Elementary by Mercedes Lackey

rest of the English fleet and trapped between the Armada and the jutting spur of land.
    Looking up, Rodrigo saw Don Ruarte standing as far to the fore as he could, and this time his hands were outstretched before him. The
sílfide
swirled around him, and to Rodrigo it was clear that they were controlling the winds that kept the
Triumph
and her sister ships motionless near the spit of land while the
San Lorenzo
and the other
galleasses
closed the distance.
    As the smoke briefly cleared and he could see the English sailors frantically laboring to shift their sails and free their ships from the strange calm, something about their struggle captured Rodrigo’s sympathy. Their fierce independence tugged at his Galician spirit, and a flood of hot anger filled him. A rush of confused concern from Tareixa filled his mind, startling him with the sudden return of her presence in his thoughts. He thought she had fled to the deep seas, even home to Galicia, after the first firing of the
canone
two days ago, and for an astonished moment his hand fell slack on the line. The desperation of the English sailors and his own anger at the Spanish who controlled him and his country, and now sought to control yet another, made him burn with the desire to aid those struggling ships. He could do nothing himself, but now that she had returned, could she? Was Tareixa strong enough, would she understand, if he asked her to interfere?
    Still hauling on the line, obeying his orders, he spoke in his mind to Tareixa, as clearly and simply as he could,
“Hold our ships.”
    Her response was a surprisingly complete picture of herself and others of her kind, whom she must have found when she fled the noise of the battles, creating roiling eddies and cross-tides in the seas around their ships. Rodrigo was delighted when their efforts were successful, strengthening the shifting tide-race to hold back the
San Lorenzo
and the other
galleasses
, despite the labors of the oarsmen, sailors, and even Don Ruarte, who glowered furiously at the skies but spared not a glance for the seas. Barely beneath the apparently placid surface, Tareixa danced in turbulence until the
mago
wearied, and what winds he had held drifted away from his control.
    A sudden southerly breeze immediately filled the sails of the
Triumph
and her companion ships. Rodrigo wondered if the English had
magos
of their own aboard their ships, who had taken advantage of Don Ruarte’s exhaustion to seize the winds away from him.
    With the change in the wind, the English pressed the advantage of their more agile ships, aiming their fire downward to the exposed rowing banks of the
galleasses
, and the screams of wounded and panicked
buenaboyas
haunted Rodrigo’s ears, filling him with a strange relief that he was not among them. Despite the confusion, the helmsman immediately began bringing the
San Lorenzo
around, returning her to her place in the center of the formation, where some of the nimbler Spanish ships could hold off the English attack, for they still would not risk being grappled and boarded.
    His heart thrilling at the success of her efforts, Rodrigo sent an image to Tareixa of deeper waters, hoping she would understand to sink lower and be safe from the shot that failed of its target and hissed into the frothing seas.
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    August 4, 1588
    Each day now began with the ship’s boy piping “All Hands” until it could be seen whether or not the English would move to engage them. The Spanish ships had continued sailing inexorably northward along the Channel the previous day, but overnight the
Santa Ana
and the
San Luis
had fallen behind. Despite the calm winds, the English seemed determined to take these two ships, and Rodrigo could see them lowering their boats in order to be towed into a position to attack.
    The
San Lorenzo
and the other
galleasses
used their oars to retrieve the stragglers, taking the two ships in tow and drawing them