Captain Gigoales’ POV

The luminous braids hung loosely from the deck above, putting out just enough light to not strain the eyes. This ship’s captain, one of his crewmen, and my Lieutenant were in the ship’s Captain’s Quarters.

“Tell us what you saw on the sinking pirate ship.” I said.

“I’ll be the one to order my men around, Captain Gigoales. This is my ship.” He said, then turned to his crewman. “Tell us what you saw.”

“A lot of dead bodies, sir.” The crewman said, obviously shaken. “It was bad.”

“How so?” Lieutenant Datahu asked.

“The ship, it was falling apart. But so were they. It was like everyone had died months ago, and they’d just been floating on the water.” He explained, shaking his head. “Their mana felt wrong too. Like it had spoiled, somehow. All the bodies looked like they’d been pulled apart. Some had exploded, with their guts splayed out on what was left of the deck. It was awful, Captain.”

“What about the ones that got away?” The Captain asked. “You said they looked sickly.”

“They looked like flying corpses. Black feathers, curled beaks and not a single spark of life left in their besmears. Just… wrong. Sick and wrong.” The crewman said, his eyes tightly shut.

“Thank you for this, Captain. And you as well, crewman. It was enlightening.” I told them.

“That familiar, does it got a name?” The Captain asked.

“Sentinel. Though his master calls him Jake.” I said.

“Sentinel? Bit gawdy. Well, just do me a favor with Sentinel, Captain Gigoales. Make sure that its master does not lose control of it. At least not while its onboard my ship.” I nodded in agreement, and Datahu and I took our leave. Back on the main deck, far to the tail of the ship, where we could be alone, we had a chat.

“He’s getting stronger.” Datahu said.

“Indeed.”

“That is good for us.”

“Is it?” I asked.

“I hope so.”

“A whole ship, and its crew… in one spell?” I sighed, and while I may not worship the dragons anymore, I did find myself praying inside my mind that we were right about him. Otherwise, there would not be much we could do.

“At least he is still ridiculously slow.” Datahu said, probably making a joke, or perhaps it was an impromptu tactical analysis.

“He is, for now.”

Jake’s POV

Landfall for the ship never happened; why would it on a secret mission? Instead, we got a few miles away from land, just enough for us to fly there. The squad was flying low and close to the water, so close I could taste the salt in the air, even through Chariot’s wind shield. Careful not to be seen, we waited until night, and the ship never came within visual distance of the mainland; the Island of Taldre. The only light around was the moon, and the faint glow of the runes from Chariot, which I’d covered with a tarp for now. Captain Gigoales placed us into a formation, and forbid anyone from using magic to prevent any risk of detection by patrols. Silently, each of us flew in the dark, until a whisper from the Captain ordered us to land in the water and wait for a patrol to pass by. The blue of their feathers blended in with the water, but I had to send Chariot away, and tread water until the Captain gave the all clear; which was more difficult with only one hand.

If you’ve never seen a Neame swim, you’re missing out, because it is a very funny sight. At first, you might expect them to rest in the water like ducks, geese, but nope. They just float there like drowned parrots. At least their blue feathers blended in, except for Lieutenant Datahu, who had to submerge her white and gray body into water, with only her beak sticking out, while the others used their wings to cover her. This far offshore, the waves were manageable, if a bit tall from the recent storm. Everyone was already wet from the splashing waves, but now we were all dripping. I never saw the patrol, but the Captain said it was a squad of four, flying high.

By the time we made it safely and undetected to the shore, everyone seemed tired, and looked like wet feathered rats. “I smell like the sea.” Nine mumbled.

“Flying with wet feathers must be hard.” I said, pulling my shirt off and ringing it out, using my knees in place of my left hand, and then sending Chariot away.

“Indeed, and it makes us too loud.” The Lieutenant said. “Time for a sand bath, squad.” ‘Sand bath’ was a type of training I’d watched them do a few times at base. It was a method for quickly drying off, so that you can resume flying, or to hide yourself from familiars who track by scent.

A few muffled moans echoed out, and they all fell flat to the ground, spread their wings, and flapped them until their whole bodies were covered in sand. It was quite a sight. A minute later, the Captain straightened himself out. “Alright squad, summon your familiars, and begin recon. Fourteen, you are on watch. Familiar Sentinel, avoid using your flying ‘Chariot for this. The foliage here isn’t thick enough to hide you, unlike on the Island of Sangu. It will stick out too much.”

“Captain, without his rune creation, he is much slower. Perhaps too slow for recon duty. I suggest he stays in the dugout for now.” Lieutenant Datahu suggested.

The Captain thought for a moment. “Agreed. Suma, you are on watch. Fourteen, summon your familiar once the dugout is finished. Sentinel, you stay in the dugout until it is time to move.”

“Yes, sir.” I said. Immediately, we all got to work digging out a pit underground, far away from the shore line, and hidden in the forest. I made sure to make the sleeping area as wide as possible. The dugout trench on Sangu was miserable, and nearly gave me a panic attack getting in and out of it without being summoned. The excess dirt we piled up, and used it and local foliage to blend the entrance into the area. Once that was done, and well hidden, Suma summoned me into the base, since the entrance was too small.

Stolen story; please report.

Inside the dugout, I settled down alongside everyone else, who had already summoned and sent their familiars out. Fourteen broke the silence first. “So Jake, or do you prefer Sentinel? Your master calls you both, sooo…”

“Jake is fine. Sentinel is more of a legal name than anything.”

“Legal name? What do you mean? Do you also have an illegal name?” Fourteen asked, surprised.

“No… what’s an illegal name?”

“It isn’t an illegal name!” Suma suddenly shouted, sounding very defensive. “I would never!”

“I also have been curious about this.” Lieutenant Datahu said. Even the Captain nodded in quiet agreement.

“It’s the name my mum gave me. And Sentinel is the name Suma gave me when I became her familiar.” I explained, a little confused.

“Wait… you were renamed, but you still use your former name, rather than your current one?” Fourteen asked, shocked. Lauric glanced my way, rolled his eyes, and went back to ignoring me.

“Uh, yeah? I think of Sentinel as a kind of government name here, and Jake as the name my friends call me.”

“Aside from whatever a government name is; Suma, how did you manage to rename a Vi- I mean…” Nine started to ask, but stumbled over the word ‘Viking’ and glanced and the dirty look I was giving him. “…a powerful familiar such as Sen… Jak… uh?”

“Jake is fine.” I said.

“How did you manage to rename Jake?” Nine corrected himself.

“Well, he had no magic when we met. That made it easier.” Suma said. Captain Gigoales, Lieutenant Datahu, Nine, and Lauric didn’t react much to that, they already knew, but Fourteen looked as close to slapped maceral as a Neame could.

“No magic? As in, he could not use spells, or that he simply lacked training?” Fourteen asked.

“None. My world doesn’t have any.” I said.

“But… your spells are unbelievable…” Fourteen asked, dumbfounded.

“Thank you?” I said, not sure if it was a compliment.

“Then, just renaming you was enough to give you such powerful mana?”

“Well… uh…” I didn’t know how to answer him, without telling him that I also learned from watching the memories of a dragon and a real Viking. “No… I just figured it out really. My world has science, so that helped.”

“Alright squad. Our familiars should be far enough away to begin recon. Everyone connect with them, and begin search-pattern-one.” Captain Gigoales said. I sighed in relief. Suma went outside to keep watch, and everyone else connected to their familiars. “Sentinel, if you need to use magic, it should be fine so long as you stay underground. But keep the spells small and simple. You should remain undetectable that way. Only use it if you need to though.”

“Yes, sir.” I said. “Would a summoning spell be okay?” He said it was, and connected to his own familiar. Everyone took various positions when connecting. Lauric, Captain Gigoales, and Lieutenant Datahu were sitting, with the only things denoting that anything was different about them being their glowing eyes, whereas Fourteen and Nine were laying like dead bodies sprawled out in the dirt. Summoning my bag, I pulled out my phone to listen to music, and eat. Turing it on, what I expected to find was a fully charged phone, more food, and a new set of clothes. What was actually inside was nothing.

“Guess it is pretty late… or early. She probably hasn’t had time to put everything back.” I mumbled, and sent my bag back. Now without anything to do, a nap seemed the best idea.

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Lauric Isbala’s POV

Loyalty, my Black Serpent familiar, slithered quickly through the grass, guided by my commands. At the moment, I had opted to allow Loyalty to retain control of its body, and make its way on its own, while I simply watched everything through its eyes. Weaving through the foliage and brush, it eventually came upon a river, and began to follow it at my order. However, it instinctively keeps a distance from the water’s edge, as it cannot swim. While moving, the patterns on its skin change to match the surroundings, hiding itself as much as possible.

Suddenly, a shadow from above moved along the ground, sending panic through Loyalty’s mind. It tried to hide in a patch of tall grass growing near the riverbank, but I forced it to turn and face the source of the shadow. Three Neame were flying in a tight formation, and perhaps due to Loyalty’s camouflaged hide, had seemingly not yet noticed him. If they had, then they would have immediately attacked him from above, knowing that he was a familiar as Loyalty’s species are not native to this island at all; it would be like seeing a Leviathan in a desert. Under my direct control now, I followed the three, allowing Loyalty to control its camouflage to keep us hidden. Although my physical body was safely hidden underground in my squad’s dugout, losing Loyalty would be inconvenient, and perhaps even sad.

They landed outside a village, and summoned their familiars, Vedel Cats. A mid-sized, dangerous, and decently strong familiar. However, their sense of smell was the real threat now. Loyalty’s eyes are not great, so I’d kept it close to see, but these Vedel possess a powerful sense of smell. Pulling Loyalty back, I settled for a bit of blurriness rather than allowing it to be caught. The three rode their familiars into the village, and were met by only a single Neame, who summoned a crate to his side. One of the Neame left their familiar, and inspected the contents of the crate. Meanwhile, the other two surrounded the single Neame, but made no move against him. Once the third Neame was satisfied, it cast a spell on the crate, and sent it away by unsummoning it. Afterward, the three Neame left without incident, and the single Neame returned to its home.

(A tax collection, perhaps?) I wondered. Once they’d gone, I used Loyalty to investigate further, sneaking it into the village’s fields. There I found that it was a farming village, growing seeds and raising low-grade familiars. None of the familiars were high quality. Just beasts of burden, meant to be used in field work, or sold to those who could not perform summoning spells. None of them were considered combat familiars, or familiars meant to display some kind of status. While searching, I also found evidence of a battle outside the village. A Southern Union soldier’s silver emblem chain, worn on their bodies to indicate their rank, just as our soldiers wear pins, laying in a patch of burnt grass. The ground around the chain was also greatly disturbed, like a Nature-Magic spell had been cast. Nearby was a small and freshly planted death tree forest.

From there, I began to form a theory. (Three Neame, using lower grade familiars, sent on a menial task. These three could represent the overall state of the bulk of the SU’s forces, on this island at least. They were well fed, and their masters seemed well preened. Which indicates they have already crushed most of the resistance forces, and are not actively fighting.) I sighed internally, this was not a good sign. Not for the squad’s mission, or my own. Unfortunately, the three were too far for me to gauge their mana, otherwise I could form a more complete understanding of the SU’s average force. (Either way, it is safe to say that this island is well and truly captured, and under their command now.)

Releasing my control over Loyalty, I gave him new instructions to continue searching the area, and resumed passively watching. Allowing my mind to wonder, I came to a single thought. (Returning without him would be difficult to explain to his family, but under these conditions, it is unlikely he survived. Even as skilled with words as he has become since his assignment here, surviving this invasion would be nearly impossible.) I thought of my friend, assigned to be a spy in these lands, while my house aided him in watching over his daughter during his absence. He and the child’s mother stayed together, even after the young one’s hatching, a rarity… but still… (The spirits of these survivors have likely been broken by the Southern Union’s violence, so we should not expect much help from them, if any. But maybe… hopefully you managed to survive.) I feared the worst, but no matter what, intended to discover Von-Pac’s fate.