World Sphere - 214 -

Chapter 214: 

In the morning, I spoke with Pakkam and, at his insistence, and conducted a walk-through of the Night Wraith to see its readiness. The crew was almost entirely from my household Wolfsguard. That thought was strange in itself—household guard. Although the Wolfsguard in my employ were well-paid and equipped, they were essentially a private martial force I controlled.

Even the Night Wraith was a peculiarity. Initially, having a warship capable of evacuating the Skyhold Citadel was required to be granted the Black Spire as my High Mage residence. I had since had that requirement revoked, and now the Night Wraith just lazily patrolled Titan’s Shield to train the Wolfsguard crew. Technically, no citizen was allowed to maintain a dedicated warship in the islands. I dared Loriel to challenge my ownership of the Night Wraith now.

I decided that the warship would join us in the assault to eliminate the Bruton Orc fleet. Pakkam was the one who actually suggested bringing the Night Wraith along, and that is probably why he wanted to give the tour. “High Mage, half the crew is inexperienced. They could use the combat experience,” Pakkam advised. “Some seasoning in a real sky battle would do them well.”

“How many Skyguard do I have?” I asked.

“Skyguard?” Pakkam retorted with a chuckle.

“I thought it sounded good,” I replied with mirth. “Wolfsguard has a negative connotation in my mind and probably the rest of Skyholme as well. Plus, you have a few of us inferior humans in the crew.”

The Wolfsguard had a wolfish grin, “So the High Mage declares, so it is done.” He gave me a theatric bow, and we both laughed. “There are one hundred and seventy Wolfsguard in your employ, but I rotate sixty to the Night Wraith and fifteen to the Black Spire grounds.”

“That many? I had not checked recently, as those manning the Wasps joined Wolfhaven,” I replied.

“Only about half the Wolfsguard took up the opportunity you offered to farm your new land. A quarter of my people have their training too engrained in their blood and need to be part of a militia. The rest have taken to continuing our people and raising a new generation. But do not be concerned, we plan to continue with the Skyholme’s Academy system and should replenish your ranks,” Pakkam said proudly.

“That is not necessary,” I started to say.

“It is. As a people, we need a purpose, and we are free because of you,” Pakkam said pridefully. That was not entirely my doing. Loriel had played a role in breaking their chains, but for this, I was willing to not give her any credit.

“Does that mean I need to build another Academy?” I asked worriedly and got a laugh from Pakkam.

Pakkam placed his hand on my shoulder, “No, we can educate our youth without your gold, High Mage. Our teachers volunteer their time, and you have supplied more weapons than we could ever use.” That was not true. I had only created artificed equipment for about sixty Wolfsguard. If there were truly 170 militia Wolfsguard in my employ, I had some work to do and guessed they were sharing the weapons and rings I had artificed.

We discussed the new Merchant Marine Academy, and he promised to present the offer to the Wolfsguard Council. They would disseminate the option to attend to the Wolfsguard after reviewing what the Merchant Marine Academy offered. There was no rush as there were not even any buildings up yet. Remy had always suggested I recruit a powerful stone mage from the lowlands, and maybe it was time to follow through since we spent so much on construction.

“You can take the Night Wraith into battle. It should be faster than everything except the Wasps in the Skyholme and Sadian mixed assault fleet. I will also bring the Maelstrom, and you can move twelve Skyguard there for the assault,” I decided as we finished our conversation. “The rally point will be off the northern edge of this island.”

Pakkam’s grin spread as he began giving orders to his crew when I departed. The Night Wraith was a stalwart ship with modest defenses and cannons. The aether power crystals were not overly strong for the mass of the vessel, but I decided to artifice the invisibility runes into the skyship during the voyage. The sheer black hull was intimidating, but I wanted my people to be able to disengage if a battle was going terribly.

I still had half a day before the fleet was to depart, and rather than go to my Dungeon Academy for classes, I took the Maelstrom to Skyhold to see if I could talk with Callem. The cats followed me to the Naval Academy, and it didn’t take long to find Callem. He was, of course, instructing a cohort of young men and women on the proper cleaning and maintenance of their martial weapons.

Seeing me approach, the old man smiled, his golden eyes twinkling mischievously. “The High Mage has come to check on your work!” Callem approached and looked well, if a slight belly on him. His firm wrist shake told me he had not lost his strength. He leaned into me, “Walk among them and give them some advice. This might be the highlight of their young lives.” I looked over the young men and women looking at me in awe. I had created a little bit of a legend for myself that I assumed Sebastian and Callem fed.

I walked among the young Navy cadets, pointed out their mistakes, and noted whether they had done a good job oiling their weapons and sheaths. I was not sure if they were impressed with me or the two phantom cats following behind me as I visited each table. Kiara seemed to take pleasure in yawning close to a trainee who appeared a little skittish of her. I admonished her through our link after the third boy urinated in his trousers when she licked his cheek. A use of my cleanliness spell saved him any embarrassment. When the bell sounded, the cadets left slowly for their next rotation. 

“You rarely visit me, Storme. I am guessing you need me something?” Callem said congenially when we had privacy.

“I need your wisdom as always. I am building a Merchant Marine Academy outside of Hen’s Hollow. And I need instructors,” I explained.

He seemed to be giving it a lot of thought, “Maybe half a year. I want to see this class through…”

“No!” I laughed at his assumption. “I was hoping you know some good retired Navy officers to run the Academy. But if I could steal you from Loriel, I would do it in a dragon’s heartbeat.”

Callem gestured broadly, “I can't do this forever; the paperwork is backbreaking.” He rubbed his belly. “Skyholme is on a good track, and they don’t need this old man forever.”

I narrowed my eyes slightly. “What has happened?” Callem had so much energy for the new government and was working with Sebastian to reinvigorate the core of Skyholme’s Navy. If it hadn’t been for their presence, I might not have been so lenient in offering my services so liberally.

“Nothing, Storme. Time has caught me, but I failed to realize it.” I doubted that statement. Callem continued, If this new academy is near Hen’s Hollow, I can return to my tobacco farm with Wynna.”

I slowly nodded, accepting his explanation, but was still suspicious of Loriel pushing him out. “I plan to build it on Twin Rocks Lake.” I was telling myself not to do it, but I couldn’t help myself as the words spilled out. “No plans have been drawn up yet. I would appreciate your input to make it as effective an Academy as possible. I need trader, skiff, and dungeon hopper crews.” Callem’s golden eyes flashed. He had seen the investment I had put into the Dungeon Academy and was probably getting thoughts. I owed the man a lot—he had trained me and protected me. “You can talk with Remy and work out the details. I would be happy to name you commandant the new academy. You can walk to walk from your farm,” I added jokingly.

Callem’s thoughts were processing the opportunity, and I could see it taking hold. “I do know a few old men who would enjoy the country life. Captain Oberon, for one. He has spent most of his life on a skyship, and is one of the few men I trust more than myself. You will just need to make sure Hen’s Hollow gets a steady shipment of frost mead.”

“Thank you, Callem. We are planning classes of one hundred, with just two years to graduation,” I said as we shook wrists again.

He scoffed. “Two years? You cannot train an officer in two years. A sailor, a marine—maybe. Not a captain or officers that hold the fate of the crew in their hands.”

I felt a headache coming on, as nothing was ever simple. I decided to push the problem onto someone else. “Talk with Remy. You two can work out what is needed.” 

Callem nodded seriously. “Don’t try to convince Sebastian. He would rather become an undead lich than leave the service.” He noted with an affable smile. 

“Understood,” I said and soon returned to the Maelstrom with the cats in tow.

My stomach was already churring as I was certain Callem would design the Merchant Marine Academy his way, just as Sana had done the Dungeon Academy. All the plans we had come up with would be modified and likely expanded. Not that I could complain about the final product of the Dungeon Academy. Sana was big on attention to detail, and rumors of our Dungeon Academy were already spreading through the lowlands, much to the angst of Guildmaster Huckle.

I opened the echo stone to my people to inform them that Callem was on board and learned that Blaze was at the Shiny Platinum. I needed to pick him up, then return to the Spire for Neoma and Thibault, along with a dozen Skyguard. An hour later, the Night Wraith and Maelstrom were holding position off the island. The Sadian Hawks were already here, but the Skyholme ships still had an hour to arrive. The Sadian Hawks were mid-sized warships with above-average speed. Their biggest drawback was that they still used sails to conserve aether for long flights. The rigging tended to get in the way during fights and was easily burned by fire-based attacks.

I took the time to distribute linked communication stones to the other bridges of the fleet for rapid communication and transferred myself to the Night Wraith. I worked on adding the invisibility runes until the Skyholme fleet arrived. We were ready to depart after distributing more communication stones to the Skyholme captains.

Bleiz was piloting the Maelstrom while I worked on the Wraith. It only took a few hours before Pakkam was testing the invisibility runes and recording the drain on the aether crystals. It would not be an option at high speeds, but it could save the crew in the future. We still had almost three days to reach the skies over the Bruton Kingdom.

I started work on one of the aether swivel cannons. The cannons were five feet in length and weighed about one hundred pounds—easily moved by two men. In the middle of the cannon was a finger mount that slid into a swivel mount. I could make multiple permanent mounts on the ship’s railing, allowing the cannons to be moved.

The biggest negative to artificing these cannons was the mithril and gold cost. Each cannon would cost me about 5,000 gold before expensive aether crystals were added. If you added small aether crystals, their firing rate would be terrible. If you add low-tier but larger aether crystals, they risk shattering with high rates of fire. It was a balance to keep the costs under control.

But this was my prototype, and I went a little overboard by writing the runes in mithril and coating them with adamantine. This allowed me to use a slightly larger rune pattern for greater aether flow, giving this gun a longer range and more power, but multiplying the cost tenfold. It was not sustainable to make fifty thousand gold portable cannons.

I made mounts on the fore railings of the Night Wraith while the Wolfsguard crew looked on curiously. Pakkam joined me when I was done and had installed the cannon and a first-sized tier four aether crystal. “Try it out,” I said, smiling to the Night Wraith’s captain.

Pakkam tested swinging the cannon. I hadn’t quite gotten the center of gravity correct as the trigger end was slightly heavier. Pakkam tilted and heavy cannon easy enough. “Where are the sight lines?” he asked, staring down the length.

“We will need to sight them in, aligning the runes perfectly is too difficult, even for me. The aether pulse should exit the cannon around the speed of sound, and is not affected by gravity, but it will dissipate rapidly after…” I did some estimates in my head, “maybe four miles. This cannon is more powerful than the standard, which will only have a range of a mile.” 

“Can I?” he asked.

I nodded and explained the function, “This is the trigger guard here. Hold it up and depress the runic pattern for two heartbeats. This runic pattern will fade after firing, when it is lit again, you can fire it again.”

“Would be nice to have something to aim at,” Pakkam said. The crew had been edging closer, and one of them volunteered. 

“I have the light globe ability,” she offered. I recalled that it was one of the tier two essences I had given Pakkam to distribute. Pakkam nodded, and a bright ball of light formed between the woman’s hands before darting away from the ship. It quickly fell behind us as it left the ship’s envelope of influence with the Night Wraith moving too fast. Pakkam never got a shot off, and everyone laughed, and the young Wolfsguard flushed in embarrassment.

Pakkam accelerated ahead of the fleet, explaining that he was doing some target practice with the other captains. We came to full stop, and the light was able to zip about off the bow about a quarter mile away—the range of the Wolfsguard’s ability. Pakkam fired the weapon and missed by a large margin, but the aether bolt was thick and crackled with impressive energy as it disappeared into the empty sky. 

“That was more than four miles,” he estimated with a wolfish grin before the shot lost cohesion and dissolved. The recharge rune was already lit, and he fired again. Missing by only a few feet. “Storme, add sights at either end. I think we can get it aligned in a few shots. Would be a shame not to have the weapon ready for an inevitable battle.” The Wolfsguard grin told me he was more interested in firing the cannon again than actually sighting it. He was not the only one, as the crew had crowded on the foredeck.

We spent the next hour tuning the sights on the swivel cannon. The Maelstrom had dropped its invisibility to observe while the rest of the fleet passed. With its power matching an integrated skyship cannon, envious messages came through the communication stones on the bridge as they observed the swivel cannon in action.

Pakkam could score within six feet of the tiny light at a quarter mile with regularity, before allowing his eager crew to practice as well. We spent just an hour stopped before catching up to the rest of the fleet. I worked on artificing another swivel cannon, but this one would only use mithril and gold and be what I intended for mass production.

When we compared the two swivel cannons side by side hours later, one was noticeably less potent. The range was just over a mile, as my calculations had indicated, but the aether bolt was thinner and less intense. It would still inflict fatal damage to flesh but minimal damage to other skyships. I still considered it a success.

We didn’t have time to sight in the lesser cannon as I transferred to the Maelstrom mid-flight and we took a position at the rear of the fleet as we got closer. Admiral Gelanes of the Skyholme fleet was in charge of the assault. He was the captain of one of the two Harbingers, the Ancestor’s Call. I think I had met him a few times, but I didn’t recognize his voice over the stones. 

“The Wasps can move out to ten miles to expand our screen. I want three Hawks above and three below the Harbingers. The Night Wraith can remain in the rear. High Mage, if you choose to engage one ship, please alert us to which one so we do not destroy it with you on board.”

“That sounds practical,” Pakkam’s familiar voice echoed over the stones, eliciting some laughs. No orders were given to the Maelstrom, but that was fine. If I could keep its powerful abilities a secret, all the better. Even now, it was invisible.

The dozen Wolfsguard on the Maelstrom were becoming a little stir-crazy after two days. The only viewport was located on the bridge. Aside from that, they could access the observation deck above but none did. Thibault and Neoma did their best to administer the young Wolfsguard. Half a day later, I got to listen to a real admiral at work.

“Distance to target 400 miles. All ships drop to an altitude of twelve miles.”

“Tickler and Stiletto, screen forward for contact.” Those were two of the Wasps on our flanks.

“Switch to an arrow formation. Ancestor’s Call and Moon Shadow will take the point.” Those were the two Harbingers with the heaviest weapons in the fleet.

“Mages?” A question hung in the air. A somewhat ordered reply came as scrying mages on various ships reported in. We were still probably too far from the massive lake that launched the ships to get anything valuable.

The chatter across the stones was continuous, and I guessed that before stones, captains used mages to communicate sporadically. They were enjoying real-time reconnaissance and making use of it. The admiral changed the formation of the fleet twice more as the terrain changed below us before settling back into the arrow formation.

Unsurprisingly, we didn’t encounter any merchant traffic with how aggressive the Bruton orcs were. When I could finally see the massive lake in the distance we got the first sightings of the enemy fleet.

A voice I recognized now as the captain of the Tickler came across the stone, “I have two slow-moving large boats moving up from the surface.”

“I have the city in sight. Seven more skyships leaving the water there.”

“A patrol skyship high and to the right.”

The admiral’s voice echoed, “This looks promising. They aren't running and are grouping to fight.” A total of nine enemy warships flocked to form a fleet. The admiral was happy and maybe overconfident. “It seems we have about an hour until engagement. All hands, prepare for battle!”

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