Twila leveled the [Anton’s Paired Pistol] she’d carried in, looked down the barrel, and pulled the trigger. The pistol’s green runes glowed. A purple beam cut through acrid smoke and slammed into Vayne’s shoulder. His [Myst Battery] ticked quickly, dissipating the shot across his greatcoat.

He had a [Myst Absorber]!

“I’ll give you that one, rat,” Vayne said, swinging his saber into a guard position and squaring up. He strode toward Twila.

She stared at the man for a moment. She’d beaten Harris, and Vayne was smaller and older than the big man. Surely she could beat Vayne, too? She told herself she wouldn’t even feel bad if she had to kill him. For a moment, she almost believed it.

She shoved her pistol back into its place. Gripping her sword in both hands, she sprinted toward the pirate captain. She lifted her sword back behind her head, took another step, and swung it as hard as she could at his face.

It cut through the air. Vayne didn't even bother to block. He just sidestepped her charge.

Twila stumbled back, looking around the room for any advantage. Coins, golden plates, metal bars, and silver jewelry covered the cave’s stone floor. Myst lamps threw their pale purple across the piles. And in a wood-carved throne with golden embellishments, a skeleton sat. A gray coat had been tossed across its lap. Nothing she could use, though.

She gripped her sword, screaming, and launched herself at the pirate captain. Her every swing he either parried, dodged, or watched sail by. One got close to the hand holding the cup. He jerked it back out of the slash. “Do you have a name, girl?”

“Twila!” She grunted as his saber effortlessly caught her overhead chop, then spun when he flicked his blade to the side. “I’m Twila Tighe, and I’m Hourglass’s skipper!”

“Miss Tighe, you’re a trumped-up ship rat, and I’ll be taking your ship.” Vayne flicked his sword out. Twila swung against it with all her strength, deflecting it over her shoulder.

“Not if I kill you! I killed Harris!” Twila pumped myst into her sword. The blade glowed a deep red.

“Aye, you did, or the woman who’s with you did it.” He swung his sword lazily.

The blade’s edge zipped toward Twila, who barely pulled back from it. She gasped in a quick breath. How was he so fast? She backpedaled onto a pile of coins. He shouted a battle cry and stepped after her.

She stumbled backward over the treasure pile, away from his quick, snake-like slashes. Her feet slid on the crowns and wheels, and her eyes opened wide–the room could be helpful! She let go of her sword with one hand, reached down, and flung a handful of treasure toward Vayne’s face.

He raised an arm to block the flying coins. Twila chopped at his neck. He pulled back, dodging the swing–but only barely.

A chunk of beard floated to the cave floor.

Vayne backed up a step. He stroked the remains of his beard. “You’re a lucky rat, Miss Tighe, but your luck’s run out,” he spat, a cold edge in his voice. He shifted his feet, one in front of the other, and dropped his left hand behind his back. “As I said, here there be monsters!”

Suddenly, he moved, lunging forward with his whole body and flicking the sword across.

Twila screamed and knocked his attack off-center. His sword sliced through the air above her ear. Her hands buzzed with the impact. She looked toward the mystwall. Auntie Charlie stared at her from behind it, sword in hand.

Vayne pressed his attack, forcing her attention onto him. Twila's hands started slipping on her hilt as she blocked lunge after slash. Her stomach plunged. She couldn’t win this. Her eyes darted toward the mystwall again toward help.

But none came.

Twila cursed herself. How could she have been so stupid? With Carter here, she’d have had a chance. Or even Auntie Charlie. But alone? All she could do was stay alive!

She heard a ticking sound. A moment later, a burst of myst sprayed out of a gizmo on Vayne’s chest. The myst cloud slowly rolled across the room toward Twila, then quickly burst into flames. A wave of heat washed over her. She threw herself back over another pile of treasure, sliding down it until she hit the floor.

Vayne was after her before she could clamber back up. He activated the fireball gizmo again. Twila pressed herself against the cave wall as tongues of flame lapped at her face.

Her hair was singed, and her shirtsleeve burst into flames. As she coughed reeking myst from her lungs, Vayne laughed. “The treasure be here, but neither of us can take it! I’ll kill you and your crew and return for it later.”

He shouted and rushed toward Twila. She braced for another attack from his flame gizmo. As he lunged toward her again, she suddenly realized–she had gizmos too!

Redoing time wouldn’t help her here, she decided. But she could roll the dice, whatever that did. She pushed myst into the [Loaded Dice] on her belt. The dice rolled–1, 4, 3, 6, 5–and she lifted her sword to block another swing.

This time, his sword stopped dead.

She laughed hysterically as, for a moment, he stumbled back. “Can’t handle someone with gizmos, Vayne?”

A second later, his sword flicked out, and the dice’s strength wasn’t there to help her block. His blade sliced into her brow, and she pulled back, screaming. Her whole forehead was on fire! He’d sliced into her skull! He’d killed her! She jammed her hand against her eye–it was still there! A coppery scent filled her nostrils as she stared at her blood-covered hand in horror.

“That, Miss Tighe, is a stramazon. It didn’t even catch your eye. It’s a little one–it won’t kill you. But this one will!” Vayne swung his sword in a wide arc.

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Twila raised her sword, parried, and then dodged the next swing. Each blow left her hands numb for a moment, and as Twila looked at her opponent, she saw the brace of pistols across his chest. He hadn’t even drawn one yet.

She tried to riposte, but his blade was there. It caught her sword and kept it away from him. And from the chalice he still carried in his hand.

The chalice he’d picked up just as the mystwall closed!

He’d said no one could take the treasure, but he had it in his hand. What if Twila attacked the chalice instead of Vayne himself? If he dropped it, would that open the mystwall? It was a stupid plan–but so was rushing into the room without help.

When he swung again, she ducked under it. She rolled the [Loaded Dice] again–4, 1, 6, 1, 4–Then she lunged, this time at his off-hand.

Vayne’s sword flashed up and parried the swing, but barely. The swords’ ringing filled the air.

“What are you doing, Miss Tighe? The fight’s up here, not back there.”

Instead of a fast counter, his sword hovered before him, and his eyes flicked back toward the chalice. He also struggled to block the next two strikes before easily catching the slower fourth attack.

Suddenly, his sword flashed again, but he threw his weight behind it this time. Twila barely got her sword up to block., To her shock, instead of swinging, he kept pushing against it. His bull rush forced her back.

Even when she rolled again–4, 5, 3, 4, 2–he overpowered her. His weight smashed her into a golden statue. Her spine popped, shooting a spike of agony across her back.

Vayne stepped out of its path as it tottered and tipped, and Twila rolled to the far side. She watched it fall in slow motion, like the second hand on [Anton’s Pocket Watch].

When she’d played with time on the Hourglass, she’d asked Rosie to hit Becca. Then she’d rewound time and stopped it from happening. Maybe she could do the same here–know how the fight was supposed to go and then change it.

She let go of her sword, cranked [Anton’s Pocket Watch] until the ratchet stopped, and suddenly, she was bull-rushed back into the statue.

She ducked instead of pushing back, letting him trip over her. His foot came down on her rib. Air whooshed from her lungs. Black spots covered her vision. And then he fell past her.

She slashed up as he stumbled down the treasure pile. Her sword slapped into the cup, and it flew free! A painful cough started her breathing again. She clenched a fist in victory and started to stand up.

A foot slammed down on her head. It pushed her cut into the pile of coins below her. Fire ripped across her scalp again, and more wet, sticky blood covered her face. Another kicked her in the ribs, driving what breath she’d managed to get back out. She limply rolled down to the cave floor and watched Charlie rush into the room. Twila’s shoulders relaxed, and she coughed. Help was here…even if Charlie betrayed her later…that’d be…

Then the mystwall popped up again.

Twila blinked. When her eyes opened, Charlie was driving Vayne back toward the throne. The man whirled a gold necklace in his offhand as he spat at her.

“I recognize your style, woman! You flew with that madman?” He lashed out, his sword humming through the air.

But Charlie’s sword was there. “I did. For a month or two before he cut me and a few others loose at Broken Rock.”

“That old bastard had a soft spot for rats. You’d have been cut loose before we mutinied, eh? A shame you didn’t take part. We’d be on the same side.” He parried. A ticking sound filled the air, and a moment later, the space between him and Charlie filled with fire. Twila struggled to find her feet and looked for her sword. She had to help Charlie…somehow.

Vayne dashed into the corridor.

As Charlie rushed toward her, Twila watched Vayne disappear into the corridor. She blinked again. Then Charlie was running toward her, pulling off her greatcoat.

Twila flinched away. Was this it? The moment Charlie betrayed her and took the treasure? She couldn’t stop the woman if she tried–her myst was low, and Auntie Charlie had held her own against Vayne.

And then Charlie was leading her to the throne. She pulled the skeleton–and Coatless’s coat–off the seat. It crashed to the ground. Bones clattered across the floor, and the selkie’s coat flopped to the ground.

She blinked again. When she opened her eyes, she was sitting down on the throne. Auntie Charlie was hunched over her, face taut. Twila stared back blankly, wincing as the woman tenderly dabbed at the blood covering her face with a rough, stiff coat sleeve.

[Twila Tighe, Ship Rat Mystgineer, Equipment Level 1.33 (Myst 1/15, 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 - Loaded Dice (lv. 2) - Roll the Bones (active, 1 myst/roll) - gain a random myst enhancement; Skill - Trickery]

[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 - Myst Battery Mk. 2 (lvl. 1) Myst Storage (passive) - 15 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 - Heatblade (lvl. 2) Heat (active, 1 myst/tick) - cause the blade’s edge to superheat; Skill - Acrobatics]

[Weapon/Pair - Empty]

[Skill #1 - Trickery 2]

[Skill #2 - Perception 2]

[Skill #3 - Piloting 4]

[Skill #4 - Marksman 2]

[Skill #5 - Acrobatics 2]