FicWad

Chapter 15

Revenge


"I feel terrible..."

After Esteban said that, his eyes closed and he fell down. Aika managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

"Esteban! Wake up!"

She shook him, but he didn't move. No signs of life could be seen...

"No," she whispered. "Don't do this! Not now!"

Fina kneeled down next to Esteban's lying figure. Carefully, she laid two of her fingers on his artery. After a while she nodded.

"He's alive," she said, relieved. "He has just fainted."

For the first time, Aika got a better look at his wounds. It was a bloody story. Several black marks, marks of whips, and cuts, which hadn't healed. On his forehead, there were three scars that all looked new. The wound was red and swollen. With no doubt, it had been done with a knife or a dagger. He looked so thin. If it had lasted longer, she could've almost counted his ribs. His blonde hair was partly stained with red.

"We have to take him back to the village, quick!" said Aika.

"Just drop me of at the /Delphinus/," said Vyse. "They will not get away with... Fina, what are you doing?"

The blonde silvite had placed her hands on Esteban's bare chest, and with closed eyes started to quietly chant:

"Moons, give us your blessing."

Fina's hands started to glow. It was the "Lunar Blessing", a silvite technique for bodily regeneration. At her use, it had saved their lives on many occasions. Maybe this would wake him up. After a while the glow slowly faded away. Esteban was still unconscious, but somehow, he looked better. His chest rise and sunk in sync with his now more stable breathing. She opened her eyes.

"This will do it until we get back to Horteka."

With their combined efforts, they managed to carry the unconscious Esteban to the small boat. It was hard for them all to fit in, and it was a rough start, but soon they were on their way, going with full speed, the course set straight towards the /Delphinus/. Finally the last hour had arrived. Now the Black Pirates would face the righteous wrath of the Blue Rogues!

Suddenly, just to prove them wrong, a new ship emerged from the far side of the mountain. They recognised it as the sleek ship that had taken away Esteban two days ago. It made a sharp turn to portside and now its bow pointed straight towards them. And to make matters worse, it was far closer to the Blue Rogues than the Delphinus was!

"We'd better hurry up!" Vyse shouted. "We won't last long in this!"

As if his words were a start-signal, their new enemies started to shoot. The balls swished past, only inches away from the hull. The Blue Rogues threw themselves down on the tiny deck.

"Close call!" Aika shouted. "But we won't be so lucky next time!"

"Hold on!" said Vyse. "I really mean it."

Vyse took the wheel at the stern and put the shaking ship on a tight upwards course. Due to the centrifugal force, Fina was pushed back at Vyse, but she quickly moved forward to the mast just in front of her. There was no time to put up the sails; by the way it would be impossible in this speed. They had to do with the engines only. Aika sat on the other side, leaning against the mast, with Esteban next to her. They sailed higher and higher with the Black Pirates after them. At least they saved some time, but it was only a matter of a short time until their adversary would get on the same speed and level as them. When that was done, a long, long fall would await them. One big Man-O-War against one small sailing boat just wasn't fair. The odds were really against them this time.

"Whatever you do, I wish you would hurry up!!" Aika screamed. Not because of anger, but the engine gave up a loud buzzing, due to the acceleration. The boat trembled a bit more. At this velocity, it wouldn't hold up much longer.

"I'm trying to!"

Slowly, but steadily, the boat consumed the distance to Delphinus/. Just a few more seconds! Vyse's heart pounded with excitement as some more cannonballs shot over them, getting closer every time. The sails would've been rags at this rate. Now they were so close to their goal that the /Delphinus could shoot covering fire. The Black Pirate ship turned to starboard and sailed away to join the fleet, while the Delphinus remained. They had made it!

"That seems to do it," Vyse said and quickly lowered the ship. "I'll meet you at the village after I'm done here. Good luck."

And then, without any warning, he jumped off the ship! Both girls gasped out of surprise, but then they saw that Vyse had stopped just above Delphinus' lookout tower. They looked down just in time to see the hatchet close.

"Always on the move," Aika muttered. "Let's go."

"Aye," Fina answered.

xXx

Vyse climbed down the ladder as fast as he could. Now that Esteban was safe, no one in Arcadia could keep him away from kicking Black Pirate butt. Especially now. The sight of Esteban still remained before his eyes. Vyse had seen people do some evil stuff, but this was among the most gruesome things he had ever seen. Even if you learnt to handle it, you couldn't be unaffected. It might be just as well; the day he could coldly look at a mutilated person with total indifference he wouldn't be a human. He shook his head to clear away his thoughts. Now he had a battle to win. Just as in the battle of Yafutoma, the Delphinus' participation would mean rise or fall. He opened up the door leading in to the ship and rushed to the bridge, where Gilder and his crew controlled the ship.

"Ah, Vyse! Glad to see you made it," Gilder said, standing at the ship's wheel. Tika'tika stood at the view port. "It looked a bit close, so it was hard for us to fire, in case we would hit you."

"Well, I felt like a challenge," Vyse said as he walked over to take command of his ship. "Now we have a score to settle!"

Gilder released the controls, but remained at the front with Vyse. Tika'tika said:

"The battle has been even, but the Black Pirates are getting the better of us even now. We have to hurry!"

"Don't worry, this is after all the strongest ship in the old armada," Gilder said, his voice carried all the confidence in the world. "Hmm, if I'm not totally mistaken, the ship that just left is the /Bruto/, flagship of the Black Pirate Giovanni."

"Who is he?"

"He's one of the biggest, and meanest Black Pirates around. He kept a low profile before and during the Crystal War, but now he's apparently on the go again. He's never backed out of a fight, always taking a chance to scuttle a ship or two, a masterly strategian and it's said he's partly psychotic. Few have escaped from him and lived to tell about it. To put it short, the farthest you can get from sympathetic. Well, Vyse, you sure know how to pick your targets."

Vyse could all too well imagine that. He already started to regret they hadn't gone for Esteban earlier. Being at that man's mercy would be a living hell.

"He'd better enjoy it while it lasts," said Vyse. "We'll catch up with him before he reaches the rest, and then he's finito. /Delphinus/, full speed ahead!"

With a burst of speed, the Delphinus started to move forward. The Bruto maybe had a head start, but it wouldn't get away. The distance in between the two ships was slowly but surely decreasing. What a difference it was to have a full crew onboard! Delphinus moved as smoothly as the wind. It wouldn't be long until the two ships were in boarding position with each other. And then, it would be so long for the /Bruto/. Of course, it was all too good to be true, so from the south's portside, another Black Pirate ship arrived to provide covering fire for the /Bruto/. It was so heavily armoured, it looked like a giant piece of floating steel, especially at the bow. A resemblance to Gregorio's ship, the /Auriga/, could be seen. Two opponents wouldn't be impossible for the /Delphinus/, but Vyse couldn't, wouldn't, and would never let the Bruto get away!

"Darn!" Vyse hissed. "We won't get rid of them both until we've ended up in the middle of their fleet!"

"Leave the Bruto to us," said Tika'tika. "We realized there could be some fighting, so we decided to bring a troupe of our best warriors."

Vyse smirked.

"I suppose you guys don't have anything against taking over a ship, Air Pirate style?"

"It'll be a pleasure," Tika'tika said in an anticipating tone. "I'll join my brethren in battle."

He quickly hurried from the bridge. Vyse grasped the receiver for the hearing tube, which led to the cannons.

"Open fire at portside, but leave the starboard alone for the moment. Give it all you've got!"

After some quick "Affirmatives", Delphinus' cannons burst into life. The other ship wiggled but its armor took all hits. It replied as best as it could, but it was too weak against the Delphinus/. The ship quickly passed the /Delphinus and then turned around, its bow faced their stern. Meanwhile, the Ixa'takan warriors had already boarded the Bruto/. Even without ropes. Vyse was not envious of the Black Pirates onboard, as the Ixa'takans were ferocious hunters and fighters. It didn't take long until the /Bruto had stopped moving. At least one problem was out of the way, and if Giovanni was onboard, even better. Hopefully, he wouldn't have a lifeboat or something. Now Vyse could concentrate on what to do with the ship that kept firing cannon balls at the Delphinus' stern. Although its cannons didn't hurt much, it was heavily armoured, it would take both time and firepower to bring it down. Down? Oh, yes! The bow of the ship was nothing but steel, so its stern could be a weak spot. Vyse quickly brought the Delphinus to a standstill.

"Whoa!" Gilder shouted. "Vyse!"

"Descend! Quick!"

The momentum caused some confusion for the crew, but they obeyed their new captain none the less. It was a gamble with high odds. If the Delphinus was rammed, it would have destructive results. But fortunately, the ship that followed them couldn't match Vyse's pattern so it passed just over them. It was so close that the whole bridge was vibrating, the lookout tower was almost crushed. While all this was going on, Vyse had pulled a certain regulator. The one that activated their strongest weapon, their trump card, the weapon that had bested Galcian's own sky-fortress; the moonstone cannon.

"Excellent!" said Vyse. "Now rise up to their level!"

It all went so quickly that if Vyse hadn't had the ship's wheel to hold onto, he would've joined Gilder down on the floor. With the short loading time; the shot wouldn't be as strong as usual, but it would be more than enough. Now the two ships lay on a straight line, although this time Delphinus had its bow to its enemy's vulnerable stern. The humming sound ended, meaning that everything was ready to go. The front part of Delphinus' bow opened up, revealing the huge cannon.

Now it was time!

"Moonstone cannon!" The energy was building up; its immense power would be unleashed at any second. "Fire!"

This one's for you, my friend.

A huge lightning fast ray of white purple moonstone energy exploded from the cannon's opening. It rushed across the skies and pierced its target. A huge part of the Black Pirates' portside deck was blown away together with the engines. Immediately, it began to crackle and burn. The Black Pirate ship lost height drastically, and made a crash-landing on the Moonstone Mountain's top. The whole bridge celebrated.

"Alright, one down, the rest to go," Vyse said, feeling quite accomplished. "Full speed ahead! Fire at will!"

"I just wish the Claudia was here," Gilder grinned.

xXx

While the battle against the Black Pirates was at its peak, Aika and Fina were back in Horteka. They had brought Esteban to a medicine man. Even with the mask on, it could be seen that the man had been shaken by the sight. Now, when Ixa'taka practically lay in war, hospitalisation would have to be reserved for warriors, but it wasn't hard to make an exception. Especially since Aika would've flung herself upon the man if he did so.

They had waited for a while before the healer came out from the big hut that served as a ward.

"Will he make it?" Aika asked directly.

The healer nodded. The two friends sighed with relief.

"This is one of the worst things I've ever seen," said the healer. "There don't seem to be any internal wounds, but he's suffering from lack of nutrition, liquid and sleep. Altogether with the wounds, which are typical to torture. Your early treatment might've saved his life."

"Can we see him?" Aika asked. "Just for a moment?"

"I'm afraid not. Right now he is recovering from his wounds, and he's in torpor. He won't awake for a while."

"For how long?" Fina asked.

The healer shrugged.

"It's hard to say. Anything from a couple of hours to several days."

Aika stared at him with eyes wide as saucers.

"Several days!?"

"I have seen these sorts of cases before. He is lucky to be alive. Oh, and I forgot to mention" he started. "he seems to have hit his head quite badly. It's nothing critical, but you might expect mood changes as he wakes up. Nothing permanent, but still."

The girls looked at each other.

"Changes, in what direction?" Aika asked.

"It depends from person to person, from accident to accident. But the critical phase is over."

xXx

Finally, the battle was over, the war was won. Tika'tika hadn't lied; the Ixa'takan fleet had been heavily pressed indeed. The Delphinus had truly saved the day... again. At Vyse's arrival, a huge disarray among the Black Pirates had started. Half of the ships had tried to escape, the other half had join in an uncoordinated assault on the Delphinus/. It was an easy task for /Delphinus to scuttle them. Several of Ixa'takans then decided to take over the ships, rather than blast them to pieces. Almost all of the Black Pirates could be taken alive, although some put up a useless fight. Giovanni's business in Ixa'taka was henceforth over, the Moonstone Mountain was once again back in the hands of the green moon's hard struggling people.

It was a blended mix that returned to Horteka. In the lead was the Delphinus/, followed by Ixa'taka's fleet and the captured ships. It had seemed that all Horteka's population awaited them at the harbour. Almost everybody had a beloved husband, father or son who had participated in the battle. From the /Delphinus' front-window, Vyse searched the crowd for his two companions. Aika's braids stood out from pretty much anything, and it didn't take long until he spotted his two friends. He smiled at the sight of them, and then quickly hurried to the lifeboat. After a fast ride, he stood in the harbour, and then pushed his way through the big crowd until he made his way to the two gals. It was quite hard to miss a ship as big as the /Delphinus/, so they were all too ready for his arrival. It was a merry reunion, however a bit crowded, so they quickly made their way out of the mass.

"So" Aika started. "how does it feel to have liberated Ixa'taka for a second time?"

"Pretty good, I'm getting quite used to it." Then he turned serious. "But it would feel better if Esteban was with us. Is he alright?"

"He's alive," said Fina. "But still unconscious."

All that because they had left so late. If they had previously had a full crew, maybe they could've blasted through the defences before Esteban's torture started. It wouldn't have had to happen.

"Vyse," Aika said and waved a hand in front of his face. "What is it?"

Vyse thought over what he should say.

"I feel guilty about Esteban," he said, finally. "If we had left earlier, we could've saved him from the worst."

"But you said yourself that we couldn't sneak in if we were expected. I'm not blaming you, even if I felt bad about it when we wrote up the plan. But I wasn't thinking very straight then, if you get my point."

"We did what we had to do," said Fina. "Everything doesn't turn out as we want to, but we make it in the end."

Vyse nodded, reflecting.

"True. We had to do it, it was all we could do."

The three friends started to walk away from the cheering crowd, all three in their own thoughts. Their destination was the king's hut, but they held their own pace. Like Vyse had said, they had done all they could, and no one could ask for more.

"By the way," Aika said, suddenly. "Remember when we talked about getting a new crew? I have a suggestion..."