Tunnel Rat

Chapter 329: Return to Sender

Three ballistae per side fired on the catapults, killing several pirates, but the weapons were protected by a heavy wooden shield on the front. While some of the crew were dead, they only needed one person to pull the cord, release the arm of the catapult, and lob their deadly ammunition skyward in a long arc.

Everything slowed to a crawl for Milo and things snapped into place. His annoyance with the Eel was recognized as the feelings of the great beasts in his dreams, and the lingering antagonism he felt toward the Snake, Ooblimilo, and the slaver's annoying little dragon. Especially the snake. And he had to admit that he wanted to test out some new runic arrays. But he was going to get that chance right now.

Arcing up from the two small catapults were some type of smoking glass ammunition. Pike was yelling about Clingfire, a note of worry in his voice that Milo had never heard before. Milo also noted water wouldn't put it out. That meant it could be the game's equivalent of Greek Fire, mixing quicklime, sulfur, naphtha, calcium phosphide, and niter, along with something sticky like tar or pitch. Bad stuff. Worse would be a mixture of metal flakes forming thermite. Either of those was bad, as was anything else that could worry the ogre. With no way to put out the fire, the ship would burn along with anyone splattered with the stuff. And both arcs hit the mast just below him.

Within a fraction of a second, Fast Draw allowed Milo to split his runic array in half, along with the parts of his brain that controlled them. He was going to have a pounding headache later, but that was better than burning to death in the next minute. Faster Casting let him launch both spells at once. Keeping all the Balls in the Air let him perfectly calculate the Clingfire's trajectory and target each ball with a Force Blast. They weren't powerful blasts like he had used to blast rock, but each had a wide area of effect, and there was enough force to hit the balls, shatter the glass, and send the exploding pyrotechnic chemicals back at the two ships.

Some of the pirates and crew, and every fisherman on deck saw a thin figure gather swirling bands of focused, glowing mana around them, then lash out toward the two ships. Halfway to their targets, the glowing beams became holocausts of exploding fireworks that spread as the Clingfire changed direction before engulfing the sails and decks of the two pirate ships, setting them instantly ablaze. Most importantly, the force of the spells slowed the advance of the two burning ships trying to close with the middle ship, forcing them back. Pike's ship moved forward as scrambling sailors dropped what sail they could, while others fended off the burning ships and screaming pirates with oars and the hooked poles they'd planned to use on boarders.

The Eel that was stalking them chose that moment to surge ahead and take advantage of the lack of crew manning the aft ballistae. The Eel was an old one, and wise in the way of hunting ships. Patience was needed to stalk them, and unrelenting ferocity when striking. It rose up over the rear deck and swept aside the annoying weapons, then roared to immobilize its prey with fear.

Its prey was busy trying not to come in contact with screaming pirates with burning beards. Most of them ignored the Eel's roar, barely heard over the roaring fires on the pirate ships. But Pike heard it and smiled. Grinning ear to ear to see the huge Dragon Snake move part of its bulk onto the rear of the ship.

"Come to Papa, little snack! The grill is ready and I want to have barbecued Eel for dinner!" His throw was perfect, putting his harpoon into the creature's eye for its entire six-foot length before he jerked the lanyard and withdrew it, bringing the entire eye along with bits of bone and brain. There would later be a tremendous debate on the ship about whether Pike's strike killed it and whether he could count it as a 'One-Shot'.

No one would even know since as soon as the Captain had taken half a step to the side to begin his throw, a sixteen-pound Dark Iron cannonball roared out of the barrel of the long brass cannon on the front deck, propelled by Spike's special mix of explosives. The ball hit directly center on the Eel's head blowing it apart and traveling half the length of its body before exploding out again and severing the creature in half. The lower half of the Eel was flung backward and the ship surged forward taking it away from the fire. The two pirate ships came together just in time to have the carcass land on them, ensuring that any pirate not burning from Clingfire now got a second chance as they were knocked around the wreckage by the convulsing body that didn't know it was dead yet.

The fishing boats were now moving past, as fast as they could. No one knew what to think. First, there had been the threat of two small ships whose intentions couldn't be good. Then they'd seen Captain Pike set sail, moving to intercept and parlay with them. It was unknown if this was a good thing. The Monster Hunter had his own sense of honor. They'd paid him to guard the docks and keep the pirates from taking them over as they had every other part of the port. But he'd been adamant that he wasn't taking his ship out to fight pirates. There was only one of him and a lot of pirates and scavengers of different flavors. He could guard the docks or escort ships, but not both, and not against ten-to-one odds.

They had no idea what to think of the battle. Pike had lured the pirates in and then blown up both ships in a spectacular manner that hadn't been seen before. Some argued the mysterious figure, (which no one could now see), had been some type of sorcerer. Others claimed Pike was testing an experimental type of flame cannon. More people believed that, based on watching how a huge Eel was killed with only one cannonball. But whatever had happened, they were glad to be past the fight and heading home.

The pirate ships were fully engulfed in the flames now, their hulls and below decks burning. If they had any treasure, it wasn't going to be found in the deep waters of the bay. The flames could be seen from Shadowport, a pyre that burned for a quarter of an hour.

Pike breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to glare at Spike and Minnow, who ignored him and began reloading their gun. When Captain Pike had won the gun from Whale in a spirited game of Dragon Poker, the two scavengers had declared that they were part of the deal and coming with the gun. Pike signed them to the crew happily. Good gunners were always in demand, and Spike had experience killing big monsters. It was Spike who designed the heavy-duty gimble mount that let the two of them shoot their cannon in any direction. She had claimed the Dark Steel and other components from Whale as part of her swag from the Iron Queen. Whale had let her go, wished her luck, and made plans to win the gun back in a future game of cards.

Pike looked at the two of them now after they'd reloaded the cannon. Minnow was polishing and inspecting it while Spike painted another snake on the side. "I had everything under control, I hope you two know. Didn't need any help at all."

Spike saluted and tried to look serious. "Absolutely, Captain Pike, sir. Have to agree. That beastie was dead and stinking already, its soul heading to snake heaven or wherever snakes go when a famous Monster Hunter kills them with one shot. Right, Gunner Minnow?"

"Of course, Senior Gunner Spike. That's the only reason it couldn't dodge our shot when we put one straight down the gullet. A beautiful shot, might I add, only spoiled because the good Captain had already laid into it and dealt it a fatal blow. But a question, if I might?"

"Surely, she can ask a question, right Captain?"

The ogre growled.

"Let's take that as captain talk for a yes, Minnow. What is it you'd like to ask?"

"Well, I'm undecided. I think I have two questions now."

Pike glared at her. "Spit it out!"

"Well, is there a snake heaven, like Spike said? That could be a nice place to go hunting."

Pike continued to glare without answering. "And the other question? And it better be a good one."

"Yes sir, I think it is." She pointed to the top of the mast, and the empty crow's nest. "What happened to our lookout?"

On the fishing boats, the fishermen talked as they sailed, but mostly they were relieved to be able to get to the docks with all of their cargo. Especially considering what was going on in the middle of the bay. Eels of all types were erupting from the bay and swimming in circles, sometimes attacking each other. Whatever was stirring them up had sent them into a feeding frenzy.

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