The enemy ship was close. It was a similar type of vessel to the one Keziah and crew were on. Three masts, with the biggest one in the middle. Its sails were white, with multi-colored patches sewn onto it in places. Keziah thought that stitching such a big piece of material must have been a hell of a lot of work. He himself was rather done after fixing his coat and occasionally his vest. To sew a patch, feet wide and tall, on a sail, must take days. Granted, it probably wasn't the most complicated of stitches, but still. Keziah held some respect for the work some sailors were doing with stitching.
The similarities didn't end there. The whole shape of its hull and upper deck, along with the quarterdeck, was almost a mirror image. Except the pirate vessel was bigger. And faster.
They still had the flag of the Merchant Guild — a scale crossed by a quill. Most pirate ships wouldn't fly any banner, as to completely avoid leaving any traces or attempts at later identification. Camouflaging themselves as merchants did have its perks, though. Or, at least it would have, have they tried to make any use of it.
Getting close under the pretense of initiating commerce was a powerful tool, if not used in the late evening, sailing at breakneck speed straight at another ship. Most other pirate crews didn't use it because it came at a cost. This cost was the Merchant Guild. The richest entity on the whole continent. Some would argue that banks of the Thenlu League were wealthier, but the sheer power of controlling the vast majority of merchants on the continent did have its power. Even if not directly owned by the Merchant Guild, the thought that so many traders depended on the Guild's protection and reputation outweighed the "richest entity on the continent" discussion in their favor. In Keziah's eyes, at least.
The aforementioned protection is the reason why pirates don't usually disguise themselves as merchants. Not for long, anyway. It's because once the Guild hears about a vessel flying its flag without their approval, the manhunt that follows puts even the four kingdoms to shame. Well, four kingdoms, one oligarchy, one duchy, and one nation that's political structure still remains a mystery due to its isolationist nature.
Evidently, the pirates that decided to go after Captain Edmund's ship didn't place as much value on the Guild's resources to keep its reputation clean as did the rest of the millions of people living on the continent.
They fired two shots, both hit the water just before Lady's Grunhild Redemption — Edmund's ship. Keziah refused to call it by its full name and shortened it to just "Redemption." The shots weren't meant to hit. They were just a warning that said: "Stop or the next one will not miss." Edmund responded to that by playing along. He ordered his men loudly to halt their attempts to outsail them and lower the sails. He didn't order to let the anchor down, just to stop gaining speed.
Their assailants evidently took that as a suitable response and quickly caught up to them. As they were closing, their voices became clearer, traveling on the water. Frantic yells of excitement and overconfidence would put fear in the heart of many men faced with such power disadvantages. Keziah didn't see that fear in the faces of the crew or Edmund. In fact, they were quite… calm wasn't the right word. They were ready. Ready for anything the pirates would throw at them. Ready as it was just another day for them.
When the pirate ship was close enough, the pirate captain — Keziah judged him so by his ridiculous and oversized tricorn hat would make a laughingstock of anyone below the position of a captain of the ship — yelled his demands for the Redemption: "Surrender quietly or there ain't be no prisoners!"
Keziah looked at Edmund. "... What did he say?"
"Doesn't matter," Edmund replied in a lower tone to Keziah, before shouting back at the pirate captain. "We have nothing valuable on board! We've just sold everything a few days back and are heading for more cargo!" he almost sounded like he was pleading, which Keziah immediately saw as a rather poor attempt at lying. Most men who consider themselves honorable — or actually are honorable — struggle with this art, oftentimes to Keziah's amusement.
The pirate captain, who Keziah could vaguely see from the 100 or so feet away in the night sky that the moon was yet to illuminate with the help of reflecting seawater, looked to be thinking on Edmund's words. He had a patchy beard — like most of his crew — and rather flamboyant clothing. A bright red coat hung from his shoulders, covering the yellowish button-up shirt underneath. The smaller details escaped even Keziah's excellent eyesight due to distance and lack of lighting. He couldn't miss the oversized tricorn hat, though.
Having apparently chewed Edmund's words for long enough, the pirate captain yelled again. "Ha! The money! You maybe not have loot but you must have money! Said so yourself, just sold everything!" He turned his head to the crew, who must have either gotten used to his quick wit or simply were ignoring him. "Boys! Get ready to board this piece of wood! It's payday!"
Keziah watched as the pirates cheered themselves on, some getting ready to swing on the ropes, others waiting for their ship to come closer so they could lay boarding planks. "So, what now?" he asked Edmund. "They may not pepper us with cannon balls, but they still have a big numbers advantage. And this isn't exactly a fort we are defending where lower manpower wouldn't be that much of an issue."
"There are forty able fighters on this boat," stated Edmund. "We are facing… what, fifty? Sixty? They are untrained and undisciplined. We've fared with worse odds."
Keziah quickly flowed mana from his core and through his channels. A quick flash, that he hid from the pirates behind the railing, escaped his hand, along with an invisible wave that soon provided him with the necessary specifics. "57."
Edmund glanced at Keziah as he was preparing his magic. "What?"
"57 pirates. Must have some vacancies because that ship can hold up to 70 crew members," Keziah explained. He was happy to finally test his new ability over a longer distance than his immediate vicinity. He suspected it must work better when there are fewer obstacles on the way. If they were in a forest, he most likely wouldn't be able to reach half what he did not, on the endless plateau of water.
"Impressive." Edmund gave a slight nod of praise. "Mages, really useful fellows, huh?"
"You tell me about it," pointed out Keziah. "You looked at me before I did anything. As soon as I was moving my mana about. I saw the little panic in your eyes. Thought that I might alert the pirates that there is a mage on board." He smirked at Edmund. "White souls can't feel mana, my dear fellow. Need to work on your restraint a little."
Edmund studied Keziah, before acknowledging that he had been discovered. "It wasn't a secret, really. I meant it to be a surprise, to be honest."
"Ohh, you do have a little theatrics in you, don't you!" Keziah said as the most eager pirates were getting ready to throw themselves overboard to reach their ship. "So, what element you got? It's only fair since you know mine," Keziah asked the staunch man. "Or maybe you're not an Elementalist? Some more… exotic powers? Come on, don't be so caged in."
Edmund's expression didn't change, but Keziah could feel that he was thinking about whether to reveal his power or not. "You will see soon enough," Edmund finally said. "I will keep at least this a surprise." A little smirk of his own appeared on his face.
Keziah lightly threw his hands in the air. "Alright, alright, keep your secrets. Just be sure to actually use them. Trained or not, a stan to the gut will kill just the same, and if they decide that they are losing, then there is nothing stopping them from just retreating and firing at us from a close distance."
"That won't happen."
"Yeah, why is that?"
"Because they need this score. You saw how desperate they look. It's either looting my ship or another day or two on an empty stomach with no gold to show for it at their base port," explained Edmund. "Besides, we won't let them retreat once they set foot on my deck."
"Speaking of which," Keziah said while turning one shoulder to the enemy ship, "looks like they are close enough to start swinging, literally and metaphorically."
"That they do," admitted Edmund. "And with that, the first act of the show can start."
"I swear I thought I was the ostentatious one…" said Keziah to no one in particular.
"Ready yourselves!" Edmund shouted orders to his crew from next to Keziah.
He himself started cycling mana urgently. Keziah felt the controlled flood moving through the captain's body. He was a bit jealous of him, not needing to take into account a cracked soul when cycling mana through the channels, but he didn't dwell on that feeling for long. When all the mana was ready and moving, Edmund raised his hand, and with it, the cannons on the enemy ship. He pointed them upwards, which Keziah could see through the still-open gun ports on the pirate ship.
Strain and sweat started to show on the tall and short-haired man, but he kept going until all the massively heavy cannons were turned upside down and made laying on the ground from the lack of balance. All at the same time. Some broke off completely from their stands and fell hard on the floor of their underdeck.
Pirates responsible for manning and shooting the cannons screamed warnings to their comrades on the upper deck, but in the fervor of imminent battle, their cries were lost, blocked by the rising blood and adrenaline. The first pirates started swinging on the rope, trying to reach the Redemption, with cutlasses in their hands and holes in their teeth. It was as soon as the first one landed with his feet on the deck that Edmund — face strained and riddled with swear beads — yelled another order. "Pass up the matchlocks!"
