In a place and time far away, mountains disappeared into the sky. And above that, clouds all around. A slow humming reverberated through the air. A flying object could be spotted in the distance. Three recognizable, major structures made up the flying object. Two of them seemed to be azure balloons and they were on each side. The middle structure looked wooden, battered and aged. There was a white sail at the center. The flying object seemed to be held together by sheer will as the wood could be seen falling apart as it flew. It was a ship. As the flying ship passed through clouds and mountains, a figure could be spotted in the middle structure.
The figure looked to be a man in his thirties with brown hair of medium length. His beard was scraggly and lacked care. His eyes, green. He was a taller man with a medium build. And he had a grin on his face.
“This will be the last time we have to do this. And then after that...,” he stopped, looked around, and started laughing loudly. “Drinks! Women! Retirement! I’ll have done it all, haahha.” He moved the ship’s wheel to veer left towards a mountain peak. In the distance, the only things that could be seen were other mountain peaks, clouds, and the sky.
The man was wearing a black cloak and thin brown leather covered his body. There was a red scarf around his neck. It was moving. Dark eyes appeared on the scarf and something resembling a mouth started to open. And it talked.
“Yes, boss! Five years of this. Finally, boss. Just making sure I get to eat, right boss?”
The scarf had expanded by now and was almost seemingly levitating around the man. It’s eyes and mouth were at the same height as the man’s. It was moving around the only inhabitant of this ship. The ruggedly handsome man responded.
“Of course! You know I wouldn’t steer you wrong. Now we have to get ready before they arrive.” As he said that, the scarf returned to its boss’s neck and shoulder. Any semblance of its liveliness disappeared and it became just another item on the man. As though it didn’t just have a conversation with him.
Roy was a smuggler, or at least he was currently known as a smuggler. He had been trading in illegal goods and forbidden items to various buyers across the region. As long as someone had a need, he could procure it and sell it for a hefty sum. That was what he was doing at this mountain peak. Waiting for his buyer.
“Alright final check, Jugou. The item?” He received a response from the scarf - Jugou - in such a way that was imperceptible to anyone but Roy. “Electro Staff?” Another response. “Daggers?” As he went through his items, he’d get a response indicating everything was ready.
“Can you believe it, Jugou? We pull this off, and I’ll finally have the money to rent a tavern. In Rallo! I won’t have to ever do anything dangerous again. Our last job!” Roy said with a hopeful look in his eyes. He sighed and pulled out an old, rusty pocket watch. The gears and the metal were fading and the colors weren’t as bright. Yet it still worked.
“It’s time.” He said and a response came from his scarf. Roy started to sit and he waited. Waited for his future to come. He didn’t have to wait much longer as a sound came from a distance. He couldn't quite see all of it yet as the clouds obscured some of his view. The sound was vaguely similar to his ship but much steadier than his. The humming was deeper and before long, an incredible airship appeared in his vision. This airship didn’t have small balloons on its sides. Or any balloons for that matter. What it did have was a huge green sail with a sign depicting a drop of blood coming from a gold coin. It looked like a ship from the sea just flew into the air and it didn’t seem out of place. This was a ship from a merchant company, The Crimson Gold Merchants.
Roy could make out several figures on the ship as it approached. But his eyes were only focused on the merchant, Jesef. The figure on the massive ship was rotund and his moustache poked out of his face on each side. He carried a sword on his waist, a familiar sight for Roy. He knew the sword was two-gemmed and worth a lot of money. Roy doubted if Jesef could actually use it well in a fight but he knew better than to engage in conflict with a merchant company. At least by himself. What he didn’t recognize was the glove on Jesef’s hand. The lines on the glove led to three gems of clear quality. This was a treasure. Roy started to have some concerns about his plan. Finally the airship stopped near the mountain and stayed afloat, hovering, beside the mountain peak. Only such a small airship could land on the peak. Roy walked and hopped onto the bigger ship.
“Jesef! It’s good to see you.” The ruggedly handsome smuggler said as he greeted the merchant. His scarf also gave him some kind of response.
“Roy! Always a pleasure to engage in business with my best procurer. And my good friend!” Jesef shook Roy’s hand with a big smile on his face. “It’s been a few months since our last transaction, I was beginning to worry.”
“Oh, you know I never fail. And this was a pretty dangerous endeavor. The thief I was working with almost backed out. You know, he actually demanded more coins.” Roy let that last sentence hang. Negotiations had begun.
The rotund merchant twirled his mustache with his hand and started guffawing. “Of course, of course! You’re in luck today, friend! I recently ran into some treasures of my own. It’s a good day, blessings for this whole week actually.”
The merchant rambled on. Roy had been used to this. Jesef was a loud, talkative man. And when he started, it was difficult to stop. Jugou sent him another message and Roy tried to hold in his laughter and pay attention to the man in front of him. However, he started noticing the men on the ship. There were far fewer than normal. He found this odd but he realized the merchant was getting to the point.
“And I’ll be seeing my family again after so long on the road. Haa. Alright, I am more than happy to give you a little more than we discussed. Now do you have the item with you?” The merchant asked with a gleam in his eye.
“Yes, I just need to get back to my ship-” But before he could finish that sentence, another airship pulled up in the distance. A pirate’s mark. This ship made no noise. If not for the clouds just moving away from it, they might have missed it. The pirate ship had a giant white balloon the same length as the ship on top. The skull and chain marked the balloon indicating this was the dreaded crew of Pirate Runko. Runko’s airship seemed to be in almost the same shape as Roy’s but at least the wood wasn’t chipping away. A volley of arrows rained onto the merchant ship.
“Piirrraates!” screamed one of the members on the merchant ship. And then every member of the ship moved. They were blindsided but they were trained fighters and were able to react quickly. The arrows hit an invisible barrier before it could connect with its intended targets. And they bounced off, descending into the mountain’s abyss.
Jesef started shouting orders and pulled the smuggler closer to him. “Be careful, the barrier has activated so it will be some time before anyone can leave. Stay close, I'll try to keep you safe.” He said with a grim look on his face. “WHERE’S ALYN!?” He shouted to the crew.
Roy nodded. As more people got into what Roy thought were defensive positions. Someone came out onto the ship’s deck. He recognized him as Alyn by the purple whip in hands. Alyn was a tall man with big muscles. His neck alone was twice the size of Roy’s arms. This was Jesef’s guard leader and his job was to protect his supplies and then the merchant. In that order. Alyn took over ordering the men and they seemed more relaxed as if they were not getting besieged by pirates. He was a powerful warrior and well-respected, it seemed.
Arrows continued to strike the barrier but to no avail. They just kept bouncing off and down. The barrier held. The merchant airship seemed impenetrable as the pirate ship became much closer. Then everyone on the ship could hear a sharp sound and then almost like thunder but softer. And the barrier flashed. A ball of light seemed to hit the barrier and then another followed. Roy knew what that was. And it looked like so did Jesef.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Arc Rifles!” Jesef said in disbelief. “How did they get Arc Rifles..” He kept muttering. Alyn eventually had all the men prepared for the pirate onslaught. And ready for combat. Roy counted those men, 26, much less than the 50 men the caravan typically travelled with. Though for an airship, the men were more versatile than other guardsmen on merchant airships, they were both trained warriors and trained shipmen. That also made them more expensive. But for a merchant ship from the Crimson Gold, this was the norm. Roy dreamed he could be this rich but settled for being a tavern owner.
“Bloody pirates! I knew this week was going too well.” Jesef pulled out a locket and looked at the portrait of his wife and daughters. “Ha, no sons to inherit my company but three strong daughters.” He sighed, and pulled out his sword ready to fight the pirates. He looked at the smuggler close to him. “Roy. Do you have kids?”
“No.” Said Roy.
“They make life worth living, Roy. I hope I can make it home to see them.” Jesef said with a smile, putting his locket away. The pirate ship was on them and they could see ladders and planks being carried.
A few moments later, the barrier broke as another two balls of light hit the barrier. Immediately, the people on the merchant ship started firing arrows and throwing weapons at the pirates. The pirates also started firing and attempting to board the airship. And there were a lot of pirates on the ship. Roy could make out close to 40 pirates on the ship but he knew there had to be more. In front of them stood two men with dastardly looks. One of the men had a bandana and a scimitar in his hand. The other was the Pirate Runko himself. Runko had a physique that could only be described as battle worn as scars covered him. He was a shorter man though, but his demeanor with his axe made him seem formidable. He carried three throwing axes and his personal axe, he used them to reign terror among travelers. And his crew had decided this merchant ship was going to be theirs.
“Surrender and you all might live.” Pirate Runko said as his crew started boarding the merchant ship. Alyn snorted and spat indicating his displeasure. Then, he started pulling his arms back and unleashing his whip onto the pirates boarding his ship. The true battle had begun.
Roy just kept his head down and stayed close to Jesef. He saw everything that was happening though. He could see the merchant’s ship’s guards defending with their lives. They would have an easy time against any one of the pirates but the pirates had numbers. And a thirst for blood. The pirates kept coming after the ship’s inhabitants, unrelenting. However, before they would get overwhelmed, Alyn would intercede and his purple whip would slash at a pirate with its sharp thorns. An enchanted weapon. And the tide remained in balance. The pirates would kill a guard and the guards would kill a pirate. Alyn would kill two or three at a time. Finally, before he could continue wreaking havoc on the pirates, Runko made his move and threw an axe at the man. The axe whirred through the air closing on its target. Alyn was always watching for any movement from the pirate’s captain so he was prepared. He dodged to the side and continued trying to dwindle the pirates' numbers before facing off against its leader. A true professional.
While Alyn was busy with culling the pirates and keeping the leader’s attention. Jesef and Roy were noticed by the pirate captain’s number two - Janpi. Janpi was a strange man. His scimitar matched his skinny frame and emaciated face. He looked like what a pirate should look like. Though his skills with the scimitar were greater than any normal pirate. With one slash he would take a life and with another, a body part. Janpi was approaching the two men.
At the same time, Jesef and Roy were engaged in fighting with other pirates. Some of the pirates noticed Jesef’s fine treasures he had on and thought they would help themselves to them. Three men surrounded the two. Roy pulled out his staff ready for battle. While Jesef’s gloved hand glowed and three ice spears started appearing next to him and he fired them at the three men. One of them was able to dodge but the other two were not so lucky. A pirate had his shoulder pierced and another took the ice spear to the head. Two left and they noticed Janpi approaching, his eyes full of greed.
“Ha, you guys dare attack the Crimson Gold Merchants. Roy, keep yourself safe!” Jesef then charged the pirate with the ice spear in his shoulder. Roy twirled his staff and struck at the other pirate at a speed much faster than the pirate was ready for. He felt the staff hit his stomach and he fell to the ground. The staff then came right for his head and he was out. This happened so quickly, Janpi was shocked. He stilled and saw the merchant’s sword pass through another pirate’s sword and across his neck. It was now two against one.
“Roy, I didn’t know you were such a warrior.” Jesef said, happily. Roy didn’t think Jesef could fight either. Jesef’s mirth was interrupted as his glove glowed and a translucent shield formed in front of him and blocked the scimitar. Janpi had leaped at the merchant and slashed with his weapon. He didn’t think something would block his way but he was prepared and threw a dagger from his other hand at him. Jesef tried to block the dagger with his sword but was too slow. Fortunately, the dagger pierced his clothes as Jesef fell, narrowly dodging. Roy had swept his legs with his staff and saved his life. Janpi sneered. He lept back and into the other battles, deciding these two were going to be more trouble than he wanted right now. The other pirates were still engaged with the merchant’s guards and it seemed like the strength of the guards was stronger. Besides the initial clash where the pirates had been able to trade life for life, the guards were holding up and trading a life for two lives.
Another flash and a guard had a hole through his body. A second flash followed with the soft sound of thunder and another guard lost an arm. Alyn was enraged as he ran toward the pirate ship attempting to kill the two shooters. However, Runko had kept him at bay. His axe would follow wherever he went as well as a few pirates. They never let Alyn out of their grasp. A large number of pirates and the two strongest warriors were interlocked in battle. They couldn’t pay attention to anything else around them.
Guards and pirates kept losing their life as the battle raged. Roy and Jesef joined the skirmish and tried to make their way to Alyn to provide assistance. Roy had knocked out another pirate and Jesef's sword would cut at any pirate in the way.
Janpi had beheaded another guard and soon there were only 4 guards, Alyn, Jesef, and Roy left. The pirates still had 15 members including Janpi, Runko, and the two riflemen on the pirate ship. Soon, the two shooters stopped firing and made their way across the boards. Then, another of the guards fell and Runko started laughing.
“The mighty Crimson Gold Merchants, just a fat pig to the slaughter. Us boys will -” Before he could finish that sentence, he noticed something in the corner of his eyes. Ice spears hurled towards him. He was able to evade them but that let Alyn free to launch an assault at the other pirates. His whip danced across the pirates’ bodies and sliced them open and, before long, four pirates lost their lives. However, he started breathing heavily. His wounds were bleeding out and it was uncertain as to how long he could go. Before he noticed, he had many cuts and bruises on his body. It hadn’t even been a long time since the attack, everything progressed extremely quickly. And lives fell fast. But to the remaining merchant group, it felt like it had been a lifetime.
Janpi came to assist the pirate group and soon he and Jesef were involved in battle. Roy was besieged by two pirates while the rest continued to attack Alyn. Janpi and Jesef kept exchanging blows, neither able to inflict critical damage against each other and the sound of steel met steel. Roy made short work of the two pirates and Alyn was still engaged against the remaining pirates, though he held his own. Runko’s crew were more apprehensive about approaching him and were waiting for him to tire out. Runko looked around and realized most of his pirates were dead or lying on the ground. He couldn’t believe it, that this man, Alyn, and this merchant ship had demolished his crew. An angry shout came and he saw Janpi getting his legs broken by a staff. And then a sword stabbed through his second’s throat. At the same time, the remaining guard joined Alyn and started attacking the remaining pirates surrounding him.
It was now Roy, Jesef, Alyn, and the guard facing off against Runko and eight of his pirates. Runko didn’t like those odds. But he knew he couldn’t run, not after losing so much. Fortune shined on him as Alyn staggered and one of the pirates saw an opportunity and stabbed him in his back. Alyn screamed. Jesef launched three more ice spears at three pirates and all of them died, too tired to dodge. A glow and a sound came from his glove. The blue gem in his glove had broken. Runko threw his axe at the guard battling another pirate and took his life. Then he beheaded Alyn. It was now two against four. There was a standoff. The two stared at the pirates and the pirates stared back. Noone had spoken, and no words had ever really been exchanged. The pirates wanted their treasure and their life. So many emotions ran through each of their faces. Hesitation, fear, anger, rage, despair.
Runko broke the silence as he threw himself at the merchant with his axe. The other pirates attempted to surround Roy. A message came from his scarf but Roy shook his head and retreated a step back. A pirate with a knife lunged at Roy from his side while another pirate tried to stab his heart. The remaining pirate tried to make sure he had nowhere to run. The ruggedly handsome smuggler didn’t run. No, he separated his staff into two and met the two attackers. With his left hand, he struck the lunger’s hand before it could reach and with his right, the pirate aiming for heart had his dagger blocked. And before they could react, the two separted parts of the staff hit them across the head each and they were knocked out. The remaining two looked in horror at the speed of which he’d taken them out.
On the other side, Runko had been trying to break the shield that popped up from the merchant’s hand. But without any success. Jesef just kept retreating out of his reach and his sword would glow everytime it struck his axe. Runko was baffled as to what his plan was but he soon realized his peril. His axe started to decay. He stopped attacking and threw his axe to the ground and pulled his last throwing axe.
“A sword with a decay gem. An Arc Glove with three gems. Yohoho, truly a fat pig.” Runko knew the losses were incredible but the gains would be immense. His covetous look did not go unrecognized by the obese merchant.
“This pig might be more than you can stomach, pirate.” Jesef was sweating, he was exhausted. If it were not for his recently acquired glove, he would not have been able to survive for so long. He didn’t care, treasure was a part of him and it was his strength. He didn’t have the body of a warrior or the training. No, he didn’t need to. That was what his money was for. He could hire a champion like Alyn to defend him and a group of loyal guardsmen. Loyal to his money but as long as he had coin, loyalty nonetheless. And he believed Roy was more than a business partner. He even thought they could be friends. As he looked over he saw that Roy had finished with the remaining pirates and now it was just Runko left. He breathed hard. And a gem lit up on his glove. His exhaustion was restored and his body quickly started healing.
Runko noticed his whole crew was gone and his eyes went red. Veins popped from his head and his rage became untethered. He rushed at the merchant and the merchant fell over but his shield blocked his strike and the shield shattered. However, as he went to finish off the merchant, he saw a black staff coming for his head. He ducked and simultaneously blocked the merchant’s sword strike from where he was down. And then he realized his mistake, the staff had been split into two and the other hlaf landed on his ribs with enough force to break them. He fell over in pain.
Jesef stood slowly and dusted himself off. A look of rage and mirth came over him. “You thought you could eat this pig, but now look at you. Groveling and staring up at me. I told you the Crimson Gold Merchants - ouff..” He turned and saw a dagger through his neck. “Why..” His eyes were wide and in shock as he looked at the man who had stabbed him.
Roy stood over the pirate captain and the merchant. He had a huge smile on his face. His head leaned back. And he started laughing.
“Hahaha! All according to plan.”