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So from the decks, and fire was everywhere S corn Then the waist collapsed and the ship folded in on itself The front half of the great ship went down almost instantly, far faster than Kip would have believed so made entirely of wood should sink The stern rolled over on its side, open decks gaping like open wounds, sing the seas in great burbling gulps

Deck by burning deck, the great ship plunged into the sea, hissing and spitting and vo up flotsam and broken men

Before it even slipped under the waves, Ironfist asked, "Mop up the swi ships

Mop up? Commander Ironfist hts make it out?" Gavin asked

"Didn’t see any Doesn’t mean there weren’t souard they’d pulled out of the waves earlier said

Kip watched the last of the Gargantua slip beneath the waves There was a lot of junk afloat in the waves, but not many men Gavin had said there were seven hundred men on board

Orholam have mercy

Because your Prism won’t

"No," Gavin said "I’d rather be a mystery and a wild tale We don’t have it in us to sink four roup, and the sea chariots ca waves, they reforuards Another had taken a ball in the elbow She would be crippled The rest had minor injuries: burns and little cuts and pulledtheir chariots too sharply One had ato leave a scar He looked perversely pleased about it A breath more to the left and it would have cut his carotid Cruxer ide-eyed, blinking a lot, but unhurt

"Breaker," Cruxer said, "did you do what I think you did back there?" He looked at the Blackguards "Am I the only one who saw him blow up half the ship?"

"I saw," one said Others nodded, though not all of them

"We saw," Ironfist said "Well done, Breaker"

"Well done? It was fucking awesohed, and even Ironfist grinned and didn’t reprove Cruxer for cursing

"Did you blow up the whole ship, too?" Cruxer asked

"No, that was hi at his father already Gavin was staring at hi Kip thought he would be proud of hi, Gavin was holding out on Kip Avoiding euard asked Gavin Kip thought his name was Norl