The merfolk looked baffled. “So now you have a chicken egg and a stick but not a clue why you need either?” he asked Avery. “And what with, that old man?”
Avery waved his hand. “Don’t worry about the old man, I’ll come back to him later. The interesting part is what happens next.”
“And the chicken egg?” he asked.
“Ah the egg,” Avery said glancing at the silver chest on the table. “Now that’s an interesting story. And really, it all comes into one tale. But let me tell you about what happened next, now I had the stick that Armood was so keen for me to get my hands on.”
“Was it a magical stick?” the merfolk asked.
Avery considered the question for a moment. “Well, in a sense but not exactly what you’d expect. Let me explain.”
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Finally with the stick in hand, Avery headed out to Dog Rock. He had asked the landlord at the Drunken Goose for directions so he knew where to go and the walk wasn’t too long.
It was obvious when he reached the rock because it really did live up to it’s name. The rock was about twice the height of a man and had clearly been carved a little from a basic shape that already looked like a dog.
“Armood?” Avery called, wondering if this would really work.
“Avery my friend!” the voice boomed from behind him.
He turned to see Armood standing, hands on his hips and a massive grin on his face. “I’ve got your damned stick.”
“Excellent, that was simple wasn’t it?” Armood replied, no hint of irony in his voice.
“Sure,” Avery replied with a shrug. He had a feeling he could tell Armood what he’d done to get the stick but he’d still think that was simple.
“Okay, so the stick is very special but one of the things that it can do is to open the tunnel that is hidden under Dog Rock. You need to slide it into the slot between the dog’s paws and push it forward. Once it is open, head down and I’ll meet you down there.”
“That seems simple enough,” Avery admitted, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Armood shrugged. “Sure, easy stuff. I’ll see you later.”
This time, when Armood vanished, Avery took a couple of quick steps back and felt a little pleased with himself as he managed to keep his feet dry this time.
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“Simple enough,” Avery muttered crossly. He was crouched behind a large rock, a short distance from Dog Rock. He had almost walked straight into the gang of pirates that were currently using the cavern where the rock stood.
The worst part is that he could see their ship anchored just off the coast and by the flat they were flying, he knew they were pirates. And particularly nasty pirates with a reputation for attacking first and taking no prisoners.
Plus there were five of them and he was on his own.
He considered his options. There was no chance that they would just let him come to the rock and use the stick. And if they did, they would follow him into the tunnels, which he had a feeling that Armood wouldn’t be keen on.
Learning from the lesson of the old man, he momentarily considered bribing them to allow him access to the cavern for a short time. But there were two problems with that: he had no idea what excuse he could give for his need to be in the cavern without giving away the tunnel. And the second one was the fact he had almost no gold left after buying the stick from the old man.
That left one option that wasn’t appealing but wasn’t impossible. A sneak attack and incapacitate as many of them as possible. He could see some rope in their small landing boat so he could tie them up out of the line of sight of the tunnel entrance. And where any more of their number on the ship could see them.
Avery wasn’t trained in any particular fighting style but he’d been in enough brawls over the years on land and sea to know how to handle himself. The element of surprise was definitely the biggest asset he had so he decided to wait until dusk when it was always hardest to see what was happening.
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Dusk fell and Avery looked at the layout of the cavern. Two of the pirates were at the far side of the cavern by a cooking fire while two others were to the rear of the cavern, looking at Dog Rock. The fifth guy was on the side of the cavern nearest to Avery and he appeared to be taking a leak.
That made up Avery’s mind and he used his enhancement essence on the stick that he was using as a staff and his own legs. He sneaked towards the isolated pirate, preparing to strike him but just as he reached the guy, he turned, spotted Avery and ducked. His blow hit the pirate’s shoulder and while he went down, he shouted as he did.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
So much for the element of surprise, Avery thought to himself fleetingly. The four other pirates all looked in his direction, although the two by the cooking fire hesitated, clearly having messed up their night vision by looking at the fire.
The two at the back of the cavern ran toward Avery. He ducked under a punch thrown by the first pirate and hit him in the guts with the staff, receiving a satisfying grunt of pain as the man went to his knees. He swung up the staff, delivering a knock-out blow to the man’s head and he went down.
The other pirate was the leader of the group and was a little more watchful, hesitating for a moment while Avery dealt with the first guy. As Avery moved up from the blow that knocked out the first man, he swung a fist in his direction. But Avery saw it coming and was able to dodge to the side. The punch struck his shoulder and while it was a momentary flare of pain, it wasn’t too bad.
“Who are you?” the pirate barked, glaring at Avery.
“No one,” Avery replied, regaining his balance.
Behind them, the two pirates from the cooking fire had reached the fight but their arrival momentarily distracted the pirate leader. Avery made the most of the tiny lapse to swing the staff at his head. The pirate tried to dodge but he wasn’t as light on his feet as Avery and the staff struck him on the side of the head. He reeled but didn’t go down completely.
The fourth and fifth men were now close up and one had a short knife in his hand, clearly designed for cooking more than as a weapon but still enough to cause problems. Avery didn’t want the staff to get cut in case this somehow impacted what it could do.
Instead, he cast an air spell to grab a small rock that was just beside his left foot. He grabbed some sand and flicked it in the eyes of the fourth pirate. The man raised his arm to protect his eyes and Avery propelled the rock to hit the hand holding the knife. The pirate dropped the knife and Avery struck him squarely in the face with the staff, knocking him out cold.
The fifth pirate and the leader were grouping together and Avery knew he was in a bit of trouble. Still holding the rock in one hand and the staff in the other, he faced them, assessing them for a moment. The leader still looked a little woozy from Avery’s blow so he decided to go for the fifth pirate instead.
The man also seemed to decide it was time to show off his skills to his leader and bellowed rushing towards Avery with his head down. But the guy clearly wasn’t much of a brawler because Avery dropped the rock, grabbed the man in a headlock as he reached him and kneed him in the face. He felt the man’s nose break and the pirate cried out. A second blow with his knee and the man was unconscious.
That left the leader who glanced around at his men and shook his head. “Just who are you?” he repeated, clearly baffled by Avery having attacked them.
“Just a man with a job to do,” Avery replied. “You and your men were just in the way.”
The pirate raised his fists and they flamed up with fire essence so Avery stuck the staff in the sand to protect it. The two traded blows, Avery receiving a couple of nasty burns. But the earlier blow had made the pirate leader a little unsteady so Avery’s second strong blow rocked him and he wobbled. Avery grabbed the staff and used it to deliver a final heavy blow that knocked the man out.
Avery leaned on the staff, breathing heavily. All five of the pirates were out cold and while he had a few cuts and bruises, as well as a few spots where his clothes were burned but it wasn’t too bad. The stick was still intact and he just needed to tie up the pirates before he could head down to the tunnel.
Simple enough.
Avery grabbed the ropes from the launch boat and dragged each of the unconscious pirates to the back of the cavern. He tied each up and ensured that they couldn’t reach each other’s bindings. He also made sure that any pirates left on the ship couldn’t see their shipmates.
One of the pirates stirred a little as he tied them up but a swift blow with the stick did the job and sent the man back into unconsciousness.
He then crossed to Dog Rock and searched for the spot that Armood had mentioned. He found it easily enough and so he slid the stick into the slot, moving it as he had been instructed.
For a moment, nothing happened then there was a grinding noise as if stone was moving against stone. The section of stone between the dog’s paws moved slowly and an entranceway was revealed.
A blast of cold and slightly stale-smelling air passed Avery, reminding him of the smells of crypts in the cemetery when they had stood closed for a long time. A smell he had encountered a few times during his questionable period before becoming a sailor.
“See, that was simple!” a familiar enthusiastic and irritating voice called out.
Avery looked around to see Armood sitting on a wooden case beside the fire that the pirates had lit to make their food. He was even eating a chicken leg with one hand and holding a glass of ale in the other.
“You and I have different definitions of ‘simple’” Avery growled.
Armood shrugged. “You handled it all well, just a couple of cuts and bruises. So simple enough then.”
Avery continued to glare at him. “You knew they were here.”
“Didn’t I mention them?” Armood said, feigning innocence.
“You know damn well you didn’t,” Avery replied, shaking his head. “I could have been badly injured or worse.”
“Don’t be melodramatic,” Armood scolded. “You seem a very capable human. I had no doubt you’d be able to handle everything.”
It was a lost cause, Avery admitted to himself. There was just no point arguing with Armood, he was oblivious. “So what now?”
Armood finished the chicken leg and threw the bone into the fire. He drank the ale and placed the glass on the sand beside the fire. “We follow this tunnel and find the hidden treasure.”
“I want to know a bit more before I step down there,” Avery said, folding his arms.
Armood stood and stretched. “You don’t need to know more right now. Besides, I’m working a little in the dark here. You need to just trust me.”
“I don’t even know you, let alone trust you!” Avery snapped.
Armood held up one hand to his chest as if wounded. “But we are a team!”
“That’s not the term I would use,” Avery replied. “I’m more like your idiot assistant who gets all the dangerous jobs and has no idea what’s going on.”
Armood shrugged. “Describe yourself however you like. But let’s get moving because those guys won’t stay unconscious forever.”
Avery looked at the tunnel and signed. “Come on then, lead the way.”
“No, no, after you,” Armood replied.
Avery simply shook his head again and started to walk down the steps into the tunnel. He heard a splash of water behind him and glanced back, unsurprised to see that Armood was gone.