tempest5

The two ships slam into each other: the screeching of their collision barely precedes the clash of swords and abrupt cries of pain. Everyone is soon freckled with the blood of moggs and humans alike. Tahngarth and Greven serve as towering landmarks for their allies, each clearing away his enemy with wide sweeps. Orim, the Weatherlight's Samite healer, defends herself from attacks while desperately tending the crew's wounds. The Predator's cannons open fire again, this time targeting the Weatherlight's masts and crew.

As the battle rages across decks and railings, the nobleman Crovax finally glimpses Selenia, the angel who once protected his manor, as she dives in and out of the combat. His face freezes as he realizes the truth, Selenia now serves Volrath. The sword that defended his family now slays his allies. Crovax desperately tries to reach her, but they are kept apart by the frenzy of the battle.

He does not know that Selenia, whose very creation equipped her with an empathic link to Crovax, sensed his approach and led the Predator to this bloodbath. Selenia despises Greven and Volrath and would chose to be with Crovax if she could, but she cannot question Volrath's commands: destroy his enemies and seize the Legacy.

Terrified of his mogg cousins and certain that he will be dead in moments, Squee, the Weatherlight's goblin cabin hand, flees the battle. He scrambles below deck to hide and to secure the artifact "toy" he scrounged from the cargo hold days ago. He wraps himself around the warm, misshapen ball, listening to the moggs ransack the hold. The moggs grunt and mutter as they tromp through the Weatherlight's bays, sniffing the air in search of elements of the Legacy. The mogg nearest Squee's hiding place suddenly recoils from a terrible smell and turns away. Squee's own stench protects him and his toy from the sensitive sniffing of the moggs. Shaken but relieved, Squee reminds himself to explain the advantages of not bathing to Gerrard.

Karn, the silver golem whose pacifism prevents him from slaying the raiders, is identified as a Legacy artifact by the moggs. When they grab him, he lashes out to protect himself. His fierce blow kills the mogg he sends sprawling, and he is paralyzed with conscience.....he offers no further resistance. Dozens of moggs swarm him, tip him over, and heave him back to the Predator. Ertai tries to protect the golem, but the mogg's affinity for the Legacy seems to give them resistance to his magic. They chitter and gesture to each other, snarling at Ertai as they shove past him and return to the Predator with Karn and many other Legacy treasures. They are reluctant to leave the Thran crystal in the ship's engine but cannot knock it loose. In the end, they crack the crystal with hammers but fail to dislodge it.

While the moggs loot the Weatherlight, Gerrard and Greven il-Vec hack their way through the battle to reach each other. Gerrard is the more agile fighter, but Greven is brutal and tireless. Greven draws first blood with a gash across Gerrard's lip, a sign of Greven's likely victory. But even as the two circle and exchange blows, back aboard the Predator, Greven's first mate Vhati il-Dal gives the order to fire. He clearly intends to achieve two goals: Greven's goal of conquering the weatherlight, and his own convert goal...killing Gerrard. Vhati knows that command of the predator is within his reach, if only the malformed

Greven were to die in the blast. The roar of the mogg cannons is deafening, and the impact rocks both ships. As the Weatherlight suddently lists, Gerrard tumbles over the railing. Hanna lunges fro him but cannot reach him in time. She watches helplessly as Gerrard plummets toward the tangle of forests below.

Get the novel if you enjoied the story of "Tempest". This anthology of short fiction tells the story of Gerrard, heir to the Legacy (a collection of powerful magical arifacts), and his struggle with Volrath, a being of unimaginable evil. The stories feature the flying ship Weatherlight and her motley but devoted crew. The price for this novel is $5.99 and if you would like more information on this and other magic the gathering things go to www.wizards.com the oficial magic:the gathering site!