The cave was shallow, and its height only reached four feet, so Seko and Cria were forced to crawl through the puddles of water on all fours. They were eventually deposited at the mouth of an old temple, emblazoned with the sigils of a screaming eagle clutching a blade. It was quite a spectacle, and one that Seko felt almost honored to see.

They pressed through the wide doors and into a large circular chamber with a single ominous pedestal at its center. Other podiums or blocks held items covered in the dust of generations past, and Seko found himself coughing more than once at the thickness of the air. Cria just went on walking, never seeming bothered by the air or dust.

"Been in ruins like this before…?" He asked between coughs.

"All my life." She said "Why?"

"Just wondering." He said, "Any idea which of these is the item you want?"

"My gold would be the way-too-obvious pedestal at the center."

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that." Seko scratched his head and tried to find where his death would come from. Would it be spikes, or is that too overused for a pirate lord. Perhaps he's the reason for its popularity. He was occupying his mind now, trying to be prepared for the inevitable that one often had to contend with when exploring ancient worlds. Or that was what the one coin novels claimed.

"I'm gunna take it." She said

"What? Didn't you say it was obvious?"

"Wouldn't you rather trip the defenses and fight something, than play a guessing game?"

"You sound like Yan," She shot him a look, but proceeded towards the center. "What do you think the item is?"

"It's a sword, or scepter. Records are scarce, and no one remembers the old man's stories anymore."

Seko followed, certain that his doom should be beside the ship he'd latched to, and indeed found a sword stuck into the stone podium. Its hilt was crimson red and gold, with rubies and emeralds inlaid on the cross guard. Without a second thought, he extended his hand to grab the hilt, but felt a sharp pain shoot through his body, starting where he touched.

"Oi!" Cria slapped sekos back, "What did you say about stealing!"

"Sorry, sorry. Didn't really think about it,"

"Clearly,"

"What good is a sword to you anyway?"

"It's actually a foci, but a functional one. Claimed he wouldn't have felt safe otherwise."

"Strange man,"

Cria took a breath and stretched her hand, he could feel energy in the air being absorbed into her palm. Once it started to glow a dull yellow, she slammed her hand into the hilt and yanked the sword out in one go. The energy coursed through the blade and a vibration rippled throughout the stone.

"Guards, right?" Seko asked. A metal grinding above told him he was correct, and three metal golems dropped into the room.

Each had a single Gewel in their chest, protected by some barrier of magic. Seko flung himself back and drew his cutlass and pistol, both would be largely in effective, but he needed them to feel stable at the moment. Cria fell in beside him and readied herself in a traditional stance, raising a high guard.

"Once more," She said

"Lets dance then,"

Seko pressed himself down like a coil, readying to spring on the first object that moved. The farthest right golem turned to "face" them and raised a slowly heating hand. Small bouts of fire started spilling from the palm, readying a blast of heat. He dashed forward, lining one quick shot up on the connecting joint, it pinged off uselessly.

He tried slicing its leg as he dove past, avoiding the molten flame it bellowed, but found it similarly useless. Cria spun under one's wide swing and stabbed up towards its center, the blade merely bounced off, and she was struck by a backhanded fist. Seko, too distracted to see a similar fate closing in, was launched towards the end of the room and slammed into the wall beside Cria. He felt a warm trickle of liquid on the back of his head.

"Bastard drew blood." Seko said

"We have to hit the gewels at their core." Cria ran forward again, forcing herself into a lunging strike.

The blade bounced weakly off, and a second golem swung for her head. She ducked and slid beneath the firsts legs, bracing herself to suffer a hit. She passed unobstructed, the golems moving too slowly for a proper reaction. Seko pulled up the pistol again and loosed a bolt at the shielded core. The round sparked and flashed against the energy and fizzled away without any further of a response.

"Suggestions?"

"Kill them?" Cria asked.

She tapped the tip of the blade to the ground and flicked up dirt towards the golem. The dust and debris solidified almost immediately and merged to form a spike, piercing through the golem and pinning it in place. The other two, none too pleased with their semi-sentient companion incapacitated, swung wild towards her.

Seko loosed another three shots at the pinned golems core. Still nothing but pops. He loosed another four as Cria back stepped and deflected a weighty swing. She groaned in pain as the blade was nearly thrown from her hands, but kept her footing and turned the blade for another lunge. With a cry, the blade began to glow, and she shoved it forward into the nearest attackers' chest.

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The attack simply bounced off the shield, the sudden change of force and momentum dropping her to a knee right below the creature, as it slowly raised a fist to punch down. Seko darted towards her and threw them aside from the attack, bits of stone raining from the force.

"Gods!" Cria shouted

"Are you certain that's the sword?"

"About as much as I can be,"

"Then we need to leave." Seko rolled aside from another swing, bumping into the pinned monster and jostling the stone enough for the applied force to snap the pin.

Once more, all three golems slowly clambered their way towards Seko and Cria, the pair retreating to the rear wall of the room. He pressed the stones, praying for a secret door or hidden room, but instead found only the solidity of stone. Cold and uncaring. He breathed deep and tried to focus on the situation at hand.

"Any others suggestions?" Seko asked, "Don't you have some spells or something?"

"Not against this, apparently!"

"We need to leave then!"

"I won't argue, but how?"

"Door?"

"Through the golems still?"

"Have a better plan?"

Cria smirked and shook her head. "Still nothing that doesn't sound sarcastic."

"Then we go my way," Seko said, "On my call, we break for either side."

Another wave of heat began pouring from the golems' direction, and Seko could see the two readying their attack to melt the pair. He tried to focus on the palms, tried staring into them to watch their movement. Just as it seemed he was all but out of time, he cried out and sent them on their run.

The two sped to either side of the creatures, giving parting slices of middling result to the two with flame hands extended. The third of the trio stood by the main door, both hands readying an enormous burst of energy. Seko landed before it and stumbled as the energy built like a drop of water, the surface tension being pulled to its very limit. As the beam slipped out, Cria split the air in front of him and severed the blast with the sword. Its Gems were glowing bright and trails of the energy licked off the blade as if being eaten.

She pressed herself into the lunging stance again, but this time only held the stance as a great beam of white energy burst from the sword point and into the golem, shattering the shield and melting part of the contained Gewel.

"Wonderful," Seko said, "No time to waste then."

Cria grabbed his wrist and pulled him to his feet, forcing him into a near sprint for the small crawl space at the end of the long passage back outside. Two cylinders of bellowing flame erupted around them as the Golem, near sentient weapons, assailed their escape with literal fire. Cria slid into the cavern first, pulling Seko in faster than he'd anticipated and striking his head against the rock face.

Neither stopped until they were safely outside the cave and back on the strange surface of money that made up the top layer of Dotan's paradise. Seko collapsed and patted the singes around his hair and coat. Cria fell beside him and let out a howl of joy and triumph that would have otherwise seemed uncharacteristic had they not just risked their lives together.

"Well," Cria said, "That was fun."

"Fun? Oh sure, if you like dying."

"Should we head back to the ship?"

Seko picked up another pile of gold and slipped a few of the coins into his pockets. "Might as well, before Yan gets the whole crew to start digging up the sand beneath for fear of hidden gold."

They found a small circling of people around a small group locked in heated debate. Reeves and Vel were arguing against Yan in something to do with the ship and gold. The noise quieted as the pair approached, Yan turned to Seko with a joyous smile.

"Brother!" He called, "Tell this wretched witch of yours that what they're saying is nonsense."

"I guess I need to hear what she's saying, then?"

"What I was saying," Vel said, "Was that we can't bring the ship in through the portal."

"And I said that was crazy! The gates massive! We could load the ship up with all the gold it could carry, and we still wouldn't have even scratched the surface! Might as well use those fancy rocks on the side for something, right?"

"We can't," She continued, "It could cause the whole thing to collapse with us inside."

"There was nothing in the journal about that," Yan said, tossing the journal towards her lazily. She caught it with a confused look, "Read it, and you'll see. We're fine, we made it to the treasure of a pirate lord!"

"Yan, I think I agree with Vel on this." Seko said

"Come now, Sek, there's no need to be a such a downer all the time."

"You asked for my opinion."

"Well, I'm taking that back, no one needs it. From any of you." Yan turned to the surrounding crew, "Ready the ship and bring it in!"

"Belay that!" Seko cried "Yan what are you thinking? It could collapse the gate."

"Bring the ship in!"

"Not a man is to touch that ship!" Seko said. "I'll follow you, brother, but I won't let you kill yourself or the crew."

"You only follow your own ambition." Yan muttered. "You don't give a damn about the crew or me!" He drew his pistol and leveled it at Sekos' chest, "Stand aside and let the Captain give the orders."

Five of the crew pulled Arc rifles from their backs and aimed them at Cria and the four Arcanists. No one moved, all eyes were locked on the wood and metal of the arc gun aimed for Sekos heart. Captain, aiming at Captain. Brother against Brother.

"You're serious? You'd draw on your flesh and blood over treasure and the chance of death?" Seko raised his hands slowly.

"I'd rather see my name go on in legend, The first man to find Dotans treasure. Alone."

"Yan," Eado spoke slowly, "What are you planning? You think you can kill the captain and we'll all just follow you?"

Shurel and Fruea positioned themselves alongside the man as he spoke, slamming a foot to the back of his knee once he'd finished. Fruea then pulled out a knife from her boot and held it to Eados throat.

"Come on, Captain." Her eyes blazed as she locked them with Seko "Without your pets you're just talk, aren't you?"

"This is stupid," Vel said, "You'd kill us all if you brought that ship in here! We'd be trapped-"

The butt of the long rifle struck Vel in the back of her head and sent her to the ground. Seko moved to try and catch her, but a sudden thud against his formerly injured leg dropped him in pain. Yan moved the pistol to the other leg and readied another round.

"I told you, you're getting in the way." He raised the barrel up higher, towards Sekos' chest "Don't make me pull the trigger again."

Seko could see Cria and Sunte, the last two remaining conscious of his team, and made a small motion for them to hold. He wasn't about to waste the lives of them on something so asinine as a grudge. He needed time, if he could muster it. Time enough to find a solution to the sudden chaos.

"Knock them out," Yan said. He leveled the pistol to Cria and similarly shot her leg, sending her dropping to the ground and releasing the sword. "Put them in the brig and Chain them. No point in making it too easy."

The pain bubbled and rose in strange waves that sent Sekos mind hurling each time he tried to focus. He blindly tried to grip the tendrils that existed within, hoping to pull his way out with their magic. Instead, the butt of a rifle struck him in the temple and silenced any thoughts of escape he'd been preparing.