The remainder of the party followed Bait's lead towards the brig when the sound of screaming erupted down the hallway. Illaria broke into a sprint first, the rest of the party following behind her as fast as they could. She burst into the brig with her blade already in hand. Crowley stood at the edge of one of the cells, holding the arm of a plump man in a stained silk shirt of mauve color. The fingers on his hand were bent at odd angles.

"I told you, all we needed to do to bring them running was to provide proper motivation." Beside him stood an exact duplicate made out of shadow, and at the back of the brig stood a woman in black leather armor, a fancy black carved wood bow in her hands and a length of rope laying at her side. Wings extended from her shoulder blades of her back. They were muddy in color; some of the feathers were marbled white and black, while others were obsidian black and the raminder were various shades of gray. Ram's horns crowned her head. Illaria's eyes drifted to the cell beside the woman.

Her parents stood there, looking, for the most part, unharmed. They seemed a bit thinner than she remembered, and the circles under their eyes were still as prominent as ever. She took a deep breath and forced herself to remain firm and resolute. "Crowley, you won't be leaving here alive," Illaria said, taking up at the front of the group.

"Remember the girls mine. You can have the boy all you want." Crowley said as he gestured towards Illaria. "Also, consider targeting the goblin first. He's extremely dangerous."

Alvec rounded the corner with the rest of the team to see what Illaria was already viewing. "Fuck." Alvec uttered as he saw the Erinyes in front of him. "Are you who I think you are?" Alvec asked.

The Erinyes didn't respond; she drew her bow and aimed down at Bait. No flaming arrows erupted from the bow; instead, a blast of black energy streaked through the air, slamming into him.

Bait saw things, a world where Cheese didn't exist. Where cows were extinct, and everything was too clean. He screamed; Bait thought he know fear; Bait thought ratstick teach him fear. No fear compare to there being no cheese. He dropped his gun and ran blindly back out into the hallway.

Alvec rushed forward, grabbing the musket with his tail as he traced runes in the air before him. "That's enough from you," he said as he swept his hand, guiding the magic. Ice raced between the railings, trapping her at least momentarily alone in a cell of iron and ice.

"Ready for our rematch?" Illaria said as she swept up to Crowley and took a swing. Her blade bit lightly into his shoulder.

"It won't be much of a rematch, girl; you can't hope to triumph against us. Before you know it, the whole empire will be bathed in blood." He swung twice at her, and her blade flickered with a golden red light as she swept the wakizashi upwards into his blade, knocking the double-bladed devil sword directly into the ceiling, where it stuck uncomfortably. She retaliated, slashing across his midsection, drawing blood.

Naya rushed the shadow, slicing into it with her blades. It was a strange feeling; the edges passed through the creature, pulling black smoke from its body as they did, but it was mostly like swinging them through the air, only offering the faintest amount of resistance. It was impossible to tell how much damage her weapons did to this thing. All she was sure of was that she had, in fact, hit it square on. Her first slash had struck across the chest diagonally.

Flaming arrows burst through the ice wall, and the Eirnyes approached Illaria's parents. At the same time, the iron walls of the brig shifted. Illaria and Crowley found themselves cut off from everyone else. "Someone, please be getting over there," Illaria shouted.

"Can't, but I'll provide covering fire," Mavec said as he launched another bolt of lightning, which danced between the iron lattice and struck the Erinyes. She moved quickly, only being grazed by the bolt, but it did its job driving her away from Illaria's parents. Naya took a risk and a strike from the shadowed sword as she spoke to the spirits. Calling upon them to aid her. A large alligator wearing a leather collar with the name Jade engraved upon it stood between the Eirnyes and her possible victims. It hissed and snapped its jaws at her, discouraging any attacks.

Alvec cursed; there wasn't a good option here. Down Bait left the party at a pretty large disadvantage, even if Illaria was currently outshining Crowley. He had to open a path so that someone could protect her parents. Pulling out a piece of charcoal, he aimed carefully down at the locked door. He might have been able to catch the Erinyes in this blast, but doing so would also assail another captive. Something Alvec found unacceptable. The shards of diamond erupted and ate through the lock with ease. He kicked the door in as he sent out a mental call for help. Those they left above deck would be needed since Bait was running in fear.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Rem growled as he bit into Sarbie's clothing and began tugging her towards the brig. It was uncharacteristic for the small fox to act aggressively; she followed his lead, doubly so when Echo raised his hackles and bolted out ahead of them. As they entered the hallway, they heard Bait screaming and saw him charging their way with no gun. Echo gently bit down around him, lifting the screaming goblin off the ground and carrying him back towards the action. Echo bounded into the fight, Bait in his mouth. He dropped the goblin wet and slobbered onto the floor before growling at the shadowed Crowley. He lunged forward, snapping his jaws at the creature. It oozed away from him, slipping through the bars. Naya wasted no time and dashed past Alvec, rushing to face the Eirnyes as her summon pressured her from the other side. She struck once, but her aim was true. The blade bit into the devil's neck, drawing forth a large quantity of black blood. Anger flared in her eyes as they smoldered with literal fire, glaring at Naya.

Looking around, the fight was not going as she had hoped. Crowley was losing his little duel. Her grandson was certainly flexing his arcane might, her lips curled up in both amusement and disdain. He had an answer for everything, a trait she admired, but it was oh so marred by ethics. Had he been willing to accept collateral damage, he might have even been capable of beating her. As it stood, however, she was relatively unharmed. This feral child had scored a hit, but it wasn't enough to stop her. With reinforcements arriving, it was clear that it was time to retreat. She would return with fresh troops soon, and then she would grab him... the ritual required a tiefling who was beloved, and both of her grandsons on this battlefield met that requirement. This plan was two mortal generations in the making; she would not allow it to be foiled so easily. Even in the eyes of a devil, with their long view of time, this was still more than a passing commitment. She had hoped that another would have met the conditions sooner, but Ageneon's peace and prosperity had made it difficult for anyone to become beloved. Adversity is a forge, and the peace had starved it. She moved forward to Crowley, taking another slash from this brat's blades before reaching him. With a snap of her fingers, she recalled the shadow and grabbed both of them. The world blurred around them as she heard her grandson shout for someone to stop her. He was smart; he knew what was coming. The sound of gunfire roared through the small room, but it was too late; the bullets floated through her as her body slipped the realms, and she and this pathetic worm of a man arrived back at one of her strongholds.

Alvec cursed loudly. The fight had gone well enough, but them slipping away was a slap to him. Worse, the way that Eirinyes looked at him... he couldn't shake the feeling that something was happening there. It was entirely possible it could have been his grandmother, his actual grandmother. They hadn't said anything which confirmed or denied that possibility. It still made him uneasy. Very uneasy. "Bait, let's give Illaria some time here. You and I can get this ship in the air." Alvec said as he headed for the deck. Turncoat had given them instructions on how to get it airborne, and considering that Crowley was likely arriving back at his base, it would be but minutes before every gun in the harbor was aiming their way. They needed to be at an angle the other cannons would find challenging to hit before it was too late. Adding verticality to the equation would drastically limit the number of ways they could be assaulted.

Naya and Echo pulled up the anchor as planned while Bait manned the helm. As soon as the anchor was up, Alvec began working the contraption. The boat rose from the water and soared into the sky. The sound of cannons erupting from below confirmed that they hadn't been a moment too soon getting this boat going. Sarbie did her best to bounce between people treating their wounds. "Do you think we're out of the woods?" She asked Naya.

"No, Devils can teleport, and those Eirnyes can fly too. I'd say we need to stay on high alert till we see the Blue Banner," Naya said.

"Speaking of which, how will they know it's us? We're currently flying the fucking flagship of our enemy," Mavec stated.

"Can't one of you guys do some magic to make it obvious that we're not the pirates?" Naya asked.

"I shoot lightning, Naya, not exactly something Pirates can't do," Mavec said.

"Fair point, maybe Alvec has a plan?"

"Probably." Sarbie agreed.

"Hey Alvec, what is the plan for not getting bombarded by the Blue Banner army?" Mavec shouted from across the deck.

"Use our height advantage to fly right over them. We simply don't engage with the main fleet. We land and raise the white flag after we drop anchor. LuCol, at the very least, is expecting us to arrive before the battle begins, so I figure that's a good enough cue to show we pulled it off."

"Fair enough, we actually have a white flag?" Mavec asked.

"Not likely, but I do have a plan for that. I'll mix something up with my alchemy kit, and we'll erode the color from the current flag." Alvec said with a grin.

"See, I told you he'd have a plan," Naya said.

"Yeah, they may not always be the best, but he does," Sarbie agreed.