‘They’re fine.’ Caldason had no way of knowing whether they were or not, but felt a judicious lie was in order. ‘You’ve no need to worry about them. Just concentrate on doing as I say.’

Caldason checked that the way was clear and they moved out of the cabin. The door opened directly onto the deck where a stiff, cold wind blew. Kinsel shivered. Caldason unhooked his cloak and wrapped it round the singer’s shoulders. Kinsel didn’t protest.

The body of the guard was slumped against the wall in a gathering pool of blood. Kinsel stared, but said nothing.

‘Keep going,’ Caldason urged.

Kinsel walked falteringly, like a man who’d been kept in a confined space for too long, which in many ways he had.

As they moved away from the cabins and towards the main deck, they saw a handful of men. Beyond them, a larger group were engaging some of the pirate crew.

‘They’re with us,’ Caldason said, signalling to the nearer group.

Two of the men peeled off and jogged to them.

‘Where’s Darrok?’ Caldason wanted to know.

‘Amidships,’ one of them answered.

‘I want you to go with these men, Kinsel.’

‘But, Reeth-’

‘You can trust them. They’ll take you down to a boat we’ve got moored alongside. Do as they say. They’ll take care of you.’

‘What about you?’

‘I’ll be along. Soon.’

‘Why not now?’

‘There’s something I have to do first. Look, there’s no time to discuss it, all right? You’ll be fine.’ He turned to the two men. ‘Look after him.’ They nodded and moved forward to take charge of Kinsel.

The singer allowed himself to be led towards the stern. Caldason watched them go, then ran forward. When he was near the end of the cabin block, he stopped dead.

Two brawny pirates had rounded the corner ahead. They were well armed and bent on mayhem. The second they saw him, they charged.

He would have preferred meeting them with his swords. But they were sheathed. His only option was the axe, and he had it swinging before the first man reached him. Skidding to a halt just beyond the axe’s sweep, the pirates hung back until it hit the apex of its swing. Then they darted in, forcing Caldason to retreat. But he had the axe moving again instantly, blocking their assault.

They came on in a pincer movement, hacking at him from left and right. He parried them, muscles straining as he worked the heavier weapon. The exchange grew ever more frenzied, the fury of his opponents rising.

Frustration bred rashness, and one of the pirates got too close. Caldason offset the man’s blade with a heavy blow, following with a swipe that wrong-footed him. Then he swiftly brought the axe over in an arc, shattering the pirate’s skull. A puppet with its strings slashed would have fallen no quicker.

The second pirate, stunned by his comrade’s fate, scuttled clear. But wrath got the better of caution, and he made to rush into battle once more. Caldason lifted the axe well over his shoulder and hurled it with all his strength. Spinning through the air, a speeding ring of wood and steel, it pierced the man’s chest, the force of the strike sending him tumbling, lifeless.

Caldason looked back along the deck and saw Kinsel being helped over the rail. He left the axe embedded in the corpse and moved on, drawing a sword.

The group of islanders he joined amidships had dealt with their opposition. The bodies of perhaps a dozen pirates were scattered around. Caldason was about to ask after Darrok when he appeared, swooping in on his glamoured disc.

‘Did you find him?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’

‘And?’

‘He’s alive, but he looks a mess.’ Caldason indicated the bodies. ‘There are more than this, surely?’

‘We had a stroke of luck. Look over there.’ He pointed at a large grille set in the deck some way further along. ‘But I wouldn’t get too close if I were you.’

Caldason trotted to it, and saw that the hatch had been secured with a chain and heavy lock. As he approached he heard a din rising, and when he leaned over to look, a roar went up, and cutlass tips jabbed through the grille. He pulled back, but not before seeing several score pirates in the hold.

Darrok glided in to hover beside him. ‘Most of them were sleeping below decks when we got on board, and we managed to keep them there. I wouldn’t count on it lasting much longer though.’

A determined pounding shuddered the grille, underlining his point.

‘What about the rest of the ship?’

‘Cleared. Except for the wheelhouse block.’

‘And that’s where Vance’s cabin is?’

‘Underneath the bridge, yes. At least, it always was, and the defectors from his crew confirmed it. I’ve kept it well guarded. We haven’t tried going in there yet.’

‘Then it’s time we did. Let’s get Vance sorted and get out of here.’

‘I’ve been waiting to hear that for a long time, Reeth.’ He yelled orders at the waiting islanders, telling them to be ready to evacuate the ship. More than a few of the men looked disgruntled.

They set out for the wheelhouse, Caldason walking next to Darrok’s gliding dish.

‘Why the long faces back there?’

‘Some of our men wanted to finish off those below deck, too,’ Darrok said. ‘They think we’re losing an opportunity by not putting them to death.

‘Maybe they’ve got a point.’

‘I can’t bring myself to order the killing of men in a situation like that.’

‘After what they did to you?’

Darrok eyed him darkly. ‘Oh, don’t get me wrong; I hate them. But there’s a difference between meeting a man in a fair fight and spearing fish in a bucket. I like to be able to sleep nights.’

‘As it happens I see no honour in it myself. Though I’d do it if I had to.’

‘I’d have to be pushed pretty hard. But I’ve no such compunction about Vance. Besides, I’ll be cutting off the serpent’s head. The pirate alliance will fall without him.’

They got to the wheelhouse at the stern. The bridge itself was occupied by islanders, and guards dotted the deck.

‘Well, that’s it,’ Darrok said, indicating a single door under the bridge.

‘You’ll never get your disc through there.’

‘I will if I tilt it. Don’t look at me like that. If I slide off onto my arse I’m still going in. I’ve waited too long for this reckoning.’

‘All right. But let’s get the door down first. Don’t worry, you’ve got first crack at Vance. What do you intend doing with him, by the way?’

‘Cutting his throat’s a temptation. But I’ll call him out. He can face me in single combat.’

‘What if he won’t?’

‘If he sees it’s his only option, he’ll face me. I’ll tell him you’ll let him go if he wins.’

‘You think I’d do that?’

‘That’s your decision. I’ll be past caring.’

‘Thanks,’ Caldason came back dryly. ‘Hold on.’ He beckoned to a couple of the men guarding the area. ‘We need to get through that door,’ he told them. ‘Can you improvise some kind of battering ram? Good. And get a few more people to help use it. Go!’

They ran off.

‘What kind of a fight is it going to be with you in that thing?’ Caldason said, nodding at Darrok’s dish. ‘Gives you a bit of an advantage, doesn’t it?’

‘You really think having no legs is an advantage in a duel? I don’t care. I just want to get to grips with the man. Anyway, fuck advantage; he owes me.’

‘Your decision.’

The sound of chopping drifted to them.

‘Of course, there might be more in there than just Vance,’ Caldason reckoned.

‘We can deal with it,’ Darrok replied dismissively. ‘Where are they with that ram?’

‘They’re coming.’

A party of six or seven men staggered into view, carrying a stout wooden spar.

‘What is it?’ Caldason called to them.

‘We found a damaged mast in a lumber-room near the prow,’ a muscular islander explained. ‘Should do the job.’

They lined it up in front of the door.

‘Sure there’s no other way out of there?’ Caldason said.