“You bear the mark of our oath upon your voice. The lessers will obey. They are slow of mind and not able to strategize. You must guide them with your will. As for us, should you need the power of the ancestors,  you have but to call. Know it will take time to summon us, so only call in time of greatest need and call the one who will serve best. In our stead, the lessers be at your command.”“Any scath?” Val asked, her eyes wide. Did this mean she would never hunt scath again?“Nay, the lurkers are but beasts of want and glutten. The Thrashers a mix of chaos and destruction. These are of no progeny of ours.”“Lessers of ours will be near to you. Lessers of their’s, wild they will be. The princes have many, and they will not answer your call or ours.”“Well, at least some will answer.” Val asked thinking of the scath on the ship, “ So I guess I should try to command before trying

The staff Sargent sighed heavily, ”In the event a challenger does not have a ship or crew, volunteers may be gathered.”The admiral grinned,  “You can use the barquentine we captured from the Vintas fleet. The Soul Cairn.”Captain Talwater groaned.“What?”“The sea banshee holds 450 crew. That thing is a pure sailor, with only 150 crew max. Course, I guess you will be lucky to find that many volunteers to crew it for you.”“The Banshee marines will serve the lady Reaper,” said Major Gunner from the doorway.Val spun to look at the man. She had not realized he was in the room but was heartened to hear his support.“The marines are needed on Sea Banshee,” Talwater protested.The staff sergeant cleared his throat again, “Under the terms only captains are prohibited from volunteering.”Talwater grunted and glared at his officer, “Y

Valkyrie managed to get some sleep that night, the feeling of hope buoying her spirits. She had a plan and now it was a matter of seeing it done. The next morning, she woke knowing that today would be a deciding factor in her success or failure. She found breakfast at a small bakery near the Admiral’s mansion near the center of the Luna Marra’s main platform. Afterward, it took some time to find Gunner and Tim, but they were both near her new ship talking in hushed tones. Val walked up behind them and asked, “Gentlemen. Anything to report?” Both men jumped but inclined their heads in greeting, “Lady Reaper. We were just discussing the state of this… ah… ship.” “And?” “Well miss, to be honest… it is going to take everything the shipwrights have to make her sea worthy. You really have screen doors for a haul. Water will pour in the second she is lowered into the water.” “I though it was sea worthy!” Val said in a panic. “Worth of the sea floor maybe… sure those are some nice new s

“Fine, Make for the northern shore of the first island. The mortar crews would have seen the flair and should be ready.”“Aye, Lady Reaper. We will see it done.”“And be ready to drop the target buoys as well.”Gunner grinned. “Aye, Miss. The buoys will be ready.”The crew quickly pulled in the anchor and began moving toward the island, moving almost perpendicular to the oncoming enemy ship. Val knew there was a good chance it might catch them so she once again stepped to the back rail, looking down at the foaming sea below. As before, when she sent her mental call to the sea scath, they responded in small numbers. About seven showed this time, leaping in the water as the ship cut through the waves.Val marveled at the clear blue aura around these scath and wondered what kind of torture and evil it must take to taint them as black as the Lurkers, thrashers and other dark fury spectre she had dealt wit

“What’s your play, girlie? You are on my ship, with my crew. You really think you are going to sway them?Val looked around the crew, and was pleased to see most of the men content to stand and watch, their attention more on the captain’s face than hers.“I will give them a choice. Faithfully serve me, the future head of the Black fleet, or you, a oath breaker,” Val said loudly.There were mutterings from below as the men talked.Captain Damos fumed, “You lot dare consider mutiny for her? have I not brought us glory over the past six years?”Damos did not receive the answer he was looking for and pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Valkyrie.“Don’t do it.” She said, trying to use the threat to the helmsman as leverage against the captain.“You kill him and its just you and my bullet.” Captain Damos said with a sneer.What Valkyrie didn’t expect was fo