LIBERATION

"Arda!" Tulote's  voice, thick with alarm, broke my reverie.

He and Cassandra landed on the deck beside me, their faces etched with concern.
Tulote's eyes searched mine, seeing the change.
The wild, vengeful spirit was gone, replaced by a calm that was somehow more intimidating.

"He is gone."

"You... you almost went with him," Cassandra said. "That was... a lot more than just a fancy light show."

Before I could explain the intervention of Erton, the colossal shadow of the Obsidian Maw fell over us as Triton brought her alongside.
Ropes were thrown, and a bridge was laid.
The faces of my crew stared down at me, their expressions a mixture of awe, fear, and relief.

I took a deep breath.
I could feel them, the scattered remnants of the demon fleet, disorganized and confused.
Beyond them, trapped in the rocky maze of the Serpent's Teeth, I could feel the faint, desperate lights of the Imperial Navy.

I had promised Yui.
I had promised them all.

My gaze met Triton's across the rail. 

"The execution is not over, Captain," I said, "the Imperial Navy is waiting. Let's go get our people."

Triton's grim face broke into a wide, determined grin.

"Aye, sir. All ahead full!"

The Obsidian Maw disengaged from the dead flagship and turned her bow towards the heart of the battle.
As we closed the distance, the scene of desperation became clear.
A dozen battered Imperial ships — frigates, sloops-of-war, and what looked like two heavily damaged second-rates — were fighting back-to-back, completely surrounded by the remaining demonic vessels.
Their sails were tattered, their hulls pockmarked with shot-holes, but they were fighting with great strength.
At their centre was a magnificent three0decker, her masts splintered but her flags still flying defiantly.

The Indispensible, Fleet Admiral Valenski's flagship.

On our forecastle, Tulote stood watching, his hands gripping the rail.
I could feel his sorrow, it was a deep sorrow.
This was his brother's element, his brother's navy, and they were dying.
He closed his eyes, a single word escaping his lips.

"Aquarius"

It was as if the ship herself heard him.
A tremor ran through the deck.
The air above the quarterdeck began to shimmer.

A form took shape — a spectral, translucent figure of a man, glowing with a soft, cerulean light.

He was lean, with short-cut blue hair and a smile that spoke unshakeable confidence.
He wore the uniform of a Supreme Admiral, and though he was an echo, a spirit, his presence was more real than the sea itself.

Aquarius had returned to his vessel.

The crew gasped.
Triton, the hardened old sea dog, openly wept, his face streaked with tears as he looked upon Aquarius.

"Admiral..." he choked out.

Tulote stared.
His face was one of joy, but of heart-wrenching sorrow.
He didn't speak, but no words were needed.
The spirit of Aquarius turned his head, and though his eyes were made of light, they seemed to meet his brother's, offering a silent nod of acknowledgement and love.
He then turned his gaze to the battle ahead, and a wave of pure, brilliant naval genius washed over the ship.

There was no voice, but rather a feeling, no... an instinct.
Ever sailor suddenly knew their role with absolute clarity.
Every cannon felt perfectly balanced.

"He's... he's commanding the ship," I breathed, awestruck.

Triton wiped the tears from his eyes with a calloused hand.

"I can feel him! I know what he wants!" he roared. "Helmsman, bear to port! We're coming in on their rear quarter! Master Gunner, load the starboard batteries with double shot! We're going to rake them stem to stern!"

Guided by Aquarius, the Obsidian Maw moved with a grace that defied her size.
We executed a perfect oblique approach, slicing across the tail end of the demonic formation.
The demon ships, focused on their prey, didn't see us until it was too late.

"FIRE AS SHE BEARS!"

The starboard broadside erupted.
One after another, the cannons unleashed their fury.
Double-shotted 42-pounders tore through the stern of the first demon ship, the cannonballs ripping through the length of its hull, turning its gun decks into a slaughterhouse of splintered wood and shredded flesh.
The ship convulsed, its masts toppling as we sailed past, leaving it a drifting wreck.

The entire dynamic of the battle changed in that single pass.

Aboard The Indispensible, a weary Fleet Admiral Valenski watched through his spyglass, his heart sinking as the demons prepared for another assault.
Then, he saw it. 
A black ship, larger than any he had ever seen, emerging from the smoke, her guns blazing.
And on her quarterdeck, a figure of pure blue light he would recognize in the deepest abyss of hell.

"It cannot be..." he whispered. Then, his voice rose to a roar. "IT'S THE OBSIDIAN MAW! ADMIRAL AQUARIUS HAS RETURNED! ALL SHIPS, ON MY SIGNAL! TURN TO ENGAGE!"

Hope, fierce and hot, surged through the beleaguered Imperial fleet.
Signal flags were hoisted.
Battered ships turned to present their own cannons.

Oh how the tables turned.

What followed was a masterclass in naval warfare.
Aquarius's spirit guided us, putting us in the perfect position for every engagement.
Triton translated that silent genius into bellowed commands.
I stood at his side, my own perception now a weapon of war.

"The frigate at two o'clock!" I'd call out. "Its rudder chain is weak! A single shot there will cripple it!"

"GUN CAPTAIN, AIM FOR THE RUDDER!" Triton would roar.

A single cannon would fire, its shot guided by my focus, severing the essential thread and sending the ship into an uncontrollable spin.

The battle became a swirling maelstrom.
Tulote and Cassandra stood with the marines at the rails, their own powers ready.
When one demon ship, in its desperation, attempted to board us, Tulote met them at the rail.
He didn't need a bridge.
He simply stomped his foot, and a wave of solid earth erupted from the sea itself, capsizing the smaller vessel and sending its crew to the depths.

From the walls of the Imperial ships, we could hear their crews cheering our name.
Thy too had been fighting for survival; now, they were fighting for victory.
The leaderless demons, assailed from two sides and facing a tactical genius from beyond the grave, broke.
Their formation shattered.
It was no longer a battle; it was a rout.

As the last few demon ships tried to flee, I noticed one was not fighting back as fiercely. It was trying to protect its damaged hull.
My enhanced senses perceived the threads of life within it - not the corrupted glyphs of demons, but the faint, flickering lights of humans.

Prisoners.

"Triton, that one!" I yelled, "bring us alongside! We're not sinking it. We're taking it back."

"Boarding parties, with me!" Cassandra yelled.

The Maw cornered the final vessel easily.
This time, the boarding was swift.
Tulote, Cassandra, and I led the way.
The few remaining demons on deck were overwhelmed in seconds.
We secured the ship and stormed below, freeing the terrified prisoners from the hold.
They were a mix of sailors and civilian staff captured from coastal raids - medics, carpenters, and cooks.

They were gaunt and pale, but alive. 
As they stumbled out onto the deck, blinking in the sunlight, I moved among them, looking for one face in particular.

A stout, weary-looking dwarf with a soot-stained beard and terrified eyes looked up.

"Aye... I'm a cook. Name's Borin."

"Is your son named Sigusmund?"

The dwarf's eyes widened in shock.

"How... how do you know my boy?"

"I met him in Elevetih," I said.

I smiled a geniue smile, the first since Yui's death.

"He is safe, and he is a fine soldier. He wanted me to tell you that he and his sister are doing well, and that he hopes to see you soon."

The dwarf, Borin, simple stared at me for a moment, his face crumbling as tears welled in his eyes.
He grabbed my hand, shaking it fiercely.

"Thank you," he choked out. "Thank you, hero.:

This was what we fought for.

With the last demon ship captured and its prisoners freed, the battle was over.
The Dwarven Sea was liberated.
On the quarterdeck of the Maw, the spectral form of Aquarius watched as the battered but triumphant Imperial fleet gathered around his ship.
He turned, gave a final, proud nod and leaned in to hug his brother Tulote.

Though he was a spirit, and faded through Tulote, he later told me that it was just like hugging his brother when he was alive.

Then, like mist in the morning sun, Aquarius faded away.

A launch from the Indispensible pulled alongside, and Fleet Admiral Valenski himself came aboard.
He was an old, scarred warrior, but he stood tall and proud as he saluted not me, not Tulote, nor Cassandra, but the empty space where his admiral had just been.

"Lord Regent Tulote. Hero Arda, Miss Cassandra," he said, "you have done the impossible. You have brought us back our hope... and our admiral."

I looked out over the combined fleet, now more than thirty ships strong.
But the victory felt heavy.

I felt Yui's dagger pressed against my side, a constant, aching reminder of the cost.
I knew, with the certainty of Erton's truth, that the greatest battle — the fight against Dietha herself in the barren wastes of the Irene Desert — was still to come.