The Mother of Zuul by Michael James Ploof

Author:Michael James Ploof [Ploof, Michael James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Traveling Bard Publishing
Published: 2017-10-09T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Hell Hath No Fury like an Elf Prince Scorned

“Witch! Twelve o’clock!” yelled an elf from the crow’s nest.

Brannon peered through his looking glass and saw Witch Hazel a few miles off, riding what appeared to be a ball of writhing jade flame.

“Hard starboard!” he yelled. “Bring the ships around!”

The command was echoed by a hundred elven seamen, and the aqua domini weaved their magic, bringing waves up from the sea to help with the maneuver. A few minutes later, the fleet had spread out, and was surging forth toward the approaching witch.

“Harpoons at the ready. On my mark!” said Brannon, his voice enhanced by a canetis dominus.

He stood at the helm of his ship like a conquering king, bravely facing the coming danger. He knew that the pixies’ seeing crystal was focused on him, but he was not acting for the cameras. He was ready to face the witch, and he had no fear. His fear had died with Valkimir, and all that remained was a shattered soul bent on revenge. He had been glad when Sir Eldrick thought of the plan to trick Witch Hazel and go after Zuul, for it meant that he would have her all to himself.

“Sire!” said one of the generals. “She is getting too close!”

“Hold!” said Brannon, and he could hear the tension on the nearby bowstrings of the massive harpoons.

Hazel drew closer, and still Brannon did not give the order. She sped across the surface of the ocean, kicking up glowing green seawater in her wake, and still Brannon did not give the order. It was not until she was within one hundred feet and his generals were biting their nails that he finally said the word.

“Fire!”

Half a dozen blue glowing harpoons erupted from every ship, and Brannon watched with glee as the hundreds of bolts streaked toward the witch. But suddenly, unexpectedly, she dropped and disappeared into the ocean. The projectiles followed her into the water.

Everyone waited as the water settled. No one spoke.

Slowly, the pixie holding the viewing crystal zoomed in on Brannon, and he tried not to look worried.

“Archers and crossbows at the ready!” he bellowed, but even as his command was given, there was an explosion on a ship nearby. The ship cracked in half as a surge of glowing green water shot up through the middle like a geyser, followed by Hazel and her ball of jade fire.

Crossbows twanged and arrows sped through the air, streaking blue with wizard bane. But none of the projectiles came close. Witch Hazel began to climb higher and spin as she went. She sailed through the air in a circle around the fleet so fast that she was a blur of streaking green that formed a solid ring around them. Soon the wind picked up and the ocean became violently choppy.

“She’s creating a hurricane!” Brannon’s highest-ranking general yelled over the tumult.

Brannon ignored the general and barked orders into his speaking stone. “Sail with the storm, caterpillar formation. And for gods sakes,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.