The Great War: Chapter 62
Getting down to business
“Captain, they’re here!”
Edwin lifts his head to see one of his crew members standing in the doorway. He just retrieved some charts for the meeting this cycle. He thought he had more time to review them.
He nods, rolling the papers up as fast and as neatly as he can. I must have spent more time dropping off Anora than I thought… he deduces with a long sigh. Unfortunate, but also necessary. He’s thankful that Isaac and his friends were willing to look after her for the time being.
Even still, he can’t help but worry about her as he makes his way out to the main deck. Will she be alright without him? Who will watch over her if anything happened to him out at sea?
“Bring these down to the others,” he instructs the crew member, handing them his charts.
Hands now free, he rolls his shoulders back and steps out into the blinding light of the cycle, where he finds the main deck as busy as always, though with a small colorful and important-looking group standing amidst the chaos.
Three of these beings he has already met. King Samuel stands quietly at the head of a small group, his cape billowing in the ocean breeze. On his right is his gloomy guard, Devin. Ezra rocks back and forth from his toes to his heels, looking around. And there are two others that he doesn’t recognize; a young man dressed in blue cloth and a leather vest carries what appears to be a rather heavy basket of scrolls on his shoulder, and a woman in a vibrant red dress scans a little piece of white paper with a blank stare.
“Greetings, my king,” Edwin says, bowing before the royal. He gestures to the door from where he came. “The other captains have arrived and are waiting for us down in the hold.”
“The hold?” Samuel inquires, taken aback by the location of the meeting.
“We can’t all fit in my quarters,” Edwin replies with a slight chuckle. He turns and gestures for the wizards to follow him down into the ship.
He had his crew set up the hold for this meeting the night before. Move down the biggest table they had. Lamps and charts and ink and quills. Chairs and stools, too, from every inch of the ship. Anything they might need for this meeting he had brought down, and any remaining cargo moved elsewhere.
They descend into the belly of the ship, where Edwin is greeted by many friendly ocean-weathered faces both young and old. He knows a good half of the room. The captains were milling about when he enters, though once they each catch a glimpse of the king, all the friendly chatter ceases as the beings stand at attention.
Samuel looks around the room before clearing his throat. “Thank you all for being here on such short notice.”
Off to the side, the wizard carrying the basket of scrolls sets the container down with a mighty thump. Ezra retrieves a small scroll from deep within the basket, as well as a quill and ink well. Then his legs… disappear, melt into sand, leaving his torso hanging in the air as he unfurls the paper, getting right to scribbling something on its surface. Edwin can’t help but linger on the boy for a moment as he processes the strange sight.
“May I introduce to you all the current roster of Generals,” Samuel continues, gesturing to each wizard as he names them. “My guard, Devin. Ezra, our historian. Mathew, a former Guardian sailor. And Cassie… ah…” The king’s voice stalls as the gathering of captains start shooting glares in Mathew’s direction. Even Edwin can’t help but scrunch his face. A Guardian sailor? Former or not, how could the king be consulting with a being associated with their enemy?
Cassie looks up from her paper and cracks a wide grin and a wink. “Hello, darlings! Consider me your contact with connections.”
No being seems to care about her. No being even seems to have the courage to speak, either, with such an anomaly in the room. Mathew stares back with a cold gaze, seemingly unbothered by the heavy atmosphere.
“I don’t bear any marks,” he states plainly.
“Aye, but that doesn’t always make for a traitor,” one of the captains finally retorts.
“He would not speak if He were to guide His kingdom down the wrong path,” Devin says. The blade of his scythe flashes in the soft light of the lamps, his eyes scanning the room carefully. Each being his gaze passes over, they seem to tense ever so slightly.
“One being should be the least of yer worries,” Mathew says. He reaches for one of the scrolls in the basket next to him and unfurls it across the center table. The paper flutters as it reveals a picture - no, a diagram - of a boat so large it fills the tabletop with its presence. The captains all huddle around the table in awe at the boat.
“Oh my,” Cassie breathes. “That’s much larger than I expected it to be.”
“An Island Destroyer,” Mathew announces. “A vessel capable of sinking islands.”
“It’s incomplete,” another captain comments, gesturing to the large empty gap in the center of the drawing.
“I didn’t get to see the whole ship,” Mathew replies. “But what’s here is enough.”
Edwin folds his arms as he stares at the diagram, inspecting it for himself. He’s the only captain in this room that has laid eyes on such a ship in person. He saw what it can do. A small island took only three or five cannonballs. Korodon… maybe ten, or even twenty. And they likely have more than one ship out there, too, doing stars-only-know what. But how many do they have in total? And how could the wizards possibly hope to combat them? How can they stop the Guardians from anchoring off their shore and pelting them until they’re all buried by the sea?
“As of right now, this is our biggest threat,” Samuel says, referring to the diagram. “A ship this large must be hard to maintain for long excursions, however, if left alone, they’re more than capable of sinking Korodon in less than a cycle.”
“And what are we supposed to do?” a third captain wonders aloud. “A ship like this must have all the armor they could possibly spare!”
“That’s not to mention the crew…” a being mutters somewhere in the back.
“No ship is indestructible,” Edwin finally comments, stepping forward. “I saw the thing first-hand. Its size might be imposing, but it’s still made of wood. One good shot or flame will ignite the whole thing.”
“Aye,” Mathew agrees. “Already they carry mounds of sparkpowder for their cannons. If any one of those are set alight…” The General’s words trail off. The corners of his mouth seem to twitch, wanting to grin, but instead the Cryomancer stares at the diagram emotionless, lost in his thoughts.
“But how would we do that?” the question is raised to the room. The gathered captains look at each other as they each give the dilemma a good think.
Edwin doubts a regular cannonball would be able to pierce that outer hull at long range and cause any significant internal damage. The Guardians would have reinforced the hull as much as they possibly could. And if the sparkpowder is their ultimate target… as much as it works in their favor if they manage to ignite it, there’s just too much that could go wrong with that as well. The cannons can serve as shields for the sparkpowder stores. The Guardians can even move the sparkpowder stores elsewhere, where it’ll be even harder to ignite from the ocean outside. Not to mention, how close would they have to get a single ship in order to cause an explosion, and would the ship survive the aftermath?
“No being has any ideas?” Samuel interrupts the silence after a good long while.
“My king,” a being steps forward, placing a hand on their heart, “everything I’ve thought of places too much risk on my crew.”
“Aye,” another vocalizes. “It could possibly be a waste of life to destroy one of these things. I rather not gamble with the lives of my crew over this.”
“Could we not take the ship for ourselves?” some other being asks.
“Us and what army?” a fourth scoffs. “Those Guardians’ll overrun us! The crew, too!”
“That’s assuming that an assault happens without a General present,” Samuel replies. “If taking the ship provides better odds of survival over destroying it, no doubt at least one of us would be there as well.”
Eyes turn to the king in surprise. Is he insinuating that he’d put his life on the line over seizing a ship? Is he not the king of Korodon?
Devin can’t seem to help but sigh. “Samuel…”
“If me being there ensures victory, Devin,” Samuel interrupts firmly, lightning sparking off his clothes, “then I’ll be there.”
Edwin can’t help but smile, albeit a sad one. It’s nice to see the young king be so proactive, first turning down a surrender to the Guardians and now offering to fight on the front lines with the rest of them. He must be feeling anxious after loosing his father. Still, he’s the king now. If Korodon looses him, then this war is basically over.
“But there are other things to discuss, too,” the king continues, turning back to the gathering. “For instance, getting some of your ships sailing again.”
Ah… Edwin folds his arms and stares down at the table silently. Anora, what will I do with you now…?
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