H.M.S Valor: Treachery And Triumph: A war time adventure on the high seas by Cal Clement (best contemporary novels txt) 📕

Flames clawed along the ship’s middle, climbing her mainmast and dancing along each rail as it spread and cast a stark orange glow through the thickening smoke. Lilith caught a glance of James, a sword in each hand, dealing out pain and death to the ship’s defenders. As bodies collected on deck, both navy men and pirates alike a crescent began to form around James as his deadly blows repeatedly finding their lethal mark began to give pause to the men around him. A flash of fire brightened the smoke hanging above deck as flames found the mainsail and Lilith saw a man lunge himself at James from his flank. The pirate captain caught the movement and parried with one sword while simultaneously driving the other right through the sailor’s belly, then with a fluid grace his parry sword assaulted an onlooker within reach in a cross-hand slash finding his throat. James ripped his penetrating sword free just in time to parry another attack. He hammered blows for a moment against two attackers, parrying and swinging, the ringing clash of steel crying up through the dying ship’s rigging.

Seeing the moment of peril her captain James faced, Lilith raced toward the scene, hacking and thrusting at sailors engaged by pirates every step of the way. She was almost near enough to aid James when he turned a block sideways and was caught by the blade of another on his forearm. He countered with a furious slash landing on his assailant’s elbow and with his wounded arm drove his other blade right through an exposed chest. Lilith looked on as if time slowed while another round of attackers threw in against James. As he recovered from the first attack, he had to parry another advance with his good arm while trying to free his other sword from the clutches of ribcage. The sword was lodged and being unable to free it put a beat in James’ timing. Another sword slash found him on top of his shoulder, he raised his blade to parry a following swing meeting steel but missing the lunge of another at his flank. The sailor who drove a blade into his side was immediately greeted with James’ downward swing burrowing into his forehead from hairline to eyebrow.

Lilith felt as if she were wading through molasses, unable to stop the events unfolding just out of her reach as James drove his sword down onto a man’s head and collapsed to one knee. She shoved her way through the last few steps separating them and caught a sword just before it completed a downward swing into the back of James’ neck. Her counter slashed across the wielder’s ribs and then plunged into his belly. She withdrew her cutlass and relieved the dying man of his sword with her free hand, raising both blades to ready in a standing vigil as James slumped onto the blood-stained deck.

Smoke clung to the deck of the warship swirling around the combatants aboard, its thick cloud captured the orange and red fire hues illuminating the night. Lilith’s nose and eyes burned from the acrid pitch as she watched the remaining sailors begin to circle her position, just as they had with James. There was a moment of hesitation, shifting eyes darted between Lilith and the growing inferno consuming more of the ship with every passing second. Across the deck a man screamed at the top of his lungs, “Follow me!” The sailors around Lilith turned their gaze in the direction of the yelling for a moment and a fleeting glimpse of a man lunging overboard caught her eye. More shouts came from a group behind the man and through the haze of smoke and flame Lilith could see just a flash of a familiar female figure run to the rail. Lilith lingered her eyes for another moment to see as the woman turned to look over her shoulder and for a split second their gaze met. Trina’s face locked into her mind sending a bolt of adrenaline racing through her.

The first sailor to make a move toward Lilith was met with a furious torrent of sword blows that ended in a slash that split the man from collar to waist. Another plunged in, attempting to catch her off guard while she dealt with her first attacker. She made a sideways step and reversed her grip on one sword, driving it into the man’s lower back up to the hilt. Lilith wrenched the dying sailor around to shield herself from another’s sideways slash. Pushing her human shield to the side after the impact she lunged with her remaining blade into the sailor’s chest, stopping him before he could recover for another strike. Her swords were both lodged, and Lilith panicked as her strength failed to free either, she panicked and wrenched on both and then one with no success. A sailor, seeing her plight from across deck, hoisted a spent musket by the barrel and ran with a bloodcurdling scream. Lilith looked up to see the man sprinting to bludgeon her to death, a final tug on the sword she was trying to free confirmed it would not move and she reached for a sword from the clasp of a dead man. Lilith heard the scream and felt each step as the man approached to deliver his deadly blow, as her hand gripped the sword, she raised it to deflect what she could of the impending swing and grimacing in anticipation. The scream cut off in a ragged gurgle and the impact Lilith braced against never landed on her sword. She widened her gaze to watch the man crumple into a bleeding contortion, dropping the musket to claw at a tomahawk that buried deep into his throat.

Snapping her attention to the source of the blade that saved her, Lilith looked onto Chibs, he stood among the scattered dead