The arrows, alight with flames, sailed through the air; most fell short, hissing as they landed in the sea, while about a dozen of them landed on the enemy ship. But they landed on the decks, falling short of the huge canvas sails, missing their marks. The savages, well-trained, immediately pounced on them and put them out. The first volley had done no damage.
The Empire, on the other hand, adjusted its cannon and fired again.
“DOWN!” screamed Kolk.
Thor, heart pounding, hit the deck face first with all the others—and pulled Krohn down with him. There came another boom, and another cannonball went flying past—again grazing the ship, though this time, with a cracking noise, it managed to take out a good chunk of the railing, wood splintering and sending it like missiles over Thor’s head.
“BACK TO THE BOWS!” Kolk yelled.
The archers took their places again, and Thor rushed over to help, lighting an arrow and handing it to an archer, who immediately placed it on the string and let it fly. The boat was closer, and this time they had more luck. The Empire ship, fearless, came in fast, not worried about closing the gap, hardly fifty yards away. They must have figured they could overtake them so quickly, the arrows would do no harm.
That was their big mistake. This time, several dozen of the flaming arrows hit the sails; while the savages put some of them out, enough of them caught. In moments, their sails were in flames.
“GET DOWN!” Kolk yelled.
Thor looked up just in time to see the savages standing on the edge of the railing, holding huge spears, and throwing them right at their ship.
Thor dove down, pulling Krohn, his heart pounding, as spears whizzed through the air all around him and he heard them puncturing the wood.
He heard a scream, and turned to see one of his brothers, an older boy he did not know, scream out, clutching his arm, punctured by a spear and gushing blood. Thor quickly surveyed the others and saw that, luckily, none of the others seemed badly hurt, or worse, dead. Most had managed to take cover in time.
Thor looked back up and saw the Empire ship was even closer. Now maybe thirty yards away, he could see the yellows of the savages’ eyes. Their ship was engulfed in flames, but their warriors seemed hardly to care. They were rowing twice as hard, preoccupied with reaching their ship and apparently, taking it over. Krohn barked and snarled at the foreign ship.
“THE SPEARS!” Kolk yelled, as he ran over and grabbed one himself. “HURL THEM BACK!”
All around Thor the boys jumped into action, hurrying over to grab the spears stuck in the wood. Thor rushed over and grabbed one himself, yanking it out of the wood. It was thick and long and was stuck surprisingly deep; it took all his might to get it out.
But he did. He ran to the edge of the ship, and surveyed his target. Beside him, Reese and Elden hurled spears, and Thor watched as they fell short, landing in the water. All around him the boys spears fell short. Very few hit the ship, and those that did missed their targets.
Thor set his sights on a single, thick rope, high up on the enemy ship, holding the main mast in place. He closed his eyes and focused, feeling an energy rise up within him, feeling his body grow warm. He tried to let his energy force take over, guide him, control him.
Thor took several steps forward, leaned back, and hurled the spear through the air.
He watched as it went flying, and felt a swell of pride as he sensed that it was on course.
It was a perfect strike.
The spear sliced the main rope in half, and it snapped with a resounding noise. As it did, their burning sail began to topple, then came crashing down, landing vertically across the ship, and engulfing the entire deck in flames.
Screams rang out from the savages, as many were caught on fire. Moments later their ship started rocking violently, and then it turned sideways and capsized, bodies jumping off into the water.
The Legion members let out a shout, victorious, and Thor wondered if anyone had seen the throw that he’d made.
“Nice one,” someone said, and a boy he did not recognize patted him on the back.
Thor turned and saw others looking at him in admiration, and he felt his pride swell. He felt a sense of victory. He had at first been terror-stricken stricken to see that Empire ship, to realize they were really in hostile territory. But now that they had defeated it, he felt that anything was possible. He felt that, if they could withstand this, they could withstand anything.
Just then, there came a shout: “EMPIRE FLEET!”
Thor looked up and saw one of the Legion high up on the mast, looking out and pointing at the horizon.
Thor ran to the railing with the others and looked out. His heart dropped: there, on the horizon, sat an entire fleet of Empire ships.
Thor’s heart pounded in his chest. There was no way they could defeat this many ships. And no way they could escape back to the Ring in time. They were finished.
“THE RAIN WALL!” someone else yelled out.
Thor turned in the other direction, and saw, on the horizon, what looked like a wall of water. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. It was a perfectly clear day, clear skies all around them—and yet, on the horizon there sat a straight wall of rain. It didn’t move, but just sat there, like a waterfall in the middle of nowhere.
“What is it?” Thor asked Reese, standing beside them.
“It’s the boundary to the other side. To the Dragon’s Sea.”
“TO THE OARS! ROW FOR THE RAIN WALL!” Kolk yelled, frantically. It was the first time Thor heard fear in his voice.
Thor raced back to his spot, rowing with all he had, as did everyone around him. Their ship started moving quickly, right for the wall, and as they got closer, strong current sucked them in, towards it, like a whirlpool. Thor looked back and saw the Empire ships bearing down on them.
“And what of the Empire ships?” Thor called out to Reese.
Reese, in front of him, shook his head.
“They won’t follow. Not through the rain wall.”
“But why?” Thor asked.
“It’s too dangerous. They wouldn’t risk it. Beyond that wall, there lies a sea of monsters.”
Thor looked down at the water, and wondered.
“But if it’s too dangerous for them, what hope is there for us?”
Reese shook his head.
“It’s the only way. We have no choice.”
As they neared the rain wall Thor heard the great roar of water hitting water, felt the spray even from here, and looked back to see the Empire ships had stopped the chase.