Levitation was a difficult spell to employ at the best of times. Unlike most spells that were complete once incanted a levitation spell had to be maintained for as long as you wanted the object in question to float. Calliope’s eyes followed the snaking rope that fell from above. The crew had climbed to the firing position and lowered it down. It was a thick hawser cable, braided together until it split five feet above the cannon, a noose like knot encircling the breech and the muzzle. She climbed onto the cannon and sat down upon the cold metal clearing her mind.

“Haul!” she yelled, and the rope went taught. The words of the spell slid off her tongue like rain dancing into a still pool, her mind focused taking in every detail of the cannon visualizing it floating upon a gentle zephyr of magical energy. The cannon began to rise as its weight decreased. Even for the mighiest wizard lifting several hundred pounds of metal hundred of feet in the air would have been nearly impossible, but she was able to make just light enough that the muscle power of the crew could do the job. The cannon rose steadily. Calliope not only had to keep her concentration but she also had to kick out with her feet, fending the cannon away from the cliffside as she rose.

“I heard, I heard an old man say… haul!...” the shanty rumbled as the men hauled at the ropes. Calliope looked out behind her has she rose. The sea was calm and the wind low, which was a mercy because keeping staton in high waters would have been all but impossible. This island was one of the outer barrier islands that protected the Bloodaxe harbor, to the left and right she could see the green shrubby forest that covered the front of the island, catching enough water from rains and sea spray which filtered through the rock to counteract even the desert winds which blew in of Arad Lind. Fortunately the rocky spire was high enough that they should have a clear line of sight from the peak.

By the time she neared the top Calliope was sweating and shaking from the effort of maintaining the spell. It was longer than she had ever tried to hold an incantation before but there was no choice now, the sudden failure of the spell at best would lead to her plunging back down the cliff as the men tried desperately to slow the rope, at worst the shock of a hundred extra pounds that hadn’t been there a moment before would part the rope and she would fall to her death. Despite the danger she felt exhilarated to be so high, the urge to spread her wings and … Suddenly there were hands reaching down to grip the cannon and swing it onto the top of the peak. She held the spell until they settled the long barrel into the wooden gun carriage and then released the spell. The wood creaked as the gun settled and she let out a long breath.

The view from the top of the island was spectacular. The broad bay below had been formed from the remains of an ancient volcano, each of the barrier islands a fragment of the caldera wall that the sea had battered its way through to form the four channels that led into the calm lagoon below. The Arad shore was green where water from a spring spilled down from a line of rocky hills to a broad beach. A makeshift pier ran out into the ocean where three ships, the long blood axe galleys, swung at anchor. A fourth was run up on the beach, smoke coiling from underneath it where breening fires were being set to burn away seaweed and barnacles that ships developed during long service. The copper plated bottoms of modern ships made the chore less frequent, but even the greatest warships occasionally needed to remove the trails of material that would otherwise slow their speed through the water.  A fifth ship was winding its way through one of the channels. This was no galley or pirate vessel but a square rigged brig of northern design. Judging by the fact that the pirates did not seem agitated by its arrival, it must have been a trading partner. Markus was already studying it through his brass telescope. It made sense that the pirates sold what they didn’t use themselves, though Calliope hadn’t imagined that would be a factor in their raid. The extra guns and men might be a problem if the brig were inclined to fight, the Weather Witch’s main advantage was that she could out run the galleys in anything like a wind, with another square rigger dogging her, that might be a problem.