The wind pushed through the torn sails as the fleet spread. Salt stung the eyes, cannon blasts squeezed the heart.

  The Adamant, no longer a grey dot but a well-shaped monster, aimed at them. Macha gripped a rope line until his knuckles turned white.

  "Brace!" shouted a scout from above.

  Two were the turrets of the beast. Both on the frontal deck. One behind the other, but higher. The housings of steel rotated at will, allowing four massive cannons to find their victims without the need to maneuver. No need to open hatches, no need for frontal loads. Just barrels tracking across the water, picking the closest ship and blowing it to pieces in a single burst.

  Macha didn't brace. He tightened his grip over the shrouds and waited for death. That was it.

  The Adamant's weapons passed them by and reached almost abeam, towards the little sloop sailing towards the enemy and far from Riko's force.

  The ruse had worked, Macha thought. At least partially. Ivy had captured their attention, although the ship Herjard had not yet slowed down.

  "Ready on the braces, folks!" Timo, Riko's quartermaster, moved around the deck like a caged animal. "At the signal, we bring her head around!"

  "What is the signal?"

  Sandree’s voice jolted Macha. After a twitch, he shot her a brief look. "Hopefully, an explosion. What are you doing here?"

  "I'm not staying in the guts. If we sink, I want to have a chance to jump."

  "I thought you wanted to climb the nest."

  "Oh. I changed my mind. Turns out I don't like heights too much." She closed, hugging his arm. Her body brought warmth against the coldness of the sea. "Do you think the crazy machine can pull off Ivy's plan? As much as I want them to succeed, I don't see it happening."

  "Riko said the Adamant's crew may be mostly Kraken. That's Vega's ship after all." He meant to catch Sandree’s eye, but she was fixed on the sea ahead. “They’ll follow standard procedure: once they confirm Ivy’s aboard and willing to yield, they’ll cut the steam and hold at a safe distance. Then they’ll send a boat to fetch her. That should give Rob the window he needs to slip toward the propellers.”

  “Looks like they’re being standard,” she said.

  Macha narrowed his eyes. The churning foam at the Adamant’s bow had thinned, no longer boiling outward. Their guns aimed at the small sloop, ready to blow her off at the sightless hint of betrayal.

  He couldn’t see Ivy, but he knew what she was doing. What she planned: signaling surrender in exchange for the fleet’s escape. The Kraken would accept the first part, Ivy had said, and he hoped it was true. Knowing them, Riko expected they would resume their assault on the enemy the moment she was taken. But if Rob could manage to cripple the cannons after dealing with the propellers, that part might change. It was an impossible task for any human, but Rob was not one. And if luck had truly favored them, no iron soldiers would be in position to oppose AhLong's creation.

  Time stretched. The wind tugged at the sails with a monotonous song. Waves lashed and raised cold, wet gusts that hurt the skin. During the long wait, Sandree left him with his worries, a short moment; long perhaps, he didn't realize. When she returned, she pressed a spyglass into his hands.

  Even through the lenses, the sea stretched further behind them. Two small boats slid down the armored flank of the Kraken ship. Poles clanged against the hull as it lowered, and though Macha could not count the men aboard of each, he felt the weight of their numbers.

  When the boats reached, he though seeing Ivy on the deck. Her hands raised. Long stood beside her. The stubborn fool, unmoved by any argument to stay behind, took a moment longer to lift his own arms.

  "Idiot," Macha mumbed.

  The men from one boat boarded; for a moment the sloop's deck crowded. It didn't last long; soon after a buzzing check, they all returned to their boat, taking the two with them.

  Smoke curled from the sloop. Flames appeared first from gaps and hatches. Then, sooner than expected, fire swallowed the ship whole.

  The Adamant’s turrets rotated once more, the barrels looking back toward Riko's fleet.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "What's happening?" Sandree asked.

  Macha squeezed the spyglass. "I'm not sure."

  Then came a blast, and another ship burst into pieces.

  Ivy clenched her jaw when the far ship sank. Her arms pull the shackles; too strong to be broken. She checked the other boat, where AhLong was being transported. hands chained and muskets pointing, same as her. Her gaze slid toward the far stern, searching for Rob’s plunge. There was no sign of his whereabouts, and although remaining that way was good news, the absence of any clue rattled her nerves.

  Long grinned at her, his face squeezing like a raisin. Then he waved, unburdened and playful, as if having been taken prisoner was a sort of game.

  "We didn't agree on anything," said Pareek, the officer in charge of their capture. "You'll have to convince the captain to stop the pursuit. But let me tell you, he won't."

  A fat man beside him chortled, his laugh searing Ivy's nerves. He fixed her with a gaze that deepened her irritation. "Cap'n will do what Uglyface tells him," he said tediously.

  "Shut up, Billy," said one soldier with the musket raised. Unlike the other four onthe boat, all young and skinny lads, this one was a burly and battered man that didn't seem terrified by either her presence or Billy gaze. "You Geckos have nothing to say in our ships."

  "Shut up, Miandro. It's an order." Pareek said.

  Billy grinned. "Anyway… what would neither of them agree to the girl's demands, when we have her already? Right?"

  The officer wrestled with amusement as Billy let out another laugh, this time a cackle.

  "Enjoy while you can," Ivy signed.

  "Cut out those handshakes if you don't want a round in the face, girl." Billy leaned aside, rocking the boat, then stretched lazily to check on the other boat. "Hoy, you… old man. translator! What is she saying?"

  "She wandering if ball of suet like you float!" Long slapped his thigh and burst into a laugh. Billy took the joke with grace, yet his eyes betrayed him for an instant. Ivy’s lips twitched, joining the ticks of deception.

  Billy leaned forward, drawing a slender knife from his belt. The blade whirled through the air. “You both are truly funny. I’ll play with him later, and then with you… longer, perhaps.”

  Long's craft neared the Adamant’s hull, and the crew secured hooks on bow and stern to be lifted. The boat had barely risen from the surface when Long yelled again. "You… angry gecko boy! Want dance with old-dog Long? No worry. Soon I come. You Geckos are treacherous filth. Even squid mates here tell same. I want clean ship of rubbish… So, later we dance."

  The Adamant unleashed another torrent of flame, swallowing another of Riko's vessels with its might.

  Ivy felt the pressure surge and turned toward the stern, searching for any clue of Rob. She shouldn't have, but her mistake was already made, and her concern noticed. “What are you looking at?” Billy said.

  She kept her silence.

  Billy's massive hand wrapped around almost her entire throat. His grip yanked her back, the dagger brushing her cheek. "I said, What… are… you… looking at?"

  “What are you doing, Billy?” Pareek barked.

  Both men halted as athe sound of shots tore from the Adamant’s deck. The rowing stopped, and the other vessel ascend halted.

  Screams and shouts rose in a jarring chorus, joining the crack of guns.

  Billy’s grip loosened just enough for Ivy to lift her head, though his fingers still clamped her throat. “What—” he rasped, voice strained. No more mocking giggling in him.

  From the side of the deck, Rob’s slender frame emerged, waving wildly. A shot struck his skull, sending a spray of metal sparks into the air. “Hold it! I’ll be back t you in a moment!” he shouted, the word echoing over the chaos. "There… are you fellas all right? Having fun here!"

  AhLong planted himself on the deck, arm arcing toward the stern; questions rose on Iv's mind at the absence of his shackles. When did he free himself and how? "Ye, stupid metalhead. Why no thing on thing… doing thing?"

  A bullet slammed into Rob’s head once again. He pressed his long fingers against the bruise and rubbed. His other arm jerked up and down like a child in a fit. “I said wait!” he shouted, turning his head downward again. “Wait, wait. Kaboom coming: three, two, one…” he leaned to check the stern. "Wait… Three… two… Three… tree again. No? threeee… twooo…"

  The sea bloated, and the Adamant's hull shook. The explosion raised a pour of salted rain over them and filled the sea surface with dead fish.

  Ivy’s fingers tightened around the wooden rail as the boat rocked violently. Miandro and Pareek flung into the water. Billy, who surprisingly avoided the plunge, paused for a heartbeat before lunging, knife flashing.

  Ivy reacted instantly, snatching his sleeve and stopping the blade before it could stab. He shrieked, and the weapon found a new target. He swung again, but Ivy seized his forearm. His raw strength eclipsed any other she had faced, yet he was no match for her. She pushed back, and he groaned.

  She took the upper hand in the struggle, but yet, with hands tied and busy, she was vulnerable. And Billy realized. His free hand clamped and his thumb pressed against her eye. She jerked, forcing the pressure away, then drove a headbutt. Billy’s head felt like a hammer hitting her skull. A harsh whistling took the world as he pushed forward, unburdened by her hit.

  She doubted. Her training and her superior build had softened her reason and inflated her confidence. She had taken that gecko too lightly, and if she'd not react faster, she could pay a high price for it.

  In one fluid twist, she hurled both down into the sea, taking the gecko to a place he didn't belong.