Now the captain was a bit on the shorter side, a dwarf that still stood proud and tall like most of his kin would. "Welcome aboard me ship, lady and lad!" Was the first thing he said as they landed. In the culture of many dwarves respect wasn't earned simply by ones station, but also by the merits one own.
Therefore him calling Samuel a lad was directly aimed at his young age. The captain wore the official teal and brown attire of the sailors. Although looking a little more decorated than the regular sailor or marine.
He had blast red colored hair and beard that covered most of his face while he stood a good three heads shorter than Samuel. "We thank you for the welcome captain!" Tere responded with a light curtsy.
"Auch, no need for that missy. Now that I see you up closer you are a well serviced lady, probably longer than me!" The captain chuckled and turned to Samuel, "You can call me captain Red, because of my red hair! Get it!" The dwarf started laughing and his lieutenant cleared his throat.
"Aye ya fuckin humie, have ye no sense of humor?" The captain threw out towards his lieutenant that seemed to be a middle aged human that held himself with a bit more by the book.
"Apologies for my captain, he is a bit of a jester!" The lieutenant spoke while ignoring the angry and mean looks the captain was giving him. "You are most welcome master mage, aboard the Justyn! One of the faster ships of the fleet!" The lieutenant continued, while the captain sized Samuel up and down.
"So what are ye supposed to be ey?" Captain Red asked him and Samuel took a step back and winked. "Hopefully your ticket to go back home alive!" His reply made Tere'he cover her mouth so no one would see or hear the silent chuckle.
"Oh! We have a funny one here! Eh Clagg?" Captain Red exclaimed and whacked the pants of his lieutenant with the back of his hand. Lieutenant Clagg sighed silently, letting everyone but the captain see it.
"I hope that is true!" Clagg spoke to Samuel, "But I don't think there will be much problem, pirate forts can be quite annoying to deal with, normally they would only send half this force to deal with it. But recent events have made them extra cautious!"
"Better to fully crush a threat than risk losing more lives!" Clagg said while another ship sailed past, Samuel could see someone wave at him and realized it was Erica who was at the bow of the ship. "Good luck!" She shouted as the ship passed by. Samuel raised his hand and tapped his forehead.
"Ah! One of our sister ships, not many of these types of fast interceptors were made back in the day. But now they have started being more popular!" Captain Red threw out the information and Samuel wholeheartedly took it in.
Any knowledge could be used for unforseen moments. Knowledge was and is power, always. A few bells were heard being rung accross the bay and all the ships started mobilizing. "Well, seeing as how there is not much for ye to do, then enjoy the trip and try and stay out of the way of our sailors!" Captain Red said to Tere.
Both Samuel and Tere nodded and she took a position at the stern of the ship while Samuel made his way to the bow. As the ships were making their way out of the bay they ended up almost side by side with the ship that Erica and Sarmah were on.
Samuel just enjoyed the breeze and the waves being split apart by the ship. It was a clear day with a bit of wind, a perfect day for sailing. He couldn't help but notice that Erica was suddenly puking off the side of the ship accross the waves.
Samuel couldn't help but laugh a little, he realized it would probably be the same for him if it wasn't for the high intensity flying magic he used, because that magic really rocked ones head around.
As they got further outside of the bay the fleet started splitting into three, with the airships flying overhead and heading with the flagship and the decoy units. Three ships that looked to be the heaviest armed sailed on their own.
The flanking attack force, while about twenty or so ships sailed with The Justyn, there were plenty of soldiers on the boats along with the sailors. They of course held their positions in the middle of the ships.
Samuel saw a few other mages aboard the other ships from his position on the bow, he turned to look at the soldiers on his own ship, they seemed nervous but there was still a sense of calm about them at the same time. Probably the different vibes were from younger soldiers and then veterans.
"Enjoying the view of my men?" An elven woman stepped up, her uniform indicated that she was a captain. Samuel nodded, "This your battalion then?" Samuel assumed and she nodded.
There was something familliar about the woman, he looked at Tere'he first and then back to the woman. She seemed to follow his eyes and laughed, "Yes, Lady Tere'he is my cousin, I am Dere'haj! Captain of the 302nd Varangil Batallion!" She gave him a light salute.
Samuel returned the salute in proper form, "Mage Samuel! Happy to be here with you!" He had often heard of the Varangil soldiers, they were some of the heavy infantrymen of the republic. Only outshined by the Praetorians - which were the strongest elite soldiers of the Republic. Not only were they trained to be elite warriors but also good mages.
It wasn't uncommon for those studying Martial Magic or Martial school with advanced magic to have an endgoal to join the ranks of the Praetorians. It was an honor to join the best of the best after all.
"So do you reckon this will be as easy as I have heard it should be?" Samuel asked and Dere'haj turned around with a smile. "I certainly hope so, but when you join the military career you learn to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. If you are a proper soldier of course." She smirked at him.
Samuel smiled back and without saying anything kept up the act of being a regular mage in training. "Well, I hope you will protect me from the ones at the front then and I will hopefully take out the ones in the back while hiding safely behind you and your men!" Samuel said with a chuckle.
Dere's smile slowly turned into a frown, "Yeah yeah, you will be up and front with us casting spells, but we will do our best to protect your front!" The now annoyed captain said and took her leave.
Samuel couldn't help but smile, he would never sit at the back and do nothing as long as he had the strength to do something. He kept himself moving from time to time so he wouldn't feel like a plank when they arrived.
The rest of the journey went by quite quickly, depending on how quick one would feel a five hour boat ride took. Midday had passed but the sun was still quite high in the sky as the first island coves started popping up on the horizon.
The lookouts were the first to have screamed out, and within seconds the sailors marines and soldiers had all started mobilizing and getting ready with gear and weapons and supplies. The twenty ships took a headfirst approach.
Ten ships in the first line and then another ten behind, Samuel looked to his side to find Erica looking at him and giving him a thumbs up, he smiled as he stood up slightly on the bow. Preparing himself for the worst as the ships were slowly approaching the coves.
After a few silent minutes of nothing happening, they had started delving into the many small islands and found the big one. Where they could see a massive pirate fortress made mostly out of wood atop a giant hill.
There were wooden planks and buildings all over as the ships started nearing the shore. Thats when Samuel heard it clear as day with his excellent hearing. At least ten, twenty, no thirty loud booms and the same amount of small flashes from the fort.
A whistling sound could be heard through the air, "THEY HAVE CANNONS!" A lookout screamed out loudly and several warning bells rang, just as the first wave of explosions landed. "Explosive cannonballs?" Samuel stuttered as his eyes looked over to Erica.
She had raised her hands to raise the emerald green barrier, her most powerful defensive spell, but it was too late. Several shots hit at least half of all the first wave of ships, screams of pain and death could be heard all around.
Erica's eyes met with Samuels, he could tell she was trying to mouth something to him with a loud scream as she was engulfed by an explosion and the entire ship she was on, exploded in one large flame.
Several shots had grazed his ship or gone through the sails. A few moments of silence as all Samuel could hear was the heavy thud of his heart as everything slowed down and he turned around. Out of the twent ships, only twelve remained afloat. Three had been completely destroyed and the other five were going under with several lifeboats being thrown to the sides.
Captain Red shouted for his ship to release the lifeboats before they stranded the ship on the shore, there wasn't enough space to stop and retreat, if they tried that now they would all be shot to smithereens.
It seemed like all the captains had the same ideas as they released their lifeboats and proceeded to strand their ships on the shoreline. All the soldiers remaining started jumping off and Samuel in a daze jumped off the ship as well. All the ships were almost completely emptied of soldiers who started running into formatins along the shore with their commanding officers.
Samuel looked up and saw several arrows and bolts suddenly flying through the sky. Even though slightly dazed he tried to cast a wind wall. He wasn't the only mage that tried and failed - the realization hit him.
Erica hadn't been to late, she was unable to cast and she had tried to warn him. Samuel could hear someone screaming at him, eventually grabbing his arm which snapped him back to reality. "HEY, start shooting back, don't just stand there, you will die!" It was Dere'haj shaking him violently.
"They have an anti magic field set up..." He whispered and she yelled; "WHAT?" At him which made him repeat himself louder, "They have an anti magic field set up, they either have spellcasters of their own or a really powerful artifact." He almost yelled the last part out and Dere's face went pale as she looked at several other mages that looked confused and didn't know what to do.
She let go of Samuel and returned to her men, she wouldn't just well sit by and let anyone else die for nothing and neither would Samuel.
"If you ever find yourself cut off from magic by means of other mages or ancient magic in place, then know that your precedant magic as a child of mana can break through, or overlap it." Alsian's words hit Samuels head as a well times reminder.
"But, that doesn't mean that we will be able to cast spells out, but it does allow us to use our inherent abilities and infusion magic. Start from there!" Alsian had said while blocking Samuel's usage of magic.
Samuel quickly sorted his brain out, this was about survival and saving lives. He first checked his slow vision, which was working fine, his shadow pocket was also fine, but Night was cut off, her voice only sounded like gargle and he could see that she tried to move out of the shadow but couldn't.
Samuel used his mindscape to gather his thoughts, where time flowed ever slower, her started breathing inside his mind before letting out the same effect on his body. He felt magic flow, he couldn't shape it outside, but with a deep breath he infused himself with all the elements.
Speed, strength, defense all increased with the infusion magic as he quickly rushed forward to aid the soldiers that had raised their shields to block incoming arrows and bolts.
Dere'haj saw in front of her suddenly a large wave of pirates came rushing down the hills accross the sand towards all the soldiers. "Get ready!" She shouted to her soldiers, and saw Samuel run up next to her. "Get out of here boy, save yourself if anything, you are no use to us without your magic!"
Samuel ignored her words and dragged out his two blades and with a deep breath bolted forward as the waves of pirates approached, they were certainly surprised to see someone bolting forward so fast to meet them and even more surprised when Samuel's first swing with a blade, decapitated five men.
It also cut right through their weapons they had raised to block. Samuel didn't allow that to stop him as he twirled his swords in his hands and kept slashing forwards. Samuel disappeared in the wave of pirates that rushed forwards as battle started unfolding.
The soldiers of Rejuan holding their ground and using their training slowly started to gain an upper hand. The pirates didn't seem to anticipate such a counter after what they had done to their ships. The battle really turned with the high tide as many of the lifeboats reached the shorelines, and many of the marines and soldiers that were picked up started rejoining their fellow men.
The pirates started retreating as a horn was sounded, they all started running back towards the fort, the ones alive at least. The ground was littered with bodies, mostly pirates but plenty of soldiers as well.
The commanding officers quickly started getting their soldiers into gear and ordering them about. They needed to be prepared in case the pirates came back, and they also had to advance to cover. The arrows and bolts had stopped raining and no more cannon shots were heard.
Either the pirates couldn't shoot with their cannons at the shore, or they had no more ammunition. Either way they had inflicted major casualties. There was only one figure left standing close to the hill, and all the soldiers of Rejuan stopped to look.
Samuel was on the verge of throwing up, he had used all his rage and anger and taken it out on the pirates. There were piles of bodies around him and he was completely painted in red as he slowly sheated his swords.
He walked back towards the shoreline with his blood stained clothes. "Erica? Erica?" He heard Tere'he screaming among the soldiers, looking for her. Suddenly a loud boom was heard from the fort as the airships moved in over the skies and several attacks came from above.