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Pirates!
There was a week to go. It seemed more like only a few hours. Everything was being set up for a big celebration, and the bride and groom weren't the only ones nervous.
Kipfel had threatened that if anything went wrong during Annabel's wedding, he would personally gut the offending party. Ira went behind him and tried very hard to reassure everyone that no one was going to get gutted, and that Kip was just like that, so please, just try not to get too unnerved.
Astrid and Ingegerd did much of the heavy planning for the make-shift Chapel of Various Religions until the proper one was built, and Oberon was cultivating some very special, very secret flowers, just for the big day. Annabel took it upon herself to bake her own wedding cake, since she didn't trust anyone else, and also took to preparing enough food to feed an army.
"If all goes badly, Kip, we'll have leftovers for a week. No big deal," she explained.
Sandrylene refused to let Tren take much part in preparing for the wedding. She told him he was needed much more on the docks to keep any trouble out. She wasn't expecting any trouble, but she would much rather be safe than sorry.
Sandry herself was going to perform the wedding. She wasn't an ordained minister, or even an elected statesman... yet. Everyone wanted her to lead them, though, and no one had any issues with telling her. So, she had agreed.
Dagmar was to be the flower girl, and Astrid and Delinet the Bridesmaids. Kip and Ira were the Best Dragons, and Havelock, being the youngest man among them all, was to be the Ring Bearer, which he found frankly ridiculous.
But no one really cared whether or not he thought it was ridiculous, and in the end, Havelock let Astrid bully him into the part.
One week to finish, though.
It felt like just hours, but almost everything was finished. Havelock spent extra hours with Xylon, finishing spells to carve chairs and arches and benches from huge logs downed by Palvion and Abvindor. It was going to be lovely, or so everyone said.
Annabel was still worried, though. She kept it to herself this time, however, thinking it a case of last-minute jitters.
***
Tor looked up from the jasper stone he had been using to scry and suddenly bolted out of his room in the Tower, startling both Ira and Xylon into staring out of their respective studies to watch him shove the doors out of the way and leave, tailcoat fluttering behind him. Ira and Xylon exchanged a curious look behind him, and then the former went to follow him, leaving through a window.
Tor took the fastest way to the town, which was a good quarter-mile run. In the middle of town, he came to a pole set up in the square. On top of the pole was a heavy bell, which could be operated using a heavy rope. Tor grabbed the bellpull frantically and started heaving on it while he caught his breath.
Immediately, people stopped what they were doing and began to gather around him. Sandrylene pushed her way through and set her hands on her hips. "Well?" she asked him.
"Pirates!" Tor gasped.
"Clarinet!" Sandry called. The moonstone marine slithered through the crowd to her bondmate's side. "News of pirates?"
Clarinet clutched her Vision Gem firmly in her mouth and closed her eyes. Faint tracings of steam formed shapes in the air, but only Clarinet could interpret them.
*There is a ship,* she replied. *But I can't tell what kind. It looks like a regular merchant ship with.....six cannon on the leeward side.*
"Pirates," Tor persisted, having caught his breath. "They've run out of provisions and are hoping to raid the town for them."
"If that's the case, they could well flatten us!" Aki replied.
"All ships to sea!" Sandrylene shouted to the crowd. "All docks cleared and stowed! Let's not make this an easy boarding, folks!"
The crowd dispersed, Ira flew quickly back to the Tower to spread the news, and Sandry caught Tor as he was leaving. "Good job," she told him, clapping him on the shoulder.
He nodded to her, and hurried to the docks to help loose the ships.
"Clarinet?" she asked.
*Yes?*
"Will there be a heavy battle?"
Clarinet sought the guidance of her gem once more. *That's up to you,* she said at length.
"I was afraid you'd say that. Come on. Let's make sure everyone holes up well."
***
"Tren!" Delinet shouted as she shifted from gull to human. "Pirates! We have to clear and stow the docks and loose the ships!"
"On it!" Tren shouted back, and he started helping the crowd clear the docks. Only things that were checked and on their way to the custom houses left the ships anyway, so that was where they all headed.
Inside the custom houses, a team of people were tossing the boxes to one another down into a secret basement that was hidden by a trap door and then covered by a heavy desk. The building had been designed as such for just such an occasion. The losses of the settlement would be minimal if they could help it.
The minute the docks were cleared, all the sailors rushed to their ships, and the dock crews loosed the ties to the piers and shoved the gang planks up. As soon as the ships were out of the harbor, they began priming their pistols and loading their cannons. The dock crews began stowing the docks.
The docks of the islands had been made with very few nails and far more ropes so that it was easy to rip them up to protect them from storms, and also to make bording the islands themselves much more difficult. Without the docks, the borders would have to either climb a fifty-degree slope of barnacles, or else sail around for a few hours and find an island with a shore close enough to the open sea, and navigate the maze of coves and identical scenery to find the town.
Chances were if it were their first time in the area, they wouldn't make it.
Tren wrenched out the nails to the docks and ripped the deck up. He stood on one of the heavy oak logs that served as a support that would not be moved. Then, he tossed the deck to the man on the next log, who tossed it to the next, who tossed it to the main dock, which was already getting torn up. Tren and the other men jumped their ways back to the main dock and rushed onto the land.
And then, the pirate ship opened with a broadside against one of the fastest ships that had been in the port.
The groundscrew watched as the main mast of the merchant vessel splintered with a glancing blow that tore threw her rigging. "That's going to get ugly," Annabel whispered as she landed near the front of the crowd. She was wet to her waist after rescuing those who couldn't make the jumps to the next log. Some had fallen in.
*Won't that be nice?* Kipfel asked bitterly, staring with her at the open sea, his Negatius Fragment with him. Löwenherzchen sat on Kip's head, a small headband with a bright red feather acting as a headdress.
Astrid and Gunnhild and Ingegerd arrived in full armor to stare as the pirates took down the assaulted vessel's mast and then quickly maneuvered out of range. The mast tore the rigging loose and though the merchants tried, their crew was much smaller than that of the pirates' ship, so they moved more slowly, and were soon dead in the water.
"Do you think they'll make it here?" Havelock asked.
Astrid turned and gasped. "Havelock! Where's Dagmar?"
"With Oberon in the Tower. I wanted to help--"
"Tower. Now," Astrid replied sternly, pointing a greaved arm towards the sparkling white ediface.
Havelock sighed and retreated. "Gunnhild," Astrid asked. "Go with him. Make sure he gets all the way back."
The red nodded and took off after Havelock.
Sandrylene paced next to the other women. "We have to find out how that ship fares, and get it out of the pirates' reach if it's possible."
"Leave that to me!" Delinet told them all, and she dove in the water before anyone could stop her. The minute she was in deeper water, she changed into a dolphin. She quickly swam out to the deeper water, changing to a gull and then a human, before diving into the water again and changing to a whale.
"Certainly overdoes it, doesn't she?" Tren sighed, arms crossed over his chest. He shook all over suddenly and tried to fight it down.
"Tren?" Annabel asked with concern and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"It's nothing," Tren obviously lied. He hugged himself tighter, pulling at his shirt. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
Just then, the shout came "HIT THE DECK!" as the ship swung around to broadside the town. Everyone ducked.
Except Annabel.
She worked her hands quickly and braced her legs. Her brilliant blue wings opened from her back, and she took a deep breath, staring down a volley of six cannonballs.
"Protected and nurtured by a saintly light
Peace be unto you."
The minute she said that, she faced her hands, palms out, towards the sea. A flickering shell opened to deflect the attack from a wide area without wrapping around. It was a weakened version of her full circle shield, but it did what she wanted. All six cannonballs flew into the shield, pushed against it, and then rolled down into the sea.
As soon as they were on their ways down, Annabel cut out the shield. It took too much out of her to keep it up for long. "We have to move," she said. "Inland. We don't want a broadside to hit the people."
Sandrylene understood. She'd never seen Annabel's magic to any extent. The woman preferred to do things the hard way than to blow things up the easy way. But when she did use it, Sandry had noticed that Annabel almost always got drained shortly after a hard session. And training never helped except to tire her out more. Her endurance never improved.
"INLAND!" Sandrylene shouted, and made a pushing motion towards the Tower, which would be a hold-out of last resort if it came to that.
"Inland!" The shout was carried through the crowd, and they all hurried towards the Tower. Annabel heard them go, all but Tren and Sandry.
"Tren!" Annabel shouted. "Go!"
"Not on your life!" Tren shouted back.
"You can't help!"
Kip, it turned out, had also stayed. *Löwen says that sometimes retreat is the bravest course. Don't let yourself become a burden on the woman you love. Go when she tells you to; she knows best.*
Tren looked between Löwen and Nabel. "Fine," he said, and followed the black inland at a jog.
"We trained them well," Annabel said before restoring the shield to stop six more balls.
"I really don't know how," Sandry sighed. "Come on, Nabel. We're clear."
Annabel nodded and watched the cannons load up again on the ship.
"Nabel?" Sandry asked again, and she touched Annabel's arm.
"Blazes, girl! You're hot as Hell!"
"Hmm?" Annabel was spacy and listless. It was frankly frightening.
"Come on, you!" Sandrylene groaned and threw her shoulder under Nabel's arm and started to drag her back to the others.
And then another volley of cannonballs launched.
Annabel tried to say the words, but they wouldn't come. Her wings withdrew into her back and she tried to force Sandrylene to the ground, but she couldn't. The six balls shot through the town over their heads. One of them hit the bell where the people were gathered. One got injured, but Delinet had returned, and she was tending to him.
Another cannonball shot through the lookout tower, crashing it to the ground. Another shot through the customs house, and another felled another lookout tower on top of the customs house. The other two hit buildings of no great importance.
"Nabel!" Tren shouted. He hurried to her side. "Nabel, are you okay?"
"Overworked and underpaid," Sandry replied dryly, letting Tren help her move his fiancee.
"I have her, Sandry. We need to keep a watch out on the ships, though. You lead us, I'll take care of Nabel."
Sandry looked to Tren, who looked very intent on doing just as he said, and took Annabel into his arms and hurried her to somewhere safe.
"Okay then. Thanks for the choice in the matter." Sandry looked around at everyone, who was invariably looking at her for advice. She sighed and shrugged. "I need volunteers to keep watch on the ship and let us know when they're drawing near. Someone fast and not afraid of enemy fire."
*Present and accounted for,* Ira said, fluttering in beside his mother, who said nothing. *Three eyes in the sky, and we could easily dodge cannon fire.*
Sandry sighed and looked to Kip, who was obviously not looking at them, which meant he probably disapproved, but wasn't going to say anything. "So be it," she told him, and the two dragons took off toward the harbor.
*Sandrylene,* Clarinet said calmly. *A number of the merchant vessels are going to take refuge on the opposite side of the archipelago.*
"Alright." Sandry tried to think how she could use that information, but nothing was coming to her.
"We should set up some sort of defenses."
Sandrylene turned to see Aki beside her.
"No. Really." He turned to Ingegerd. "How many are in the militia?"
"Twelve!" the Valkyrie shouted from the back of the crowd.
"A lot of good that will do," Aki muttered.
"What are they trained in?" Sandry asked.
"Guerilla tactics mostly. It's easiest."
"Send them out! Towards the front line if they'll go!"
Ingegerd nodded and called, "MILITIA! STAND FRONT!"
Twelve young and able-bodied men stepped out of the crowd and towards Ingegerd. She explained a few tactics to them and then dispatched them to arm themselves and return.
*They're coming in the dock!* Ira called, swooping in low. *They're coming in the dock!*
"What, now?!"
*Almost.* He flew away again to keep his mother from attacking the ship single-wingedly.
Suddenly, there was a loud boom, and everyone instinctively looked up to see another volley of cannonballs flying right for them. "SCATTER!" and "HIT THE DECK!" were shouted simultaneously from the crowd, and in the confusion, everyone mostly tripped over one another, landing in a heap of bodies except for those near the edge of the crowd.
Sandrylene braced herself for the worst case scenerio: a cannonball burying itself in bodies and cobblestones.
Nothing happened.
In fact, nothing happened so smoothly, that everyone looked up after a moment. The cannonball had been reduced very nicely to a fine powder, and Annabel was in the process of collapsing next to Tren, who looked very helplessly at Sandrylene.
"She wouldn't go," Tren told her. "She wouldn't let me take her away."
Sandry bit back the angry comment she wanted so badly to make. Kipfel and Löwen hurried worriedly to Annabel's side. The black nosed his bondmate with great concern and then glared at the pirate ship, clearly visible from the town square.
Kipfel glared very solemnly at it, and started marching towards it. It was pulling into a docking position, and the pirates were discussing how to best go about pillaging the town.
"On your feet," Sandrylene told the crowd. "And to the Tower if you refuse to fight."
Most of the crowd dispersed, and Tren tried to get Annabel to budge. She wouldn't. Exhausted though she was, she put up a fight with Tren and shoved him hard away from her. "You run if you want to," she said viciously. "I'm staying."
"Annabel," Sandrylene said, drawing a pistol. "You can't help us. Go."
"I refuse."
Ingegerd's troops returned, and she sent them off to their positions just then. Then, she and Astrid took to the front line and sauntered towards the ship.
"What was it Kip told me?" Tren asked gently, still trying to get Annabel to leave. "Sometimes retreat is the bravest action."
"Tren," she said gently. "I've been trained to fight for a good deal of my life. Believe it or not, I can handle this."
"You don't look like you're doing a very good job right now."
"Do me a favor. I'll stay out of the way until you go to my house and get me my knives. They should be in the kitchen."
Tren closed his eyes and sighed.
"Go!"
He nodded and helped Annabel to a sidestreet, out of obvious sight. Then, he hurried to her house.
Annabel listened in great distress as gunshots opened on the town, as well as the shouting of a great horde of men. She sat back and tried to concentrate on taking deep breaths and coaxing her strength back to her. Then, the pirates broke the line the townspeople were holding in the town square, and they began spilling down the sidestreets.
Annabel, who had been wearing loose trousers, pulled up her pants legs and pulled her two knives out. She flicked them to a backwards grip, and held one out across her body and the other behind as a rear guard. She then wondered how long it would take Tren to realize she had sent him on a wild goose chase to get him safe and her to do what she was trained to do.
Four pirates spied her as she drew herself to her feet. They all came at her head-on, and the first cocked his pistol and aimed at her. She lept at him before he could fire, driving her front knife into his throat before pulling it out and racing forwards to slice the sides of the two others. They weren't immediately fatal wounds, but they hurt enough. Then, she flipped to the air, moving so that the fourth couldn't get a steady shot at her.
He fired, and the shot went wild. Then, from above, a dark form landed heavily on the fourth pirate and Kipfel tore the man's neck open. Löwen tapdanced happily on the cobbles after scampering off the roof with the black.
*You're trouble to keep an eye on,* Kip said accusingly.
"You love me anyway."
*Where's Tren?*
"Looking for these," Annabel told him, nonchalantly wiping the bloodied knives on her trouser legs after slitting the two other pirates' throats.
*I wonder if this counts as 'disrupting the wedding'...* Kip mused.
"Does it matter much?"
*Not to me.* He flashed a toothy grin at her before heading out to the square again. *Come on. They need our help.*
***
Seven of them, men and women, were dead or so wounded they could not rise. The pirates had secured the square using sheer numbers, and Sandrylene took it upon herself to shout for parlay, which brought an immediate halt to the battle. The pirate captain, a young man, about their age, but grizzled and mean looking, swaggered forwards.
"I take it you're the captain?" Sandrylene asked with defiance in her voice.
"An' y' 'spect me t' think yer th' lead'r, little girl?" The pirates laughed.
"I am Sandrylene Neujone, founder of this settlement. There is no other 'leader' besides me." She set her hands on her hips and looked at the pirates as if daring them to challenge her.
Kip and Annabel, both covered with varying amounts of sweat and blood, exchanged a troubled glance when the pirates started laughing again. And Löwenherzchen, its feather a bit ruffled but still crowning its head, and its paws a muddy shade of red, bared its teeth at the captain.
The captain doffed his hat and made a mocking, sweeping bow. "Cap'n Karleef, m'lady!" The pirates laughed again. "An' this 'ere's me crew o' me ship, th' White Mare."
Annabel wanted to punch him quite a few times, just for being so obnoxious to Sandry.
The captain looked to his men. "Roun' up th' town!"
The pirates dispatched, and Sandrylene hotly began discussing terms of release of the town with Captain Karleef. She steadfastly refused to force any of the townspeople to join the pirates' crew as compensation for the pirates slain.
Meanwhile, the pirates were beginning a building-to-building search for hide-outs, and a few more were taken down by guerillas before the latter were captured. Annabel and Kip sat and waited with Astrid and Ingegerd, Ira and Gunnhild having flown off the moment parlay was called to alert the Tower. Soon, some of the pirates returned with prisoners.
The twelve guerillas were now five in number, the other seven having met the wrong end of a cutlass or pistol. And then another pirate accompanied his hostage back to the square, shoving a very calm Tren along in front of him. Annabel had the grace to blush bright red when Tren glared at her. Kip tried in vain to comfort her by patting her gently on the knee.
"I'd like t' see a full list o' all yer cit'zens," the captain told Sandrylene.
"There's no one here that could achieve a great sum for ransom. You're wasting your time."
"We'll be the judge of that," another pirate laughed.
"Fine. The list is in the customs house. If that's even still standing," Sandry told them.
"Oh, I'm sure it is, lass." The captain cackled and grabbed her by the wrist. "Where is it?"
Annabel got to her feet, and Kip and Löwen with her. They were immediately surrounded by a slew of pirates with raised cutlasses. "If you take her," Annabel told them all, "you'll be taking us, too. Just to be sure she's well-treated."
"Oh yeah? And what if we just run you through?" one of the pirates asked, thrusting a cutlass at her. She grabbed it from the dull side and pulled it towards her.
"Go on," she said casually with a jerk down towards Kip and Löwen. "Piss them off. I dare you."
Kip was looking up at them, baring his teeth. A dark stone tied around his throat, the Negatius Fragment, set off a dark glow. The pirates fainted, and Annabel took the opportunity to walk out of the circle towards Sandry and the pirate captain.
She was very calm as he set a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her. "Take another step and she dies!" he cautioned.
Annabel stopped where she was and set the insides of her wrists together, palms outward, and chanted the spell. A broad beam of light shot out of her open hands and took off half the captain's head just moments after Sandry bit the man's hand to make him drop his sword.
The remaining pirates gave up easily, and they were rounded up and held captive by some very indignant dragons who were very upset at them ruining half the city before the wedding. Delinet was especially angry, and she patrolled their holding area as a well-muscled brute, scowling at them angrily the whole time.
"You know," Tren said as Annabel scrubbed at the blood staining her shirt and pants that evening. "We could just postpone the wedding until everything's repaired."
Annabel, Kip, and Löwen all stopped what they were doing to glare at him. "Over my dead body," Annabel told him. The other two nodded, and Tren found himself more willing than ever to acquiesce.
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