“Not necessarily,” countered Formone. “I suggest that we don’t strike right away. Pass by the closest ships and move further into the armada. As soon as someone notices us, we all fire our harpoons at the closest ships.”

“That might work,” conceded a sailor, “but you do realize what you are asking? We will get quite a few ships that way, but not a single one of us will be returning. We will be in the middle of three hundred ships with mages on every single one of them. We will be trapped.”

“What you say is true,” Formone acknowledged. “It is a one way trip. Because of that, I think each crew should decide this for themselves. Anyone who does not wish to be involved can cut his line to the rest of us right now. Float free and hoist your sails for the journey back to the mainland.”

“What mainland?” shrugged a sailor. “You were right before when you said that we have no homes. None of us are likely to survive this war, yet our actions tonight could save thousands of our friends and relatives. Count me in, Formone.”

Shouts of agreement rippled through the small group of patriots. Not a single man cut himself free from the line tying them all together.

“Alright,” explained Formone, “this is what I see us doing. We will want to strike in the middle of the night when most of their crews will be sleeping. Make sure that both your fore and aft harpoons are loaded and ready to fire. We will sail in groups of ten. The first group will have to penetrate the furthest into the armada. That is going to mean a lot of bobbing and weaving to get there without being seen. The second group will stay back about a thousand paces, and each group will do the same for the one in front of them.”

“We won’t be able to see that far at night,” frowned a sailor.

“I know,” nodded Formone, “but if we start out in proper formation and maintain a like speed, it will be close enough. The point is that we must not end up in a single clump. We must strike ships throughout the armada all at once. Fire your two harpoons and then try to get free. With any luck, one or two us might escape to describe this tactic to someone back home.”