The Lives of Velnin chapter 27
Surrounded
The captains continued arguing as night approached. Lordan had proclaimed that every captain who wished would have his say: all would have a chance to speak, all would have a chance to convince the others, and Lordan, of the future strategy of the fleet. It was, in retrospect, brilliant.
Of course far too many wanted to cut and run, with the mainland patrolled by Soraina's army and her fleet ready to smash us in the strait of Soppressatas. Of course many wanted to retreat to the Isthmus, making their stand with our armies at their back on the mainland, so upon a ship loss, their sailors could swim back to friendly troops. But while the issue was in the air, and up for debate, they would not take unilateral action—would not simply leave the fleet one by one and be picked off by one of Soraina's naval patrols. And a debate with 378 captains can take quite a while. The 180 ships Tarmel controlled gave us 180 voices, some that backed up my points—that we must do battle in the confined waters of the strait to have any chance of victory—and some that gave long speeches, equivocating and discussing the merits of each course of action without committing to any. The captains of the kingdoms that lay to the west of the Isthmus inevitably would advocate retreat, some more angrily than others, and threaten to leave the rest of the fleet in a lurch if we did not come along. But until the meeting was over, they would not move.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26
Shortly into the night, another captain arrived—Aristides, formerly of Tarmel and then hailing from a home port upon one of the islands. He asked me to leave the meeting and have a word with him.
"Veltrin," he said, "this meeting is pointless. Whatever they decide, none of the captains will be able to leave. As I sailed in to join the fleet, the exits to the strait were being surrounded by the Dark Empire's ships—I barely got in before their blockade closed. You'd better tell them."
I grinned broadly. "You've brought the best news I've heard this war. Let me explain: we can only win by doing battle in this strait, but neither our allies nor the Dark Empire would cooperate. Now, they'll fight whether they like it or not. But you'd better be the one to tell them, or they may think it simply a tale to convince them to stay."
Aristides went in and made his report, telling all that we were surrounded, urging them to cease arguing and prepare for enemy attack. Predictably, he was booed. "Nonsense!" cried Adeimantus. "Another from Tarmel who thinks we were born yesterday, making up tales to keep us here in vain hope to save their ruined kingdom instead of fighting on better ground! If we listen to them, our kingdoms will burn just the same as theirs."
There were just as many loud ayes of agreement as there were boos of dismissal. The argument continued as before.
Finally, hours into the night, one more ship joined us: a deserter from Soraina's fleet. Taking advantage of the darkness and his position in the front row of the blockade, Panaetius, the captain, had found the perfect moment to switch sides. Entering the meeting, he explained the situation: the small island in the middle of the entrance to the strait had been filled with troops from the Dark Empire, and on either side of it, the fleet of the Dark Empire had gathered, blocking our escape. Meanwhile, a detachment of ships had sailed around the western side of Soppressatas island, taking up position to block escape to the rear. Should we sail for it, he promised, the Soraina's fleet planned to smash us against them like a hammer hitting an anvil.
Now the threat was taken seriously. Now, those advocating retreat said little, other than doomsaying. I seized the floor.
"Gentleman, the hour is come. Soraina has made a critical error, and in this moment, we will win the war. Here's my plan..."
Dawn approached. Now 380 ships, we had rowed out, single file, a single line of ships stretching from the island end of the strait to the mainland, our prows facing outward to the enemy. As light came to the sky, I looked from my ship, floating in the middle of the strait, to the east. A blonde maiden sat upon a throne on the mainland's highest hilltop, watching our ships. To her side were courtiers and guards clad in black armor. As the light from the east caught her somewhat-wild hair, I could see that she was beautiful. She rested her hand on the hilt of a sword in the scabbard at her waist as she gazed over our ships.
I recognized her from an image accompanying Veldin's dying words: Soraina, the Dark Empress. Somehow, I felt a closeness to her I could not explain. I sympathized with what my brother Veldin had felt for her: I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather have conquer and raze my kingdom than her.
On impulse, I blew her a kiss. To my surprise she saw, looked straight at me, and blew one back at me. I grinned, then turned to focus on the battle before me.
The lines of the Dark Empire's fleet lay before us, many ships deep. As the sun rose they began to row forward, bearing down upon us. We rowed backwards, deeper and deeper into the strait.
Their ships pushed forward. We continued rowing backwards, a U shape bearing closer and closer to the shallows of the island. The Empire's ships continued to flood into the strait. Soon all our room for maneuvre would be lost and we would run aground.
The moment came—there was little more room to back up, and the enemy ships before us had filled the strait with their ranks. I ran a flag up my mast. Seeing it, those upon the beaches of the island gave a great battle cry.
As one, our ships rowed forward and triggered their currentmakers. Battle was joined.
The Lives of Velnin chapter 28
Our 380 galleys had backed up deep into the Strait of Soppressatas, almost to the beaches of the island. The Dark Empire's forces had followed, line after line of ships filling the strait with their numbers. Now, our crescent of ships charged forward, currentmakers triggering all at once to slam into the front line of enemies with a vicious crunch.
Book 1 now out on Amazon! The Lives of Velnin: THE BLACK CITADEL collects Chapters 1-14 of the story so far.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DZPF7QN2 (paperback)
https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0DZJ7R5VH (or if you want to give Royal Road some money and have them pick your region automatically. I did post the story there, after all.)
I would be extremely grateful for any Amazon reviews you could muster. Amazon review link: https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?&asin=B0DZJ7R5VH
