaw announced. “I shall endeavor to solve the mystery of yon light ahead.”

With that, the griffin spread his wings. Those on deck looked away from the downdraft kicked up as Shaw took off. In no time, the drake was aloft and winging his way to the west.

Caleb paused to flexed one arm and his opposite hand. He winced and did his best not to tear up. Both extremities burned with pain.

“Dammit,” he cursed. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to move these if they stiffen up.”

He heard the clop of hooves on wooden deck planks. Tavia came over to his side. Her beads rattling in the wind that sliced across the ship.

“You’re hurt,” the unicorn stated. “Let me help you, Captain.”

Sienna opened her mouth as if about to object. But she remained quiet as the mare’s horn glowed once more with golden light. Tavia lightly touched Caleb’s shoulder, then his hand.

The pain within both parts of his body vanished.

“There we are,” said the mare. “Those were painful wounds, but non-lethal. Luckily, that’s the kind my magic can handle best.”

“You’re a wonder, Tavia. Thank you.” Caleb looked over to where his quartermaster continued to frown. “What’s wrong?”

“You said you saw a red light,” Sienna said. “Just one, I gather?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

She frowned. “That’s…worrisome.”

“Why?”

“Could it be the Stone Angel up head of us? After all, Jaime Quinton’s gun crew did poke out her eye on the larboard bow. That leaves one red light.”

Tavia snorted. She shook her mane, making her beads rattle once more.

“What?” Caleb exclaimed. “That’s a ridiculous–”

But he paused in mid-sentence. He’d learned more than once that the world of Avalon played by its own rules. He bit his lip as his mind ran through the idea again, this time without dismissing it out of hand.

Delacroix’s flagship hasn’t been fully repaired yet, he thought. We saw as much back on Matagorda. And we left the Stone Angel leagues and leagues behind us when we left that cursed island. But the Lord High Captain does have a powerful Weathermancer on board. Could they have shored up the bow, poured on enough wind to get ahead of us? It’s unlikely as hell, but this is a world of magic…

“All right, belay that last sentence of mine,” Calen sighed. “That could in fact be Delacroix’s flagship up ahead. What’s your advice, quartermaster?”

Sienna didn’t hesitate.

“Put up every scrap of sail we have, right now. Even with full gun crews, our best bet is to outrun her, Captain. Even if her hull’s been patched, it won’t stand up to the pressure of the sea when she’s got a whitecap at her bow.”

“Sounds fair enough. Let’s do it.”

Sienna nodded. She went over to the aft passageway to the lower decks. Standing at the top of the stairway, she cupped her hands around her mouth and called down.

“Ahoy the dawn sailing shift! Rub the sleep sand out of your eyes, you’re needed on deck!”

A rumble of curses and the sounds of bare feet on wooden planks wafted up from below. Men and women stumbled up the stairway, blinking against the growing dawn light. Most all were barefoot, and while all were clothed, many still wore little more than rags.

We’re lucky the weather’s continued to be mild, Caleb thought ruefully. I’ve got to get this crew outfitted with something better than the bare minimum. Maybe the next vessel we rob will be carrying a consignment for a clothing store. Or whatever passes for one in this world.

In a few minutes, the mainsail had been set to take full advantage of the northern wind even as the Spitfire continued nearly due west. A triple set of jib sails were put out along the hastily repaired bowsprit. The smaller triangular sails billowed out, straining at their fastenings, driving the sloop up to a full whitecap at the bow.

“Do we need to send a new pair of lookouts aloft?” Tavia asked. Caleb shook his head in reply.

“Not when the wind is this fierce. We barely avoided one accident, no need to risk another. Besides, I’m sure that Shaw will let us know what’s up ahead when he returns. Those eagle eyes of his don’t miss much.”

“In that we are in agreement, Captain. Yet I’d have expected him back by now. He may have espied something else with those eagle eyes.”

He rubbed his chin. “Good point. Wish I had the same vision as our griffin friend. Even though he’s an older drake, his limits are phenomenal, to say the least.”

“Don’t you still have your spyglass?”

Caleb mentally kicked himself. Trust Tavia to point out when I’ve missed the obvious.

“Good idea,” he said aloud. “A very good idea, in fact.”

He turned and went at a jog back aft and up to the quarterdeck. He pushed his way into the great cabin and looked about in the dim light. Daffodil and Breena lay curled up next to each other on the bed, one a calico puffball and the other a circlet of golden scales.

Caleb found the spyglass and went back out onto the quarterdeck. The first rays of golden dawn light sluiced across the ship from aft, putting much of the deck in shadow. He moved to the larboard side railing, leaned out and put the viewing instrument to his eye.

Sure enough, at the very edge of the horizon, the single red light blinked back at him. Now that he could make it out more clearly, he noticed that the shape of the whatever-it-was didn’t resemble a ship.

He tucked the spyglass back into a jacket pocket, considering. Finally, he decided to call up two of his Corsair skills to check it. With a mental wave of his hand, he invoked the pair of powers he wanted.

Depth Sense Dead Reckoning

A warning screen greeted him first.

Existing Debuffs: Corsair abilities reduced by 30%. Due to the Mass Bluff granted Bonus, the degradation of your Corsair powers has been halted for approximately six more hours.

Ignoring what he couldn’t change yet, he focused on his Dead Reckoning ability first.

The ocean ahead melted away into a wide mist of blue-green. A complete sweep of the area told Caleb that the range of his sight had diminished. But a single point of brown stuck up ahead on the larboard bow.

That’s it. Whatever we’re seeing, it’s an island and not a ship. Which brings up another hazard I need to check.

He activated Depth Sense next. Instantly, his sight coalesced around the dark keel of the sloop before plunging further down. A rolling plain with plenty of water stretched out all around them. Only a single mountain rose steeply out of the depth, poking its head out of the water just ahead.

Good. We’re not about to ground on that thing, not unless we run right into it.

A cry came from further forward as he switched the two skills off.

“Ahoy the helm! Griffin approaching from above to steerboard!”

That’s good, Caleb’s mind thought approvingly. Hopefully the news he carries comes in the same category.

“Steady as she goes,” he said to Donal, who nodded and gave a Yezzir as his Captain went back down to the main deck.

Caleb went over to stand next to Tavia. Sienna joined them. Shaw circled around the sloop and came in from the south. The drake flared out his wings and landed with a clack of talons on the main deck.

“‘Tis a mere flake of an isle up ahead,” Shaw reported. Caleb nodded, knowing that the griffin’s report tallied with what he’d seen. “Mine own people would call it a ‘flake’, for ‘tis little more than a rock half the size of this vessel, with scarcely enough soil for a single tree to grow. The scarlet flash ahead doth come from this tree.”

“That seems passing strange,” Sienna observed. “A scarlet tree?”

“Perhaps it is enchanted,” Tavia put in. “Some magic was placed on this isle, or rock.”

“I for one doth sense enchantment,” Shaw said amenably. “Yet I observed more closely, and saw that the reddish light comes from a set of metallic beacons fastened to that tree. Yon flashes are directed towards each point of the compass.”

Caleb snapped his fingers. “Of course. It’s Avalon’s version of a lighthouse.”

“Indeed?” Sienna looked puzzled. “What might a ‘light house’ be?”

Tavia looked thoughtful. “One might guess that it is a rather less robust structure than a regular house.”

“No, no,” Caleb corrected her. “It’s a…well, in my world, it’s a tower or other structure containing a light used to warn or guide ships.”

“Oh, you mean a warning beacon!” Sienna said. “We set bonfires to mark harbor entrances, so that ships don’t run around. This sounds similar.”

“That’s close enough for shouting,” Caleb agreed. “Doubtless it’s to warn travelers that they’re drawing close to the Leeward Shoals.”

“And the opening through them,” Tavia pointed out. “The passageway to the Swallower of Ships.”

“Well, speaking of ships,” Caleb said, “at least we don’t have any Myrkur vessels approaching us.”

Shaw let out a grumbling growl of a cough.

“T’was not mine own words, Captain.”

Caleb looked up sharply. “You’re saying that you did see some ships out there?”

“Four, to be precise,” the griffin informed him. “Three from the southeast, one from the north. They are far off, just over the distant horizons, but they are putting on all possible sail.”

A prickle ran up Caleb’s back at Shaw’s words.

“Did you manage to get their make? See their flags?”

The drake shook his head. “They appeared to be warships, to my eye. Yet the wan light of pre-dawn was not enough to make out much. And t’was something odd about their approach, methinks.”

Oh, this just gets better and better.

“Something odd.” Caleb let out a breath. “Well, don’t keep your Captain in suspense. What did you find odd?”

The griffin chuckled, then turned and crouched down next to Caleb.

“T’wouldst be easier to show you, Captain.”

It took a moment for Shaw’s offer to register. Caleb’s heart skipped a beat.

Did my friend, my third mate, just offer me a ride?