[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.“Don’t worry, neither am I.” Bringing a whale or other large sea creature up to take out the ship, while a great idea, was not very practical when it came right down to it.He stared at the pursuing ship for a moment.“It’s going to catch us, isn’t it?”“Yes,” replied Miko.“They have gained continually since we turned and ran.”“What we need is a submarine.”“A submarine?”James nodded.“A ship that sails beneath the water.”Scar laughed and Potbelly guffawed, “Now that would be something.”Then James got a reflective look as he turned toward the port side of the ship.They followed his gaze and saw a six-man rowboat secured to the deck with rope and tackle.Walking to the rowboat, James ran his hand along the edge as he looked thoughtfully back at the ship trailing them.“What are you thinking?”Turning to Miko, he said, “Thinking about being creative.” Then to Scar, “How about some fun?”Grinning, Scar replied, “Anytime you’re ready.”Five minutes later, the rowboat had been raised and then lowered over the side just enough that it rested even with the ship’s railing.“Okay, boys,” he said to his apprentices, “Unleash the heavens.”Lightning slammed into the forward section of the shield surrounding the enemy ship.Waves leapt up to break over her bow.“Let’s go.”James hopped into the rowboat along with Jiron, Tinok, Scar, Potbelly and Father Vickor.“Lower away,” ordered Captain Anyn.As they lowered them to the water, James said to Miko, “Give me a couple minutes then have them stop.”“I shall.Good luck.”Once the boat settled upon the water, they removed the lines and drifted away from Captain Anyn’s ship.“You sure you can do this?” Shorty asked nervously.“I believe so,” James replied.After allowing them to fall behind a ways, James closed his eyes, calmed his mind, then gathered magic to him.A shield sprung up around the rowboat, then quicker than he had anticipated, they sank beneath the waves.Chapter Forty-Five“This is a most unsettling experience.”Father Vickor ran his fingers along the inner side of the shield, beyond which swam a fish.Twenty feet below the surface, James concentrated on keeping the bubble spell active.The others sat and looked in awe at the dark, enveloping water.“My spells are unable to penetrate the priest’s defensive magic,” James said.“Getting behind them is the only way.Keep an eye out for the ship to pass overhead.”His plan was to sink beneath the surface, allow the enemy ship to pass, then come at them from the back.Hopefully, they would remain undetected throughout this rather unorthodox journey.At first, he wanted nothing more than to destroy the ship and rejoin his family.Miko, on the other hand, once he learned of what James intended to do, had argued for a mission aimed more at intelligence gathering than destruction.“We need to know more about them,” he had argued.“Who are they? Where do they come from? And more importantly, what do they plan to do?”Potbelly nodded.“And are they going to be satisfied with just the island and maybe some coastal cities? Or are more soldiers on the way for a deeper push into the Empire? We need to find out what is going on.”The argument that made his mind up was “Are their attacks limited to this area? Or are other ships heading for points west where we sent the others to safety? Maybe even to Cardri itself?”James agreed, they had to know whether or not Meliana and Kenny were leaving one war zone for another.The best way to do that was the capture and interrogation of one of their priests.Now, they sat in a rowboat encased in a shield twenty feet below the surface.He had moved them out of the enemy ship’s path so as not to encounter its protective shield.Such an encounter while unlikely to dispel James’ protective shield which would prove disastrous, would at the very least alert the priest on board that something was afoot.Not long after they had submerged, a shadow passed across the light filtering down from above.“There it goes,” Shorty said.James immediately turned their boat in pursuit.Keeping it under the waves, he gradually brought them closer to the surface as they gained on the ship.Back on Captain Anyn’s ship, his two apprentices kept watch on a glowing orb.“This plan is crazy,” Father Keller said, and not for the first time.Miko gave him a grin.“He has had crazier.We must trust in him.”“What happens if he loses his concentration? Has he ever done this before?”Thinking back to the ride on the door across the desert, Miko replied, “In a way.”“The Dark Mage can do anything,” Azhan said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]