already appeared too spread out and was confined to the deck for the most part. Generally, lightning caught the sails, rigging, or masts.
Thunder rumbled. Briln, caught up in the distant spectacle, all but ignored it . . . until it ended not by fading but rather by being accented by a ferocious and much-too-near roar.
He spun around and ran to the opposing rail. There, crashing through another humongous wave, the second ship in the fleet rocked wildly about in a manner that was contrary to the currents and wind. Something was shaking the ship from within its very hold.
The captain took up a spyglass that he always carried on him when aboard. Holding the copper tube, he focused it on the sister vessel, where oil lamps secured to the masts and other strategic areas gave enough illumination to reveal what was happening.
The captain of the second ship, a gruff mariner personally promoted by Briln, had his crew arming themselves with sea lances. Near the aft, three other orcs were lighting torches using oiled rags. Hardy warriors, they nonetheless looked very, very anxious.
Briln swore. He waved the spyglass in an attempt to get the attention of one of those aboard the other ship. No one noticed. The fire spreading over the more distant ship now made more sense. That crew had been trying to do the same as these mariners and had somehow lost control of the situation.
Thinking of the previous vessel, Briln turned the spyglass toward it.
To his shock, it was no longer in sight. Such a blaze should have still been evident . . . unless the ship had already sunk.
Cursing, Briln looked to his first mate. “A signal lamp! Hurry!”
But as he gave the order, the flagship shook as if it had struck a hard reef. Briln fell to the side. The first mate dropped to his knees. Another mariner dropped over the rail and into the voracious sea.
Another thump rattled the deck. Briln struggled to rise. “The storm’s woken all of them up! Forget the lamp! Have the sleep powder readied, and spread it both on some food and the points of four spears! I want that thing below quieted or we’ll be in as bad a shape as those other vessels!”
As the first mate and the others followed his orders, Briln returned his attention to the sister ship. Matters there were only worse. Why haven’t they quieted the beast? he wondered.
A quick scan of the deck revealed the answer. Blackened wreckage marked the area where the barrel with the herb powder used to keep the beasts sedated had been kept secure. Rain by itself could not have touched the tarp-covered container tucked under the overhang of the door to the captain’s cabin, but lightning could have—and had. The entire area had been blasted, and with it the only certain way to keep their savage cargo docile.
The flagship’s own thumping slowed. A desperate notion occurred to Briln. He raced over to the hold entrance just as the first mate emerged. The other orc looked exhausted but triumphant.
“He was just wakin’! We caught him in time—”
The captain cut him off. “Who’s the best shot?”
The first mate grinned. “That’d be me, Captain! You know that!”
“We’ve got a good amount of the powder left! Can you shoot a couple of sacks over to her?” Briln gestured at the other ship. “They’ve lost all their supply!”
“Aye!”
Another roar echoed from the direction of the other ship. Briln brought up the spyglass.
The orcs with the torches were racing toward the hold. There, several mariners with lances prepared to descend.
The deck behind them erupted.
A gasp escaped Briln. He had seen no lightning. What could have—?
As the shattered planks settled, the answer revealed itself. The silhouette of a huge hand briefly rose above the ruined deck, then sank back down. As that happened, the ship rocked back and forth even more violently.
Some of the crew hurried to the hole. As that happened, Briln’s second returned.
“Two pouches!” the other orc shouted over the storm. “Where?”
“Somewhere on the deck where they’ll see them! Just hurry!”
“Aye!” The first mate bound one tiny sack to an arrow, then readied the latter for firing. Even in such a storm, a skilled orc archer could be certain of hitting his target more often than not.
But before Briln’s second could let loose, the other ship rocked even more wildly. Several of the crew, focused on the hole in the deck, suddenly went stumbling toward the rails. Two fell over, and one only