The first thing Darius noticed, as he peeked above deck, was that Balthazar was not where he'd left him. The second thing he noticed was the chaos.
Two sailors lay prone beside the mast where Darius had last seen the mage. Off to the far side of the ship, half a dozen or so men were leaning over the taffrail with ropes and bargepoles, just as they had when they had hauled Darius aboard, so he quickly realised that they were likely doing the same for someone else.
It quickly became apparent that that someone else was not Balthazar. The mage was in the midst of a scuffle with two other sailors nearby. Darius was still trying to take in everything before him when he heard a noise so loud and overpowering that he was tempted for half a trill to disappear below deck again and cower in fear.
But he held his ground, for it was clear that it was Balthazar's doing. Darius assumed his companion was going to teleport himself away, rally the Elements, and return to save the trial, but he didn't go anywhere. If anything, he'd caused a loud noise and then...stayed aboard the ship?
Darius furrowed his brow at this unexpected development. It was, it seemed, yet another departure from the original plan. But he heard the mage yell in his direction, and that gave him some home. Two bits was not a long time. But...two bits until what? Until his portal opened?
To some degree, the answer to that question didn't matter. Balthazar was outnumbered in a fight, and he was unlikely to last a pair of bits on his own. That realisation was enough to convince Darius to make his move. He broke into a run, his feet pushing hard against the wooden surface to increase his speed. He ran with no lack of confidence in his ability to find purchase on the moisture-laden deck, for his experience on ships had taken him on such runs in the midst of a squall.
He passed the two sailors by the mast, both of whom were too focused on their own injuries to even notice the stowaway rushing by. He went around the group of sailors who were trying to rescue their friend, his wet form gone before any of them might have turned around. And then he was near Balthazar. The two sailors facing the mage had their backs turned to Darius, which made them easy targets. As the Scalvorian neared one, he launched himself at the man, leading with his shoulder into the man's ribs, wrapping his harms around the men's body in a heavy tackle.
The collision was so solid and unexpected that the sailor's head rocked back, and his dagger escaped his grasp and clattered onto the deck. Darius and the sailor did likewise, with the latter breaking the former's fall.
The sailor groaned as Darius climbed up his body, pinning him down. The bearded blond knelt on the man's chest, and was about to raise his fist when he heard another noise.
Unlike Balthazar's roar, this was quieter, and it was not coming from anywhere on the ship itself. Darius turned to look, realising it had come from the direction of Scalvoris Town. He was staring into the mist when he heard it again.
This time, he recognised it as someone blowing into a conch shell, which was then followed by the sound of splashing. The sailor beneath him heard it too, and abandoned his resistance before it began in an attempt to turn his head to see what was happening.
"What's going on here?" came a gruff voice, and Darius craned his neck to see who was speaking.
He saw four Elements - water troops - each sitting on the back of a
mergala equestor, which seemed content to tread water. The soldiers wore armour and blue cloaks, and the one near the front had a conch shell attached to her hip.
"I said what's going on here?" asked one of the other troops, a burly man with a commanding presence.
Darius suddenly realised that the speaker was looking at him, presumably because he was in the midst of a scuffle. The Scalvorian found himself short of words, and he hesitated, trying to find the right words.
But the sailor beneath him replied first.
"Stowaways!" the man yelled from his position on the deck, frantically pointing at Darius and Balthazar.
"They attacked us for no reason!"
Other sailors within earshot cursed at their crewmate under their breaths. More than one called him a fool.
"Is that so?" the troop replied.
"Well then, I guess we'd better come aboard and have a chat to your stowaways."
Darius still pinned the sailor down as he cast a nervous glance in Balthazar's direction, unsure how to react. If the sailors refused to allow the troops aboard, that could only help their plight - and that of the kidnapped children. But in the chaos, he still wasn't sure if the mage had bested his opponent. He was hoping Balthazar might know what to do, especially if that involved not getting stabbed!
