CHAPTER 9: …AND INTO THE SPITFIRE
A skiff slashed through the moonlit waters of the bay of Esthar, away from the gathering lights on the shore, the shouts and clamour. It moved through the water like a saber through a sail, its pilot barely paddling, making curt conversation with his passengers.
“You [Grease] all the skiffs? How?”
The small man scoffed. “Please, what do you think I was doing all night yesterday? But to answer your question, I prepared the runes ahead of time on rune paper and transferred them over. I doubt anyone could prepare ten mid-level runes in a single night.”
“Sorry to intrude, but would you mind dropping me off on the docks? The harbourmaster will be expecting me at work tomorrow,” Dantes cut in.
A laugh from the small man. “Hah! The sultan’s watch would tear you apart if they got their hands on you. I think it’s best you come with us for now and we’ll see about returning you soon as we can.”
“So, what’s in the box?”
The large man looked away, but the smaller one answered, “it’s best you don’t know, I think. I shouldn’t be the one to tell you at least. Just know the sultan wants it very much, and it would be bad for a lot of people if he did have it. Do you know where that rope came from? It looked like you were expecting it. The wall wasn’t accounted for, though it really should have been. We didn’t expect they had access to a geomancer on such short notice.”
“Yeah, I saw Mitty hop over and figured she’d toss a rope or something,” he gestured his head towards Mitty, who was currently grooming her paws.
“Who, the cat?” pausing for a moment he whispered, “[Sense Transformation], [Sense Illusion].” His eyes glowed green for just a moment before reverting. “You’re just messing with me, that’s just a normal cat.”
“Hardly a normal cat, I think.” The boat rocked, and there she sat at the prow, very satisfied with the shouts of surprise she got from the two men. “You’re welcome by the way. I figured you’d rather not meet four dozen angry men with swords. Was I wrong?”
“Ah, not at all, old tail. Thank you for saving us back there. May the um… spirit of Jackal guide your hunt?” the man looked nervous, like a scribe delivering bad news to a tyrant.
Mitty hissed. “I’m not that old! And it’s Jalal. Stick to your human greetings, you butchered that one. She tried to give them a frosty look, but Dantes could tell she was secretly pleased that the man had at least tried. “Where’d you learn that anyway?”
“I had, uh, a very diverse education. So, if you aren’t that old, how can you transform?”
“I had, uh, a very diverse upbringing. So where are you taking us and who are you guys anyway? I didn’t get the details from Dan.”
“Adventurers of a sort, I suppose. Well, we’ve been closer to merchants recently, but adventuring is our business for the most part. I’m just in it for the money, but every once in a while, we do jobs like this,” he says, gesturing to the box that lay under Dantes’ seat, “where we take matters into our own hands.”
“I’ve always wanted to meet some pirates. Arrrg matey, ye hauled in some fine booty today” she said, snickering.
“We don’t rob innocent people. Usually. I mean, if they’re rich, it’s on the table. But we have standards, and we don’t stand to make anything from this at all, actually.”
“Oh, gentlemen pirates. Very good. You still haven’t told us what you intend to do with us.” Suddenly she was regretting revealing herself for dramatic effect. It would have been wiser to watch and wait.
“We’re here,” the swordsman cut in. “Light the signal.” The man slowed the boat slightly, adjusting its course to go through the currently open harbour gates. The gatehouse was unlit, and no silhouettes lined its palisade. On either side, the fortified sand bar reached for miles stretching into the distance before looping back to the city, now a dim smudge on the horizon.
As the boat glided through the opened gates, Mitty looked up and saw a pair of eyes staring back at her through the machicolations.
The small one chanted something under his breath, and a faint blue light hovered above the boat.
Once through the gate, another person enters the skiff, having rappelled down the side of the gatehouse.
“We’re up a man,” the newcomer remarked. “Er, woman, rather. Apologies.”
“There were some complications. They were on our trail barely half way out, so I had to switch to [Haste]. They were expecting us. A geomancer sealed off all the side streets blocking us in, since they had the main streets secured.”
The newcomer swore. “Really, a geomancer? They must’ve been around to doing repairs. How’d you get out?”
“This woman here threw us a line. And the hired muscle just chucked the chest over the wall and climbed over.”
“You CHUCKED IT?!” hissed the newcomer. “Have you checked the runes!?”
“Yes, they appear to be intact. Is everyone else ready? Sorry you two, we’re going to have to drag you along for now. Unless you fancy your chances against the watch and probably whatever mercenaries are available for hire within a hundred kilometers. Bounty hunters too, if they caught your face. You have a very… uh… unique look.”
“What is this thing?”
Ignoring Dantes completely, the newcomer pulled out the box from under the seat and inspected the dents in the box.
“These runes go all the way through, right?”
“Ugh, yes, relax. Everything is working. I made it myself, I wouldn’t just do a surface mount for something this important.” The small one says, rolling his eyes.
“Remember that one time you [Greased] the oars as well as the boat? What about that time you enchanted that mirror to bounce instead of break, but when you dropped it, the frame bounced right off and the mirror shattered? How about when you upgraded our freezer and it got so cold it shattered the chickens?”
The newcomer calmed down after a bit. “Sorry, I know you wouldn’t mess this up. Just being near this thing is stressing me out.”
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“Ok look, who are you guys and where are we going? You keep giving us nothing answers. I wanted to go to the marketplace tomorrow with my friend, and now I have been spirited away by some gentlemen pirates with diverse educations. I want names, and I want an explanation, and I want an eyepatch.”
The swordsman looked at the other two and shrugged. “I’m Harq, cook of the Spitfire.” Mitty looked at him with new interest, but didn’t interrupt.
The small one follows. “Rowan Fawkes. Enchanter.”
“Sorry for ignoring you earlier; this is a busy night, and we’ve been planning this for some days. Thank you for saving these men, amira. You have the gratitude of the crew of the Spitfire. I am Sparrow, first mate of the Spitfire. Welcome aboard for however long you stay.” As he said this, the skiff slowed, and pulled up next to a large boat appearing suddenly in the dim light.
A rope ladder fell down the side and the four climbed up. A booming voice sounded from the wheel.
“ALL HANDS ON DECK! I WANT TO BE HALF WAY TO THE ARCHIPELLIGO BY YESTERDAY! Ah, we have guests. You must be the hired help. Sorry it turned out this way, if all had gone to plan, you could’ve been home by now. You have any experience sailing lad?”
Dantes shook his head. “None at all. I’m Dantes and this is Mitty by the way.”
“I’m Norton Crowley, but while you’re aboard, call me Captain Crow. We’ll let you off after we drop off the cargo somewhere. WILLIAM WHITMORE CROWLEY GET YOUR ASS UP HERE RIGHT NOW OR I’LL HAVE YOUR HIDE AS A FIGUREHEAD BY MORNING!”
A bedraggled boy in his early teens stumbled emerged from the cabin, obviously just having woken up. “Yes Pa…”
Over the course of a minute, the bleary boy, along with Harq quickly scrambled up the two masts with surprising agility and let down the sails. The sheets creaked in strain as a low breeze picked up the sails, and soon the ship was gliding along the water. In the distance, the trill of a nightjar sounded, echoing over the silent waters.
Captain Crow approached the duo, who’d been pushed off to the side in the flurry of action earlier.
“Until we get to the far shore, we can’t drop you off. The Sultan’s reach along the south-eastern coast is too strong, I fear we’ll need to cross the sea so as to avoid pursuit. You may remain with us as guests until then, and we’ll pay for your passage back, if you desire, but we cannot return here for some time.”
“I wished I had time to say bye to Delphi, but I like adventures, and this surely counts.” Mitty was rather sad to leave so soon after making a friend, but she hoped to return soon. “Do I get payed for the job as well? I did help.”
“No, we only payed for your friend’s help. He will be getting a bonus though. Also, Harq does owe you a favour now. You put him in a difficult position, you see. You should see him for the details later.” He paused, then added, “It will be several weeks at least before we make berth in Windcrown though, so you’ll have time to discuss it.”
“SEVERAL WEEKS!? IN A FLOATING BATHTUB? Ugh. At least it’s better than the last one.”
“Ah, you’ve sailed before then? You’ll find that sailing with the Spitfire is a completely different experience, I’m sure. We can’t have you sleeping in the crew’s quarters. You can share a room with Jennifer, I suppose. She should be up soon to take the wheel, hopefully.”
Dantes had slipped off below deck with Rowan, presumably to store the box. She had more questions, but for now, letting the easy creak of ropes straining against the sails, the steady lap of the water on the hull and the trill of the nightjar carry the conversation was easier.
Something occurred to her then. “What’s that sound? The buzzing one.”
“Nightjar. Or nighthawks. They’re nocturnal hawks that eat insects and the like. It’s one of those sounds you hear so much it fades into the background.” The captain was looking calmly out into the distant darkness.
“I heard it in the city. A man used it as a signal, I think.”
Captain Crow thought for a moment, muttering, “Mm, yeah it’s a good signal. No one ever listens for it. We’re on open water now though… Weird, I’ve never known a nightjar to… damn. WILLIAM!”
The boy from earlier, who had been discreetly eavesdropping on their conversation while pretending to coil rope for some time jumped in surprise. “Sorry Pa, didn’t mean ta-“
“Not now, William. Fetch Jennifer. Now. We’re being followed. And call me captain.”
“Yes Pa…”
“AND SPARROW!” he shouted after the boy.
“What’s this about?”
“They have a falconer tracking us. Nightjars don’t go this far out into open water normally.”
“So what’s the problem? Will they catch up?”
“No boat faster than the Spitfire east of Windcrown, but we will get intercepted. There’s a naval garrison on a small island about a quarter of a day out. They probably intend to set up a barricade from there.”
“What could you have stolen to make them chase you so far?” Her curiosity was mounting about the contents of that box.
“Hmm I guess you can know. That box is the reason Esthar is looking for a war with Lupan. They want an excuse to use it. As for what it is exactly? It’s a mana gathering rune.”
“My friend has a few of those, why would that be so important?”
The captain frowned. “Rich friend. It’s orders of magnitude stronger than anything you’re thinking of, though. It’s a weapon designed to suck all the mana out of a city and then explode. The drain is strong enough to make it hard to damage with magic, and the magic powers a reinforcement rune making it almost impossible to break by normal means. If Esthar used this on Lupan, they’d kill tens of thousands of innocents. I’m telling you this, amira, in hopes that you understand why we must abduct you along with us in this mission. It is not a choice I would make lightly. I’d recommend you get some sleep if you can, it may get loud in the morning.” He turned to talk with a new arrival, a woman in flannel and a nightcap.
Her long brown hair was messy as though she had just woken up, and she had dark circles around her eyes. Presumably this was Jennifer. She looked over. “You can have my room for tonight. First door on the right.” She turned back to talk with the captain and wearily nodded her head.
Having had a long day, Mitty descended into the hold of the ship, intent not on sleep, but finding Dantes. Slipping back into cat form, she slipped further through the hold, and into the crew’s quarters, where several empty hammocks hung. At the far end, she heard a man.
“-and you can sleep here. I’m going to leave you here. Nice to meet you, Dantes.” A large man, bigger than Dantes, with greying hair passed by, and, noticing Mitty, pauses to pat her head. “And hello to you too, princess.”
That got him a hiss, and almost a bite, but she didn’t want to make a poor impression on the crew if they were going to be stuck together for several weeks. Or who knows, maybe they’d be together at the bottom of the ocean by tomorrow.
She waited a moment for him to leave. “Dantes, what do you think of these guys?”
“They’re really nice! That old guy even offered me a job!” He said happily.
“WHAT!? Did you take it? Ugh, never mind of course you did. Did you even discuss pay?”
“Yeah, he said I’d get one share of any profits. That’s good, right?”
Mitty just flopped down onto the floor in irritation. “You have no idea what that means, do you?”
“Nope, but Randall seemed nice. He said I’d receive pay for this job tomorrow.”
“I guess that means our deal is off then.” She sighed. “If you’re going to stick around here, you don’t need my help anymore, and I don’t have anything to offer.”
“What do you mean? You said you’d cook for me until I’ve eaten all the food there is to eat, and I’d help you live a life of ease.”
Mitty looked down. “Dantes, I didn’t tell you before, because I was scared you’d just leave me, but you’ll never be able to try all the food in the world. There’s millions of different dishes, and people make new ones all the time. Even if you lived for thousands of years, you might not be able to try everything. I was just selfishly trying to get you to work for me.” She couldn’t meet his eyes as she spoke.
Dantes just grinned. “Mitts, we made a deal, no? I’m not letting you go until I’ve had EVERYTHING. And you do have something to offer, who will cook all this food for me? Certainly not me, and anyway, can anyone else make this cake of yours? When I agreed to our partnership, I suspected you weren’t telling me everything, but now that you’ve told me, I’m relieved. I’m going to eat for a thousand years, and you’re stuck with me until then.” Dantes, beaming, offered his hand to Mitty, big enough to palm her small cat body.
“Fine, I guess if you put it like that, I really am the one doing charity work here. Here. Partners.” She put her paw in his hands, and they shook firmly, once.
“Partners.”
A voice sounded from the entrance of the crew’s quarters. “Wow mister, I didn’t know you were crazy. Is that your cat? Anyway, Pa- I mean Captain Crow called an all hands on deck meeting, and mister Randall said you should be there too. Better be quick, captain doesn’t like waiting.” The boy slipped out and up the ladder and Dantes followed.
Returning to the cabin she was originally directed to, Mitty changed back and flopped down onto the soft bed face first, asleep before she hit the sheets.