Sea Kaptain's Rig
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1 I had no idea how large Lal Lake really was. Looking out over the water I saw an endless field of blue. I felt small. I had an hour left before I went back to work on the Kutlass, the lead ship in pirate raids for the Sea Kaptain. I took a quest in order to find out who the Sea Kaptain really was. His face was seldom seen, those who have seen it are even more so. Billy Baker tells all the rumors on the ship. He also seemed to take a liking to me. After each pass of sandstone on the ship's wooden deck he would yell out, “ohhh and there she was with a face of marble.” He would wait for me to sing the next verse. Not knowing it the job fell to Samwell next to me.
“She washed it clean to bad she used the cargo.” The song was silly but, it sure did give swabbing the decks a timeless feel. Billy walked up to me now singing the first verse.
“Billy I'm not singing your silly song.”
“You might want to learn it. Fitting in with the crew will be much easier.”
2 “I don't plan on being here much longer.”
“It seems to me you will be here a while. There is only one way off the Kutlass for hands like us. Only the fighters can leave. You don't look like much of a fighter to me Rob.” He was right.
“Alright, Billy teach me to wail this song. I want to shock Samwell right off the side of the ship.” The next hour I spent learning the words to ‘Scrub Her Clean'. Every morning we spent hours scrubbing the Kutlass. The work was grueling with little satisfaction since all of the hands were forced to be there either shipwrecked drifters or captured peasants from the villages near the coast. The pirates hated maintaining the vessel. They just wanted to plunder and drink. I felt foolish infiltrating a ship that every other crew member wanted to abandon. Three months scrubbing the deck, working the rig, and loading cargo on and off this ship made me wonder if I was the only conjurer in a guild silly enough to work under pirates doing chores. I needed to make a move, it was clear Billy Baker has told me every story he knew about the Sea Kaptain. I heard talk of a raid coming soon.
I rested my head for the night thinking about my next plan of attack. In the morning one of the fighters was stumbling about as he usually did half drunk and full of bellicose. Everyone knew him as Hunter because of the way he breaks into people's houses on raids and allows the scared to flee. When asked about it he says it makes the hunt more enjoyable. Billy overheard one of the other fighters making fun of him after a drunken spill down the companionway. Berry the bumbler was what the other fighters called him and justly so. He had a way of bumbling into some of the hands on deck and hassling them. I put myself in the way of his path hoping he would try and bully me as he had done to the others. Timing it right was at the forefront of my mind. I needed the attention of an officer, a leader, anyone who had the power to put me on a raid. I slackened my pace to draw the eye of the overseer.
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He definitely saw me. A raspy yell was accompanied with a searing blaze on my hands. The sandstone block appeared to have absorbed my hands into the stone. I could tell this was worldly magic. He stretched the stone to fully in case my hands. I could feel myself being dragged by the block of rock. The overseer always did this when one of the many hands let up on scrubbing the deck. I was ready for this. I leaned overturning the block of sandstone aiming for Berry. I could tell the spell did not have a direction it just sped up the sandstone. The overseer’s spell helped propel me right into Berry. He stumbled about swearing and dropping his bottle of booze. Once he saw me he lit up with anger. A quick kick to the ribs knocked me to the floor. He descended on me in his rage.
3 I focused all of my energy into one thought, then I yelled, “Do you know what eats berries? Bears!” All of the magic I focused into the center of my body spread to the tips of my toes and the fringe of my fingers. Skin turned to fur, fingernails to claws, and my clothes to shreds as the transformation took place. I could see the shock in Berry's eyes. I stood taller which I did not account for. I let out a loud growl that grabbed the attention of everyone topside. I swung a mighty paw, claws two inches long. The extra height placed my swing at head level. He quickly fell to the floor. I now descended on him. My teeth ready to take a large chunk out of his shoulder stopped just above his skin. A purple light radiated from his body. I swung my paws, my claws wouldn’t connect even when I reared up and slammed all of my weight on him. The purple glow surrounding his body acted as a barrier.
It must have been spirit magic because I could feel the eerie presence of those no longer in the world of the living with us now. Shadow and smoke spilled from his hands. I was a fish caught in the talons of an eagle I mistook for an insect. A blade emerged from the shadow and smoke. It was menacing. I, now frozen in fear, looked at his figure bathed in purple light. It looked like an angel of death had come up from the underworld to drag me back down with him. The pain of the sword was intense. Thankfully the fat and fur of the bear protected me from serious damage. A large hand gripped my shoulder and pulled me off of Berry. The hand forced me backward landing flat on the deck looking at the sky, I stopped the transformation changing back to my true form. The sword was still in my side. My eyes traced the hand back to its owner and saw Striker, the lead fighter on the Kutlass and captain of this ship.
Berry stepped past Striker, gripped his sword and said, “My name is Hunter. Now bilge rat forget it again and I'll wear your pelt as a pouch to hold my booze.” He ripped the wicked sword from my side with such force my body lifted slightly off the deck. Striker just kept looking at me as I screamed in pain. Usually, the hands that were injured too badly to work were thrown overboard. For some reason, I was spared. Three days passed with nothing to do but stare at the ceiling thinking about how I should have never taken that level two quest.
I enjoyed when the crew was working because I could sing along to the sea shanties.“Every time the cap turned about there she was powdering her snout. He threw a fit but then he'd see the work was done and thought not of it.” It wasn’t much but it kept my mind off of the situation. The Sea Kaptain was ruthless, powerful, and feared. Why did I think I could handle this? That man was a killer and he was just a grunt. The Doctor came in to rewrap my wound twice a day. His comets no matter how awful were welcome, they kept my mind from dwelling on the same thoughts over and over again. Striker was the one to bring my rations on the fourth morning,
“Why would you attack one of my men?”
4 “He attacked me. I was just defending myself.”
“Hunter does not take lightly to being attacked. Many of the hands that caused problems for Hunter go missing soon after.”
“I want off this ship.”
“So how about a raid? You survive and I'll think about letting you go on another. A black bear may be useful in the chaos. My fighters cannot shapeshift. Where did you learn to do that?” I did not plan for this part. I just figured out how to be a part of the raid. Three days and I did not anticipate being asked where I learned my magic. I think he sensed me grasping for straws. He could see I was hiding something. It must have been written on my face clear as day. “You will be put on the raid with Hunter. You run he hunts you, you don't do as I say he hunts you, you let your guard down out there and he settles the score. Watch your back out there Rob, I would hate to lose such a well-trained conjurer.” He left my rations halfway across the cabin. The pain from sitting up and walking across the cabin was dulled by the dread of working with Hunter. Five days of rest was all I had before I was sleeping with the crew again.
Billy slept in the berth below mine. The mesh was old and had the sent of musty men. He tapped my back through the mesh. “How did it go?” All I wanted was sleep.
5 “Billy, if I tell you what happened, will you let me be?”
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“That depends on how much you tell.” I knew he was just collecting rumors to fill his war chest.
“Billy, I wasn't thrown overboard doesn't that tell you enough?” I woke expecting the overseer to be standing over me rushing me out to work. Instead, I woke to Hunter staring at me with eyes filled with rage. I suppose he figured out that we go on the next raid together,
“Slakmud is our target. Get up. Striker said you are under me for the next few days so do what I say or you'll be thrown overboard. Got it fur head?" I thought about it for a moment. That was a push. He is trying to see if I'll take the abuse.
“I think that I'll pass. Striker told me something completely different. I'll stick to his instruction.” There was something in the way he stormed off that told me I called his bluff. I walked aimlessly around the ship the way I have seen the other fighters do. The hands were singing their shanties as they worked. It was a shame I never sang with the crew, maybe that is why I was not destined to be a part of the crew as a hand. I never committed to their ways. Now that I do know the words I almost felt like singing along,
6 “With each port town he drained the stores in hopes to make a piece. He threatened her with a trip to the moors on her body the crows will feast.” The crew boomed. Hunter saw me mouthing the words.
"Go ahead join your buddies. You do not belong on this ship as a fighter.” I didn't say anything mostly because I was caught by total surprise. I had no idea he was there. The rest of the day Hunter made himself known when I least expected him to be. I slept with the thought in the back of my mind all night. The next day we prepared for the raid. It kept me busy, which in turn kept me from thinking about Hunter. Although, Hunter made himself visible at just the right moments to where it would throw me right out of focus. I really did feel hunted, I was prey being stalked waiting for the pounce. Every net I checked led me to glance over my shoulder. Every arrow I sharpened gave me one more thing to imagine as the instrument to my death. Each sharpened sword became a pen signing my death wish. I couldn't handle seeing his eyes when I turned around darting my way. I had to do something.
“Striker. Could you tell Hunter to stop, well hunting me? He could be laying down the enchantments or priming the quick action chests. He is just wasting his time following me around.” Striker let out a hearty laugh that worried me.
“He is productive. He is getting his killer instinct back. He has not touched the bottle once and you want me to tell him to stop. Not throwing you overboard was the best decision I've made since joining up with the Sea Kaptain.” I was not going to let this chance slip by.
“When did you join up with the Sea Kaptain?” Striker’s grin turned to a scowl.
7 “Ask another question and I'll give Hunter the go ahead.” His words were heavy. They were laced with the reassurance of something that was going to happen. As he walked away he turned around and with a sly smile said, “Anything can happen on a raid.” No info on the Sea Kaptain, a hunter that is going to make prey out of me, and a captain that wants me dead meant I needed help. My interlok could contact someone else in the guild. All I have to do is use the bird's ink Kogee gave me to write in my interlok and the message will appear in the interior of the guild member I write to. The trouble of it all is that Hunter is watching my every step. I snuck out blades from the armory into my berth at night. I was a tad bit obvious so that they would notice. Sure enough, Hunter and two other fighters dragged me out of my hammock to bring me to Striker’s cabin.
I was able to swing a blade before they detained me in order to sell the act. Striker asked me why I had taken the weapons down to the hands. “I needed something to protect myself from Hunter. No one thinks that I will come back from the raid.”
“Answer my question boy. Billy was seen with a cutlass from our stores. Why do the hands have weapons?”
“He must have swiped it from me? I don't know.” Striker must have seen my sincerity. He waved the fighters off. The cabin was decorated with treasures from the surrounding cities and villages of Lal Lake. I scanned the room for where the captain hid the bird’s ink. When I first came aboard the Kutlass they took it because it had magical properties. The interlok was wedged in my shirt just above my waistline. I had no idea how I was going to write a note to anyone with Striker in the room and no idea where my bird’s ink was. Striker stood up from his table of maps and charts.
“The only reason I have kept you on this ship is to keep Hunter from the bottle, and to find out where you learned that transformation magic.”
8 “When I tell you, there would not be much use for me past this next raid.”
“You are clever. So you want to stay on my ship do you?”
“It beats the alternative. I'm not much of a swimmer anyway.”
“You can start earning a spot on this ship by teaching my men how to do what you did earlier. Bears running amuck on raids would make my job easier.”
“It took me years to master a full body transformation.”
9 “Then you better teach faster than you learn. You have no combat ability. If your full body transformation is enough to survive a raid then it is powerful enough to teach my man. You have an excuse to cling to my ship. Now tell me how you learned such a pure emotion magic.” I could tell that is all he thought about since my demonstration. He was impatient that much was clear.
“Master Pam taught me. She lives in the mountains north of the Twin Rivers. She can teach more than emotion magic. She teaches spellcasting as well. At that Striker’s eyebrow stood up. I wanted to see how much he knew about magic. Apparently, enough to know to perform magic from a different category wasn't possible. Therefore teaching two was extremely difficult. He motioned me to his table of charts and maps.
“Answer me honest. Are you a part of a Guild?”
“I am a student of master Pam. To train under someone else would be a dishonor to her teachings.” None of that was true. I prepared that line for when I was forcibly enlisted. I suppose the question never came because as a hand guild members couldn't do anything. He did not seem satisfied with my answer but, he questioned me no more. In the corner of my eye, I saw my bird’s ink. It was not in a cabinet or chest, nor secret compartment it was in plain sight. I kept thinking of ways to distract Striker and snatch it. I thought and thought and the answer came to me. Striker told me to go. Instead of prolonging the conversation to sneak my bird’s ink into my pocket I said okay, picked up my bird’s ink, looked Striker in the face, and left. Giddy from the stunt I just pulled I didn’t put the jar of bird’s ink in my pocket. I turned the corner bumping into Hunter.
I fell to the floor jar slipping from my hand just to crash alongside me. Hunter's voice was accusing, “What do you have there?” I had to act quick before the ink dried.
10 “Yes I took it. Quick tell your master, dog. Go on get dog!” I could see the rage boiling over. The sweat ran down his face holding back the anger. He was close to steaming and I was scared of what he would do to me. I needed help. It was risk it here, or not come back from the raid. I took the chance of using Strider as a blocker. I yelled loud enough to seep through the cracks of the cabin door. “Run along. Go, Berry the bumbler, bumble your way elsewhere.” The sweat boiled off as steam which rose to the ceiling. It was black and purple. This time I could move. I crawled backward on my hands and feet still looking at him emitting smoke and shadow. My hand slipped on the ink and I fell to my side. I saw the walls were covered in Hunter's black and purple rage. It fell down the walls to cover the floor. I moved away only to see the hallway was covered in a waterfall of smoke.
Striker appeared from the waterfall glistening in my eyes. I knew without him interfering I would have joined Hunter’s spirits. Striker’s palms glowed Orange and a gust of wind blew the smoke away. Striker’s hands swung up in a grasp and so did the wood of the ship. Hunter sounded possessed when he howled, “Let me go!” The boards of wood flexed and strained under his efforts to escape. “He must join the spirits of the ones I've slain.” A dagger wicked in shape and black as night came from his world of rage. He threw it at my backside as I stood. It was aimed at the base of my spine. Thankfully my interlok had not shifted, it took the blow. My interlok! I pulled it out, then turned around to see Striker pushing Hunter back with his worldly magic. I found the largest ink pool on the ground that was not dry. I scribbled with my finger, “Trapped on Kutlass. Raid Slakmud soon. Help. No ink.”
I turned to hear Striker making his way back. I slammed the book shut hoping the ink does not smear. “I really must thank you. I will unleash havoc in Slakmud.” Striker did not stop nor slow his pace. He spoke to himself more than to me. I did not see Hunter until the day of the raid. It was dusk, the ship was flying into the harbor and fast. Striker with two other fighters used worldly magic to cast wind into the sails. The ship did not dock. There was a fighter repeating an incantation, eyes shut, arms out with his palms to the sky. Two fighters stepped up to be at his side. When the words stopped the middle fighter flung his arms up and out like catapults. The two fighters to his sides flew in the air toward Slakmud village. An aura surrounded them as they disappeared in the distance. Two more pairs launched when Hunter grabbed me by the neck saying,
“I can not wait.” He shoved me down next to the man spilling incantation faster than I can make out the words. I was flung. First, the sky came rushing forward then the ground did. I did not know what was more terrifying, the launch to sudden death or the fact that if I made it I would be next to Hunter in a raid. Ten feet before I hit the ground I felt the impact slowly then more forcibly until I actually touched down. It did not hurt, it just felt like a building pressure until I hit the dirt. I stood up to see Hunter land on a rooftop of a two-story building. Shadows that covered the street wavered and danced as the Sun shone its last rays on to the angel of death. Purple smoke rippled down the sides of the building. Soon the streets were filled with a thick fog of purple. I saw the most unnatural thing. The smoke crawled up the sides of other buildings slowly as if water was spread across a surface.
Soon people were running from their homes screaming. The smoke heightens paranoia and lowers rationality. One of his wicked daggers flew from his rooftop landing between my feet. Hunter's voice now enhanced by the magic he called forth sounding as gravelly as it had back on the ship. His voice came from every direction as if it came from the smoke. “Go and round up some prey, dog, I’ll watch from here.” I knew what the smoke was doing to me but I still felt the same. I was frozen. It was twilight and as the smoke covered more ground Hunter grew impatient. He fled from the rooftop to gather his prey. Billy's rumors proved to be true. I ran after Hunter hoping to stop whatever he was planning. I followed him to the square where a skirmish had broken out between villagers and the fighters of the Kutlass. I saw great powerful displays of magic.
11 A flame from a villager to the left, then spirit magic from another sending forth a spirit with sword and shield to the right, there was magic everywhere. There were only three fighters aside from Hunter and I. Holding their own the fighters made a push. One cast a protection spell on the other as he made a partial transformation giving him the legs of an animal I wasn't familiar with. It gave him incredible speed. He charged into the flame. With the protection spell, he made it to the fire wielder and knocked him over. Seeing this a few of the villagers fled. Three magicians walked out from the buildings into the square. I knew them from my guild. They were from the Niar's Guild which means the message I sent to Kogee was clear enough. In the skirmish, two fighters were captured and one of them was Hunter. He writhed about in his magical restraints. One of the fighters dragged me back, “back to the ship they knew we were comen.”
I shoved the hand off of me and started to head toward the magicians of Niar's Guild and two captured fighters. This was my chance at freedom, never to step back on the Kutlass. The hand now firmer grasping my arm so hard I stopped, “You can't save them let's go.” We made it back to the ship and sped off as fast as Striker's air would take us. The fighters lost half of their number but, captured eight people. They, of course, were put to work as hands. A week passed without incident. I was moved to the fighters quarters where there were many available berths. An unnoticed cove founded its self harboring the Kutlass. I saw treasures and cots spread about, this was no doubt a hideout. Captain Striker made good on his promise to make me teach his men. In the cove, there were many more men ready for their shot at treasure. I learned the exact numbers of the group.
Forty-three fighters, sixty-three hands, two captains one on the ship and one in the cove. Six of the men knew transformation magic which meant training these monsters on how to use a more lethal version of what skills they already had. The target was selected and Forest Run was next to be raided. I had to warn someone from the guild. Without any bird’s ink, I found myself with one option. I needed to escape. The night before our departure I plotted my scheme. It was simple I was going to hide in the cargo until daybreak and walk out the front door of this secret cove. While loading cargo one of the hands fell dropping smoke packets that had a spell put on them to try and simulate Hunter’s smoke. The hand was beaten then brought to the captain to answer for what he had done. I couldn't believe all this was happening. The man was locked up in a cell for breaking something that he was forced to carry.
Since I had trained several of the men I saw an opportunity to do some good in the hopes to counteract teaching bad men on how to do a better job. One of my students watched the prisoners on land. I told him there was a prisoner exchange. I took the man and hid him in a large crate near the pier. I instructed him not to leave until daybreak, he thanked me. “My name is Falman may I know the name of my savior?” He struggled to speak he was so weak.
“My name is Rob and you have no need to thank me. I cannot stand being here. I shouldn't be here.”
12 “You made the choice Rob. You made the choice to help a stranger. You gave up your safety for mine. Take the name of Falman, it is dear to the others on the ship. Please let them know I'm safe.” The ship was quiet. I went to my berth to figure out my new plan of escape. Falman has my place in the cargo. Before the ship shoved off the fighters quarters filled with men including the captain. The guard who let me take Falman away was thrust in front of me. His face was bloodied and Striker said one word,
“Talk.” This man had no idle threats.
“I’ll show you where Falman is.” With two fighters in front of me and two in back, I had to act quick. The moment we were on deck I used my emotion magic transforming into a Falcon. The fighter behind me went for the grab. He missed. I flew as fast as my wings would take me. Two flaps out on open water and I felt the clamp of a chain and shackle. It stopped me dead and my tracks. I felt a jolt backward and heard the rattling of chains. I knew it was hopeless but I had to try. I could feel the magic on the edges of the ship when I first stepped foot on the Kutlass. Someone had laid an enchantment on the ship to forbid its passengers from leaving. I looked down at my talons and saw no chains. I hit the deck hard. After my feeble attempt to escape, they locked me in the Brig. I told them Falman was long gone and they just left me there, food came sparingly.
A hand came to give me rations for the day at seemingly random times, almost as if it was on the whim of somebody's faulty memory. Each day seemed long and the shackles that bound my ankles prevented me from using magic. The shanties that were sung each day helped me to keep track of time. The raid was coming up. The hands gossiped and let me know every time they brought food. The day of the raid came. Dusk was here and I could tell the coast was near. I could hear the sails taking upwind from an unnatural source. They filled the sails with their magic giving the Kutlass the power to cut through the water at crazy speeds. In my cell, I felt the ship straining from the extra push. I heard the incantations begin knowing what soon followed. With a loud crash, I flew forward smashing my face against the bars. The ship's speed dropped and it crawled to a halt.
I heard panicked voices, screams, and yells. The ship was filling with water. A hand rushed down, keys jingling, as he entered through the companionway. The relief on my face was evident. The man stood before the gate. The water was now at our shins. “Why are you in here?”
13 “I freed Falman from his cell back in the cove. He told me to let you all know he is free.” He stood thinking for a moment. When the water rose to our knees he opened the door and motioned to follow. “My ankle is shackled I can't move.” We fiddled with the key but it wasn’t opening. The water now came up to my waist. The man looked at me and took off leaving the keys. I understood he was looking out for himself but I did not want to go down with this ship. I struggled to be free. I tried the key again. Then as a last ditch effort, I tried to do a partial transformation. I felt a disconnect. The feeling I usually have in the pit of my stomach was there but I could not do anything with it. More power began to drain. The water was now chest high and I gave up hope. I was simply doomed to die on this ship. There was sloshing in the companionway.
Two faces shined like the moon on a starless night to this prisoner. The man had returned with a friend. He yelled over all the noise, “This is the man that freed Falman. His ankle is shackled.” The newfound stranger dove into the water. I felt a tug on the chain, then heat. The water was warming. Soon the man came up for air then back down again. When he came up a second time the chain was broken and the water was up to our necks. We swam to the exit fighting the water the whole time. We made it topside to see magicians slinging spells even as the ship was going down. I saw Striker pulling water from within the ship and launching giant blasts at the invader's knocking them clean off of the ship. His determination was a current of unyielding force. Many of the pirates jumped ship or lie about on the deck. I jumped off the side to swim to shore. What was left of my shackle made it hard to stay afloat.
Luckily my two friends help me to shore. The sand felt so welcoming. “Why did you come back for me? You could have just left.”
"No good deed goes unpunished my friend. The stranger you helped could have been me.” The man who broke the chain nodded in agreement. Forest Run was smaller than the other villages that the Kutlass raided so finding Central Hall was easy. In the morning I found the magicians of not only Nair's Guild but also Wildfire. Kogee was a well-respected leader in Nair's Guild.
“Rob good thing you are all right. What were you doing on that ship?”
14 “I took that level two quest to find the Sea Kaptain. Big mistake I know.”
“I'm just glad you are alive boy. You have been busy sneaking on pirate ships, making enemies, and being locked up I see. What is with the shackle?” I did not feel the Drain anymore. Without the magic blocking aura around it I made a partial transformation into bird legs, stepped out from the shackle, and transformed back,
“Much better. So what is this about making enemies?"
"The pirate, Hunter, heard you were a part of the Guild that captured him. He went into a rage breaking free. He put a handful of our better magicians out of commission for a while. You may want to head back to the guild until we nab him again.” I told Kogee about their cove and the size of their group. With no info on the Sea Captain I decided to be done with this quest.