Pirates!!!

Reyan had almost missed the men tampering with two of Schwinn's ships. They were dressed in brown and so low that the water had hidden them from his view. 

Rather than wait for them to cause more damage, the fairy had immediately called a warning. "Men!" 

It had been short and simple, but those onboard The Frieheit had understood the message almost immediately.

Unfortunately so had the crew of Little Bess. Like ants, the crew began to swarm the deck in reaction to Reyan's warning.

"Pirates!" Schwinn screamed. The call rippled through his crew. They also began to swarm like a nest of disturbed bees. 

The four ships suddenly had far more men on the decks than any of them should. The imperial transport was carrying men instead of cargo, and the pirates had hidden men in preparation for an ambush. 

Although they were thwarted in their initial attempt, the crew of the Little Bess was not about to give up. They merely accelerated their plan.

Reyan's eyes opened wide as the Little Bess began to turn and right herself. Every moment, she was a little less tilted. He flew behind the pirate ship to find a buoy deflating quickly. The blue inflatable bladder had set the ship on its side, and a secondary rudder had allowed them to steer. 

Their damsel-in-distress act had been just that— an act meant to lure kind-hearted captains into helping them only to be overrun. 

As The Frieheit struggled to dislodge the man on their rudder with bows and arrows, Little Bess swiftly swerved in between Schwinn's main ship and his smallest vessel, The Infallible.

The third imperial ship disappeared from view, cut off from the other two. In an instant, the pirates began throwing grappling hooks onto the smaller vessel.

Once the two were tethered together, the pirates pulled the ships together and began boarding The Infallible with swords drawn.

They were welcomed with a clash of steel from the soldiers and sailors on board. Blood flowed from both sides.

"We have to help them!" Aurora screamed. It killed her that she was not strong or steady enough on the ship to join the archers. All she could do was helplessly watch.

Schwinn was barking orders of his own. "Tether us to the pirates! Don't let them steal the ship! Shoot as many as you can. This action will not go unanswered!"

With the saboteurs sent flailing from the two ships' rudders, the archers turned their attention to the invading force.

Before the pirates could fully invade The Infallible, those with bows pierced as many of the enemies as they could to protect their friends. However, the tide of pirates was too great. The soldiers would need to do what they could to bridge the gap and join the fray.

With this in mind, Nurlan ran toward the stern and called out to the third ship in the fleet. Using planks, the men began to pour onto The Freiheit in anticipation of crossing to Little Bess as soon as the connection was made.

That connection was harder than anticipated. The pirates had prepared for the likelihood that they would be boarded, and many of them waited to disengage the hooks before they could bite deep into the railing. 

It wasn't until a few were taken down by the Imperial archers that the first rope could be tied off. Many others followed until the two were lashed together like logs on a raft. Well...three logs counting The Infallible, which was on the other side of Little Bess. 

All but the final ship now rocked in unison. The Imperial troops along with more of Schwinn's sailors piled onto Little Bess ready for battle. 

"It is just me or are the swells getting bigger?" Aurora looked nervously at the tumultuous water. "I don't remember rocking this much before." 

"I thought it was just me," Brinn responded, looking a little green once more. "I need more of the cook's herbs." 

But the elven princess did not leave the deck. She could not abandon the Empress or the action. If worse came to worse, Brinn was determined to protect the princess with all she had. 

Looking down at the icy sea, Aurora shivered. She had no desire to plummet into it, but if the pirates won the battle, that might be her only choice to avoid getting captured. Which was worse—captivity or being adrift and freezing to death? The Empress hoped she would not need to make that choice.

The Infallible was clearly losing ground. Those on board were either jumping off or being thrown over the side by the enemy into the icy water. The sailors and soldiers who were still alive when they hit the water bobbed like dots in the foamy sea. Since reboarding their own ship was impossible, as many as were able began heading to the other two ships to be hauled aboard. 

"We are going to lose The Infallible..." Schwinn lowered his head as he spoke to the Emperor beside him. "We are being repelled faster than we can get across. The pirates chose my smallest ship because it would be easiest to overwhelm." 

The Captain and Emperor had wanted to cross the breach onto Little Bess and join the fray, but the going was just too slow and perilous. They were forced to stay behind and coordinate what they could. 

Devrim was using Aurora's bow in her absence, but he had to admit that he was nowhere near as successful as his wife would have been. Just now he had hit a pirate in the thigh, but only managed to slow the man not stop him. 

"What do you want to do?" The grey-eyed man furrowed his brow. While there were Imperial troops on the pirate ship, Schwinn knew the water and its ways best. 

Reyan fluttered overhead. "If you are going to lose the ship anyway, it's better to abandon it before losing any more men. Retreat. I'll take care to make sure those scallywags do not make it very far." 

The Captain decided not to question what the fairy meant by the final statement. Unless he wanted more loss of life for a slim chance at victory, it was better to let the pirates have the ship. Schwinn hated that those were his only options. 

"Fall back," Schwinn ordered his first mate. "Sound the horn. Let those on The Infallible know to abandon ship." 

The sailor saluted and pulled the horn from his side. With three mighty blasts, he relayed his Captain's order to the struggling sailors. They communicated the message to the soldiers and together all began a mass exodus. 

While the soldiers continued the valiant fighting, the sailors lowered as many small boats over the side as they could. While the rowboats were intended to gain entry to beaches where the shore was too shallow, they would double as life-givers to the warriors who did not know how to swim. 

As quickly as they could, the crew and Imperial men abandoned both The Infallible and Little Bess. It was painful for those watching from the two other vessels, but they did what they could to help the innocent men and women safely escape the pirates. 

When the last man was free of the pirates' clutches, those aboard The Freiheit severed the tethers to Little Bess in order to keep the pirates from trying to follow them. However, having gotten their prize, the pirates did not see any reason to pursue the people any farther.

Coming to the bow of the ship, the man in the thick coat and pink shirt came and took a bow. "Thank you for your generous donation!" Zeng added with a flourish. "We will not soon forget your generosity." 

Little Bess turned with The Infallible in tow. The smaller ship kept pace with the other like a child holding his mother's hand. It would have been fascinating to watch if it were not so heartbreaking. 

Not that any of the crew were watching. They were too busy trying to fish out as many of the survivors as they could. Fortunately, the rowboats, Reyan, and rope ladders were helping to aid that effort. 

"Captain," the first mate came and saluted while the last of the drenched victims was being hauled to safety. 

"What's the damage?" Schwinn could see by the look on the man's face that the news wasn't good.

"They did a number on our rudder. We are dead in the water," the first mate responded.

Overhearing the exchange, Reyan cursed and glared at the receding pirates. 

"I'll make them dead in the water too..." he muttered before flitting off. 

"Where is Reyan going?" Aurora saw the fairy race past her like an arrow toward Little Bess.

"Said he was going to make them 'dead in the water'," Devrim shrugged.

Then his eyes went wide. "Blazing Bees!" 

Schwinn gripped his hat as he surveyed the scene. "What is that madman doing?"