“A little harsh, don’t you think?” Skipper asked as the party limped back to town. Two others carried the man who Cira shot while the rest kept their distance and tried not to look at her wrong.

“I don’t’ think so.” Cira was firm on this point, “He was about to beat you up and take me himself. Now I’m safe for the time being.”

“You bitch…” The man growled. His face was clearly scrunched up in pain with each step and he was very upset.

“And what about later, idiot?” Skipper continued, “He runs with a real bad crew, and they just came under a new Captain who’s ten times tougher. I’m sure he won’t be happy when he hears about this.”

Grass and various weeds crunched beneath their feet and the forest was still devoid of wildlife from Cira’s entrance, but birds could be heard from afar. Cira was quite disappointed that this island turned out to be a hilly one, but at least there weren’t any dangerous beasts—as far as she could tell, at least.

“And when that man approaches me, I’ll shoot him too.” Cira was indignant. On one hand, it was a little harsh after having experienced the loss of a leg herself, but it wasn’t hard to reason he must have crimes that went unpunished somewhere along the line.

“I noticed you’re running low. Want to venture a guess whether there are more of them than you got bolts?” Now he was even patronizing her.

“I’ve got more than bolts… Worry about yourself.” Her words didn’t hold much weight while being held up.

“I’m trying to!” He shook his head and focused on the path ahead which had started to look like more of a beaten path, “Just simmer down, will you? We’re almost there.”

The woman from earlier approached looking uneasy, but it was clear she had something to say too.

“Yes?” Cira asked.

“Uh, sorry if this is rude, but… How did you end up here? Was that your ship?” It seemed everyone had burning questions.

“Unless you’re trying to kidnap me and make me bathe you, you don’t have to act so scared” Cira didn’t have to try to look unthreatening right now, but anyone would be rattled after seeing a man get shot in the knee. Especially when that man was still groaning in pain and dripping blood next to her, “That’s my home. I fell asleep at the wheel, so to speak.”

“You… fell asleep?” She was understandably confused, “Then how’d you run out of magic—”

“Hey! Come on…”

“It’s okay,” Someone from the back said, “We all already know.”

“Dammit…” Cira’s cover was blown, “Well if you must know, the last thing I did was beat up and curse a witch.”

“You what?!” This turned all the pirate’s heads and the caravan stopped for a moment.

“A curse?!”

“On a witch?! Seriously?!” The woman was amazed and slightly suspicious at the same time.

“No wayyyyyy.” The man she shot doubted her too, but this was the common opinion.

Skipper was deep in thought for a moment, having seen the inside of this adrift sorcerer’s home. Cira had noticed he didn’t have any burns on his hands, but that wasn’t to say he hadn’t taken a stroll around the living room and seen all her various treasures. It seemed reasonable enough.

“What was the witch’s name?” He asked sincerely.

“I don’t know how famous they’re supposed to be, but they call her the Astral Witch.” Cira shrugged with her hands. “She was surprisingly susceptible to light though.”

“Bullshit!” her latest victim still doubted her—even more so now. “Ain’t no way a little thing like you took on the Astral Witch.”

“Yeah, I don’t buy it.”

“It does sound kind of far-fetched…” The one woman wasn’t on her side either.

“I don’t care what any of you believe.” Cira rebutted, “And she was smaller than me. I’m sure it’ll be the talk of the Boreal soon—wait… where the hell are we, and what’s up with the weather?” Ever since they stepped off Breeze Haven they were within a veil of thin white clouds.

Skipper chuckled at her belated concerns, “Don’t worry, we’re still on the Boreal. You know that storm that never leaves?”

“Uh, yeah…”

“We’re in it. It’s called Lost Cloud Island. It’s where you’ll find people that don’t want to be found.” He looked all across the horizon—or where it should be. It was all white anywhere you looked. Now he was laughing and each breath he took hurt Cira’s weary body, “To think you fell asleep and crashed into it! The Gandeux have spent decades looking for this place, you know”

“Crazy…” She wasn’t all too surprised in the grand scheme of things, “Just my luck. I find it hard to believe they can’t find it though. Don’t they have mages that can see through the fog?”

He was still laughing, “They have mages that go missing, too. You’re lucky the king’s out on a personal mission, or he’d be on your ass too. You’ll still probably have to deal with his crew.”

“What…? What use does an island like this have with a king? I thought you were all pirates.” Isn’t the whole idea to do whatever you want all the time? I used to think pirates weren’t far off from a sorcerer aside from morals, but I’m not so sure after my last job.

“People are better at geting things done when they band together. The pirates got something they all want, that’s why they gather here. It’s only natural someone would be in charge, though there were a lot of battles in the past, the king always survived. I mean, my grandad said so anyway.” Skipper looked to be somewhere in his early twenties.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The forest was finally clearing up and there were signposts marking the path. Cira could see a sharpened wooden wall above the treeline now, “Why here? I thought it’s where people go to disappear.”

“That’s what it ended up as, eventually. The first guy that became king gave up on his big search on this island. The trail disappeared without a trace, and they had to settle down, hoping one of us idiots would be able to pick it up instead.”

“Find what though? Is there some hidden treasure on this island?”

“Oh no… What everyone wants to find is an island itself. The whole thing's a treasure. Heaven, the Promised Land, Shangri-La, Eden… Everyone calls it something different.” The rest of the group was nodding along, “It’s supposed to be the pirates’ paradise.”

“Okay, but what’s so special about it?” Cira still didn’t understand.

“It’s the only island in the sky with two springs.” He answered with a smug grin.

Now it was her time to doubt, “Bullshit! That’s impossible!” Could there be more deritium somewhere? I really hope not… It’s not my secret to find anyway.

“I shit you not, young lady…. What’s your name anyhow?”

“Oh… Cira.”

“Right. Well, that’s how the legends go, Cira.” Everybody looked up as their destination came into view with tall wooden gates on the edge of a cliff and pirates posted guard. “They say the whole island’s made of gold and the second spring spews nothing but ice cold ale, finer than any other in the sky.”

I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard a less believable story. “You all truly believe that?”

“Of course, we do! There has to be another clue hidden on this island, it’s just that no one has ever found it yet.”

“Stop right there!” A man approached wearing rags and holding a flintlock pistol, “Where the hell did this lady come from?”

“It’s fine, she’s with me—” Skipper tried but was quickly cut off.

“No one gives a shit about you. I’m asking where she came from.” More guards had noticed the holdup and started approaching, while there was also a crowd gathering from just inside the gates—all pirates of course, and some that may have just looked the part by living here.

Surprisingly, the woman spoke up in her aid, “She just washed up ashore and she’s wounded. We need to get her to a doctor.”

The gathering guards looked her up and down before the first one spoke straight to her, “You don’t just wash up on these shores. Now where did you come from?”

Cira felt a groan coming on and Skipper tried again, “Seriously, she did! You heard that big boom earlier this week, didn’t you?”

Now the guard looked between them and Cira with disbelief, “You’re telling me she crashed her ship into the island and survived? Then what happened to him?” Now he pointed to the guy with an iron bolt stuck in his knee. It wasn’t difficult to guess where it came from.

“He had it coming.” Cira gave him a serious answer.

“He probably did,” The guard only shrugged, “But that still leaves us with you… Not just anyone can enter Captain Wick’s Pirate Kingdom. It ain’t free, you know.” Does he seriously make his crew call it that? I’ll have to remember to laugh at him when he returns.

That said… I really didn’t want to have to do this the hard way. I don’t have much of the hard way left in me. Let’s just hope they take mithril… I really should have restocked my treasure pouch.

“Do you have change—” She was going to barter with the man when someone cut her off from the gate.

“Oh, will ya cut it out with that pirate kingdom crap?” Why do I feel like I vaguely remember that voice? “You have any idea how dumb that sounds? Any other crew is embarrassed just hearin' it. If someone crashed their boat, I say they deserve to come in, now just who do we have—” Cira stared blankly into his eyes as he returned a similar expression, “…Captain?”

“Well, if it isn’t Jimbo Sticks!” Cira’s hopeless situation now had a twinkle of light, and she smiled at the familiar face, “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”

“Oh, I get that a lot.” He returned the smile, “And we match now. How cool!”

Seeing the two’s reunion gave the guards pause and they stepped back to watch, but now Cira had a distinct frown as she stared regretfully at her missing piece, “Yeah… I miss it already.”

“Ohh, don’t be like that! It's a good place to keep a knife.” He glanced at her crossbows then at the wounded pirate, “And what the hell did you do to Gerald?”

“Uhh, captain?” The apparent Gerald asked, “Do you know this crazy woman?”

In a moment of surprise, Cira’s eyes shot open, “I shot him! He’s not one of your guys, is he?!”

“Hah!” He laughed, slapping Skipper on the shoulder in her place, “Not anymore! The hell did he do though?”

His full support brought her mood back around, “The bastard tried to make me a sponge maiden.”

“Seriously?!” Jimbo whipped his peg off and stabbed the man in his side without delay, “You son of a bitch! Do you even know who this is?!” The two supporting Gerald jumped away in fear and he crumbled to the ground again.

“Holy shit.” Skipper looked on in horror. "You know Captain Sticks?”

“I do.” Cira said with a troubled smile.

“I-I’m sorry, Boss! I didn’t know she was your friend!” He was bleeding again now, but not profusely.

“My friend? Are you an idiot!” He was fuming, “This is the head captain! Used to be yours too, dumbass!”

“Wait, what…?” Skipper stared at her in shock.

“Th-that can’t be!” The woman from earlier and everyone else had the same look. Meanwhile, Cira basked in it with an arrogant grin. “The one who took over Fount Salt with ten men and a barrel of ale?! F-from Leviathan Isle?!“

"The pirate who drank Don under the table then single handedly took down his crew?!"

"You talkin' about about the lady who sleeps with or burns witches at the toss of a coin?!"

"Jimbo, what the hell have you been telling these people?“ He wore a cheeky grin and turned away trying to act innocent.

"More importantly, the hell did you do down there?" His argument was a strong one, "I stayed for show but I couldn't get any damn sleep! Had to get the hell outta there before I dropped dead."

"I'll have to fill you in later..." Cira looked around to the confused crowd of pirates. "and elsewhere."

"Wait..." The woman now looked like she'd believed every story she heard about the illustrious Captain Dreadheat. "Does this mean… She wasn’t lying about the curses?”

“The head captain…?” Gerald looked up in a daze, groaning on the ground and staring at Cira in horror, “I… I’m so sorry! I didn’t know!”

“Too late for that, jackass.” Putting his peg back on, Jimbo stomped on Gerald with his actual foot. “This woman kills witches and turns pirates to dust. You’re lucky you caught her on a good day. And you… Skipper, was it?”

“Uh, yeah… that’s right.” He looked just as scared staring into Jimbo’s incensed gaze.

“Well done.” He nodded.

Cira watched Skipper’s face light up, “Really? I-I mean, thanks! Does this mean I can join your crew?!”

Jimbo’s serious expression broke up in an instant and he laughed, “Sure, why not? Just keep doing what you’re doing for now. Dreadheart, come on. Let’s get you a new leg.”

“If only…” Jimbo slipped the guards a few coins and they let it go without another word as a couple of them dragged Gerald inside leaving a trail of blood as he disappeared groaning.

“You’re gonna have to tell me what happened to your leg, ya know.” He kept the conversation going as Skipper awkwardly acted as a crutch.

“You’ll have to tell me yours too,” Cira laughed, “But I don’t want to think about it anymore. I’ve been asleep for a week, but somehow I’m so tired…”

Cira yawned as they breached the tall wooden gate and entered the large city built into the cliffside. It looked unbelievably delicate like a children’s model and Cira was amazed the buildings held on. There were wooden shanties and huts with palm fronds for roofs connected by precarious catwalks and staircases between them, somehow all fixed into the sheer cliff face. Everywhere she looked there were pirates either walking around or hanging over the cloudy abyss with a jug in their hand.

Jimbo led the way from the front as Cira gazed around taking in the sights. It stretched from one point then curved inward and flared out into another to form a bay. Her guide smiled too see the sincere wonder on her face, “It ain’t much, but I’m glad you like it. Welcome to Hangman’s Cove.”