The current plan was something Caesar and his gang had done many, many times. It only works once on each victim, and sometimes they don't even succeed. You can only fool a person so many times before they wise up to the same trick, and those that do are just lucky to be alive.

The plan was simple: Caesar and Cecilia would distract the Blue Jays long enough for Wulf to retrieve and escape with the children unnoticed. Blue Jays tend to be pathetically weak, but every now and some get promoted from meat to the meat grinder to competent soldiers. That's why Caesar believed it was best to deal with the vulture ahead of him diplomatically instead of using brute force. Despite his gaunt frame, the blood on his beak and splattered on some of his feathers indicated he was a dangerous individual. It would be better to punish them for scaring the children, but there was no telling how strong these Blue Jays were.

To the pirates' luck, the human lookout wasn't even paying attention, having instead decided to read a magazine called 'The X Conspiracy.' This allowed Caesar and Cecilia to walk in on the Blue Jays' bullying unimpeded.

Catching the scent of cheap cologne, the vulture man angrily turned around as he drew his knife, his face dropping when he spotted the taller Caesar. "Quincy, you bird-brained fool! You were supposed to keep anyone from sneaking up on us!"

The lookout, named Quincy, pulled a finger out of his ear and stared at the newcomers. "Oh, they must have slipped past me," he said absent-mindedly.

"That's what we get for posting your sorry ass as the lookout." The blonde woman drew a knife, prompting Caesar to draw his cutlass while Cecilia stood by to prepare a spell. In response to that, the dwarven male draw a battleaxe, but the vulture man raised his hands to surrender instead.

"Hold on, you two. I know who this is." The vulture man kept his cool. "You're Captain Caesar of the Celestial Compass, right?"

"Y-yeah," Caesar answered, definitely not expecting someone to know him. "Have we met?"

"Friend, you've caused a ruckus back at the Syndicate! You're a hero!" Through gritted teeth, the vulture man signaled for his henchmen to put their weapons away. "We were just talking good things about you!"

The three Blue Jays in front of Caesar bowed their heads for a second, forcing a smile with their devious lips. As for Quincy, he seemed skeptical to do anything except stare in confusion.

"Liar," Susie squeaked. "You were just talking about how you can beat our captain in combat!"

"That's right! We're part of the Celestial Compass, too, and you weren't scared!" Marlon nudged the catfolk next to him. "Isn't that right, Raymundo?"

"Yeah! These guys even said they'd make us walk the plank," answered the little catfolk.

Caesar didn't expect the kids he rescued to be little fibbers, but it was amusing enough to see the Blue Jay in front of him scramble for an answer.

"Uh, boss," Quincy said, "I didn't know birds could sweat. You're looking drenched!"

"Shut up, all of you!" The vulture man was unhappy, and hoped his outburst gave him some much-needed breathing room. "Look, we're a little exhausted, and desperation can push a man to do strange things, like picking on kids or eat tree sap thinking it's honey. But we're both members of the BPL. Surely, we can come to an agreement?"

"The BPL," Marlon inquired.

"The Brigand, Pirate, and Lawyer Syndicate," Caesar answered.

"I hear they have a dental plan," Cecilia mentioned. "When does enrollment begin?"

"It's going on right now, and you have until the end of the year to apply," the vulture man said. "Thanks to the good captain here, they've recently unionized, so they're required by law to give you something if you've been a member for at least a month."

"Sounds like an honest answer to me." Cecilia faced Caesar. "Let's hear them out, Cap."

"I'm not fond of bullies who pick on my crew," Caesar warned. "This better be a good deal."

"Oh, but it is! Look, you can have your crew back unharmed." The vulture man pointed at the kids. "Thanks to the dangers of this forest, we could all end up dead if I'm too greedy, so I'll hold up my end of the bargain now. But we need you to do us a favor."

"Marlon, can you take everyone else to the side of the road there?" Caesar pointed to the other side of the road, opposite of himself. "The grown-ups need to talk about grown-up stuff."

"Do we have to," the young tiefling argued.

"Yeah, unless you want to mutiny and stay with these very fine people," Caesar offered.

The little tiefling boy resigned himself to the more generous offer and marched to the other side of the road, beckoning for the fellow children to follow him. Caesar went several steps to the opposite direction to lead the Blue Jays away from the kids.

"I'm all ears," the captain said.

"So it's like this, my man," the vulture man began, "my friends call me Frankie, but you may call me El Buitre. And these are my associates, Darla," he points to the blonde woman, then to the dwarf, "Legs, and of course you know our lookout, Quincy."

"A vulture named 'Vulture,'" Cecilia quipped.

Keeping his anger in check, El Buitre ignored Cecilia's quip and continued. "Anyway, the Syndicate offers good benefits, but the pay is something, como se dice, left to be desired. So we joined the Order of the Blue Jay because the pay is good. Unfortunately, our first job has been a little difficult."

"This forest is home to the Abyssal moths," Darla explained, "which prey on people. They're as big as birds of prey, they like to paralyze their prey, wrap them up in silk, and use the cocoon to liquefy their victims and proceed to drink them."

"That's why we can't leave. The moths trapped us in." Legs's words sounded convincing. "No matter where you go, you'll eventually find the way blocked with silk. If you touch it, you're as good as gone."

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Caesar grinned. "I see. And you want me to cut the way forward?"

The four Blue Jays nodded.

"Sounds like a job for the Celestial Compass," Caesar declared. "We can handle a few moths."

"Yes! They're just moths!" El Buitre placed a feathery arm around Caesar. "Dangerous ones, but they're still bugs. If you can squash them, all the better for us! We're better suited for burglary, not fighting, and we couldn't possibly survive trying to do this job."

"Alright, alright, you made your case." Caesar's words were enough to stop the Blue Jays from speaking more on the matter. "We'll get rid of the moths for you. Sound good?"

"I knew you wouldn't let us down." El Buitre took his arm away from Caesar and took a moment to raise his arms to make a celebratory gesture. "We'll be in the area. Come back when you're done and give us the all-clear so we can leave the forest, ya hear?"

"I guess that means we're on the job." Caesar quickened his pace out of the road to put a distance between him and the Blue Jays as fast as possible. "Let's go, Cecilia."

"Coming!" Not caring much for the Blue Jays, Cecilia followed her captain out of the area. She could feel the eyes of the Blue Jays following her every move until the darkness of the forest embraced her once again.

Once they were out of sight and earshot, Darla, Legs, and El Buitre laughed without restraint, as if they had been holding it in the entire time. Quincy laughed along with them, but his laughter wasn't as loud as his companions.

"Uhh, why are we laughing?"

"We suckered those guys into doing our job for us," Darla explained.

"But I thought our target was-"

"Idiot, of course we know who the target is." El Buitre smacked the back of Quincy's head.

"Ow."

"Lucky for us, those two didn't ask questions. By the time they figure out what they're doing, it'll be too late." El Buitre snickered. This was all too easy for him. "Stupid assholes didn't even take the children with-"

Turning around to resume his bullying, El Buitre was soon dismayed when he didn't see the children at the spot they were told to wait at.

"Oooh, those kids just made a big mistake." The vulture man angrily swiped his arm, ultimately pointing deeper into the darkness. "Search the perimeter! They couldn't have gone far!"

"Why don't we just follow the captain," Legs suggested. "That place yer pointing at is pretty dark for the rest of ya."

"I said go! Vamos! Rapido!"

***

"Oh, man. This is going to be a pain..."

Wulf's lamentations fell on deaf ears. On their way back to the wagon, Caesar and Cecilia had reunited with their chef and the children, all but one totally content that the plan had worked. The children had bruises on them, but after Marlon insisted they suffered only a few scratches from the fall, Wulf thanked the seas before unleashing two flashes of holy light on his crewmates and the children.

"Captain, are you sure about this? Those Blue Jays can be very vindictive." Wulf had a firm grip on his trident and looked around and sniffed the air in case they were followed.

Caesar, by contrast, walked seemingly without a care in the world. "We got what we came for. I'd call that a win."

"Good job on the extraction, Wulf," Cecilia sincerely said. "Kinda concerned about the moths, though."

"You believed them, Cecilia? I thought I told you to take what they said with a grain of salt."

Fallen twigs snapped as the pirates continued their way back, the children hanging on Caesar's every word.

"You mean giant moths don't exist," Gortha asked, seemingly disappointed.

"Oh, they exist. They just don't snatch up and eat people like those Blue Jays said. Some don't even have mouths at all."

The children gasped, which delighted Cecilia and Wulf. At the end of the day, the orphans were children, and their childlike wonder reminded the three adults of simpler days.

"Really? Then how do they eat," Ray asked.

"Well..." Caesar scratched his head. "They don't. Moths start their lives as caterpillars, eat everything they can, and then form a cocoon. After some time inside the cocoon, they become adult moths, and some don't come out with the mouths they go in with. Their energy was all stored inside from the food they ate as a caterpillar."

"Wow..."

Their conversation was abruptly and rudely interrupted by the sound of explosions. Instinctively, Wulf gathered the orphans to a single spot and shielded them from potential fire while Caesar and Cecilia ducked for cover. The explosions were distant, but the pirates recognized the weaponry used to create them.

"Mortar fire! 'Nessa is in danger!" Cecilia glanced around for any signs of ongoing fire. All she could see were brief flashes of light which preceded each explosion.

"Captain, I'm going in," Wulf snarled. "My woman's out there fighting for her life!"

"Are you nuts? Stay here," Caesar commanded. "We have to stick together!"

"My fiancée's out there!" Wulf could feel Caesar's hand around his wrist. "Let go, Captain!"

"Exactly, your fiancée is out there! Do you know what that means?"

Another explosion went off, this one much closer than before. It was quickly followed by a howl and some maniacal laughter, and some blank stares from our present party.

"HAHAHAHA! DIE, DEMONS, DIE!" The war cry was distant yet familiar.

"W-well," Wulf stammered, "she could still use a hand."

For once, everyone agreed. The time for questions was long gone, and they had to reach the wagon to lend Vanessa a hand. But instead of rushing in blindly, Caesar led the gang to the wagon at a slower pace, stopping at the sound of each mortar shell going off. No signs of wildlife here, nor were there any corpses lying about. Caesar was glad that his crew followed his orders even in his absence. It seemed Vanessa knew where she was firing and was avoiding innocent lives if possible.

The wagon was not far, and each shell going off lit up the area long enough to help the rest of the crew see how close they were getting. Not far from the wagon came Vanessa, carrying her mortar with all of her strength. "I knew it'd be you, Captain." She set her cannon down. "And look, you brought the younglings safe and sound."

"Couldn't have done it without your man," Caesar quipped. "We'll celebrate later, though. I heard you scream about demons. What's that about?"

"Had a ratman sneak up on me when I was patrolling the area. I fought it off, but I could feel more coming from a single direction. That's when I opened fire." Vanessa chuckled nervously. "Must have scared them off, but I caught a glimpse at the rest of them. Hunched little men with buck teeth and forked tails. The way they charged was inhuman, and so was the red in their eyes."

"Wrecker demons," Wulf guessed. "We're here now, my love. We'll take over!"

"You think I'm tagging out because of some rats? Guess again." Vanessa loaded the next shell into her muzzle-loaded cannon. "If it's alright with you, we need to fight off the next wave. Charlie and Tem haven't woken up, and I'm starting to get worried."

"How are they," Caesar asked. "Are they okay?"

"Can't tell. They have a pulse and they're breathing just fine, but they're napping like big babies. If the whole crew was up, we'd take these demons out in a cinch."

The pirates separated and stood on different sides of the wagon. Caesar took north, Cecilia east, Vanessa west, and Wulf south. The orphans stepped inside the wagon at the behest of the pirates, but they kept the flap open so they wouldn't miss the fireworks.

"Then it's up to us to pick up the slack! Vanessa, you just focus on your fire," Caesar ordered. "The rest of us will be your eyes!"

The obvious question in everyone's minds right now was why demons were lurking in the forest. The Order of the Blue Jay was also causing trouble and based on the intel they gathered about them back in Helix, the Order is never far behind whenever demons are concerned. There must surely be a correlation between both of them, and now the pirates' hands were forced. They had to fight.

As their eyes glanced all over the forest, a dark figure moved in the shadows above the Celestial Compass. They felt the gentle breeze of fluttering wings but panicked at the sight of a set of compound eyes that glowed in the dark. Fearing more demons, Caesar kept his sword arm ready, never taking his eyes off what could potentially be a new threat.

The voice of a young woman assaulted their minds; it was loud and sudden, startling them all. "Outlanders! What are you doing in my forest?!"