What struck Pony most about Pireth Vanguard, the city of Honce-the-Bear's prince for so many years, was how small the place truly was. It didn't even seem a city by the standards of the woman who had lived the majority of her life in Ursal and Palmaris, but rather, a village surrounding a castle fortress set at the head of a sheltered bay, overlooking many long docks and wharves. There were outlying farms, but they were not huge, unlike those outside of Palmaris. Neither were the roads truly definable structures. They were cart paths and nothing more, and seemed as if they were often and easily redefinable.
Pony had once served in the Coastpoint Guards and had spent considerable time at Pireth Tulme, the southernmost of the three fortresses - Tulme, Dancard, and Vanguard - that protected the Gulf of Corona. Vanguard was surely larger than that guard tower. But still, Pony had always imagined Pireth Vanguard to be much grander than this, along the lines of Palmaris, perhaps, with a great seaside castle surrounded by many streets and houses. How surprised and dismayed she was when Prince Midalis had explained to her that the population of all of Vanguard, this vast stretch of forested land, was not equal to that of Palmaris city alone.
Given that, she had to wonder how they could hope to mount any kind of a threat against Aydrian, who controlled nearly all of the southland? The other thing that Pony noticed when she, Bradwarden, Prince Midalis, Captain Al'u'met, and Abbot Haney of St. Belfour entered Pireth Vanguard, was that the docks were nearly free of vessels. In fact, the only ship of any note that was in dock was Captain Al'u'met's Saudi Jacintha, and she was fully crewed, with sails untied should she need to put out fast.
"We must be ready to strike camp and march quickly as soon as the weather breaks," Prince Midalis opened when the group settled into one of the large tower rooms overlooking the harbor.
"In whichever direction Juraviel's telling us to strike," Bradwarden added.
The talk became more of the same planning that they had gone over be- fore, and Pony tuned out of the discussion rather quickly, after inquiring of Abbot Haney about the health of Master Dellman, an old friend who had stood with her and Elbryan and Braumin Herde in the last days of Markwart.
"He is well," Abbot Haney had replied. "Though he fears for his old friend, Abbot Braumin."
As did they all, Pony mused, knowing full well the grave implications of having Marcalo De'Unnero returned to Palmaris. She put those dark thoughts out of mind quickly, though, and forced herself to focus on the situation at hand. They had to find a way to strike and strike hard, to win some early decisive victories against Aydrian so that Prince Midalis could gain credibility with the common folk of Honce-the-Bear once more.
As long as Aydrian seemed in complete control, Pony knew, it would be impossible to drum up any undercurrent of support for the rightful successor to her late husband.
The meeting was short, as they had little to truly discuss until they had some better idea of their enemy's positioning. But even as Prince Midalis began to call for its end, a trio of other guests arrived, which changed the complexion of the place considerably.
"Greetings to you, fair Queen Jilseponie," said Liam O'Blythe, the close friend of Prince Midalis. He wasn't nearly as imposing a figure as Midalis, with his short red hair and slender frame, and a smile that always seemed about to erupt across his freckled face.
Pony gave him a warm look.
"By the gods of the high mountains, it is good to see you once more, my old friend!" boomed the second of the newcomers, the giant Alpinadoran ranger, Andacanavar. He strode into the room, moving right to Pony, and wrapped her in a great and warm hug. "Even though it seems that trouble's always not far behind you!"
He pushed Pony back to arm's length and the two shared warm smiles, and Pony turned to regard Bruinhelde, the Alpinadoran leader who had done so much good for his people in the time of the rosy plague. These two strong and visionary men had put aside their race's typical mistrust of anyone who was not Alpinadoran, and had led their people in great numbers to Mount Aida in the days of the plague, saving perhaps a devastating secondary outbreak in the cold northern kingdom. The last time Pony had seen the pair was at her wedding to King Danube, when Andacanavar and Bruinhelde had accompanied Prince Midalis to the ceremony, arriving unexpectedly to the delight of both Pony and Danube.
And now here they were once again, with a large number of their warriors camped to the east and north. What a testament to Prince Midalis, Pony thought, that he had so strengthened the bond between Vanguard and Alpinador, two traditional enemies.
"So it's your boy who's bringing all this trouble, I'm hearing,"
Andacanavar remarked. "A boy trained by the Touel'alfar."
"A boy... a young man," Pony corrected, "who has recently exacted his revenge upon the fair folk of Andur'Blough Inninness."
Andacanavar's bright blue eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Lady Dasslerond is dead," Pony admitted. "And her people are on the run, locked from their valley by the same desperate enchantment that Dasslerond used to keep Aydrian from burning the place down."
The barbarian ranger did a good job of keeping his expression calm and controlled, but Pony sensed the sudden surge of rage within him, an anger clear to her from the man's great hands that were still clamped upon her shoulders. Andacanavar had seen seven full decades of life and more, but there remained within him a strength that was frightening indeed! "Your friendship with these strange creatures you call Touel'alfar has ever been a curiosity to me," Bruinhelde said to Andacanavar, and his command of the common Honce-the-Bear tongue surprised Pony. "What does this mean to you, my friend?"
"It means that this King Aydrian has stepped beyond the bounds," the ranger grimly replied. He looked from Bruinhelde to Prince Midalis. "I am here as your ally. We came from Alpinador to support our friend. But know now that this has gone beyond that call." The giant man turned back to Pony. "Your son has made of me a mortal enemy. Understand this."
Despite her determination to see Aydrian taken down and Prince Midalis restored to his birthright, the words still stung Pony. For in looking at the determination and outrage simmering behind those bright blue eyes of the giant ranger, she could well envision the death of Aydrian.
But she could not refute Andacanavar's words, for he was a ranger, elven- trained, a student of Dasslerond and her people. Would not her dear dead husband Elbryan similarly do battle on behalf of Andur'Blough Inninness, as fiercely as his father and Pony's own father had defended Dundalis from the goblin hordes those decades before? Pony offered a nod to Andacanavar, and felt his iron grip relax a bit.
With the arrival of the Alpinadorans, Prince Midalis called the group back to order, wanting to fill in the newest arrivals on all the details thus far. Pony excused herself, though, and allowed one of the prince's guards to escort her to a small private room.
She knew that it was time for her to do a bit of scouting on her own.
Pony went back through that same room, her spirit flying free of her body, a short while later. Only Bradwarden and Andacanavar seemed to sense her presence as she passed by them, crossing through the stone wall as if it were as insubstantial as smoke, and out into the open air.
A storm was brewing, with cold sleet lashing the tower walls and the ground, but it was of no concern to the spirit of Pony, any more than the minor inconvenience that it reduced the visibility to her spirit eyes.
Using Captain Al'u'met's directions, the woman lined herself up on the docks of Vanguard, then rushed away over the open water, flying straight and flying fast across the miles. She moved up high as she flew to widen her perspective, and a short while later, she saw the dark island and tower of Pireth Dancard.
She moved in fast, flying low and circling the island, to see the fifteen warships of Earl DePaunch. Twelve were moored offshore, not far from the dock area. Two others, apparently under repair, were tied up to the docks and heavy with guide ropes and canvas. The last was nearly out of the water altogether, up on great skids to the side of the dock. She had been severely damaged, obviously, and a good deal of her decking was missing, along with one of her masts.
Pony went out to the dozen seaworthy vessels and flew onto one and then another, even searching belowdecks. As she had expected, they were nearly deserted, with all the crews ashore, buttoned up tight against the continuing wintry weather.
Pony went ashore as well, sweeping through the town, then the fortified keep itself. No small force had come to Dancard, she realized, and once more she was reminded of the daunting task that lay before her and Prince Midalis. If the prince took his entire fleet and entire army south to Dancard, he would find himself in a brutal battle indeed - and this was a tiny fraction, no doubt, of the forces Aydrian had mustered. Yet even this small force might hold Prince Midalis at bay.
Pony began to feel the weariness of the gemstone use profoundly then. She hadn't used the stones much in the last years and had almost forgotten how taxing extended spirit-walking could be. She left Pireth Dancard in a rush, sweeping back to the north and her waiting body.
When she was back in her corporeal form, she wanted nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep. But she knew that her information should be passed along at once, and so she dragged herself out of her room and back to the conference room, where the others were still gathered, though now they were eating and drinking more than discussing any strategy.
All eyes turned upon the bedraggled woman when she entered.
"Are ye all right, girl?" Bradwarden asked.
Prince Midalis was the first to Pony's side, sliding his arm under her shoulder to support her.
"She is weary from gemstone use," Abbot Haney remarked.
"I am," the woman agreed. "In the last hours, I have paid a visit to Pireth Dancard. It is as we feared, with fifteen great warships moored or in dock, and a host of Honce-the-Bear warriors manning the tower."
Pony settled back on some cushions that Haney brought over.
"Young Aydrian moved quickly to seal off the gulf," Captain Al'u'met remarked. "Dancard is the most obvious resupply stop for any ship attempting to cross, and certainly a necessary respite for any large flotilla."
"He's making sure that ye come by land, if ye come," Bradwarden reasoned.
"Or he's allowing himself a secure resupply to support his fleet if he chooses to strike straight across the gulf at Pireth Vanguard," Prince Midalis added.
"A strong position, either way," said Captain Al'u'met.
"Then one we must take back," the prince replied.
"Dancard is a considerable fortress," Pony warned. "To say nothing of battling a dozen or more of Honce-the-Bear's finest warships."
"The ships are moored?" Al'u'met asked.
"Tied down for the winter," Pony replied. "And barely crewed."
"Because they know we cannot attack until the turn of the season,"
Midalis reasoned.
"Or maybe we can," Al'u'met said, and he looked at Pony as he spoke.
The woman returned his smile, understanding full well what the captain was considering, because in truth, she was already thinking the same thing.
"To sail a flotilla across the high seas in this season would be folly,"
Prince Midalis argued against the obvious sentiment. "A rising storm would wipe out all that I have to offer - and to send any less would weaken greatly any hope that we have of defeating a fortified Pireth Dancard."
"Even if you brought all of your forces," Pony interjected, "you would find Pireth Dancard no easy target. The warriors who came in under Aydrian's banner are well trained and battle-hardened, and have more than a few Allheart Knights among their ranks."
"And likely some gemstone-wielding brothers," Abbot Haney added.
"Then the choices would seem limited," said the prince. "We could march to Palmaris, or dig in here and battle any seaborne forces that King Aydrian sends across the gulf in the spring, or summer if he chooses to wait that long."
"Or we could go and steal the mobility from those forces he has placed in Pireth Dancard," Pony explained. "And strengthen our fleet in the process."
That had more than a few gazes turned the woman's way.
"I will take a group of sailors to Pireth Dancard posthaste," Captain Al'u'met picked up the reasoning. "With Jilseponie's guidance, we might steal some of Aydrian's warships, and perhaps scuttle those we cannot pilfer."
"A winter storm..." Midalis began.
"Then we will watch for winter storms," Al'u'met explained, and he looked back to Pony. "They come from the west and northwest, unerringly. If you can fly out to Dancard, then surely you can go out to the western edges of the gulf and beyond, and find us a stretch of fair weather."
"As far as I must," Pony agreed. She moved from her pillowed seat to kneel right before the seated Midalis. "This is our first chance," she explained. "The deep of winter has their guard down. We can go in, strike fast and hard, and be away at once. Even if we can capture only a few of the ships, and scuttle a few others, the attack might well broaden our options when the season turns."
"But how many can Al'u'met's Saudi Jacintha carry?" Midalis argued. "It will take fifteen men, at the least, to put one of Honce-the-Bear's great war-ships out onto the open seas. Even if we loaded Saudi ]acintha to sit to her rail in the water, Captain Al'u'met could not carry enough men to capture and sail more than three ships."
"Then we need to send more ships," Pony argued.
"Our fishing vessels could not possibly withstand the winter seas, even if no storm blew through," said the prince.
"But our longboats could," came a voice from across the room, the resonating baritone of Bruinhelde.
Pony, Midalis, and all the others turned to regard the giant Alpinadoran, all of them wearing expressions of complete surprise - all except for Andacanavar, that is, who sat next to his friend Bruinhelde, his great muscular arms crossed over his wolf-fur tunic.
"It seems a fine plan," Bruinhelde went on. "We have agreed that we must strike King Aydrian at his weakest points. This is one."
"Even if Jilseponie scouts all the way to the edges of the gulf, she will guarantee us only enough clear weather to get to Pireth Dancard, if that much," Prince Midalis warned the man. "Through the week and more of the return trip, we will be vulnerable to gales."
"The seas off Alpinador are always rough," Andacanavar replied, "the waters always deathly cold. Yet my people have gone down to the sea in boats for as long as the tales reach back. Accept Bruinhelde's offer as that of a friend, and let us strike a blow at King Aydrian."
Prince Midalis looked all around at the others, and Pony understood that he was searching for some support, some counsel. When his gaze settled last upon her, the woman offered a smile and a determined nod.
Prince Midalis looked over at Bruinhelde. "Lay plans for our transport with Captain Al'u'met," he bade the man. "I pray you fetch enough boats that we may strike hard at Pireth Dancard, perhaps to carry enough men to steal all of Aydrian's ships anchored there."
"Go out this very night," the prince instructed his friend, Liam. "Find our best and most fit sailors, particularly those who might have once served under the duke of the Mirianic and thus have experience in crewing the great warships."
Liam O'Blythe seemed a bit hesitant about all of this. He glanced at Pony one last time, then finally gave a resigned nod.
With that settled, Prince Midalis turned to Abbot Haney. "We will need gemstone-wielding monks to accompany our run," he explained.
"Our run?" the abbot echoed. "Surely you cannot go along, my Prince."
Midalis' responding expression showed his incredulity. "Do you believe that I would send anyone if I would not go myself?"
"You are the cornerstone of the resistance to King Aydrian," Abbot Haney argued. "The only credibility that we have to any resistance at all, outside of the Abellican Church. To risk your life - "
"It is all a risk, good Abbot," Pony interrupted, her words and firm expression cutting the argument short. She looked back at her friend Midalis, the man seeming so much a younger and more trim version of her late husband. "We will ride the bow of SaudiJacintha together, you and I," she said, her eyes glowing with intensity. "We will cripple and strand this force that has conquered Pireth Dancard, and we will let those warriors on the island know that it was Prince Midalis who came against them and soundly defeated them!"
The prince showed true gratitude in his determined nod of response.
The meeting broke up then, with all heading off to make their preparations. Pony spent a few moments whispering assurances to Prince Midalis, then caught up to Bradwarden and Andacanavar in the corridor outside.
"Words wonderfully placed, milady," the ranger said, and he took up Pony's hand and gave it a kiss. "As was your quick thinking in going right out to Pireth Dancard, as you did. It is no puzzle to me that this young Aydrian is as strong as he is, though a bit misguided."
"More than a bit," Bradwarden put in.
"From Jilseponie's womb, with Elbryan as sire... has there ever been one in all the world of better breeding?" Andacanavar went on.
"A trio of rangers, that family," Bradwarden agreed, but his words brought a scowl to Pony's face.
"Bah, but you are a ranger, woman, though 'twas never formally proclaimed," Andacanavar said against her frown. "And Lady Dasslerond was all the more a fool to treat you otherwise, and to deny you the knowledge and love of your son."
Pony accepted the compliment gracefully, placing her free hand over Andacanavar's as he still held her other. "We will repair the errors of Dasslerond," she assured the man.
"I know all that you have done already in your young life, good woman,"
Andacanavar replied. "I've not a doubt."
They sailed and rowed out on the heels of the storm, for Pony had used the gemstones and scouted far to the west and found nothing but clear weather. Al'u'met's Saudi Jacintha led the way, carrying many of the leaders, Pony, Bradwarden, and Midalis included. Behind came a line of Alpinadoran longboats, low in the water but with their high, decorated prows standing tall. Fifteen oars lined either side of each sleek vessel and a single mast was set in the center of each. They were not as swift as the Saudi Jacintha, except when the strong crews bent their backs over the oars. But they were seaworthy, incredibly so, and they bobbed along the constant wintry swells with ease.
On the second day out from Pireth Vanguard, Pony again fell into her soul stone and spirit-walked out to the west, roving far in search of brewing bad weather. Her report that no storms were in sight assured Al'u'met that they would make the fortress, at least, and begin their turn back to the north.
"We should make secondary plans," Prince Midalis said to Pony later that same day, Saudi ]acintha's sails full of wind, the sleek cutter speeding along. "If we arrive at the fortress and find that a storm will catch us before we can get back to Vanguard's sheltered docks, then we'll do better by taking the island and mooring there."
"You'll have a difficult fight on your hand," Pony replied.
"Better that we lose men to battle than to a storm," said Midalis. "If those who lose friends and family know that their loved ones died battling the scourge Aydrian, then they will hold more patience for the long war that we must endure."
The callousness of the words struck Pony hard, but only for a moment. She understood the truth of war and knew that her friend had to be thinking like a warrior. His words were unsympathetic because he had to be callous, to a degree, if they were going to have any chance of mounting a full-fledged war with Aydrian.
"You have no desire for any of this," she said. "Yet you surely have the belly for it."
Now it was Midalis' turn to look curiously at his friend. "The belly fork?"
"When Elbryan and I had to turn our fight from goblins and the monstrous minions of the demon dactyl to the human minions of Father Abbot Markwart, it nearly broke us," the woman admitted. "There is such a profound difference between battling a creature you know to be evil and one that you understand is without true choice. I have little heart to kill a man, and yet, I know that is precisely what I will likely find myself doing, if I am to ride beside you."
"But you do so, as do I," the prince remarked. "Because we both understand that the end result will be less tragic for the people than avoidance of the battle."
"That is my sustaining hope," Pony said quietly, and she stared out at the rolling dark waters of the wintry Mirianic. "In a strange way, I think Aydrian feels the same."
"By stealing the throne?"
"By claiming what he erroneously believes to be his birthright," the woman explained. "I expect that he sees the world under his control as a world he can influence positively."
"Would any tyrant view it otherwise?"
"No, of course not," the woman said, her voice even quieter. She reached into her pouch and brought forth a handful of various magical gemstones.
"How many will I kill when I loose the energies of these?" she asked.
Prince Midalis put his hand on her shoulder and gave a squeeze, then leaned in so that he was very close to her as he whispered his assurance.
"As few as possible."
Pony offered him a grateful return look, and the man backed away.
"We have caught a strong tail wind on the heels of the storm," he said.
"A couple more days and we will have our first victory."
They came within striking distance of Pireth Vanguard one dark night without incident, and without, as far as Pony could tell, any storms brewing anywhere to the west of them along the gulf. Once again, her spirit-walking proved invaluable, allowing the fleet to regroup just outside the viewing and hearing range of their enemies. While Midalis organized the strike forces, Pony again went to the moored dozen warships, her ghost moving through each of them in turn to make sure that none was heavily crewed.
"Now the question is, how do we get there without alerting those along the docks, and those ships moored closer in?" Midalis asked when the woman returned to her physical body and walked out on deck to join him, Captain Al'u'met, Bruinhelde, and Andacanavar. "And how shall we find all of the proper targets in the dark of night?"
"My boats go in under sail alone," Bruinhelde told them.
"And I will mark the way," Pony added. She fished out a piece of amber and held it up for the others to see. "With this, I can walk across the water, silently and swiftly. I will go from ship to ship and set a candle, unseen by the crew." She looked to Al'u'met, and the captain nodded and moved to a small hold to the side. He reached under the lid of the box, produced a small sack, and handed it to her.
Pony set it down and fished through it, retrieving a hollow half globe carved of wood. "The captain and I thought it might come to this," she explained. "And so he had one of his skilled woodcarvers make these." To demonstrate, she placed the candle into the globe and set it upon the deck. "The only ones who will see the light of the candle will be those at whom the hollow is aimed," she explained. "Those on the docks or in the other ships will remain oblivious."
"The girl thinks o' everything," Bradwarden said with a great snort. "Ah, but I've trained that one well, I have!"
"There is one ship grander than the others," Pony continued, turning to face Midalis directly. "And she is the most heavily crewed, with a score of men, at least, aboard her."
"Then that is my target," the prince replied.
A dozen Alpinadoran longboats set out soon after, gliding quietly toward the distant island, barely a dark blot on the horizon under the light of a quarter moon. Pony stood beside Midalis and Bradwarden, who held his great longbow in hand.
"I fear to let you run off alone in the darkness," Midalis admitted to her.
Pony turned an incredulous look over him.
"Yes, yes," the man said, waving his hands in the air to ward off her retort before she could scream at him.
But Pony merely chuckled. "Then come with me," she offered. "Let us run together to mark the outer ship, then you and I will take the flagship before this boat even arrives."
"You can do that?"
Pony smiled all the wider and offered him her hand. When he took it, she led him to the very edge of the boat as it glided along barely above the dark water. With a glance back and a wink at Bradwarden, the woman casually stepped off, pulling Midalis behind her.
It was an easy enough task for Pony to coordinate the two stones, hematite and amber, so that she could include Midalis within the power of the water-walking. Together the two ran ahead of the slow-moving fleet.
Soon enough, they were in sight of the dark warships' silhouettes, skeletal masts rising into the night sky. To the side loomed Pireth Dancard, darkened at this late hour, with only the hint of a glow coming from one window halfway up the main tower.
Pony led Midalis to the far left first, coming to the warship farthest out. They reached her and managed to scramble up over her side without incident. Pony motioned the proper direction to the prince, then reached into another belt pouch and pulled forth a candle and a shielding globe.
She set it down low on the rail, between two balustrades, blocking the light with the globe from all directions save one, the one facing out toward the approaching fleet.
Then the two went over the side and on to the next ship in line, repeating the process. They had five marked when they noted the approach of the silent fleet, and knew that they were running short on time.
"They will find the others without our assistance," Pony assured Midalis, and she took his hand and started off toward the vessel moored in the center of the second rank, the closest ship to the wharves.
They went aboard easily, and both knew at once that this ship wasn't nearly as deserted as the others. Pony didn't hesitate, though, but motioned for Midalis to follow as she headed straight for the large deck cabin set at the stern of the large three-master.
"Are you ready?" Pony asked.
The man just grinned, obviously thrilled by his companion's unexpected daring.
Pony walked through the door, guiding Midalis to the side of the outside jamb as she did.
The men inside, nearly a dozen, looked up from the coin-covered table that was set between them.
"What're... ?" one started to say.
"Greetings," said Pony.
Several of the men stood up; a couple went for their weapons.
"Earl DePaunch sent us a bit of funning, did he?" one sailor asked lewdly.
"Bah, this one's a bit old for that!" another added.
"Do none of you recognize me?" Pony replied, filling her voice with sad resignation. "And for all those years that I sailed beside you, on River Palace."
That widened a few eyes.
"Queen Jilseponie!" one man gasped, and now they seemed even more confused, and more went for their weapons, though those who already held theirs let them slip down toward the floor.
"So quick were you all to forget," Pony scolded. "Me, and your proper royal line!" As she finished, she pulled Prince Midalis from around the corner.
One man screamed, another fell over trying to leap up from his seat, and two lifted weapons, gave a unified battle cry, and leaped forward to attack.
But Pony was the quicker, lifting her hand and jolting the pair with a sudden blast of lightning that lifted them into the air and threw them to the back of the room.
Other men moved as if to ready an attack, but Pony waved her hand about.
"Shame on you all!" she scolded. "I bring you your rightful king!"
"Aydrian is king!" one sailor growled back.
"So says Aydrian," Prince Midalis calmly replied. "I intend to tell him differently, and you" - he paused and pointed all around at them - "all of you, would do well to consider the choices that lie before you. I understand that you have been misled, and will pardon you to a man. But only if you choose wisely!"
As he finished, they all heard a commotion on the deck behind.
"Bah, now ye're to get yers, phony prince!" one man cried, and the others growled and bristled, some shaking their weapons.
But then they all dropped back as the giant centaur came in the door between Pony and the prince, Bradwarden's huge bow drawn and readied with an arrow that seemed more a spear.
"I'm thinkin' that any smart ones among ye might be dropping yer weapons to the floor," he said. "One o' yerselfs that don't'll be getting pinned to the back wall, to be sure!"
Pony lifted her gemstone again to add her weight to the threat, and Midalis drew out his fine sword.
"Weigh anchor!" came a cry from the deck. "Four ships taken already, milord! And more to fall soon enough."
"You will pardon me if I borrow your ship, good soldiers of Honce-the- Bear," Prince Midalis said, offering a salute with his sword. "Any who wish to sail with me, may indeed. Any who prefer Pireth Dancard will be placed on a rowboat and shoved away!"
"I must be away," Pony said, and she slipped to the side and kissed Midalis on the cheek for luck. "Don't you be sailing too far from me!"
she added. "And keep your beacons bright against the darkness."
She ran out then, pausing to salute the men, Alpinadoran and Bearman alike working hard at pulling up the anchor. Pony went over the side without hesitation, engaging the amber's water-walking powers once more.
She rushed for the shore, where a bit of activity was beginning - likely the soldiers reacting to the noises out in the bay.
Pony came up on the wharf a moment later, stepping lightly onto the planks and dropping the amber's power, replacing it almost immediately with the blue-white sheen of the serpentine shield. Her glowing appearance at once drew attention, with confused defenders screaming and pointing.
From there she ran to the deck of the ship to the left of the wharf, the one appearing the most seaworthy. Several sailors opposed her, moving all about and drawing forth their short swords.
Pony lifted her hand, holding a ruby, and brought forth a pillar of flame about herself. "You know me as Queen Jilseponie!" she shouted at them, and the pillar flared outward briefly, warding them away. "You know my power with the magical gemstones. I warn you only once to be gone from this ship, and from the one across the wharf!" As she talked, she headed for the ladder leading belowdecks, and she quickly went down, leaving a trail of smoking footprints behind. She nodded gratefully when she heard the men scrambling above, their footfalls moving toward the wharf. She even heard one go splashing into the water.
Pony reached deep inside the ruby, gathering its power.
And then she let it loose, in a tremendous fireball that roared up through the cracks in the planking, blowing out many planks as it went, igniting all the ship.
Pony ran up the ladder before it was consumed, feeling just a little warmth from the conflagration. She held her serpentine defensive shield strong and ran across the wharf and onto the opposing ship.
An arrow whistled past her head! The woman didn't waver, but went right to the middle of the open deck.
She noted a sailor still aboard - there might have been several.
But she couldn't hesitate, not now. Not with the island coming awake and all the soldiers on their guard.
The second ship went up in flames. A man, engulfed in fire, leaped from the burning decking into the water.
Pony ran out, not onto the wharf, but the other way, calling forth the amber again and dropping the serpentine shield as soon as she was free of the second conflagration. She ran full out for the shore and the third and final ship, the one in dry dock, and she quickly put that one, too, to the ruby's consuming fires.
Then she ran down the beach and waded out into the cold water, moving near the second flaming ship to find the man who had leaped off in flames. She found him bobbing in the surf, near death. Gently she reached under his heaving chest and turned him to his back, then slowly dragged him around the bow of the ship, out of sight from the wharves and land.
Pony pulled forth her hematite; she knew that this was insanity, but simply couldn't bring herself to leave this poor unfortunate soul in so much agony. She held him close and fell into the soul stone, calling up its healing powers and sending them with all her strength into the dying man. She felt his spirit falling away from her, but charged down the dark path after it, reaching for him, calling to him.
The man's eyes opened, and he gasped and spat out some water.
"Know that Prince Midalis' mercy saved you this day," the woman said. "He is the rightful king of Honce-the-Bear and will come again in glory to defeat Aydrian. Tell your friends, in quiet confidence, that Prince Midalis dreads the blood he knows must be shed to restore him to his rightful throne."
She helped the man stand on his own then, and pointed him toward the shore, and only then did she realize that a pair of other soldiers were watching her, with drawn bows.
She looked at them, knowing that they had her dead to rights. She even started to lift her arms in a show of surrender.
But the two soldiers looked at their miraculously healed mate wading toward them, and lowered their bows. One of them went to the wounded man to help him ashore and the other offered Pony a nod.
The woman went out into the darkness, bringing forth the amber to lift herself from the numbingly cold water. She heard much commotion out there on the water, including the sounds of battle from more than one of the warships.
Behind her came the thrum of catapults, and the swish of flaming pitch balls soaring overhead, to fall hissing into the water.
Above all the tumult, the woman heard one voice clearly, that of Prince Midalis ordering all who had secured their ships to put out at once.
Accompanying that voice came the piping of Bradwarden, spurring the men on with a rousing tune.
Pony held her position in the dark, off to the side from the three burning ships, and watched. She winced as one of the ships putting out got hit squarely by a flaming missile, and a moment later, she keenly heard the screams echoing across the dark waves. Off to the side, another ship went up in flames, this time from something that happened on the deck itself, likely in the struggle for control of the vessel. Soon after, she heard calls for help and many splashes as men abandoned the burning ship, and heard Alpinadorans calling out directions to retrieve their swimming kin.
Another ship got hit from a shore battery, the flagship Midalis had pilfered, and at that terrible moment, Pony wondered if this expedition had been worth the effort and the cost! But all the moored ships save three were still moving away from shore, gliding out into the darkness toward a distant beacon - the signal fire burning atop the mainmast of Al'u'met's Saudi Jacintha, the assigned rally point. One ship held in the water, burning badly and sure to go under, and another, apparently controlled by her original Honce-the-Bear crew, was gliding in fast for shore.
Pony couldn't let that happen. She ran along the water to intercept, crossing dangerously close to a rowboat that carried several of the men from the ship she and Midalis had taken. If they noticed her, though, they said nothing, and the woman ran on, coming up in front of the warship. She fished her pouch for a malachite, then brought forth its powers of levitations, lifting her over the prow and forecastle. Even as she set down on the deck, soldiers came at her, but Pony drew out her sword and met the charge.
One man thrust straight in. An inner downward circle from Pony's blade brought it over then down beside the thrusting sword and she easily turned it out wide. Pony went right past the man as he stumbled, overbalancing from his unexpectedly clean miss. The warrior woman stopped short and parried the attack of a second man while she kicked out hard at the first, pushing him along farther toward the rail. He hit that rail and caught himself, then turned about.
But there was Pony, charging in, her sword stabbing, stabbing, left and right, forcing him to retreat where there could be no retreat.
He went over the side into the dark water.
Pony swung about, her sword coming across hard to ring against that of her second attacker. A sudden thrust had him in fast retreat, and a second forced him to turn and dive down and roll away. But then Pony had to do likewise as a spear flew past. She came back suddenly, hitting the swordsman with a series of sudden thrusts, some of which got through to stick the man hard.
Up came the blue-white glow. "Off this ship!" Pony cried to her enemies.
"Begone, says Queen Jilseponie! For I bring forth the fires of the ruby, and take this ship with flames as I burned those three at the shore!"
She thought her words effective, particularly when the man nearest her threw his sword to the deck and ran to the rail, diving overboard into the dark waters. But then she felt the stabbing pain suddenly as an arrow zipped across the deck to slam her hard in the side, so near to the scar left by her last grievous wound.
Pony lurched and felt her hold on the serpentine diminish suddenly. She tried to reengage it, but had no time to be sure of anything other than the power of the ruby.
She brought forth a fireball - not a large one, but an effective blast that had all the front of the ship burning.
From a distant place, Pony heard the screams and shouts of protest from the sailors still aboard. She stumbled along, feeling the intense heat, nearly collapsing from the pain, her mind straying.
She could smell her hair burning.
She had to hold her focus. She had to find the amber and be gone.
She knew all of that, of course, but it was hard, so hard, to know anything at all beyond the burning agony of the arrow wound and the conflagration closing in all about her... Then she was out on the water, walking somehow, stumbling about toward the distant ships. And then she felt the numbing cold again, and it took her several moments to realize that she had lost her concentration, that she was not atop the water anymore, but in the water.
And she was not moving out after Prince Midalis and her friends, but was being pushed back toward the rocky island.
It was all dark and all cold and she had no energy left to offer the gemstones. She felt no more pain in her side, though, and strangely so.
She just felt... somehow at great peace, as if she had moved beyond all sensation of pain.