Chapter 18 A Small Success

From my vantage point in the back of the boat, I saw little. The people in the other boat loosed their arrows first, hitting a few but not seriously. Hy leapt up and over the cabin, while Miara, aided in a small way by Omi, killed the four men in the back of the boat. Then she, Omi, Benito, and a few of Omi's men disappered into the cabin. All was quiet. In the meantime, our rowers tied the other boat fast to ours.

At last, everyone emerged. Guido and Benito took charge of the other boat, tying up the other rowers to keep them quiet. Our rowers put everything in order to tow the other boat back home.

Miara, Omi, and Benito's men returned to our boat, carrying a strange woman who was tied up and Hy, who was unconscious.

I immediately cared for Hy: I had the men place him gently down in the cabin. He wasn't hurt enough to have caused him to fall unconscious, and I soon ascertained that he'd been the vitcim of a spell that put him into a deep sleep. I started healing the few wounds he had, certain that he would have to wake on his own. He actually awakened while I was deep in the healing trance.

I took care of all the other wounded as well. It didn't take long.

Most of us slept on the way back. The woman was placed under a guard, but she quietly disappeared overboard in the night when no-one was looking. She was the one who had cast the spell on Hy. I guessed the ones who were placed on guard over her didn't trust their ability to prevent her from casting spells on them.

Except for the woman's disappearance, the trip back to Kreuzhofen was quiet and uneventful. I wondered what awaited us there.