Zalan hesitated, taking in the scene. Captain Buttonwillow hadn’t seen him before he snuck back behind a stone to hide from the pirates on the beach. He didn’t know how he was supposed to go about the situation. He was staring at Nold, but his instructor was far too enamored with the interior of the island. He hadn’t noticed the captain amongst the pirates.
“Nold, I saw Captain Buttonwillow in the sand,” Zalan said.
“Ah, shame. God rest his soul. Let us move on around the pirates,” Nold said, moving to stand. Zalan pulled him back down.
“He’s still alive,” Zalan said more pointedly.
“God have mercy as he passes to the next life,” Nold said flippantly, trying to stand again.
“What is wrong with you? We have to help him!”
“You just said you did not want to fight the pirates! How do you intend to get McKittrick out of there without us having an altercation?”
Zalan peeked out from behind the boulder in thought. Captain Buttonwillow was breathing slowly looking like he wasn’t struggling against his binds at all. He could have been badly injured, either by the shipwreck or his overseers. The pirates were all over the beach, there were no openings to sneak through to get to him stealthily.
“Maybe… you use your Elemental Sand to pick him up from beneath! Like you did to get us down the canyon for the Elemental Rage Tournament!” Zalan said, feeling confident in his plan.
“How do you expect me to do that without arousing suspicion? The pirates will certainly see when a body begins to float away from them. Then we will lose our ability to catch them off guard,” Nold said sharply.
Zalan slouched when he took Nold’s point. He thought for a few more seconds.
“What if I summon a bunch of lighting to scare them off?”
“Or they will come to investigate,” Nold rejected.
“I don’t see you coming up with any ideas!”
“I gave you the most surefire idea already. We walk around the pirates and continue on our way. What if the pirates decide to injure or kill McKittrick as soon as they see us approach? This is his best chance of survival. If they wanted him dead, he would already be dead. They may be his best way to go back to land outside of this island. We should leave him in their capable hands. Otherwise, they will threaten to use him as a hostage,” Nold explained.
Zalan frowned in frustration. Nold’s answer sounded somewhat plausible and he hated that there was no easy way out. If they held the captain hostage, it would definitely do more damage than having him lie in the sand. But he couldn’t imagine a scenario where he left the captain behind, knowing there might be something he could do.
He took another peak out at the pirates. There was no way to determine whether he would be at a Level to take them on in a fight. He had also never fought with humans that intended to kill him. He only ever fought against people in the tournament, where lethal hits would disqualify you. There were no such protections out here. Especially against pirates.
“Come along,” Nold went to stand up again. He rolled his eyes when Zalan pulled him back to a kneel. “Would you stop that?”
“We have to fight them,” Zalan said.
“I thought you said you did not want to kill them.”
“I don’t. We just… knock them out or something. Get them to back down once they see that we overpower them,” Zalan said.
“I certainly overpower them, but do you?”
“You’re gonna fight with me, so it doesn’t matter,” Zalan said.
Nold scoffed, but thought about the proposition.
“Think about it. Because we leave them alive, we can even interrogate them to see where Rep might be. They could have captured him and the others as well. Captain Buttonwillow might be the last person they grabbed out of the sea. We just need to ask them to point us to the rest of them,” Zalan said.
Inspiration hit Nold’s eye. He nodded a few times, agreeing with the plan.
“I will take the lead,” Nold said.
“And no killing.”
Nold nodded once more. He stuck his head out from behind the rock, watching the pirates closely. He held his hand up to Zalan, waiting to signal him. Zalan felt a knot in his stomach grow as he waited to move. He hoped that he wouldn’t be overpowered by any of the pirates. This could be an incredibly foolish plan if they were significantly higher Levels than him. They might even kill Captain Buttonwillow at the moment they realized they were being attacked. Just when he wanted to ask Nold if there was a better plan, Nold bolted out from behind the rock.
Zalan stumbled to catch up. Nold threw a wall of sand at one pirate and bashed his fist at the closest one’s stomach. The other pirates stared, baring their teeth. Nold kicked one with a blow of Elemental Water and pulled the ground out from under the next with Elemental Sand. Nold imbued himself in a light layer of flames, looking demonic as he stood challenging them all. The pirates looked at one another, then fell to their knees. Zalan had just raised his hands, ready to fire lighting. He stared at them, confused and full of adrenaline.
“We surrender!” a pirate called.
Zalan kept his hands raised, but relaxed considerably. Nold was right to go in first. A small display of his fighting ability was enough to scare the rest into submission. He just hadn’t expected it to go that easy. He was a little wary that there was another plan in store for them.
“Go ahead and free McKittrick,” Nold flicked his head to the captain.
Zalan rushed over and stopped a few steps away from the captain. He craned his head around the area, checking for some sort of spring-loaded trap connected to Captain Buttonwillow. After circling him once, he was satisfied to see that he seemed not to be associated with any booby traps.
He approached, knelt down, and pulled against the rope constricting Captain Buttonwillow. After furiously pulling, the knot remained intact. With a final, powerful tug he decided he wasn’t able to tear it apart. Focusing his energy, he sent a small spark of lighting into the rope and burned a small hole in it. With that, he was able to easily break it. Zalan did the same with Captain Buttonwillow’s feet and rolled him to get a good look at his face. The captain stared at him, a mix of fear and confusion on his face.
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“Zalan? You live?” Captain Buttonwillow asked, reaching his hand out.
“Are you all right?” Zalan asked.
“Does anyone else live?” the captain asked, both with hope and dread.
“Nold is here with me,” Zalan presented him.
“Oh…” Captain Buttonwillow murmured, clearly disappointed. “Anyone else?”
“Not that we’ve been able to find.”
“I see,” Captain Buttonwillow said in a small voice, his eyes going downward.
Zalan helped Captain Buttonwillow to his feet. Captain Buttonwillow put his weight on Zalan as he walked, his feet still asleep after being bound for so long. They half stumbled, half walked to Nold who had organized the pirates into a neat row for interrogation. They lined up around the pirate that Nold punched in the stomach, who still was bowled over. He hadn’t recovered and was moaning and coughing with occasional spikes of pain.
“Where’s Rep?” Zalan asked immediately.
The pirates looked at Zalan in confusion. They waited for a few seconds as a bystander effect took over. None of the pirates wanted to be the one to answer and receive the sole focus of the fighters. Zalan flexed his hand, a spark of lightning jumping over his fingers.
“We do not know who that is?” a pirate replied nervously.
“Do not lie to us!” Nold said sternly, relishing his power over the pirates. “One lie and he will smite you!”
Nold looked at Zalan and raised his eyebrows as a signal for an example. Zalan sighed uncomfortably and turned around to look at a tree. He summoned lightning from the sky and struck it. The tree split open in the center, a burning flame remaining within. The sky grumbled with thunder. The pirates all shouted and shrunk in fear. The threat was clearly real.
“Is there anyone else that you have captured?” Captain Buttonwillow asked, hopeful.
“No! I swear, it was just you!” the same pirate replied. Evidently he was their silently appointed spokesman.
“Did you see anything out here?” Zalan asked, pointing to the beach and sea with an open palm.
“Yes! We found a Radiance Orb that looks as though it is about to degrade. We also found a Flamethrower!” the pirate signaled his companions to bring out their finds.
They crawled forward and placed Artifacts on the sand at Zalan’s feet. They dusted them, cleaning them off before presenting them to Zalan. Scampering, they crawled back and joined the line of their brethren.
“Not Artifacts, I meant like…” Zalan said.
“Pick up those Artifacts,” Nold pointed at the floor.
Zalan knelt down and picked them up, feeling like he was suddenly the pirate. He didn’t come here to rob anyone. He tucked the two Artifacts away. He didn’t remember if he’d ever learned what the Artifacts did. He looked disappointed when he stored them. The pirates took that as a bad sign for their getting out of the situation alive.
“We would have more Artifacts! But they drift on by! I have seen them!” another pirate jumped in.
“What?” Zalan said, confused.
“Yes! Yes!” the spokesman said. “Just up there! The water carries the valuables up the current and deeper into the island. I believe it goes directly into the heart of the island!”
“You are saying there is a flow of water that takes things to the center of the island? Do you think this current would carry bodies from a shipwreck?” Nold asked.
The pirates looked between one another, trying to figure out if it was a trick question.
“Yes, I believe it would carry a body, yes,” a pirate said in a small voice.
Nold looked expectantly at Zalan.
“Well? What are your thoughts?” Nold asked.
“I… what?” Zalan looked between Nold and the pirates in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Rep could have floated in by means of the strong current! He could be at the heart of the mountain right now!” Nold said seriously. He pointed with his wounded arm.
Zalan blinked in shock, taking in the information. He looked back at the pirates. All of them nodded in both corroboration and fear. Zalan couldn’t tell if they were genuine or just wanted to appease him. Likely the latter.
“My crew may have drifted there as well!” Captain Buttonwillow said optimistically.
“Sounds to me like we should be headed to the mountain in the center of the island,” Nold said.
Everyone nodded in agreement, including the pirates who wanted to have their captors leave as soon as possible. Nold brought his attention back to the pirates and cracked his knuckles. They reared back and shrunk away from him.
“What should we do with them?” Nold asked, clearly enjoying the faces they gave him.
“Let them go?” Zalan shrugged.
The pirates all clamored to agree, sitting up straighter and addressing Zalan with decorum.
“Oh yes!”
“Let them go! Absolutely, let them go!”
“They are worthless to you, might as well let them loose!”
“I trust none of you,” Nold said openly. “You will strike us the moment we turn our backs.”
“No! Of course not!” the spokespirate insisted.
“Quiet,” Nold said, flexing his hands in thought.
“They gave up immediately. I think they’re way too under Leveled to take us,” Zalan said.
Nold pursed his lips as he looked over the pirates. His eyes narrowed over them. They avoided eye contact with him.
“Prove you pose no threat,” Nold kicked a bit of sand toward them.
Without hesitation, the pirates all produced their stats and raised their forearms to be checked by Nold. Zalan saw that none were higher than Level 5. But more surprisingly, none of them had an Elemental Power. Zalan never considered that he would find adventurers without the ability to control any elements.
“No Elements? That is good for us and society,” Nold noted.
“How did you even cross the sea without Elemental Power?” Zalan asked.
“Is that really relevant right now?” Captain Buttonwillow said impatiently.
“Artifacts! We stocked up on many to come here and gather much more valuable goods! But we could not get past the spiked rocks at the mouth of the cave leading to the center of the island. We thought we could maneuver around them, but it is far too dangerous. Bodies could slip through very easily, but no vessels. Our ship barely made it to this side of the island. And it was fortunate that we beached before the storm came in, otherwise we may have lost our means to go home,” the spokesman explained.
Captain Buttonwillow lowered his head in grief and shame.
“Enough of this. They are weak enough that we may overpower them if needed. Are we going to the center of the island to find Rep or not?” Nold asked.
Zalan was glad to see Nold eager to go find Rep. Then it occurred to Zalan that Nold was probably much more interested to face someone powerful like Morloch. Either way, their interests aligned for the time being.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Zalan said.
One of the pirates raised his hand, his lips trembling. Nold furrowed his eyebrows. Zalan pointed to him like a schoolteacher.
“Yes?”
“The fastest route is on that side of the beach. There will be a clearer path from there,” the man pointed with a finger from his raised hand.
“You know it would be a grave mistake to lie to us,” Nold hissed.
The pirate nodded in agreement.
“And the rest of you, do not get any ideas as we leave the area. Or we may not be so merciful,” Nold warned.
The pirates all raised their hands as a show of innocence. Nold, Zalan, and Buttonwillow backed away from the pirates who kept their hands in the air so long as they could see Nold. They kept their eyes on the pirates until they went behind a set of rocks, blocking them from view. As soon as they broke eye contact, Zalan heard the pirates scampering away.
“So, just up this way to a path?” Zalan asked.
“You believed them? They just wanted us out of view,” Nold criticized him. “Let us head directly for the center. I know the way.”
“What about that?” Captain Buttonwillow asked.
Nold rolled his eyes and turned to look at the captain. He was looking out to the sea. Following his gaze, Nold and Zalan saw a body floating on the water just off the beach.