THE ONE I WOULD KILL
We should be on the shore with the captain!" one woman cried.
"Aye, we can't be letting him fight that mob alone!" said another of Sea Sprite's increasingly impatient and upset crew. "Half the city's come against him."
"We were told to guard Sea Sprite," Waillan Micanty shouted above them all. "Captain Deudermont put no 'unless' in our orders! He said stay with Sea Sprite and keep her safe, and that's what we're to do - all of us!"
"While he gets himself killed?"
"He's got Robillard with him, and Drizzt Do'Urden," Waillan argued back, and the mention of those two names did seem to have a calming effect on the crew. "He'll get to us if he needs to get to us - and what a sorry bunch of sailors we'd be to lose the ship and his one chance at escaping!
"Now, to your stations, one and all," he ordered. "Turn your eyes to the sea and the many pirates moored just outside the harbor."
"They all fought with us," a crewman remarked.
"Aye, against Arklem Greeth," said Waillan. "And most of those coming against Captain Deudermont now marched with him to the Hosttower. The game's changed, so be on your guard."
There was a bit of grumbling, but Sea Sprite's veteran crew scurried back to their respective watch and gunnery posts and most managed to tear their eyes from the signs of fighting in the city proper to focus again on any possible threats to their own position.
And not a moment too soon, for Waillan Micanty had barely finished speaking when the crewman in the crow's nest shouted down, "Starboard!" Then clarified, "The water line!" as Micanty and others rushed to the rail.
As chance would have it, the first lacedon scaling Sea Sprite's hull pulled over the rail right in front of Micanty himself, who met it with a heavy slash of his saber.
"Ghouls!" he cried. "Ghouls aboard Sea Sprite!"
And so came Arklem Greeth's horrid minions, splashing out of the water all around the pirate hunter. Crewmen rushed to and fro, weapons drawn, determined to cut the beasts down before they could get a foothold, for if the lacedons managed to get onto the deck, they all knew that their own ranks would quickly thin. Waillan Micanty led the way, bludgeoning and cutting ghoul after ghoul, rushing from starboard to port just in time to drive back over the rail the first of the lacedons attacking that side of the vessel.
"Too many!" came a cry from aft, near the catapult, and Waillan turned to see ghouls standing up straight on the deck, and to see a pair of the catapult crew fall paralyzed to the deck. His gaze immediately went out to the deeper waters and the many ships anchored there. The catapult was down. Sea Sprite was vulnerable.
He charged the breach, calling for crewmen to join him, but when one rushed into his wake, Waillan, recognizing the terrible danger, stopped the woman. "Contact Robillard," he bade her. "Tell him of our situation."
"We can win," the woman, an apprentice of Robillard's, replied.
But Waillan was hearing none of it. "Now! Tell him!"
The mage nodded reluctantly, her gaze still locked on the fight on the aft deck. She did turn, though, and scrambled down the bulkhead.
Sitting invisibly in Sea Sprite's hold, Arklem Greeth watched her move to the crystal ball with great anticipation and amusement.
"The same force that destroyed the Waterdhavian flotilla," Deudermont remarked when Robillard relayed the predicament of Sea Sprite."Perhaps they followed the one surviving ship to us."
The wizard considered the reasoning for a moment then nodded, but he was thinking of much more sinister possibilities given the nature and coordination of the lacedon attack, and the fact that it was occurring right in Luskan Harbor, where such attacks were unprecedented.
"Go to them and clear Sea Sprite," Deudermont bade his friend.
"We have our own problems here, Captain," Robillard reminded him, but it was clear from his tone that he didn't really disagree with Deudermont's command.
"Be quick then," said the captain. "Above all else, that ship must remain secure!"
Robillard glanced at the door leading to the stairs and the palace's front exit. "I will go, and hopefully return at once," the wizard announced. "But only on your promise that you will find Drizzt Do'Urden and stay tight to his side."
Deudermont couldn't suppress a grin. "I survived for many years without him, and without you," he said.
"True, and your old arms aren't nearly as swift with your sword anymore," the wizard replied without hesitation. He threw the captain a wink and collected his gear then began casting a spell to transport him to Sea Sprite's deck.
High Captain Baram slapped aside the frantic scout and took a clearer look at the influx swarming through the square just three blocks from Suljack's palace and Deudermont.
Taerl rushed up beside him, similarly holding his breath, for they both knew at once the identity of the new and overpowering force that had come on the scene. Ship Rethnor was about to join the fight in full.
"For us, or for Deudermont?" Taerl asked. Even as he finished, one small group of Baram's boys inadvertently charged out in front of Rethnor's swarm. Baram's eyes widened, and Taerl let out a gasp.
But the dwarf leading the way for Rethnor engaged those men with words, not morningstars, and as the forces parted, Ship Rethnor's contingent angling off to the side, the two high captains found their hoped-for answer.
Ship Rethnor had come out in full against Deudermont.
"Oh oh," Regis said from his perch on a low roof overlooking an alley from which Drizzt had just chased a trio of Taerl's ruffians.
Drizzt started to ask the halfling for a clarification, but when he saw the look on Regis's face, he just ran to the spot, leaped and spun to catch the trim of the roof in a double backhanded grasp then curled and tucked his legs, rolling them right up over him to the roof. As soon as he set himself up there, he understood the halfling's sentiments.
Like a swarm of ants, Ship Rethnor's warriors streamed along several of the streets, chasing Deudermont's forces before them with ease.
"And out there," Regis remarked pointing to the northwest.
Drizzt's heart sank lower when he followed that motion, for the gates on Closeguard Island were open once more, High Captain Kurth's forces streaming onto and across the bridge. Looking back to Kensidan's fighters, it wasn't hard to figure out which side Kurth favored.
"It's over," said Drizzt.
"Luskan's dead," Regis agreed. "And we've got to get Deudermont out of here."
Drizzt gave a shrill whistle and a moment later Guenhwyvar leaped from rooftop to rooftop to join him.
"Go to the docks, Guen," the drow bade the panther. "Find a route for me."
Guenhwyvar gave a short growl and leaped away.
"Let us hope that Robillard has a spell of transportation available and ready," Drizzt explained to Regis. "If not, Guen will lead us." He jumped down to the alleyway and helped slow Regis's descent as the halfling came down behind him. They turned back the way they had come, picking the fastest route to the palace, toward a service door for the kitchen.
They had barely gone a few steps, though, when they found the way blocked by a most strange-looking dwarf.
"I once met me Drizzit the drow," he chanted. "The two of us suren did have a good row. He did dart and did sting, how his blades they did sing, till me morningstars landed a blow!"
Drizzt and Regis stared at him open-mouthed.
"Bwahahahaha!" the dwarf bellowed.
"What a curious little beast," Regis remarked.
Robillard landed on the deck of Sea Sprite holding up a gem that spread forth a most profound and powerful light, as if he had brought a piece of the sun with him. All around him, lacedons cowered and shrieked, their greenish-gray skin curling and shriveling under the daunting power of that sunlike beacon.
"Kill them while they cower!" Waillan Micanty shouted out, seeing so many of the crew stunned by the sudden and dominating appearance of their heroic wizard.
"Drive them off!" another man shouted, and his gaff hook tore into a ghoul as it shielded its burning eyes from the awful power of the gemstone.
All over the deck, the veteran crew turned the tide of the battle, with many lacedons simply leaping overboard to get away from the awful brightness and many more falling to deadly blows of sword and club and gaff hook.
Robillard sought out Micanty and handed him the brilliant gem. "Clear the ship," he told the dependable sailor. "And prepare to get us out of the harbor and to open waters. I'm off for Deudermont."
He started casting a teleport spell to return him to the palace then, but nearly got knocked off his feet as Sea Sprite shuddered under the weight of a tremendous blast. Licks of flame poked up from the deck planks, and Robillard understood then the blast to be magical, and to have come from Sea Sprite's own hold!
Without a word to Micanty, the wizard rushed to the bulkhead and threw it wide. He leaped down the stairs and saw his apprentice at once, lying charred and quite dead beside the burning table upon which still sat the crystal ball. Robillard's gaze darted all about - and stopped cold when he saw Arklem Greeth, sitting comfortably on a stack of grain sacks.
"Oh, do tell me that you expected me," the lich said. "Certainly you were smart enough to realize that I hadn't destroyed myself in the tower."
Robillard, his mouth suddenly very dry, started to answer, but just shook his head.
With great reluctance, Captain Deudermont headed out of his audience chamber toward the kitchen and the service door, where he knew Drizzt to be. For the first time in a long time, the captain's thoughts were out to sea, to Sea Sprite and his many crewmen still aboard her. He couldn't begin to guess what had precipitated the attack of undead monsters, but surely it seemed too detrimental and coordinated with the fighting in the streets to have been a coincidence.
A shout from a corridor on his left stopped Deudermont and brought him back to the moment.
"Intruders in the palace!" came the cry.
Deudermont drew out his sword and started down that corridor, but only a couple of steps. He had promised Robillard, and not out of any thought for his own safety. It was not his place, it could not be his place, to engage in street fights unless there was some hope of winning out.
Somewhere in the vast array of rooms behind him, a window shattered, then another.
Enemies were entering Suljack's palace, and Deudermont had not the force to repel them.
He turned fast again, cursing under his breath and speeding for the kitchen.
The form came at him from the side, from a shadow, and the captain only noticed it out of the corner of his eye. He spun with catlike grace, swiping his sword across in a gradual arc that perfectly parried the thrusting spear. A sudden reversal sent the sword slashing back down across the chest of his attacker, opening a wide gash and sending the man crashing back into the shadows, gurgling with pain.
Deudermont rushed away. He needed to link up with Drizzt and Regis, and with them pave an escape route for those loyal to his cause.
He heard a commotion in the kitchen and kicked open the door, sword at the ready.
Too late, Deudermont knew, as he watched a cook slide to the floor off the end of a sword, clutching at the mortal wound in his chest. Deudermont followed that deadly line to the swordsman, and couldn't hide his surprise at the garish outfit of the flamboyant man. He wore a puffy and huge red-and-white striped shirt, tied by a green sash that seemed almost a wall between the bright colors of the shirt and the even brighter blue of the man's pants. His hat was huge and plumed, and Deudermont could only imagine the wild nest of hair crimped beneath it, for the man's beard nearly doubled the size of his head, all black and wild and sticking out in every direction.
"We're knowin' yer every move then, ain't we Captain Deudermont?" the pirate asked, licking his yellow teeth eagerly.
"Argus Retch," Deudermont replied. "So, the reports of your insult to good taste weren't exaggerated after all."
The pirate cackled with laughter. "Paid good gold for these," he said, and wiped his bloody sword across his pants - and though the blade did wipe clean, his obviously magical pants showed not a spot of the blood.
Deudermont resisted the urge to reply with a snide comment regarding the value of such an outfit and the possible fashion benefits of soiling the damned ugly thing, but he held his tongue. There would be no bargaining with the pirate, obviously, nor did the captain want to - particularly since a man loyal to Deudermont, an innocent man, lay dead at Retch's feet.
In reply, then, Deudermont presented his sword.
"Ye got no crew to command here, Captain," Argus Retch answered in response, lifting his own blade and drawing out a long dirk in his other hand. "Oh, but ye're the best at maneuverin' ships, ain't ye? Let's see how you turn a blade!" With that, he leaped forward, stabbing with his sword, and when that got deflected aside, he turned with the momentum and slashed his dirk across wildly.
Deudermont leaned back out of range of that swipe and quickly brought his sword before him, managing a thrust of his own that didn't get near to hitting the pirate, but managed to steal Retch's offensive initiative and force him back on his heels. The pirate went down low then, legs wide, blades presented forward, but wide apart, as well.
He began to circle in measured steps.
Deudermont turned with him, watching for some tell, some sign that the man would explode into an aggressive attack once more, and also take in the room, the battlefield. He noted the island counter, all full of cooking pots and bowls, and the narrow cabinets lined side-to-side along the side wall.
Retch's jaw clenched and Deudermont noted it clearly, and so he was hardly surprised as the pirate leaped forward, sword stabbing.
Deudermont easily slipped beside the cooking island, and Retch's succeeding dagger swipe missed by several feet.
"Stand still and fight me, ye dog!" Retch bellowed in protest, giving chase around the island.
Deudermont grinned at him, egging him on. The captain continued his retreat down the backside of the island, then around to the front, putting himself between the island and the row of cabinets.
Retch pursued, growling and slashing.
Deudermont stopped and let him close, but only so that he could grab the nearest cabinet with his free left hand and topple it forward, to fall right in front of the pirate. Retch leaped it, only to bang against the second cabinet as it similarly toppled, then the fourth, Deudermont having safely retreated past the third without pulling it down.
"I knew ye was a coward!" Retch cried, ending in a sputter as Deudermont used the moment while the pirate dodged the falling cabinet to swing his sword low and hard across the top of the island, smashing bowls and sending liquid and powdery flour flying at Argus Retch. The pirate waved his hands, futilely trying to block, and wound up with his face powdered in white, with several wet streaks along one cheek. His beard, too, lost its black hue in the flour storm.
Sputtering and spitting, he came forward, and turned his shoulder to rush sidelong past as Deudermont reached out for yet another cabinet to topple.
But Deudermont didn't pull down the cabinet. Instead he used Retch's defensive turn and the line of his free hand to step forward. He executed a quick double parry, sword and dirk, then stepped inside Retch's sword reach and slugged the pirate hard in the face.
Retch's nose cracked and blood poured forth to cake with the flour on his lip.
Deudermont started back, or seemed to, but in truth, he was merely rotating his shoulders, having reached back and turned his own sword expertly.
Retch came forward in outraged pursuit, thinking to stab the captain with his dagger, and shouting, "Curse ye, cheatin' dog!"
At least, that's what he meant to say, but he found his dagger going right by the captain and his words choked short as Deudermont's fine sword drove up under his jaw, through his mouth and into his brain, and right through that with such force as to lift the hat right from Argus Retch's head.
Deudermont did get stuck by the dagger for his daring move, but there was no strength behind the strike, for the pirate was already dead.
Still, Retch kept that surprised and outraged, wide-eyed expression for a long few heartbeats before falling forward, past the dodging captain, to land face-down on the floor.
"I wish I had the time to extend our battle, Argus Retch," Deudermont said to the corpse, "but I've business to attend to more important than satisfying the sense of fair play from the likes of you."
"Good that ye're slowin'! Ye'd be smarter to be rowin', cause this way ye ain't goin', ye know?" the dwarf bellowed, apparently amusing himself beyond all reason as he ended with a howling, "Bwahahahaha!"
"Oh, do kill him," Regis said to Drizzt.
"The fight is over, good dwarf," Drizzt said.
"I ain't thinking that," replied the dwarf.
"I'm going to get my captain, to usher him away," Drizzt explained. "Luskan is not for Deudermont, so it has been decided by the Luskar themselves. Thus, we go. There is no reason to continue this madness."
"Nah," the dwarf spouted, unconvinced. "I been wantin' to test me morningstars against the likes o' Drizzt Do'Urden since I heared yer name, elf. And I been hearin' yer name too many times." He drew his morningstars from over his shoulders.
Drizzt scimitars appeared in his hands as if they had been there all along.
"Bwahahahaha!" the dwarf roared in laughing applause. "As quick as they're saying, are ye?"
"Quicker," Drizzt promised. "And again I offer you this chance to be gone. I've no fight with you."
"Now there's a wager I'm willin' to take," said the dwarf, and he came forward, laughing maniacally.