The rhevalian tilted his head to the side.

  “We need to visit a certain merchant. He was on the list.”

  “The list of deadly gas buyers?”

  Xander nodded.

  “Correct. If he is even there, of course. We will spread the information we gathered around as well. See if we can get someone to share their knowledge. Try to gather some people… well, that might go either way. Watch your back and your pockets, Joe.”

  Joseph put his hand on the chest where his pouch was. Xander kept talking.

   “...While local market owners do keep the place safe for trading, something always slips through. If there are other pirate crews, do think thrice before you say something dangerous. You are part of our crew now, Joe, of the Morning Star. Your actions and problems become our problems too.”

  “I thought you were ready to toss me out if I do something dumb?”

  The quartermaster shrugged.

  “That still stands, but now, you’ve earned your place. So just keep a cool head and don’t shoot before negotiating. Unless you get robbed, but even then, just punch a thief, get your stuff and leave him be. If you start a gunfight… well… do you think you can take on dozens - or hundreds - of well-armed angry maniacs all on your own?”

  Joseph grimaced.

  “If I had that kind of power, I wouldn’t need Pat and Irfan to keep me alive.”

  “I’m glad you understand that,” Xander smirked.

  Did this cat really think that he was that suicidal? The warehouse event was one thing, firing in the crowd would very much be another.

  They were both leaning on the railing now, looking at the Threshold. Joe had no idea what to say. Xander didn’t seem like he was bothered by the silence at all.

  Something caught his attention. Joseph squinted his eyes, focusing on the void. He couldn’t quite figure out what disturbed him.

  The quartermaster glanced at him from the side.

  “Looking for something?”

  Joe shrugged.

  “Something is wrong with Threshold, I’m sure… But I can’t see anything.”

  “What about the color?”

  The color? Joe inspected the purple-green veil closer…

  Wait. Purple-green?

  The ship was traversing the tunnel, with the pattern of the void around it morphing into a single lighter veil of a bluish color. The stars were hanging around the Morning Star still, together with the red sun.

  The Threshold painted a picture of impossibility, with two time periods clashing together. Night and day joined forces, creating a bizarre scene that Joseph couldn’t get his eyes off.

  Stars, bright daylight, red sun, and otherworldly spiral tunnel… Are you sure it’s the physical laws responsible for that, student?

  How would he even know, Logic?! My dear has lived in this world for four days only!

  Yeah, what the hell was that question? Of course, there is no way something like that would be possible on Earth!

  Not without special circumstances, anyway. And even then, the red sun and the tunnel would never be a part of this wonder package.

  “Enjoying the view?”

  It took him three seconds to shake his head, pull his mind back into the world, realize who was speaking to him and what that person was asking.

  “It’s quite the view, true.” He turned his attention to Xander.

  The rhevalian pushed himself off the railing and stepped away from it.

  “Well, keep looking. The clean sky is a good indicator that our ship is now within the certain area, where the laws of the void are weakening and properties of the land take over instead.”

  “I see, we are close to the island.”

  The quartermaster nodded.

  “I should prepare for the landing. Just follow the crowd, when we get there. Or Ralf - he will not let you go alone, I’m sure.”

  Xander walked away to the control panel, joining the cook and the mechanic. The abrupt ending statement confused Joe for a moment, but he decided not to think about it too much.

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  The spiral faded into the unknown. The stars were retreating too, freeing the sky - as it should had been. The red sun remained in its place, watching over the ship with its bloody eye.

  But where was the island?

  The gray fog had begun to feel the atmosphere around their ship. And through this fog, faint as it was, Joe noticed distant mountain peaks that were glancing shyly from the obfuscating vapour curtain.

  He could not see anything else. But judging by the number of peaks and their generous spread, to the point that Joseph was inclined to call it a ‘Forest of Mountains’, the land was stretching far and wide, matching - or perhaps, even besting Stone Maw Island in the sheer vastness.

  The Morning Star was diving into the fog. Theo lowered the acceleration speed. The ship sank into the gray abyss, providing nothing for Joe to see.

  He stepped back from the window. He needed some answers.

  Ralf noticed his nod. The cook shared a laugh with Alchfrid and waved back to Joe.

  “You need something from this old man, kid? Shoot!”

  Joe pointed behind him with a thumb. Ralf tilted his head to the side to look behind him, puzzled expression settling on the cook’s face. Joseph shook his head.

  “How are you capable of seeing in this fog?!”

  ‘Oh!’ was written all over Ralf.

  “He-he! Experience, kid! We know where the entrance is, we’re gunning for it. I bet you didn’t look at the pattern of mountain peaks before, did ya?”

  Joe could only shrug. Ralf widened his grin.

  “Next time, pay attention. Or ask someone. By the way, did we hang the flag?”

  The last question went to Alchfrid. Captain pointed his fist up, fingers on the side facing Ralf with the thumb sticking out to the side. The cook nodded and the khwoaer turned back to Theo and Jackal.

  “Alchie says we are good. Want to know anything about the place before we go in?”

  Joe contemplated for a moment.

  “Xander told me the basics. I want to ask about the gesture and the flag instead.”

  “The gesture?” Ralf looked confused for a moment, before brightening up and repeating the same process that Captain did before. “Like this?”

  Joe nodded.

  “This is a sign for ‘We are set and ready'. Could be used for everything, really, from cannon checking to deploying a hunting party.”

  “What about the flag?”

  “Ghastly Wail will not let every single ship inside. Hence, every crew must have its own recognizable flag. You’ll see when we pass the fog. It’s going to happen very soon.”

  The armsmaster wasn’t lying one bit. The gray ambient was dissolving. The natural walls on the sides revealed themselves. Stone, dirt, and clay surrounded their ship on left and right, sending them down a narrow ravine.

  There were holes in the walls. Joe noticed them quite a way into the place. He pulled out his spyglass.

  He heard Ralf’s chuckle behind him.

  The ship was flying slow enough for him to get a proper look at the object of interest. And they turned out to be quite interesting indeed, as he found himself staring down a barrel of a giant cannon, barely distinguishable from the darkness that was surrounding it.

  That was quite a revelation.

  “I see. They don’t let every ship through, huh?”

  He could feel that a smirk appeared on the cook’s face without even looking behind him.

  “Feeling lucky, Joe? Don’t worry, the locals are kind people. They will turn you into cheese before you even see the light again.”

  “Well, that’s a relief…”

  If he would be able to see his death coming, then there shouldn’t be anything to worry about! Right? Right?!

  Right, my guy, right! Just don’t scream inside your head, this usually wakes everyone up…

  Well, good to see that you were first, Intuition. Wait a second…

  Why are Stats even sleeping anyway? Weren’t they supposed to protect and guide me? And why are they capable of sleeping in the first place?!

  Joe didn’t get an answer. How utterly disappointing.

  His head was bedlam.

  It was quite fitting.

  Joe sighed, inclined to accept his fate and move on.

  The Morning Star, meanwhile, was sluggishly flying through the surrounding darkness. Lamps at the front, the sides, and the back of the ship were providing enough light to guide the way forward, but Joe had no vision beyond the short distance of thirty meters, roughly speaking.

  However method Theo used to guide this giant hunk of metal through the narrow cave, with its six floors worth of space and about forty meters in width, Joe had no clue. The obvious answer - Theo had been here dozens of times. Beyond that, it was a mystery for ages.

  But the ship finally made it. The Morning Star emerged from the darkness. The tall walls of a surrounding cavern greeted them, with lamps and torches illuminating nearby cliffs.

  The port deserved a special mention. Yes, it was an actual port. With a stone building on top of a ship passage. Joe could discern lifting platforms inside, with a simple metal wire-based mechanism.

  The passage had the same system as the Boat Deck of the ship - rail wheels at the walls, to hold a ship in place or push it out.

  Theo pushed the acceleration handle forward, lowering the speed, and turned the steering wheel. The Morning Star made a U-turn, making Joe marvel at the sheer size of the cavern.

  The ship flew right into the passage, using the front thrusters. Joseph felt a light shock going through his body when the Morning Star stopped in place.

  Ghastly Wail was waiting for them. His first taste of civilization, however crude, wild, or dangerous it might be, Joe would meet with his eyes wide open and with one hand on a handle of the knife.

  He felt his legs carrying him away. He caught himself and stopped. Finding someone to show him around would be a much better idea. And a fitting candidate was right there too.

  Ralf’s grin brightened the room when he heard Joe’s request.

  “Kid, I thought you would never ask! Leave it to me, I’ll show you the best women this place has to offer! Beverages too! Let’s go find the gloomy whats-his-face, and get you a glorious taste of true pirate life!”

  He didn’t pick the right person for this, he was pretty sure. But there wasn’t much choice now. Joe sighed inwardly and followed Ralf to the Upper Deck.

  Xander was standing at a gunwale, surrounded by other crew members. Ralf waved to him. The quartermaster put his hand up, exchanged a few words with a closest arid, and approached them.

  “You want something?”

  “We just wanted some company for the evening!” Ralf smirked. “Come on, get a smile on your face once! We can finally take a break after a month of getting intestines kicked out of us!”

  Xander sighed.

  “We have a lot of things to do before we drink ourselves into a stupor. That said, when we are done, I am not against some indulging into our vices.”

  Joe scratched his chin.

  “Can I help?”

  “I will help too.” Ralf’s expression morphed into a cold one in an instant. Such an uncharacteristic change of demeanor stunned Joseph.

  And not him alone. Xander had an uncomfortable expression on his face.

  “Sure?… What prompted such action, Ralf?”

  The cook shrugged.

  “I am part of the crew too, Zan. Glad to see that you still remember it.”

  This freezing sarcasm could kill a lesser man, but the dragoncat was no common man. And definitely not a man at all when it came to wooing ladies, the fact Joe remembered all too well, for whatever reason.

  Must be Ralf’s fault.

  Xander only rolled his eyes in response to Ralf’s stinging accusation.

  “I am not old enough to forget this basic fact, mate. I thought you would much prefer to gulp gallons of beer in ‘Weeping Spirit’. But if you want to lend me a hand, I have no objections.”

  Joe leaned over the gunwale and glanced down.

  “How do we get down, even?”

  “Just look to the right, kid.” He heard Ralf answer.

  Joseph did just that. The metallic ledges that were built into the side of the ship were forming a ladder of sorts. It wasn’t reaching all the way to the bottom of the ship, but it was enough to get down to the ground without issues, or jump up and grab it from the ship’s rail to return back up.

  “I see.” He wondered if it was an intended way down. Maybe there was a door on lower levels instead?

  But either way, both Ralf and Xander had already moved ahead. Joe went after them, following the group of sailors climbing down this ‘ladder’.

  He looked down. There was a deep abyss beneath the ship. The rail right around the bottom of the Morning Star threatened to break his legs if he slips even once.

  Certainly, HSE would have a field day here in the Threshold.

  He praised his new gloves when he grabbed the first ledge. The rubber tips saved his fingers and himself, by extension, from the untimely and undignified demise.

  Dying, while climbing down the ladder? More likely than you think! Oh god, this is slippery as hell!!…

  When he finally jumped down and felt a solid structure beneath his boots, he was ready to scream his lungs out. Only to be stopped by two confused stares of the quartermaster and the cook.

  Joe coughed and put on his serious face.

  “Thank you for waiting. Sorry, it took quite some time.”

  “We noticed.” Xander nodded. There was no sarcasm in his voice, as far as Joe could tell. “Let’s move. Time is of the essence.”

  Joseph agreed and followed his companions. They didn’t take an elevator. Xander turned to the cliffside at the back of the ship.

  There was a crude stone staircase.

  After they left the stone building above the landing dock, Joe saw three more structures of the exact same size and form. A few people were going in and out.

  The originality wasn’t in rogues’ lexicon when it came to mundane stuff, he thought - but on the other hand, why break something that works?

  The trodden path in the dirt led the three of them into the cave in the wall of the cavern, marked by two lamps near the entrance.

  Xander stopped for a moment.

  “After you, Joe.”

  He earned himself a skeptical look and gave Joseph a reassuring smile in return.

  Joe rolled his eyes and dived into the cave. Ralf and Xander followed.