by Ian Rodgers
She stepped inside and approached the first of the slaves, sticking the key into the collar’s lock and twisting. With a pop, the enchanted tool was removed, falling into the disbelieving slave’s hands.
More of the slaves were waking up now, and while a few let out cries of surprise and excitement, they were cuffed upside the head by more rational, level-headed prisoners who understood the value of silence during delicate operations.
It took an hour, but at long last all of the slaves were freed.
“What do we do now? There are no ships here which can sail beyond the obsidian reef, and trying to build one from scratch isn’t possible as long as the pirates are still here,” one of the freed sailors said, rubbing his neck as phantom sensations of the collar plagued him.
“We’re not going to start a fight with the pirates, if that’s what you’re asking,” Lily said, causing the men to groan or growl.
“Shut it! There are at least a hundred of them, and about forty of you. And that’s not counting any magical weapons or tools they might have stashed away. Instead of fighting our way out of the archipelago, we’re stealing their airship!” Lily declared.
“Seriously?” the man, who stepped into the role as the slave’s spokesman, asked incredulously.
“It sounds insane, but I have two other friends waiting at the airship right now, ready to take off!” At least, she hoped they were there. It had been well over an hour. That should have been enough time for Gaelin and Vala to figure things out.
The freed slaves shared a look, before nodding and turning to Lily with expectation and hope gleaming in their eyes.
“Alright, we’ll follow you. What’s the plan?”
“Sneak onto the airship by sneaking through the fortress. I’ve left the gate to it unlocked. Now let’s go. And be quiet, for Cynthia’s sake!”
Getting forty or so weary men to move silently was a chore. Not to mention several were in bad shape, and in no condition to even walk. Bigg Guy slung those who couldn’t move over his shoulders and carried them, while the rest slunk through the shadows after Lily.
The pirates were a non-factor. Few of them would be sober, as according to Gelt and Rongold, after returning to their home base the crew of the Storm Caller always partied hard and drank themselves into a stupor. And any that were out and about that night were distracted by throwing a rock in the opposite direction. It was honestly pathetic. And although they were a credible threat when under the command of Bolos Stormbringer, Lily wondered if they could be seen as dangerous otherwise.
Still, it took far too much time for the archer’s liking. What should have been a less than five-minute walk turned into almost twenty minutes of shuttling the men across while constantly checking to make sure none of the pirates became aware of their escape plan.
“Is that the last of them?” Lily inquired as one of the men in rags slipped through the ajar gate. Bigg Guy nodded, shifting a bit so the men he was carrying didn’t slide off.
“These are the last of the freed slaves. Don’t forget to close the door behind you,” he rumbled before stepping into the foyer and directing the slaves towards the airship docks.
Lily gave her own nod, before peering into the entrance and checking to make sure none of the sailors had tried to slip off his back.
“Eh? Wash all dis? Whyz dere tree purty ladies?” A hand fell onto her shoulder and Lily stiffened. How had a drunken pirate snuck up on her?!
Cursing and berating herself for not paying more attention to her surroundings, she spun around and lashed out with the dagger she’d kept at her side.
“Huh?” was all the bewildered drunk managed to get out as he stared at the blade in his chest. Before he had a chance to react, Lily jerked the dagger upwards, carving through his chest and nicking his throat.
The pirate collapsed, blood gushing from his gaping wound. She snarled at the mess she’d been forced to make and dragged the body into the fortress before dragging the gate closed.
“Damn it, this could be a problem,” she muttered, looking down at the red stains on her clothes. “Not just on me, but on the ground outside… no time to worry about that, though. Just get to the airship, and everything will be fine!”
She spared the corpse one final glance before she took off running. But she couldn’t help but ruminate as she did.
‘When did I become so casual about death?’ Lily wondered to herself. She imagined she could feel the blood seeping from the knife and oozing down the front of her clothes. The coppery, metallic stink burned into her nostrils.
‘When did that pirate stop being human in my eyes? Hells, when did I become so gods damned callous? Since I got my scar?’ Her free hand drifted down to her waist, feeling the wound that had begun to ache as she thought of it.
“Argh! Damn it all, this isn’t me! Snap out of it!” Lily cried, slapping her face to clear her thoughts.
“Existential angst? You know, I might be able to help with that!”
Lily looked over and saw Gelt slumped over his chest, out of breath at the bottom of a flight of stairs.
“Are you alright?” she gasped, hurrying to the half-elf’s side. He merely laughed weakly and tried to wave her off.
“Just a bit winded. I really should have expected my body to be weaker after over a week under Bolos’ tender mercies and not tried to do too much,” Gelt said with a self-deprecating grin.
“Still, I’m not too proud to not ask for help. Mind giving me a hand?”
“Gaelin or Bigg Guy would have been the better choices for this,” Lily said with a grunt as she helped Gelt onto his feet. She then bent down and grabbed one end of his Chest of Holding.
“Well, the next time I need a brawny man to move my stuff I’ll be sure to remember that,” the merchant said with a roll of his eyes. Together, they lifted the sealed treasure chest and scurried towards the Storm Caller, ready to flee the island.
As they entered the fenced-in dock, Lily narrowed her eyes as she saw Gaelin bossing some of the freed sailors around. A wooden box was under his arm, and he was ordering the fit men to carry some of the boxes as well.
“What’s all this?” the red-headed adventurer demanded as she approached.
“Ah, Lily! Glad to see you,” his gaze lingered on the bloodstains on her dress before glancing over at the half-elf. “And you retrieved Gelt! Great, I was afraid I’d have to run back inside to fetch him. As for what’s going on…”
Gaelin looked around and sighed. “We need fuel for the airship, and food for the men. Vala and I completely forgot about the latter, so I’m having the fittest men carry supplies on board. Don’t worry, it won’t delay us by much. We’ll be gone before dawn, just as planned!”
Lily groaned, slapping her face in annoyance. “Of course, you would forget about those two things. Ugh! Alright, fine, hurry up. I’m going to get Gelt and the other badly injured people some medicine.”
Gaelin nodded in understanding before getting back to his task. The young D-ranked adventurer all but dragged Gelt into the airship. Lily waved politely to Vala who was in a spare cabin, helping the wounded sailors with the limited magic she possessed. The red-head dragged Gelt over to the earth elf, leaving the Secret Shop chest in a corner of the room.
“Got another patient for you!” the archer said cheerfully.
“Is it you?” the Druid inquired, eyeing the red spatters on the front of Lily’s clothes.
“No. Now hurry up and make sure Gelt doesn’t die on us!” Lily said, shoving the half-elf forward towards a spare cot on the floor. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to check on Gaelin. Also, do you know how to drive this thing?”
“More or less,” Vala said. “I can get it off the ground, and steer it, but I will need the help of these sailors to do anything else, like navigating. It operates a lot like a regular ship, so these guys should be able to help out.”
“Good,” she uttered with a sigh of relief. Lily went around the makeshift medical center, helping out w
ith wrapping bandages and applying poultices.
“Thank you,” one of the sailors mumbled as she smeared burn cream over a nasty burn mark covering his left shoulder. “You’re an angel…”
“No problem,” Lily said softly. “And thank you for the compliment.”
She rose after tending to the last of the men, stretching and letting her back pop slightly. Behind her, she heard a clanking sound coming from the ramp, and she rushed out to see Gaelin raising the gangplank.
“We got the last of the supplies onboard just now,” he said, grinning like a loon. “We’re finally ready to set off!”
“Yes!” she cheered, pumping her fist in the air. Nearby sailors chuckled at her antics but scrambled out of the way as she grabbed Gaelin by the arm and dragged the halberdier off towards the control room.
There were a few sailors inside, running last minute checks. They offered up salutes to the pair as they entered, and the two adventurers couldn’t keep the pleased, almost smug, grins off their faces at the treatment.
“Let’s start this thing up!” Lily shouted. Smiling, Gaelin obliged, inserting the airship’s key into a slot in the ship’s wheel.
With a rumble, a clunking thud, and a whir of gears, the propeller began to spin, and the balloon filled with mana-infused air, making it light and strong enough to lift the large vessel.
“Pull that lever over there!” Gaelin commanded, and one of the sailors grabbed a lever with a blue knob on top, and yanked it down. The anchor rose, and so too did the airship.
The Storm Caller slanted to the side, almost tipping over, and Gaelin hastily spin the wheel to get the airship back under control.
“Careful!” Lily shouted, smacking him on the shoulder.
“Forgive me, but I’ve never stood behind the wheel of a ship before, let alone one that rides in the sky,” Gaelin got out through gritted teeth.
He jerked the wheel a bit, correcting the angle, and pointed at another sailor to increase their altitude. This time, a yellow lever was adjusted, and slowly but steadily the stolen airship rose higher and higher.
“Which way?” Gaelin asked. A man looked up from a compass at the D-ranker’s question.
“Let’s see… East. We need to go east.” Gaelin stared blankly at the sailor who sighed, muttered something about ‘landlubbers,’ and pointed in a direction to the right of him. “That way. Steer the Storm Caller that way.”
“Got it,” Gaelin said with a tinge of embarrassment. After a few more near misses and getting used to the controls, the adventurer smiled as the airship flew over the top of the wooden fence that had kept the vessel inside.
“We’re clear! We’re on our way back to Orria!” Lily cheered, clapping happily as she watched the pirate base slowly recede.
Gaelin smiled at her enthusiasm, but a deafening roar followed by an explosion shattered the mood, and he flailed about before regaining control of the Storm Caller.
“What was that?!” he shouted, looking around the bridge in confusion. Shrugs were his answer, and he bit back a growl of annoyance.
“Lily, find out what happened!” Gaelin ordered, and she snapped a salute before dashing out to investigate.
More than a few sailors joined her, having nothing better to do than check out what had happened.
Her search led the red-head below deck to the cannons, where a group of sailors were standing around the steaming barrel of one of the airship’s magic cannons.
“Did you fire that?!” Lily gasped, pointing at the weapon.
“Yeah, we did. So what?” one of the sailors manning it said defiantly.
“So what? So what?! What in the Six Hellish Planes of Pluton were you thinking! We could have gotten away clean if you hadn’t just woken up the whole place! What were you even shooting at?!”
Lily shoved the man aside and peered out the porthole down at where they’d fired. Her face paled and she clutched her head.
“You shot at one of the pirate’s barracks!” she cried, astonished.
Indeed, down below in the compound a crimson glow flickered. One of the wooden buildings had a massive hole in the side, and flames were spewing out of it. Pirates scurried around in panic, their tiny figures like ants rushing around a kicked anthill.
“They tormented us, beat us, enslaved us! We took revenge for ourselves and those they killed!” the man shouted.
He fell on his rear as Lily slugged him in the chest.
“You couldn’t have waited till we had left the island before firing at them? Actually, don’t answer that, it was a stupid idea one way or the other. They’re effectively trapped down there, and you could have joined the navy or whoever was sent to bring them to justice! But now?” Lily leaned in close, rage smoldering in her eyes. “Now you screwed us all over. Because guess what? Bolos can fly! And as soon as his minions wake him up from his magically enforced nap, we’ll all have to fight him off as he tries to kill us all and retake the airship!”
She spun on her heel and gestured towards the men who’d come with her. “Take those idiots who fired the cannon and lock them in the brig! Or a storeroom! Just shove them into a place they won’t be able to make this mess worse!”
Lily then stalked off to warn Gaelin and the others. She found Vala and Bigg Guy in the control room with him, and explained the bad news. Their reactions would not have looked out of place in the worst slums or pits of depravity.
“Damn it all! Vala, would the pirates be able to wake up Bolos easily?” Gaelin demanded to know.
“It was a Level Three Sleep spell. It could be broken just by channeling mana into the subject,” the Druid revealed nervously. “Feeding him a healing potion could work as well. There’s magic in those, so it could shock his system awake…”
“We have company,” Bigg Guy interrupted, pointing out the window of the bridge. Everyone turned to look, and down below, almost invisible in the dark of the night, a figure stood on the balcony of the fortress, glaring up at them.
A purple cape whipped about in an ethereal wind, and a cutlass crackled with lightning. Four blades danced around his body.
Bolos the Stormbringer shot upwards, propelled by magic and incandescent rage.
Lily said some choice words that caused even the sailors nearby to blush and flinch.
Chapter 17: Skull and crossed blades
“Move it move it move it!” Gaelin shouted frantically, spinning the wheel and pushing a lever next to it which caused a tremor to run through the Storm Caller as the propeller picked up speed.
But as fast as it now was, the airship was still too slow to outrun the enraged pirate captain. He was gaining, his enchanted cape able to increase its speed faster than the Storm Caller could. A sailor on the deck collapsed as a Dancing Dagger shot out and impaled his throat. Another one fell back as a second flying blade tried to strike at his heart.
“Damn it!” Gaelin snarled, grabbing his halberd as he stepped away from the wheel.
“You!” he shouted, pointing at one of the sailors, “Take over the bridge for me! I’m going to drive Bolos off!”
“Gaelin, you won’t be able to stand up to him!” Lily protested. “He’s strong, and has more tricks and better equipment than you! Hells, you don’t even have armor!”
“He might have wiped the floor with me last time, but we have no other choice! I’m the only person here with a weapon! You think your dinky little knife will pose a threat to a guy like him?” Gaelin declared, pushing past Lily. He shot her an apologetic look at the rough treatment, but ran out of the bridge towards the deck in the end.
“That, that idiot!” Lily fumed. Vala patted the red-head on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry. Bigg Guy and I will back your lover up.”
“He’s not my lover!” Lily shouted.
Eyerolls were her response. Even some of the sailors did it!
“Besides,” Lily said, quickly changing topics when it became clear no one believed her protests, “how are you two going to fight? Bigg
Guy, you only have a wooden wagon wheel that you use as a shield, and Vala, your ‘Druid Staff’ is a shaved palm tree branch!”
“True, but if we don’t help Gaelin, he’s going to die,” Vala said seriously.
“And if we don’t help, we could never forgive ourselves for letting a friend die,” Bigg Guy added. Their speech finished they hurried out after the halberdier.
Lily gritted her teeth. ‘Damn them! They’re just running off into danger!’
She glanced around the control room, and saw the worried, no, the downright terrified expressions of the former slaves.
‘Of course, they’re afraid, they’re about to get captured again by that Bolos bastard! But what can I do? I’m an archer, and without a bow, I’m useless…’
An idea, so crazy that it just might work, popped into her head and she spun around to one of the sailors.
“Where would Bolos store the harpoon ballista?”
“Um, he’d keep them in the same place as the cannons unless he needed to use them,” one of the men said after thinking about.
Lily nodded in understanding and shot off towards the lower decks she had just come from.
“Stay safe, you three,” she muttered under her breath.
.
“So. You survived.”
“Yup.”
Floating a foot above the deck, Bolos heaved a sigh of regret as he glared at the D-ranker as he settled into a guarded stance with his halberd.
“I knew you’d be trouble. I should have sliced your head off when I had the chance,” Bolos said, and he raised his cutlass and lightning dancing along the blade.
“Yes, you should have. Now I’ll be the one to take your head,” Gaelin retorted. A tremor ran through him, and he fought down the phantom pangs of pain as he recalled the feeling of electricity coursing through his veins.
Instead of a verbal reply, four razor sharp blades shot out at him. They crashed into the deck, biting deep into the wood as Gaelin jumped out of the way of the Dancing Daggers.