Chapter 577: Jormun’s Maneuvers

It was a beautiful day when Sigebert’s fleet finally came within five miles of the fourth island. The sun was shining, the seas were calm, and a light, pleasant sea breeze kept everything cool and comfortable.

For Leon, however, it was a good day for a whole other reason: the fleet was about to finally close with Jormun’s ship. He stood at the bow of Sigebert’s flagship, where he could see just about everything happening around him. Just behind him were Maia, Gaius, Alix, Alcander, Marcus, and Anzu, all fully armored and ready for battle.

About a dozen miles or so in the distance, Leon could see Jormun’s ship, as well as the pirate himself, standing on the deck at the rear of the ship, staring back at him with a satisfying look of muted anger and frustration on his face that was completely at odds with how he usually comported himself.

For the past couple of days, Sigebert’s fleet had made haste toward the fourth island, following Leon’s directions toward Jormun’s ship. However, as with the other islands, the fourth island had an extremely rocky and broken coastline, so the fleet had to slow down in the past couple of hours to ensure that their hundreds of ships didn’t run aground or get caught in a trap planted among the rocky outcroppings that jutted out of the ocean even as far out as they were. The memory of the two Flame Lances appearing at the first island was still fresh in everyone’s mind, and they were taking as many precautions to protect themselves from a similar ambush as they could.

Strangely enough, even with these precautions and slower approach then they might’ve otherwise made, they were still gaining on Jormun’s ship. Leon, for all his elation at catching up with the pirate and having the opportunity to finish this and put a stop to Jormun’s plans, couldn’t help but feel some measure of disquiet at this. Jormun’s ship was sleek and fast, and the man himself was a seventh-tier water mage; for as powerful as the Bull Kingdom’s fleets were, they were only as fast as their slowest ship, those being Sigebert’s dreadnoughts, and they weren’t that fast. When Leon had hit Jormun’ ship with his tracking arrow, he’d envisioned pursuing the pirate to wherever he’d docked his ship and made camp on the fourth island, not catching up to him at sea.

This would make things both much simpler and yet, much more dangerous. To face a powerful water mage at sea was not a smart move under normal circumstances, but Leon and Sigebert had made plans for this eventuality ever since they first caught sight of Jormun’s ship the previous day, and at least this way, they’d be able to bring all the force of the fleet to bear. Leon had confidence that the power at their command combined with this plan would be enough to achieve victory, but he wasn’t going to bet too highly on it. Jormun had proven himself tricky and devious, and Leon wouldn’t be surprised if the pirate revealed that he still had cards up his sleeve.

The pirate had destroyed at least one fleet sent to the Isles before, and without knowing how, they had to proceed with the assumption that Jormun still had moves left to play—in fact, it was guaranteed that Jormun still had more power of a kind, for Leon and Sigebert knew that he had to have a fleet somewhere. It couldn’t be as large as a proper Bull fleet, but apart from a few tiny Islander fishing vessels in the distance, they could only Jormun’s one ship.

Jormun’s ship continued to sail away from them, just slow enough for even their heavier dreadnoughts to slowly gain on it, and that brought a light frown to Leon’s face. The pirate ship was sailing toward a narrow strait along the coast, with the island itself on the left and a long series of rocky cliffs on the right. With his magic senses, Leon could see that there wasn’t anything on or around those cliffs, but he didn’t take it as gospel.

He glanced back over his shoulder, and he could see that Sigebert was already altering their battle line. Instead of the wide and flat delta shape that the fleet had been sailing in, Sigebert had given orders for many of the lighter ships to close in and sail ahead of the dreadnoughts, giving them and the marine transports more cover, while the right wing—about fifteen war galleys and several dozen smaller ramming and boarding ships—split off from the main battle group to sail around the outside of the cliffs at a good distance. This group would be able to sail faster without the dreadnoughts, and at the pace that Jormun had set, they’d be able to block him in on both sides of the strait if they moved fast enough.

Jormun could see this—Leon watched as his head turned slightly in the direction of the Bull fleet’s right wing as it peeled off—and yet, he did nothing. He just stood at the rear of his ship, staring back at Leon as his ship languidly pushed forward into the strait.

He’d be well in by the time Bull Fleet got into range with the Flame Lances. The Lances were Leon and Sigebert’s primary strategy: bombard the pirate from afar with artillery. Jormun had those strange Flame Lances on his ship that spewed fire, along with potentially two more Legion Flame Lances that weren’t accounted for from the previous fleet sent here, so they didn’t want to get close. They had an advantage at range, and they were going to use it.

The tension in the air grew as they slowly closed with Jormun’s ship. The protective screen of lighter ships pushed up into formation ahead of the dreadnoughts, and Leon’s gaze never wavered from Jormun. His magic senses remained projected, however, and he kept an eye out for any signs of ambush, whether from above or below—the Legion had several water mages scouting out below their ships on strange-looking crane apparatuses, keeping an eye out for krakens or any other threats from below the waves.

Jormun’s ship entered the strait and didn’t slow down. At the back, Jormun’s rather pissed off expression didn’t so much as twitch.

Leon’s unease grew, and it seemed to be shared, for not long after, as the fleet closed in on the mouth of the strait, a great horn blast resounded across the waves, and the ships all came to as shuddering a stop as they were capable of. They’d closed into about three miles of Jormun—not far, relatively speaking, but not nearly close enough for the Flame Lances to be effective.

“They’re waiting for the right wing to seal off the other side…” Gaius said as he glanced back at the command tower of the flagship and translated the flag signals. “Looks like there’s a school of krakens not too far away, too, and we need to keep an eye on them…”

Leon didn’t respond, but he did note a sizable force of about five war galleys and fifteen other smaller ships break away from the fleet and start sailing off to the left, roughly southeast and back out to sea. Most of these ships were armed with huge ballistae designed for combatting just such large ocean creatures—heavily enchanted, these ballistae were capable of putting a massive, ten-foot-long harpoon through a kraken’s tentacle even if it were submerged more than a hundred feet underwater.

But even then, krakens were fierce beasts, and the Legion possessing such weapons did not guarantee their victory.

Leon turned his attention back toward Jormun’s ship. The sleek vessel was still cutting through the waves at a steady clip, neither slowing nor speeding up despite the Legion fleet’s actions. Leon felt suspicious that there was some trap hidden within the strait, but he couldn’t be sure what. He certainly couldn’t see anything, and the Legion underwater scouts hadn’t reported anything back aside from the krakens, either—the cliffs on the right were clear, and the jagged, rocky shore on the left was just as bereft of threats.

It was with gritted teeth that Leon was forced to watch Jormun’s ship gain more and more distance. At that rate, the Legion right wing might not even make it.

Another series of horn blasts sounded from the command tower, and the lighter ships in front began to sail into the strait. Leon sighed, but he supposed that there was no other option. Caution was one thing, but letting fear paralyze them was another. The dreadnought and its escorts began sailing into the strait not long after, just as soon as enough room had been made. However, Leon noted again that Sigebert had given much of the rest of the fleet other orders—nearly the entire left wing and much of the center was circling around to the right, sailing after the right wing. Leon understood this move, for having that many ships in the strait was just inviting disaster.

Still, there were at least thirty war galleys, both dreadnoughts, and dozens of light ships sailing into the strait after Jormun.

As Leon turned his attention back to Jormun, he thought he saw a smile playing upon the man’s lips, and he felt his stomach plummet into his feet. A moment later, Jormun’s ship suddenly accelerated, and Jormun himself raised his hand, and a great wave rose just behind his ship, accelerating it even faster.

A series of short, but deafening horn blasts sounded, and the lighter ships picked up the pace, pursuing Jormun as quickly as they could, but the pirate’s sudden burst of speed put them all behind him. He sailed out of the other end of the strait before the right wing was able to close in and block the other end.

“Shit…” Leon muttered.

From there, the fleet initiated a mad scramble to get through the strait and link back up with each other. The main force pushed through and fanned out to the right, while the wings fell back into place. Throughout this entire painfullylengthy process, Leon kept his eyes forward, locked on Jormun’s ship, just as Jormun kept his eyes turned back, locked on Leon. After pushing through the strait, the pirate’s ship slowed back down, as if mocking them by moving slower.

It took nearly half an hour for so many ships to get back into formation, and by then, the detachment that had gone after the krakens had largely been left behind. They’d be able to link back up later, but Leon couldn’t help but frown knowing that without even getting within firing range of the Flame Lances, Jormun had already reduced the number of ships pursuing him—assuming he was responsible for the krakens, and Leon did make that assumption.

As much as he found himself hating the man, Leon couldn’t help but feel some small measure of respect for him bloom.

Sigebert’s fleet fell back into place about five miles behind Jormun’s ship as it slowly made its way around the coast, now lesser by almost two dozen ships. However, it was still a mighty battlegroup, and it sailed ahead, undaunted. Leon could feel magic ripple through the Heartwood beneath his feet as the magic engines that kept the leviathan he stood upon moving go into overdrive. The dreadnought was burning through vast amounts of magic power to tease out just a little more speed in an attempt to catch up to Jormun, but the pirate ship kept just out of effective range, deliberately teasing them as they chased him around the island.

The Legion didn’t have much choice but to pursue as fast as was possible, however Sigebert did have a number of small, fast ships break off for a flanking maneuver around the right flank again. Leon could see what he was angling for: hoping these smaller ships, even if they lacked much in the way of ranged power, might be enough to box in Jormun, assuming they were fast enough to sail around and get in front of the pirate.

Not too far ahead, only about twenty miles or so, just at the edge of Leon’s range of perception with his magic senses, was what looked like the site of some massive past cataclysm. The coastline, already broken and rocky just by virtue of the island’s natural landscape, appeared to have been utterly shattered into steep cliffs and deep ravines, creating a series of narrow straits that Jormun just so happened to be sailing toward. These narrows weren’t too extensive, but they were more than enough to give the pirate cover from the Flame Lances and bring the Legion ships in close, into range of his strange Flame Lances, and who knew what else within those narrow channels.

‘He knew we were coming,’ Leon thought to himself. Maybe he hadn’t as much time to prepare as he did on the other islands, but he couldn’t have missed this fleet leaving the third island. Jormun had days to choose his battlefield, and he chose well.

The pirate’s ship suddenly increased in speed once more, and it soon became clear that the detachment of smaller ships wasn’t going to be able to cut him off in time to prevent him from entering the narrows. A series of horn blasts redirected them, and sent many other Legion ships scattering as they formed into new groups and spread out.

“Looks like we’re going to split up into half a dozen groups,” Gaius translated as the horn blasts and flag signals continued. “We’re going to be locking down every side of this rock formation and prevent Jormun from leaving.”

“Anything else?” Leon asked with some bitterness.

“Not yet,” Gaius replied. “Looks like the Fleet Legate is ordering everyone to stand by once they get into position. Might be that he wants to use one group to clear the place while the rest of the battlegroup locks it down and prevents the pirate from escaping.”

Leon scowled. It was a good plan, about as good as possible under these circumstances. Having hundreds of ships entering a series of broken and shattered waterways like these was just asking for a ton of accidents that would only slow them down. However, that still didn’t sit well with him. He and Maia were the only two in the fleet with the range of magic senses great enough to keep an eye on the pirate, so nearly all of the ships were going to be searching blind.

“Naiad, stay here,” Leon ordered. “Alix, get on Anzu. Gaius, Marcus, Alcander, you three will stay here as well. If you need to get in contact with me, say it to Naiad, she’ll be able to send me the message.”

As he spoke, in a flash of light, Leon donned his flight suit. Alix didn’t hesitate to hop on Anzu, too, and the griffin perked up a bit. Even with everything going on, Leon was proud to see none of the old antipathy Anzu used to have for Alix.

“What are you doing?” Gaius asked with some alarm.

“I’m going to head up into the sky and keep an eye on Jormun,” Leon explained as he stretched a bit. “I’m not going to attack, but I’m going to signal his position with flares. Just follow the flares, and you’ll find Jormun.”

“I guess that makes sense…” Gaius replied.

“You’re not going to attack without us, right?” Alcander asked with a deep frown. “It wouldn’t be fair to seize all the glory for yourself.”

“I’m not one for glory, per se,” Marcus added, “but I agree with Alcander in principle. Don’t go attacking Jormun without support, Leon.”

“Please, who do you think I am?” Leon replied with a cheeky smile, knowing full well that their concerns were largely justified.

“Someone who would do exactly what we’re scared of,” Marcus shot back with a cheeky smile of his own.

“No need to worry about that…” Leon reassured them as he turned his gaze back to the pirate ship in the distance.

[Leon,] Maia whispered into his mind. [I don’t like being left behind.]

[No one does,] Leon responded. [However, I need you here. I was serious, I’m not going to attack them without support, just fly hundreds of feet above. I need you to stay here and relay any messages that Gaius and I may need to share. Will you do that for me?]

Maia scowled—the first real facial expression she’d shown all day—but she slowly nodded in agreement. She turned back to face the water and laid her hand on the deck’s guard rail. Leon noted that the Heartwood seemed to be cracking under the pressure of her grip.

Leon sighed and turned back toward Gaius. “Let Sigebert know what’s going on, yeah?”

Gaius shrugged. “Doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice.” His tone was fairly light-hearted, and he began to signal Leon’s intentions to the command tower.

Leon made a bit of a show preparing himself for the flight, but he was really just waiting for Sigebert’s answer. When Gaius informed him that Sigebert had agreed to the plan, however, Leon just smiled and took off, with Anzu and Alix not far behind him.

As they rose, Leon called out to Alix, “Your bow ready?”

“It always is!” she replied as she tapped the bow strapped to her back and the quiver tightly packed with arrows at her hip.

“Once we catch up to Jormun, put those arrows to good use!” Leon shouted. Alix nodded with a smile of anticipation, and they climbed higher and higher. He wasn’t intending on getting too close to Jormun’s ship without substantial Legion support, but even at a range of hundreds of feet, his and Alix’s bows could do some damage and still be nimble and maneuverable enough to not be in any serious danger. At about six hundred feet, Leon judged them to be a safe enough distance that Jormun or his crew wouldn’t be able to easily shoot them out of the sky and began flying out over the narrow passages that Jormun’s ship was rapidly disappearing into.

As he went, he watched the rest of the Legion ships rapidly moving into position. However, as he scanned the narrows once more, he realized something: the cliffs were riddled with caves, and several of them were warded against magic senses, located along the shoreline, and big enough for ships to sail in and out…

“Change of plans!” Leon shouted as he slowed down to speak with Alix. “There are a few caves around here that I want you to collapse if you can! Don’t get too close, just use explosive arrows!”

Leon proceeded to give Alix directions and a few more explosive arrows to use. He hoped they’d be enough—if he were operating a clandestine harbor in one of those caves, he knew one of the first things he’d do would be to get an earth mage to reinforce it to prevent just what he was sending Alix to do. But he had faith in his former squire and in the spells he’d given her. He turned his attention back to Jormun. Now that he didn’t have to lead Alix and Anzu, he could use his invisibility ring again, so that’s exactly what he did, swiftly fading from view as light bent around him.

It didn’t take long before Leon found himself flying over Jormun’s ship. He easily shadowed them as they made their way through the winding waterways, Jormun’s water magic making sailing through the tight straits and corners child’s play. He was impressed, too, at just how robust the pirate’s ship was, for it demonstrated an enviable ability to turn on a coin despite its relatively considerable size.

Leon didn’t waste a moment pulling a bright red flare spell from his soul realm and activating it. The flare rocketed upward, and Leon quickly displaced himself just in case any of Jormun’s pirates decided to shoot up at it. No one did, and Leon was free to enjoy the look of consternation on Jormun’s face as he glanced up at the flare, and then watching the pirate’s eyes dart everywhere looking for him.

A moment later, he was able to enjoy it even more when Alix successfully collapsed one of the four warded caves he’d noticed, and Jormun’s visage grew even more terrible.

Like this, Leon followed Jormun through the straits, launching several flares so that the Legion always knew where he was. He had quite a stockpile of such spells, and he gleefully used them quite liberally. As he did this, he reveled in Alix collapsing two more of the caves.

Unfortunately, Jormun had turned in the direction of the last one, and rapidly made his way through the narrows toward it. Behind them, Leon could see that the Legion fleet had successfully blocked all of the exits from the narrows, and now a fairly sizable group of war galleys were pushing in, intent on flushing Jormun out and back into range of the dreadnoughts’ Flame Lances.

However, Jormun arrived at the last cave before Alix was able to collapse it, and a moment later, a handful of ships came sailing out, each crewed with a couple hundred pirates, many of whom were higher tier. Judging from their power alone, these were not the usual Islander fare that Jormun had thrown at them so far, these were seasoned warriors.

Leon silently swore, and then sent word back to Maia to pass on to Gaius and Sigebert: Jormun wasn’t alone anymore.

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