On the bow of the flagship Dusughbarah— bearing the name Queen of Agilityon its stern, though the crew called her nothing but The Minx— stood three men. Admiral Sharad, commander of the entire fleet, gazed into the horizon where silhouettes of enemy ships had just emerged. A fleet vast, proud, and fearsome.

  Beside him stood two prisoners: the former Admiral Velgar and the former Lieutenant Denar. Both held spyglasses, silently watching the ships that once sailed under their own banner — the banner of Kenderlan. Among them now sailed vessels bearing the colors of neighboring Derdelen.

  They observed in silence for long minutes, watching formations, counting numbers, studying tactics. Then both lowered their glasses. Thoughts swirled in their minds. Young Denar unconsciously rolled up his sleeve, revealing for a moment a thin scar on his forearm. No one noticed.

  Admiral Sharad broke the silence. “Well. What do you see?” He gestured toward the horizon where the enemy shapes loomed clearer.

  Denar replied curtly: “Double our numbers.”

  “And what do you suggest?”

  Before the young man could speak, the old Velgar interjected: “Questions are worthless. Answers... answers are worth their weight in gold.”

  “And what would you want in return for yours?” the admiral asked.

  Denar answered without hesitation: “Freedom.”

  Sharad studied them both. He looked long into each man’s eyes, then said calmly: “If our kingdom keeps the fire of freedom burning, a spark will reach you too. But I need your word — never again will you rise in arms against Dusughbarah.”

  The prisoners exchanged a glance. A brief pause. Then Denar murmured: “So be it. I have betrayed my country...”

  Sharad took it as agreement. “What do you think they’ll do?”

  Velgar answered: “Kenderlan trusts brute force. Their ships are bigger, heavier, with more men aboard. They’ll try to repeat the old tactic — force direct clashes, where they hold the advantage.”

  Denar added: “But this time, they’ll avoid chaos. They’ll be more coordinated. They know they have the upper hand. They’ll pull you into a head-on engagement.”

  Sharad nodded: “So once again, we rely on quick maneuvers of our lighter vessels... But that won’t be enough. It wouldn’t have worked last time, had you not retreated. We need something more.”

  His eyes drifted toward the shoreline. He paused, and murmured, more to himself: “There... That might work.”

  The prisoners didn’t understand, but Sharad was no longer thinking of them. He rushed down from the bow, summoned his officers, and began issuing orders.

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  Velgar and Denar were escorted below deck shortly after their conversation for their safety and couldn’t witness the battle firsthand. Later, they learned what had happened.

  Sharad ordered the fleet closer to shore, spreading his ships wider apart. The Kenderlan fleet and its Derdelen allies approached from the east, forming a tight battle line. Opposite them, scattered between sea and coastline, waited the lighter ships of Dusughbarah.

  Behind them lay a trap: shallow reefs hidden beneath the waves.

  As the enemy fleet approached, Sharad’s ships began evasive maneuvers — each in a different direction. It looked chaotic, but it was a calculated ploy, luring the enemy toward the treacherous shallows.

  Learning from a past defeat, the enemy admiral ordered every second ship to halt, preventing collisions and chaos, though it halved their active forces. Last time, too many vessels in close quarters caused friendly collisions.

  Only half the fleet moved in, pursuing the retreating defenders toward the coast.

  When close enough to the rocky shoreline, Sharad’s ships suddenly turned. The clumsy attackers couldn’t react in time — they struck reefs and sank. Only two ships at the rear turned in time, but Sharad quickly dispatched reinforcements that encircled and destroyed them with minimal loss. The crews were wiped out to the last man.

  Within moments, the attackers had lost nearly half their fleet, while the defenders hadn’t lost a single ship.

  The enemy admiral then changed tactics — withdrawing from shore and targeting isolated ships. The battle became a tense echo of the one Velgar once led. It seemed chaotic, but this time the attackers were cautious, aware of the dangers near shore.

  The fight dragged on all day with little contact. The attackers managed to sink only five Dusughbaran ships, and even that came at heavy cost. As night fell, a natural pause in combat loomed.

  But Sharad was ready — he activated the light-signal system. Ships used lamps to signal pre-arranged maneuvers for night battle.

  Some small ships lit up deliberately to lure attackers. The enemy, predictable, gave chase. In direct combat, Kenderlan and Derdelen crews still had the edge in numbers.

  But once an enemy caught up to a lit ship, other Dusughbaran ships emerged from darkness and struck. Before reinforcements could arrive, it was over. The ambushes worked flawlessly.

  By dawn, the tide had turned. Kenderlan and Derdelen had fewer ships than Dusughbarah. Their admiral hadn’t prepared for night warfare.

  Sharad saw the opportunity and launched a decisive attack.

  His ships attacked in pairs or trios against single targets. The enemy couldn’t defend everything. Sharad picked off isolated ships. The battle appeared chaotic, but underneath lay a clear strategy.

  Dusughbarah took minimal losses, while the enemy was bled dry.

  Eventually, the enemy realized the key was a seemingly ordinary ship —Queen of Agility. It hadn’t engaged in combat directly. Its design was standard, nothing marked it as unique. But the Kenderlan admiral had been tracking Sharad’s command signals and now knew this was his flagship.

  They laid a trap.

  Sharad, exhausted, noticed too late. TheMinxwas cornered.

  But the admiral didn’t surrender. He charged toward one of the attacking ships forming the trap. It had few allies nearby. At the same time,The Minxsent out a distress signal.

  Nearby Dusughbaran ships broke off from their targets and sailed to aid the flagship, even while pursued by enemies. A final clash was inevitable.

  Queen of Agilityrammed the first enemy ship, and combat erupted. Two more enemy ships arrived. Sharad’s crew was forced below deck.

  Among the survivors barricaded below were Velgar and Denar.

  Three Dusughbaran ships arrived just as three enemy crews swarmed the flagship. They leapt aboard, attacked from behind, and turned the tide. More ships from both sides joined. Both fleets were spent. Everyone sensed this was the climax.

  A furious melee erupted at sea — ships ramming, fighting spilling from deck to deck. It began aboardQueen of Agilityand ended on the Kenderlan flagship.

  Dusughbarah teetered on defeat more than once, but reinforcements always came.

  In the end, at heavy cost, Kenderlan and Derdelen were vanquished. None of their ships escaped — all were destroyed. Only three Dusughbaran ships remained afloat, all heavily damaged and with severe crew losses.