[hider=The Time of Preparation]


The hours were quickly passing by and with the help of a fellow Uzgobian soldier he was equipping his armour. It had been adapted to better suit his new predicament but the design remained similar. There was once a time where he could have done it by himself but it felt like a lifetime ago. A sailor equipped wearing the Neptunian naval battle armour entered the cabin.
“Lord Mandarass, the war council is ready for your orders.”
“Tell them I’ll be there in a moment. I’m not as fast as I used to be.” Andris said.
The Neptunian soldier nodded his head and closed the door behind him. It was not long after that the last piece of armour was equipped.
“Thank you soldier.” Andris said “Now get to your battle station.”
“Yes Sir.”
Again Andris was alone. He had sent Fajera, the girls and the rest of the civilians on a couple of ships at the rear of the fleet, to get them away from the battle. He knew it wasn’t the smartest move but he wasn’t going to risk the casualties, he wasn’t going to lose his family again.

***

The council was waiting for orders, and they were all crowded around a map of the island of deliverance, the surrounding sea as well the estimated locations of the enemy fleet. Andris had just entered the room and joined them at the table. 
“I know you would all like to hear that I have a plan that’ll help us win the battle.” Said Andris “But I’m not an expert of seas and the person I trusted the most on that subject gave his life to save mine. So I will hand over command to Lady Neptuna and Captain Nicol as they suggest their strategy.” 
“Thank you Lord Mandarass.” Freya said “Some you might be aware of Morian Antherion’s reputation as a naval commander. His viciousness and his knowledge of naval warfare makes him a very formidable enemy.” 
“From what we do know Morian has placed his ships here.” Nicol said as he pointed to the natural port of Deliverance. “Here, his navy will be limited in terms of movement but our own ships will be under fire from their artillery.” 
“But it’s something that we’ll have to risk.” Freya added “But we can’t risk an open and prolonged battle, Morian knows these parts of the seas better than anyone.”
“That’s why we’ll use our remaining battle mages to bombard the enemy ships. Nicol said “The chaos within their ranks will create the opportunity that we need to overcome them.”
“And what then?” Asked Andris “What can we expect from the enemy then.”
“We can’t expect them to fight till the last man surrenders, it is not an option for them.” 
“Out of Loyalty?” Andris questioned
“Fear.” Freya replied
The whole council took a minute to let that information sink in. They realised that this would be one of the Alliance’s hardest fights. But at this point the Alliance was on its last leg. They needed Deliverance if they wanted to survive.
“I think it’s safe to say to say that it’s the best plan we have.” Concluded Andris “I’m sure that Lady Neptuna and Captain Nicol will assign each and every one of us an important role for the battle. This will be a hard fight but if we all pull our strength together I am certain we can win, and if this is to be our end then it has been an honour to have fought alongside all of you.”
[/hider]


[hider=The Battle for Deliverance Part 1]
A couple of hours had passed but the island nation of Deliverance was finally coming into view. The air felt wet and cold probably the coldest Andris had ever felt in his life. Deliverance was the complete opposite to Uzgob. It was wet, freezing and teeming with greenery. Then as they got closer to the island Andris could see the castle of the Antherions. It seemed to loom over the land like an ominous omen for any sailors approaching the island but Andris would not let a simple building intimidate him.

Each leader of the Alliance commanded their own group of ships, each with their own tasks to complete in the battle ahead. Andris commanded one of the War Holks which contained a crew of both Mandarassan and Neptunian soldiers. Andris stood by the helm to give any orders to the crew at a moment’s notice. 
Then the enemy ships came into sight but something was wrong. They were nowhere near the port but it instead seemed that the entirety of the enemy fleet had sailed out of the port to engage with the Alliance. The enemy fleet consisted of Longships which were more manoeuvrable than the War Holk and all were filled with battle hardened pirates. Leading the fleet was the Sea Wolf, the flagship of the fleet and commanded by Morian Antherion himself. It was much more distinctive than the other ships, it was twice the size of any of the longships. The flag was pure red with the image of an orange phoenix with its wings spread as if it was about to take flight. But it was the front of the ship that caught Andris’s attention; Hundreds of skulls were tied to the front, to the point that the bow was completely hidden under the mass of skulls. Andris could easily make a guess as to who they once belong to and where he would end up if they were to lose the battle.

Both fleets were gaining speed towards each other, when suddenly the longships started to maneuver themselves away from the Holks at first Andris didn’t understand what they were doing but when he started to see Lady Neptuna’s ship change to the defensive position he understood. 
“Defensive manoeuvres!” he shouted. 
Within an instant, the order was barked at least a dozen times and the men were frantically raising the sails, the helmsman turning the helm as quick as he could. Andris could now see that the Longships made the maneuver to avoid the mages spells and siege equipment. Once again the longships repositioned themselves. They were now heading towards the Holks.

Suddenly fireballs and debris were in the air. They were able to hit a few of the longships before they got too close to make a collision but the overall speed of the longships was too much for the mages and the siege equipment to make any significant damage to the fleet. In the distance Andris saw one of the longships pound straight into the side hull of a distant Holk, soon the longships crew were jumping on board and overwhelming the Uzgobian crew on board. Andris looked around and saw nothing but chaos and then within the distance he could see the Sea Wolf quickly approaching his ship, the many skulls of Morian’s enemies gazing into Andris’s eyes. It was clear that they he was soon in for a fight. He unsheathed his sword. 
“Brace for im…!”
But it was too late.
[/hider]

[hider=The Battle for Deliverance Part 2]
Andris had bumped his head from the impact, he went to pick himself up but struggled to stand, what with his lack of an arm. Once he stood Andris could see that the front part of the ship was gone and that the Holk was already beginning to sink. Most of the men aboard were not sailors and hadn’t even seen the sea before let alone know how to swim. If his men fell into the water, then they would be as good as dead.. But luck was at hand. The Sea Wolf had yet to dislodge itself from the Holk. If they were quick, Andris and his crew could jump on-board and escape a watery tomb. If they were really lucky and defeated Morian, then it could severely drop the morale for the pirates.
There was little time to lose.
“Quickly men, we board the Sea Wolf!”
Despite their initial confusion, upon seeing their commander bravely leading the boarding party the whole crew cheered, unsheathing their swords and followed Andris onto the sea wolf. Surprising some of the enemy crew a battle on the Sea Wolf had begun. Andris, accompanied by two Mandarassan bodyguards were the first to board the ship. Andris looked around the ship he could see that most of his own soldiers were struggling against morian’s pirates. These were an enemy that they had never faced before, they were killers through and through who knew no other existence other than war. It was fortunate that Lady Neptuna had given him some of her sailors, without them Andris’s forces would have been crushed. They fought like it was a second nature to them. They glided across the deck and cutting their way through the enemy. While the soldiers of house Neptuna’s may have been lacking on the land, on the sea they were without rival. 
“Mandarass!” cried out a voice.
Andris turned to see Morian himself approaching him with his rapier unsheathed. Andris knew he didn’t stand a chance against him, not now after the loss of his arm. 
“Protect Lord Mandarss!” one of the bodyguards cried. 
The both of them charged at Morian hoping that together they could overcome him.
“No wait!” Shouted Andris.
But it was too late, as the first bodyguard reached him, Morian dodged before quickly slashing the bodyguard’s chest three times, causing him to collapse on the deck in a pool of blood. When the second bodyguard reached him, Morian simply parried before thrusting his sword into the guards the throat. When he pulled the sword out, the guard collapsed and started slowly choking to death. 

Nothing now stood in the way between Morian and Andris. He had no choice but to fight him even though he knew it would be a losing battle. Andris would have to be smart about this.
“I was expecting a good fight when I heard that the ‘great’ Andris Mandarass. The man who defied two kings, the man who bested Heylot and Beatrice Blackwell in single combat. The man who lead the forces of the northern kingdoms and the fool who dared to take Deliverance away from me. But this” Said Morian with a smirk on his face as, with his sword, he pointed to Andris’s missing arm “This is pathetic”.
“Well when we heard that we were fighting common pirates we knew that this would be an easy fight. If it’s a challenge you were looking for then you’ve found the right man.” Said Andris and he composed himself and his sword out and ready for a fight. 
Morian burst out in laughter. “Very well Mandarass if it’s a quick death you’re looking for then don’t expect it from the likes of me.” Morians face quickly hardened “I will make you regret ever calling the pirates of deliverance ‘common’, before this day is done you will know our strength and will regret the day you ever sailed near our shores”.
“Very well then.” Said Andris “I’ve never fought a cyclops before but there’s a first time for anything.”
Andris could see the rage build up in Morian’s face. Then suddenly Morian let out an almighty roar of rage while unleashing a flurry of thrusts forwards, reveling in the violence as he used his anger to fuel himself. Andris was only able to deflect the thrust away but the strength in his left arm was already waning. It reminded him of his ‘fight’ against Giles Blackwell, Andris was not fighting a man he was fighting against pure rage. Morian then swung his sword towards Andris’s head. Andris barely deflected it but the strength behind the swing was too much. Andris’ sword flew out of his hand and straight into the sea. Defenceless, Andris ran to the helm away from Morian. Morian was shocked at first but then started to laugh a cruel cackle. He no longer saw this as a fight but more like a game.

Andris had reached the helm but Morian was quickly on him, cutting down several members of Andris’s crew as if they were nothing. Andris had to think of something. As he eyed the ships steering wheel an idea started to form.
“For a cyclops you’re pretty fast. I had always heard that they were big, lumbering creatures. But so far I’m not impressed. I once fought a man who could kill a fly in mid-flight like that.” Andris said as he snapped his fingers. “Come on then ‘cyclops’, show me that you’re faster. Come on!”
Again the raged built up in Morian’s face and with another yell of rage, he thrusted his sword towards Andris. Andris managed to just avoid it, gaining a nasty cut across his arm in the process. Morian’s rapier stabbed violently into the helm of the ship, getting stuck in the process. Andris took the opportunity and quickly turned the steering wheel disarming both Morian and swerving the ship making everyone topple to the floor, with some unfortunate people falling into the ocean. Morian managed to gain his footing and laughed.
“Impressive, but not good enough.” Morian said, then he pulled a hidden dagger from his boot. “Always be prepared. That’s my motto.”
Andris saw that he was in a sticky predicament he had nothing to defend himself with and Morian didn’t seem like a man who would be tricked like that for a second time. Could this really be the end for him? Then he suddenly heard something, as if something was flying through the air. He looked up to see a giant flame ball heading straight to where he was standing. 
“Incoming!” Andris yelled to his soldiers. Morian, so caught up in his rage and bloodlust was too focused on Andris to know what was coming as he lept towards Andris with a murderous intent in his eyes. But in that time Andris had already lept out of the way with the force of the explosion knocking him off the ship. Everything went black.
[/hider]

[hider=The End and the Beginning]
Andris had woken up to find himself on the deck of Lady Neptuna’s ship. He was bruised up, had a few cuts from the explosion but overall he was fine. Morian was not as lucky as Andris would later find out. Captain Nicol later told him that he had found Morian’s body floating in the sea with a large piece of shrapnel lodged in his chest. Andris enquired about the aftermath of the battle. Neptuna explained that the explosion from the Sea Wolf was the turning point of the battle. After that many of the deliverance militia who had been forced to fight lost their morale and surrendered to the overwhelmingly larger alliance fleet some surrendered but many fought to their deaths. However Morian’s pirates had fought to the last man refusing to surrender even after defeat was clear, intent on killing as many as they could before disappearing into the abyss. Andris recommended that every man was to be given a proper sea burial even Morian, out of respect to the traditions of Deliverance, and to a truly powerful, fearsome and terrifying opponent. But the Alliance had done it again, in their darkest hour they had been victorious, and most importantly hope had returned to its soldiers. They could now head towards Deliverance which was to become their home base until the time came for Alliance to return to Formaroth and win the war.
[/hider]