Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Kick His Teeth In

“Pirates? Around here?” Captain was surprised, why would pirates venture so close to Fiverian or Imperial waters. Both Barakhil and Fiveria’s Dukes maintained strong navies, and the relative poverty compared to northern countries meant that pirates were a rare sight in the southern sea. 

“Coming straight for us, seems that they have seen us too.” The first mate had handed off the helm to Captain but had stayed nearby when he heard that there were pirates.

“Will they be a problem, Captain?” Braydon asked, while a caravel was great for speed, that was because they could sail into winds. Right now, there was very little wind to speak of, and the enemy probably had a bigger ship than they did. That would mean a bigger crew and a more uneven fight.

“Depends, if it is a galley we should be alright. If it’s one of those new carracks then we stand no chance.” The response came in the form of ship names, not something that Braydon was too familiar with. Though from the tone in his voice, he sounded pretty optimistic.

“And a carrack is?” He had heard of a galley, they had been used even back in the coalition war. But carracks and caravels were new things to him, he had only learnt what a caravel was, not long before he stepped foot on this one.

“A new kind of ship that is being used in the Barakhil imperial navy; compared to the traditional galleys, they are massive and don’t require oars. Not as fast as a caravel though. If one fell into a pirate’s hands, they are probably just imperial men masquerading as pirates.” That was comforting to know for the immediate battle; but if Fiveria ever had to go up against Barakhil, Braydon was not so hopeful.

“Think this will go down without a fight?” This was Braydon’s chief concern. One thing he did know was that fighting at sea was not quite the same as fighting on land, just maintaining balance during combat made fighting at sea a different beast. That might be okay for him but  he did not know how well Gerald and Roan would fare. Normally they would be great swordsmen, they were trained knights after all, but he did not know how good their balance was.

“Depends on how many men they have rowing that thing, they aren’t going to be getting much wind in their sails. Even if they did we would outpace them by sailing into the wind.” That was not a reassuring answer, if ever he had heard one.

“And how experienced in combat is your crew?” Braydon had to ask, they would likely be outnumbered in a fight anyway. 

“You don’t have to worry about that, young Sire, just make sure to keep your own people safe.” An eager grin spread across Captain's face, mirrored by his first mate behind him. ‘Looks like they have done this before.’ That put Braydon’s mind at rest, as much as it could before he went into battle. Braydon turned to go find Gerald and Roan, likely somewhere below deck, he would have already seen them if they were above it.

“Wake up you lazy ass, we have some pirates to take care of.” Braydon gave Gerald a kick after he found him sneaking in some sleep between a few crates. Thankfully, not between the crates of booze otherwise Gerald would still be asleep as the fighting went on above. Roan stood nearby, polishing his sword, something that he had started doing a lot whilst they were on board the ship. He had learned that it was what the man was doing to alleviate his boredom. 

“Wha, where!” Gerald awoke with a start, the kick apparently having done the job.

“Sailing towards us. Grab your sword, I don’t want to come down here after the fight to see you impaled without a sword in hand.” Braydon smirked as he saw Gerald shoot up and look for his sword.

“It’s here you idiot, you should be glad it was me who took it. Even our lord would have sold it rather than give it back to you.” Roan was decidedly not in work mode, his sense of humour was still in effect. At some point during Gerald’s nap he had taken his sword to polish it for him.

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“He’s right, now tidy your little’ den up and come above deck.” Braydon and Roan stood up to go back above deck. Gerald was going to question what he meant before he looked at the crates that he had pushed out of place in his sleep. ‘Oh, that.’

---

Braydon was above deck, watching as the pirates got closer to the ship, the rest of the men on deck also stood with their swords ready. As Captain had said, it was a galley, and from the looks of it there were not many pirates on board. Though that was relative to a galley, there were still more of them than his own crew members. Nela was inside the captain’s quarters, the only independent room on the ship. As she was the only woman on board, the captain had given up his room so that she could stay there during the journey. Now it was where she would stay during the fight, an arming sword in hand should a pirate barge in.

“Ready!” Captain shouted before the two ships collided. The crew psyched themselves up for the big fight. They all looked eager for action. The galley came into contact with the side of the caravel with a large thud. It was not long before pirates started vaulting from one ship to the other. 

*clang*

Braydon soon found himself facing down a pirate, trading swings at each other. The first thing he noticed was how aggressively the pirate fought. Rarely backing off, preferring to duck beneath a blow than to block or retreat. 

*clink*

Braydon barely managed to block a swipe at his legs following the pirate ducking below his strike. He had long noticed that his opponent was using a shortsword and thought that would give an advantage. But the reality was far from what he had thought. His opponent fought as though the ship was not swaying at all and was much freer to fight in close quarters, something that he had underestimated about fighting on a ship. There was just not as much room to fight as on land.

*thunk*

Braydon had had enough of the pirate trying to take out his legs, blocking another swing before kicking the man in the face. He opponent had not even tried to get him in the chest when he saw Braydon wearing a chestpiece, instead going for the arms and legs. And now Braydon had given up hitting his opponent with his sword, opting to kick his teeth in.

*stomp*

The pirate was sent sprawling across the deck, scrambling to get up. But before he could, Braydon stomped on his wrist, so that he could not use his sword. The pirate knew he was finished but tried to move out of the way unsuccessfully. Braydon’s sword finally found its mark through the pirate’s back.

Braydon looked around to see if anybody was watching him, and found that nobody nearby was. He picked up the pirate’s short sword and sheathed his own longsword. ‘There, should be easier to fight now.’