Adrian snapped open his eyes at the sound of a slamming door.

Moonlight shone through the cracked panes of the round window on the wall beside him, casting its glow on the countless dust motes filling his attic bedroom. Fog blew out of his nose and mouth, so he bundled himself tighter in his burlap blanket, heaving deep, warm breaths into his hands. The off-pitch sounds of his mother’s drunken shanties echoed throughout the rickety shack he called home.

“...God’s laws I did forbid! And most wickedly I did, as I sailed~~!”

Soon, the song faded, and one more slamming door signaled the end of her night and the start of his.

Slowly lifting away the sackcloth from his body, Adrian lowered his feet to the ground and sat on the edge of his bed. He paused there for a moment to let the old wood settle and silence the creaks. Mum wasn’t likely to wake up in that state, but even a lowly swabbie like her could still use a portion of Captain Garza’s power to improve her senses. No pirate would last long without being sensitive to danger, and she’d caught him sneaking out many times from the sounds of creaking wood. He had the whip marks on his thighs to prove it.

Lifting himself up, Adrian casually walked over to where his jacket hung from a broom leaning against the wall. After years of practice, not a thud or squeak came from his footsteps. Muscle memory brought him from one firm part of the floor to the next without fail and careful distribution of his weight dealt with the rest.

Adrian slid his arms into the long gray jacket, bundling it tightly around himself to fight off the chill. The wool coat hung nearly down to his heels, and the arms had to be rolled back a few times, but it was warm and in remarkably good shape. He smiled at the memory of finding one of the very few jackets he’d ever seen in Heartspear Cove without a single hole in it, just sitting there, free to be taken. After relieving it from the back of some rich tourist sleeping behind a bar a couple months ago, he’d done his best to keep his first real treasure in pristine condition.

Wiping the shiny metal buttons with a smile, he slipped his feet into a well-worn pair of heavy leather boots and Adrian was finally ready to go out. With a few silent yet nimble steps, he arrived at the window and grabbed a jar of seed oil off a shelf nearby, pouring a few drops onto the hinges. Then, without another moment’s hesitation, he pulled the window open, letting a freezing blast of wind blow past his smiling face.

Adrian clambered out onto the roof below, making sure to close the window behind him. Going from the relatively warm room into the cold sea air caused him to shiver for a second, and he had to clench his jaw to stop his teeth chattering, but none of that would temper his enthusiasm tonight. Shaking out his limbs to warm up, Adrian looked over the town from his perch.

20 years ago, Archcaptain Garza took over this island to act as a home base for his fledgling crew of raiders, killing or recruiting the members of the remote fishing village who lived here prior. Since then, thanks to the Captain’s many successful raids, Heartspear Cove has grown into the most popular pirate den in the entire Razorsky Sea.

Garza’s Island didn’t have much flat land, so the town was entirely situated within the cove; a large, round harbor surrounded by towering cliffs on three sides. The original fishing huts that sat on the shore were built up to serve as a foundation for more buildings in the only place they could go—straight up. Over time, one building was hastily put together on top of another, crawling up the cliff side behind them until they finally got tall enough to start collapsing and a construction ban had to be put into place. Since then, any new structures were built on rafts just off shore. The clutter was starting to prevent larger ships from getting to the docks, but the last collapse was already a whole nine months ago, which was a win in Adrian’s book.

His own shack was teetering at the very southern edge of the cliffs, in the last column of buildings and about halfway up the wall. Most people considered the edges to be the worst spot, which is why his mother—only a deckhand in the crew, and not even for the Heartspear, Garza’s flagship—got the place. In fact, they were lucky it was so low on the wall. Lower buildings and the interior, where they were built with sturdier materials, went to higher tier members of the crew; sailors, engineers, and stewards. The few above them were all high enough on the hierarchy that they made their homes directly on the ships.

Adrian took in the sight of over a hundred precarious huts, taverns, brothels, shops and more lighting up the cliffs bright enough to drown out the Constellations above him. The sound of waves crashing periodically against the shore cut through the din of pirates chattering and drinking the night away. Holding his hand out to the sky, he tested the salty sea breeze blowing past, feeling the speed and direction.

‘Perfect night for a raid. The suckers won’t know what hit ‘em,’ Adrian thought, chuckling to himself.

Without another moment’s hesitation, Adrian leapt from the roof, directly away from the cliff side. For a moment, he hung there in the air calmly, a broad smile plastered on his face, then gravity took over, and he plummeted to the brine below.

“Woooohooooo!” Adrian screamed in exhilaration, confident the waves and wind would carry the sounds away and maintain his stealth.

Adrian oriented himself face down, his half-elven eyes clearly seeing every detail of the fall through the stinging mist. His speed built quickly and the cliffside flew past in a blur, but he made sure to keep his focus.

‘Come on, come ooon… Now!’

Adrian threw out his arms and grabbed onto a rope loosely hanging in his flight path. Gripping tightly, he easily kept hold as the rope swung him out further over the sea before hooking around back toward shore. Letting go at just the right moment, Adrian was flung directly onto a sandy portion of the beach, where he rolled to a stop.

He lay there for a few seconds, his chest heaving for oxygen while he laughed noiselessly, staring at the dark sky above.

‘I’ll never get tired of that.’

Adrian thought back on the slow process it had been to get to that point, and all the times he’d fallen into the freezing waters below. If he’d been human, either the long fall or the icy swim to shore would likely have killed him, but half-elves had much sturdier bodies. His first fall had been five years ago when he was only six years old and even then he’d only come away with some bruises on his chest.

Shaking his head, Adrian got up and started walking down the shore toward the heart of the town. Along the way he passed a few pirates, but they were all tourists and knew to mind their own business.

The population of Heartspear Cove at any time was about three crew members on shore leave to every pirate or lubber who were stopping by for one reason or another— usually alcohol. Crew members knew each other well enough that any problems between them were dealt with easily, but any tourist causing trouble would quickly learn not to if any crew member heard about it. As shitty as the place might be, it was their home in the end, and they want to keep it all fairly civil; by beating the shit out of strangers who did anything wrong.

And it actually worked pretty well. Sure, he got strange looks from the tourists sober enough to notice him, but none of the crew would mess with one of the others’ kids, so he was fairly confident in his safety. Adrian doubted there were many pirate dens where an eleven year old could walk around freely without trouble. Especially one with a nice jacket like his. At that thought, his lips curved up and he rubbed one of the metal buttons on his treasured jacket.

Not long later, he arrived at his destination without issue. Dorsey’s Bar; ‘The Place To Be!’ If you believed the painted sign hanging out front. It wasn’t a very big building, but being situated on the third row meant that it was pretty sturdy and tended to get a decent amount of traffic.

Adrian confidently strode through the swinging doors. The place was packed to the gills and almost as loud as the wind that roared past his ears earlier, so nobody paid him any mind. He easily sneaked through the small spaces between the patrons until he arrived at the bar and climbed up into an empty stool.

He sat there quietly, trying not to draw attention to himself while he watched the pirates around the room. There was a large group in the far corner having some sort of drinking contest, but to Adrian’s eye there didn’t seem to be any coherent rules, and every single one of them was definitely losing. The pair on his left at the bar were either a couple or would soon become one for the night based on how much they were clinging to each other. On his right sat a grizzled old sailor with a long salt and pepper beard and a shaved head that was resting on the counter while he snored.

“Oi, Adrian! ‘Izzat you?”

A deep call from further down the bar counter drew Adrian’s attention. There, Dorsey was plodding his hefty body over, sporting the same gruff look he always had. His head was bald, covered in wrinkles and sunspots, and he had a long, thick mustache that hung down to his knees. Most notably, he was almost as short as he was wide, a defining characteristic of a half-dwarf.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Dorsey! Good to see ya as always, old man.” Adrian flashed him a grin, receiving a huff and a shake of the man’s graying red mustache in return.

“I toldja I ain’t that old, ye lil’ shit. Now, come on back, we’ll talk alone.”

Adrian did as he was told, climbing up over the bar to follow and waving to Dorsey’s human wife Despa, who took over the bar in her husband’s stead. He was led through a curtain hanging on the back wall, down a hallway, past a few doors and into a small room at the end. Inside was a pair of plush chairs, a fireplace, and a few shelves along the walls holding books, rolled pieces of parchment, and various knickknacks the half-dwarf had picked up during his time as a raider.

Adrian practically jumped into one of the comfortable seats, sighing with relief when he sank into the cushion.

“Remind me to spend more time here, old man. It’s not good to keep nice things to yourself.”

Dorsey walked over, harrumphing into the other chair and sighing contentedly.

“Don’t ye go gettin’ too comfortable now, lad. Yer’ goin on a raid, ye gotta keep yer’ act sharp,” the aging dwarf grilled him. “Ye are here to go on that raid, I assume. What was it that ye found again, a sapphire?”

Adrian thought back to yesterday—well, two days ago by now given that it was well past midnight—and the conversation he’d lucked into overhearing. He’d been hanging out on the cliffs beneath his hut watching the Constellations when a small group of tourists wandered over to the secluded area of shore below him. It didn’t take long for a campfire to flare up and bottles to be passed around for the crew’s little celebration. Thinking nobody could possibly overhear them, they didn’t even try to hide any details of their latest job or their incoming payday.

The group was apparently a five-man crew of hunters. Pirates that actively go out and kill for bounties—or just to take whatever the ship had on board without fuss—unlike raiders who try not to kill anyone that doesn’t fight back. Garza’s raiders especially were careful about not going too far and being considered hunters. Garza was happy with the town he’d cobbled together and didn’t want to bring unnecessary attention from the Navy, so if any of the crew turned hunter, they’d be exiled from Heartspear Cove. That meant losing not only their position in the crew, but their connection to the Constellations as well. Tourist hunters weren’t exactly banned from the island, but Garza had a lot of restrictions in place for hunter crews compared to other pirate dens, so they didn’t tend to stay here long.

“That’s what the guy said when he was braggin’ about their big score. A gem brighter than any sapphire and bigger than his fist. They’ve already got a buyer set up, so even if it’s not totally true, it’ll still be worth taking. Now, you’ve got the name of their ship, right? There can’t be many hunters around the Cove while the Captain’s docked.”

Dorsey nodded his head, which sent his long mustache fluttering in the breeze. The sight nearly made Adrian burst out laughing, but he didn’t want to annoy the old half-dwarf when he was here for information so he held back.

“Aye, yer’ right about that. Far as I can tell, we got three hunter crews in town, an’ only one of ‘em less than 20 men. Ship yer’ lookin’ after’s the Maiden’s Fangs; she’s docked out past the Sunken Scow.”

“Oh, is Admiral Walker back from his raid already? He docked at that spot out by the poke stones again?”

“The very same. Word goin’ round says they got themselves the biggest prize in crew history and came home early. Walker and his first mate are over on the Heartspear right now showing it to the Archcaptain.” Dorsey nodded before narrowing his eyes at Adrian.

“Oi, lad… Ye best be careful out there, aye? No crew member’s gonna be dallying around that far out in the middle of the night to help ye. And hunters—even a small crew like ye are after—aren’t makin’ prisoners of folks that are stealin’ what may well be their biggest score ever, no matter if yer’ a son o’ the crew or not,” he finished gravely.

Adrian considered his words and decided to lighten the mood. “Oh, it’ll be fine, old man. Even if they spot me, if I can’t even get away from a crew of drunks like them, I’d be the least sea worthy half-elf on the Oversea. Really, the only problem I’ve got is how I’ll properly display my new treasure.” Adrian gave the half-dwarf a grin and stood up out of his seat. “I’ll stop by tomorrow so we can appreciate it together. Thanks for the help, Dorsey.”

Dorsey shook his head with a smile and rose to his feet, patting Adrian on the shoulder. “Just don’t get yer’self killed, Adrian. I’d wish ye luck, but knowin’ me own, I’d likely send ye to the bottom of the sea. Instead, I’ll send ye off with Coraline’s blessing.”

Adrian looked at the half-dwarf strangely. “Really? You believe in a superstition like that, old man? I thought Coraline’s blessing was just something bad pirates use as an excuse when they come back with empty treasure chests.”

“It may be a common saying, but ye’d best believe it’s no simple superstition, lad,” Dorsey said pointedly. “Long-forgotten tale or not, it’s a fact that the hapless little sea witch is up in the stars as a Constellation now. Every man or woman that sails the endless Oversea knows; the Abyssal Princess Coraline is the harbinger of misfortune. The only end for a sailor that receives her true blessing is a swift collapse into misery. That’s why ye always send yer’ mates off with it, to trick her into thinking there’s no reason to bless ‘em.”

For what Adrian considered to be such a silly thing, Dorsey looked abnormally serious in his explanation of the common phrase. With the man’s humorless eyes staring him down, all Adrian could do in response was to weakly nod his head. “Right… so, thank you?”

Dorsey seemed to study him for a second and his lips curled into a gentle smile.

“Off with ye then, lad.” A heavy hand hit Adrian’s back, pushing him toward the door.

…

After leaving Dorsey’s, Adrian made his way over towards his quarry. The Maiden’s Fangs was docked far out into the harbor at the very edge of what could be considered Heartspear Cove, near the poke stones—a section of coral reef hidden just under the foamy surface of the water that has filled more than a few visiting ships with brine.

He left the heart of town easy enough, and only a few short minutes later, he arrived at the docks. From there, he had to be a bit more careful to not alert anyone. Captains had a knack for knowing what goes on in the waters near their ship, so taking a rowboat into the harbor was out of the question. Fortunately, thanks to his mum’s strict curfew, sneaking around was Adrian’s specialty.

Adrian slowly made his way over the cluttered barges, rafts, and ships, silent as a shadow. The lights from town filled the shore, but out on the water the crews had already shuttered their lanterns for bed which left him a clear path so long as he kept quiet.

Using his well-trained skill to pad over the shadowy decks without a sound was slow going. Every creak, splash, or errant bird call made him freeze and sent a shiver up his spine while he kept an eye out for any pirate out for a midnight piss that could catch him. A few of the larger crews kept permanent guards on deck even at shore so detours had to be made, slowing his advance further. Still, Adrian persisted, and over an hour later he finally spotted the familiar flag of the Sunken Scow, the image of a rotting boat sewn onto blue fabric. And there, docked just beside it at the edge of the poke stones, was a small, single-masted cog with her name painted in sloppy red letters on the hull.

Adrian watched as the first rays of sunlight started to shine up over the horizon, revealing the Maiden’s Fangs in all its glory. It… was much less impressive than Admiral Walker’s relatively titanic brigantine beside it. Aside from just being smaller, the wood was older, warped in places, and covered in scars, patches, and rot. The sail was rolled up but clearly had holes throughout that were poorly stitched together, and the edges were starting to fray. The poor girl was at least well armed for her size, with two cannons mounted on either side of the deck, but it didn’t do much to help the destitute picture.

Adrian hadn’t been expecting much from the small crew of hunters who were stupid enough to loudly brag about a priceless treasure on the shore of a pirate den, but this was just pathetic. If the Archcaptain knew she was docked in the cove, he might just sink her directly for fouling his island’s image, hunters or not. Actually, the Heartspear would probably turn the entire thing to splinters with a single cannon shot.

Stepping foot on the decrepit boat, Adrian wasn’t any more impressed. The deck was covered in stains of all shapes, sizes, colors, and smells and had likely never been swabbed. Dozens of empty or half empty bottles, cannon balls, and other pieces of assorted trash rolled around listlessly as the waves rocked the boat. There was a bag nearly as tall as Adrian himself, full of fruit and sitting against the mast with a hole torn in the side where birds and rats were currently feasting side by side.

It was obvious to Adrian now why the men had been so excited at finding a single gemstone. To established Captains like Garza or Walker, even a large stone like the one they described would be worth nothing more than a heavy weight in their pockets. To this crew, though, they would be able to pay for repairs, cleaning, and massive upgrades all around the ship. And assuming they had a real Captain among the five of them, any basic improvement would be a massive gain towards impressing their Constellations; something far more precious than the stone itself. That is, if they didn’t just buy more alcohol…

Adrian made his way over to a door leading below deck and carefully rested his ear to the wood. Confirming his suspicion and hope that the crew was still out somewhere celebrating, he gently pushed the door open and went down the stairs to the crew's quarters.

The compartment was small as expected. Too short for the men to stand comfortably, though it made no difference for Adrian. Four hammocks hung lazily on either side of the small compartment and more garbage littered the floor, but Adrian ignored it all, heading straight for his final destination—the door leading to the Captain’s quarters against the back wall.

One check to confirm the Captain was out as well and he was inside. Immediately, Adrian’s eyes were drawn to the only thing of note in the room—a small, dark wood chest with silver trimmings and a gleaming golden latch resting on a table next to the small bed. Astonishingly, the thing wasn’t even locked and the lid was slightly cracked open already.

‘Heh, maybe you were right about that superstition after all, old man. The Abyssal Princess isn’t bringing her bad luck anywhere near me today,’ he couldn’t hold back a smile at the thought of his new treasure. He'd need to get a glass box made to display it.

Knowing time was of the essence, Adrian tempered his excitement and didn’t hesitate to open the chest immediately. The lid raised without a sound and revealed the coffer’s contents. A small, roundish gemstone bigger than both of Adrian’s fists put together. Morning light coming through the windows caused it to glitter with blue and white light, casting a beautiful display around the cabin.

Unfortunately, before he could get a better look, Adrian’s attention was drawn to a bright flash of light outside, followed by a barrage of sounds. Pounding footsteps and unintelligible shouts of angry pirates woken up too soon.

Adrian’s heart was racing in his chest. Did he set off a silent alarm in here? Had someone spotted him earlier and just now sprung the trap to catch him in the act? Thoughts came and went through his mind while Adrian started to panic. The sounds of stomping footsteps and shouting continued to grow louder until it felt like every pirate in Heartspear Cove was screaming in his head.

Out of options or plans, Adrian snatched the gem, quickly stashed it in the interior pocket of his coat, and stepped over to the windows facing out toward open sea. What he saw made Adrian’s blood freeze in his veins.

Outside, where less than two minutes ago there had been nothing but water and the night sky, was a fleet stretching from the entrance of the harbor to the end of the horizon. Dozens of imposing, three-masted galleons, hundreds of smaller carracks, frigates, galleys, sloops, and so many other different ships that Adrian couldn’t even begin to name them. As massive as the fleet was, every single ship still looked to be in perfect condition with matching blue and gray color schemes, pristine white sails, and shining silver cannons peeking over their gunwales or through hatches in the lower decks.

Leading the group was the single largest ship Adrian had ever seen, nearly twice the size of Garza’s Heartspear. She boasted 5 towering masts, the same amount of gun decks, and a massive golden cannon sticking out of her bow, aimed directly at Heartspear Cove. Just above the gun was a figurehead depicting the front half of a golden dragon stretching its wings for flight and opening its maw to roar into the sky. Her crowning jewel, however, was her hull, completely clad in painted steel like an impenetrable titan on the water. Even with help from the Constellations, it was hard to imagine how the behemoth stayed afloat with all the added weight.

While Adrian stood at the window, staring in shock, the frenzied screams coming from outside started to ring through more clearly.

“The Navy is coming! It’s the blasted Golden Armada!”