"They're coming alongside," Faalken reported. "They're starting to throw out grappling hooks."

"How many?"

"Looks to be about thirty," he replied as Tarrin heard the first metallic clanging as the metal hooks landed on the wooden deck.

"Are all of Renoit's people out of the way?" Dolanna asked.

"He's got some that are going to be fighting, but everyone else is below," Camara Tal replied. "I think we can handle thirty. Especially when they'll be busy with boarding us."

"Allia, I want you to get to Dar as soon as we move," Dolanna ordered the Selani. "He does not know the plan, and I will feel better if he is not out there by himself."

"Right about now I really miss Zak and the Vendari," Faalken grunted as he drew his sword. "They're pulling the ships together. Any second now. Get ready."

"I'll go with you, Allia," Sarraya piped. "You'll need someone to watch your back."

"Just be careful, tiny one."

"I can handle a pack of unruly pirates," Sarraya giggled.

"I wish I had that much confidence," Camara Tal snorted under her breath.

Tarrin could hear the feet hit the deck, the wild shouts from the bandits as they rushed onto the ship and immediately began searching for their hidden opponents. He saw one, a thin tattooed man with bad teeth, appear at the top of the stairs, but Faalken struck like a viper, impaling him on the end of his sword. "I think that's about it!" he shouted as the man gave out an agonized scream. "Go!"

The pirates at first didn't seem startled that their opponents had been hiding, but Tarrin could clearly see the shock and dismay on their faces by the time he rushed out from behind the Amazon. Dar, seeing Faalken and some of the troupe's men-at-arms jump from concealment and move to engage, had himself come up from the hatch and began weaving together a spell. Fire orbited around his upraised hands, and he pointed both of them at a group of five enemies that were moving towards him. They screamed horrifically as the fire washed over them, winking out nearly as fast as it appeared, leaving the burning men rolling on the deck in agony, tongues of flame eating away at them.

"Get that magi-" one pirate shouted, but he was cut short when Allia's sword slashed across the back of his neck. Before he could even fall, she was moving swiftly right through the pirates, her light swords flicking and slashing as she moved, moving like a ghost through the slower moving men and leaving a trail of pained cries in her wake. Only one man had the presence of mind to try to stab her with his cutlass, but Allia moved like lightning, evading the man's clumsy thrust and slicing her sword about halfway through his neck as she glided past. Tarrin had learned from Allia, but not even he could match her blazing, inhuman speed and the delicate grace she exhibited when fighting. She looked and moved like the frailest dancer, but any opponent quickly discovered that trying to hit her was like trying to swat a mosquito using a club. She was simply everywhere but in the weapon's path. She was at Dar's side in a scant moment, swords readied to deal with anyone who attempted to kill the young Sorcerer.

"Face the light of vengeance!" Camara Tal shouted in a commanding voice, making him look at her. He was still behind her, and her challenge had drawn most of the eyes of the pirates to her. And when they looked at her, Tarrin felt the explosion of magic emanate from her upraised palm, sending a blasting flash of light rushing through the onlooking men. It only struck those in front of her; though everyone behind her could see the flash, it seemed to be dim compared to what people on the other side of her saw. They all clawed at their eyes and hunched over, blinded by that brilliant flash of light, throwing the opponents into confusion as more of them swung or jumped onto the deck of Dancer from the enemy ship. After she finished with her magic, Camara Tal drew her sword and faced up against a tall, burly man wearing only a loincloth and carrying a nicked broadsword. She had the man out of balance with only two strokes of her blade, held in both her hands, then she turned his weapon wide and stabbed him through the middle. That proved to him that Camara Tal knew how to use that sword.

"Chopstick, Turnkey, attack!" Phandebrass ordered his little drakes, then he held up the steel rod and began chanting in the strangest language. It was like a discordant throbbing of sound, and he could sense the power within it as those words triggered a building of magical energy. It became focused through the steel rod in his hands, and then it flooded back into his body. Phandebrass' body flared in magical light, and when it abated, Phandebrass was turned into steel! His skin and clothing looked to be solid metal, and the doddering mage wandered confidently into the host of blinded adversaries and smashed them with his metal hands, sending them to the deck instantly, where they moved no more. He then turned and chanted in magic again, holding both hands up while making a few strange gestures with his fingers. When he was finished, a ball of crackling electrical energy appeared in front of him, and it floated lazily towards the pirate ship, expanding in size as it moved. That made the men still on the pirate ship stop in the middle of trying to board, then scramble for safety on their own ship as the little ball of lightning floated over the rails of the ships. At first, Tarrin thought it was simply a means to pin them down, until a blast of lightning left the ball and hit one pirate that was trying to dive into a hatch. The man's body shuddered violently as the electrical arc tore into him, then he fell limply to the deck short of his goal.

Tarrin shook off his amazement at the powers of his companions and moved into the fray with Camara Tal and some of the fighting men from Renoit's troupe, as the blinded men began recovering their sight. When they did, they found themselves facing an unnaturally tall cat-like man, who simply killed anyone within reach. His incredible strength made trying to fence with him moot, for he would simply smash aside any weapon brandished at him then crush the offendor with his staff, or rip out huge chunks of flesh with his wicked claws. Tarrin created an instant panic among the pirates, who scrambled away from him and usually found themselves facing someone that looked less intimidating, but in fact was just as dangerous as him. Renoit's fighters were skilled and efficient, forming up into pairs or trios and engaging the wildly disorganized pirates with the cool confidence that came with having so much firepower on their side. They were strongmen and acrobats, and their professions only reinforced their ability to fight. Some men, like Deward, had a profession that was battle useful. The tall veteran performer stood behind two of his burly fellows, a veritable handful of throwing daggers in his free hand, and he tossed them about with a nonchalance that understated his lethal accuracy. Knives blossomed in the faces, necks, and vital areas of the pirates around him, thrown with a deadly precision that could only be exhibited by a true master of the craft. Deward alone killed a man for every knife he threw, and when he was out, he drew out a heavy wooden cudgel and started smiting the invaders.

He paused just in time to see Allia fell another foe trying to get at Dar. She kept five men at bay with her slashing, thrusting shortswords and her quick feet, just as apt to wound as her swords. The men trying to get her looked like children trying to catch fireflies, always seeming to be one step behind. The fluid speed of the Selani overwhelmed her attackers, letting her slide among and between them like water, striking with her swords like a snake striking with fangs. Allia was no less lethal than any cobra, causing men to fall around her with every lightning fast, blurring thrust or light flick of her swords. The attackers had never seen anything like her before, and they became so afraid of her that the survivors backed away with no more thoughts at getting at the young magician she was protecting. Dar set two more men on fire as they backed away, and he saw Sarraya's tiny body flitting around them as they flailed wildly, getting in line with one of the survivors. She pointed at a man rushing away from them, and the deck under the man suddenly lurched and bucked. The man was spilled to the deck, and he screamed only once when several lances of wood erupted from the deck and impaled him, lifting him about four spans off the deck as his blood poured down from him. A man with an axe took a swing at the Faerie, who easily flowed to the side, then reached out and touched the man on the forehead with a surprisingly gentle touch. The man looked at her curiously, then he began to scream horribly.