She turned again to the first man dangling from the cliff, “What about you? Are you a liar?”

“Of course not! I, uh, I mean.” He started to look nervous, “I’m a nice guy! Promise!”

I can’t trust any of these men… I don’t have a leg to stand on over here. Literally. They could probably beat me up with no problem, especially with those numbers.

Cira was about to turn around when a young man with dirty blonde hair jumped right off the cliff, “I’ll help youuuuu—” Dink! He slammed against the barrier and started sliding down, “Wha—Noooo! Let me in!!!”

Are you kidding me right now? “That’s not how it works, you idiot!” She watched him slide down screaming until he became wedged against the island. This idiot’s going to get ground up if Breeze Haven slips even an inch… Then all of a sudden, I’m a murderer. This guy better be half as helpful as Lomp if he’s going to be pulling stunts like this.

“Who the hell are you?!” Cira pressed her staff a little further into the ground and leaned against it, “You just want my treasures!”

“No, I don’t!” He cried with his face pressed against an invisible force field, “I always help a beautiful lady in need!”

She squinted at him hard for a moment. One of those types, huh? He looked like a penniless pirate who didn’t even know how to bathe. Theoretically he could be searching for a sponge maiden to show him how, but the young pirate didn’t look at her leeringly or even glance at the orichalcum staff on the lawn which pinned her former leg down.

“Please, let me in!” He was getting desperate now, “I think it’s starting to crush my foot!”

“Ugh… Fine!” Cira lifted up her frayed dress and pulled off a knife strapped to what remained of her leg, “I’m going to stab you if you’re lying. I’m quick, too, despite how I look.”

“I’m here to help! I—grrraahhh, please! I promise!” If Cira didn’t do it soon there would be two cripples or worse.

Why are lives always thrown at me? I was happy limping up the stairs with my staff, even if I knew it would suck, and now I have to save a life. I’m in no condition to be helping people right now…

“Hey, idiot!” Cira shouted, “Catch!”

He’s lucky I keep a boarding pass in my pocket— “Gah!” It hit him in the face and bounced back down to the lawn. Cira hobbled her way over to it grumbling while the pirate was starting to squeal. “I’m working on it, you baby! Think before you act next time!”

After gnashing her teeth and nearly tearing up from the pain, she managed to retrieve the pendant artifact from the grass and threw it at him again, much closer this time, and the young man managed to catch it above his head as it passed through the barrier before he instantly falling through it. Oh, I didn’t think about this part… What was his original plan?

He screamed the whole way down as if Cira was already stabbing him, but she rolled out of the way onto the ground right before he fell face first into the grass. The next few minutes were silent but for her groaning and writhing in pain. Then Cira watched the man’s unmoving body carefully as she caught her breath. She was really starting to worry after a few moments until she watched his leg twitch, and he started coughing before finally picking himself up.

“Hey.” Cira called to him from the ground when he noticed her, “You saw what I did to my leg, right?”

“Y-yeah… Your courage is inspiring—”

“I’ll do the same to your head if you try anything.” She held her crutch menacingly as best she could from her helpless position in the grass.

He only laughed, “I wouldn’t dare.” And gave her a wink. Cira stared at him with great suspicion as he approached, “Now come on, up ya’ go!”

“Hey! The hell do you think you’re doing—” Cira protested as he picked her up like a child only to plop her back down on one foot and sling an arm around her under the shoulders.

“What’s the problem?” He asked as she looked at him in incredulous shock while her frail arms did nothing to shove him away, “Or would you rather me carry you like a princess?”

That shut her up and she pursed her lips, frustrated and at a loss. This is what help looks like… Just accept it and be glad you don’t have to stab anyone… or be stabbed.

“So, what do you think?” The man continued, looking at her now from far too close with eyes almost as pale as mithril. They clashed against his dirty face and cheap ale wafted on his breath. “We can have them toss them a rope down.”

“Grrr….” She didn’t like him, but he didn’t seem dangerous. Besides, she had a little knife, “Forget the rope… I need help climbing this tower.” She gestured her head up to the massively inconvenient helm spire.

“Right-o, just leave it to me!” He supported her as she limped over to the front door. “Just saying… You can drop that staff if you want. We all watched it go dark when you cut your leg off. And some pirates can see mana, you know.” He winked again and nodded at her, heavily implying that it was obvious she was devoid of it.

“Guh, you bastard…” Cira threw Prismagora down in the grass none too pleased about it. She at least felt safer holding it, but she couldn’t even swing it with her arm over him. Her knife hand felt more and more useless as her only means of defense.

“Name’s Skipper!” He put on a toothy grin to try to ease the tension and Cira groaned.

“From Skipper’s Point?” She asked.

“Uh, no… Never heard of it.” He seemed friendly enough and didn’t make any dubious faces as they made their way to the door. That was usually the tell, and Cira was a good judge of character. This man was a degenerate, but he was nice to women for what it’s worth. “Whoa, cool, it opened on its own!”

He helped Cira hobble through the door as she managed to dodge his incessant questions until they made it to the staircase. She was trying to put on a tough face, but each step had her wincing in pain. It didn’t help her mood that Skipper was trying to encourage her, “Come on, just a little more to go! We’re almost there.”

“Will you shut up? I’m not some damsel.” It was beginning to irritate her.

“I watched you cut off your leg like five minutes ago. If you were an old man, I’d already be carrying you. You ladies can be so stubborn.”

“Whatever…” Cira went quiet until they reached the top, breaking free and putting her weight on the wheel. “Okay… Let’s get you properly moored.”

“What is all this…?” The young pirate was looking at the various instruments with wonder.

“I’m pretty sure most of these are relatively common controls…” Hasn’t he ever been on a ship? He sure looks like a pirate. Cira was now eye level with the curious onlookers up on their cliff, albeit at a pretty weird angle from Breeze Haven’s canter. “Hey! If any of you don’t want to get crushed, get the hell out of the way!” She pulled a page from the Astral Witch’s grimoire and yelled really loud since she didn’t have any mana.

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This helm felt much better to stand at than the little boat’s captain’s chair. The wheel felt better in her hands, though the refreshing chill of orichalcum gave her mixed feelings. She watched them pull the ropes up and a few of them backed away but they didn’t take the warning seriously.

Cira placed her left hand on an orb and the rock cracked as pieces started crumbling off. Breeze Haven slowly started floating backwards and away from the island while righting itself.

“Whoaaa what the hell?!” She found a little joy in watching Skipper fall to all fours to stay balanced.

“What did you expect?” The comforting feel of Breeze Haven’s mana tingled against her hand. It felt responded to her will so she could hold herself up against the heavy wheel without worrying about falling over and sliding down it as the whole ship spun out of control. Now Cira turned her home to the side to be parallel with the shoreline and the other pirates could be seen scattering through the trees as the hovering island got closer and closer.

“Hey, stop!” Skipper was on his knees, clutching the windowsill, “You’re going to hit the trees!”

Cira took no heed to his warnings. Breeze Haven had a few trees left in it, she was certain of that much. The pirates could be heard screaming in the forest as the first tree cracked, then it was followed by many more. Scores of trees were uprooted and crushed, then flattened under the mass of mass of rock that was Cira’s home. Neither Skipper’s protests nor the pirates fleeing below could be heard over the chorus of splintering and stone dragging across stone. She reckoned it could be heard from far over the distant hills which buildings could be seen poking over the top of.

Soon the destruction had died down and the only sound heard were of wildlife leaving the area. “I knew you had it in you, girl.” Cira patted the windowsill. “Now rest up for a while.”

Unless some high-level mages attack in the next week or so, the barrier should be back to normal in no time. I just hope there aren’t any sleeping dragons on this island.

“What the hell was that?!” Skipper looked at her with a mixture of fear and awe.

“If you don’t stop looking at me like that, I’ll really have to stab you.”

“Oh, my bad…” He looked away, “So, uh, we should get you to a doctor.”

“You have those?” She couldn’t imagine it was a very impressive one, but it was a pleasant surprise.

“Of course, we do. You know how many pirates get sick?” He stood up now, checking his footing carefully.

“It’s not going anywhere. We’re on solid ground now… Well, and trees.” She was still leaning against the wheel and her stomach roared like an awakened dragon. She frowned, looking at him awkwardly. “…Do you know how to cook?”

After a second of staring at her blankly, Skipper busted up with a boisterous laugh, “Sure I can. For the price of a meal.”

“Done deal… Now help me back down.” She wasn’t happy about the arrangement, but it worked for now. Somehow going down hurt even more but they made it to the kitchen. The pirate stared at all the artifacts in wonder, trying to touch everything as she slapped his hand away then pointed a few things out herself. “Would you quit it? The food is in this cupboard, and you’ll find pots and pans to the left of the oven. Make me a lot of anything but fish, and don’t cook everything. I’m going to go take a bath.”

She started pulling herself away, but he started walking too, “Don’t worry, I’ll help you get there at least.”

Cira stopped and squinted at him aggressively, “I’m fine from here, so back off. And if you steal anything, I’ll know.” She pushed herself away and hopped over to the door, grabbing one of her common wood staves next to it.

It was a decent crutch and Skipper watched her painstakingly scuttle to the stairs looking mildly offended. She nearly fell down the stairs multiple times, but ten minutes later she was at the baths. What followed was the most painful bathing experience of her life. Cira even threw up a few times trying to clean her stump.

In her frail state, her emotions were difficult to keep in check, and she figured nobody could see her cry in the bath. She never thought she’d be faced with losing a leg, and each time she thought she realized the full gravity of it, she was slapped in the face with it again. Just sitting on the edge of the bath shot pain through her severed nerves so she found herself slumped against the cold stone wall pouring buckets of water over herself.

Even though it seemed thoroughly cauterized from the light, she was worried it would open up if she sat in the bath. The tourniquet didn’t seem to be needed, but she still put it back on after she cleaned up to be safe.

“Okay, what clothes do I have in here…?” Cira dug through her bag of holding and found there to be only fineries of the sorcerous nature. They would surely paint a target on her back if she wore them and mingled with the pirates. She’d be robbed and naked again by sundown. Can’t have that… I guess this is on theme at least…?

Even Cirina Dreadheart’s clothes were enchanted, but they were minor protective glyphs that worked passively. They were all hidden and it still looked nondescript enough to pass, so it was really perfect for the occasion. I’ll leave the hat here though. That will draw attention…

Hatless in a cruel world, Cira emerged from the baths and went straight to the forge. All doors in Breeze Haven were locked behind a seal, but luckily her artificing needle doubled as a key. Inside, she cut off one pant leg and tied it up. The Dreadheart coat was heavy and made it hard to maneuver her crutch around, so she cut the sleeves off before approaching her workbenches with a sigh.

“I really wish I had enchanted these crossbows…” Cira had at least made harnesses for them. The big one was slung over her back, whether or not she thought she could draw it while using a crutch, and the small one at her waist. Each only came with ten bolts, and a few of each were missing by this point, but she carried this limited lifeline of ammunition regardless.

There was a crate next to the door as well full of random weapons she made for fun over the years. Most of what she crafted required just a little mana, as those that didn’t were limited in their effectiveness, but there were some passive artifacts in here. She emptied all the robes from her bag of holding and piled in various small weapons. Knives that lit on fire when you threw them, or a needle that spreads ice. Other similar throwing weapons too, then there was a necklace that offered a weak barrier—a few of those actually. One ring let her intercept magic and use it as her own, but the cost grew exponentially with the amount of mana controlled, so it worked best against amateur mages. Anything too big and it would fizzle out immediately, which wasn’t bad as a spell-cancel but it wore on the ring in proportion.

“Gods, I’m not sure if losing my aura or leg was worse at this point.” Everything she gathered to defend herself was so limited and unreliable. “This is the worst.”

Without her aura, growing a new ankle and foot was indeed outside her power. However, she had an entire forbidden archive she couldn’t even access until she could move a giant block of metal out of the way. Then, she couldn’t even attempt to figure out how to grow a limb until her aura came back.

She pounded her fist against the hard stone wall and it hurt, “Dammit!”

After another few minutes of hobbling back upstairs, her stomach was starting to turn as the pleasant aroma of seasoned steak wafted down. Skipper was just pulling them off the stove when she rounded the corner. He took one look at her a shrugged, “Are you a pirate?”

Cirina didn’t feel like coming out today though, “Ugh, is the food ready?”

“It sure is. Have a seat!” She reluctantly obliged and he set a bunch of food down in front of her. Her complaints drifted away as she finally picked up a fork and started cutting away at the slab of meat.

He had made a lot, and she ate all of it. Her stomach was like a bottomless pit, and it wouldn’t stop until her third full steak was done. Even then, it rumbled, but she leaned back to let it digest. This process had cut her off from the world, but when she returned, Skipper was eating his with a grin on his face, hiding his laughter.

“What?” Cira asked him suspiciously, “I was going to compliment your cooking until I looked at you.”

“Bah!” He slapped his knee, “So it’s good. Thanks!”

To his overt smile, Cira could only turn away, “Whatever… So, where’s this doctor? I should probably get looked at.”

“Yeah, you should.” He agreed and stood up, “Come on, I’ll take you back to town. And don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.” His signature wink made her less inclined to take his offer, but Cira eventually let him help her up and back out of the house.

“Okay, there’s stairs just past that gate.” She guided him across the lawn and as they descended the stone steps her least favorite sight in the world was waiting for her, but pirate themed. “So, you’re all still here?”

Cira’s voice was cold, but only a few of them looked malicious. She recognized them and was glad they were present.

“Of course, we are!” A woman that reminded her of Milty who Cira hadn’t yet seen shouted, “After what we just saw?!”

“And what about you?” Cira glared at one of the others, “Are you still in search of a sponge maiden?”

He got a spark in his eye for a moment, before balling up his fist and looking at Skipper, “I am actually, now that you mention—” click. “GYAHHH!!”

Everyone jumped back and started screaming as he fell to the ground pouring blood with a bolt stuck through his knee.

“Not interested.”