第39节

r was able to raise and move in a chosen

direction could not travel very fan half a mile at the most and

somewhat less if the summoner was generating a series of them. Beyond

a certain point, the dynamic thrust that kept the twisting column up in

the air and moved it forward simply petered out and the whole thing

just collapsed in a cloud of spray.

But now, the wheel-boat had steamed closer to the shore and within

seconds of being summoned into life, four towering waterspouts were

snaking across the lake owards Captain Umigami's vessel and more were

being brought to life behind them.

Seeing what was happening, a large number of warriors broke off from

the retreating column and formed a human rampart around the summoners

to protect them for as long as they could.

Samurai-Major Mitsunari and Captain Umigami stared in horror as the

line of waterspouts came spinning across the lake towards their boat.

The wheel-house perched on top of the third floor gallery was already

some fifty feet above water-level - these huge roaring white snakes

were higher by at least half as much again, maybe more!

A raging wind tore through the portside galleries and buffeted the

wheel-house then the boat shuddered as the first four columns of water

slammed into it. Water cascaded out of the sky and burst i.nto the

side cabins, flooding through the transverse passageways to empty over

the starboard side. Again and again the ship was struck. Interior

partitions were swept away as torrents of water poured down the maze of

stairways onto the through deck and into the holds below.

The basic structure had been built to resist the worst of storms but no

one had envisaged moving walls of water as high as this! Two more,

top-heavy spouts struck the port side of the wheel-boat just forward of

midships, snapping off both funnels and sweeping them into the sea

beyond. The next seemed to be aimed directly at the wheel-house.

Before anyone inside had time to react, the hundred foot high column of

water struck the corner of the forward galleries. Several tons of

water fell out of the sky, flattening the wheel-house and its

occupants.

Samurai-General Shinoda, on the bridge of the following boat, watched

speechlessly as the tumbling mass of water hit the roof of Mitsunari's

vessel and exploded, hurling the splintered wreckage of the wheel-house

and the rag-doll bodies of his comrades into the sea. Finding his

tongue, he invoked the protection of OmikamiAmaterasu, the supreme

deity. Like all his compatriots, he had discounted the half-baked

tales of Mute magic, but it was true! He had seen it with his own

eyes. These grass-monkeys had summoned a horde of evil kami to their

aid!

And as if to underline the awful truth of this conclusion, the huge

boiler in the bowels of the stricken vessel exploded with a muffled

roar. For a brief instant of time the damage was contained then, with

a thunderous boom, billowing clouds of smoke and steam burst out

through the roof and the ruptured side galleries.

The cannons fell silent. And the last waterspouts faltered and died

before reaching the wheel-boat as the two She-Kargo summoners went down

under a dozen flashing knives. The bodies of their defenders littered

the water's edge, staining it with their blood.

The run continued, the death-toll mounted. But now, with only three

long-stretching miles between the retreating column and the face of the

bluffs, they entered the last defensive zone where, in the hours

between midnight and dawn, feverish preparations had been made to delay

the pursuit.

Six-foot square lattices of poles, lashed together with sharpened

stakes fixed at right-angles to every join had been scattered along the

bar, sharp end down. As the column passed by, the frames were turned

over by the tail-enders to expose the lethal points and tossed into the

path of the oncoming D'Troit.

Their size made them too risky to leap over. The fleet-footed dodged

around while other more public-spirited individuals attempted to