[Regin Hardhammer]

As soon as the fighting had begun, Marreth had climbed down the mast as quickly as he could and joined in the fray. His own work was done. He had cleverly bored through the wood leaving a well concealed hole that none of the Elves should be able to see. The next time Luindal went sailing and a stiff wind blew up, the mast should snap in half and leave him helpless to sail any further.

Just let the Elves go out and pull up one of the Stones from the depths of the Bay, Marreth would be waiting nearby and kindly relieve him of the prize. Just to make sure that Luindal would know who’d done this to them, Marreth had left a little note tied onto the lower portion of the mast with his signature prominently displayed in bold letters.

Too bad their little ploy had been discovered. His men might have caused more havoc by emerging from the barrels after the Elves had put them on one of the lower decks and then retired for the night. But now that he’d finished his chore, their real job was done, and they needed to leave the ship.

Marreth signaled to the men to retreat and go immediately for the shore. One of Luindal’s Lossoth allies had scuttled their small boats so they would have to swim for it. That shouldn’t be too hard. They were fairly close to the beach. The only problem was the bitter cold waters. But they should be able to make it and warm themselves by the hot fires and by changing into dry clothing.

Some of the men had been injured, but even these were managing to make it over the side of the ship and swim to shore with the aid of their comrades. The one who looked to be in worst shape was Tarn. This was the Lossoth who had helped him set up this little operation and Marreth had no intention of leaving him behind if he could help it. Tarn had staggered over to the railing and was barely standing upright.

Quickly, Marreth retreated to the side railing and put his arm around Tarn’s shoulders, supporting his sagging body. He yelled out an order to another Corsair to hurl one of the half empty barrels down into the Bay. Fighting off the others with his free arm, he managed to climb over the rail. The two slipped together into the water with Marreth continuing to hold onto Tarn. “Here, grab onto the barrel stave as hard as you can,” he shouted at the Lossoth above the noise of battle. Marreth took off his belt and tied one end about Tarn’s shoulder and the other onto a half loose stave to make sure the wounded man would not let go.

Amid a volley of arrows, Marreth climbed up on the barrel and managed to grab one of the poles they’d brought on the small boats that was now floating in the water. He bagan paddling furiously for shore, keeping his head as low as he could. Once more, Marreth’s luck held. Despite the arrows whizzing through the air, the Corsair received only one cut on his upper arm as the sharp edge sliced through his doublet but then buried itself in the wood of the barrel instead of his own body, or that of Tarn. It was not long before they reached the shore. Some of the men left behind were waiting there with thick fur hides and blankets. They had sledges drawn by deer which took them immediately back to the ship where there was hot drinks and healing herbs as well as beds to rest. Marreth immediately asked the cabin boy to go get Diera so he could tell her what had happened and find out how Jarlyn was doing.