People were going back into the ship, laughing, swearing, and joking. Joseph, Alchfrid, and Xander were the only ones left standing on the Upper Deck now.

  The Captain leaned on the tall gunwale.

  “...What do you think is going to happen, Zan?”

  The quartermaster shook his head.

  “No idea. Some will take the way out for sure. But that’s not a concern now.”

  Alchfrid lifted his head.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I am talking about you.”

  The tree-man shrugged.

  “What about me?”

  “Exactly, Alch. How come you didn’t fiercely reject her proposition on spot? I could barely believe my own ears, when you said that you will think it over. Where did your vigor and stubbornness go? We were fighting the Empire for four years straight. Why stop now? Because of new developments?”

  Xander wasn’t screaming. He wasn’t raising his voice at all. If anything, he sounded… calm. Very calm. Way too calm.

  Alchfrid was silently standing in his spot, not saying a thing.

  “Captain. I demand an answer from you.”

  “You know, Zan…” Alchfrid began. “If you weren’t my friend, I would’ve shot you on spot for insubordination and lack of respect.”

  Xander took a step back and spread his arms.

  “Do it, then. What’s stopping you? Metal armor is not an opponent for a bullet. My head is exposed. I will not even defend myself. I only wanted to know the answer to my honest question, Alchfrid. I always had faith in you, and until now, I thought we were fighting until the bitter end. ‘Head or lead’ was your favourite phrase back in the day. Something has changed, and I can see it now. Why not tell it to us earlier, then? Why not tell us that your heart is not in it anymore?”

  The Captain straightened his back.

  “Zan… have you ever thought, what will come after?”

  “After what? After we are done pirating around?”

  He nodded.

  “Correct. Four years is a very long time in this business, Zan. Most can’t survive even one. We have been flying in the skies for… why, exactly? What reason? Gold, gems, and guns? We have destroyed more ships than most pirates have ever seen in their lives. We have fought our way out by the skin of our teeth so many times, I’ve lost count eons ago. We killed two admirals back in our golden days. Burned their entire fleet down, just because one of them looked at us the wrong way. You are still young, Zan - barely twenty-seven - and you have your own reasons.”

  Xander crossed his arms on the chest.

  “And you are an old man, who just wants to retire while he still can. Is that what you are implying?”

  Alchfrid chuckled.

  “Do you know, at which age most Khwoaer return to their island and plant themselves into the ancient forest they were born from? From one fifty to two hundred. I am old, Zan. Very, very old. Two hundred twenty years old. I am way past my prime. I was way past my prime, when we first met. Yet I still carried on, believing in our path. Believing, that the Empire will one day fall apart, because of its own ruthlessness and corruption. That we just had to push it a bit… But after all this time, the gears of war are still moving, still grinding the bones of naive rookies, who believe the opposite. They believe - their home is the paradise, that needs to be protected at all costs.”

  Rhevalian was standing still, with crossed arms, and stone-cold mask on his face. Joe couldn’t read his face at all.

  “We can’t fight progress forever, Zan. Maybe, one day, Sumeilien will drown in the sea of flame, desperately trying to escape the one-way road it chose for itself. But we won’t be alive to see this moment. Doesn’t matter, what gets us first - be it the Threshold, the Navy, Voilders, or another group of pirates, it won’t matter at the end.”

Stolen novel; please report.

  “Then what, you consider Northern Horn Revolt to be just a footnote in history books, that doesn’t mean anything?”

  Alchfrid shook his head.

  “I never said that. But it takes much more, than our small gang of misfits on the stolen ship, that tends to break down every six months or so, to get anywhere near the level of destruction and instability that Revolt brought with it. And even then, Emperor and his cronies are still going strong. People are fed and kept entertained. Why would they want another round of civil war, when it barely has been seven years since then?”

  “They are gathering resources for a bigger war now. Why would people be happy about that?”

  Alchfrid shrugged.

  “As long as the bloodshed is happening somewhere else, and not right on their doorstep, nobody cares. It’s only if Hrothgar’s ships will tear off the Long Dong from Empire’s rotting body, if families’ sons and daughters disappear into the void and never return home, then people might realize what is actually going on.”

  Xander sighed.

  “So, what’s your plan then, Alch? Reach Ghastly Wail, leave the ship, and ride ‘sparrow’ all the way to Forgotten Ridge?”

  The accused lifted his head.

  “No. I am not leaving the ship right away, quartermaster Xander. At the very least, I have to make sure that we all get to the safe place without any problems. I also promised Joe to teach him how to pilot the ship, and I will follow my promise through. What I wanted to tell you, Zan - we should think about our future. Not as plundering rogues, but as normal people. My days are catching up to me. You, Xander Knight, still can turn away from the road we have chosen, and pick yourself a more noble cause. Joe too - it’s just, right now this young lad is caught with our little group and doesn’t have much of anything else to turn to. But what would happen, when we are all gone?”

  Captain was right on every point. Joseph never really thought, what would happen, if one day, the Morning Star is not there at his disposal. If Alchfrid, Ralf, Roth, and Xander all leave him to his own devices, what would he even do? He knows nothing, he has not seen a single town, his first meeting with local civilization was brief, destructive, and horrifying.

  There was another question, that Joseph wanted to ask. A long, long time ago.

  “Captain Alchfrid… why did you agree to teach me in the first place?”

  Xander glanced at Joe. Alchfrid briefly laughed.

  “Honestly, lad… I found you weird and ridiculous.”

  Joseph rolled his eyes.

  “Like I expected anything else…”

  Captain chuckled.

  “But you were, weren’t you? Well, let’s just get this out of the way - my opinion on you did change, Joseph Snowfield. But when I first saw your weird clothes and things in your pockets, when you rebuked Xander during our first meeting, when you managed to pull yourself together during a messy shootout, despite never being in the battle before… and then you asked me to teach you. Straight away, right after we have just met, right after the fight, right there on spot… I was shocked. That was a move I did not expect at all. I thought you were naive and weird…”

  “Dumb? Just say it straight, Captain Alchfrid.”

  Xander chuckled on the side. The tree-man (Khwoaer? Joseph tried to remember the name) nodded.

  “Yes. It was indeed what my thoughts were during our moment. But I had a good fun, so - why not? And decided to help you. Beats doing same things over and over, after past four years, for sure. Then the island came along. One side of my opinion changed. You have the skills, Joseph. Skills, and the luck on your side. But you are still naive. Either that, or way too bold. Or…”

  Alchfrid shook his head.

  “...Reckless. Yes, much better word. You are way too reckless, in every sense of the word. Asking the pirate Captain you’ve met barely couple of hours ago for lessons. Fighting without any real experience. Agreeing to go on the unfamiliar land, head-on into the danger, simply because Pat sarcastically goaded you into it. Then your warehouse stunt, when you blew up both Irfan and yourself, just to get the beast off your tail. Which only made it angrier at the end. And, the final nail -”

  “Torching the entire island. Yes, I get it. I remember.”

  Xander and Captain exchanged glances. Alchfrid tilted his head, chuckling.

  “It was a fun weekend for you, no doubt. But you forgot to plan things through, and were acting on instinct. Even now. I know, we all began like that. Xander was even worse than you, in that regard.”

  The dragoncat hissed at Alchfrid, but turned his head away, without saying anything.

  “Which is why I want you to remember this word of advice - you need to learn how to keep your recklessness in check from now on. The unknown makes your blood boil, and the danger only makes your thirst for it worsen.”

  Joseph gritted his teeth.

  He had to admit to himself, that listening to Alchfrid pointing out his mistakes was way too painful to hear, even if the Captain was absolutely correct. He had to focus all of his Spirit just to actually take his words into account, and to not mentally wave them away.

  Seems like recklessness is not your only issue, bredda…

  Wouldn’t you know, Understanding?

  Actually, out of all his Stats, he would definitely be the exact one to point it out…

  “So there you have it. This old man wanted some fun in his life. You thought I had a more noble cause there, Joseph?”

  Joe leaned to the gunwale, and smiled.

  “I got two Skills out of it. For free, even. Can’t say I have room for disappointment.”

  Captain clapped.

  “I like the man who can appreciate what he already has. Well, Joseph, after sunset I am going to show you how to move this piece of old junk around. Up to the task?”

  “Of course, Captain Alchfrid.”

  Xander looked at the fading sun.

  “It’s already very close. Alch, I am not going to talk to anyone about this conversation, but whatever your plans are - I want you to be honest with me… and not only me - Ralf, Grigory, Roth, Theo, Jackal, they all deserve to know.”

  Jackal?

  Khwoaer nodded.

  “I will tell the entire crew about my plans, when I figure them out myself. For now, let’s continue on as usual. Joe, meet me after a couple of hours - I need to prepare some things for the lesson.”

  “Of course. Who is Jackal, by the way?”

  “Mechanic crew captain.” Xander answered instead. “You will never mistake him for anyone else. You haven’t seen his… type before, I believe. You can mistake him for one of his subordinates, though, so keep that in mind.”

  “Jackal is not his actual name, but the one we gave him. He very much prefers this one, instead of the original, so feel free to call him that,” added Alchfrid.

  Joe nodded.

  “Will do.”

  Xander was thinking about something, then raised his head.

  “Joe.”

  “Yes?”

  “Come to the Hold after Captain’s lesson. We will train today.”

  That was rather sudden.

  “Zan, are you sure this is a good idea? Who knows, how long it takes. Lad might be tired.”

  Xander sighed.

  “Unfortunately, don’t have much choice here, Alch. I thought about it. Things are rapidly picking up the pace. If we are to get some progress, we begin today. Besides, if you are planning on leaving, I need some more competent people around.”

  “Thank you, quartermaster Xander, for actually believing in me.”

  He nodded and answered, without a speck of humor in response to Joe’s attempt to joke.

  “I expect you not to disappoint. And prepare for the long night. I am not a gentle teacher.”

  Joe shuddered.

  “That was ominous. I will be there.”

  “Very good. Then, I guess I am going to check the cannons for now.”

  He nodded his goodbye, turned to the door, and disappeared into the ship.

  “I guess we should be going too. Two hours, lad.”

  “I remember, Captain. See you.”