by Shawn Wyatt
Maybe I was being ridiculous and had let my nerves get to me. But something felt wrong, and I had learned a long time ago to trust my gut.
Then I heard it—a furious screech that ruptured the deep silence of the night, followed by a cry of terror and pain.
And it came from Evey’s room.
I slammed my foot into the door just below the handle. I leveled my pistol at chest height but saw no one in the room, aside from a bewildered and furious Evey. She sat straight up in bed with an arrow nocked and aimed at the window.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She nodded. “What just happened?”
I strode toward the window, where the screams continued. Her falcon had a player pinned to the ground, its wings fully extended over the man’s body. It sank one talon into each of the player’s arms.
Boris circled the downed player, his hackles up and fangs bared, a low, dangerous growl emanating from his throat.
“Looks like your falcon just earned its keep,” I said.
Evey kept her bow drawn and aimed at the player while I went into the courtyard. If he tried to run, she would drop him where he stood.
Bastion and Rune joined me. Both had woken at the crash. In fact, lights flicked on all around the inn’s courtyard as players poked their heads out their window to investigate the noise.
The assailant had all but passed out when we reached him. His HP had dropped to dangerous levels. Bastion flash healed the player, which drew an angry glare from the falcon. “Evey, can you call him off?” I called.
She whistled, and the falcon released its grip and moved from the player to perch on a rail in the center of the courtyard. The player roused. Crumpled in his hand was a wanted poster, the bounty higher than before.
“Well, what do we have here?” Rune took the poster and looked at it. “Seems like he was here specifically for Evey. Doesn’t seem to have any other posters on him.” Rune patted the player down and searched his pockets, then shrugged.
“Bastion, hit him with another healing spell. Let’s wake him up.”
“With pleasure.” Light bloomed over the fallen player—a Spellweaver, now that I saw him up close.
The mage opened his eyes and looked in horror at the three of us. Oracles, by their nature, were low-HP classes. Glass cannons meant to sit on the back lines and obliterate opponents with spells while tank-classes kept them safe.
To try to go one-on-one with someone was a stupid move.
“Good morning, princess,” Rune said. With his helmet on, he struck an imposing figure. An armored melee class was anathema to a magic class.
“I’m sorry!” The player shouted. His lip quivered.
“Huh. I’m glad we can’t actually use the bathroom in this world,” Rune said. “Or I think this guy would have pissed himself.”
“Don’t kill me, don’t kill me, don’t kill me, don’t kill me…” The player’s words blurred together into incoherency.
I jammed my pistol against his head. “Shut up, would you? Explain what you were doing.”
When he continued to blubber nonsense, Rune snapped his fingers. “I’ve got this.” The Berserker wandered over to the well and drew a bucket of water, which he then dumped all over the player.
The shock of the cold snapped him out of his hysteria, but his eyes widened farther at the touch of my gun.
“Care to answer my question now?”
“The bounty! I was here for the bounty.” He gestured to the piece of paper. “The reward is significant.”
“20,000 gold pieces? Yeah. Significant." I scoffed. "But you’re a spellcaster. Climbing into someone’s room to fight puts you in close quarters. Or did you forget that Beast Tamers tend to have companions?”
“Beast Tamers in this realm have birds as companions! Seagulls. Not bears. Not falcons. I didn’t think it would be that hard. A few quick spells for burst damage, then I could collect the reward.”
Bastion nudged me. “Ren. We may have a problem.”
I glanced where he pointed. A crowd had formed, and a lot of players had been listening to the man’s words. At the mention of the bounty, several talked among themselves and checked their weapons.
I turned and aimed both pistols at the group. “You four. There are three of us on the ground. We haven’t slept much, so we aren’t in the best mood. You’ve also got a really pissed off falcon and a protective bear to contend with, not to mention their master in the window. And that’s not our entire party. Do you really want to try this right now?”
One of them—clearly the leader, from the way he oozed bravado—stepped forward and laughed. “You won’t kill another player. Otherwise you would have already killed the guy that tried to attack your group.”
I glanced where the Spellweaver lay on the ground and fired. The bullet hissed past his head and embedded itself in the ground and the man dissolved into tears again.
“Want to test your theory?” I asked. The player looked uncertain. Three blue shapes slinked out of the alley behind him, and I gestured. “Might want to turn around.”
The man screamed at the sight of the Spirit Wolves. The three ephemeral beasts growled a warning and stood their ground, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.
“Listen up!” I shouted and turned to face the group. “All of you listening already know there is a bounty out for us. Some of you might even be stupid enough to try to claim it for yourselves. Here is the only warning you will get: if you come after me or my party, do not expect any mercy.”
“Let's get him up,” Bastion gestured to the Spellweaver. “Let’s get him inside to question him more.
Rune laughed. The way it echoed inside his helmet gave it an absolutely wicked quality, and I couldn’t help the smirk that crept across my face at the way the Spellweaver whimpered. “My pleasure.”
They carried the man inside, and I walked behind them with my pistols drawn and aimed at the crowd. Most of the looks were curious, but I had seen several angry glares from the people gathered there.
“Looks like we pretty much burned this city,” I said.
Quinn met us at the stairwell, both of his rapiers drawn. “Seems like you’ve had some excitement out there,” he said.
“You could say that.” Rune pushed the Spellweaver up the stairs. “Keep moving. We aren’t done with you.”
Bastion turned to the innkeeper and gave him a thumbs up. “Don’t worry. We won’t cause any trouble. I can’t say the same for those guys out there, but if anyone tries to come in, well. You can take any money you find on their corpses for repairs."
The innkeeper yawned. “Whatever. Just keep it down. And don’t bleed him all over the floor.”
The Spellweaver looked terrified.
“Hey, Spellweaver. Recognize this guy?” I pointed at Quinn, and the player shook his head.
“No idea who he is.”
“Good. Mind going and getting the ship ready?” At Quinn’s questioning look, I shrugged. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to hang around here much longer. We may have, uh, made a few friends.”
He sighed. “One of these days, we’re going to be able to sleep through the night. Alright, I’ll head for the port. Don’t wait too long before you follow.”
“Don’t worry about that,” I said. “Just give us time to find out what we need to and hide the body.”
Another whimper from the Spellweaver. This was getting to be fun.
Bastion tossed the man into Evey’s room, and she shot him a look. “So you’re the one that tried to come after me.”
“Ma’am, it was nothing personal, I promise! I was just following up on the bounty.”
"Ma'am?" Evey rolled the word around her mouth and furrowed her brow. “And how exactly did you plan to take me down?”
“I just thought…” The man faltered. “I just thought I could burst you down. I’ve got enough damage output to take down most players.”
“Oh? So you were going to kill me while I slept?” Evey pulled her
dagger from its sheath. “Not even give me a fighting chance? That hardly seems fair. I’ll tell you what. Let’s fight, right here, right now. Come at me with my eyes open.”
The Spellweaver threw up his hands and backed away, fear plain on his face. “No, no, no. That’s fine. I don’t care about the bounty.”
“You don’t care about the bounty? About 20,000 gold? I’m tempted to turn myself in for that amount,” Evey said.
The Spellweaver turned a horrified look from her to us, and I couldn’t help it anymore.
I burst into laughter. Rune was right. If our bodies had the function in this world, he would have pissed himself.
At the sound of my laughter, everyone else lost their composure too—but the echoing sound of Rune’s laugh inside his helmet only made the situation more terrifying for the Spellweaver, and what little color remained drained from his face.
“Listen, kid. Tell us what you know about the bounty and we’ll let you go. No harm, no foul. Well, as long as you spread the word about what happens to people that come after us.”
“I’ll tell you everything! Everything! Just don’t kill me.”
“Come on. Did it never occur to you that you might be killed trying to kill a player for a bounty?” I shook my head. Either this player was naive, or a particular brand of stupid.
“I thought I could be sneaky enough.”
“So you’re okay with killing another player, but you don’t want us to kill you? Is that about the gist of things?”
“You said you wouldn’t kill me if I told you what I know!”
“Right,” I said. “But you aren’t telling us anything. You’re just talking a lot.”
“Okay, okay! It wasn’t about the bounty.”
“Come on, kid. You’re telling me 20,000 gold wasn’t an enticing offer?”
“I wasn’t going to keep the money!” The Spellweaver all but blubbered out the last bit. “I was going to give it back to the Pirate King and hope he would let me join his crew.”
I blinked. That was not what I had expected him to say. Not even remotely. “What?”
“The Pirate King. He takes care of his crew. A lot of players have gone into his service since we were stranded here, and they all say the same thing: he is fair. He keeps them fed and safe. Maybe the tasks he assigns aren’t the best, but they serve out of loyalty. Not fear.”
I shot a glance at Bastion. He shrugged. “That’s not the same person we encountered,” he said. “The Pirate King would have done anything to get information out of us.”
The Spellweaver shook his head. “That’s how it works. If you’re his enemy, he is ruthless. But if you prove yourself and join his crew? There’s no better team to be on.”
I could hardly believe what the kid was saying. Scarlet had demonstrated little to no care that at least ten of her crew had died in the fight against the Arciteuthis. “Listen. Go and join the Pirate King. Tell him you’ve encountered us, and that we defeated you. There are enough people in town that saw it happen that he'll believe you. And pass along a message: we’ll be waiting in Kiribati.”
Evey raised her eyebrows in question, but said nothing. The Spellweaver nodded so hard I thought his head might fall off. “I will! I will! I promise.”
“Okay. Now get out of here before I change my mind. And watch out for the bear in courtyard. He’s still angry.”
The kid scrambled out the door, tripped, and fell down the stairs. As soon as I heard the doors to the inn slam shut—with a scream as Boris growled at the Spellweaver—I doubled over in laughter. I laughed until my chest hurt and I couldn’t breathe.
When I regained my composure, I glanced up. Evey wiped tears from her eyes, and Bastion and Rune still snickered as they stared out the window.
“Was that really necessary?” Evey asked. “You scared that kid to death.”
“Then why did you laugh?”
She grimaced. “You’ve got a point.”
“He walked away with his life,” I said. “A courtesy he did not intend to extend to you. He can count himself lucky that all he’ll need is nightlight from now on.”
“Do you think what he said about Scarlet is true?” Evey asked. “she is some great leader?”
“No,” I said. “I think it's just a recruitment tool.”
“So what’s the deal here? You never explained how you managed to piss off a Pirate King so badly,” Rune asked.
“Come on. Grab your gear. I’ll fill you in on the way to the ship. We probably need to leave before anyone else shows up.”
We stuck to the shadows on our way back to the ship. Quinn had Betsy ready to go by the time we reached the port. Lanterns lined the deck, their dim light fighting a losing battle against the darkness of the night.
“It’s about time you got here,” he said. “I was beginning to worry.”
“Please. That Spellweaver had no chance,” Wish said. “I’m ashamed to be the same primary class as him.”
I bit back another laugh. "Quinn, can we sail out of the city now?”
“Yeah. Shouldn’t be a problem.” As he spoke the words, a tailwind picked up.
Evey glanced toward the north toward Napari's head. “Looks like we’ll have some more help.”
“Everybody onboard?” Quinn asked. He glanced around, counting off the crew members present. The falcon sat on the taffrail, and Boris sniffed at it curiously. “Alright. Grab hold of something, ladies and gentlemen. When I drop that sail, we’ll set off fast.”
He reached up, tugged a line, and the sail unfurled. With a great roar like the sound of beating wings, the sail filled with wind and propelled the ship forward.
Chapter Nineteen: Alternative Weapons
Rune leaned forward over the rails and shouted into the wind. “This is incredible!”
I looked up from the maintenance work on my two pistols. The salty air dropped their durability faster than I liked. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”
“Oh, come on.” Rune hopped from his perch and strutted across the deck to where I sat. “Don’t tell me you’ve already gotten bored of being on a ship and traversing a brand new world. Where’s all your excitement?”
I snapped the hammer back and pulled the trigger. It fired without any resistance. “It’s a bit hard to be excited when there’s a bounty on your head. Kind of dulls the fun a bit.”
“To be fair, you didn’t make it any better when you issued a direct challenge to the Pirate King back on Napari.”
I glanced back over my shoulder. The Great Turtle had disappeared into the distance within an hour of our departure. The wind shifted directions when we did—always behind us, always full in our sails. We plowed through the sea faster than we ever had. “My temper got the best of me,” I said.
“Nah. I don’t think so.” Rune shifted his helmet to his other arm and sat down. “You know that tackling the threat head on is better than letting it attempt to creep up on you, so that’s what you did. Now you know where to look for it.”
I quirked an eyebrow at him. He was right, but I hadn’t thought about it in so many words. “Maybe. So you plan to stick with us here?”
“What else am I going to do? I’ve got solid transport, and hey! The old raid group is back together. Or at least part of it. Maybe one sub-group. We can handle anything that comes our way.”
“Your optimism is amazing,” I said. “But you’re wearing worn-out gear. I can still see the damage it suffered in the raid.”
“Oh, yeah.” Rune laughed. “I haven’t had a chance to upgrade my armor yet. Or my weapons, for that matter. I had hoped to do a bit of shopping in the city, but you had to go and pick a fight before I could get anything done. Thanks for that.”
“Don’t mention it. I probably saved you some gold.”
“He’s right,” Evey said. “I stole a look at some of the plate armor pieces back on Napari. It’s expensive stuff. Bastion could barely crank out nails for leather armor, so I can only imagine how much work it is to craft genuine pl
ate.”
“Is there somewhere we can find armor that won’t cost me an arm and a leg?”
“Isn’t that the point of wearing armor?” I asked. When no one laughed, I sighed. “You know, to keep both arms and both legs?”
“Mate, that one was rough,” Quinn called out. “Not worth laughing at. But yes, there is a place we can stop. A small island chain between Napari and Rawaki called Nui. Couple of islands there, and a permanent post for the Merchant Marines.” He looked down at a map and then squinted toward the sky. “Give us a couple of hours at this rate and we can be there.”
“Let’s go!” Rune said. “I want some new gear. Something fancy.”
I groaned. He was going to spend every last ounce of gold he had, wasn’t he?
“We could all do with some upgrades,” Evey said. “The closer we draw to the corruption, the more danger we’re going to be in.”
“You aren’t wrong. My leather chest piece is still fine, but the rest of my gear could do with an upgrade.” I let one of my pistols dangle from a finger. “And this is the same thing I started with. I only got one new pistol back on Toris. Something with more stats and damage output would help. And more Caster Shells, come to think of it. I’m out of material to craft any extras.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Talk logistics another time. All I hear is that we’re going shopping!” Rune said.
“You know that every time you take a step, your armor clanks together? You’re like a cat with a bell on its neck.”
“Don’t be jealous.”
Nui appeared in the distance, and I was forced to admit a bit of admiration at Quinn’s ability to predict distances. A straight divided the islands, but a ferry ran between them.
Buildings dotted the island on the right, with a large spire rising from the center of the island. The island on the left showed no signs of civilization save a single dilapidated dock. A lush jungle ran along the shore, and faint wisps of smoke rose from somewhere in the center of the island.