All three ships then moved farther from the great massif, climbing in elevation as they did
so, and started sailing down the large mountain valley. The Cloud Wanderer was above the Cloud
Dancer and off to port, and the Dawn Sprite was just in front of that ship. Conversation followed
and exclamations of relief, and a few people even started to unbutton some of their heavy winter
clothing. A crewman came around with a large tray of hot drinks, and everyone in Morgan’s small
group took one.
The wind was pushing them to the southwest and toward one of the smaller, but still
enormous mountains on the other side of the large valley adjacent to Mount Rowellai. The dawn
was brightening into a clear, blue sky, and everyone was enthralled by the view of the spectacular
alpine scenery. But then one of the crew shouted, “What’s that?”
This cry was immediately followed by, “Ship ahoy,” and then by “Two ships ahoy.”
Several crewmen pointed to the starboard and the line of mountains to the southwest, and
everyone stared in that direction.
There were two sky ships approaching. Both were black with black sails, fully extended and
turned to the side because of the contrary wind, and they were hard to see because of the
mountain wall behind them. It was Captain Kapatric who first voiced the fact that they might be
dangerous. They were below and in front of three Hualaiai ships, but were climbing and
approaching fast.
Several questions emanated from around the Cloud Dancer, “Who are they?” “What do
they want?” “Why are their ships black?” “Where did they come from?”
The last question was answered first, by Topper, who pointed and said, “They came out of
that small valley down there.”
“Were they hiding?” someone asked.
Captain Kapatric answered that question, “Yes. They’ve been waiting for us.”
“Why?”
No one answered, then Bella shouted in alarm, “They’ve got bowmen! They mean to
attack!”
“Why?” again came the question, followed by Kapatric’s astonished exclamation of, “That’s
unheard of! They can’t do that.”
Rodney had dropped his day pack onto the deck of the ship and was opening it. He yelled
loudly at the same time, “It might be unheard of, but that is what they are going to do.”
Morgan had already removed his pack, and now he took off his mittens and outer gloves,
and started rooting through it for his and Hannah’s pistols. He could not find them, and Hannah
shoved him out of the way and began searching through the pack herself.
Captain Kapatric ordered a turn to port, and they all watched as the first of the two black
ships approached the Dawn Sprite and the Cloud Wanderer. Arrows flew from the marauders as the
four ships closed, and there were cries of disbelief, alarm, and anguish from the people on the
Cloud Dancer. Arwen’s were the loudest, as she repeatedly shouted, “My father is on that ship!
They cannot attack the King!”
The first flight of arrows missed, but the two black ships moved closer. The little Dawn
Sprite darted down and away from the fight, but the Cloud Wanderer seemed to be having trouble
with the wind and could not maneuver away.
The black ship closest to the Cloud Wanderer continued to close. It was slightly below its
prey, but—nevertheless—the ship fired another flight of arrows. The passengers and crew of the
Cloud Dancer watched, now in horror, with Arwen sobbing aloud.
“They must have at least thirty people on board each of those black ships,” Kapatric
shouted, “…to fire that many arrows at one time.”
The two marauders now separated, with one chasing after the Dawn Sprite and the other
continuing to close on the Cloud Wanderer. The Cloud Dancer was sailing directly toward the fight,
and Morgan glanced to Kapatric and asked, “Can we turn and get out of here?”
The captain looked at him apologetically. “Not easily,” he replied, in a loud voice. “We’re
too deep in this valley and the wind is behind us and flowing down the valley. We need to climb and
get above the peaks.”
Morgan was going to ask that they do this, when he noticed that the top sail had been fully
turned to port, both horizontal rudders were already angled steeply upward so that the ship would
ascend, and that the vertical rudder was shoved over hard to port, so that they could turn away
from the fight. But this, he observed, was having no effect on the course of the ship.
He again looked forward. The Dawn Sprite had ducked under the larger pirate ship and was
now sailing downward and to the southwest—which seemed to be the direction the wind was
pushing all of the combatants. The Cloud Wanderer had not been so lucky, as that same wind
seemed to be moving the vessel directly at its attacker. That ship continued to shoot arrows, and
now everyone on board could see that many of these contained the bright color of fire.
Arwen and Topper had been standing next to each other, and now Arwen shoved Topper
aside and moved to the port rail. Her expression was one of anguish and fear, and her hands were
clasped to her face. Other elves, no matter where they stood, were also transfixed by the fight
occurring to the south, and many of them wore similar expressions.
Hannah had found their pistols, and she handed Morgan his. They glanced at each other,
briefly, and Morgan noticed she had a stern expression, but not the cold, hard look that preceded
her turning into the killer he knew she could become. He also glanced at Esther and Rodney—Esther
was holding her .38-caliber revolver and Rodney his Bulldog. Behind them, and clutching each
other, were Bella and Ruth, and Morgan could see that they were both utterly terrified.
The one large black ship continued to chase the Dawn Sprite to the southwest and down,
into the precipitous wall of the mountains located there, and it continued to shoot arrows down at
the tiny vessel. Most missed the Dawn Sprite, but the little ship could not avoid the almost vertical
side of one mountain. It hit it with its starboard sail, but turned enough to avoid a direct collision,
then it sailed along, dragging its damaged mast and throwing up a rooster tail of snow. The black
ship descended, continuing to fire arrows, and it looked like it was going to make a sure kill, but
then the Dawn Sprite slipped through a very narrow gap between two spires. It escaped, but it with
a damaged port mast and sail, and left part of its starboard mast behind as it did so.
The Cloud Wanderer was having far worse luck. The wind was continuing to push it into its
black attacker, and much of its topsail was on fire. The crew and passengers of the Cloud Dancer
could see various individuals trying to put out the fire, and Arwen repeatedly wailed, “Can anyone
see my father?”
No one could—or at least no one answered her—and now the Cloud Wanderer rolled onto
its port side, and began sliding toward the ground. They all watched in horror as it fell several
hundred feet, in a slow spiral motion, while the flames engulfed more of the ship. It crashed into a
snowfield with what could only be called a big splat, as snow flew everywhere. It sat there for
perhaps two seconds, and then the area where it had hit slipped and became a small avalanche that
flowed down toward a narrow valley. Then the ship and the snow it was riding on dropped over a
cliff and disappeared from sight, and its resting place was marked by a rising column of dense, dark
smoke.