"The old codger's finally figured it out, eh?" Markus grinned, spinning the wheel one last time as the Hammer swung out to open sea. The Sea Drake wasn't a massive ship and he could tell it was built to give sloops a run for their money if the wind was with it. But The Hammer was still the faster and lighter. The seconds dragged on as the ship's continued to race around one another before the Hammer finally open fired, powder and deafening roars filled the ocean surface as the cannon's bounced from the sheer power of their shot. The Sea Drake had holes the size of men punched through it, though Markus couldn't rightly tell if it had permanent damage or not. It didn't matter, as Sketti played his little trick. 

The Dwarf dropped strange casks of ice into the water made from some chemical Markus couldn't begin to pronounce. The ordinance burst into steam on contact with the warm sea, erupting like geysers so as to shadow the very air around them. It was when the last of the Hammer's cannons shot that it grew obscure enough to be unable to see thirty meters out, and so Markus made his gamble and set the Hammer full speed ahead. It was just seconds later that the Captain felt a strange twinge in his mind, followed by Emmaline giving a squeal in fear.

Lightning burst forth out of the fog with a crack like the act of a vengeful God. For a brief moment Markus thought they could somehow see them through the smoke. It would still take far longer than Markus liked to be out of range of their cannons, but after a second discharge of the spell was enacted, it became clear their wizard was simply guessing at their location. Markus let the ship go once it hit the wind, and it was just in time as he saw Emmaline crafting a spell. 

"No!" He said, leaping over to her and placing a hand on her mouth. She said something muffled, likely sassy but he couldn't make it out. 

"We can fight him later. We don't want them to know where we are, right?" He asked.

"Hmmmmrrrrmm," she agreed, and after a second he let go of her mouth. Her hair was frizzled and she tried to smooth it to preserve her dignity, but otherwise she was unharmed. Sketti made his stout way up from the deck to the aft castle where they stood, grinning like an ugly bulldog. It gave Markus a good look at his ivory and gold teeth. He held his hands on the belt loops of his pants as he strutted up to the Captain and the ship mage. 

"So, how do ye like my concoction?" He asked the swordsman. More plumes of smoke rolled up behind them, and it was only when water splashed and the sounds erupted that they knew it was the Sea Drake firing all cannons in a vain attempt to hit them. Markus and Sketti were unconcerned, the darkly handsome man speaking about how useful the 'dry ice' the Dwarf had made was and how they could use it in future engagements.