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FAIR WINDS AND FOLLOWING SEAS

S ails billowing, tih frorace of a dancer All the ether in a , and it occurred to young Captain Maimun that if he had hired a band of musicians to rouse his crew, their ould add little to the natural music all around them

The chase was on, and every man and woman aboard felt it, and heard it

Maiuide rope, his brown hair waving in the wind, his black shirt half unbuttoned and flapping refreshingly and noisily, bouncing out enough to show a tar-black scar across the left side of his chest

"They are close," came a woman&039;s voice froard Overwizard Arabeth Rauryic tells you so?"

"Can&039;t you feel it?" the woave a coy toss of her head so that her waist-length red hair caught the wind and flipped back behind her Her blouse was as open as Maicreature

He thought of the previous night, and the night before that, and before that as well - of the whole enjoyable journey Arabeth had pro sail in addition to the rather large sue, and Maimun couldn&039;t honestly say that she&039;d disappointed hient, attractive, soh of each to keep Maimun and every otherher Arabeth knew her poell, and Maimun knew that she knew it, but still, he couldn&039;t shake himself free of her

Arabeth stepped up beside hih his thick hair He glanced around quickly, hoping none of the crew had seen, for the action only accentuated that he was quite young to be captaining a ship, and that he looked even younger His build was slight, wiry yet strong, his features boyish and his eyes a delicate light blue While his hands were calloused, like those of any honest seaman, his skin had not yet taken on the weathered, leathery look of asun

Arabeth dared to run her hand under the open fold of his shirt, her fingers dancing across his sher place where skin and tar had ether, and it occurred to Maimun that he typically kept his shirt open just a bita hint of that scar, that badge of honor, that reminder to all around that he had spent most of his life with a blade in his hand

"You are a paradox," Arabeth re, soft and rough, kind and merciless, an artist and a warrior With your lute in hand, you sing with the voice of the sirens, and with your sword in hand, you fight with the tenacity of a droeapons hed "I would drag you to your cabin right now," she replied, "but they are close"

As if on cue - and Maiic to confirm her prediction before she&039;d offered it - a crewman from the crow&039;s nest shouted down, "Sails! Sails on the horizon!"

"Two ships," Arabeth said to Maimun

"Two ships!" the man in the nest called down

"Sea Sprite and Quelch&039;s Folly," said Arabeth "As I told you e left Luskan"

Maimun could only chuckle helplessly at the manipulative wizard He reminded hi of gold awaiting its coht, too, in terms bitter and sweet, of Sea Sprite and Deudermont, his old ship, his old captain

"Aye, Captain, that&039;s Argus Retch or I&039; and an orc queen," Waillan Micanty said He winced as he finished, re himself of the cultured man he served He scanned Deudermont head to toe, from his neatly trimmed beard and hair to his tall and spotless black boots The captain showed ray in his hair, but still not much for a man of al and ivale, then," Deuderainst all of arnered froot that filthy pirate before us" He clapped Micanty on the back and glanced back over his shoulder and up to Sea Sprite&039;s wizard, who sat on the edge of the poop deck, his skinny legs dangling under his heavy robes "And soon in range of our catapult," Deudere, Robillard, "if our resident wizard there can get the sails straining"

"Cheat to win," Robillard replied, and with a dra that allowed hi forth another ust of wind that roeary of the chase," Deuderer to finally confront the beastly pirate he pursued

"Less so than I," the wizard replied

Deuderue that point, and he knew that the benefit of Robillard&039;swinds In cal, propelled by the wizard and his ring, while their quarry would typically flee at a crawl The captain clapped Micanty on the shoulder and led hireatly i, the dwarven weapon could heave a larger payload The throwing arths of chain, laid out for ?" Deuder officer, who stood beside the catapult, spyglass in hand

"We could hit her noith a ball of pitch, h to shred her sailsThat&039;ll take another fifty yards closing"

"One yard for every gust," Deudernation "We need a stronger wizard"

"You&039;d be looking for Elminster himself, then," Robillard shot back "And he&039;d probably burn your sails in some demented attempt at a colorful flourish But please, hire hiht of you swih was real

So was Robillard&039;s grin

Sea Sprite&039;s ti the prow hard against the dark water

Soon after, everyone on the deck, even the seely-dispassionate wizard, waited with breath held for the barked command, "Tack starboard!"

Sea Sprite bent over in a water-swirling hard turn, bending her masts out of the way for the aft catapult to let fly And let fly she did, the dwarven siege engine screeching and creaking, hurling several hundred pounds of wrapped th as they soared, and whipped in above the deck of Quelch&039;s Folly, slashing her sails

As the wounded pirate ship slowed, Sea Sprite tacked hard back to port A flurry of activity on the pirate&039;s deck showed her archers preparing for the fight, and Sea Sprite&039;s crack crew responded in kind, aligning the the port rail, con, struck first In addition to constructing the necessary spells to defend against ht forth a denizen from the Elemental Plane of Air It appeared like a waterspout, but with hints of a huh to suck up and hold water within it to better define its di Robillard wore, the cloudlike pet all but invisibly floated over the rail of Sea Sprite and glided toward Quelch&039;s Folly

Captain Deuderuidance "Alongside her fast and straight," he instructed the hel perfectly the sentiments of the helmsman, for normally Sea Sprite would cripple her opponent and co Sea Sprite&039;s archers greater latitude and mobility

Robillard had convinced Deudermont of a new plan for the ruffians of Quelch&039;s Folly, a planof no quarter

Sea Sprite closed - archers on both decks lifted their bows

"Hold for h in the air

More than one ainst his sweating face;Deuder them to cede the initiative, to let the pirates shoot first

Trained, seasoned, and trusting in their captain, they obliged

And so Argus&039;s crew let flyright into the suddenly howling winds of Robillard&039;s air elean to spin with such suddenness and velocity that by the tius&039;s archers cleared their bows, they were soaring straight into a growing tornado, a water spout Robillard willed the creature right to the side ofQuelch&039;s Folly, its winds so strong that they deterred any attempt to reload the bows

Then, with only a few yards separating Sea Sprite from the pirate, the wizard nodded to Deudermont, who counted down from three - precisely the time Robillard needed to sius&039;s crew,the wind to be as much a defense as a deterrent to their own attacks, had barely moved for cover when the volley crossed deck to deck

"They are good," Arabeth re bowl she had eive thee of arrows, a second catapult shot sent hundreds of s the deck of Quelch&039;s Folly With brutal efficiency, Sea Sprite sidled up to the pirate ship, grapnels and boarding planks flying

"It will be all but over before we get there," Maiet there, you mean," Arabeth said with a wink She cast a quick spell and faded froht "Put up your proper pennant, elseSea Sprite sinks you beside her"

Maie and started to respond, but a flash out on the water told him that Arabeth had already created a di!" Maimun called to his crew

Thrice Lucky was in a wonderful position, for she had no outstanding cri of Luskan&039;s wharf above her, stating a clear intent to side with Deudermont, she would be well-received

And of course Maih Mai akin to the wretched Retch - whose last name had been taken with pride, albeit reat pleasure in torturing and killing even helpless civilians

Maireed to take Arabeth out was to see, at long last, the downfall of the dreadful pirate He realized he was leaning over the rail His greatest pleasure would be crossing swords with Retch himself

But Maimun knew Deuder

"Take up a song," the young captain, as also a renowned bard, co praises toThrice Lucky, warning her ene!"

Maiht blue eyes - orbs that er than his twenty-nine years - squinting as hedistance

Deudermont&039;s men were already on the deck

Robillard found hius Retch, though he&039;d wondered for a long tierated by the ruthlessness of his tactics Robillard, formerly of the Hosttower of the Arcane, had known many such ence or prowess, but see above that because they were unbounded by morality

"Sails port and aft!" the man in the crow&039;s nest shouted down Robillard waved his hand, casting a spell to enhance his vision, his gaze locking on the pennant cli

"Thrice Lucky," heh, Robillard disht at hand

He brought his pet air ele to enact a spell of levitation On his command, the elemental shoved him across the expanse toward Quelch&039;s Folly He visually scoured the deck as he glided in, seeking her wizard Deudermont and his crack creeren&039;t to be outdone with swords, he well knew, and so the only potential daic

He floated over the pirate&039;s rail, caught a rope to halt his drift, and cal a shock of electrical ic as he did Thatcrazily, then he fell over, twitching

Robillard didn&039;t watch it He glanced froh a pirate was getting the best of one of Deuderer in that direction, sending forth a streaical missiles that laid the pirate low

But where was her wizard? And where was Retch?

"Cowering in the hold, no doubt," Robillard muttered to hian cal across the deck A pirate rushed at hiainst the wizard, but of course Robillard had well-prepared his defenses for any such crude atteainst solid rock, ait fully

Then the pirate went up into the air, caught by Robillard&039;s ele insanely, to splash into the cold ocean waters

A favor for an old friend? Caical whisper in Robillard&039;s ear, and in a voice he surely recognized

"Arabeth Rauryht that prous Retch?

Robillard sighed again, dropped another pair of pirates with a roup, and lanced around then "reain to buoy him, for he didn&039;t want to bother with a ladder, the wizard floated down belowdecks

What little fight reus Retch&039;s crew dissipated at the approach of the second ship, for Thrice Lucky had declared her allegiance with Deuderht their vessel up alongside Quelch&039;s Folly, opposite Sea Sprite, and quickly set their boarding planks

Maiet two steps from his own deck before Deuder at him hat seemed a mixture of curiosity and disdain

"Sail past," Sea Sprite&039;s captain said

"We fly Luskan&039;s banner," Maimun replied

Deudermont didn&039;t blink

"Have we come to this, then, my captain?" Maimun asked

"The choice was yours"

"&039;The choice,&039;" Maimun echoed "Was it to beas he spoke, and dared hop down to the deck beside Deudermont He looked back at his hesitant crew, and waved them forward

"Come now, my old captain," Maie, a coast so long"