They remained in Safe Harbor for another three days, making repairs and enjoying the island's plentiful resources. During that time, Li scarcely saw Ardlac, and he was thankful for that. It seemed his partner was avoiding spending time in the cabin when Li was there, and Li was happy to not endure his presence. When they took their watch duties, Ardlac remained as far from him as he was able to, only nodding to him in passing. If any of the others on their watch noticed this, they didn't ask Li about it. Though, he supposed, Ardlac had never stuck all that close to him during their watches previously, either.

Li was still distressed by Ardlac's offer of a sexual arrangement. His heart was still far too attached to Ash, and Ardlac was not the sort of person he wanted to be involved with, even if he was ready to spend time in the company of another man. If he was going to give himself to another person again it would be in body and in heart. He was not ready to love again, especially not someone as uncaring and selfish as Ardlac.

When the ships finally left Safe Harbor, the Gryphon again traveled with the Phoenix and Stryker for a short time. They separated the second morning, and by afternoon the Gryphon had lost sight of the other Mahlonian privateers.

They sailed on, greeting trading ships from allied countries and passing small islands whose beaches were dotted with fishing vessels. After two days, a Mahlonian merchant ship hailed them to warn of pirates spotted not too far from the direction they were sailing. When Captain Mond declared that they would investigate, this seemed to excite the crew.

"Sinking a pirate ship is even better than sinking the necromancers," Garstin explained when Li asked him why they would go seeking the pirates. "If we take any prisoners, we'll be paid a bounty for bringing them to any court of any country. All provisions on their ship are ours, and we'll take any cargo they stole. We get to sell that for profit. Pirate hunting is good money."

"So long as they're good pirates," Aricka added. "There's less money when there's less cargo, or cargo no one wants."

After another day of sailing, they found the pirate vessel. It was a two-masted ship with patched sails and a hull painted green. When it saw them, it turned into a direct path to meet them, despite the pirate ship being smaller than the Gryphon. Li assumed the pirates weren't aware of the cannons the Gryphon had on board. Captain Mond ordered nets strung from the sides of the ship, up nearly to the sails. Li was told it was to create an extra challenge when the pirates attempted to board them. The members of the crew not assigned to manning the cannons were placed near the sides with pikes, crossbows, and swords to repel the boarding parties.

Even when the Gryphon drew close enough to fire its cannons, the pirates did not turn to run from them. The first cannon shots ripped through the rigging of the smaller ship's two masts, but the sails remained intact and would have allowed the ship to run if the pirates had been so inclined.

Shouts and jeers came from the pirate ship, loud enough to carry over the waves. Li gripped his pike tightly.

The pirates fired their crossbows at them the moment they were within range, but the crew of the Gryphon took shelter and only three were slightly wounded. The ship rolled as the cannons fired again, shredding through the sails and rigging once more. The cries of pain from pirates caught in the path of the balls or hit by splinters of wood from the masts were almost drowned out by the challenges shouted at them by the other pirates. Another wave of crossbow bolts followed.

Much to his surprise, Li had ended up sheltering behind a rain barrel with Ardlac, who held a short sword. "Bastards have seen cannons before," Ardlac muttered. "They would be intimidated otherwise."

Li ignored him, and moments later felt the Gryphon bump against the side of the pirate ship. He knew that would render their cannons useless, being in such close quarters. He glanced around the barrel to see those on the Gryphon with crossbows shooting over the side of the ship, then ducking back to avoid being shot themselves. As he watched, through the smoke that hung over them from the cannons, a handful of large hooks were tossed onto the side from the shorter pirate ship.

"Prepare to repel boarders!" Captain Mond bellowed.

Li forced himself back to the side, pushing aside his fear and dread. He knew his previous experience fighting for a prize could not be repeated. As long as he was trapped on the Gryphon, he had to do his part. He would not fail again. Surely Captain Mond would not allow it.

Within moments, his pike caught a snarling pirate in the throat, preventing him from cutting the netting over the side of the ship. It took several attempts, and Ardlac's unexpected help, to master the technique of stabbing and shoving would-be boarders off the ship using the pike, but he managed.

It was not easy work. One pirate finally managed to cut through the net, but Ardlac cut him down with his sword as he jumped onto the deck. Before long, Li's arms were aching and blood was running down the length of the pike to his hands. He forced himself to ignore it, to focus only on pushing pirates off the ship, not on their blood before his eyes.

The fight seemed to last hours, but it truly only took half an hour for the attempts at boarding to stop.

"Prepare to board!" Captain Mond commanded.

They pulled back the netting and those with swords climbed down to the pirate vessel, which had gone silent but for the moans of the wounded. Left on the Gryphon with his pike, Li looked over the side and swallowed against the bile in his throat when he saw the mound of dead and dying pirates on the deck of the ship. For a ship that was smaller than the Gryphon, it seemed to have had a surprisingly large crew. The sight of the blood shook Li, but he forced himself to endure it. He would not faint this time.

In the end, only three of the pirate crew were taken prisoner, including the captain. The others were dead or mortally wounded. The three prisoners were each wounded, but would be cared for until they reached a port where they could be formally arrested.

The cargo was not terribly large, but contained textiles, spices, a small quantity of jewels, and other items that would sell well to wealthy customers. They were also fortunate in discovering that the pirates had recently resupplied their stores. Two barrels of fresh water, a large quantity of bread, cheese, smoked meats, and a barrel of ale were all transferred to the stores of the Gryphon.

With cargo, supplies, and prisoners on board, they set fire to the pirate ship just after sunset and sailed away toward the nearest port.

Exhausted, Li took his turn in the bathing chamber. As he made his way there, and even as he bathed, he was surprised by the number of people among the crew who commented on his marked improvement over the last prize they had taken.

Garstin chuckled when Li later commented on this as they sat together in the common area.

"The crew knows who to trust to keep them safe," he explained. "And who to watch for because he can't hold himself in a fight. You proved you can be trusted."

Li felt uneasy about the lives he had taken, and could still practically smell the blood of battle. He was thankful that at least this time, when he remembered the blood, it was tinged with the scent of the cannons' smoke, and not the lavender-and-musk scent of Ash.