* * *

“I want to know the amount of damage,” Premer Doralin shouted. “Get some more of those lights into the sky.”

One of the mages cast a spell and sent a bright projectile screaming into the sky. The premer turned slowly in a complete circle viewing the catastrophic damage inflicted on his fleet. There was not a single quarter where some of his ships were not sinking. He cursed under his breath.

“I want mages to contact every single ship in the armada,” demanded the premer. “Make a list of those who answer and those who do not. I must know the strength of my armies.”

General Valatosa hurried across the deck of the ship and halted alongside the premer. For a moment neither man spoke as they surveyed the devastation around them.

“I would estimate a third of the fleet is gone,” the general said softly. “That still leaves us with two hundred thousand men. That should be more than enough for the task at hand.”

“It should be,” snapped the premer, “providing those nasty little boats don’t return for another bite at us,”

“The ones that attacked us will never be returning,” replied the general. “It was a suicide mission. None of them survived. They didn’t even try to escape like the last time. They kept firing those harpoons until we killed them. You have to admire their courage.”

“I do admire their courage,” nodded the premer, “as well as their cunning in coming back after dark, but this episode makes me more determined to see those people annihilated. We have lost a tremendous amount of good men before this war is even started. I am now anxious to seize Alamar and show these Sakovans what ruthless cunning is meant to be.”

“We will have to slow the fleet soon,” commented General Valatosa. “We are getting close to shore.”

“We will slow,” nodded the premer, “but not before we change our formation. As soon as I get a list of functioning ships, we will guarantee the end of such surprise attacks. I want the fleet tightened up with a column of ships on each flank a distance off from the rest of the fleet. Those columns are to maintain a constant watch for enemy vessels. If an enemy ship passes the column into our fleet, I will hang the captain of the column ship who allowed it to pass.”