6. Fire and Water

  In the early hours of January 11th, in the pitch of night, two ships had been outfitted into being artillery ships, they had limited ammunition, but during much of the day from the walls pitch had been gathered, and fire readied for what they were about to do. The Normans had ships equipped for ramming and boarding, but like meteorites from the sky, flaming projectiles hit five ships which immediately caught ablaze as the crew were heard screaming and dunking themselves into the ocean.

  “For the gods!” Adaneus was heard screaming observing the chaos.

  The two artillery ships picked at the navy, their fire projectiles missing two times before hitting two other targets. The Normans were like annoyed ants, turning their ships to try and attack the artillery ships, instead they were sunk by the constant barrage of the harbour’s catapults. The two artillery ships attempted to turn around firing from their rear, watching the enraged Norman ships repeatedly get hit by pitch covered projectiles. The wind stopped, and the cold air was interrupted by the smoke and screams from afar. Some concerned citizens came to see what the commotion was, noting the burning fleet, as they came onto the walls to see the Norman fleet burning in the distance.

  “Now!” The sea wall captain said.

  The next salvo hit the water, but the one after that hit seven ships. 14 ships were either on fire or had sunk into the Adriatic. The Norman fleet was now too close, and within a span of 15 minutes another four had been hit. With the devastation of the fleet, two more of Adaneus’s fleet came out armed with crossbowmen, the Normans ready to board, but were devastated by crossbow fire and pikes. The long pikes keeping the Normans at bay while crossbows devastated the crew members, meanwhile in the background the harbour batteries hit 5 more ships. 23 ships had been sunk, 2 were in the process of being captured, but the Normans were determined to at least invade the harbour, perhaps helping the land forces in a joint assault. Fire projectiles plopped in the ocean before hitting two more ships, it was now 5 vs 4, the artillery ships hit two, but had run out of projectiles. Adaneus’s fleet withdrew back to the harbour, the boarding had failed, and the harbour batteries shot a lot of shots that missed. The Normans put out any lights, but despite this, one more vessel was hit by a slow artillery team, ablaze and fractured in two before it glugged into the sea. 26 ships out of 30 had sunk, and the blockade was effectively ended. Whatever sailors were left were terrified of what had transpired, like meteors they had punctured ships that had sunk most of their fleet, and many sailors and marines had perished in the sea, now the diet of the local fish for the next few days.

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  By the morning, there was jubilation, Adaneus making something unique, saffron and cloves. Drying the cloves, the populace looked at the cash crop with a degree of shock and awe.

  “With these, we will sell to the world, and this city, will become a jewel of the mediterranean. By the gods the west will resurrect itself from here, neither the Eastern Romans, nor the Normans will touch us, this is a beginning of a new era!”

  Holding a triumph with the catapult crews and the small fleet, they began chanting Adaneus’s name. Kwame tried to make the crowd shout more. 1500 people had come to join the Magec cult, the cult of Helios. The sun shone on them, and they looked with awe and appreciation.

  “What will you do?” Kwame asked.

  “I have no interest in the east. This is territory of the Western Roman Empire, no the Western Roman Republic! We will drive out the Normans, and show this so called ‘holy roman Emperor,’ that he is not holy, Roman or an emperor.”

  Andreas maintained his cool, observing the glory that Adaneus was getting, hissing and clenching his knuckles. There Adaneus gathering spices in bags to sell, the cash strapped city had not an ounce to sell.

  “Stephen will be allowed to return to the East!” Butros said, having a clerk vibe to him, “all his property in the city remains untouched, although it is noted that the city had no gold, no food, not even water.”

  “For a heathen you have honour,” Stephen Pateranos said.

  “Perhaps you will become a devotee to Magec, or Helios?” Adaneus said.

  “Unlikely,” Stephen mused with a wry chuckle, “Imperator of the west,” he said mockingly.

  “I believe we will be a Republic,” Adaneus said loud so others could hear, “look at how the easterners murder each other simply for the title of Basileus. I will do my best to increase the wealth of the west and to hold onto Bari.”

  “I saw the fleet get destroyed yesterday, a fleet that has terrorised my city for a while. So I wish you luck.”

  Stephen was gracious, waiting at the docks with his assistants for a trade ship to sail back to the East. The power of Adaneus and the newly formed Western Roman Republic was solidified within the city, but the neighbouring powers would be incredulous for such a statement could not go unchallenged.