Free Leviathan (Lost Civilizations: 2) by Vaughn Heppner

time’s standard. As unbelievable as it seems today, Cain used the three galleys to wield an iron grip on the Siga Archipelago. Year by year, he captured better warships, and spread his net to recruit any who plied the dishonorable trade.
    “The pirate fleet grew, until honest traders were forced to travel in convoys, lest pirates overwhelm them. Then, even convoys were plundered. City-state warships had to sail with the traders. Then Cain, now known as Red Cain, browbeat his pirates into attacking warship-protected convoys.
    “Only then did the rulers of Further Tarsh realize the danger that had grown at the other end of the Suttung Sea. Red Cain’s ambitions weren’t for gold or jewelry, but for empire and conquest. He organized his pirate fleets into squadrons. The squadrons combined each summer to attack the smaller cities and conquer them. One by one, the cities and holdings fell to Red Cain, and fed his ever-growing fleet, with oarsmen and mariners. Soon, such was his strength and arrogance, that he sent ambassadors to Further Tarsh, demanding tribute. Such was the dread of his name that I’m told many merchants wondered aloud if this might not be the wisest policy.”
    Joash glanced at Adah. He’d been taught that the merchants of Further Tarsh believed gold was stronger than steel, that a trader was wiser than a warrior. Joash’s half-contemptuous look said the rulers of Further Tarsh needed some Elonites to help them against Red Cain.
    “Ah,” the Captain said, “the merchant-princes of Further Tarsh would not truckle to Red Cain’s suggestion. They gathered a fleet, and sailed to crush him. However, in this pirate lord they met a master admiral. His stratagems were legion, his dispositions flawless and his pirates had become hardy veterans. Red Cain smashed Further Tarsh’s fleet.”
    “Then, how was Red Cain defeated?” Adah asked.
    “Those were the darkest days since the coming of the bene elohim ,” Captain Maharbal said. “Luckily, Seraphs from the Empire had come to Further Tarsh. They heard about the disaster and knew of a way to defeat Red Cain. A patchwork fleet was gathered, and three Seraphs joined the fleet. They took silver horns with them. When they sighted Red Cain’s fleet the next spring, the Seraphs put the opening of the silver horns underwater and blew mightily. When nothing happened, the Tarsh seamen bitterly cursed the Seraphs, and prepared to die. They knew that after another pirate victory, Red Cain would capture Jugurtha, Nabdalsa, Thala and Mago, and worst of all, Further Tarsh itself. Bomlicar and Carthalo already knew the conqueror’s heel. Those city streets had run red with blood, with maniacal pirate-bands that had looted and raped at will.
    “Then, to everyone’s amazement, leviathans arose from the sea. Ah, such creatures as this hadn’t been seen since the Accursed War. Directed by the silver horns, the leviathans attacked the pirate armada. What Red Cain had taken years to build, the leviathans destroyed in an afternoon. They smashed galleys by swimming into them, or using their flukes. Only a handful of ships escaped, with Red Cain in one of them.
    “The Further Tarsh fleet was small, but they gave chase. At last, Red Cain disappeared into the Hanun Delta. There, the captains of Further Tarsh dared not go. They feared Red Cain. Without the leviathans, they felt it prudent to let the shattered pirate fleet die in peace.
    “But, die in peace Red Cain certainly did not do. He licked his wounds, and set up camp on the old ruins of Magog’s city. There, he uncovered strange and awful weapons. There, he dredged the old canals, and built the first squat fortresses that make up Shamgar. The seamen of Further Tarsh had enough work rebuilding what Red Cain had destroyed, never mind in rooting him out. Still, their prudence was not entirely wise. Red Cain soon led pirating forays from Shamgar. Ever since, so have his decedents.”
    “What about Gog?” Joash asked.