The battle raged like a storm given flesh. Smoke from musket fire and scorched wood mixed with the acrid tang of mana discharge. The deck of the Skyfang had become a battlefield in miniature, the clash of steel and the cries of men echoing over the endless sky.
Yet the corsairs showed no sign of breaking. More ropes snaked across, more pirates hurled themselves through the air like maddened wasps. For every one we struck down, two more seemed to take his place.
Serana locked blades with the pirate captain once more, her eyes sharp and unyielding. His cutlass whistled through the air, sparks flying as it met her steel. "You won't take this ship, cur," she snarled.
The captain laughed, a booming sound that carried above the din. "Every ship burns the same in the end!" He forced her back with sheer brute strength, his cutlass biting into the deck as she twisted aside.
Nearby, Kaelen took a blow to the side, stumbling. Blood darkened her tunic, though her teeth were bared in defiance. "I'll gut the lot of you before I fall!" she roared, smashing her gauntlet into her attacker's skull.
"Hold still!" Miri darted in, her hands glowing with healing light. The wound sealed enough to keep Kaelen moving, though the wolf-kin still swayed on her feet.
Lira fought like a whirlwind, loosing off spells of dark magic, felling pirate after pirate.
Mae, undaunted, lobbed another rune orb that erupted in a gout of flame, hurling two pirates screaming overboard. "I'm running out of toys here!" she yelled, ducking behind the repeater as a musket ball whizzed past her head. "We need to end this!"
"Easier said than done!" I shouted, firing another [Baby Boom] through my pistol. The blast caught a pirate mid-leap, scattering him into the clouds. My mana reserves burned hot, but adrenaline drowned out the ache.
The brigantine loomed close enough now that I could see the sneers on the faces of the pirates lining its railings. They were preparing yet another boarding rush.
Serana beheaded her opponent with a surge of strength and roared, "We can't let them keep swarming us. To the cannon!"
At once, the Valkyries began pulling back, striking down the last of the immediate boarders before retreating toward the rear of the Skyfang. Mae's eyes went wide as she realized what Serana intended.
"You mean the mana cannon?"
Serana's gaze never wavered. "Precisely!"
The cannon dominated the stern of the ship, a massive rune-inscribed barrel bound in steel and mithril, humming faintly with restrained energy. It looked less like a weapon and more like a relic from some forgotten war, its surface etched with symbols that glowed at the touch of approaching hands.
The crew scrambled to ready it. Alenya and Nerys loaded the focusing crystals, Veyra poured her mana into the ignition matrix, and Mae knelt to adjust the conduits, muttering frantically about "stability ratios" and "feedback loops."
I watched, heart racing, as the runes began to blaze brighter. The air thrummed with power, the deck vibrating beneath my boots.
Lira grabbed my wrist, her voice urgent. "Max… this thing takes an incredible amount of mana to fire. Even with the whole crew pouring in, it might not be enough."
I understood immediately what she was hinting at. My mana; the sheer excess that set me apart; was the one resource we had in abundance.
"I can do it," I said, stepping forward.
Mae looked up sharply. "Are you insane? This cannon could drain you dry, or worse, blow you to pieces if it overloads!"
"Better me than all of us being overrun," I replied, locking eyes with her. "But I'll need you to make sure it doesn't explode in my face."
Mae chewed her lip, then nodded. "Fine. But you follow my lead. You push too hard, you'll fry your own soul."
The brigantine was nearly upon us. Grappling hooks arced through the air again, pirates howling in triumph as they prepared to swarm once more. Serana held them at bay with her Valkyries, but her voice cut sharp through the chaos: "Fire that cannon now!"
I placed my palms against the glowing runes, the metal beneath hot enough to sting. I opened my mana flow, channeling everything I had into the weapon.
The cannon roared to life. Runes flared blinding white, the air around it warping with sheer magical force. Mae shouted instructions over the howl of energy: "Steady! Don't push too fast; keep the flow even!"
Sweat poured down my face as my reserves poured out, the weapon hungrily devouring more and more. The thrum became a howl, the glow a blazing sun. The very air tasted of ozone and fire.
"Now, Max!" Mae cried.
I pushed with everything I had left.
The cannon unleashed a beam of pure mana, a lance of light that tore across the sky and slammed into the corsair brigantine. For a heartbeat, the world was silent. Then came the explosion.
The pirate ship erupted in a blast of fire and shattered wood, the force of it rocking the Skyfang violently. Pirates still aboard screamed as they were hurled into the void, their vessel breaking apart into burning fragments that tumbled into the endless clouds below.
The few survivors still clinging to ropes cut themselves loose, fleeing into the skies with terrified cries. The black sails vanished into smoke and flame, leaving nothing but wreckage drifting on the wind.
Silence fell over the deck of the Skyfang, broken only by the crackle of smoldering wood and the ragged breaths of the exhausted crew.
I staggered back from the cannon, my vision swimming, every limb trembling from the drain. Lira caught me, steadying me against her shoulder.
"You idiot," she whispered, her voice thick with relief. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."
Mae leaned against the cannon, wiping sweat from her brow. "Well… guess it works." She gave me a shaky grin.
The Valkyries gathered, battered but unbroken. Serana sheathed her sword with a sharp motion, her eyes glinting with approval. "Well done. We live to sail another day, thanks to you."
I managed a weak smile, though my legs still shook beneath me. "Anytime."
The Skyfang sailed on into the clear skies, the wreckage of the pirate brigantine fading into the clouds behind us.