Admiral Vorlag Vane took a slow, painful breath and looked at Lorian. In his eyes was the reflection of the distant orange glow of the burning sea.
"It began yesterday, my Lord," Vorlag started in his rough and strained voice, "At early dawn, a massive explosion shook the entire coastline. The bastards were clever. They didn't send a warship; under cover of a thick fog, they secretly floated an unmanned, old cargo ship packed to the brim with oil, tar, and pitch straight into the harbor. It drifted right into one of our docked heavy Carracks and blew up. The blast was deafening- a huge column of fire emerged and lit up the morning sky.
Before we could even process the blast, their fast Caravels swarmed the shore. They rained thousands of fire arrows down onto the wooden docks and coastal houses. The sailors and citizens were completely caught off guard. The whole coastal area went up in flames.
I managed to rally the men quickly. We got the remaining Carracks moving and fought back, launching giant stones from our deck catapults. The moment the pirates saw we were fighting back with heavy artillery, they turned their fast ships around and retreated out to sea. I thought we had driven them off.
By midday, we had the coastal fires mostly under control. But by afternoon, nature turned against us. As always in the afternoon, the wind started shifting, blowing fiercely from the sea straight toward the shore. The pirates used it to attack a second time. This time, they stayed at a safe distance and let the strong wind carry their fire arrows much further inland, completely bypassing the docks. The flames landed deep in the main city, spreading from house to house.
I ordered our heavy Carracks to counter-attack again. But the cowards refused to stand and fight. Every time our heavy, powerful ships sailed forward to crush them, their lighter, weaker ships used their superior speed to outrun us. They played a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, bleeding us slowly, before retreating a second time.
Then, the real nightmare began at nightfall. The main Red Sail armada finally revealed itself. Dozens of ships with glowing red sails emerged from the darkness, launching a full-scale assault on the open sea. I led the defense from the deck of the Goldstar. I used every bit of my decades of naval experience to position our remaining Carracks like solid stone walls, trying to hold back their massive numbers.
But the pirates weren't fighting traditionally. They used strange, unpredictable maneuvers. They faked retreats, split their lines, and used their agile Brigs to flank our heavy warships. I was being outmaneuvered, my Lord. My traditional tactics simply could not keep up with their strange, nimble way of fighting. We were slowly being pulled back, and we lost more than half of our total force by the next afternoon.
During one close-quarters clash, a pirate ship scraped right against the side of the Goldstar. They tried to board us, but we held the rails. That's when one of their bastards hurled a jar of burning pitch right onto our deck, near the forward ballista.
I didn't even have time to yell. There was a sudden, blinding flash, and then the world just blew up in my face.
The heat was unlike anything I have ever felt, my Lord; it felt like my skin was peeling right off my bones. I remember the sound of cracking woods, the screams of my men, and then a piece of white-hot iron shrapnel tore right through my armor. Half my face and chest went up in flames before the boys could drag me out of the fire. Bleeding heavily and smelling my own charred flesh, I felt I was not going to survive for long. If I did not hand over my charge, the entire navy would sink to the bottom of the sea."
Vorlag huffed as he paused. This long narration had made him tired. Taking a deep breath, he resumed.
"Before they carried me off the deck to send me ashore, I had to make a choice. I know the High Council is furious that I skipped the entire hierarchy. My underlings- the captains- are probably spitting mad as well. But let me tell you the truth, my Lord- if I had handed the Goldstar to any of my underlings, the Veridian navy would be sitting at the bottom of the sea right now. I have fought beside them for years, my Lord. They are brave men; I can bet my life on it. But my Lord, they only know the old textbook ways. They would have fought no differently than me, and under my command alone, we had already lost half of our strength. Under their command, our remaining fleet would have lined up like sitting ducks and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. We didn't need tradition that time. We needed a miracle.
So, I gave the command and the Goldstar to Vespera Thal."
A sudden spark of genuine warmth and intense respect softened the Admiral's tired eyes, and a faint, proud smile touched the unbandaged side of his mouth.
"The crew was annoyed when I first gave her a ship weeks ago, but during the day's chaos, she earned every ounce of their respect. And since the naval battle begin two days ago, her ship has fought with incredible efficiency, perfectly supporting the Goldstar and protecting our blind spots.
She is an Elf, yes. And you know how those stuck-up elven fleets are- ruled by ancient, stiff traditions and run by men who think a woman has no business on a warship. If her own people weren't so blinded by their backward arrogance, Vespera would have been a High Admiral in their fleet years ago. Anyway, during her trial, I tried to learn about her time in the Elven Navy. I realized that she has more hours on the sea than half my captains combined, but more importantly, she has a gift that no human can ever match.
"She did not bluff or exaggerate when she said she could read the deep undercurrents of the water. Indeed, she can sense the slightest, most minuscule changes in the water, wind, and weather before they even break the surface. She was a master of it, even among the elves. When the pirates were using those strange, erratic movements to slaughter us, Vespera was the only one who could read their paths. She is... exceptional, my Lord. Absolutely brilliant. I have never seen anyone navigate a warship with such grace and deadly precision."
Vorlag paused and, with a proud voice, pointed toward the horizon where the flagship sailed, "You can see, my Lord, my decision was not wrong. Since she took the captain's wheel of the Goldstar, she and the remaining fifteen ships have been fighting tooth and nail in the dark waters. She is using every ounce of her strength and her gift to keep that massive red-sail armada at bay. She is the only reason Veridia still has a navy today. I trusted her with my flagship, and I would trust her with my life."
Lorian was not greatly comforted, however. He shook his head, looking slightly distant, and suddenly asked, "Yes, but how long?"
Everyone, including the admiral, was taken completely by surprise, unable to find an exact reply.
Lorian asked Vorlag again, as his voice got colder, "Are you sure this is the whole armada of the Red Sails? If Vespera finishes these off, are you certain there won't be any more of them left to pillage our shores?"