by Jamie Davis
It had to work.
Everything was all up to Stefan and the first mate now.
The hangman took a step back and prepared to kick the stool out from under Rodrigo.
An explosion to the north next to the main gates out to the city sent a plume of smoke and fire upward into the air. The crowd, packed shoulder to shoulder into the square, surged away from the explosion but had nowhere to go.
On the opposite side, another explosion blew a fifteen-foot gap in the courtyard wall forcing people back from it towards the center of the square.
As if in synchronization, which of course it was, a rippling blast of smaller explosions sounded in the wall directly opposite the square from the VIP platform. The group of bombs sent the packed crowd surging towards the Governor’s palace.
Guards at the gates to the palace tried to hold back the press of panicked humanity for a few seconds, then the guards were overrun and the crowd ran into the palace lawn. The packed masses filled the small inner courtyard area as they tried to force their way into the palace itself, blocking the path of the reserve guard units drawn up there to prepare to fight off any foolish rescue attempt.
Cari knew that was what the other guard units were there for. The pompous governor had told her all about it and his plans, probably in an attempt to dissuade her from doing what she was doing.
The old fool.
On the platform full of VIPs, confusion rippled as the dignitaries shouted questions and looked for a safe way down from the wooden platform and bleachers. With all the people passing by, there wasn’t much they could do unless they wanted to mingle with the commoners, which they clearly didn’t want to do.
It didn’t matter anyway.
The charge Mr. Bowcott planted moments before at the back of the grandstand exploded sending the rear section of the bleachers crashing down, carrying the assembled nobility of the city of Lyden with it.
That was Cari’s cue.
Standing, she planted a boot at the small of the Governor’s back, kicking him over the front railing of the grandstand.
She laughed at the total look of surprise on his face while he fell over backward, his arms windmilling to catch his balance.
He failed, crashing head first to the paved ground below.
4,500 experience awarded
Spinning in place, she drew her sword and dagger just in time to square off against Rashesh.
The captain had drawn his scimitar, sweeping it in an upward arc at Cari’s midsection.
She was able to barely parry the blow with her dagger. The curved sword slid away, and she tried a follow-up lunging thrust at his chest.
The scimitar flicked up and batted the tip of her rapier aside then pressed inward to deliver a slicing blow to Cari’s shoulder.
Health damage — health -8
She had never sparred against a scimitar before, and her inexperience showed. Clearly, her opponent was familiar with the usual rapier techniques.
He scored two more slashes against her in rapid succession.
Health damage — health -8
Health damage — health -10
Wincing in pain at the injuries the razor-sharp scimitar inflicted, Cari knew she needed to try something else.
She couldn’t get bogged down in a prolonged fight here. There’d be help coming from the palace as soon as the crowd started to thin between the square and the barracks.
Cari decided to attempt a combination of two of her skills at the same time. She had never tried something like this before, but it should work, at least in theory.
She slipped to one side in a feint, pretending the last scimitar hit caused more damage than it did.
Rashesh took the bait, lunging at her leading feint with his blade held high.
Leaning into the feint to the side, Cari kicked downward and to the right, launching herself in a roll towards and then past the startled Sultanate captain coming up directly behind him.
Ability Combo (Feint and Acrobatic Dodge) — 2x Experience bonus
Rashesh’s scimitar cut through nothing but air, realizing his mistake too late to recover. He twisted to one side in a futile attempt to avoid the attack from behind.
Cari’s lunging stab pierced Rashesh’s left side, the dark red flood of blood confirming she’d struck his kidney. She twisted the blade as she withdrew it hoping to down the man quickly with the additional damage.
Rashesh’s back arched in pain from her strike. He fell to his knees before toppling sideways, bleeding out onto the wooden platform.
16,000 experience
Quest completed — kill Captain Rashesh
10,000 experience
Cari stood and vaulted over the railing to the ground ten feet below. Her first mate was wounded and trying to fend off two scimitar-wielding guards. They wore turbans wrapped around circular helmet caps with spikes protruding upward. These were from the Governor’s personal bodyguard.
She ran forward and hit the closest of the two guards from the side with her shoulder lowered, lifting him from his feet to send him crashing into his companion.
“Run to the rendezvous, Mr. Bowcott. I’m right behind you.”
“But, ma’am —”
“No buts. Run!”
Cari turned and batted aside the blade of the first guard to rise to his feet. She twisted her hand and drew the edge of her modified rapier backward across his throat, cutting his neck open all the way back to his spine.
3,000 experience
The second guard tried to cut at her knees from his awkward position halfway to his feet. She struck downward with her dagger, parrying the half-hearted attack and plunged her sword’s tip through his chest. He fell forward with a gasp.
3,000 experience
Her power-up bonus gauge flashed in the corner of her visual field. She was tempted to engage it and use the additional speed to get to Rodrigo. He was still teetering on the narrow stool with his head in the noose.
She changed her mind. It was time to stick to the plan. She ran towards the center of the square at normal speed.
At the same time, a wagon drawn by two horses raced into the empty square through the hole her crew had blown in the wall to the left.
Helen was at the reins, leaning forward on the bench seat, slapping the leather traces down on the horses’ backs with both hands.
Stefan stood next to her balanced on the edge of the wagon’s bed ready to leap to the raised stone stage and face off against the hooded executioner. The executioner stood there with a double-bladed headsman’s axe. Presumably he’d planned to use it to behead Rodrigo after hanging him.
Helen drove the wagon past the stage, so close Stefan was able to step off onto the stone platform with ease.
He dodged to one side as the huge axe came down at him.
The big blade struck sparks off the stones where it hit.
Stefan landed a glancing blow with his sword and managed to make the executioner step back to avoid a killing thrust.
The big man in the hood must have realized how to best distract his opponent and he kicked outward with his boot, knocking the stool a few inches to the side.
Rodrigo twisted and stretched to his tip-toes to remain in place on the edge of the stool, teetering and almost falling off. Cari breathed a sigh of relief as he seemed to regain his balance enough to stay on the minimal support of the rickety stool.
She pressed herself to run faster, passing the injured first mate as he lumbered towards the wagon.
Stefan pressed his attack to drive the executioner back away from his friend.
“Yes!” Cari cheered as he landed a strike stabbing deep into the executioner’s thigh.
The big man howled with rage and pain and swung his axe in a broad arc at Stefan’s head.
The lieutenant ducked under the blow and lunged forward to drive his sword through the bare-chested brute’s heart.
The man refused to die quickly.
Cari stared on in horror as, in a last dying surge of strength
, the executioner, threw his big axe at the base of the stool a few feet away. The double-headed weapon skittered across the stones and knocked the stool out from under Rodrigo’s toes.
“No!” Cari yelled in horror.
Stefan twisted as the stool shifted out from under his friend and planted his foot in the back of the dying executioner, launching himself up into the air.
Letting his momentum propel him around in a circle following his initial twisting motion, Stefan slashed outward with his sword, stretched as far towards Rodrigo as it would go.
Just as Rodrigo swung free and the noose tightened around his neck, Stefan’s blade sliced through the thick rope just above Rod's head. The condemned man fell safely to the stones below.
Cari reached the wagon, vaulting into the back at the same time Stefan pulled Rodrigo to his feet. He yanked his friend into the back of the wagon, helping the weakened man jump down next to Cari.
Helen waited a few more seconds for Mr. Bowcott to reach them and then she slapped the reins down on the horses’ backs.
“Ya, ya! Run you nags,” Helen yelled as the wagon lurched into motion, headed for the gap in the main gate the crew had opened with one of the explosions.
Cari looked over her shoulder.
Behind them, the square was still in pandemonium. Guards from the palace were just filtering through the dense and panicked crowd to reach the grandstand, searching for someone to fight.
Cari laughed. They’d find no one there. They’d made their escape.
Quest completed — rescue Rodrigo
12,000 experience awarded
Chapter 8
Cari jumped down onto the dock before Helen finished reining in the horses. The rest of those packed into the back of the wagon waited until they came to a full stop.
They’d picked up all twenty-two of the shore party’s crew after they raced out of the square. Stopping at three different rendezvous points to recover them on the way to the harbor.
“Get everyone on board the Vengeance,” Cari ordered. “We have to clear the harbor fortifications before the alert reaches them or we’ll have to run past the big guns they’ve got mounted there.”
“Lucky for us the Sultan’s warships are all docked in the Governor’s private harbor on the opposite side of the bay,” Mr. Bowcott added.
“It won’t be lucky for long if we don’t get moving. Hustle everyone aboard, Mr. Bowcott. Make a final count to make sure we don’t leave anyone behind. It won’t be pleasant for them here if we do.”
“Aye, Cap’n.”
The first mate started shouting orders while Cari ran up the gangplank. The bosun already had the ship ready to move. Only a single hawser held the vessel in place at the dock and men and women were aloft to let down the sails so they could start moving.
“Mr. Dawkins,” Cari called to the bosun.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“As soon as the first mate confirms everyone’s aboard, get us out of here.”
“Where will you be, ma’am.”
“I’m gonna need some stitches, so I’m headed to my cabin so Helen can sew me back up.”
Helen spoke up from behind her.
“We have more potions recovered from the slaver’s ship, ma’am. Take one of them. I’ve checked them. They’re quite powerful.”
Cari shook her head.
“No, we aren’t out of the woods yet, and we might need them. We’re a long way from Tandon, or anywhere else we can safely resupply. A few more stitched up scars won’t hurt me.”
“As you wish, ma’am,” Helen said.
“Let’s go and see if we can finish so I can be back on deck before we pass by the harbor fort’s guns. I’m nervous about getting by them safely.”
Helen nodded and followed Cari down to her cabin.
———
Rodrigo teetered on the narrow gangplank, wondering if he was going to come all this way after the rescue only to drown after falling off this board between the dock and the ship. A hand reached out, gripped his shoulder, and steadied him.
“Easy does it, Rod. Let me help you.”
Stefan stepped up behind him and relief washed over Rodrigo as his friend helped him up the gangplank and onto the main deck.
“You know,” Rodrigo said. “You could have left me back there. Our little competition would have been settled.”
“Where would the fun have been in that? Sometimes the adventure itself is worth the trouble. Besides, it felt good to take those bastards down a peg or two, don’t you think?”
“I would have been happy to see a few more of those guards who tortured me die. At least you got that executioner. He was the worst of them all. The whole time they beat me, the smile never left his face.”
Behind them, sailors pulled in the gangplank and the first mate called out to the bosun to make way. Orders were called and relayed aloft.
Sails unfurled and caught the afternoon wind coming off the desert to the south of the city. The ship’s rigging creaked as the stays and lines supporting the masts and spars snapped taught.
The Vengeance slipped away from the wooden pier and turned out into the harbor, headed for the mouth of the small bay next to the city of Lyden.
Rodrigo tried to decide if he should return to duty first or go down and change into some fresh clothes first. Mr. Bowcott decided for him.
“Mr. Claridge, assist Mr. Dumont down to the cabin you two share and get him situated there. Once he’s settled, return to the deck and prepare your gun crews for action. We aren’t out of this yet.”
“Yes, sir,” Stefan said, snapping a salute.
“I can return to duty, Mr. Bowcott,” Rodrigo insisted. “I just need to change into something a little less ragged.”
The first mate fixed him with a look filled with a surprising amount of compassion for a man accustomed to the harsh life of a seaman.
“Nonsense, lad. Take some time. It’s easy to see you’ve been through a great deal in the last twenty-four hours. Wait in your cabin. I’ll send Helen down to check on you and tend to your wounds after she’s finished with the Cap’n. If she says you can return to duty after consulting with Cap’n Dix, I’ll send for you. Otherwise, you remain down there.”
“Yes, sir,” Rodrigo replied. He didn’t like it, but he’d learned to take orders, and he knew the man wasn’t going to take no for an answer. The first mate would have Stefan tie him in his bunk if he argued.
“Come on,” Stefan said, taking him by the arm. “We’ll stop by the galley and get you some food to eat. You’ll feel better and return to duty before you know it.”
Rodrigo nodded and let his friend lead him to the steps leading down below deck. As they walked, he came to a decision.
“You know, I think she’d be better off with you, Stefan. You’ve proven yourself to be the better man. I wish you the best.”
“What? Giving up so soon?” Stefan shook his head. “It would hardly be fair of me to let you concede defeat in your weakened condition.”
“But, you won. You rescued me. Not the other way around.”
“That was never the agreement. We agreed to compete for Cari’s attention on a level playing field. How is it fair now that she’s so worried about your survival that she leads a daring rescue to save you. Nope, this isn’t over at all. If anything, I should concede to you. You withstood torture after leaping forward to defend her honor by striking a foreign prince. That alone gives you precedence.”
“It was a foolish thing to do,” Rodrigo said.
“Damn straight it was. What were you thinking?”
Rodrigo laughed and Stefan joined him as they walked down the passageway to their cabin below the quarterdeck.
“I wasn’t thinking. If I had, I would have realized what my actions would force Cari to do in order to rescue me.”
He stopped laughing as his answer took a serious turn. Rodrigo looked around to make sure no one else was nearby before continuing.
“You’ve seen the w
ay the killing weighs on her, Stefan. It’s like every death she causes takes a little part of her soul. She knows it, too. It’s why she doesn’t like to join the boarding parties unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Stefan nodded. There was nothing more to say about it. They both worried about her.
He lifted the latch and opened their cabin door, and stepped back to let Rodrigo enter first.
Rodrigo gave him a quiet thank you and stepped into the familiar confines of their cabin. Stefan entered and closed the door behind him.
“So,” Stefan said. “I suppose we go back to the original agreement and make sure we do everything we can to keep her on board the ship and away from personally taking anyone else’s life.”
“It’s the least we can do. We may not be able to save ourselves, but we can save her.”
“Agreed,” Stefan said, holding out his hand.
The two men clasped wrists and shook to seal their agreement once again.
“Get out of those rags and get in your bunk. Helen will be by soon. It looked like Cari only needed a few stitches, so Helen will be along soon to check on you in a few minutes.”
Rodrigo nodded and started to pull the shredded and torn clothes off as Stefan left him alone in the cabin. A hand drifted up to his neck where the noose had left a scrape of rope burn against his throat.
A chill passed through him at the thought of how close it had been. He owed Stefan his life and he wouldn’t forget it.
Chapter 9
Cari stood and pulled on a fresh shirt before donning her coat. As she twisted, she felt the pull of the stitches Helen had placed to close up her wounds, but the pain was less than it had been thanks to some willow bark tea the woman gave her to drink.
It was an awful, bitter drink but she had to admit it helped with the pain.
“You do good work as always, Helen.”
“I’d be happy not to have any work to do at all, Cap’n.”