by John Nest
Sneaking towards one of the lit up shacks, Smoke found a disturbing sight. The Halflings had fully-grown men and women serving them like slaves. They had collars on their necks and shackles on their hands and feet. This shack appeared to be a tavern.
The Skullcaps drank and ate while the captives served them food. Three girls were lined up against the wall, and the Skullcaps took turns throwing their dirks at them. Smoke gathered that it was a contest to see who could hit closest. Suddenly, the girl on the right fell down as a dirk had cut her leg. The other captives were then ordered to take the girl out and mend her wounds.
'The captives should be able to fight them, but they've been broken into slaves and lost the courage to fight back.' thought Smoke sadly.
He resumed his search on the other side of the harbor and found shacks with a similar situation everywhere. Some of the captives were even placed in charge of ship maintenance. He saw them removing barnacles, swabbing the decks and repairing the sails. He wanted to help all of them escape, but his first objective was to get Brax out.
Soon enough, he located his target. Surprisingly, he saw a calm Brax trying to console a group of children. Swiftly, Smoke glided to the shack he was in, landing gently and examining the lock on the door. As he took out his lightning-enhanced short sword to try to pry open the lock, Brax noticed him.
"Smoke! You're here." said out Brax excitedly.
"Shhh. Be quiet or they'll hear us. We have to hurry and get you out of here." said Smoke in a hushed voice.
- Unlocking attempt FAILED. Lockpicking ability of Intermediate Level 6 or higher is required.
Smoke groaned.
He immediately got Igniz out and pointed to the sturdy wooden door. "Igniz, burn the door down."
Igniz created a steady flow of flames and started burning a hole in the wooden door. The moment Igniz's flames touched the door, smoke started puffing out. Smoke checked the night sky and saw that the smoke wasn't that visible. "Good job, bud."
After the hole in the door was big enough for them to get through, Igniz returned to his metal compartment. Smoke expected Brax and the other captives to bolt out of their prison immediately. However, none of them moved and remained where they were.
As he stood outside the shack, Smoke called out to Brax, "Come on. Let's get out of here."
"I'm not leaving without them. These are the children Skullcaps took from villages scattered along the river." stated Brax, "We have to rescue them too, Smoke."
Smoke answered sincerely, "We will, but for now, I have to get you out. We can come back for them later when..."
Brax crossed his arms and interrupted him, "Sorry, but you can rescue me then as well."
"There are at least thirty more people being held captive all over the harbor. You want to bring them all along too?" asked a perturbed Smoke.
It took a while for Brax to answer. "I understand, but we have to at least save the children."
Smoke counted twenty kids inside with Brax. "Fine!" he answered unwillingly. He already intended to send his personal army here after rescuing Brax, but now he was placed in an unexpected predicament.
Smoke thought for a bit about what he should do, then turned to Brax and said, "I'll be right back. Make sure you're all ready to go when I return."
Covertly, he headed for the watchtower nearest to him. He silently climbed the ladder leading to the top of it and took a peek at the guard stationed there. The Pirate was leaning on the ledge of the tower and had his back turned to Smoke.
He quickly sneaked up behind him and wrapped the chain portion of his weighted chain and sickle around his neck to prevent him from calling for help. Smoke then proceeded to stab the Pirate in the back with the sickle several times until his life bar was drained.
From the top of the watchtower, he looked around the harbor and found a ship anchored near the shack where Brax and the children were being kept. His Cunning of the Dire Fox indicated that there weren't any Skullcaps on board. Smoke then speedily returned to Brax.
"Alright, let's leave." he said.
Brax had a hard time convincing the children to leave, but he finally did it. Smoke guided them towards the ship and waited for everyone to get on board.
"I'll create a diversion on the other side of the harbor. When you see my signal, sail out of here. You got that?" said Smoke strongly.
"What is the signal?" asked Brax.
"Oh, you'll know it from the mayhem." replied Smoke. He circumnavigated the entire harbor and stayed out of sight of the Pirate on top of the other watchtower. When he reached the other side, Smoke landed on the roof of the shack that had Halflings playing darts on their captives inside. He let Igniz out of his compartment and said, "Let's smoke them out, shall we?"
Igniz nodded and engulfed the shack in flames. Fifteen Halflings rushed out of the flaming wooden structure. One by one, he blasted them with fireballs.
Smoke jumped high in the air and landed in the middle of them with his Stunning Landing. He managed to stun thirteen of them, while the two Halflings who had been out of range charged towards him with their dirks.
Despite their agility, he easily avoided their attack and knocked them down with his chain. He then used his sickle on the downed Skullcaps and punished them for their crimes. Noticing the fire and commotion, the guard on top of the watchtower raised the alarm. Immediately, more Skullcaps came out of the nearby shacks and were approaching Smoke.
He ordered Igniz to hold his fire and fly directly above him. Once more than thirty Halflings had him surrounded, he gave Igniz the signal and his dark ember sprite started creating firewalls on the outer edges of the mob, trapping them inside a circle around Smoke. Smoke then used his Cyclone of Slaughter and killed all Skullcaps within reach. Despite the Skullcaps' agility, they could do nothing against the afterimages of his chain, iron ball and sickle.
Still within Igniz's firewalls, Smoke used Symbiote Vision and saw that Brax and the children had already sailed some distance from the harbor. As a new wave of Pirates was quickly approaching, Smoke leapt over the firewalls and glided in the direction of the escaping ship together with Igniz.
He was relieved that his plan went off without a hitch. However, this pleasant feeling was short-lived. Just before Brax could turn into the riverbend, Jane's flagship emerged out of it, along with seven more pirate ships. They quickly surrounded the fleeing ship and started boarding it.
Still far away, Smoke had to use his Telefax Vision to make out what was going on the deck. The Skullcaps easily dealt with Brax, who tried to protect the children, and made him drop to his knees after beating him down to 30% of his life bar. They then gathered all the children in one corner of the deck.
Smoke gritted his teeth in anger as he saw Jane walk over to Brax and force him to stand up by pulling his hair. Suddenly, Jane's voice bellowed out. "Stop right there if you don't want me to slit his throat." she shouted while holding her cutlass against Brax's neck. She was looking straight at Smoke.
He was surprised that she spotted him from so far away and in the dark. But then, he realized that it was Igniz's luminance that gave his position away. Cursing his carelessness, he instantly opened Igniz's orb compartment and had him hide inside it.
"Surrender and I won't kill him!" shouted Jane threateningly, pressing her cutlass harder against Brax's neck.
Smoke was gliding in a circle over the ship, at a loss as to what he should do. "Think. Think!" he said angrily to himself.
He needed to stun Jane in order to allow Brax to move away from her. However, he lacked the element of surprise, which was crucial to successfully landing his stun attacks. Jane would see him coming whether he were to use Stunning Landing or charge at her with Armored Armadillo Shield.
Then, he realised he didn't have to specifically stun her. He only needed to temporarily immobilize her somehow.
Smoke donned the jacket and hat he got from the Lamia boss. In any other situation, he would have smiled at seeing his life bar increase by 5
0,000 points, but right now, his mind was solely focused on rescuing Brax. He started to descend slowly.
"Land on the edge of the ship, far away from of us." instructed Jane.
Without a word, Smoke landed where he was told.
"Tie him up quickly." she ordered and handed Brax over to her first mate. The one-meter-tall Nain stood on a crate and replaced the cutlass against Brax's neck with a dirk.
As Jane was walking towards him with a devious smile on her red lips, Smoke activated Hero's Legacy. His body emitted a shockwave with a purple outline and it spread across the deck. Upon being inflicted with Fear, a look of pure terror appeared on the faces of Halflings. Some of them jumped off of the ship and started swimming away, while others curled up into a fetal position and shook uncontrollably.
Smoke hastily took a step forward and was ready to make a dash for Brax, but stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes were met with Jane's resolute gaze.
"Mr. Nain, stab the boy." ordered Jane calmly.
While still pressing a dirk against Brax's neck, the Halfling in a red jacket took out a throwing knife from his belt and stabbed it into Brax's side. Brax screamed in agony as Nain twisted the knife and gave him a Bleeding status.
Compared to the other Skullcaps, both Jane and Nain had a lower chance to be affected by Smoke's newly-acquired ability, and had resisted it.
Jane stared Smoke down and said, "Now, I don't know what you did to my men, but if you want this boy to live, you better give yourself up."
With no weapons out, Smoke racked his brains for a solution.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you just yet." said Jane with malice.
He knew he couldn't trust Jane, but he was willing to play along as long as he could secure Brax's safety.
"Mend his wounds and I won't put up a fight." replied Smoke strongly.
Jane gave a signal to her men and a group of seven shuddering Halflings attended to Brax. Smoke offered his arms to Jane and she tied them up tightly with a rope.
* * * * * *
With his hands and feet tied up, Smoke heard the Halflings talking amongst themselves during the short ride back to Port Royal.
"He must be the DarkElf Casser was talking about." said one of the Skullcaps.
"He doesn't look tough at all, yet he had us on the ropes within seconds." said another.
"Silence!" ordered Jane, "This DarkElf is nothing special. Well, aside from being a special dinner guest for our lord, that is."
After the pirate ship arrived in the harbor, Smoke was carried down to a dinghy, while Brax and the other captives were taken to one of the shacks.
"Are you sure you don't want me to tag along, Cap'n?" asked Nain.
"I'm sure. You know how temperamental our lord can be. I'm the only one who is allowed to converse with him." replied Jane flatly.
Nain bowed down to her and stepped aside.
Jane sat on the rower's seat and expertly rowed the dinghy with the tied-up DarkElf on board. As Smoke was wondering where she was taking him, they headed towards a tall cliff on the other side of the harbor.
After a few minutes, Smoke saw a cave entrance with hundreds of skullcaps growing around it. The green leaves and purple flowers gave the cave an inviting atmosphere, as if beckoning for someone to venture inside it. He curiously watched Jane pluck a flower and place it in her hair.
'Who is she prettying up for?' he wondered.
The moment they entered the cave, Smoke's Cunning of the Dire Fox detected a large monster up ahead.
'What is that?' he wondered. He felt anxious as he was slowly getting closer to an unknown enemy.
With only an oil lamp placed at the front of the dinghy to light her way, Jane kept rowing forward. They soon arrived at a piece of soaked land deep inside the cave. Smoke could sense that the monster was only a couple of meters away from them now, but he couldn't see or hear it. With a grin on her face, Jane secured the dinghy to a large rock and pulled Smoke off of it.
As she took the lamp in her hand, Smoke noticed a pile of bones and ragged clothes nearby. He understood that those were most likely the remains of previous 'dinner guests' Jane brought to the cave. Then, as Jane made several steps forward and raised the lamp above her head, Smoke finally saw the monster.
A massive ball of numerous intertwined vines, about three meters in diameter, was floating two meters above ground. If it weren't green, Smoke would have at first thought that the flying monster was made out of giant spaghetti. Jane then placed the lamp of the ground, knelt down before the monster and said, "I bring you an offering, lord Pates."
Smoke was taken aback when two big, glowing red eyes opened menacingly from within the mass of vines. The green monster started moving around.
'How is that thing flying?' Smoke wondered to himself.
His attention was diverted when a deep opening appeared in between the vines.
"WRRRRAAAAAHH"
A loud roar came from what were seemingly the monster's mouth.
"You want me to come closer, my lord?" Jane asked Pates. Using her knees, the pale-skinned Captain moved forward. "Is this close enough?"
The giant monster did nothing in response.
"I see. Praise and glory to you, high and mighty lord Pates." said Jane, "I bring you a delectable sacrifice." she said and raised her head to gaze upon her lord.
The giant monster's mouth opened once again.
"WRRRAAH"
Jane bowed down and said, "Thank you, my lord. I aim to please." She kept twirling the ends of her hair as she spoke.
'Does she really understand it or is she just crazy?' Smoke wondered to himself.
The Skullcap Captain proceeded with her monologue, "What's that, my lord? You want me to entice your appetite with the tale of how I captured this DarkElf?"
'Is this her god or her pet?' Smoke thought and gave her a patronizing look.
Pates did nothing in response and remained floating in one spot.
"Of course, my lord..." said Jane pleasantly and began to describe her first encounter with Smoke.
Still, there were no changes in the giant monster.
'Yup, she's definitely crazy.' concluded Smoke.
While Jane was busy having an imaginary conversation with Pates, Smoke hurriedly asked Igniz to heat up the surface of his metal compartment. Once it reached scorching temperatures, Smoke brought his hands near it and burned through the rope binding him. After he freed his feet as well, he swiftly leapt towards the ceiling of the cave and used his Claws of Chiropterra to hold onto one of the stalactites. He then carefully pointed his Berserker's Ring of Flames at Jane and Pates. A dark red casting circle appeared beneath them.
Jane and Pates searched for the cause of the casting circle. Pates was the first to find Smoke and extended multiple vines in his direction with great speed. However, before its vines were able to reach Smoke, the progress bar for his ability was filled and flames erupted from the edges of the casting circle.
With both Jane and Pates caught inside it, they were inflicted with Berserk status. Their bodies slightly emitted red steam and they immediately started going after each other.
Pates lashed out ferociously with dozens of its green vines. It hit everything around itself, Jane, the ground, the cave walls, the ceiling. Its attacks were strong enough to take out sizeable chunks of the rocky walls.
Despite Pates' numerous whip-like attacks, Jane managed to reach the bottom of the giant monster. She held onto one of its vines to reach its body and stabbed Pates with her cutlass.
Her body then twitched violently, twice, and stood still. The enraged expression on her face was replaced with one of shock. She looked down at her chest and found two wide holes in it. Ever so slowly, her hands let go of both her cutlass and the vine.
But she didn't fall.
Smoke was baffled at the sight of Jane's body suspended in mid-air, with her hands hanging down. He had been vigilantly watching her and Pates while still channeling the Ring of Flames, but couldn't und
erstand what had pierced her body or why she wasn't falling to the ground.
Suddenly, Smoke spotted something bizarre. Blood that was coming out of Jane's wounds trickled down a diagonal line towards the ground, as if painting the air red. Smoke looked in the direction the trail of blood was going and saw holes in the soft ground. It was then that he realised what had happened.
Pates had two invisible vines connected to its body. It had attacked Jane with them, and they went cleanly through her body and into the ground behind her. They were still there, stuck in the ground, and holding her in place.
Jane's body finally moved when Pates brought her closer to its wide mouth. Without hesitation, it swallowed her whole. Nothing was left of her except for her cutlass, which remained stuck in the giant monster's body.