The True Endgame

"If ya want to sink," Tabitha answers.

Fenrir grips the side of the ship as he tries thinking of a strategy. Pull along its side and shoot it with cannons? Regular cannon b.a.l.l.s won"t do anything lasting to that ship, and it won"t save Morven and his crew.

Use carca.s.s shots? That might work, but only if the longship"s crew isn"t able to summon another one of those sprites. Even then, the fire and chemicals have a chance of spreading to The Yellow Minnow and wouldn"t stop those who"ve already boarded it.

Ramming the longship is out of the question as it will simply break The s...o...b..ll, and once more, any damage done to the longship will most likely be repaired almost instantly.

Fenrir spots a few of The Yellow Minnow"s crew jumping overboard to escape their fates, but he only counts three of them.

"Fen, I don"t think there"s anything we can do," Ca.s.siel says, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"There has to be something," Fenrir replies.

"Captain, it would be best for us to just gather those whom have jumped overboard," Corwin suggests.

"Anybody left already dead," Bonekraka says, having come up from below deck after hearing all of the commotion.

"There might still be some left onboard," Fenrir says.

"You know that not true."

Fenrir clenches his fists.

The hull of The s...o...b..ll begins creaking.

"Oi, deer boy, slow down!" Tabitha shouts back at Oleander.

"Don"t!" Fenrir orders. "The s...o...b..ll won"t break. She"ll make it."

Looking around, Fenrir sees one thing that might be able to help out in this situation.

"What"re you doin"?! It"s not time for that yet!" Tabitha shouts as Fenrir cuts the ropes holding the tarp down over her construction at the ship"s bow.

The tarp flies into the mast once its final binding is severed, revealing the secretive construction meant to capture the infant serpent in the final round.

It looks like a large ballista mounted on a swivel with a seat to sit at the back of it, and in front of the seat is the small telescope that Tabitha requested in her list back when they were first gathering parts for this. She built a scoped ballista with a three-sixty field of view. Rather than shoot ballista bolts, there is a single shot connected to chain spooled around a reel attached to the side of the contraption, and the shot has that oversized fishing hook that Fenrir bought attached to the tip of it.

"Now I know what happened to the anchor"s chain," Fenrir says.

"I don"t see how this is gonna help with whatever you"re plannin"," Tabitha replies.

"Serra, you"ve got the most experience with shooting the cannons, so you"re up."

Serra responds with a confident smirk and hops up onto the chair at the back of the ballista.

"Tabs, load the carca.s.s shots into the starboard cannons after the second volley. Bone, Corwin, and Ca.s.s, man the cannons and get ready to fire when I say. Wait three seconds before igniting each fuse from the front to the back. You need to reload the cannons as fast as possible after you shoot. Olly! Bring in the sails and cut the engine when I give the order! Serra, aim for their mast – right into the middle of their sails, and fire when I say."

A lever on the side of Serra"s seat allows her to spin the ballista around to a.s.sist with aiming as The s...o...b..ll soars across the water toward the longship.

Everybody else jumps to attention and does exactly as Fenrir has ordered.

"Bone is right. Anybody left on The Yellow Minnow is already dead, so we"re going to do what damage we can to the longship and scoop up those who jumped into the water. We"re not going to win by recklessly charging in there and trying to fight in melee. So, let"s see how those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds like getting shot by cannons and lit on fire. Everybody ready?"

The crew of The s...o...b..ll all shout "Aye!" at once.

…

"Oh? Looks like that wolf is planning on playing hero to those yellows," Ull says, handing the spygla.s.s over to Blackstache.

"Must not realize going against yers is a death trap. Not a d.a.m.n clue what he"s thinkin" tryin" ta go against "em," Blackstache replies. "Tha crew already be dead anyways."

"You sound disappointed. I take it that you"re upset about my champions killing your yellows?"

"It wasn"t an official rule."

"I see. Well, if it makes you feel any better, look in the water on the other side of the yellows" ship."

Blackstache adjusts the spygla.s.s and sees three of The Yellow Minnow"s crew struggling to stay afloat in the water.

"Looks like we"ll see whether the wolf foolishly fights against those stronger than him, or if he tries saving the lives of those struggling. As it is, it looks like it will be the former," Ull says. "He"s turning out to be quite the entertaining man. I do wonder…"

…

"Three, two, one… shoot!" Fenrir orders Serra.

Leaning over the ballista and staring through the scope, Serra expertly lines the ballista up to the longship"s mast and fires!

The hooked shot flies through the air at incredible speed and tears right through the longship"s sails. Pulling back the lever on the right side of the seat begins reeling it in while it"s still mid-air, causing the shot to jerk to a stop as it gets yanked back right toward the sail it just tore through.

While this plan wouldn"t work against a normal ship"s sails, the longship"s regenerative ability combined with the fact that the mast is a tree trunk with the sails being leaves and branches makes it work.

The shot gets hooked into the mast and some of the branches supporting the "sails."

"Perfect shot! Alright, stop reeling it in. We"re already hooked. Now, cannons, get ready!" Fenrir orders the three manning the cannons.

The longship may not have any visible weapons, but it does have warriors with advanced skills. One such warrior throws a spear at The s...o...b..ll, and he really throws it.

It flies past Fenrir"s head with just as much speed as the ballista"s shot had.

He"s intimidated. He"s intimidated by the brutality of his enemy, and he is intimidated by just how much stronger than he is they are.

But this isn"t the time to be intimidated.

"Fire!" Fenrir shouts.

Bonekraka lights his cannon. A few seconds later and Corwin lights his, and then Ca.s.siel follows suit.

The s...o...b..ll has the longship crossed.

The three cannons fire in order with only several seconds between each shot and each of their shots tear right through the ship thanks to Fenrir"s timing.

Several of the warriors already got back onboard their longship, and without much s.p.a.ce to move, the three cannonb.a.l.l.s tear straight through the ship from the stern to the bow and take out anybody in-between.

"Reload!" Fenrir orders.

A spear from the longship pierces through the starboard side of The s...o...b..ll, splintering the wood between two of the cannons. "Hurry!" Fenrir shouts when he sees Corwin and Ca.s.siel hesitating.

"Olly, hard right! Everybody, brace!"

Following Fenrir"s orders, Oleander turns the ship"s wheel to bring The s...o...b..ll into a hard enough turn that Rock has to curl herself around the mast and dig her claws into it to not get flung off during the turn!

"Get ready to fire all at once!" Fenrir commands. The starboard"s cannons are reloaded and ready to fire already. "Now!"

With The s...o...b..ll now parallel to the longship"s port side, the cannons erupt once more and send three more shots tearing straight through its hull! They don"t do as much damage this time since they penetrate straight through the sides of the longship rather than tear throughout its entire length, but Fenrir catches sight of one of its warriors getting a cannonball to the chest.

"Tabs!"

"On it!" Tabitha shouts, loading the carca.s.s shots into the back two cannons.

"Bone, reload your cannon. The other two will get the carca.s.s shots. Corwin and Ca.s.s, get the port side cannons ready. Serra, stay put," Fenrir gives out the next orders. As for himself, he grabs that tarp which has been snagged on the mast and ties a long length of rope to it.

"Cannons ready!" Tabitha announces.

"Alright, I"m going to need your help tossing this out there after the turn," Fenrir says.

"Are we going to drift this?" Oleander shouts from the ship"s wheel.

"Yeah!" Fenrir shouts back.

"Drift? Ya don"t plan on tryin" to drift this baby after the stress you"ve already put her under, do ya?" Tabitha asks.

Fenrir looks down at Tabitha with a smile. "We"re driftin" her."

"Drifting?" Corwin asks. "Does drifting not mean going slowly and letting the current guide the ship? What is wrong with that?"

"You haven"t played enough street racing games, Corwin," Fenrir answers before looking back at Tabitha.

She has her head lowered and her hands balled into fists. Her entire body is visibly shaking as if seething with rage, but instead of being angry, she looks up Fenrir with the widest smile he"s seen from her yet. Her eyes are lit with the flames of stubborn determination.

"Ya hear that, girl?" Tabitha smacks the side of The s...o...b..ll. "It"s our time to go."