Chapter 500 - Thorns (Patreon)

Some thirty kilometers north-north-west of the Argu River Delta, the endless, open waters of the Verduic Sea were interrupted by a complex formation of sharp stones jutting out of the water. The medalan maps called them 'The Thorns'. To their opposite, on Medala's western coastline, stood the Maqlluchala territory of House Custodia.

For as long as historians bothered to keep records, pirates had been using the Thorns as a convenient hiding spot, even after the imperial House Pluritac had entrusted these lands to House Custodia to combat the pirate plague in the local waters. After all, the reef formation was not only an excellent hideout to lay low or throw off pursuers, it was also close enough to the Argu Delta to keep an eye on the busiest waterway in all of Medala in hopes of a big catch.

Traveling upstream from its delta, the Argu River led past the wealthy Huaylas and through the eye lake, all the way to the imperial capital of Arguna. Unbelievable volumes of wealth were transported in and out of the Argu Delta every day. It was an irresistible delicacy for pirates, and the Thorns were the perfect spot to await careless victims.

Yet the days of reckless plunder were long in the past. Generations ago, House Custodia had taken measures to suppress this pirate plague. A mighty fortress stood on the shore of the sea, directly opposite the Thorns. Its very construction alone had earned House Custodia — then no more than wealthy warriors — a place among Medala's ruling class.

The great stone slabs of the Thorn Fortress, covered in algae and overgrown with barnacles, stretched out of the water and anchored across the land like a giant gauntlet covered in spikes. From the center of this gauntlet, a massive stone pier stretched two hundred meters into the water, with interspersed towers atop to deter any would-be attackers. Along this pier, the fleet of House Custodia had been docked for generations, to hunt any pirates who dared invade their waters. With the solid support of the fortress in their backs, they could freely control the region's seas, and left no living space for any raid ships from the west.

Thus, the mighty walls of the Thorn Fortress had largely kept pirates out of the Thorns for generations. Yet in recent years, too much had changed all across Medala. These changes had not only touched the south, which was inspired by the innovations of the eastern continent, or the north, which was obsessed with the western ideas of the scholars. Even here, in the most conservative central kingdom, great changes had taken place.

After the complete destruction of the central kingdom's fleet during the Lightning War, no naval forces were left in central Medala to defend its western waters. Thus, House Custodia also lacked the power to drive pirates from the Thorns for the first time since its establishment. Although the mighty Thorn Fortress was still unconquered, it was toothless without an accompanying fleet, barely able to protect the shores of the Maqlluchala estate from invaders.

Just as things had been before House Custodia's enfoeffment, the Medalans were once more powerless to stop those with bad intentions within the Thorns. Whether it was pirates lying in ambush — waiting for unsuspecting merchant ships traveling to and from the north — or others hiding away among the shadows of the Thorns for various reasons, all of them had returned to these legendary reefs. Thus, the old traditions of the Thorns had been revived. Many did not appreciate such a return to the days of old, of course. Even so, some among those detractors were hiding out within the Thorns themselves, even as they complained.

"Only a fool like our great Admiral Chanca would order us to stay here," an exasperated Qawa said as his squinted eyes scanned the black, craggy reefs all around them. "We're wasting time, and if we're not careful, others will think us pirates. Or worse, real pirates might hide out here too, and target us as soon as they see us. What good could staying here possibly do us?"

"You should have a bit more faith, old man," Sami replied. Unlike his quartermaster, whose fingers tried to dig into the ship's hardwood railing, Sami's stance was casual and comfortable. After all, he had learned to trust his unreliable friend over the course of their journey. "People tend to underestimate Chanca, myself included. But he probably has a plan."

Although he said so, Sami himself didn't have full confidence in Chanca's arrangements. A few days ago, Sami and Qawa had explained their course to Chanca, as well as the local geography, at which point the great admiral had insisted they hide out close to the main trade routes between north and south Medala. However, he refused to elaborate his plans any further than that, no matter how much Sami asked or Qawa complained. Since then, Sami had given up asking, though Qawa had never given up on his complaints.

"Maybe the fool thinks our cargo is too hard to defend with two ships," the quartermaster guessed Chanca's intentions, though his own intentions seemed to be impure as he did. "I mean, you won't find anywhere with more traveling ships than up and down the Argu, so there's always danger. He might be afraid of pirates, so he wants to wait a few days here to make sure we are safe on our way south? Or maybe he wants to catch some pirates here to prove his worth? He hasn't done anything all the way, after all, other than bother me to death. Either plan is stupid, of course. The northerners' fleet is at the bottom of the sea, so there's no threat of their ships lurking in the delta. And the mouth of the Argu is still controlled by the Custodia family. No pirates who dared to stay here for centuries. Even without their ships, it'll take a while for their reputation to take a hit. Only the boldest pirates would try their luck at the delta. If any were to hide in any place along our route right now, it would be at the Thorns alone. Yet here we are, putting ourselves in danger on the whims of a fool."

"Yes, a fool," Sami muttered, only half-listening to his quartermaster's ramblings. He himself also didn't think the plans Qawa had assumed were any good, but he also didn't believe that Chanca was pulling them off-route and wasting their time for such stupid reasons. Instead, he remembered all the times Chanca had recently disappeared whenever they had landed at a harbor.

Especially in Challwala, he had come back more quickly than ever, and was clearly in a haste. Even more, he also remembered that piece of paper Chanca had shown him all the way back in Saniya's stock exchange, before they had even bought their first ship. Somehow, Sami had a feeling that they weren't here to look for pirates.

As if on queue, their lookout up in the crow's nest signaled down that a ship had been sighted to their south-south-east, traveling north along the coastline. When Sami came to the ship's bow to confirm, he saw exactly what he had dreaded, yet expected. In the distance, a familiar fleet of five Saniya galleons was traveling north, past the Thorns on its way to the northern kingdom.

"All hands on deck! Ready to intercept!" Sami called out immediately towards his quartermaster.

"All hands on deck! Ready to intercept!" Qawa repeated without question, as the quartermaster should. Only then did he turn towards Sami in confusion, to ask in a quieter voice the surrounding sailors wouldn't hear: "Captain, what's going on?"

"You'll see soon enough," Sami said, and added an exhausted sigh for good measure. Only a few seconds later, his expectations were confirmed. "You hear that, they're starting already."

As he spoke, Sami motioned over to the Kallpa, which had been hiding behind the reef next to them. Just now, the ship had suddenly reappeared from its cover, its sails unfurled. Not only were they fully ready to speed ahead, they also made no secret of their presence. Rather than hide, they blew their very own death whistle to spread terror across the seas and announce their intention to kill.

Where did Chanca even get these things? Sami wondered, while Qawa looked horrified.

"What's going on? What is the fool doing?" a shocked Qawa asked. In response, Sami could only shrug his shoulders and explain what his quartermaster should have known very well but was unwilling to accept.

"It seems we're pirates now," Sami said, as he himself tried his best to act calmly. After a second, he added in warning: "Just remember to never upset Chanca. He's got a long memory."

As Qawa still stood there confused, the nearby Kallpa had long begun to pick up speed. While her crew maneuvered around the Thorns in a smooth curve following the currents, she readied herself to pounce on the small merchant fleet like a predator in the jungle. Meanwhile, Sami had turned to his crew again, hoping that his quartermaster would catch up with his orders.

"Lift the anchor and man the cannons! Follow the Kallpa, and get ready for combat!"

The great admiral really won't let go of any grudges, even if they're not his own, Sami quietly complained, as Qawa repeated his orders and his crew whirred into motion, eager to catch up with their sister ship. Although Sami was unhappy with Chanca's selfish decision, one which thrust them into dangerous combat over pointless pride, his heart beat fast, and he couldn't stop his excitement.

As he watched his crew operate like clockwork, without a single word of complaint about their sudden change in status, he couldn't help feel pride himself, as well as anticipation. Maybe today, their income would be greater than all the hard work during the last few months combined. And maybe after today's events, his crew would finally become a coherent unit, rather than a loose collection of sailors. Though maybe, he was simply acting optimistic to drown out his fear of a sudden death.

Whatever the truth, at this point, Sami could only hope for the best.

__________________________

During the pirate attack east of Rasacopa — Sami's first ever naval battle — Sami had spectacularly embarrassed himself. To make up for it, he wanted to call this raid the second battle in his life, he really did. However, even with the most generous interpretation, he could never call what happened next a 'battle'. For that, their opponents would have had to put up at least some kind of resistance. Instead, it was nothing but a one-sided plunder.

Just how Sami's own crew had been in chaos when faced with pirates for the first time, chaos broke out among the little merchant fleet as soon as they spotted them. With all sails at full mast, the Suyana cleaved through the waves in a south-south-westerly direction. On a close-hauled course — diagonally into the wind — their small merchant ship showed astonishing agility. As the targets continued to move forward, their course would lead them straight into the center of the enemy formation, disrupting their arrangement and intercepting their route. During their approach, Sami observed the enemy crew through his telescope, ready to adjust his orders in case they organized a counterattack. However, he quickly realized that he didn't need to bother.

Faced with the approaching enemy, the two ships leading the fleet immediately steered away. Unfortunately, their new course only led them towards the coastline, where they would soon be stopped by the piers of the Thorn Fortress. It was the worst possible choice they could have made.

Not only did this course carry them away from the rest of their fleet and thus split them up, it also drove them into a corner. Even if they got closer to the understaffed fortress, their best hope was no reaction at all from the defenders. Worse, couldn't the locals think that these approaching ships were enemies and then attack them? In their arrogance, they were flying the flag of northern Medala, after all. Though even if they weren't attacked, their odds looked poor. With solid stone in front of them and the enemy behind, where else could they possibly go?

While the first two ships set off on a course to nowhere, the two ships right behind them rammed into each other in a splendid act of self-sabotage. During their maneuver — evasive or aggressive in nature, Sami couldn't say — both ships turned in opposite directions and ended up steering into each other. With a loud crunch, the bows of the two ships crashed together almost completely in parallel. Smashed wood planks and pieces of rope tangled together to create an unsolvable knot. With both ships now immobile, they slowly began to circle each other like two drunk dancers clinging on for dear life.

Finally, the last ship managed to react better than its allies, though only barely. With enough distance to the other ships, it didn't get tangled in the mess in front of it. Instead, it managed to turn, and then attempted to flee back south. The only problem, of course, was that their new course led them against the wind. Compared to the larger galleons of this merchant fleet, Sami's ship was more of a hybrid vessel and thus more weatherly. Even though their maneuver was successful, it would only be a matter of time before the Suyana caught up. Yet once again, Sami overestimated the quality of his opponents.

Just as Sami got ready to order a tacking maneuver to pursue the vessel upwind, he realized that his enemy hadn't done the same. In their panic, they had instead steered right into the wind and lost all of their speed. Thus they simply stood in place, and even swayed unstably, as the ship slowly moved backwards, in a direction it wasn't designed to travel.

Meanwhile, Sami could watch all of this chaos calmly, without any emotion, from a distance. Maybe his current mood matched what the pirates had felt while he had been scrambling around last time. He felt like he was in charge, like he had complete control over the lives on the opposite ships. Acting, rather than reacting, was a much more comfortable position to be in, he decided.

Soon after, their agile ship managed to catch up to the paralyzed and confused fleet of the enemy. While Chanca was hunting down the two ships in front — and while the two in the center were clearly not going anywhere — Sami decided that the Suyana would turn south to hunt the remaining mobile ship first

Due to their angle of approach, the Suyana was still beating windward, roughly south-east against the wind at an angle their sails could just about support. As a result, their speed wasn't bad as they approached the almost stationary enemy vessel. Once they were within firing range, it only took two warning salvos from their starboard cannons for their enemies to signal surrender.

Although reaching the ship was easy, boarding and controlling it took a good while longer. When they threw hooks to tether the enemy ship to theirs and ready for boarding, the sailors suddenly regained their courage and attempted to cut the ropes. By that point, however, their resistance came far too late. Eventually, the first of Sami's crew managed to jump across the gap to the enemy vessel, quickly followed by Sami himself.

In all honesty, he had never been in any fight larger than a brawl, but he was still the captain. Thus, all he could do was pick up a cutlass and act like he knew what he was doing. Luckily, everyone else on the ship was as confused as he was. From stern to bow, the entirety of the merchant vessel was in chaos.

By the time Sami arrived, small fights had broken out all over the ship's main deck. Yet to the captain's surprise, his own men were barely involved. Instead, the local sailors were mostly fighting each other in what looked like an unplanned mutiny. Some were screaming about loyalty, while others screamed about money. Either way, Sami would be a fool if he didn't take advantage of their division.

"Men to me!" he shouted and held his weapon aloft. Soon, a small troop of armed sailors had assembled around him, enough to suppress any individual group aboard the ship. Thus, they cleaned up all the small fights one by one. Usually, it only took their mere presence for all parties to drop their weapons. Throughout his pacifying crusade, there was almost no resistance from the enemy crew. Until the fighting stopped and the crew and ship were under Sami's full control, only a single sailor under his care ended up with a minor injury.

In the end, fastening their newly captured ship onto their own was more difficult and tiresome than the fight had been. Eventually, they completed an awkward turn into the wind and proceeded to drag their spoils back north, where at least two more ships were waiting for their collection.

Hermit's Notes: Chapter 500!!! Honestly never thought I'd get this far. Let's hope for another 500 more (or however long it'll take me to finish).