The Black Bulwark was a six-hundred and twenty foot long prison barge, lovingly nicknamed by its guests for the dark iron used to build the massive floating detention center. Those that went in, never came out. What had Elucard gotten himself into? He did not know. What did breaking out some poor thief have anything to do with being a bodyguard to a mage? A means to the end. They needed transport to Tradewind City, Cut-Throat needed a couple of well trained mercenaries. A means to the end.

“See it just beyond them waves, boys?” Cut-Throat called out over the crashing water.

Looming storm clouds hid the soft glow of the midnight moon. Perfect weather for a night raid.

Elucard moved his mask over the brim of his nose and raised his forest green hood. He flexed his fist several times to steady his nerves. He’d infiltrated castles and cities. Over roofs and through the skies. On the waves was just another day. Just a stroll in the park. Then why did he have moths fluttering in his stomach?

“Ready, Elucard?” Cade shouted.

Elucard sucked in a chest full of air. “Yeah, let’s get this over with.”

Cut-Throat pulled out a spy-glass from his silky sash. “When oi escaped last year, there was fifteen men patrolling the deck. If’n ye lads are as good as ye say, it should cause ye no trouble at all. Shady be in 3-F. Third level, sixth prison cell.”

Cade and Elucard leaped on the railing of the ship, minding their balance with slight adjustments of their hips and knees. Cade lifted a wide platform of water to meet his feet which he gingerly stepped on. As Elucard and Cut-Throat did the same, he lowered it to the water’s surface.

“Is this safe?” Cut-Throat asked?

Cade ignored the question. “Hold on to me,” he said. He let Elucard and the captain grip his arms. “Let’s go!”

The water disc gunned forward, skimming over the waves like an arrow cutting through the air. Elucard narrowed his eyes as tears blurred his vision and sea mist slipped over his hands. Closer and closer the barge came into view. Towering in the night air, larger than any ship Elucard had ever seen, taller than any wave that Naonis could summon. A monster—a titan of the sea. How many prisoners did it hold? Surely the entire criminal underground of Abyss could fit in there at the very least!

The two shrouds and the pirate reached the hull of the ship. Elucard reared his head back to see the deck. “My turn,” he said with a cunning smirk. His shaken nerves turned rock solid with Cade by his side. Perhaps he was like the Blade Brother he never had? He pressed his hand flat on the ship, Then he closed his eyes and imagined Ivy. Growing from his hand came a wall of ivy and leaves crawled up the side of the ship and over the railing.

“Come, before anyone notices us,” whispered Elucard.

Together the three quietly scrambled up the vines and onto the deck. Elucard dispelled his magic and the ivy crumbled and fell to the sea below. He crouched down hiding in the shadows. Sliding his ninjato out, he conjured a toxic black film with vernal magic over his blade, both to tone down any reflection of moonlight from his blade and incapacitated the prison guards without killing them. Koda didn’t need an international incident on his hands.

“Which cell is McGee in again?” asked Cade with a soft whisper.

“Do ye listen, lad? Third level, sixth cell,” Cut-Throat whispered back with a hint of frustration in his voice.

Elucard and Cade sprinted across the deck. With movements so fluid and so graceful, they glided through the shadows, as if they had been assassin’s all their lives. Cut-Throat trailed close behind, careful to not get into their way.

With each guard they encountered, Cade gagged the guard from behind and kicked their legs and buckled them backwards. Like a ballet, Elucard pierced the guard’s thigh with the precision of a surgeon to avoid the femoral artery and risk an unnecessary death.

With the poison rendering a long nap to the unsuspecting guards, Elucard and Cade pulled the bodies behind crates and into empty barrels, then sneaked up the winding stairs to the third level and entered the third block.

Inside the barge, a layer of humid air wafted down the hallways. Steam pumped and seeped from the maze of pipes that cluttered the ceiling. Elucard dashed from cell to cell, counting with each door passed.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five…

“Here,” Elucard whispered just loud enough for Cut-Throat and Cade to hear him.

A slender man approached the bars. His emerald green eyes reflected what little light flickered from Elucard’s Magi blade. His oily black hair fell past his left eye and a curved nose like an eagle beak made the defining feature of his face. He gave Elucard a coy smile.

Stolen story; please report.

“Can I help you, my fine gentleman?” Despite his disheveled appearance, his voice came off suave, almost like a nobleman preparing to procure fine art from him.

Elucard knelt down and examined the lock. This can’t be picked, the lever mechanism that controls the door must be in some type of control room. He walked closer to Shady McGee and inspected the sustainability of the bars with a rough shake. A good set of kicks might pop one out. Enough for someone as thin as Shady Mcgee to squeeze through.

“Hmm, are you some type of assassin?” Shady asked. He held up a handful of shurikens and Elucard’s ninjato with his other hand.

Elucard’s eyes widened. He was just holding that sword!

“How in the— Give me those!” Elucard growled as he swiped his things back. He sheathed his blade and put the shurikens back in his pouch. “We’re here to get you out. Stand back.”

“Out? You aren’t here to assassinate me?”

“What in the blazes are ye talkin’ about, Shady?” Cut-Throat shouted as he and Cade walked up to the cell. “Why would anyone want to assassinate ye? Yer just some comm—err… well yer a thief.”

“I found it, Cutty,” whispered Shady. “I know where the Diamond Key is.”

“Enough with the old wive’s tales, Shady. Ye didn’t find nothin’. Ye just be chasin’ ghost stories again.”

“No, this time I found it. I stumbled across a map to an island called Phellom while pulling off a heist in the citadel.”

Cut-Throat banged his head against the bars. “We gotta get ye out of here. Our window for an escape is closin’.”

“What’s he going on about, Cut-Throat?” asked Cade.

“The bloody Skyripple. He thinks he found the Diamond Key.”

“There are people looking for Thorton’s Spear, Cutty. Bad people, and they’ll be coming for me.”

“Stand back, Shady,” Elucard repeated. He threw a powerful sidekick into one of the cell bars. It buckled under the impact. Elucard looked at Cade in shock. “Did you see that?”

Cade nodded. “Our weight training is paying off, but another kick like that and you’ll break your foot.”

Elucard shook off the stinging pain in his foot. “Suggestions?”

Cade squatted down and hovered his fingers over the bar. “Teamwork.” Focusing on the sub-zero temperatures of Dragon Realm Stratus’s frigid winters the iron bars chilled until they became brittle. “Try now.”

Elucard chambered his leg and unleashed another sidekick. The bars snapped in half and flew backwards. “Hurry up, Cut-Throat can figure out where to hide you from these boogeymen.”

Cut-Throat took Shady’s hand and pulled him through the gap made by Elucard. “Oi own a small hideout on a tiny island thirty nautical miles north of here. Yer welcome to hide there, Shady.”

“Well, I suppose if you and two elves can find me here, I’ll have better chances on an island no one’s ever heard of.”

“Fine, it’s settled,” Elucard snapped impatiently. “Let’s make haste.”

***

Cade strolled into Stryneth’s small room in the Salty Goat. The mage sat at an oak desk stirring colorful powders into solvents. He had a brass monocle strapped to his eye with several lenses extended forward to allow him complete control over the delicate details of working with his tiny seeds and rare flowers. Any misplaced incision could ruin the plant.

“What is it, Inle?” Strife spat without looking up from his work.

Cade eyed the door and locked it behind him. He sat on the bed across from his guildmate and hunched over. “What do you know of the Diamond Key?”

Strife blinked and quickly turned to face the shadow elf. “How do you know that key?”

“My mission for Cut-Throat. We had to rescue a thief that knew the location of it.”

“Impossible…” Strife said under his breath. “Do you remember the details of where this thief is?”

Inle tilted his head. “Is Master Wraslyn seeking the Skyripple? What is it?”

“Tell. Me. The. Location, Inle,” Strife said slowly.

“Four hours east of here is a prison barge and thirty nautical miles north of that is the man known as Shady McGee. He is hiding on an island that Cut-Throat owns.”

“You did well, Inle. Master Wraslyn will be pleased,” Strife said.

“What is the Skyripple?” asked Inle once more.

“A weapon he needs. So that no man or woman can stop him from reaching his goals,” Strife explained. “There are five keys to unlock the tomb where the Skyripple is lays. The Sapphire Key, the Ruby Key, the Onyx Key, the Emerald Key, and finally, the Diamond Key.”

Inle pursed his lips. “I still know so little of Master Wraslyn and his plans, when will I be brought further into the fold?”

Strife smiled and patted Inle’s hand. “Every piece has its role, Inle, but each is equally important to winning the game. You will realize this one day.”

Inle lied down with a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I know you’re right, but I still hate being in the dark all the time.”

Strife turned back to his poisons. “Wraslyn has many secrets. He keeps his life and plans shrouded deep in his mystique. I myself know very little of his plans. I may know more than you, but only because I was brought into the guild before you. In time he will trust you more and in time he will tell you more.”

Inle fidgeted with his glamor pendant. Was it all worth it? All the secrecy and danger. The questionable intentions. The misery he brought to countless lives. The Dead of Winter claimed it was all for the greater good. To bring the ultimate gift to the masses, to unite with the gods… but was it worth it? He didn’t know anymore. All he knew was he loved Elucard and they wanted him to keep his eye on the prize. To unleash the gods. Perhaps once that was done with all that he could have Elucard, but did he want to wait for that day? He had a choice to make and it could be between a good life and a bad death.