“You can’t be serious.” Jimbo also lifted his glass.

“A curse…?” Delilah was troubled, “are you sure it’s okay?”

“It’s no curse.” Cira answered. “But I have to find it.”

Jimbo and Milty both gave her the most suspicious look yet, the latter speaking up, “Sounds like you already know what it is.”

Cira savored the fine ale and pondered the best way to approach this. She didn’t need to tell them much and decided it would be best to tell them as little as possible, “It’s somethin’ bad, but you won’t have to worry about it in a few days.”

“You’re impressive, I’ll give ya’ that. But…” He looked uncertain, “Don’s been pulling it out for years and he’s got a—at least he had a full crew. You’ll get yerself caught, killed, or worse.”

“Have some faith, Jimbo. You’ve never met a pirate like me. I’m paying good mithril too—” Delilah hurriedly shushed her.

“You can’t go saying that so loud,” she admonished Cira, glancing around, “Not in places like this.”

“Hey!” Milty shouted in offense, “I mean, I have to agree with the girl. You don’t have a lot of sense, Cirina.”

Jimbo was frozen with a smile on his face and spoke quietly, “Is… is that so? Mithril, you say?”

With a smirk, Cira jingled one of the bags at her waist.

He got serious for a few minutes, contemplating. The three enjoyed their ale to give time to think while Milty wiped off the counter then made to head back, “Well I’ve got work to do. Don’t get in too much trouble, now. And whatever you do, make sure ya’ don’t bring it here.” She disappeared into the kitchen.

“Well, Jimbo?” Cira turned to him, “you know where the treasure is?”

He shook his head, “Lots o’ tunnels lead out of Uru. Some go up, some go down, to the side. You get the idea. It’s in one of ‘em, I’m sure. Should be above, but that’s all I got.” The shrug of his shoulders seemed sincere enough.

“So how do we find it? I don’t have days to wander the tunnels. I need to find it this evening.”

He thought about it for a few seconds, “We can ask Baum Chetner.”

“…?” Cira could only offer a blank stare.

“One o’ Don’s old guys. Quit last year, but he won’t say why.”

“Perfect.” She laced her fingers, “Take me to him.”

“Uh, I don’t know where he is.” Jimbo drank some more, “He’s here every day, though. Can’t believe he missed all this. Usually here by now, that’s for sure. Best I can say is wait.”

I don’t know how much more liquid I can consume before I burst… but I guess there’s nothing to be done about it. She raised her glass and offered a cheers to her companions, “Guess we’re drinkin’.”

Quelling all the effects of such an endeavor required further study and some experimental spellcrafting. For now, she just wanted to relax until the man in question arrived. Lamenting the reappropriation of her newest vessel, Cira managed to get some sympathy sharing the tale of how she lost her first one.

“Holy smokes!” Jimbo exclaimed, “Were they all dragons?!”

“No, no…” Cira chuckled, “Dragons are much larger and more fearsome. Hell, nearly the size of Uru. No idea what these were. Maybe a distant relative to drakes. They ran around on two legs and were agile in the air. Covered in feathers, but I swear they were rept—”

“Hold on just a minute!” Mr. Sticks’ jaw was hung open and he slapped the bar counter, “You sayin’ you seen a real dragon?”

“Wouldn’t recommend it, Jimbo. It’s the only thing in the sky that can sink my ship. Not lookin’ forward to the day these cruel skies make me fight one.” She shook her head, shuddering at the memory of the red dragon disappearing from sight through the storm. The wings flapping around her for hours, hunting for her. An insatiable hunger that only fresh sorcerer could quell. Even after all this time had passed, she still sometimes woke up with a start when she heard loud noises in the night.

“Got a mighty fine ship, do ya’?” He looked up thoughtfully as if trying to imagine it, using her as a reference, “I’d love to see it one day, but you gotta tell me more about the dragon. I thought they were made up!”

“So did I!” She regaled them with the story of the sleepy island, “It all started because I needed some worms…”

It was difficult to alter the details to be more pirate-themed, but by the end nearby Patrons and Milty ended up listening in, Peaches pretending not to while wiping a nearby table for ten minutes straight. Even James and the boys wandered back around. She had attracted another unwarranted crowd, but telling the story was too much fun. This was the first time she had the chance to complain about the dragon’s misplaced fury. For what it’s worth, she’d captured all their hearts tonight. Not one face showed a hint of doubt.

One man jumped in and said he saw a dragon once and then a litany of drunks took turns telling their own tall tales. Cira was having fun listening to them—some even sounded real, but others were far too embellished. With the going mood, she couldn’t help but enjoy the obvious lies too.

Eventually their conversation devolved into stories of strange beasts seen on the open sky, and Lorelai got to share the tale of Skipper’s Point’s elusive cave spider. The details were strangely vivid and at a couple points Cira thought she was nervously replacing details. Skipper’s Point’s main export was pepper… But oh, they had caves. And in them lived a monstrous spider that would creep around snatching up kids and sometimes full-grown men—those pepper farmers that had to go into the caves for reasons unimportant to the telling of this tale.

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Cira could empathize and felt her skin crawl. If there was one thing she had a particular distaste for, it was spiders. And that was when she was a kid. Cira and had no idea they could get bigger than your hand. One day, she watched Gazen destroy a spider the size of small island, fangs as tall as Breeze Haven’s spire. On that day she also learned fire was a girl’s best friend.

The door creaked opened as Cira was busy spacing out and two familiar men fell into view.

“Hey, that’s him!” Jimbo called out, “Hey, Chets, get your ass over here!”

Luckily the man was eager to earn a mithril doubloon, but Chetner was confused to hear his name. He seemed to recognize Cira and walked over.

“Hey, what did you do?” He sounded upset.

“You boys fell asleep right in the street. Us girls couldn’t lift you two strong men.” She feigned innocence, glancing at Delilah who was already backing her up. “We’re so glad you made it, though!”

In truth, she thought these men were quite unsavory on the pirate spectrum, but not so bad as Don.

Jimbo had a funny look on his face, “Huh, you already knew the guy?”

“He showed me the way before him and his buddy decided to take a short rest. I Had no idea he was the man I came here to see.”

“Wait, what?” The man replied dumbly, a spark of degeneracy returning to his dull eyes, “you were looking for me?”

“Indeed… but maybe we shouldn’t speak here.” She exaggeratedly looked around. There was still a crowd, though they’d mostly dispersed after story time ended.

“Hold on, I came here to drink and I’m gonna drink, damn it!” His friend nodded resolutely while his lazy eye stayed trained on Cira.

She then looked at Jimbo who shrugged, “I know a place we can go. You do too, don’t ya, Chet? I’m sure you won’t mind drinkin’ on the go if it’s on Cirina’s coin.”

The two mulled it over among themselves for a moment before Baum spoke, “Yeah, I guess that’s alright, long’s it don’t run out.”

And another man was bought. Cira was in the home stretch, “Hey Milty, how much for a barrel?”

She blinked for a moment, “Uh, we don’t sell barrels… Five gold crowns, I guess?”

“Alright, let’s see… I hope I have enough small change.” She rummaged around in the sack ol’ Borty gave her for some good, honest alchemy work. She pulled five gold coins out, leaving one and some silver, “These are them, right?”

“Er- yeah… These are them.” She took the coins with a weird look on her face.

“Hah!” Jimbo slapped his knee, “You’re a riot! Ain’t never spent money before?”

“I’ve more experience with shiny rocks and gemstones.”

“Pfffft!” Jimbo spit all over her and she channeled her inner pirate to withstand it, shielding the open top of her ale rather than her face.

Milty came back with the door man heaving a barrel from the kitchen. He was apparently the go-to heavy lifter around the tavern. The crowd stepped back as he hefted it down in front of Cira, “How ya gonna carry it?”

She got a mischievous glint in her eye that did not escape Delilah. “You all want to see some pirate magic?”

They all cheered and the crowd closed in. Cira took one step forward and struck a pose, holding her palms to the ceiling and wiggling her fingers, groaning as if to gather power. As her volume increased, the golden liquid rose from the barrel before converging into a perfect barrel-shaped mass of ale.

“Beer, beer, disappear!” And it did as commanded, disappearing secretly into her ring.

“YEAHHHH!!!” The onlookers went wild chugging their own beers to make them disappear as well and letting out belligerent cries. She didn’t know how she elicited such a chain reaction, but it was a beautiful thing to witness.

They finished their glasses of Milty’s reserve and said goodbyes over the next few minutes while the excitement died down before making their way out the door. Everyone was sad to see her go and said they couldn’t wait to see her tomorrow.

Sorry fellas, I won’t be comin’ back.

Baum and his man led the way while the trio followed. Of course, James and the boys tagged along—they hadn’t said much but at least they were trying still. There were four more men that Cira did not recognize. The clever ones that snuck out as if they were part of the gang. Cira decided that was amusing enough to let slide and if they wanted to join in on the fun that was alright. She only needed a day of secrecy anyway, so a few stragglers wasn’t anything to worry about. They could help with a different phase of the plan anyway.

Soon they ended up at a sheer salt cliff face. There was a passageway hidden behind a depression in the wall. “The Overlook?” Baum looked at Jimbo.

“The Overlook.” Jimbo nodded back.

Cira was starting to regret asking for so much secrecy after they followed a winding uphill path through the salt, lit only by Cira’s glowing blade and a torch Jimbo produced from somewhere. Her calves were really starting to feel the burn when she saw a dim light. They reached an opening in the side of the cliff where you could see Uru in all its dim, twinkling glory.

Cira wasted no time in conjuring glasses for everyone, though the four extras got small ones more like teacups. Everyone was equally excited with they filled with ale from thin air. Baum and his friend happily imbibed, letting out a satisfied sigh, “Alright… So, you were lookin’ for me?” He gave her what he probably thought was a real slick look with his eyes.

“Indeed. I’m taking Don’s treasure, and you’re going to lead me to it.

Baum Chetner went pale.

Knowing Nanri, she would have encouraged my little exorcists to keep going. Her earnest smile is nothing to be trifled with. Still, it’s around sunset on the outside by now, give or take. If they’re still going it won’t be for more than a few hours and that boat will get here in two tops. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world if they had to wait, but Cira wanted to keep this show on the road. It was all about efficiency.

Jimbo snapped in Baum’s face, trying to bring him out of his frozen state, “Better hurry up there, Chets. I’m sure it’s a long walk.”

Cira laughed, “I was never one to walk when I didn’t have to. It’s time for some more pirate magic. Everyone, avert your eyes.” They were confused but folded when she pressured, allowing Delilah to watch if she wanted.

A chunk of orichalcum big enough to give any pirate a thousand years of wet dreams appeared out of thin air. In an effort to hide it quickly, an absurd blast of earthen light flooded the Overlook, likely turning it into a beacon for all of Uru. The pirates all screamed, and Delilah shielded her eyes.

Soon, a large oblong shape was formed from the salt. The two ends became points, and the inside was hollowed out. Cutting off the top and further shaping it, her creation was beginning to look like a pristine white pirate ship, just scaled down.

She hid her father’s staff inside because control would be easier with it out. Breeze Haven used a similar principle, in fact, though this boat would operate mostly off her own mana.

“Alright, gang. I call her the Salty Songstress, now who’s ready for her maiden voyage?”

“What?!” James and the boys were blown away and the extras from Milty’s were so plastered they could only stand there with their jaws on the floor.

“No way…”

Cira stood at the helm and looked at everyone else expectantly. It seated ten, just right for their party—rather Cirina Dreadheart’s crew consisted of eight men, Delilah, and herself. Aside from Delilah and Jimbo, they were still hesitant to hop on, perhaps still processing what they saw.

“Come, men!” Cira pulled out her saber, putting a foot on the bow and pointing forward down the dark tunnel, “Onward, to treasure!”

Even the sail was made of salt. She had woven it into a kind of cloth using a technique similar to chainmail. Complete with ropes and a not-so-black flag. It was a miniature pirate ship, as detailed as she could remember them looking. Once they fell out of their daze, her crew loved it. Even Jimbo was excited, “This night just keeps gettin’ better. You gotta teach me pirate magic! I ain’t takin’ no for an answer.”

Delilah was already on board with Jimbo’s group quick to follow.

“Hold on,” Baum said like a true stick in the salt, “I haven’t agreed yet.”