Page 33 of Dragon Fire

O’Dare watched Sir Leo’s face closely, noting no real change in his ability to focus even as he held a conversation, purely in his mind, with either his dragon or the others on shore, O’Dare wasn’t sure which. A few seconds later, Leo blinked and refocused on the ship.

“Is it possible to split your group in two, sir? There are two areas of concern at the moment, on nearly opposite sides of the island.” Leo waited with seeming patience for O’Dare’s reply.

“Lieutenant Freistan,” O’Dare called to one of his officers. The man was at his side in a moment. “Send signal to Captain Livingstone. We’re flanking.”

They’d already drilled for such situations. Livingstone was a capable commander who stood next in line to be commodore of the entire fleet O’Dare had put together. He could easily take half the force and work independently of the rest of the fleet.

Within a few minutes, signals had been sent back and forth between the two ships, and in consultation with the land contingent through Sir Leo, they came up with a workable plan. A few minutes after that, the fleet split roughly in half, one portion heading for the east side of the island, the other for the west.

O’Dare swung around to the east, since Leo claimed that was the side closest to the wizard’s keep. If at all possible, O’Dare planned to go ashore when the battle was done and retrieve his wayward daughter.

Though, if what he suspected was true about the pirate fleet, he might be obliged to leave her in the wizard’s company. That might just be the safest place for her.

It was as he swung around the eastern side of the island that Captain O’Dare saw something that sent a cold chill down his spine. It was a ship, speeding away under full sail, already almost beyond visual range.

O’Dare had to use his spyglass to see if what he feared was true. With a sinking heart, he recognized the ship he’d never wanted to see again.

None of the masts he’d seen so far in the enemy fleet sported a flag, which was strange in itself. Every ship flew something to identify itself to its fellows—unless it was up to no good. But on this side of the island, that escaping ship was one O’Dare recognized. A ship that bore the scars of previous battles.

It was O’Dare himself who had given the orders for his cannons to let loose on his enemy. O’Dare had put those scorch marks on the timbers and caused the patchwork of new wood beams to be added after his cannons had blasted holes in the ship time and time again. And still it sailed—the thrice-damned rival O’Dare had been fighting this past decade and more.

Fisk. Former friend, frequent partner until O’Dare had finally realized what Fisk was up to—no good. The traitor Fisk continued to sail, some said, because he’d made a deal with a demon. O’Dare didn’t know for sure, but he knew he would keep hunting Fisk as long as one of them still breathed.

He owed Fisk a deadly debt. He would repay the bastard in kind. The lying, cheating bastard who had turned Captain O’Dare into a pirate.

With the unexpected aid of Captain O’Dare’s fleet of ships, the tide of the battle soon turned. Between the sea dragons and the mighty roar of ship-mounted cannons, none of the winged creatures had to take chances with those diamond blades. Gowan suspected Hrardorr would do the same as he’d done in Dragonscove, collecting the weapons off the sea floor and bringing them ashore to be disassembled and made into harmless stones.

Judging by how many of the ships were thought to be carrying the deadly weapons, the haul in diamonds would be enormous. Gowan hoped the wizard would be willing to share some of the loot with the merchant ships who had come to their aid. A small fortune might help ease Livia’s father’s anger a bit. Maybe.

Speaking of which, the fair folk had things well in hand when Gowan and Seth were summoned back to the keep to meet again with Gryffid. Livia had been in touch, as well, telling them all that Flurrthith’s mother had come to meet them and had given Livia a ride to the keep, her young son having recovered enough by then to make the short flight the remaining distance to the keep.

Genlitha was still running high patrol, reporting the enemy’s retreat directly to Gryffid. She seemed to have lost a bit of her awe of the wizard, though she still spoke of him with obvious reverence. Xanderanth was escorting Livia’s father as he made for the shore and the keep. It seemed the sea captain had come for his daughter and would storm the wizard’s keep to get her.

Gowan wondered how that would go over. If Captain O’Dare insisted on being an ass to the last of the great wizards, he could very well end up turned into a toad. And wouldn’t Gowan pay to see that.

Livia ran into his arms when Gowan entered the keep. Seth wasn’t far behind Gowan, but he’d have to wait for his hug and kiss. Gowan was enjoying having Livia in his arms again too much to let her go quickly.

A throat clearing rather pointedly somewhere in the great hall made him look up. He met the twinkling eyes of the wizard, Gryffid. He seemed indulgent, but only to a point. Caught, Gowan let Livia go with a final kiss, leaving her to Seth. Gowan, meanwhile, went to greet the wizard, who was smiling.

“Sir Gowan, your dragon friend is everything you claimed and more. How he got the sea dragons to help, I would love to know, but I won’t interrupt him while he’s working so diligently on my island’s behalf.”

“I’m not sure how he managed it either,” Gowan admitted, shaking the wizard’s hand. “But it was a blessing. The force that came against your island was larger even than that which attacked Dragonscove. It felt like they were making an all-out assault here.”

Gryffid frowned. “Yes, I believe you are right, but I have not yet figured out why or what they could possibly hope to gain here. I thought everyone realized it was my home and that the fey and the gryphons would defend it vigorously.”

“Aye, Sir. It seemed a strange attack to me, and most of my life has been one battle or another.” Gowan sighed, scratching his head while he tried to puzzle out what could have been driving the pirate fleet to such lengths.

“Which is why I asked you here. My people are questioning the prisoners as we speak, but you have seen this fleet of brigands in action before. I was hoping you and your fellows might be able to shed more light on what could have motivated them.”

Gryffid ushered them all toward a table to one side of the great hall that had been laid with food and drink, along with plates and utensils, buffet style. He invited them to take what they wanted and then sit with him at another table, in a group of empty tables with chairs, off to one side.

Only then did Gowan realize how hungry he was. Adrenaline had kept him going all day and throughout the battle, but he hadn’t eaten since the snacks they’d snarfed down while flying, many, many hours ago. The sun had set, and bonfires were lighting the beach, lanterns and candles providing light inside the keep. Gowan was dusty with grime from the battle on the beach, though he’d been able to wash off the worst of the blood and sand before answering the summons to the keep.

He was presentable, but famished. As was Seth, it seemed, from the way he piled food on his plate. Gowan followed suit and then joined Livia and the wizard at table.

They went through every facet of the battle for Dragonscove at Gryffid’s urging. The wizard asked pointed questions, leading the three of them through their actions and that of the fighters and then the prisoners who had surrendered to the king’s judgment.

Gryffid asked Gowan and Seth to compare the behavior of the enemy in Dragonscove to what they’d just witnessed. What they came up with was confusing. In Dragonscove, they’d been after riches. A few establishments along the shore had been obvious targets, a small amount of looting had even taken place before the enemy was defeated.

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