Twila looked more closely. The camp couldn’t have been home to more than ten to fifteen people, she thought. The air smelled like a fish market that hadn’t gotten a new airship full in a few days; fish heads rotted near the shoreline, and a few piles of guts and other refuse nearby hinted that the people who’d lived here had been there a while. She wrinkled her nose.

Auntie Charlie poked her head through a tent’s flap. “There’s nothing here. No clothes, no blankets, and nothing of value. There aren’t even any fishing supplies.” She shook her head and kicked at a bit of firewood.

“So who was it, then? A fishing crew wouldn’t have set up down here. They’d stay on their airship,” Rosie said. She stood in front of one of the tents, an appreciative look on her face as she stared at the red and black squid painted on it.

“Selkies. Gotta be. No one else would live this low. It’s too close to the Sable Tide,” Twila said.

“Selkies would have packed all this up, though,” Auntie Charlie said. “I’ve seen a few. Their camps aren’t a mess, and they don’t leave much behind. Besides, if it is selkies, you don’t want to bother them.”

“Oh,” Twila said. She shuffled a foot in the sand. “We found the cave. Follow us.”

“Wait,” Auntie Charlie said. She pointed at a tent. “These are mystshot holes. Whoever was living here, someone attacked them. Be careful.”

The crew retraced Rojir and Twila’s steps for the second time, weaving back through the mist and rocks. As they went, Twila glanced behind them. Had she seen someone slipping into the water, or was that just her imagination? She shook her head. If the selkies had been living here, whoever had attacked them had probably driven them off or worse.

The cave’s mouth opened wide, a pathway into darkness. Twila’s myst battery ticked. Had it ticked five times or six? “Someone else take the lantern for a bit. I need to recondense.”

Rojir took the lantern and started stalking his way into the cavern. Its floor had once been swept clean, but time and abandonment had left ball-bearing rocks and drifts of sand up against the pond of salt water.

“Stay close together,” Charlie said. “This place feels like a Sable Tide lair. Or something worse.”

“What’s worse than the Sable Tide?” Rosie asked. Her eyes flicked to the now-receding light behind her. She gripped her pistol tightly.

“Oh, krakens, squid monsters, and sirens. If we find a siren, running is our best bet.”

The cavern opened into a narrow but tall chamber ahead. The soaking-wet walkway weaved up to a massive stone block. Saltwater had pooled around its base, and it blocked all forward progress.

“How are we getting through this?” Twila asked as the crew spread around the room.

Rosie stuck her head into a crack in the wall, coming out coughing. “Not through there! Nothing but cobwebs and dust.”

Rojir sniffed the air. He started poking around the massive boulder’s base. “The air isn’t right for a cave. Shimmertower is full of caverns, and they all smell stale. It’s too sharp in here. It smells like the cannons.”

Twila took a whiff. Rojir was right! “It smells like myst. There’s gotta be a gizmo or a contraption somewhere! If we find it, we’ll get past the rock.”

As Rosie and Rojir started searching for the myst device, Auntie Charlie pulled Twila aside, back toward the entrance. She lowered her voice, muttering. “Twila, I know you think you’ll find the treasure here. Just be realistic. If your old skipper had the map and he’d searched for years, it might be more than just a few X marks to find something.”

“No, it’s here,” Twila whispered urgently. “I can feel it!”

Charlie sighed and took a knee. She reached out and ruffled Twila’s hair. The red-headed girl glowered and tried to push the woman’s hand off her head. Something in her chest flipped, though. Aside from Rosie, Auntie Charlie’s hugs were the only affection she’d had since Anton had taken her from her parents.

The woman stood up. “I hope you’re right. I remember when I was your age, and fools’ errands like this felt so big. Just don’t give up if there’s no treasure here.”

“Skipper, look at this!” Rojir yelled. The shout echoed in the cavern, bouncing off the walls and distorting as it went.

Rojir had found something, but it wasn’t a mechanism, gizmo, or even a contraption.

It was a ladder. Someone had tied rocks to it and sunk it in the briny, slimy pond. It sat in the water, but how deep was anyone’s guess. Why would whoever had come in here need a ladder? And why would they sink it?

“Rojir, Rosie, dive down and get the ladder. Rosie, we’re looking for some passageway up high. If you see something, say it quietly. Those echoes were loud!”

By the time the divers had pulled off their guns and weapons, stripped their coats and boots, and recovered the ladder, the searchers had found a possible passageway. The narrow crack three-quarters of the way up the wall seemed different than the cobwebby crevice Rosie had checked. It looked like someone had chiseled it wider.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“It’ll be narrow, Skipper. I’d have Rojir go first, then the rest of us one at a time.” Charlie said while Rojir wrestled the slimy, waterlogged ladder over to the wall and propped it up.

“Dry off and gear up. We’re climbing as soon as everyone’s ready,” Twila said. She stared at the chasm; was this the way to the treasure, or just a messy detour? Or could Auntie Charlie be right?

Rojir’s boots slipped on the wet rungs, and he gripped so tightly that his knuckles whitened. But eventually, he made it to the top. He unclipped the [Mystwork Lantern] and peered into the darkness. “It’s not as narrow as it looked. And it stinks! I’ve never smelled anything like it, even all the rotting fish!”

Twila clambered up the ladder. Once, Charlie had to prop her up when she slipped, but she made it. Dusting herself off, she took a sniff as well. “Smells like gull poop or the Ternport shipyards.”

Rojir strolled into the chasm, reporting as he went. “Floor’s white, not gray. I don’t think it started out white, so something made it that way. Alright, there’s a drop-off around the corner. Looks like we’re on the far side of the boulder now.”

Before Auntie Charlie could stop him, he’d dropped down.

“Stay close! We need the ladder. I’ll go get it. Rosie, come with me,” she said with a look at Rojir, shaking her head.

“Hey, there’s a skeleton down here! Half of one, anyways!”

Twila turned backward at the ledge, grabbed it, and lowered herself until her arms stretched out. She didn’t want to wait for the ladder. Killing someone was horrible, but seeing a skeleton? That just sounded exciting! She dropped down onto the cavern’s now-dry floor. It crunched under her feet, and the musty scent redoubled.

A brass mechanism lay next to the massive stone. Giant gears had been fixed to the wall, with a tiny valve at the bottom. “Skipper, this probably lifts the boulder if we can power it,” Rojir said.

She didn’t care. Instead, she stared at the skeleton.

The boulder had trapped the man’s–and Twila was sure it was a man by his ragged clothes–legs below it. The stone below his fingers was noticeably less white than that around it. He’d tried to claw his way free before he’d died. But what really caught her eye was his jewelry. Silver and gold chains below his skull, jeweled rings on each finger, and even a single earring near his head–there was no doubt in her mind. This man had been a pirate!

She squatted down next to the corpse, staring. She could practically feel her mouth water, and she licked her lips. “I told you there was treasure in here!” She shouted.

The shout echoed through the cave again.

As she reached for a gaudy ruby ring, Auntie Charlie’s sharp voice cut through her thoughts of riches. “Ship rats, skipper, weapons!”

Twila drew her pistols, whirling on one heel, as the first black-winged monster half-ran and half-flew out of the darkness at her. Rosie struggled with her gun, and Rojir’s sword clattered as the blades started slicing up and down against each other.

[Anton’s Paired Pistols] ticked. A pair of purple mystshots lit up the dark cave. The first of the Sable Tide flopped to the ground.

But Twila could hear more coming.

[Twila Tighe, Ship Rat Mystgineer, Equipment Level 1.33 (Myst 1/10, Hit Points 1/1)]

[Head - Empty]

[Eyes - Myst Lens (lvl. 1) Myst Sight (passive) See own status block and others’ classes]

[Chest - Ship Rat’s Harness (lvl. 0)]

[Waist - Apprentice Mystgineer’s Bandolier (lvl. 1) Deep Pockets (passive) - Equip an additional Gizmo]

[Legs - Canvas Overalls (lvl. 0)]

[Gizmo #1 - Multitool (lv. 2) - Tool Transform (active, 1 myst/switch) - Change between many common tools; Skill - Tinkering]

[Gizmo #2 - Anton’s Pocket Watch (lvl. 4)] Redo (active, 5 myst/5 seconds) - redo the last five seconds of time, with knowledge of what’s happening (1 minute to reset); Skill - Piloting]

[Gizmo #3 - [Pocket Condenser (lvl. 1) - Condense Myst (passive) - Condenses 1 myst/5 ticks; Skill - None]

[Gizmo (Belt) - Mystwork Lantern (lvl. 2): Mystlight (active, 25% failure chance, 1 myst/attempt) - start the light; Adjustable Light Aura (sustained, .5-2 myst/tick) - light a variable area; Skill - Perception]

[Myst Battery - Basic Myst Battery (lvl. 1) Small Storage (passive) - 10 myst maximum, requires condenser to refill]

[Weapon/Pair - Anton’s Paired Pistols (lvl. 2) Smoothbore Myst-Shot (active, 1 cartridge/shot) - fire a ray of heated myst; Rapid Shots (active, 2 myst/shot) - fire twice/tick; Skill - Marksman]

[Weapon #2 - Chain-Cutlass (lvl. 2) Rattleblade (active, 1 myst/tick) - spin the serrated blades on the cutlass’s edge; Skill - Intimidation]

[Weapon/Pair - Empty]

[Skill #1 - Tinkering 2]

[Skill #2 - Perception 2]

[Skill #3 - Piloting 4]

[Skill #4 - Marksman 2]

[Skill #5 - Intimidation 2]