An arrow landed a few feet from Reece, lodging into a sail, and the flame began to spread on deck; Reece grabbed a pail of water and doused it immediately. It hissed and smoked and luckily he put it out—yet Reece did not know how many times they would be so lucky.
“Lower the sails!” the captain commanded.
Sailors rushed to execute his command, just as a flaming arrow hit one; they pulled faster and faster, Reece running over and joining them, and as the canvas lowered, Matus ran up and patted out the flames with his bare hand. He did it just in time, before the sail lit up entirely; leaving a large, black hole in its center.
Reece felt the speed of their ship drop, and Srog looked at the lowered sails with worry.
“It will cut out speed!” he yelled to the captain.
“I don’t care!” the captain yelled back. “It’s my ship! And we’re not going down in flames!”
Reece, too, worried about the slower pace—and yet he realized it was a smart move, as the barrage of flaming arrows grew thicker and as more ships in their fleet began to catch fire. The sails just made them too vulnerable.
“LOWER THE SAILS! PASS IT ON!” the captain shouted out to the ship beside them, and their sailors yelled out his order to the next ship, and they to the next ship. One at a time, all the sails in his fleet began to lower. One of the ships could not lower them in time, and Reece flinched at the awful sound of his men shouting as they lit up in a great ball of flames.
As they got neared, now about seventy yards from shore, the currents were getting stronger, pulling them in amidst the crashing waves, and they regained their momentum. They passed the jetty on their right, and Reece spotted a group of soldiers, hidden amidst the rocks, suddenly rise and take aim for them.
Reece saw that Stara was in their line of fire, and that she had no idea, as she stood proudly and continued to fire for the shore; he turned and ran for her.
“Stara!” he cried.
Reece sprinted across the deck and dove, tackling her, driving her down to the deck. They hit the deck hard, Stara crying out as she impacted the wood. Yet as they sank, an arrow sailed by exactly where she had just been. The arrow pierced Reece’s shoulder instead, and he shouted out in pain.
Reece lay there, groaning, looking at Stara, who looked at him, equally wide-eyed. Reece could tell by her expression that she realized he had just saved her life.
He wanted to talk to her, but he was in too much pain; the flaming arrow was still on fire in his shoulder, and Stara, horrified, patted it out. With each pat, it hurt Reece even more.
“Stay still!” she cried. “I have to get this out!”
Reece looked over, and saw the head was not all the way in, only a few inches. But still, it felt as if were piercing through his entire body.
“I don’t know if you should—” he began.
But before he could finish the words, Stara reached down and yanked the arrow out with all her might.
Reece shrieked, blood gushing from the wound. It was the most painful thing he’d ever experienced; Stara quickly reached up with her palm and covered the blood. She then used her teeth to pull a strip of cloth from her shirt, and wrapped it around his shoulder several times. More arrows whizzed by overhead, and they both ducked low to miss them.
Reece looked down, his wound throbbing, and saw his bandage seeping blood. Stara tore another strip and tied it again.
“Sorry,” Stara said, as Reece winced. “It’s not exactly what I’d call a lady’s touch.”
There came a great shout and a commotion on board, and Reece looked up with surprise to see several of Tirus’s men jumping on onboard as they sailed closer to shore, alongside the jetty of rocks. Reece looked up and saw they were now hardly thirty yards from shore, and Tirus’s men were lined up, all leaping for the ship. Several bounced off the slick rails and landed, screaming, into the waters; others grabbed on but were knocked off by Reece’s men. Yet enough of them managed to land on board, and to pull themselves up. They were invading the ship.
Reece scrambled to his feet, along with Stara, raised his sword with his good arm, and raced for the invaders. He stabbed two of them before they could get over the rail and sent them hurling back into the waters. A third, though, landed beside him, and he raised his sword and swung around, aiming for Reece’s exposed neck. Reece could not turn in time to block it, and he braced himself.
Stara lunged forward, wielding a long spear, and stabbed the soldier in the chest before he could complete his blow. The man cried as she jabbed him backwards, over the rail, over the ship, and tumbling backwards into the waters.
Reece looked at her, stunned, and so grateful.
“Looks like we’re even,” he said.
She smiled back, but she did not pause. She raced past him, wielded her spear in a dazzling display, surprising Reece as she swung the ten-foot spear around again and again, using it as a staff, knocking out four more of Tirus’s men as they tried to take the ship.
He came up beside her, looking out at the damage, all the floating bodies in the water, and both of them stood there, breathing hard, side by side.
“Where did you learn to wield a spear like that?” he asked, impressed.
She shrugged.
“Women on the Upper Isles are not allowed to use swords. So I learned to wield staffs. You don’t always need a blade to kill a man.”
Several more arrows sailed above their heads, and Reece looked out and saw how close they were to shore now. Waves crashed all around them, and their ship lifted high and was brought low, as the current brought them in at full speed now, riding the waves. They were now hardly twenty yards to shore, and hundreds of Tirus’s men, wielding swords, firing arrows, rushed forward to greet them, wading out into the waters. His men, firing back, were falling left and right. It was like walking into a wall of fire.
Reece knew that something needed to be done fast—if they continued like this, they would all be dead before they reached shore.
Reece had an idea; it was bold, and risky, but it was crazy enough that it just might work. He turned to the captain.
“Can you set it aflame?” Reece shouted out.
The captain, just feet away, turned and looked at Reece as if he were crazy. He clearly did not understand.
“Our ship!” Reece called out. “The sails! Light them! Set the whole thing on fire!”
“Are you mad?” the captain shouted back. “So we shall all go up in flames and die?”