As Twila ran into Kerr’s treasure room, a dozen thoughts warred in her head.
First, her crew was probably safe. If Vayne had beaten the From Hell’s Hart crew, and his own crew had been beaten themselves. The ship rats aboard the From Hell’s Hart had revolted and taken over the pirate hunter, so she had the strongest crew in Iswixel. For a moment, she thought about retreating—leaving and coming back with everyone to finish Vayne off. But that wouldn’t work. He’d get the key to the treasure, and then he’d leave somehow. It’d be a disaster.
Second, at least she wasn’t alone to face him. She had Rosie at her back, even if the other girl was terrified. Twila didn’t feel much more comfortable herself, but her nerves warred with her determination. She’d seen this out all the way from Iswixel, and she’d have to finish it herself, but that was fine.
She could do what she had to.
That didn’t mean she’d like it. There’d be time to think about the pirate she’d killed or the one she’d left out in the cave to be…dealt with…by the Sable Tide. But she’d fight Vayne, and she’d kill him, to keep herself and Rosie safe.
Vayne squared up, sword in one hand and pocket watch in the other, and Twila’s heart dropped. Its hands moved—all four of them—but she couldn’t tell how long it’d take for him to skip time, and his skills with that power would be devastating. She had to win fast.
Like her first fight with the pirate, she charged and turned on her [Heatblade] with a tick of her [Condensing Battery]. This time, though, she stopped a foot short, dropping into a lunge that sizzled the air between her and the pirate skipper. He whipped his sword over, knocking her blade’s tip over his shoulder, and slashed. His blade cut her hair, leaving red-orange strands floating in the cave’s purple light as she ducked.
Their swords rang in the cave’s stillness, and as she retreated, step after painful step, Twila realized that Vayne still outmatched her—but that it was closer than it had been. He was stronger, his reach was longer, and he knew how to fight better, but she wasn’t desperately slashing and blocking. Her strokes felt more in control, and when he put his strength into a swing, she deflected it and sidestepped with the impact.
Her duels with Auntie Charlie aboard the Hourglass were paying off.
Then Vayne’s chest ticked.
Twila threw herself backwards as myst surged forward, then blazed up in a sudden bonfire. She got to one foot, her other knee bent, and blocked a slash awkwardly. As he followed it up with a stab that should have caught her, though, she heard a mystshot pistol tick.
Rosie started reloading her pistol as Vayne turned his head. “Ye be next, girl.” His [Myst Absorber] had taken the shot instead of his chest.
But the moment’s distraction bought Twila a precious three seconds, and she raised her free hand. As Vayne turned, her battery ticked, and she sprayed ice-cold myst onto Vayne’s off-hand. [Nola’s Embrace], the gizmo she’d created from Coatless’s coat, kept firing while Twila held the trigger down until Vayne’s sleeve was coated in clear-white ice.
He roared, spinning with his sword, and Twila stepped out of the slash’s arc. Then she ducked in and stabbed, her [Heatblade] slicing across the pirate’s frozen arm.
He screamed, and a small golden circle spun away as his hand opened and his sleeve steamed. Twila stared as it flickered in the dim purple light and rolled under a pile of logs. That had to be [Anton’s Pocket Watch]. If she could get it back, she’d win for sure.
Then he glared and flexed his frozen hand. “Ye’ll pay for that, Missie.”
“You make a lot of threats,” Rosie said. “Especially for someone who just lost a gizmo.”
“Ye think I did? Think again!” He let the chain slip through his fingers, and there, hanging from his grasp, was the watch. Its hands had stopped ticking, and he laughed. “Just a crown, rats.”
Twila had no time to think after that.
She parried one attack, then another, then rolled across the stone floor as the air above her burst into flame. Somewhere, she knew, Rosie was reloading. She hoped her first mate would reload faster.
She missed a parry, and a thin line of pain erupted across her arm.
As she staggered back, staring at the blood soaking her coat, Twila cursed herself. She’d blocked every attack so far—-Vayne’s movements made him predictable, even if his speed made him too fast to counterattack. How had she missed this one? Then she saw the watch hands moving backward again, and she understood.
She had a minute. Maybe less. She wouldn't get another chance if she couldn’t beat him or free her watch by then.
She rolled her [Loaded Dice]. Five, Six, Two, Two, Five. As the dice finished, she launched into a lunge much quicker, much more fluid than her previous ones, arm aching behind her and leaking frigid myst from a severed plug-in. The lunge slid under Vayne’s guard, stabbing into his shoulder, but when she pulled it free, instead of collapsing, the pirate roared in pain but staggered toward her.
Then he stopped and drew his [Mystshot Pistol].
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A pistol ticked. Purple light flashed across the room. The force of the shot spun the pirate captain around, and he fired wildly toward Rosie. The girl dropped her pistol and threw herself to the ground as the mystshot surged over her head.
And Twila took the opportunity.
She lunged forward, dropping her sword. This time, she grabbed wildly for [Anton’s Pocket Watch]. Her fingers wrapped around it, and the chain held for a second before breaking, sending brass links every which way.
She rolled away from the twisting pirate and looked at the hands. Thirty-five seconds until the silver second hand met the brass one. Thirty-five seconds until she could turn the tables on Vayne.
He recovered, but his pistol wasn’t loaded, and he was facing the wrong way. Toward Rosie. So Twila plugged [Anton’s Pocket Watch] into her myst system and drew one of [Anton’s Paired Pistols]. She leveled it, and she pulled the trigger.
The purple mystshot beam splashed across Vayne’s body as his [Myst Absorber] did its job, then overloaded. He rushed, and Twila did the first thing that popped into her head. She dropped her pistol, scooped up her sword, and ran.
After five steps, she turned, hoping Vayne had followed her. She gasped, spun to block his swing, and stumbled.
He had.
Vayne’s attacks drove her back toward the mystwall, even with her [Loaded Dice] running. As they ran out, her defense grew increasingly ragged, her hands stinging from a dozen parries and her ears ringing. She tried a counter-attack, but the pirate skipper blocked it effortlessly.
Rosie finished loading, pulled her trigger, and shot a purple mystshot across the battlefield. It surged into the wall behind Twila, leaving a stinking cloud behind.
Then, in the blink of an eye and an eternity all at once, the pocket watch stopped running backward. She had one chance.
Twila lunged, drawing Vayne’s guard and attention down toward his right hip. He blocked, and her sword tip slid off-target by a few inches. Before he could react, though, she rewound time, dropped the pocket watch, and drew her pistol.
Her lunge turned into a feint this time, but one Vayne followed. His parry caught nothing and, instead, swung wide.
Her pistol ticked. Purple smog vomited from it, punching into Vayne’s chest from just feet away.
Before the pirate could recover, Twila dropped into a lunge. The tip of her blade punched into Vayne’s stomach, and he stared at it. His mouth moved as if to say something, but nothing came out but a foul-smelling breath. Then, he fell backward, sword clattering on the treasure room’s stone floor.
Twila’s joined it a moment later. She’d won. Vayne was dead, the treasure was hers, and her crew was safe—as safe as they could be in the middle of Iswixel, but their [Puckle Gun] counted for a lot, and the villagers wouldn’t leave their houses during the Sable Tide. They'd be fine if Charlie and the street rats lit some lanterns.
“Twi! Twi!” Rosie ran up, her jacket already coming off. Twila looked at her first mate—no, her friend—and saw her brows furrowed and tears flowing. She looked down at her arm. The blood had soaked through her sliced-up coat sleeve, and she saw, for the first time, her muscles.
The pain hit her a moment later like a wave. It forced her down until she sat awkwardly next to her fallen enemy. Rosie gingerly pulled Twila’s coat off, sending more shockwaves of agony rippling across her arm and shoulder. As Rosie wrapped Twila’s arm in her own coat’s sleeves and murmured, Twila looked up at the mystwall and at the Sable Tide beyond it.
The whole purple-tinted wall slowly faded into black as she drifted off.
[Twila Tighe, Ship Rat Mystgineer, Equipment Level 1.33 (Myst 12/12, Hit Points 1/2)]
[Head - Empty]
[Eyes - Myst Lens (lvl. 1) Myst Sight (passive) See own status block and others’ classes]
[Chest - Platejack Coat (lvl. 2) Plated Coat (passive) +1 Hit Point]
[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 - Empty]
[Gizmo #3 - Nola’s Embrace (lvl 2) Unknown Effect]
[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 - Condensing Battery Mk. 2 (lvl. 1) Myst Storage (passive) - 12 myst maximum, requires condenser to refill; Condense Myst (passive) - Condenses 1 myst/6 ticks]
[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 - Empty]
[Skill #4 - Marksman 2]
[Skill #5 - Acrobatics 2]