The System Seas

Chapter 142: Together

“It's a boundary!” she yelled forward. “"They've stopped us somehow.”Riv leaned over the rail, jaw set. “They’ve sealed themselves off.”

"Yes, but look at the city walls." Aethe pointed. "They stopped collapsing. Whatever that ship was using on them is getting used on us now."

Aethe didn’t look at the ship once during their approach. She was entirely focused on the shore.

“It wasn't a bombardment,” she said. “The wall was acting like it was being pulled down.”

"Some sort of force barrier, or something?" Elisa shot more fire at the wall, uselessly. "We've seen weirder things, but it doesn't matter. It can only have so much power, right? We have to overpower it.”

Marco kept his hands on the wheel, pouring in more power. Nothing happened. Worse, the enemy power seemed to be increasing its grip on the ship. From the mid-deck, the front mast started to groan and bend ever so slightly away from the enemy ship.

"They are trying to break us apart," Marco said. The ship was complaining under his feet. For now, things were holding. He wasn't sure how long that would be true. "We have to break loose. Riv, are you ready?"

"I can be. I hate to use it this early, though."

"Wait," Jane said. "What are we talking about? I might be able to help."

"Riv has a skill where he sacrifices strength. Not that much different than your buffing skill. Marco can channel it through the ship to break loose from restrictions. It doesn't make us faster. It just makes us harder to slow down."

"Well don't activate it yet!" Jane walked to Riv and put her hand on his shoulder. A golden glow connected them before Jane shuddered and sat on the ground. "Now. Do it. It will be better."

It was. Riv's strength was his highest stat, and now it was pumped so high even the ship seemed surprised by the influx of power. If Marco had hoped breaking free of the enemy power would be a clean process, he was disappointed. The mast that was bending before now started to crackle and crack, while boards in the deck and hull started to bow and break under the strain.

"She's not going to take it!" Riv shouted. "The ship is breaking apart!"

Marco felt the same thing, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Too late! Either we break through, or we don't! I'm giving it everything!"

Whatever dregs of power Marco could dig up were dumped into the ship. The battery was drained, Marco was emptied, and a split second before he felt the ship would have failed absolutely, they broke loose. A loud crack rang through the air a second later, not from but from the enemy ship. White canvas fluttered as the ship's sole mast broke near the deck, falling forward and crushing the captain's wheel under its weight.

"Elisa," Marco croaked, drained. "Screw them up."

She was only too happy to oblige. Firebolt after firebolt slammed into the ship, mercilessly abandoning any thought of status effects or fancy tactics in favor of pure destruction. As Aethe entered her bow range, crew members began to get picked off, blocked from retreating belowdecks by her preferential hunting of cowards.

It didn't take much. Whatever effect they had broken out of with that one big burst of strength, it wasn't something that could tolerate that sort of treatment. Maybe it was something where it should have been worn down or where the enemy ship might have otherwise run out of energy to keep the repulsion going. Breaking it outright in a single strike had broken the spine of the enemy ship with it, and within a minute of the combined fury of Aethe and Elisa, neither of which had liked being kept out of range any more than Marco had. The ship cracked and foundered, sinking to the bottom with little fanfare.

"Well that sucked," Jane said. "I mean, it really sucked. You just take the power out of him in one big push, don't you? Nothing gentle about it."

"It felt different?" Riv was lying on the deck next to her, having apparently donated every single scrap of his strength to the process of breaking free. "Than your normal donations, I mean."

"It felt like someone ripping out a handful of hair," she said. "Did it even make a difference?"

Marco had felt the whole process go down, felt the power coursing through the ship, and felt the enemy's hold give way. He knew they had barely survived that surge, but he also knew they would have never broken through without it. When the barrier broke, he was far beyond the power that he and Riv could reach together.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Oh yes," he said. "You did well. At minimum, you are about to eat the biggest dinner you have ever heard of."

—

limped back to the docks with groaning timbers and a battered crew. The ship's repairs were constant, but they weren't fast. Without Riv to help them along and with empty stores of magical power to run the runeblocks, there was only so fast it could put itself back together. For once, the fact that Marco had taken down an enemy ship was no help at all. The system was finally, after more than a few warnings, withholding any more prizes.

Conquest Complete!

Your equipment and ship cannot improve further without changes to your course.

"Elisa, we have to figure this out," Marco said. "How can I figure out my course any better? We are doing everything it wants us to."

"I don't know, Marco. But you should. If not now, at least sometime."

They weren’t sinking, but Marco felt every scrape and wobble through the wheel as if the ship itself wanted him to know how close they’d come. The stone piers were crowded. People had gathered, anxious eyes on the harbor. When drew near enough to throw lines, a guard waved them over to the same berth they’d left hours before.

The moment Marco and his crew stepped off the gangplank, they were met by the guard from earlier, standing straighter now, with newfound respect that topped even the borrowed regard he had picked up after learning about Marco's backing. His captain stood beside him.

The younger guard gave them a tired but relieved grin.

“Well,” he said, “I guess that answers the question of whether or not the rock was worth holding onto.”

Rubble littered the shoreline. Chunks of stone jutted from the water and sand where the wall had nearly collapsed. Before Marco could feel too bad about that, the captain of the guard stepped forward and gestured broadly, voice raised to carry over the lapping waves and the nervous murmurs of the crowd.

“They stopped it early. The wall holds. The city stands. And no one was crushed today.” He paused, letting the words sink in. “We have these sailors and their ship to thank for that.”

For a beat there was only silence, then the cheer began. First a few hands clapping, then a roar from dozens of throats. Fishermen, merchants, and children on their parents’ shoulders all shouted thanks and praise. The praise did not miss The Foolish Endeavor itself, as people went around marveling at the strange vessel that had fought where their walls would have failed. Others simply cried Marco’s name or Elisa’s. Riv and Jane, though, got the greatest part of it. These were children of the island, people that were known and loved well before they proved themselves its saviors. The cheers for Marco and Elisa were full of thanks, but Riv's and Jane's had something more powerful. They had pride.

Still, the applause was a new thing for them in many ways. Marco rubbed the back of his neck, unsure where to look. Elisa offered the crowd a short bow, then looked for some place to retreat to. Aethe shifted awkwardly, one hand straying toward her bow before she caught herself and settled for a tight nod.

Riv just stood there with arms hanging at his sides until Jane elbowed him and muttered something that made him wave stiffly to the crowd.

Finally, the captain raised both hands for quiet, promising that questions would be answered in time, but tonight the danger had passed. “Go home,” he told them. “Tell your families you’re safe. And remember who you owe it to.” He turned back to Marco, eyes less formal now, almost grateful. “We’ll want words with you after you’ve rested. For now, you’ve done enough. I think you'll find your food and board are paid for tonight.”

“Oh?” Marco asked. "Where?"

"Any place on the whole damn island, I'd imagine." The captain waved them away again. "You are heroes now. Enjoy."

—

Riv found his parents before they even made it properly inside the walls again. The pair were directing a small army of workers, calling out instructions as stones were hauled into place and braces driven into sagging sections of the wall. Dust hung in the air as the walls continued to shake and groan, threatening to fall down at any moment. The city might have been saved, but parts of the defenses were still in danger of giving way, and every hand mattered.

Riv stepped forward, his massive frame shadowing the workers.

“I can help,” he said, already moving to shoulder a beam.

His mother turned and took one look at him. Her face softened, then sharpened in a way only a parent’s could. “Absolutely not.”

Riv blinked. “But…”

She shook her head and crossed the space, dusting her palms against her coveralls. She stiffened her slim form and by some magic made Riv look small in the face of her resolve.

“You’re drained, Rively. Don’t think I can’t see it. A mother knows. You’ll do more harm than good in this state. And you'll hurt yourself trying to do what you normally could.” She reached up and placed a hand on his arm, gentle but firm, and turned him away from the scaffolding. “Shoo. You did your part. Let the ones with strength left in them hold things together for now.”

Riv hesitated, looking from the bent wall back to her. But there was no arguing with that tone, not tonight. She gave him a quick pat, half command and half comfort.

“We’ll catch up later. Go on with your friends. Rest.” She glanced at Jane, just for a moment. "And have fun, Riv."

Riv stepped back, shoulders slumping a little. Marco, Elisa, and the others waited a few paces off, watching the exchange without comment. When Riv rejoined them, he gave a helpless shrug. “She says I’m useless tonight.”

"Not entirely," Jane said "Not everyone knows I helped, remember? You can work as my herald."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. I demand it." Jane looped her arm through Riv's, rendering him shocked in a way he was only saved from by the fact that she immediately moved forward. "Now move. All my stats are gone, and I want to eat until they are back."