by Rob J. Hayes
The early evening found Thanquil roaming the Larkos docks. It was a cacophony of noise and activity. Bawdy sailors, finished with their day’s work, lounged about or stalked the harbour in packs looking for trouble yet avoiding Clerics wherever possible. Folk who committed crimes and were taken by the Clerics tended to end up flogged and put to community service. For a sailor that would likely mean missing their departure and that would put them out of a job.
Merchants crowded the designated spots, none willing to risk setting up their stalls anywhere else, and hawked to the passing crowd while sending each other furtive glances. Many sold the same wares and prices were constantly driven down by nearby competition. Thanquil stopped at one such merchant and purchased a new bag of black powder. His pistol had been impotent for far too long.
Slaves and their overseers were in abundance, marching to or from low wallowing ferry ships. No self-respecting pirate would bother taking a slaver as there was nothing there for them to take so the ships could afford to be slow and fat and ugly. Larkos was well-known for its slave trading; an empire founded by the independent merchant Ryos had blossomed into a business so profitable he had flat out purchased one of the thirteen companies that ruled Larkos. These days the Bleeders worked for Ryos and they and they alone ran the slaving business in the free city. All attempts at competition had apparently met with quick and bloody ends.
Rats were everywhere. Huge, beady eyed monstrosities of teeth and fur and quite possibly disease, they gathered sometimes in large hordes and other times in solitary but they were ever present in the docks of Larkos, as were the cats that preyed upon them. Never had Thanquil seen so many cats and none looked to be going hungry. They crowded rooftops, stalked alleyways and even managed to intimidate many a passer-by. The cats of Larkos were notorious for their lack of fear and it had been rumoured once or twice that they were not above attacking people.
He had added another layer of protection to Myorzo by wrapping it in a thick woollen blanket and had it slung across his back. Even so he could feel the occasional stare his way from those affected by its influence. Thanquil wasn’t certain whether the demon inside the blade had stopped whispering to him or whether it had become so pervasive that he no longer noticed it. Either way seemed a terrifying prospect.
He found what he was searching for floating languidly on one of the less well-travelled and less well-maintained jetties. In the waning light of the evening the Phoenix looked sleek and dangerous, just as many a sailor and port official had claimed. Thanquil hadn’t needed to use his compulsion to ask around; merely the mention of looking for a pirate ship had ended in many fingers pointed this way.
Two sailors lazed about on rickety wooden stools at the end of the gangplank that led up to the ship. Neither of them looked particular bothered about taking part in their watch duties. The first, dressed in a matching but worn suit of pale green, was picking at his finger nails with a short knife and the second, wearing a fiery red jacket over brown cottons, was occupied staring out across the water of the bay.
When Thanquil approached the first sailor whistled and poked the second who promptly gave up staring at the ocean and uttered a foreign curse Thanquil had never heard.
“I’m looking for…” Thanquil began.
“That’s a right fancy coat,” said the first sailor.
The second sailor sucked on his teeth. “That’s one o’ them Arbiters. Witch hunter from Sarth.”
The first sailor shot the second a look before turning back to Thanquil. “That right? You a witch hunter?”
Thanquil nodded. “I’m here to see your captain.”
Both men were silent for a moment then the second sailor glanced back towards the ship and shouted. “Yanic.”
After a short while a face sporting a neatly trimmed moustache and a scar that stretched from the right side of his mouth almost to his ear appeared over the rail of the ship and looked down at them. “Fuck me. Is that one of them Inquisitors?”
The second sailor shook his head. “He’s an Arbiter.”
“There a difference?” asked Yanic.
The second sailor shrugged.
“Well what does he want?”
“Wants t’ speak to the captain.”
Yanic laughed. “Well tell him the captain ain’t fucking here.”
The second sailor turned back to Thanquil. “Yanic says the captain ain’t here.”
Thanquil sighed. “Thanks. I don’t suppose Yanic might know when he’ll be back.”
“You know when the captain’ll be back, Yanic?”
Yanic shook his head.
“Yanic says he don’t know when the captain’ll be back.”
“Then I’ll just wait here for him,” Thanquil said looking around hoping to find another of the rickety wooden stools.
“Captain could be a while,” said Yanic.
“Aye?” asked the second sailor.
“Aye.”
The second sailor looked back towards Thanquil. “Yanic says the captain could be a while. Reckon you’d be more comfortable buggering off to a tavern. Come back tomorrow morning.”
Thanquil snorted. “You’ll be gone by the morning. I think I’ll wait.”
The second sailor spat on the jetty. “Suit ya’self.”
“What does he want with the cap’n?” asked Yanic.
“Dunno. Didn’t ask.”
“Well ask him.”
“What d’ya…”
Thanquil interrupted the man. “I’m looking to book passage on your ship.”
All three sailors burst into laughter. “Reckon ya might have the wrong ship, Arbiter,” said the second sailor. “We ain’t exactly the passenger ferryin’ types. We’re, uh, buccaneers.”
“You’re pirates,” Thanquil said.
“Same thing really,” replied Yanic. “So don’t make no sense you wantin’ to ship out with us.”
Thanquil sighed. “I need a ship fast enough and a captain crazy enough to go after the Fortune. So I think I’ll wait right here until your captain returns.”
Yanic looked down at the second pirate. The second pirate shrugged and stood, running a hand down his jacket then proffering it to Thanquil. “Captain Keelin Stillwater.”
Thanquil opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out so instead he took the pirate’s hand and shook.
“First things first, Arbiter. You don’t have a hope in all the hells of catching up with the Fortune even aboard the Phoenix and even if all the Gods line up and take it in turns farting into her sails. Drake left port…”
“Three days back, cap’n,” called Yanic.
“And there isn’t a ship built can catch the Fortune on open water. That being said, I do happen to know many of the places Drake frequents and I reckon I know where he’s most like to be. So,” Captain Stillwater grinned wide, “let’s talk about your fare.”
Jezzet
They came for her on the fourth night. Drake had brought her aboard and told her there were no free cabins on the Fortune but she was welcome to stay in his. Jezzet declined. She trusted neither Drake nor herself in such a situation so decided the best course was to remove the temptation. She opted to sleep down in the hold when she managed to sleep at all and she had found a nice little corner of nowhere that was snug and warm and only smelled badly as opposed to terribly. Drake had laughed it off, told her she could sleep where she liked and now it appeared her stubborn defiance was having consequences. Drake’s crew obviously thought she was fair game.
She was awake as the first of the pirates, a big man with beady eyes and no hair, stepped close to her hiding place, he was not light and he was not stealthy. Jezzet opened her eyes a crack. Three pirates; the big one, a small one and a greasy-haired frog of a man. She waited until he was just a couple of feet away, until she could smell all three men’s unwashed stink, and then she struck.
Best teach them a lesson so that none of them will forget, Jez.
She launched from her sleeping spot with her
dagger reversed in her hand. There was no point to wielding a sword in such a confined space, better something with a short blade. The pummel of the dagger connected with the big pirate’s gut, driving the wind out of him. Jez saw his eyes bulge and his mouth crease up and she struck again, this time the pummel of her dagger cracked the man across his jaw. He went down with a grunt and a spray of blood as the second two came at her.
The greasy frog was as clumsy as he was careless. He rushed at her with clutching hands hoping to overpower her. He didn’t get close enough to try. Jez lashed out with her foot and heard the snap at the same time she saw his leg buckle. He hit the wooden floor screaming and Jez danced out of his reach.
That was when the smaller man realised he was outmatched. Jezzet saw the change in his eyes, saw the look go from feverish lust to abject terror. The fool turned and started to run. Jezzet had no intention of letting him get away free. His intention had been rape and possibly a bit of a beating thrown in. Jezzet’s intention was to make an example.
Both Drake and his first mate, Zothus, were on deck when Jezzet marched up out of the hatch pushing the little would-be rapist in front of her. They heard the man’s snivelling cries and both turned to watch Jez’s display, as did every pirate on duty.
Good. Get the message to as many of them as possible.
Jez walked the man to the middle of the main deck with his arm thoroughly twisted behind him and then kicked the back of his knees. The little man crashed to the floor weeping and cradling the wrist Jez had just relinquished. He was mostly unharmed besides the broken wrist but Jezzet was about to do worse.
As the little man crawled back onto his knees he looked back over his shoulder at her, a sneer on his face. Jez was ready and waiting. She punched him with all the force she could muster and well she knew that was a fair amount of force. The pirate did not get back up. He lay in a slowly spreading pool of blood and spittle.
Good message, Jez. Show them all you’re not afraid to break your own hand.
There were plenty of pirates gathering now including, Jez noticed, the big one who had just recently tasted Jez’s dagger pommel. Some watched her with the same lust she had seen before administering the beating, others were wary, trying not to meet her eyes and she swept her gaze over the crowd. Eventually she looked at Drake.
“You might want to tell your crew to try sticking their cocks somewhere else, Drake,” she shouted at the pirate captain.
He laughed. In a sea of ugly faces on board the ship Drake was a beacon of pretty but underneath all of his smiles and dark eyes he was as rotten as the rest and Jez knew it as well as he did.
“Reckon that’ll have to be a lesson you teach them your own self, Jezzet,” Drake called back. “Try not to kill her, boys.”
Drake leaned his elbows on the railing and watched with a wry half-smile, Zothus shrugged and did likewise.
“How many pirates are you willing to lose like this, Drake?” Jez screamed over the rising clamour of voices.
Jez saw the bastard shrug before she decided it was time to turn her attention to the twenty pirates looking to use her like a shore-side whore.
She sensed the big pirate coming from behind long before he got close. An easy duck to her left and she span and drew her sword in one fluid motion, cutting a large gash up the man’s back as he passed her harmlessly. With a howl akin to a new born babe the big pirate went crashing to the deck, screaming and bleeding in equal measure. The other pirates hung back, they recognised a game changer when they saw one and the bloodied three foot of steel in her hand was just that.
Whilst weapons were a regular commodity aboard a pirate ship it was rare the crew carried any. Drake and his first mate were permitted weapons but the rest of the pirates usually had to wait until prey was spotted before the swords, axes and bows were brought out. That did not stop a plethora of knives appearing in calloused hands and all of them pointed towards her.
She saw Drake watching with unfeigned interest. No doubt the bastard is hoping they beat me so he can take his turn. Jez had no doubt she’d lose, against so many in such tight quarters her chances bordered on hopeless but she would be damned before she let a single pirate inside her and she’d take as many of the bloody shits down with her as she could before they beat her.
Jez dropped down low into a fighting stance, like a predator waiting to pounce. She held one sword in her right hand across her body, her left hand hovered near the hilt of the other.
Yuri had taught her how to fight multiple opponents, he had even gone so far as to hire men to attack her. His method was simple; imagine a circle around you, no more than two feet in all directions. That circle is your territory, that circle is your body. Anyone who enters that circle dies. Jez held her weapons so she could strike anywhere and she focused on all her senses, not just her sight, to know when and where they came from. She calmed her breathing and waited for the attack.
“Ship! Dead ahead.” Came the shout from above.
All the pirates looked toward their captain. Drake was already moving, heading for the bow with a spyglass in his hand. He walked straight past Jezzet and the pirates surrounding her and Zothus went with him. Jezzet waited, keeping all of her senses trained on her circle.
After one of the more tense minutes of her life Drake strode back into view. “Jezzet Vel’urn’s introduction to the Fortune will have to wait, boys. Merchant cog ahoy, sleek and fast but low in the water and just about right for the taking, I reckon.”
A cheer went up and most of the pirates scattered to their posts. A few remained behind including the bleeding pirates now based on the deck. “What should we do with Si, cap’n?” asked one of the pirates.
Drake cackled. “Ain’t got no use for a wounded pirate. See if the sea wants him.” As two of the pirates dragged the mewling, wounded man to the larboard railing Drake leaned in close. “Now why is it you always look most beautiful when you’re fighting for your life?”
Jez felt her cheeks heat and floundered for a response but it was too late; Drake walked away smiling and she found herself standing alone on the main deck as Zothus screamed for all hands on deck and pirates rushed to and fro all around her.
The activity on the Fortune was organised, frenetic chaos but every member of the crew seemed to have a job and every one of them obviously knew it well. More than once Jez found herself in the way as a pirate rushed to his task. Eventually she moved up to quarter deck where Drake held the wheel. The night was beyond dark and the moon thoroughly hidden behind layer upon layer of churning cloud but the pirate captain steered the ship with the same confidence she had come to expect from him.
“We’re going to attack them?” she asked.
He gave an appraising look. “Aye. We are.”
Jez nodded. Her sword was back in its scabbard but her hand never strayed from its hilt. The idea of a fight excited her more than she liked to admit. She had come close to one and it had stirred her blood, now she had pent up energy just waiting to be expended.
She glanced sidelong at Drake. With the wind blowing back his hair and a predatory grin on his pretty face she could certainly see what the Dragon Empress saw in him. Dangerous game, Jez. She looked away quickly.
“How’s her sail lookin?” Drake shouted.
“Full.” Came the reply from above. “Reckon she’s seen us cap’n.”
“Right then,” Drake said grinning from ear to ear. “Hoist the colours and pile on the sail, boys.”
Another cheer from the pirates and one whooped close by. Jezzet turned just in time to see the scrawny pirate scutter to the railing and leap onto the rigging where he raced up to the mast as fast as a monkey.
“Shouldn’t they be armed?” Jez asked as she watched the pirates run about the ship like fleas on a dog’s back.
Drake chuckled. “Might want to settle in, Jezzet. Got a while ‘fore this chase turns into a fight.”
He wasn’t wrong. For over an hour they chased after the ship ahead of them, steadi
ly gaining but not nearly fast enough for Jezzet. It came as a relief when Zothus finally called for weapons and she watched as each one of the pirates aboard the Fortune broke their post for a handful of seconds to select a weapon. Some picked swords, others picked axes but all were crude things of wood and metal. They were well looked after and she didn’t see a spot of rust on them but they were weapons for those that didn’t know how to use them. Jezzet’s sword was a precision instrument, one she intended to use.
When the Fortune pulled close it didn’t take long for the arrows to start flying. More than a couple of shafts planted themselves in the hull and the deck of Drake’s pirate ship but none managed to hit their targets. Drake laughed at the attempts to defend. “Reckon negotiation is out of the question.”
“That was an option?” Jez muttered over her shoulder to the captain, her attention was focused on the little ship they were about to board.
Drake took a moment to reply but she could feel him watching her. “Nah. Don’t reckon it was.”
Jez heard an odd clicking noise and looked down to find the most grotesque creature she had ever seen watching her. The spider was the size of a cat with eight eyes, each the size of her fist, positioned around its head. The beast had a strange turquoise sheen to its body and its huge fangs rubbed together producing the sound she had heard. She stared at the spider for a while before turning to Drake. “This thing yours?”
“Don’t you worry none,” said Zothus, appearing at Drake’s side. “Reckon Rhi’s taken a likin’ to ya. See how she ain’t tryin’ to eat your face? Means she likes ya.”
Drake shrugged and Jez turned her attention back to their prey, ignoring the little beast as it chittered beside her.
As the Fortune pulled alongside the merchant cog Jezzet could see its crew were armed and waiting for the pirates but not a one of them looked ready to fight, only willing.
Jez had been in fights before, more than she could or cared to remember, she’d been in battles before, she’d even sparred with Thanquil aboard a ship before but never had she been involved in a clash like this. Time became a blur of rolling decks, screaming faces and blood. She was one of the first across and the first into the fight, forgoing the use of a grappling line and simply leaping across from one ship to the other as they pulled close.