With his hands stowed in his pockets. Tam stood on the grass as the two ships dropped their anchors.

Eli, Luca, and Lord Harris were safely hidden from sight, and the elderly couple Sua and Hajung were off visiting their son. They had been grumbling about Tam and his friends’ extended stay and the noisiness it brought until Lord Harris revealed two gold coins. The couple had then welcomed them with hot meals and even the occasional smile from Sua was spared. Supposedly with the amount of money they received they could retire without a care in the world.

The lifeboats dropped into the Tinoo Ocean, and Tam could tell from the canary yellow plume tucked in a quality made dark purple hat that the captain was coming ashore for his ‘passengers’.

The air was salty and fresh, the sound of the waves rushing toward land was only interrupted by the shouts of the sailors drawing closer. The heat was quite uncomfortable. Tam looked at his booted feet. If he wasn’t about to battle some pirates it would’ve been a nice day to dip his feet in the water. Tam rocked back and forth from the balls of his feet to his heels as he waited, occasionally blowing a lock of black hair out of his eyes.

He had tried to cut it a day or so ago, but Eli had insisted he grow it out a little more, and he didn’t really feel the need to say no. Apparently she liked men with slightly longer hair that could be partially tied back. Though she hadn’t liked his hair quite as long as it had been before, she had explained casually.

Her preference wasn’t in line with Daxaria’s current styles, but as long as she was happy he didn’t really care.

Tam watched the progress of the pirates and noted that they had just about reached land.

It’ll most likely take Harris and Eli even longer to get to the sip given that they aren’t used to rowing. I’ll have to try and drag this a little.

“You there!” a grimy sailor—most likely a pirate— called out to Tam from the front of one of the three boats.

“Who?” Tam hollered back while shielding his eyes from the sun.

“Who else? You!”

Tam looked around himself pointedly before responding. “Hello!”

“Where is the member of the Giong Coven? Or the Coven of Wittica member?”

“Who?” Tam shouted.

Two men from each longboat splashed into the water to guide the boats the rest of the way to the shore.

“Are you an idiot or just looking to get a beating?!” the sailor-pirate barked.

“Sir, I am just here to watch two boats come up to a remote spot on the shoreline!” Tam declared heartfully as the grimy man stalked up to him before any other of his crew members.

The Zinferan sailor was quite short, perhaps only five feet tall, and had no muscle on his body. His jaw jutted forward, revealing that he had large gaps between his teeth, but that he took care of them…

Tam tilted his head staring down at the man. “Morning!”

“Where. Are. The. Coven. Members!” the sailor-pirate repeated while narrowing his eyes.

“What coven members?” Tam asked in return.

In truth Odette Gilly was back in the void.

Tam had tried to free her saying as long as she didn’t attack them he’d happily let her run off and rejoin her treasonous friends, but he hadn’t even been able to finish the sentence before she had tried to kill him by filling his lungs with water.

Luckily Tam had reacted quickly enough that all he had had was a lot of coughing for the rest of the night. If he hadn’t responded so swiftly he would’ve been killed incredibly quickly.

As for the air witch from the Zinferan coven who had charged them on the first day of their rebellion… He was in a shallow grave back in the woods thanks to being crushed by a giant cat-like animal, who just so happened to be Eli.

“Hoy, enough.” The captain with his extravagant hat stepped up to Tam, and even the future duke wasn’t immune to the chill in the man’s eyes.

It made Tam feel nauseous as he was faced with someone whom he knew instinctively was evil.

He had no doubt that this was Captain Woo.

The urge to kill him instantly was potent when Tam recalled that this man was in large part responsible for everything that happened to Eli.

“Hi!” Tam plastered a dumb smile on his face.

His mother had trained him. He would not let on his true feelings or that he recognized the pirate.

“Who are you?” The pirate didn’t quite match Tam’s height, but he still tried to stare him down.

“Me? I’m Tam.”

The captain raised an eyebrow. “I am supposed to be picking up Princess Elisara Taejo. You said your name is Tam? That’s interesting. That means that you resemble the half-breed noble Tamlin Ashowan not just in looks, but also in name.”

Tam didn’t bother rising to the insult about his commoner blood. “You’ve seen the future duke before?” he wondered instead.

The pirate captain didn’t answer. Merely continued staring at Tam.

“You’re Tamlin Ashowan I see.”

Tam blinked. “Oh? That’s odd…” By then the rest of the crew in the lifeboats had started gathering around.

The captain didn’t take his eyes off Tam. Instead he lifted his hand.

“Search the area.”

“Why would you do that?” Tam glanced at the men leaving the group briefly, but by the time he looked back at the captain, found he had a sword pointed at his face.

“You’re toying with me.” The captain sounded bored. “What’s going on here?”

“Ah… I’m stealing your ship and burning the other one. Do you have a preference on which is the one we burn and which we steal?” Tam leaned to the side away from the sword point so he could continue holding the captain’s eyes.

The man didn’t blink. In fact, he blinked so seldomly, it was incredibly perturbing.

The captain gave a quiet snort. “I see. Judging by your attitude you must have something planned. Hoy. Rope and a blindfold for—”

The captain’s eyes went wide as Tam smiled congenially.

Behind Tam was a slowly widening black hole, and as it did so, his eyes filled with inky darkness.

“Pardon me, captain, but I am not simply Lord Tamlin Ashowan…”

The men surrounding him were drawing their swords and readying themselves, but out of the corner of his eye, Tam could see how stiff and fearful they were. Despite their terror and their weapons, Tam didn’t look away from the captain who was already winding back his arm, prepared to strike.

“You see, I recently have also been called ‘the devil.’”

The sword dove toward his gut, but all Tam did was allow himself to fall back into his void that surged forward hungrily.

Just as suddenly as the black hole had appeared, once it had wrapped its lips around Tam, it disappeared.

Tam shifted back into the physical realm farther away from the pirates that were all still staring in confusion at the space he had just vacated. He gave a humorless half smile before he retrieved from the ground the sling that he’d placed in preparation earlier beside the pile of rocks. It wasn’t only a child’s sling shot he was reasonably skilled with.

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He launched the rock, and watched as the pirate he struck in the back of the knee collapsed down with a shout. His kneecap was undoubtedly shattered. Tam grabbed another rock as everyone turned to stare at him while drawing their weapons.

When everyone registered his new position a reasonable distance away behind a small hill, Tam chose then to launch the second stone, and proceeded to expertly hit another man in the knee. The pirate crumpled to the ground beside his companion. By this time, everyone had overcome enough of the shock.

Tam watched all of this calmly, though he could feel sweat prickling his neck.

He could see the rowboat that Lord Harris and Eli had acquired the day before sidling up to the ship on Tam’s right out on the water… That was the one they were going to set ablaze.

He knew things were going to start moving quickly at this rate.

The pirates were already charging toward him, and so Tam released another missile that cracked against another sailor’s head.

Tam eyed Captain Woo.

He had been so close to him. He could’ve ended him right there. But Tam knew that the pirate would’ve gutted him if he’d tried to attack. Even if he had disappeared and reappeared behind the captain, there were too many members of his crew surrounding him in close proximity.

However, as the fighting proceeded, Tam knew he’d have another opportunity.

While Tam waited for the crowd of pirates to reach him, he knocked down three more men, mostly after the first bunch he’d been aiming for the groins or chests.

The group bore down, coming closer, and closer, until…

The first twenty pirates tripped and landed in the shallow trench Tam, Eli, and Harris had spent the previous day digging.

His shoulders and back were still screaming at him over it.

Tam idly wondered if he could convince Eli to give him a back rub or if she would assume he was trying to make an advance on her…

Five more men fell into the trench, and Tam tried not to look too hard at them. They’d filled the bottom with broken crates, glass, and nails that were haphazardly hammered into boards—compliments of Luca— and the screams told Tam that more than a few of them were not feeling all too special.

The pirate captain skidded to a halt. As did the rest of the men.

About fifty started to reroute around the trench to reach Tam, but the captain merely tilted his head. Then shouted, “STOP!”

The crew halted obediently in their tracks.

Tam arched an eyebrow. He watched as Captain Woo slowly turned around, and sure enough, discovered that one of his ships happened to be on fire. The remaining crew on board were either frantically trying to smother the flames, or diving off the ship—deeming it a lost cause as the flames spread.

Seizing the moment of distraction, Tam stepped back into the void.

He rested his arms for a moment. Rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck; the physical activity really wasn’t helping his already aching muscles. He then dropped the sling, and drew his daggers. Since learning that time moved significantly slower inside the void, Tam had taken more and more opportunities to recuperate in the space when he practiced.

Letting out a breath that brought his heart back to a steady, even pace, Tam felt his way through the blackness. He pictured the space right behind Captain Woo. Felt the wind, heard some groans from the injured men, smelled the ocean…

He reappeared behind the pirate captain, put his arm around the man’s throat, and in the next instant, stuck a knife in his back.

“This is for Elisara,” Tam whispered.

He heard the wet, shuddering gasp from the man, and time seemed to stall in a way that had nothing to do with magic. Yet before any of the crew members could process what he had just done. Tam vanished again.

Not wanting to risk winding up stuck in-between ship boards, Tam didn’t try reappearing on the deck of the boat.

He had found that he could more easily move to a place he could see, or, to a space he knew very well less than a league away. He still couldn’t do long distances without passing out instantly. Though he was sorely tempted to try disappearing and reappearing back home in Daxaria…

But that too risky to attempt. He’d most likely get lost in the void and wind up somewhere else.

At present, Tam reappeared by the edge of the ocean. He spotted Eli, Luca and Harris climbing the side of the second boat.

But the crew aboard this other vessel had already noticed they were gaining new passengers, and that sent them dashing off—presumably for weapons. Panic seizing him, Tam fixed his sights on the rat lines and made the trip through his void to reappear there.

Once on the boat, he peered down at the men scurrying like cockroaches toward the side of the ship Harris, Eli, and Luca were climbing up.

There were fifteen pirates.

Grimacing, Tam hoped that he’d have time to toss them off the side of the ship before Luca could see their injuries. He’d try to keep them alive at least.

If I want to have any hope of that, I better get moving…

*

“HARRIS! MOVE YOUR ARSE!” Tam roared as they at last hoisted the anchor enough that they could feel the natural current of the water start to pull them away.

He had dispatched of the remaining fifteen pirates hastily with the help of his void. Which was a good thing, as Luca, Eli, and Harris were just finishing climbing on board.

“YOU TRY CLIMBING THE SIDE OF A BOAT IN YOUR FIFTIES!” the duke shouted back.

Tam bolted for the sail lines, sweat pouring down his face.

Eli bolted to the other side of the ship to help pull up the sail. Though within moments she found she was struggling, and Luca wrung his hands worriedly had her side.

“Harris!” Tam called back over his shoulder toward the duke who was slowly clambering up toward the helm. “Can you get to the wheel?”

“I *wheeze* can *gasp* but… You aren’t… That isn’t the—”

The sound of longboats hitting the water pricked everyone’s attention to see that the pirate crew had made it back to the shoreline, and they looked ready for blood as they started rowing toward their remaining ship.

“Shit.”

“Language!” Eli hollered at Tam as she tried again to tug the sail up, only for it to slide down just as much as she had managed to pull.

“Not the time for manners!” Tam argued as he also worked to get the sail half raised.

He looked at Eli still struggling and felt his heart sink. He’d have to run over to fix the sail so it wouldn’t be lopsided.

Seeming to sense that a greater effort needed to be made, Eli suddenly snapped out,“To hell with this!”

Eli proceeded to transform into her massive familiar self, seized the rope in her teeth, and yanked.

Luca backed away quickly to give her room.

The sail came up and matched Tam’s side.

Letting out a breath of relief, Tam got back to work, and soon, they were putting increasing distance from the lifeboats.

Of course the other fiery vessel was starting to spray all kinds of smoke and ash, and one of the masts creaked ominously as the pirates in their longboats pulled closer.

Tam’s lungs burned as he continued pulling the sail up, but as they continued moved farther away from shore, and the light breeze that touched his forehead bellied the sail, he finally allowed himself to collapse onto the deck.

He was drenched in sweat, red in the face, and desperately trying to get more air.

Eli was in slightly better shape than he was when she turned back to her human self, though she was still breathing heavily while resting on her knees.

Tam was just about to try and roll over to make his way up to the helm to speak to Harris about where they were going, when Luca skipped over to him.

“DAD! THIS WAS THE MOST AMAZING DAY EVER!”

Closing his eyes, Tam silently congratulated himself.

He’d managed to successfully carry out step one of their plan, and he’d also been able to avoid Luca seeing anything too terrible aside from setting a boat on fire… Though he imagined his standard of what was ‘too terrible’ might not have alined with most other parents in the world.