It wasn’t long until they reached an old wooden door and Jimbo opened it with a bulky key from his pocket. Beyond it was a large torchlit room, and to Cira’s surprise, a great many cowering women and children.
“The hell is this?” Cira nudged him with a pointed glare, “Why are there children here?”
“People have kids, what do you want from me?” As he shrugged, a young woman who looked like she was trying to impersonate Cirina Dreadheart approached with tight pants and a corset under her heavy coat.
“Captain, you’re back!” The blonde pirate girl gasped when she saw Jimbo’s bloodstained shirt and gently rested her hand on his side, “You’re hurt!”
There were tears welling up in her eyes as she looked up at him with worry, and Cira couldn’t help but chuckle, “Don’t worry, he’s got strong bones. Bounced right off.”
Her expression froze before turning sour as she locked eyes with Cira. “A-and just who do you think you are? Is it your fault my Jimbo got hurt?!”
“Ohoho, your Jimbo?” the man in question did not appreciate his own shit-eating grin being turned against him.
“You’re too clueless to be giving me that look,” Jimbo shook his head, “Sorry, Tawny, we’re kind of in a rush.”
The girl noticed the rest of the crew packed in behind them and let them through the doorway, “What’s going on?”
“Wick’s men are trying to push us, so we’re sneakin’ around behind ‘em.” Tawny followed them as they continued to the next door.
“T-take me with you! I can help. Please, if they break through, it won’t matter how many are protecting the kids!”
Ahh, so that’s what’s going on. These aren’t housewives and damsels, they’re just more pirates. Well, some of them, at least… There were a few women in the back wearing sundresses and cradling their frantic sons and daughters who she couldn’t imagine in a fight judging mostly by the fear in their eyes. It reminded her of the citizens of Uren cowering before Estelle.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Jimbo said sternly, “You—”
“You know my magic will be useful! I can do it, Jimmy, I swear!” Her eyes were pleading, and she kept her fists clenched tight.
Jimmy, huh? They must really be close. “And she even casts magic, huh? How delightful. I say bring her.”
“Fine, whatever. There’s no time for this.” He finished fumbling with a keychain and got the next door opened up before hurrying through. The line of pirates started moving again and they all delved further into the island through a winding tunnel.
Unlike Fount Salt’s ridiculous network of caves that one could at minimum fly a small boat through, this one was just wide enough to fit two people side by side. Cira could touch the ceiling if she wanted and noticed the dark stone that made up Lost Cloud didn’t reflect anywhere near as much light, making the tunnel ahead truly dark even in the face of a torch and nifty light-up ring.
“I never thought I’d miss Fount Salt,” Cira complained, running her hand along the damp wall, “but this cave is depressing.”
“Excuse me,” Tawny cut in from behind with a snide tone in her voice, but not looking at Cira at all, “Are you going to tell me who this hag is? And just why are you listening to her?”
“Oh, come on,” Cira retorted before Jimbo got the chance, “You’ve clearly never met a true hag if you think I’m one. Suppose I were, it’s clear that we’re not in a swamp right now. I would be far outside the range of my glamour and the malignant claw-hands and hunched back would be on full display. My entire body would sag, covered in festering boils, and honestly—”
“That’s exactly what a swamp hag would say,” Jimbo held up a hand to stop her, “Nobody knows what you’re talking about. Just look, you’re scarin’ her.”
Tawny shrunk back a little when Cira looked at her and bumped into the guys walking behind her, “I-I’m not scared! I don’t even know what a hag is! Wh-who the hell are you, woman?!”
“It’s our questionably illustrious captain.” Jimbo deadpanned.
“What?! Impossible” She got bumped into again and pushed forward, causing a small commotion, “Wh-why do you look like me? Are you trying to get close to my Jimmy?”
How could I possibly know what she looks like? Am I being accused of bleaching my hair? Cira ran a concerned hand through the silky golden locks that hung past her shoulders, “What…?”
“Calm yourself, Tawny. I assure you this is the one and only Captain Dreadheart. Witch-burnin, island-breakin’ Dreadheart.”
“I can’t help but mention those claims are embellished,” Jimbo judgmentally side eyed her, and she felt the need to add, “Marginally…”
“There’s just no way!” Tawny really wouldn’t let it go and was fraught with distress over it, “She doesn’t have a trace of mana.”
“Discerning eyes,” Cira gave credit where credit was due, “Maybe you can help Jimbo with his vision problem.”
He watched the question form on Tawny’s face and cut her off, “They’re trainin’ goggles. And the captain’s got a busted soul from burnin’ witches too hard.” He gave himself a good laugh with that one.
“I don’t buy it.” Tawny replied curtly, “She’s probably some invalid from the outskirts trying to pull your leg, Jimmy.”
He sighed deeply as they met a fork in the path. Cira wondered what lay to the right deeper into the island, but the left clearly wrapped around the cove in a wide berth. Jimbo led them to the left and gave Tawny a serious look, “I’m sure she’d love to hear your theories, but there’s a better time and place. Trust me, I think she responds the worst to mild irritations. There’s just too many dead men out there to be arguing—” Jimbo watched her eyes widen and hesitated, “Er, sorry… You were inside the whole time.”
Tears welled up in Tawny’s eyes again and she clenched her fists, “How bad is it…?”
“It’s bad. We’ll know just how bad after we clean up this mess. Are you two ready?”
Cira nodded, “Of course. Are we almost there?”
Tawny also nodding while she dried her tears, but her expression looked like she was about walk the plank. Jimbo gave her a reassuring smile, “It’ll be just fine, I promise. We got it all worked out.” Suddenly their attention was all drawn to the sound of footsteps ahead rapidly approaching, “Hold! Who goes there?!”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
He held a pistol out and Cira did the same, followed by the clacks of a few more weapons from behind them. It sounded like multiple people running desperately. Soon shouts could be heard, “Captainnnnn!”
Skipper and Joe appeared from down the dark tunnel panting heavily. They slowed down and hunched over to catch their breath. Joe got up first with a confused look on his face, “Is everyone evacuating? We came as fast as we could.”
“Nope, we’re turnin’ it around. Now get your asses moving.” He pulled the two back up the rest of the way and nudged them forward, “What the hell happened to you guys?”
Their clothes were torn to shreds and both had bruises on their faces and arms. Skipper looked up at them helplessly, “Wick’s minister put a bounty on us. The whole town went nuts.”
“Skipper’s is as high as yours, Jimbo, since everybody saw him carryin’ the captain in.” Jimbo really pushed them along now and shouted to the men behind to keep moving again. Joe stumbled forward before continuing, “Still, not as high as the captain’s.”
“How high are we talking…?” Cirina finally has a bounty, huh? For a crime she didn’t commit. How drab.
“A thousand gold crowns for you, half that for these two.”
“That doesn’t sound very high—”
“It is.” Jimbo cut in with a nervous glint in his eye, “Now everyone shut up, we’re almost there.”
There was still the noise of trailing pirates and their march, but there was nothing that could be done about it aside from slowing the pace as light began to bleed into the cave from up ahead. Cira did her best to quiet the clacking of her crutch and pulled a pistol back out from under her coat before cocking the hammer back with her thumb.
At the end of the tunnel trees and dense brush came into view just like when they first arrived at the hideout. The pirates had slowed to a crawl as they got closer, and the sounds of battle echoed into the cave. Bullets and cries of the wounded washed over them, and Jimbo held a hand up before talking quietly, “We need to get everyone out of the cave as quietly as possible. Pass it down.”
Tawny passed it to the row behind her and so on. After a couple minutes of pirate whispers, Jimbo signaled with his hands and crept past the hanging leaves. Cira followed him closely and saw a small patch of trees in front of them with a wooden building on the left. He seemed to be aiming for that.
At the edge of the trees, she could see black and gold backs and watched the smoke rising out of their guns’ barrels. From the looks of it, they were still mostly grouped up on this side. A bright flame burst down by the armory and one of the groups trying to advance was swiftly dropped.
Trying her best to sneak, Cira could still hear the footsteps behind her, only getting louder as more men had to pass through the brush. It’s only a matter of time until they see us. This won’t work. It will be another slaughter.
Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed a couple extra smoke bombs she held onto and lobbed them across the way, half-heartedly aiming for Wick’s battleships. Just as she’d hoped, they landed among a crowd of royal pirates and threw them into a panic. Their screams would muffle her crews movement until they could safely get behind some real cover.
Cira and Jimbo were now behind the building and keeping an eye around the corner while the others made their way. It was maybe fifty feet to the mouth of the cave, but they were still exiting and crossing the brush at a snail’s pace. Cira tried waving them on so they could take advantage of the precious few moments she bought.
With another key, Jimbo quietly opened the backdoor to the building, ushering her inside. The men all filed in as so soon as they made it to cover, and once they were all inside, Jimbo locked the door again.
“Okay, we made it. Luckily, this is right where we want to be in a crisis.” He opened a cupboard and grabbed a glass jug from it, taking a few hearty gulps and offering it around.
“Hey, what the hell.” Cirina took it in her hands and responded in kind, nearly choking as the clear liquid burned her throat. A true swashbuckler wouldn’t cough. Hold it in. After a harsh groan left her throat, “Man, that hit the spot.” She lied. “You can’t possibly have led us here for this though.”
“Course not, I was just thirsty. Let’s go upstairs. Tawny, Scrims, Jebedia and Wombus, come with us. Everybody else, get ready to attack on my signal!”
They all had started passing bottles around too and dutifully corked them on his order while whispering a collective, “Aye, aye, Captain!”
Cira’s face quickly twisted into a smile as they reached the top of the stairs where three large cannons sat in front of closed wooden shutters. The three named goons started rolling cannonballs across the floor and loading them up. “Interesting. I suppose if you spend enough time at the tavern, you would want it to be well guarded.”
“You get it.” Jimbo agreed, pulling a box from behind the bar. “Tawny, once those cannons go of, get ready.”
“I’m ready.” She was sweating and Cira could see the nervous look in her eyes.
“What kind of magic do you cast anyway?” The illustrious captain was a sorcerer at heart and couldn’t help but inquire.
“It’s nothing special… Just a little fire and wind.” Tawny seemed to want to deprecate herself for some reason.
“They compliment each other well.” She admitted, “So, when are we doing this?”
The goon trio had finished loading their cannons and were anxiously waiting to open the shutters.
“Looks like now. Go on, boys!” They threw the shutters open and lit the fuses on the cannons. Cira could hear Wick’s men shouting from below, having noticed the windows, but before they got a chance to do anything the whole tavern rumbled with cannon blasts. When they fired, the recoil pushed them back into the room and the three had to wheel them back into place.
Cira could hear the splintering of the docks and devasted cries of all the pirates in their line of fire. Following the cannons, there was ceaseless gunfire from the room below which hardly drowned out the war cries of her impassioned crew. Cira watched scores of men fall to the ground and gush blood, refusing to look away.
I’ve come this far. No going back, really. It’s us or them. Cira got close to a window and peeked out it, stealing a shot at one of the red hatted men. Few remained, using others as meat shields, but the sorcerer had the high ground and could let loose a bullet straight to her target.
She did a better job handing the kick, and it buried itself in his shoulder. After holstering the pistol, she drew another loaded one. Cira backed away for a moment to let another volley of cannonballs go off before taking aim again. Fireballs shot out of the window next to her, accelerated by wind and engulfing small groups of men at once. It wasn’t enough to burn them alive, but their clothes were charred, and the victims were reduced to writhing on the ground with melted skin.
Their enemies produced wooden shields from somewhere and stood up to reinforce the new front line, but with so many bullets flying at them they splintered away with each passing second. With their attention now turned, Cira saw a few throwing knives from across the barricade as Tom must have ordered them to kick it up a notch.
Crackling ice formed in spires before dissipating while thin twisters crept across the dock, throwing men out of the way like dolls. Cira saw Tom lead a small group in a sprint to the armory. They hid behind it and took potshots into the crowd from much closer.
We’re really doing this. We can actually turn this around. From all the dead and injured accumulating on the royals’ side, more yet ran down ramps from their ships. It seemed there was no end to them, but they had lost any leverage they had over the fight. If it came down to a battle of attrition, they would win swiftly as the supply of royals dried up.
“I can’t believe it…” Tawny lost her breath for a moment. “We’re gonna make it.”
“Damn right we are!” Jimbo shouted as he picked a man off one of the ramps with a rife rested on the window sill. “Take this ya bastards!”
He grabbed what could only be a black powder bomb out of the crate he found earlier and tossed one out the window after lighting it.
It was for good cause, but Cira still complaind, “So much for not destroying the hideout—” Only to be cut off as the mist surrounding Lost Cloud lit up like the sun was exploding. Soon it became blinding, and she could hear a shrill whirring as the clouds seemed to drift outward from a point.
Cira’s eyes went wide as a massive beam of golden light broke through the clouds and in the blink of an eye pierced all three of Wick’s battleships clean through and burned a hole in the island, setting trees ablaze.
“My ships! M-my plan!” As Cira gawked at the incredible display of mysterious power. The royals’ ships had begun to plummet, trailing thick, black smoke through their descent. The canopy sails still did their best but couldn’t overcome the damage done. Within a minute the imposing battleships had all broken apart disappeared into the cloudy abyss below.
What is it now…? A third faction? More enemies?! They had just started making progress, and now a whole new problem fell out of the skey.
Cira’s stomach dropped when she saw a sail drift through the clouds and into view. As it emerged, it bore two masts and the sails had a golden sun painted on each of them. The hull was crafted with a fine, rosy wood that glistened beautifully in the sun. There was a large cannon on the bow which still held a dim flickering light at the end of the barrel.
“Jimbo. I want that ship.”