Kairos 20: Sea of Flames (Patreon)

The Orthian fleet showed up at dawn.

Leading his own troops from the Foresight, Kairos admitted the sight disturbed him a little. It seemed as if a wall of spears had appeared all across the horizon, the ships’ masts appearing under the bright morning sun. A bloody red ‘Λ’ flag stood triumphant atop them, a promise of slaughters to come.

These numerous spear-masts had mighty wielders too. Two-thirds of the fleet were trireme galleys as large as the Foresight, and the rest larger quinqueremes. A warship with a crimson paint job, which Kairos identified as Lysander’s vessel, led the vanguard.

In comparison, the [Hero]’s own fleet looked weak and feeble. A mere fifteen ships smaller than the opposition; the other half of the fleet, Kairos kept hidden for later. The tall cliffs’ shadow hid the vessels for the moment, but not forever.

“Everything is ready?” Kairos asked Cass and Andromache, his only officers on the Foresight.

“As best as we can,” Cass replied, before glancing at Andromache. “When can you cast the spell?”

“It will take me ten minutes to finish it,” the Scylla replied in human form, as she raised her staff. “Be warned; once I alter the weather with [Storm Call 3], I cannot control it. I can decide the type of storm and its strength, but afterward, it takes a life of its own.”

“You no longer have to maintain it afterward though?” Kairos asked the Scylla, who answered with a nod. Good, then she could assist with fireballs.

Cass had had her reservations with the plan from the start, and voiced them again. “Was it wise to give command of the sacrificial ships to Nessus? I know he volunteered for the task, but his role is the most crucial. If he loses his nerve, this will end in a disaster.”

“He’s the only one mad enough to do it,” Kairos replied. Nessus had taken command of five ships lying in ambush at the coral reef. Agron and Rhadamanthe commanded ten other ships lying in ambush at high sea, waiting for the right moment to outflank the enemy fleet. “Something tells me he doesn’t fear death.”

“Everyone is afraid to die, Kairos. The brave just don’t show it.”

Did they? Nessus dreaded a fate like [Petrification], but the idea of tossing his own life away didn’t seem to bother him all that much. True, the satyr had valued his own skin enough to join the Foresight’s crew rather than face Lyce’s arenas, but otherwise, he had never flinched in the face of danger.

Kairos couldn’t figure Nessus out for the life of him.

“I’m more worried about the others,” the [Hero] said, as he glanced at Castor’s and Eos’ ships.

“The captains won’t break rank, but their loyalty is forced by the oath,” Cass said. “It isn’t earned, not for all of them. People like Castor didn’t sign on for this, and it breeds resentment.”

Kairos sighed. “I know. Things will change after we win.”

The captain could read his first mate’s next though, even if she didn’t voice it out loud for the sake of morale: if we win.

“You will all die.”

Kairos turned around to look at his hostage. His men had tied up Queen Timaea to the Foresight’s mast, to serve as a fishing lure for her husband’s wrath. Even in this humiliating position, she remained arrogant and confident. “Anxious, dear queen?” the [Hero] asked his captive. “If your husband shares your family sensibilities, he won’t hesitate to endanger you.”

That was why Kairos had left the prince Critias with Thales on the island, far away from the battle. With the anti-divination ward active, the enemy fleet shouldn’t be able to locate him; and if his father perished at sea, then the son would become all the more valuable.

“You think your tricks make you powerful, pirate,” Timaea replied with a sneer, “but you are wrong. They only reveal your weakness. You are too cowardly to challenge us to fair combat, but today, you have nowhere to run.”

“Your kind will fight freemen today, not slaves,” Kairos replied, raising his spear at her neck. “You, who are so fearful you keep seven-eighths of your population in bondage.”

“And in bondage they will return, once we’re done with you!” the queen shouted at the crew to demoralize them. “We will finish what Lyce didn’t have the guts to! All of you, you will die in the mine—”

Cassandra gagged the queen to silence her. “Better,” she said, as Timaea’s screams turned into muffled gargles.

“Odysseus asked his men to tie him tightly to his mast, so that he may listen to the sirens’ song,” Kairos told the queen. “We’ll see how brave you are when you hear your husband’s fleet sink into the abyss.”

She glared at him, her pride yet unbroken.

Kairos raised his eyes at the skies, noticing the shape of Rook making circles above the fleet. Everyone would play their part, and the griffin’s role would be to relay information between the different forces. “Everyone, return to your post,” he ordered his men, “Andromache, please.”

As the Scylla cast her spell, Kairos raised his spear and commanded the winds. Carried by a powerful gust, the Travian fleet emerged from below the cliffs, and immediately fled west.

The Orthians looked down on Travians as cowards who would run at the first sign of true danger; weaklings who would flee any fight they weren’t certain to win. Kairos would exploit this belief, to better prove it wrong.

As he expected, the Orthians immediately gave pursuit once the Travians entered their field of vision. An unrelenting tide of wood chased after the pirate fleet in tight battle lines, the enemy ships filled to the brim with hoplites and archers. Kairos counted at least a hundred marines per vessel, and the whole army numbered in the thousands.

As Andromache finished incanting, clouds darkened the sunny sky, and a powerful wind blew from the west. The faint summer breeze grew in strength and soon erupted into a mighty windstorm. The elements unleashed their fury on the coast, raising mighty waves and blowing howling gusts.

Andromache had summoned the storm in close proximity to the Orthian fleet, and it surprised them; perhaps they could have countered it with a spellcasting [Hero], but their mages couldn’t hope to undo the Scylla’s work.

“I caused many shipwrecks with this magic,” the Scylla informed her captain, relishing at the sight of Orthian ships crashed against the cliffs. Others pushed by mighty waves rammed their own allies, destroying their oars.

“It’s a powerful spell indeed,” Kairos agreed. The [Hero] himself had to fully focus on redirecting winds to guide his ships, and Rook bravely struggled to fly straight.

Kairos’ initial plan was to use the storm to reduce the enemy fleet’s visibility, and throw its vessels against the cliffs. Thanks to his own mastery of the winds, the [Hero] could shield his own ships from the violent gusts.

However, the storm didn’t have the effectiveness Kairos had hoped for. While it did sink a few ships closest to the cliffs, the Orthian fleet maintained its formation and braved the winds. Kairos noticed an invisible force repelling the strongest waves, when they threatened to crash against Orthian hulls.

His [Magical Knack] Skill immediately identified the causes.

[Water Resistance]. [Wind Resistance]. [Fire Resistance]. [Strength Up].

Orthia used multiple [Spellcasters] to layer their entire vessels with protective wards, blunting the storm’s strength. [Magical Knack] didn’t tell Kairos how many magicians were needed to pull it off, but he assumed at least three per vessel.

Why [Strength Up] though? A ship didn’t have stats, so the spell shouldn’t do anything.

“Kairos, they’re only using their oars,” Cass said, as she observed the pursuing fleet. None of the enemy vessels had raised their sails, having anticipated Kairos using the wind against them. That explained the [Strength Up] spell; the spell didn’t buff the ship, but the oarsmen.

Cunning. Perhaps this bold king did listen to his advisors.

Rook screamed out a warning. “Incoming, Kairos!”

The [Hero] raised his eyes, to see two dozen fiery stones fall upon his fleet.

As it turned out, Orthian vessels carried a hefty number of catapults.

Kairos’ winds caused most stones to crash harmlessly into the sea, and the distance between the two fleets spared most of the Travians. The pirates’ rearguard, however, suffered from the bombardment. Stones blew three merchant ships’ decks to smithereens, crushing sailors or sending them flying into the stormy sea. Their remains soon sank beneath the waves.

After this volley, the two fleets left the windstorm’s epicenter and reached the western side of the island. Though he had already familiarized himself with the terrain, Kairos couldn’t help but gasp each time he gazed at this area. The waters below the island’s red cliffs turned shallow, as multi-colored coral shone brightly below the surface. Magnificent silver fish swam among them, completely unaware of the danger ahead.

Most importantly, the coral reef formed a natural strait, for the colossal dorsal fin of a long-dead beast rose from the waters west of the island. Perhaps it used to be a Cetus that made the one Kairos slew look like a child; or the remains of a forgotten, serpentine sea god. Whatever the case, the creatures’ bones had been colonized by coral or turned to stone, forming an impenetrable barrier. The water hallway between this natural wonder and the red cliffs was so narrow, that Kairos’ fleet converged to better prepare entering it.

Thales’ group should have taken position atop the cliffs, which Kairos confirmed after noticing Horace perched at the edge. The Stymphalian bird observed the two fleets pursuing each other like a vulture, waiting for the right moment to strike.

“They’re catching up to us!” Cass warned, as the storm’s strong winds started to lessen. No longer struggling against the elements, the Orthian fleet gained ground.

Kairos could have the faster Foresight outpace them, but it meant abandoning the other ships. The whole point of the operation was to let Lysander think he could catch up to them, enrage him like a bull until he couldn’t think straight.

Without the storm to disrupt it, the Orthian fleet changed its formation, the western wing outpacing the rest. Lysander intended to have them outflank the pirates before they could enter the strait and negate the number advantage. Ten galleys converged on Kairos’ group from the left, determined to ram them; they would smash the pirates against the cliffs, like a hammer and an anvil. The main force, guided by the red ship, would cut off any opportunity of escape.

While Kairos still focused on guiding the winds, Cass took over command and started barking orders.

“Fire rods to the left, the others raise their shields!” Crewmates equipped with the weapons preparing for attack; Andromache, who didn’t need to focus on the storm anymore, joined them. The pirate fleet assembled into a continuous line to avoid friendly fire, Castor and Eos’ ships right behind Kairos’. “Fire!”

The pirate fleet unleashed a volley of fireballs as soon as the enemy came into range, while their foes retaliated with arrows. Flames swallowed Orthian ships, while the Foresight’s crew formed a shieldwall to protect themselves.

The arrows bounced off their shields, and in Andromache’s case, shattered against her naked skin. Cassandra personally protected Kairos, while a helot recruit ironically did the same with Queen Timaea. Though an arrow hit the royal hostage in the shoulder, she didn’t even flinch and kept glaring at Kairos. Rook narrowingly managed to dodge a few projectiles by flying out of range, though it was a close call.

As Kairos suspected, [Fire Resistance] spells lessened the effectiveness of flames, they didn’t negate them. Though the fireballs didn’t pulverize the galleys, they incinerated sailors, savaged the oars, and snapped masts in half. Half the enemy ships either became too damaged to move, or outright crashed against each other.

The other half, unfortunately, survived the bombardment and smashed into the pirate fleet’s flank, cutting it in half. The Foresight, Castor’s Longstrider, and four other ships managed to avoid encirclement.

The rest, Eos’ ship included, were trapped between the Orthians’ western wing and the main fleet.

Cassandra’s face turned pale, as the trapped ships unleashed their fire rods’ remaining charges in a futile attempt to force a way through the encirclement. “Kairos, Eos is trapp—”

“Keep going!” Kairos interrupted her, his jaw clenched. Though it horrified him to leave his men to their fate, turning around meant certain death for everyone. The Travian warlord’s six remaining ships entered the water hallway, the cliffs on the left, the reef on the right.

Orthia’s fleet fell on the others like a wolf pack and tore them apart.

Kairos watched his allies’ galleys shattered apart by ramming warships, with the crimson vessel rending Eos’ in half. The Travians and helots onboard attempted to swim to safety, but Orthian hoplites skewered them with spears as their ships passed by. Kairos didn’t see Eos among the victims, but the man’s odds of survival were slim-to-none.

After massacring the stragglers, Orthia continued advancing towards the strait’s entrance.

Now was the moment of truth.

It was obviously a trap. Anyone could have seen it. If the Orthian fleet moved inside, they could no longer outflank their numerically inferior enemy. They would be forced to advance like a tight phalanx, with the front line engaged in fierce combat while the ships behind could only push. Kairos could almost imagine Lysander’s advisors begging him to send scouts ahead and wait, or to take the long way around the strait; even if it meant risking the enemy’s escape.

But the [Hero] knew the king would bite.

Lysander was a young ruler, bold and eager for glory. His wife and son had been kidnapped in a daring raid, a terrible humiliation. He couldn’t afford to look hesitant and cowardly. Besides, what should he fear? He had the best mages, the best ships, and the best troops. Whatever these cowardly pirates had in store, he could overcome it.

But most importantly, according to Cass… Lysander was an [Elite], while Kairos was a [Hero].

The king needed to kill Kairos himself, to claim his [Legend] and ascend. He needed to pursue, and he was so close, so desperately close from a once-in-a-lifetime chance, he could almost taste it...

Lysander was like Uncle Panos, blinded by ambition.

And so, he made the same mistake. The king’s red ship went first into the strait, followed by his army.

Kairos glanced at the Foresight’s back to get a better view of his pursuers, and finally caught a glimpse of Lysander. He had no problem identifying the king, who stood at his ship’s bow. Kairos couldn’t see this tall, powerful man’s face due to his bronze helmet, but the regal red cloak he carried signaled his rank to everyone. His sword was drawn, his shield raised, and priests cast buffing spells at his back.

He looked so terribly impatient to board.

Having followed their foolish king, the Orthian fleet advanced like a phalanx behind him, dividing into tight lines of ten ships. Their advance slowed down, though they still kept up a good pace.

“Some at the back didn’t follow, Kairos!” Rook warned from high above. “Ten ships!”

Damn, sensible heads had sensed the trap and refused to follow their king to the Underworld; even though some would accuse them of cowardice, Kairos had to applaud their caution. At least most of the fleet entered the wolf’s jaws, including Lysander’s ship.

“Signal Rhadamanthe and Agron to blindside them,” Kairos ordered his partner, the griffin flying above the coral reef and towards the open sea. The [Hero] had kept them in reserve to close the strait after the full fleet had gone through. Hopefully, they should be able to handle the rearguard.

“Something is coming,” Andromache said, as she joined Kairos at the Foresight’s back. “I can sense magic coming from the red ship. A powerful spell.”

Cassandra frowned, shield and sword ready for combat. “They have a [Hero] Ranked magician onboard?”

“No,” the Scylla said, “their [Spellcasters] are combining their powers. Not a [Ritual] but… something close.”

Kairos didn’t have to wonder for long. It seemed electricity gathered in the air around Lysander’s admiral ship, a priest holding the king’s shoulder. Though the [Hero] couldn’t sense magic in the air, he could certainly see it.

Kairos’ [Magical Knack] Skill identified the witchery at work.

The [Thunder Hammer] spell.

It needed a whole squadron of mages to pull off, as they summoned a powerful thunderbolt together. But the spell, while mighty, was highly inaccurate. How did they intend to hit a ship in motion? They would need a spiritual anchor to narrow it dow—

Kairos quickly guessed what, as he glanced at the wounded Timaea.

Lysander would serve as the spell’s focus, using his bond to his wife to direct the magic.

“Take cover!” Kairos shouted, as a column of lightning arose from Lysander’s ship. “Everyone below dec—”

A mighty lightning bolt fell on the Foresight, and Kairos’ world turned white.

The attack happened in an instant, and Kairos could neither hear nor see. He had sensed a strong hand toss him face-first against the deck right before the impact, and then wood splinters hitting his face. The smell of cooked meat assaulted his nose, and the whole ship shook as if it had crashed against a rock.

“Cass?” Kairos asked, but couldn’t hear himself. “Andromache?”

He began to slowly regain his sight, but could only see a tall, monstrous shadow looming over him. The [Hero]’s hand fumbled around to the spot where Cass used to stand, and grabbed her arm.

“Cass, are you alright?” Kairos asked, using one hand to raise himself up with his spear, and the other to lift his first mate. She was a lot more lightweight than he expected, perhaps due to his increased [Strength] stat; her flesh burned to the touch. When he could see clearly, he looked at her arm, and...

And only the arm.

Kairos’ mind blanked out as he looked at the blackened, charred lump of meat in his hand. His eyes slowly wandered around him, revealing the horrifying truth.

The bolt had hit the deck and turned it into an open grave. His soldiers’ burning, charred corpses lay on the splintered wood, some torn to pieces; if the lightning had detonated the fire rods, the Foresight would have exploded into smithereens. Raiders with whom he had boarded the Delphinus had turned into pyres, and some dangled at the ship’s bow, threatening to fall into the sea.

He identified Cassandra’s remains thanks to her shield and armor. The bolt had disfigured her utterly, stripping her flesh and tearing off an arm and leg; one of which Kairos carried in his hand.

Horror and fear overwhelmed the captain’s mind, as he was brought back to that fateful battle with Pelopidas months ago. Cass… she and Uncle… they looked the same, and… and he could see the blood reach his feet...

Even the [Hero] only survived with help.

Andromache had taken back her true form, and shielded Kairos from the thunderbolt with her body. She barely hanged onto the Foresight, whose ballistae and mast had been torn apart. Timaea’s charred corpse had been impaled on what remained, the thunderbolt having seared the flesh from her bones until one could see her naked skull.

And yet, in spite of the damage it suffered, the Foresight continued its course. Its fin-like oars turned endlessly, and its hull glided on the water. The brave ship continued leading the surviving Travians, Castor’s crew forcing Lysander’s vessel back with fireballs.

The Foresight would fight to the bitter end, and so would its captain.

“Thank you,” Kairos whispered, to both his ship and Andromache.

“Do not make me regret this,” the Scylla said coldly, as she regained her human form, “you will grieve later.”

Yes. The strait’s opening was almost within sight.

Trying to focus, Kairos moved back to the bow with his spear raised, noticing Thales atop a cliff. Five small merchant ships commanded by Nessus waited at the strait’s mouth, ready to move inside and close the exit.

Kairos pushed his remaining ships forward with the mightiest gust he could summon, moving them faster than the Orthians could follow. The Foresight emerged from the strait first, followed by the others.

They crossed paths with Nessus’ smaller vessels, and after a brief salute to his captain, the satyr immediately rushed at the Orthians. His squadron had precious few crewmates and no warriors onboard.

Kairos turned back, to observe Nessus’ ships moving into the strait before Lysander’s could emerge from it. The Orthian king didn’t stop, and instead ordered his archers to open fire; his bigger quinquereme would smash the smaller ships like a battering ram, and arrows would finish off the survivors.

As the ships prepared to make contact, Nessus leapt overboard, followed by the sailors. They jumped into the sea and swam as fast as they could towards the strait’s mouth.

Only a few seconds before the crash did Lysander seem to realize his mistake. By then, it was too late.

Nessus’ fire ships hit the admiral’s vessel, and exploded on impact.

A fiery blast swallowed the horizon, as the fire substance in the vessels’ cargo ignited; a massive fireball vaporized the quinquireme, bypassing even its [Fire Resistance]. Wood and men flew in all directions, like straw carried by the wind.

Thales detonated hidden fire rods from his observation point, causing a cliff to collapse into the sea. Like with the Cetus, a rain of boulders and stones buried what remained of Lysander’s burning ship. The landslide continued, until it closed the strait.

Wrecked ships and stones had formed a strong wall, trapping the Orthian fleet. Ships crashed against the rocks and the burning husk of their admiral’s vessel, cluttering inside the strait.

Kairos looked up at the skies, watching a bird flock’s shadow fly from the island. “When we first fought, Andromache, I thought your harpy servants might cause us more pain than you.”

“You were mistaken,” she replied, watching the heavens in anticipation.

“Yes, in your particular case.” The shape of Stymphalian birds became clearer under the sun, each of them carrying smoking pots and small barrels. “But mastery of the air truly is an overwhelming advantage.”

Only powerful nations like Lyce, Alexandria, or the city-state of Thessala could field aerial forces, usually pegasi brigades. While expensive and difficult to train, let alone maintain, such troops had secured their military dominance over the world.

And as a flock of Stymphalian birds dropped their payload on the trapped Orthian fleet, Kairos witnessed why.

The projectiles hit the trapped ships like falling rocks and shattered on impact. Some released deadly poison, but most simply exploded. Burning oil drenched the warships’ surface, flames devoured men alive, and acidic smoke seared flesh from bones. The screams of pain and terror grew so loud, that Kairos could hear them over the explosions.

The bad thing about the new helot recruits, was that almost all of them were [Crafters].

And the good thing was that almost all of them were [Crafters].

What Kairos lacked in warriors and magicians, he more than made up with item production; he had even crafted the [Poison Bombs] personally. Only someone with [Poison Brewer 3] could have fashioned these weapons, which unleashed a noxious, asphyxiating miasma in the atmosphere.

Though the Orthian priests could cast [Fire Resistance] spells, they were too low-level to grant their ships full-blown [Fire Immunity]. Kairos watched the defensive wards vanish one by one, as flames killed the magicians onboard or disrupted their concentration.

Thales had remained on the island to supply the Stymphalian birds, allowing them to maintain a constant bombardment. The Orthians tried to snipe the birds with bows and catapults, but these monsters had feathers strong as steel, and moved with a herons’ grace. They returned with new bombs after each aerial raid, and never slowed down their pace.

When the Foresight approached the blaze closer to pick up Nessus and the fire ships' survivors, the strait had turned into an oven. The Orthians’ screams were soon replaced by the familiar, yet ominous, sound of burning wood.

Kairos should have called it an overwhelming victory, but a quick glance at his corpse-infested deck dissuaded him of the notion. The [Hero] cradled Cassandra’s charred remains, and prayed to all the gods, old and new, to let him hear her breath.

But only smoke came out of her lungs.

His first mate’s heart had stopped beating, the lightning burnt her inside and out.

Kairos… he knew something like this would happen. He had expected casualties. But… but nothing like this. Ever since he had taken over as captain, all his plans had been a roaring success, with minimal losses. He thought he could pull off another miracle again.

His fleet’s state told him otherwise. Five ships remained apart from the Foresight; Castor was too busy looking horrified at the devastation to glare at Kairos, though he would blame his commander for the catastrophic losses. Eos and many tributaries had perished.

And Kairos’ own crew… his men were decimated, and his first mate was dead. Cass was almost family to him, the aunt he never had, and… and...

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Kairos glanced at Andromache, who watched the burning strait with a blissful expression; that of a beautiful goddess of destruction overseeing her deadly work. The captain’s eyes turned to the columns of smoke rising high in the skies, the Stymphalian birds cackling in happiness.

They paid him homage, for he had fed them well.

This was the path he was treading right now, and the company he had surrounded himself with. Monsters hungry for blood.

Kairos said nothing as he watched Orthia’s funeral pyre, Cass’ warm corpse in his arms.

Another victory like that, and all was lost.

Something had to change.

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A/N: Chapter made possible by you, dear patrons. 

Luck always runs out.