4 May 1875 ~later~

Our victory came at great cost.

Over half the sailors from the Selene, good men all, were killed in the battle.  The Selene herself was saved from sinking only by the massive pumps that Sir Cosmo had installed and that Inspector MacGreggor and George we able to get working at great risk to their own lives.

Prior to the battle, while we were still in the seas surrounding the Mysterious Island, we had laid plans to make the best use of our limited resources.  The Foxglove was made into our lead attack ship.  A boarding ramp was added to the prow and Sir Spencer,, the Woosters, and the Marines were to drive through any ships in the way and get a boarding party aboard Wu Chong's flagship.  Mrs Fraser also volunteered for duty aboard the Foxglove. Sir Cosmo was to lead an aerial wing of rocket-assisted kites.  Not surprisingly, both Lady Cowperthwaite and Miss Moriarty both volunteered for that duty.  Where they go, Mr Salmalin and George follow.  The rest of the wing was made up by Major Powell, Captain Sparrow, Lieutenant Lochsly, Mr O'Flaherty, and Lobsong.

My own role in the battle seemed quite ineffectual at the time.  I stayed with Mrs Cuthbert, Professor Oddbody, the children, and our nuserymaids near the stern of the Selene in the fortified section that we had built to provide extra protection for the children.  The were acting as lookouts, watching on all sides for attackers while I focused my attention on the main battle at Wu Chong's flagship.

Miss Moriarty had made me a set of lenses I could use as a telescope.  The are similar to the lenses she uses, in that I can wear them on my head thus keeping my hands free, but are not nearly so complicated as her own set.  I'm surprised she had time to make them given all the other projects she worked on during our time of preparation.  Still it was very thoughtful and made it much easier to follow what was going on on the other ships.

Thanks to Mrs Cuthbert's scrying powers and the Shield of Prophecy carried by Mr O'Flaherty we were able to time our attack precisely.  Mrs Cuthbert had called forth a vision of exactly how Admiral Naismith had been assassinated in the time that Gideon Spillett had lived through.  He had a powerful sword, from which he could call forth eight crane-women.  Mrs Cuthbert saw Wu Chong order eight women who could turn into cranes and who were bound to the mystical sword to attack the commanders of the British Fleet.  Thus, in Spillett's time, Wu Chong had already decimated the command crews of eight of the ships in the fleet before the pirate fleet even appeared over the horizon.

This news required our small band of ships to set out several hours earlier than we had originally planned, further reducing our chance of survival.  It was imperative that we get to Wu Chong and somehow stop him from sending the crane-women after the unsuspecting British Fleet.

Following Captain Sparrow's lead, we preformed the Sally Ship maneuver, tipped the ships over and sank into the deep.   Suddenly we were rising and broke through into the still sea that lies in-between the Mysterious Island and our own world.  We then sailed in that unbroken sea for a time, following Captain Sparrow's ship the Jiu Shi and checking that all was still secure.  Once we were in position over (under, next to?) the Bay of Bengal we performed the Sally Ship maneuver once more. 

Though not before Captain Sparrow moved his ship into a new position, that, we guessed, would put the Jiu Shi much closer to Wu Chong's vessel.  Both Mr O'Flaherty and Lady Cowperthwaite felt that this was not sporting (they had a bet on as to who would reach Wu Chong first and my money was on milady).

Irregardless of Captain Sparrow's last minute change of plan we proceeded to capsize our ships once more.

The moment we rose into the waters we fired a series of signal flares into the air.  The final signal was a firework in the form of a Golden Clematis.  Following the golden flower into the wind our aerial wing took flight.  Wu Chong's fleet was vast, but we had, for the most part, come up near the flagship.  Sir Spencer and the Foxglove engaged the enemy posthaste.

I used the telescoping goggles to find Wu Chong and cast the Bind Flame to Form spell I had prepared in advance.  I could feel the spell release cleanly.  From that point on my role was primarily defensive.  The Selene was to keep near the back of our fleet.  I flipped my goggles up so as to have a better view of the battlefield.

The marines and Mrs Fraser were firing at anything that moved from the deck of the Foxglove.

As Mr O'Flaherty's kite flew toward Wu Chong, a banner unfurled from it.  In very large Chinese characters, it proclaimed that he was the Indomitable Irish Atlas-- and he was headed straight for Wu Chong.

Lady Cowperthwaite was not as successful with her navigation and somehow her kite and Captain Sparrow's became entangled.  Mr Salmalin was able to catch her as she released herself from the kite's harness and they landed safely on the deck of Wu Chong's Ship.  Major Powell and Lieutenant Lochsly also following close behind.

I could feel a surge of power and a waterspout erupted from the deck of Wu Chong's ship, striking Mr O'Flaherty.  I was greatly surprised to see the waterspout bounce off of Mr O'Flaherty without so much at altering his course an inch.  It was then that I noticed that the auras of all three of our partisans who carried artifacts from our time on the Mysterious Island were strange and painful to my mage-sight.

Using the goggles once more, I saw Wu Chong raise his crane-sword and speak.  Six of the eight crane women emerged.  He was drawing breath to give them their fateful orders when he disappeared from my sight.  I flipped up the goggles and blinked my eyes back to focus on the distant deck of the ship.  Mr O'Flaherty had crashed into the pirate leader and both of them had fallen to the deck.

Lacking orders, three of the crane-women turned to attack Major Powell and Lieutenant Lochsly.  The other three transformed into massive cranes with razor-sharp talons and took wing.  With Professor Oddbody and Mrs Cuthbert chanting with me, I tried to raise enough power to bind another of the crane-women to stop her from being able to transform at will.  The spell seemed to work,  unfortunately, it drew the attention of the crane-women and one of them flew right at me.  I panicked.  I could see my own death coming and I called the Dragon Spirit from my home in Stoke-on-Trent to protect me.  I felt the power leave me.  My knees buckled and the crane just kept coming.  I tried to move away from the others, but before I could move,  the crane was struck down and fell into the ocean.  I was a bit dizzy from the spell I had cast and so did not see who saved me. 

By this time we were in range of the pirate fleet and began to take heavy fire.  All of us in the little fortification were injured by flying debris to some extent.  Lieutenant Tuner barely escaped certain death.  He was running from the forward etheric pulse cannon to the aft rocket battery when a barrage of cannon fire hit the front of the Selene taking the gun emplacement and much of the prow with it.  

George spun to a landing on what was left of the deck just as another barrage hit us.  He and Inspector MacGreggor disappeared down into the bowels of the ship and I heard the ship's pumps start.  Three pirate ships were coming up on our stern.  Tuner was trying to hold them off with the rocket battery.  I took up my rifle and began firing at any pirate I could see.

We were mere moments from having to abandon ship when Commodore Pyne's small fleet arrived and raked the pirates with cannon shot, drawing their attention and their fire.

The battle moved away from us and we were on our own again-- listening to the sound of the straining pumps and hoping the Selene would hold together a bit longer.

The bombardment stopped and those pirate ships that could were fleeing in all directions.  Several had caught fire, others seemed intact but had only a few crew left to man them.

Galen drew our attention to activity on Wu Chong's ship.  His colors were coming down.  I flipped the goggles down over my eyes to get a better view and could see that Wu Chong had collapsed on the deck and Mr O'Flaherty had possession of the Crane Sword.  I could also see Lobsong tending to Major Powell. 

Mrs Cuthbert took advantage of the relative quiet to heal as many of the worst wounded of our sailors as she could safely reach.  She also divested Galen of the rocket kite he had managed to struggle into before he took off for Wu Chong's ship.  Stimulated by his example, I suggested that she and I make our way over to Wu Chong's ship to check on the rest of the League.   Violet and Daru were left in charge of the children.  All of the children were given strict orders to stay with the Selene (though I suspect only the fact that they found the pumps and the precarious nature of the ship's situation facinating distracted them from further attempts at powered flight).

Not wanting to waste time taking a launch over to the other ship, or our time spent training with the rocket kites, Mrs Cuthbert and I strapped on two of the escape kites that had been left on the Selene and flew over to Wu Chong's ship.  I managed to land without crashing into anyone or anything-- which I found very invigorating.

Once divested of our harnesses, Mrs Cuthbert set to work on those of our partisans who were injured.  Major Powell was the worst off, having taken a large calibre rifle bullet in the chest.  Lobsong had done a credible job of keeping the Major alive and Miss Moriarty (who finally landed after spending the entirety of the battle in the air) extracted the bullet before I assisted Mrs Cuthbert in her healing ritual.

We were busy for quite some time after that, moving from ship to ship, treating the badly injured among the fleets.  Sometime during this excitement, Mrs Frazer arrived on Captain Nemo's submersible warship the Nautilus.  Submersible boats seem to hold some magnetic attraction for Mrs Fraser-- at least this time she was in no danger of giving birth while she was aboard.

Even now I do not have all the details of what my friends did during the battle.  Perhaps when we gather for dinner I will learn more of their exploits.  Admiral Naismith has called us all to attend on him for dinner-- though what I will wear I do not know.  Between the pumps and the Nautilus the Selene is no longer in danger of sinking, but most everything is wet and disordered-- if not destroyed.  Perhaps Tattvick will have a suggestion...

It seems so trivial to be worried about dressing for dinner, but in spite of our losses, we did the impossible-- we stopped Wu Chong's fleet with our small band of oddly assorted ships.  We prevented the assassination of Admiral Naismith and his command staff and we did not all die in the attempt.

When I first found a quiet moment to update this record I was feeling quiet disgruntled about my lack of contribution to the battle.  I was especially disheartened by my panicked attempt to stop the crane-woman by summoning the Dragon Spirit (who did eventually show up-- but mentioned that it is a long way from Stoke-on-Trent).  Then I heard the voice of my Great-Aunt Hethelyn scoffing at my feelings of inadequacy.  She said, in her most bracing tones, that many enemy sailors had been incapacitated by my enchanted cannonballs and that my binding spell had been at least partially effective against a very powerful artifact.

Encouraged by her comments, I realized that I had gone into the battle planning to try to protect all of my friends and family-- which was rather unrealistic given the circumstances.

One problem with coming into mystical powers late in life is that, even after five years, I still feel my own inexperience keenly.  I see other mages, like Major Powell, working confidently and effectively in a crisis and long for such understanding and mastery of my own abilities and castings.   Perhaps when I get home I can spend more time training under a mage who understands how to use power with finesse instead of as a battering ram.

I must hold onto my husband's idea that each of us can only make the decisions in the moment as they occur to us and trust that our skill, training, and affection will see us through.

I must see to Ravvi and Octavia before I go in search of Tattvik and something to wear to dinner.

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