Alaric watched as Fiona disappeared into the building. He trusted in their abilities, but their working as a team was a whole different equation. Truth be told, he hadn't the slightest idea about the clan politics that supposedly made the two natural enemies beforehand.
"We'd best not just wait around hoping they find it," Alaric announced, trusting them to take care of themselves. He glanced at Ardus, "What were the men wearing that you guys saw?" Ardus described the hooded figures, taking a moment to highlight one who carried a scythe. "Let's look for anyone matching that description. I suspect they'll be down at the docks, if they haven't boarded the ship already."
The mixture of the dim torchlight and moonlight lighting, even when enhanced by the orange ambiance provided by the burning ships, made it hard to see through the chaotic horde of the panicking crowd. However, Ardus had no such issue, considering he tower over every man or woman in the vicinity, giving him a clearer perspective of their surroundings.
Sure enough, after minutes of a slow advance through the crowd, Ardus spoke up after they were a few feet off from the dock. "I see four figures loitering around a rowboat toward the western end. Three of them are wearing hooded cloaks - I'm positive at least one of them was at the bridge," he confirmed.
Alaric nodded absentmindedly, working to put together the puzzle pieces. "I think it's best we maintain our distance and watch what they do for now. In the best case scenario, they lead us to the ship and we benefit from them occupying the Greta Company and we secure the treasure, undetected for as long as possible"
Ardus looked at Alaric with a disapproving frown. "And put more people at risk? Who knows how many innocent bystanders they've killed with that explosion, and now we'll allow them to add to that count."
"That's unlikely," Mathis stated, "They used the explosions to create chaos so they could cloak themselves from the invigorators and watchful eyes; they won't do anything to draw attention to themselves directly if they have any sense."
"An assumption," replied an unimpressed Ardus.
Alaric sighed. Ardus had a point, one he felt almost ashamed to not have considered. He wanted to be responsible for an entire city, yet here he was thinking of only his own objective and not the safety of the majority. Still, a leader needed to remain rational.
"This is the best way to limit innocent people getting caught in our crossfire. If we engage them here, I imagine there will be casualties."
Ardus held Alaric's gaze a beat longer before dipping his head. "I trust your decision."
"It's settled then."
The team of four plus Wulfur watched the men as they stood leaning on the rowboat. The crowd eventually started to calm down as the invigorators fought to get them under control, claiming that the explosion was the result of a gunpowder spark, and not an attack on the harbor. It was effective crowd control - a necessary lie in order to discern the problem properly. Some of the sailor crews had ventured out of the safety of their boat to dutifully assist with fighting the blaze of the vehement fire, however, the fire was proving to be more resistant than the average.
As the crowd around them thinned, the others were able to pick up a clear line of sight with the men, as Ardus had. This caused Alaric to worry they'd be spotted and the men would grow suspicious, but the group seemed engrossed in a conversation.
"Is there a way for you to detect if any of them are Paterals?" Alaric asked Petra.
Petra looked surprised to be addressed. "Uh...no. Well, Wulfur might be able to, but we're much too far at the moment."
Alaric grunted. Getting closer wasn't an option; they were already at risk of appearing suspicious as it was. Ardus being a human tower didn't help the cause either.
A big boom once again reverberated throughout the area, once again raising panic levels. Alaric looked for the source of the new smoke curling through the air and realized it came from the harbormaster's office which now had a giant hole in the wall that faced them. A twisting sense of dread clutched Alaric's stomach.
"It looks like they ran into resistance," Alaric said, already imagining the worst. He knew that he should be prepared for the possibility that members of his motley crew didn't make it, but he felt responsible for getting them through the job he hired them for safely.
Mathis scoffed, saying, "You seem more worried than you should be, boss. We've seen Korran fight and I've exchanged blows wit' him myself. He may look small but he's a big boy; Fiona also seems capable of holding her own."
"Either way, we'll have to put faith in their abilities," Aruds said, pointing toward the crowd. "That guy seems to be moving toward them."
Alaric spotted the man Ardus indicated moving quickly through the crowd, unbothered of drawing the ire of people his careless elbows found. He likely only avoided some brawls with the callous laborers because of their own panicked rush. The only distinctive feature Alaric could make out from his distance were two unusually dark bushy eyebrows.
The group watched as the man hurried to the waiting men at the rowboat, brandishing a paper and engaging in a spirited conversation with the men. A man rose from the rowboat and the demeanor of the other men immediately calmed down. This new arrival sported a comically large afro that seemed to be dyed blue, but Alaric couldn't be sure it wasn't just the dim light playing tricks on him. Soon after, the men piled into the rowboat to join Afro, lit a torchlight and drifted off into the water.
"That man came from the direction of the harbormaster's office," Petra unhelpfully pointed out. "What if..."
Alaric certainly didn't need the reminder. "We have no choice but to follow them - there's now little doubt what they're after. If Korran and Fiona don't join up with us at some point, we'll come back after to...check on them." Alaric pointed to another rowboat not far from where the group of men had just taken off, "We'll take that."
With no further comments, the crew hurried to the rowboat and piled in. Alaric and Mathis were first to the oars but Ardus took both from them and made fast pace after the fading glow from the torchlight the men had lit.
Eventually, Ardus was forced to slow down and let the rowboat coast as the boat ahead of them veered off to the right. Mathis made a suspiciously billions sound then dove for the side of the boat before hurling the contents of his guts into the ocean. Alaric cursed silently at the sound and Ardus didn't dare row forward.
"What the hell, Mathis? Don't tell me you were drinking today?" Alaric asked with more than a little irritation.
Mathis managed to pull himself back from the side, looking positively green and queasy. "It's the damn ocean, boss. Never been a fan and evidently - neither is my stomach. Can't even swim a meter either, this is practically a death trap for me."
Alaric's gaze softened. "Then let's hope swimming won't be necessary. Now try to keep your wits about you, this is no time to be defeated by harmless waves."
"Right," Mathis muttered, which seemed to take great effort as he propped his back up against the side of the boat and kept his chin high. Alaric had to trust he was accustomed to nausea from his drinking hobby and knew how to deal with it before they made contact.
Ardus once again propelled the boat forward, chasing the torchlight that now hardly reached them. They discovered that the men had traveled behind the ships stationed at the dock and pulled up next to a medium-sized vessel that appeared anchored behind the rows of ships. Its position made it impossible to be seen from the harbor.
It seemed the men had thrown up a rope over the side of the ship and onto the main deck. Ardus allowed their rowboat to coast toward the other one, wary of someone being left behind to keep watch, but it was revealed to be empty.
They quickly switched boats and Alaric walked up to the rope. "I'll go first," he said with firm resolve then remembered the large wolf staring up at him. He certainly didn't think the massive beast was capable of climbing up a rope. "How will Wulfur-"
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"I'll carry him," Ardus said with a nod. "It is said the Gods never went to war without their animal partners by their side, if only to grant them fair fortune. We shouldn't either."
Alaric imagined if Korran was here he would've given a contradictory comment, but instead, Alaric just gave a satisfied nod and began his ascent up the rope. Uncertain of the rope's ability to bear his weight, Alaric grabbed onto it and positioned his feet against the side of the ship so he could walk along the surface, as he'd witnessed mountain climbers do. Thankfully, the rope didn't plunge down the side and into the water with him in tow.
As he climbed, he imagined the view he was missing out on - the calm ocean waves sparkling with droplets as they crashed against the hull of the ship tinged orange thanks to the glow from the torchlight.
He steadied his thoughts as he reached the railing, warily peeking through it and making out no humanoid shapes in the dim lighting provided by a singular wall torch. The only sounds still came from the commotion back on land and this worried Alaric. There should be sounds of battle, their distraction to slip by undetected, not the serene quiet of the night holding its breath.
He felt the rope tug, which was expertly tied between the ship's railing, and didn't have to wait long until Mathis beached, still looking sickly out of sorts, but him managing the climb was a good sign he hoped. Next came Petra, who took longer to climb than they had. Even Ardus, who shimmied up with one hand on the rope and the other wrapped around a compliant Wulfur, made faster time than her, though Alaric worried the whole time that the immense weight would cause the rope to snap.
Alaric instinctively gripped his greatsword. The silence was deathly loud and his conscience told him this was because danger lurked around the corner, scaring noise into submission. Sure enough, the door to the superstructure opened and out poured the man with the large afro, which did turn out to be blue - and his team followed behind, including the man with bushy eyebrows.
"Is that all of ya, now?" Afro asked. "Surely you didn't think you lot could follow us without us noticing. Must think we're a buncha amateurs, yeah?"
A man who had a black scythe strapped against his back sneered. "Those two - the big guy and the girl, we encountered them by the bridge. I told Koko to let me at them but he held me back. I could've dwindled their numbers."
"That doesn't matter, Qiel," Afro said with a dismissive wave of his hand and a dazzling grin. The man might've once been handsome as a boy, but his features had hardened with age and he had a strap beard that didn't quite fit his face. "You're too selfish, you must learn to share your fun with us."
Qiel didn't seem happy with that but he said nothing. Afro regarded them again with keen interest. "Are you folks responsible for the lack of people on this ship? Perhaps you tipped them off that we were coming."
Alaric took a second to find his voice. The man's presence was overbearing and his voice confidently commanding. In a way it felt like he was what Alaric aspired to be - an experienced leader. "I suspect we're after the same thing you are," Alaric said indicating the ship with his hand.
Afro frowned. "You speak with a noble tongue, yet you seek riches. Another example of nobles getting in the way of hard-working men's honest work for their own indomitable greed." He spat, "You deserve nothing but a golden casket."
"Who are you people?' Alaric asked, ignoring the man's comment.
"We are what you lot seem to be imitating; treasure hunters, in the flesh."
"There's no imitating going on. No one aspires to be a pack of mangy robbers for their lifetime," Mathis barked. The distraction of being called a treasure hunter seemed to be all he needed to forget about the bobbing waves beneath them.
Afro chuckled. "You may want to look in the mirror before you pass judgment, boy. Being a temporary robber does not erase you of sin."
"Well said," Ardus muttered under his breath.
A sudden change drifted across Afro's face and his demeanor shifted from a playful one to a somber one. "Enough of this chatter. I'll give you a chance to shimmy back down that rope and I'll forgive the intrusion, yeah?"
Alaric shook his head. "That isn't happening."
"Very well." He turned to address his team, "Occupy these gentlemen while I make sure our friends haven't escaped - if they haven't already, frankly." With that, he retreated back into the superstructure and the four men he left behind leaned forward with sinister smirks.
Ardus looked meaningfully at Alaric then at the door the man had disappeared behind with a question dancing in his eyes and arched eyebrow. Alaric got the meaning; he could choose to send Ardus after the man or go after him himself.
Even though the man's presence reeked of strength, Alaric only had one choice if he was to be respected as a leader. "I'll go after him."
Ardus nodded readily. "I'll clear a way for you then."
"What are you two whispering about?" One of the unnamed hooded figures stepped forward cockily.
Ardus unceremoniously dashed forward, his warhammer raised in the air. To his credit, the man didn't retreat at the sight of a fast moving giant lumbering his way but instead drew his sword and crouched into a defensive position. The man deftly dodged the first mighty swipe of the Warhammer then another with practiced precision, but perhaps his consecutive successes caused him to underestimate Ardus' agility. Ardus' quick pivot into a vertical slash left the man hastily throwing up a guard with his sword that couldn't bear the might of Ardus and his gigantic war hammer, splitting in two and dazing the man with its blunt force. There was no hesitation in Ardus' follow-up swing that dropped the man to the floor in a pool of his own blood.
Qiel eagerly leaped forward, unruffled by the plight of his comrade. His scythe with its black surface felt like an agent of the night as it sped toward Ardus. Ardus raised his weapon to counter, but the man maneuvered the scythe to hook the Warhammer along the shaft, using the momentum to fling himself closer to the giant. He skillfully detached the scythe from around the war hammer and raked from Ardus' shoulder down to his stomach, before leaping back.
A man with crystal blue eyes who had shed his hood approached the angered Ardus from behind unbeknownst to him. He drew a spear and prepared to plunge it into the man's massive back, but Mathis interfered, nicking the side of his cheek with his own spear.
Bushy Eyebrows approached Mathis from his side but Wulfur lunged forward, causing the man to dodge backward with a curse.
Ardus grunted and met Alaric's eyes. "What are you waiting for?"
Alaric felt guilt wash over him at leaving his crew behind but he didn't let his hesitation show. He dashed through the now open space to the door, taking one last look at his crew bravely facing off against the treasure hunters. Pride swelled in his chest as he burst through the door, but that feeling quickly dissipated as his own problems materialized in the man waiting patiently for him.
"Do you want to know my weakness, boy? It's that I can't resist a thrill; ever since a young chap I've been a bit of an adrenaline junkie, jumping off buildings, stealing and most certainly fighting. Even when my brain tells me to stay focused I just can't do it."
"That's unfortunate, considering this won't be fun for you," Alaric said, letting his sword drag on the ground and make a grating sound.
Afro slowly drew his weapon. On his back, Alaric had thought it to be a spear, but it turned out to be a halberd. The man stretched, his shapely muscles bulging beneath his skin-tight shirt. "You know, I was hoping it would be that big guy that would come through this door," Afro commented.
Alaric forced his muscles to relax, feeling the vibration from his sword to his hand as it dragged. "You're going to be hoping for another reason when I'm done with you."
Alaric charged at the man who regarded him with a smirk before thrusting his halberd forward. Alaric sidestepped the attack without losing momentum but had to pause to duck under the shaft on the reverse swing. Alaric slashed at the man's chest, expecting him to block it and already prepared to knock him off balance - but to his surprise, the man stepped forward to meet Alaric's swing, recklessly swinging down his halberd so that the wooden shaft connected with Alaric's sword.
Alaric fully expected his sword to cut through the wood, but to his surprise, his hand went numb from the solid connection that reverberated through his palm. Before he could get his bearings, he had to throw up a vertical guard to avoid being skewered and the sheer power behind the weapon sent him spinning backward, his sword falling out of his numbed hand.
Afro didn't rush him in his vulnerable state, instead leaning on his halberd with a wry smile. "Quite underwhelming even with my already low expectations. If this is the level you're going after the Greta Company with you may as well be digging your grave, boy."
The comment stung but Alaric kept himself grounded, trying his best to calmly address the situation as he'd been taught. The man might've been the most powerful man he ever traded blows with. His pulsing fist testified to this fact. Which meant he would have to find an attribute he outclassed him in other than strength if he hoped to win.
Alaric retrieved is sword and shot toward Afro with renewed vigor. Back in Heuldrik, his strength had been his pride and so his fighting style tended to rely on it, but his father had warned him on diversity and he was now eternally grateful for his wisdom. Afro lazily swatted at him with his weapon and didn't appear surprised when Alaric ducked under and got inside his guard, or so it seemed, once again Afro managed to get his halberd back in time to parry Alaric's blade but this time Alaric was prepared for the power behind the blow, and so kept a deathly tight grip on his sword that made his knuckles start to turn white.
He reared back his sword as if he was attempting another attack with it and Afro lazily tracked the blade with his eyes, which was why he was completely unprepared when Alaric instead shoulder barged him, throwing him off balance. The man still managed to block Alaric's follow-up strike with his halberd, but again Alaric was thinking ahead and placed his foot behind the man, tripping him up.
With Afro falling backward, it should've been a clear and conclusive checkmate, but despite his look of surprise, the man never lost his calm demeanor. Using his falling momentum, he drove his foot up into Alaric's unprepared chin with such force that Alaric's feet left the ground.
The world blurred when Alaric landed and he was only dimly aware that Afro had regained his feet from the muffled sound of his boots. "Finally, some semblance of creativity," Afro's voice crooned. "A pity I was your opponent, boy."
The man's earlier words echoed through his murky mind: 'If this is the level you're going after the Greta Company with you may as well be digging your grave'. This man had disposed of him so casually and he seemed to regard Greta Company highly, that didn't bode well for Alaric's ambitions. He felt the weight of a city's responsibility on his eyelids and the brooding sound of the man approaching him lulled them down faster with one last thought clearing his conscience.
He had failed