As Angeline and Scarab walked through the veil, twenty men appeared in front of them and all of their guns were trained on Angeline. In that moment she was glad that Crow and the others had been sent away. Having them along would've forced her to continue her grandstanding, which wasn't a good idea with this many armed men. Scarab cleared his throat and prodded her in the back with the gun he had taken from her, urging her to continue forward.

Up close, the trees of the island looked strange. They were tall with stick-like trunks that looked like they could barely hold the weight of all the branches that sprouted from the top and covered everything in a thick canopy. The leaves themselves were large, like those you would see in the jungle. Unlike the jungle however, there was no underbrush at the bottom of the trees and no roots sticking out. Most of the trees were spread out enough that walking in between them was no trouble. But the strangest thing about them was the glow. From the Nightingale it looked like the trees reflected the orange light of the volcanic mountain, but upon closer inspection, Angeline saw that the light was coming from the trees themselves. They glowed.

Noticing her staring at the trees, Scarab pulled out a small knife. “Watch this.” He walked up to the nearest tree and slashed at it. Orange light seeped out like a bleeding wound.

“What happens if you touch it?” Angeline asked.

Scarab smiled and slid his hand across the tree, streaking the light. “Nothing. Why? Were you expecting it to hurt me?” He wiggled his fingers and some of the light fell to the ground. “It feels like sticking your hand in wet sand.”

“What is it?”

“How the hell should I know?” Scarab wiped his hand on his jacket. “Keep walking.” He gestured toward the mountain.

Something else Angeline noticed as they walked farther up was how quiet everything was. No birds trilled, no animals roared and even though a hot wind blew through the forest the leaves did not rustle. Even the ambient ocean sound of waves crashing onto the island was gone. She could still hear the footsteps and breathing of the group behind her, but it was muffled. It was like the silence itself was squeezing out all of the sound from the atmosphere.

“What exactly are we looking for?”

Scarab stopped. “A cave. With a small opening. We easily found it earlier, but…” He turned in a half circle. “Connors.”

“Yes Captain,” one of the men answered. Angeline didn’t look to see who it was.

“I thought I told you to mark the way.”

“I did. Carved a nice arrow into it. The tree blood made it easy to see from far away.”

Scarab turned back to his men. “Then where is it?”

“Maybe you didn’t walk far enough,” Angeline chided.

“Shut it.” Scarab turned his head. “Three thousand paces from the beach is where the first landmark is. And then it points the way.”

“It’s not that hard to remember a direction, Scarab.”

“Don’t get smart with me.” Scarab growled. “You’ve already seen how strange this island is. Our patron informed us that memory loss could be one of the effects. That’s why I had the tree marked.”He paused. “Alright change of plans. We’ll just walk to the edge of the mountain and circle around it until we find the right cave.”

Angeline took two steps and her foot slipped sending her face down into the sand. Every one of the men, including Scarab, roared with laughter. Angeline did not stand up right away. Instead she got to her hands and knees and pretended to cough out some of the sand.

When the laughter died down Scarab approached her and grabbed her shoulder. “Let me help you up. That way you can’t claim I was never a gentleman.”

Angeline smiled as she took a handful of the sand and threw it right into Scarab’s face. He screamed and let her go, and she ran.

“Shoot the bitch,” Scarab coughed out.

Angeline put the captain in between her and the other men as she ran. It only gave her a couple seconds of delay but it was enough. The sound of shots finally rang out, followed by the dull thud of them hitting the sand around her. She dashed into a grouping of trees just as one of the bullets struck one of them near her. Some of the light sprayed out and splashed her. She winced, expecting pain, but just as Scarab said, there was nothing.

There was more yelling followed by another volley of bullets. These ones were closer and struck near her feet. Running uphill was always difficult, but being one of the mountain dwellers as a child had given her body the strength it needed to do it. Still she breathed heavily, and though her lungs weren’t burning yet she could feel them getting heavier in her chest.

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Thankfully she reached the bottom edge of the mountain and the ground flattened out. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and pick a direction. Angeline cursed. Scarab was supposed to do all the hard work so all she would have had to do was sneak in and take the compass from under his nose. A gust of hot wind blew from the mountain to the left. It was as good as any direction, so she ran.

The shouts continued with the repeated ping of a bullet or two reaching near where she was. There was no point in looking back to see how far away they were. She needed to find this cave before Scarab and every second counted. After a few minutes of running a glint of bright light caught Angeline's eye. Down the incline was a tree that had been cut into. Some of the oozing light had come out and solidified into the shape of an arrow pointing up ahead of where she was running.

Scarab was right. The cave entrance was small. From far away you wouldn't be able to tell it was there. Angeline was about to enter when there was another far off bang followed by a searing pain in her leg. The impact from the hit made her leg buckle and she slumped against the rock wall screaming in pain

“Finally.” Scarab yelled. He breathed heavily as he approached holding out Angelines gun. It was longer and sleeker than a normal flintlock pistol. The metal of the gun was black with a reflective surface. “This damn things got a trick to it. Took a couple tries to hit you.” He holstered the gun and grabbed Angeline by the arm. “Come on, let's finish this.”

Angeline grunted as Scarab dragged her into the cave and dropped her on the floor. When the dancing lights from the pain of her leg subsided, she saw something floating near the top of the cave. It was a flat disc with marlins etched into it on the outer edge. In the middle sat a triangular object, which made the disc look like a sundial. It floated inside an orange bubble.

“So what’s the trap you promised me?” Angeline said in between heavy breaths.

Scarab stared up as he spoke. “I never said there was a trap. I said I required your help.” It was strange for Angeline to hear him speak plainly. When they were accompanied by members of their crew they maintained an heir of bluster and glib. But without the others the theatrics weren’t necessary.

Angeline spat on the ground in Scarab’s direction.

“That’s new,” he said.

“I’m sick of our games.”

“Then let this be our last. My client has promised a king’s ransom for this thing,” he gestured at the disc. “I don’t know what it does, but I don’t care. With that money, I and my entire crew could retire and not have to step foot on a boat ever again.”

“Some captain you are.” Angeline pushed herself to the edge of the cave wall and leaned back. “Trading in freedom for a few walls.”

“I’m not here for trading philosophies. Help me or die. Plain and simple.” Scarab pointed at a random part of the wall. “Read that.” For a moment Angeline only glared at him, but then she turned her head.

On the wall was orange lettering. The words were written in a flowing script like the type royalty would use.

"Four points stand but two oppose,

The compass waits where wisdom grows.

North is high, South lies low,

East gives light, West lets go.

To break the seal, speak only this,

The place where shadows meet and kiss."

Despite the pain, Angeline laughed. “A riddle?”

Scarab’s face grew red, almost matching the hue of his coat. “Yes, a riddle. Most problems I can solve by threatening someone or by shooting them, but, well I’m not good at this sort of thing.”

Angeline calmed herself. “How valuable can this so-called compass be if it’s only guarded by a riddle that a cabin boy could easily solve.”

“Then tell me the answer.”

“Why? There’s only four possible answers. Just keep guessing and you’ll get it in no time. You can do it.” Angeline said that last part mockingly.

Scarab shook his head. “Each person who enters is only allowed one guess. I won’t risk any more of my men. So give me the answer.”

Angeline considered for a moment and then pointed to the far wall of the cave. “Only, if you put all of your firearms and mine in a pile over there. I’ll say the answer, you get your artifact, and then you leave.”

Scarab crossed his arms. “Do I get my guns back?”

“You mean my guns. You won’t be needing them now that you’ll be rich. This is your best case scenario Scarab.”

“Fine.” He took off his coat and laid it on the floor revealing a white shirt that fit tightly over his muscular but slightly doughy body. Over the shirt was a leather strap that held multiple holsters with guns hanging from them. Walking over to the wall he unclasped the strap and laid it on the ground. While his gaze was momentarily off her, she found a doorknob-sized stone and clasped her hand around it. Scarab then walked back to his original spot and gestured with both hands at Angeline. “Alright. Say it.”

“West,” Angeline called. Her voice echoed in the cave and at first nothing happened, but then the bubble faded and the compass slowly floated down.

Scarab walked underneath it and grabbed the compass as it floated down. He held it out and stared at it for a long moment. “Finally. How did you know the answer was…?”

Angeline threw the rock, striking Scarab in his right eye. He yelled in pain and fell to the floor dropping the compass.

Using every bit of her strength and doing her best to ignore the pain shooting through her leg, Angeline pushed herself up and intercepted the compass as it bounced off the cave floor. Her leg gave out and she fell to the floor on her knees. The shock almost made her pass out, but she managed to stay conscious. She then raised the compass above her head.

“What are you doing?” Scarab yelled. His voice was muffled behind his hands which were both covering his eye. Blood dripped from in between his fingers.

“Showing you how pathetic of a pirate you really are.” Angeline slammed the compass on the ground. As she did there was a loud explosion and a flash of light that overwhelmed Angeline’s senses. For a few moments she could not see, or hear, or feel the pain from her wound. And then it was gone, and there was only blackness.