The vision before me was unbelievable, the last thing I’d expected on our approach to Akoni Farrin. I’d anticipated meting out punishment, domination, cowing the clan into terror and submission, but I stood at the rail of my ship in dumbstruck awe, staring at the bizarre apparition. I’d sent an Apolake Warrior to tell Themis to slow our approach. We were still a good distance away from the coast.
The gas bombs that were loaded and ready to engage were held off for the moment as every eye was glued to the shore of the land mass before us.
Plumes of fire spiraled from a Dwarkaa ship docked at Akoni Farrin, the intense flames illuminating the frothing waves surrounding the vessel. The inferno created surreal effects all around. The dust-filled air shone orange in all directions, the violent waves appeared tipped in blood, as though churning with the kill of a battle, and the thick smoke billowing upwards, tinged in places with red, orange and yellow, displayed beauty I’d never before seen. Profuse, acrid smoke filled the atmosphere and wafted toward us, causing my lungs to constrict and the sound of coughing echoed around me as my fellow Apolake Warriors succumbed to the elements. Sounds of crackling wood filled my senses as the deck of the burning vessel surrendered to the raging blaze.
Sounds from the shore filtered through. I heard something that made my blood run cold. I left Tilly and hurried to the bridge to discuss the situation with Themis, my First Mate. I noticed more of my warriors crowding up on deck to see the unusual happening. Fear clouded each man’s eyes. There’d been caution before regarding visiting Akoni Farrin but now it was palpable.
As I stepped onto the bridge, Themis turned to me and said, “I’ve slowed the ship’s approach. How do you want to proceed?”
“Stop our advance entirely and we wait until the smoke clears.”
“But what about the doomed ship and their crew? If they’re trapped on board, shouldn’t we try to help them?”
“They’re not on board.”
“How can you be sure?”
“The clan has taken them. When the smoke clears you will see.”
Themis looked hesitant but nodded and turned his eyes to study the ship which was now completely engulfed in flames and disintegrating before our eyes. “Where would they have gotten this ship and its crew?” he asked.
Shaking my head, I said, “I don’t know. Perhaps this ship and its crew were seized from the farrin patrol jurisdiction to the west.”
“How could this clan have done this, accomplished such a feat?”
I didn’t bother to answer but also racked my mind to comprehend how this clan could have possibly managed this daring act.
It took an hour for the ship to succumb, the fire to subside and the sea to claim its prize. Smoke still rose from the sea, the ship’s last stand as the boards floated on the surface, sputtering their last breath as they gradually died.
As the smoke calmed and the shore grew clearer, I drew in a sharp intake of acrid, smoke-infested air. Coughing as though my lungs were lined with ash, I surveyed the debacle on the beach. The situation was worse than I’d imagined. Every one of the destroyed ship’s crew members were tied to stakes farther up on the beach, close to the hills and rocks that hugged the rugged mountains of the farrin. Something I’d heard floating on the breeze earlier had prepared me somewhat for what I saw. Through the flames and the roar of the fire I made out parts of the Captured Captain’s Creed of Dwarkaa’s Courage.
This is what I heard, “For Dwarkaa and for my Lord, may his enemies be destroyed. Every farrin warrior and every wench, let them rise in holy stench. Their rebellion and their will, may they be broken as I kill. May my blood continue to cry, and demand Akoni to die! May my death not be in vain, but be an honor to Casimer’s High Name.”
Every ship captain knows this creed by heart. If faced with death at the hands of a farrin clan, this is our decree, our curse to the ones who have orchestrated our demise.
“What do you want me to do?” Themis asked.
“We can’t use the gas, at least not yet. Pull into the dock and we’ll send ten of our warriors to release the captured ship crew. Once they’re safely on board, we’ll continue with the plan.”
Themis looked afraid, unusual for the sadistic reputation he had. He didn’t say a word but started moving the ship forward.
I left the bridge and descended to the deck. My Apolake Warriors gathered around me and I gave the instructions for the invasion. The plans had changed as the aggression of the Akoni Farrin demanded. Once the warriors from the destroyed ship were safe, we would go in with all our firepower and cruelty and decimate the clan. They’d invited it and now they would suffer beyond what we’d initially planned.
Tilly stood to the side, a look of victory on her pretty face and it galled me. She listened as I instructed my men but was wise enough to keep her mouth shut. The warriors scattered to collect their weapons and I stepped toward the rail and watched our approach.
Tilly came to stand beside me. “Do you believe me now?”
“The only thing I believe is that Akoni Clan has orchestrated its own destruction.”
“Be careful, Donagh. Although I don’t love you, I don’t want to see you cut down like a dog.”
I stared at her, again shocked at her boldness.
“If you resist, you will die. If you surrender, perhaps some of your men can be spared.”
“Surrender?” I asked, confused by the suggestion. “The Apolake Warriors do not surrender. Ever!”
There was anxiety in her eyes, a sign that she cared for me more than she admitted.
“Do as you wish. Rush toward an early grave if that’s what you choose.” She turned and walked off, to the other side of the ship.
I was glad of her going. Being around Tilly caused emotion in me that I was still unaccustomed to. That her words could cause such turmoil in my mind worried me. She had far more power over me than any other woman had ever had. My flesh raged in longing for her, my heart was undone by her and my mind hated her. A constant insatiable storm whirled inside me whenever she was near.
The ship scraped against the dock, the gangplank was lowered and ten warriors disembarked, carrying shotguns, rifles, pistols and hand grenades. The weapon holsters at their waists were heavy with ammo.
Watching from the deck of my ship, I removed the gun at my waist, ready to shoot down anyone who tried to attack them, and observed as my men reached the first of the stakes. A captured warrior cried out in relief.
The restrained captain, tied to a stake in the centre of his crew, yelled out to my warriors on the approach. “Where are your shields? Where are your shields? They’ll kill every one of us!”
A pinging noise suddenly filled the air as arrows were released from the hills and rocks farther up toward the mountain pass. The deadly weapons hit their mark as the arrows sunk deep through the skull of every warrior tied to a stake. Just like that, every warrior was dead, along with the captain of the destroyed ship.
The men from my vessel stopped mid stride as they realized their vulnerability. Not one of them had taken a shield and they’d intentionally been spared the first barrage of arrows. I’d not even thought to give the instruction to arm themselves with shields. I was so sure our victory would be easy and Akoni’s demise imminent that I’d overlooked the necessity of protection.
A moment’s hesitation overtook my warriors before they all, as one man, roared in fury and ran toward the hills. As they neared, they removed the hand grenades from their belts, pulled the pins and threw them over the crevices in the rocks and took cover. The grenades exploded with fire and sound, rock and debris scattering in every direction.
More pinging noises filled the air. The arrows showered down from higher on the rocks hugging the mountain. The thud of arrow tips hitting flesh filled the air with gloom and death. The ten warriors I’d sent out fell to the sandy ground without a sound, dead in their tracks.
I watched in stunned silence and suddenly understood that Captain Umiko had wisdom beyond what I’d previously thought. I had to devise a comeback plan, anything to salvage what we’d lost. We were losing momentum quickly and I didn’t have a lot of options left.
An Apolake Warrior came to stand beside me. “What are your instructions, sir?”
“Prepare the gas bombs. We’ll sail along the coast and release them. We’ll choke them out and destroy them.”
The man ran off to obey my command and I gave more instructions to six warriors I’d previously picked out. They would disembark and stay on the beach, ready to move in when the gas had done its job.
The six Apolake Warriors grabbed their gear, antiquated face masks that would protect them from the fumes and incessant wind and this time they took shields. They ran down the gangplank, onto the shore and hurried to a rock formation to the left where they’d be safe for the time being.
My soldiers raised the gangplank, undid the ship’s lines that held us to the pier and Themis navigated back into the open sea. When in position, I instructed the lanyard to be pulled and the bell rang.
The cannons boomed as the gas bombs were released from the gunports down below. Soon the hills and rock formations of Akoni Farrin flumed with smoke. We continued along the coast releasing a plethora of gas bombs until the whole approachable beach, hills and possible hiding spots were filled with the lung destroying vapor.
I was certain that none of the Akoni Clan members could have escaped the toxic fumes. Themis gradually turned the ship around and headed back to the dock. My warriors on shore waited the designated time and then I saw them emerge from their hiding spot and surge toward the hills and rocks.
I suddenly realized that the Tonrar had not materialized to help us. Their heavy oppressiveness was clearly absent and my fear escalated. We desperately needed them to defeat this clan.
Quickly, I spoke out the chant that would summon them. “Wraiths of darkness and phantoms of death, come with your heaviness and shroud us in your breath. Empower our mission with a river of red, the blood of our enemies as we behead. Perform your duty in honoring our Lord, I summon you to consecrate and hone our swords.”
We didn’t use swords. They were one of the weapon choices of the weaker farrins. The words were a symbolic chant signifying the weapons we carried.
Tilly appeared out of nowhere, stepped beside me at the rail and said, “It won’t do any good. They won’t come. Even if you don’t sense the futility of what you’re doing, they do.”
“Go back to our room and wait there. I have no need of you beside me.”
“I thought you wanted to show me off, the defector, the one from Akoni who now belongs to Dwarkaa Farrin.”
“I’ll summon you when it’s time.”
She had a knowing but irritating look about her, like she was reveling in the setbacks we’d experienced.
“If we die, so do you,” I warned her.
“I’ll be gone long before that.”
I stared at her, unsure of what she was saying. Tilly turned her head, causing her long tresses to swing over her shoulder, and walked away. She had a habit of doing that, saying mysterious things and leaving the words hanging between us.
My attention turned toward my warriors rushing toward the hills. I was surprised at the lack of sound in the air. I heard no gasps of air, no choking from the effects of the gas and no bodies stumbling from the hills, eager to escape the noxious fumes. Something wasn’t right. Worry filled my chest as I watched my men reach the hills and navigate over the first rise. When they scrambled over the second rocky hill, the air suddenly erupted with a slew of arrows.
Every one of my men was pierced through by no less than ten arrows each, their shields useless in defending them as the shafts came at them from multiple directions. They were still alive but their screams filled the atmosphere with pure, excruciating pain. I acknowledged that it took great skill to shoot arrows from such a distance and not hit any major organs and in doing so, avoid a kill. Akoni’s archers were phenomenally skilled. The six warriors were in unbearable agony and their torture had been deliberate. Their deaths would be slow and painful.
My warrior count was precariously low. I had fifteen more Apolake Warriors I could deploy.
Themis navigated the ship expertly along the side of the dock and the vessel was secured. He soon joined me on the deck and stood at my side. “What now? We’re running out of options. I say we head back to sea and forget about Akoni. There is no shame in retreat.”
To admit that Captain Umiko was right and I wrong was too strong a pill to swallow. To acknowledge that I’d lost against Akoni Farrin infuriated me. “No, we move in. Summon every warrior. We will advance.”
“The Tonrar are not with us. This could be a death march. Our ship will burn as easily as the other one.”
“Are you defying me?” I asked, anger rolling in my gut.
He grudgingly nodded. “All right, I’ll summon the rest of the warriors.”
I’d rather die a noble death in defending Casimer’s honor than turn back to Dwarkaa in shamed defeat. I’d never live down the embarrassment.
I retreated below deck to the munitions room and geared up for full out war.
Back on deck, my warriors gathered around me with fear in their eyes but determination set on each face to follow my orders. I gave the instructions and they disembarked, one by one. I took up the rear, hoping beyond hope that I wasn’t rushing toward my death.
