The walk to the docks didn’t take long at all, and sure enough, in front of a boat with the words “Audacity 6 and a half” painted alongside it was a green-skinned man. Turncoat was a well built and rugged in appearance wearing a bright red coat.
“Ah, you must be the folks I’m waiting for. On account of the giant wolf. He mentioned there were some beautiful women among you, too, and boy, did he not lie. Names Turncoat, and welcome to my temporary ship, the Audacity Six and a Half. Mind your manners aboard her; she’s haunted and will, in fact, bite you if you displease her. Especially you, master Goblin, piss on her deck and she won’t like it.”
“Bait not scarred! Haunted boat normal,” he said, scampering onto it. Turncoat grabbed Alvec by the coat.
“Two things, horn-boy.” Turncoat said, grabbing him by the arm. “First, be careful with the fire. I’ve traveled with a tiefling alchemist before. A perilous man. Second, have you ever considered attaching a slingshot to your horns? Lob a little more firepower if you load it with your tail, aye?” he asked.
“Can’t say I have; I don’t really lob alchemical supplies. More of a magical front liner than anything else.” Alvec said.
“Still, mind your fire, the boats haunted, and she will smack you around if you disrespect her.”
“Understood, sir,” Alvec replied as he breezed past him.
“Is it really haunted?” Sarbie asked as she stood at the boarding ramp.
“Yes, it's genuine.”
“Alvec, I’ll just stay right here.”
“Oh no, you don’t,” Naya said, wrapping an arm around hers and pulling her forward onto the boat. “If the rest of us have to ride this haunted boat, we’re sure as hell not leaving our cleric behind. Besides, he said so long as we don’t disrespect it, we should be fine. Let's just say hi to it and thank it. Come on, like we’re talking to spirits, or maybe your god!”
“Oh, okay,” Sarbie said reluctantly as Naya faced the boat, gave it a curt bow, and thanked it for its service. Sarbie did the same. There was nothing to indicate that the ship was, in fact, alive. Not the slightest thing to confirm it, honestly. Alvec could only wonder if the old sea dog was pulling their legs. He didn’t get too long to think about the question as Bait shouted a challenge to the boat and urinated on it. With a resounding crack, a floorboard slammed up between his legs and doubled him over in pain, leaving him in a puddle of his own piss.
“Huh, boats haunted,” Alvec said, amused.
“Boats haunted, and it has a sense of humor. I like it.” Mavec said.
It wasn’t long before the boat took off, racing towards the island that Mangrove inhabited. It wasn’t a long trip; as they sailed, Turncoat regaled them with tales of other heroes he had served under and possibly some villains.
“The last time a volcano was involved, the world nearly ended. The only thing stopping it was a series of living cities that ate the sulfur out of the air. Being stuck here without my Audacity Six is a damn crime.”
“I’ll make Crowley pay for it,” Illaria said firmly.
“Good, stab the right bastard through the eyes if you can! Fucker stole my boat, and I’ll be indebted to anyone who can get it back for me,” he said, almost spitting on the deck before thinking better of it. “You get the sentiment.”
As the island grew nearer, another ship came into view bearing no flags. “Aye, we’ve got our first challenge crew. Got a ship, almost certainly one of Crowley’s guarding the bay. We’ve got a few options to deal with this. We can attempt to engage them at a distance, where our cannons are clearly outmatched. The six and a half may be haunted, but we’re only packing a whopping four cannons total. That thing looks like it's got at least 12 broadsides on each side. We’ll be in trouble in a direct firefight. Option two, we ram them. This is also less than ideal because Audacity Six and a Half hates this idea. Option three, which might be most viable. We sneak around them and try to stealth it. If we’re fortunate, we can drop you off with no problems.”
“What about boarding them?” Mavec replied. “IF we can get close enough, we can disable them with no problem.”
“Mavec is right; we’re going to need to disable that boat. We can’t count on luck with so much on the line. Anyone be having some clever plans?” Illaria asked, glancing between the wizards.
Alvec strode with purpose towards the front of the boat. “Take us in, Captain. Don’t worry about the cannon fire. We’ll survive it.”
“Well, no debating it; you lot are gutsy. I’ll get us close.” The boat began its approach at top speed.
“Change your trajectory. Head straight at them.” Alvec shouted to Turncoat.
“Thought we weren’t going to ram them?”
“We aren’t, they’re going to open fire on us, and we’re going to defend and pivot. Just trust me.” Alvec said as he began casting the spell, holding it for the exact moment. He was sure that with a living boat or an excellent captain, this dumb plan would work. The other ship turned, and their haunted vessel closed a surprising distance on it. They mustn’t have been expecting any fight this recklessly. The cannons flared to life on the opposing ship, and Alvec let the spell loose. A wall of ice encased the bow of the boat. The boat lunged down from the sudden, unexpected weight. Cannonballs slammed into and bounced off the ice wall as the vessel used the added weight to pivot and pull alongside the pirate ship.
Illaria and Naya were off with lightning speed, both of which quickly jumped the gap between the boats. The pirates on the other ship promptly found themselves outmatched in every way imaginable as the pair received immediate backup from Bait and Mavec. Alvec accelerated everyone again before attempting the leap himself. After the first two pirates dropped, a door from below deck burst open. A devil with short, jagged horns, black hair, a red captain's coat, and goat legs began running across the deck. The wood hissed and singed beneath his feet. The remaining pirates didn’t even wait for it to speak; they disengaged and jumped overboard to get out of its way. It screamed in infernal at them.
“Cowards the lot of you. Even with me fighting at your side, you flee? You useless curs. I’ll burn you to ash myself after this is over. Pray to whatever gods or spirits you believe in that you can swim faster than this damn boat.”
Bait opened fire on him suddenly before the devil had finished ranting at his insufferable crew. He turned his attention to Bait and rushed right past Illaria and Naya, who both swung at him. Their blades bit into his flesh, and he proceeded with a single-minded fury to charge at Bait. He leaped over the gap between the boats high into the air and spiked down with his fiery hooves at Bait. He landed perfectly on target, slamming into him before bouncing off and growing two sets of talons on each hand, which ignited on fire as well. Bait stumbled for a moment, trying to recover from the vicious blow.
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Echo rushed up and nipped at the devil, but he ignored it. Bait stepped backward and fired his gun. The bullets hit again. The devil shifted forward and unleashed everything it had on Bait, talons slicing mercilessly through his only lightly guarded flesh. Bait spilled to the ground, his gun falling beside him. The devil was right there, only feet away from Sarbie.
Her breath caught in her chest painfully as she gulped. She was here to heal them, even though every instinct in her body said run. She only moved a bit further away and ducked behind a crate, focusing her power and calling on divine aid. A burst of positive energy rolled out from her and washed over everyone, healing some of their wounds. Bait woke up and grabbed his gun, shooting the devil again.
Alvec rushed towards the edge of the boat. He jumped again, but this time, his timing was off, and he narrowly missed grabbing onto the ship. He plunged into the water and immediately retrieved the summoning scroll and cast it, calling forth a dolphin to ride on. “Well, at least I won’t drown.” He muttered to himself as he contemplated just heading to shore. He could probably make it.
Illaria cleared the gap, and Naya began to chant to the spirits of the sky and call down lightning instead. Illaria joined the fight, attacking the devil. Her blade sliced him, but he still wasn’t giving her his full attention.
“The green-skinned one will die first,” the devil howled in infernal. “I will trample all over his future and his dreams and leave nothing but a shattered corpse in my wake. Then the rest of you will suffer the same fate, one by one.”
Alvec couldn’t see what was going on from below, but he hated the way this one talked. He was a brute first and foremost.
The devil split its attention, taking a swing at Illaria, who parried the talons away from her but failed to connect on her follow-up strike. Frustrated by his miss, he stomped on Bait more. A hoof to the face brought him back to the inky blackness of unconsciousness.
“Kushang, damn it!” Sarbie said as she again focused and sent out a wave of positive energy. She felt that well of power run dry. She’d used one to treat the first salvo of attacks from the pirates. If this devil didn’t go down now, she’d have to move next to him to heal him... and that meant being right next to that thing. The thought sent ice through her veins.
The magic brought Bait back up, and he once more fired his gun at the devil. Mavec cursed loudly. He couldn’t get a clear shot at him. The way the masts were positioned and the fighters, any shot he took would likely endanger the boat. It was going to be all up to those who were already there. Illaria slashed through him repeatedly, anger fueling each strike as this devil continued to split his attention between her and Bait. Were she not pressing him so hard, he’d have already killed Bait. She was certain of it. He was already clinging to life, Sarbie’s healing being the only thing still keeping him up. She’d have to be thanking Alvec and Sarbie later. Sarbie for her efforts, and Alvec for the forethought of recruiting her. Even after slicing him repeatedly, the devil refused to give her his full attention. He was still standing and once more stomped down on Bait.
Bait looked bad. On death's door, as if at any moment, he might fade from this world and into the next. Blood, burns, and missing teeth. His breath was shallow, and Sarbie could tell that if she didn’t heal him, he’d die. Not even if he was attacked again. If she did nothing, he would die. Inaction would be the same as plunging a dagger into his small green heart. The icy sensation in her veins continued to burn, but it now felt like fire. This creature wasn’t just going to take him from here. He didn’t have the right to be doing any of this. Waging war on her people, bringing violence and strife to the empire. Disrupting the honest and hard-working people of her home. No. She stood up and dashed over, sliding the final few feet beside him and drawing up the most power she’d ever held, forcing it down her arms and into his chest. His breathing stabilized, and she crouched over him, trying to shield him with her own body, praying that this would end before he could strike again.
Alvec cursed; being down here waiting was driving him mad. He couldn’t see shit and couldn’t do anything to help the party from down here. All he could do was float on the dolphin and wait for rescue. He cursed in every language he knew. Naya called down another lightning bolt, darting between the sails like a thread through a needle's eye. It struck the devil, whose eyes for a moment rolled back into its head before it stubbornly came to. Illaria screamed in frustration as she plunged her blade into its chest. It grabbed the edge and twisted its head at her, breathing one last torrent of fire at her before it went rigid on her blade. She twisted out of the way of the torrent of flames, then pulled her sword hard, slicing viciously out of the creature as she threw it to the ground.
Bait held up a hand to the sky, blocking out the sun. Fresh blood slicked his arms. After a moment of flexing his hand, he dug into his pants and pulled out a small block of cheese. “Emergency Cheese,” he said before slowly nibbling upon it as he rocked back and forth on the ship's deck. Sarbie stayed on the ground beside him. The threats were gone for now. In a moment, she’d focus on healing him up. For now, she needed to breathe. Her heart was hammering in her ears, and she didn’t think her legs would let her stand. Not on their own.
“Hey, anyone going to pull me up?” Alvec asked.
Moments later, Naya and Echo arrived with a bunch of rope. “Just hold on tight, and we’ll get you back up here,” Naya said as she tied one end over Echo’s collar. She tossed the rope down, and Alvec grabbed on tight. Clenching for his life, he was dragged up the side of the boat. Even without his enchantments, Echo was getting strong. Naya grabbed his arm and helped finish pulling him up. “Might want to go check on your charge. She’s pretty shaken up.”
“The hell did I miss?” Alvec asked.
“That thing went after Bait and Bait alone,” Naya informed him.
“That... that checks out; Bait shot him while he was giving a speech about what he’d do to the cowards who fled... pride and anger hand in hand. He alright?” he asked pointing to the Goblin, rocking back and forth with a wheel of cheese in his mouth.
“I don’t be reckoning he is. Very much certain he was about to meet his Goblin Maker.” Illaria responded.
“Oof, Sarbie you ok?” he asked, noticing her sitting awkwardly on the ground beside him.
“I can’t stand,” she said, her breath coming shallow and fast. Alvec moved beside her, and Naya swept to her other side.
“Easy, does it. We’ll get you back up and standing, no problem,” Alvec said as he crouched beside her and slipped his shoulder under her arm.
Naya did the same.“On three,” she said before she began a small countdown. Both lifted up, and Sarbie winced as she was brought to her feet. She was shaking like a leaf, but the blood flow quickly returned to her legs, and her friends held her tight so that she wouldn’t go tumbling over again. Turncoat had hopped on over to the enemy's ship and had dropped anchor, giving them a moment to contemplate what to do.
Mavec walked over to the side of the boat, cackling lightning around his fists. “Listen here fuckwits, you can surrender, or I can electrocute every last one of you.” He pointed down at the men who had abandoned the ship. There was a general murmur of agreement. Illaria kept her sword out and focused on the men Echo was helping pull up from the ocean one at a time. All told it was only about four men who had survived the combat. Naya left Sarbie to Alvec and headed over to bind their captives.
“That does bring us to the matter of the ones on shore,” Turncoat said as he pointed at a small contingent of men on the shore.
“Bait!” Illaria shouted. “Man, the cannons, friend, I want you to rain thunder upon them. Shell the beach, and hopefully, they will surrender!” Illaria said as she towered over her goblin companion.
“Bait not ready; need to finish eating Bait’s emergency cheese,” he tore a small chunk off it and held it out to Sarbie. “Here, you save Bait; you get some emergency cheese, only fair.”
“I saw you pull that out of your underwear. I’m going to have to decline,” Sarbie said, pushing Alvec between them.
“Fine, Bait gib other gifts. Rat sticks make children learn to fear. Make babies stronger.”
“Bait, I uh, I don’t have any children,” Sarbie said, flushing bright red.
“Fine, Bait, find something later, den,” he insisted before eating more of his emergency cheese and running over to the cannons. His eyes lit up with glee as he hurriedly packed each cannon with black powder. Bait no trust others to get the mixture right. Have to have pre-vice measurements, and den aim just right. He spent a few minutes hurrying between them, cannons supplying them and loading the balls into them behind the powder. When they were finally ready, he instructed the others to set them off. The group lit the cannons, and they waited for them to thunder onto the beach. They weren’t aimed at the crowd of pirates but at the general area instead. The cannon balls slammed into the sand, blasting plumes up twenty or thirty feet into the air. After a single volley, the group approached the shore waving a white flag. Turncoat brought the Audacity in closer, and they did as they had before, binding the pirates before taking them into custody. Placing them on the Audacity meant the haunted ship could also keep an eye on the prisoners. Turncoat wouldn’t be alone with a crew of pirates as the rest of the group explored the island. It was a good plan, Illaria decided as she worked upon escorting them one at a time onto the Audacity Six and a Half.