Ji stumbled as she climbed down the last step, careful to give Ca Diro a chance to catch her. “I am so sorry, I’ve never been sick like this before.”

"Careful!" said Ca Diro, catching her arm. "I told you the stairs would be tough."

"Thank you," mumbled Ji as she faked catching her breath. If he was busy taking care of her, then it was less likely he would catch sight of Yazwa. The longer she dragged this out the better

Putting her arm over his shoulder, Ca Diro steered her around a corner to a hallway that led deeper into the ship. "Think nothing of it," he said, bearing her weight easily. "You're in luck. The ship's surgery is at the bow, but Azun granted me a private one nearby. I'll have you feeling better in no time."

"How long will it take to cure me?” asked Ji. “I...I do not wish to be apart from my master for very long."

"That depends on what's wrong with you," Ca Diro said, turning another corner. "I'll send a message to him if I need to, trust me."

Something about how he said that sent a shiver up Ji's spine, but she ignored it. Keeping Ca Diro away from Yazwa was the important thing. "I don't want him to worry.”

Around the next corner was a man in uniform standing watch with a short sword and pistol hanging on his belt. Ca Diro said a few things to him in a language Ji didn't understand. "I'm just letting him know that I'm not to be bothered," he said as the man took out a key and unlocked the door. "The faster we get this done, the better, right?"

"Yes," Ji replied, looking around. On the far side of the room, a long desk with many drawers ran the full length of the wall, lit by two portholes that let in light from the outside. The other walls were lined with cabinets and bookcases, and in the middle of the room, a wooden beam ran from floor to ceiling. Dim lanterns hung on the beam, their feeble light shining on a pair of padded chairs.

"This way," said Ca Diro, leading her towards one of the chairs. He reached over and pulled out a panel in the seat before helping her into it. "There, your tail should fit right in."

Ji eased her tail through the opening as she sat down and rested her hands on the arms of the chair. "I've never seen a chair like this before. Why do you have it?" Now that she had him here, it would be important to keep him talking, anything to keep him in this room where he couldn't accidentally spot Yazwa.

"Well, this ship and this fleet have all kinds of people on it," Ca Diro said warmly, looming over her. "I might need to treat anyone, even a Kavanel. They tend to not be very comfortable sitting on their tails."

Ji nodded, searching for another topic as he reached to turn up the lantern over her. "Are there a lot of Kavanel on this ship, or or in this fleet? It's been a long time since I saw another."

"Not since you left your Monastery, right?" he asked, looking down at her, eyes blazing blue.

Another chill ran down Ji's spine as she looked up at him. "Yes, how did y-you-" she stuttered and swayed as a rush of fatigue overtook her.

"Relax," Ca Diro said. He reached under the armrest and pulled out a hidden strap, binding her wrist to the chair.

"H...hey," Ji said, reaching over to unbuckle the strap, but her strength had deserted her, and he easily strapped her other wrist down.

"To answer your question," he said, methodically moving around the chair and strapping down her legs, waist, and upper arms. "Yes, I do know about the journey acolytes of En Chitei go on. It has been a remarkable boon.”

Ji strained to break the straps to no avail. "Let me go," she wheezed, glaring up at him.

Ca Diro's eyes glowed bright blue as he looked her up and down. "You Kavanel really are something. On average, your muscle tissue and bones are denser than a normal human. It only really becomes noticeable if you undergo rigorous training. The amount of strength I just took off of you would leave the average man struggling to inflate his lungs, but here you are, still talking. Remarkable."

The fatigue began to pass, and Ji fought, shaking and rattling the bonds. "I said let me go! Hey! Help!" she shouted, trying to be heard through the door.

"Don't waste your breath," said Ca Diro, stepping behind her. "He's probably still delivering my message."

Ji opened her mouth to scream again, but before a sound could get out, Ca Diro shoved a wooden dowel between her teeth. She tried to spit it out, but he buckled the straps attached to it behind the headrest, lodging it in her mouth and binding her head in place. Securely lashed to the chair, all she could do was thrash and twist.

Ca Diro patted her head, brushing some hair out of her face. "Just relax. It's been a while since I've done this."

Bound as she was, Ji had little choice. The gag made it impossible to twist her head, so she stilled. Inhaling deeply through her nose, she took control of her breath and listened carefully. She could hear the turning of pages accompanied by the man muttering quietly to himself. Then she heard drawers opening and closing, the rustle of cloth, and the clink of glass.

"You're taking this better than most," Ca Diro said as he appeared at the side of the chair. In his hand, he held a glass vial half-filled with a murky brown liquid. A tube was connected to the top, while the other side ended in a sharp needle. "It's good to know when you're beaten."

Ji responded by straining every muscle in her body against her bonds, but another rush of fatigue overcame her and she slumped back.

"Remarkable," Ca Diro said, jabbing the needle into the inside of her elbow. His glowing eyes watched the vial slowly fill up with bright red blood.

The feeling slowly drained away from Ji's arm until it was completely numb. She tried to flex the needle out of her arm, but she couldn't tell if it was doing anything. Her eyelids started to get heavy.

Ca Diro held the vial of blood up to the light and swirled it. "No change. Perfect." As he tugged the tube off the top and closed the vial with a stopper, there was a heavy knock at the door. "Excellent timing."

The door swung open, and Azun stood on the other side. "I hope this is as important as you implied. I'm a busy man."

Ignoring the numbness in her hand, Ji kept her eyes on Ca Diro as he walked over to Azun, holding the vial up. "The first of many."

Azun brushed the vial away. "Letao still has not met up with us. I don't even know if I'm going to buy more from you."

Ca Diro tucked the vial into his robe. "You will. I made those to your exact specifications, so they'll do everything you ask. And now since you have me in your employ again, you'll get them even quicker."

"You said the others on Hilt were just as good as you," Azun said, taking a step forward and looming over Ca Diro.

"As a group, yes," replied Ca Diro, stepping over to Ji's chair. "But they don't have this. The most vials I've ever pulled out of one of these Acolytes is twenty-seven. Those are the ones I sent with Captain Letao, and I'm certain you will get a glowing review."

Ji froze, eyes going wide as she stared up at Ca Diro. He'd done this to other acolytes? When? Who?

"I did my best with Dogu and the others, but they don't have my skill or a specimen like this," Ca Diro said, brushing hair out of Ji's face again. "If you let us set up shop in Tsilen, we could work faster, for many Kavanel live on the shores of the Etrin Sea."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Azun didn't look down at Ji, keeping his cold gaze on Ca Diro. "If resources are an issue, why don't I just buy some cattle for you to draw from? They must have strength to spare."

Ca Diro chuckled, gently rubbing Ji's face. "How little he thinks of you. Cattle are too different from humans for that to work. Making use of a bull's strength would take practice, and most of the soldiers would cripple themselves before they mastered it. Same reason why I just can't give you a hundred Otzen vials. They require intense training before they can make use of a new body. Using strength drawn from other people makes these much easier to use in large amounts. That is what you want, right?"

Another knock interrupted them, and the door creaked open, revealing a flustered Captain Kauhy on the other side. He handed a slip of paper to Azun without saying a word.

"Do whatever you want," Azun said, crumpling it up after he read it and handing it back to Kauhy. "I'm not paying you anything until I get that report."

"What's the matter?" Ca Diro asked, pleasant tone fading.

"Nothing to do with you. Kauhy, ring the bells!" Azun said, leaving and slamming the door behind him.

Ji flexed her hand, slowly getting more feeling in it. Azun seemed worried. That was good. Maybe it was time. Then she flinched as Ca Diro slid a new needle into her arm.

"They always want everything delivered yesterday, perfectly. Never changes," he said, looking down at Ji with a sharp smile. "The most I ever drew out in one day is six. Let's see if we can break that record."

-

Aven stood still and silent at the bottom of the cage, straining his ears to hear every word over the thundering bells.

"That's an all hands on deck,” one of the guards shouted. “I have to go with my regiment!"

"I don't care!" shouted the dim-eyed jailer. "Your post is here, you stay here–Hey! Come back!"

Bill gave a nod and knelt down, bracing his hands against the wall.

Aven shed the shackles that he picked open hours ago and leaped up onto Bill's back, crouching to avoid hitting his head against the bars. The dim-eyed jailer's shouts were muffled, meaning he was probably out in the hall. They would never get a better chance. He snaked his arms through the narrow gaps in the bars, lockpicks in hand. When they were being thrown in, he’d only had half a second to examine the padlock, but that was enough to tell him it was a simple design.

"HEY!" screamed the dim-eyed jailer.

Two pairs of feet started to rush towards him, but Aven didn't let it distract him as the lock's pins clicked open one by one. When he heard the lock snap open, he tossed it away and pushed the bars out of the way before hauling himself up. Instantly, he was confronted by the two guards, swords drawn. With nowhere else to go, he ran forward, diving to the ground and rolling past them on their left. Jumping to his feet, he bolted for the exit, feeling a surge of triumph as the two guards gave chase. He stopped at the door, grabbing a chair and hurling it back at his pursuers.

One tripped and fell flat on his face, but the dim-eyed jailer dodged around it and lunged at Aven, sword flashing.

The thrusts were hard and swift, each coming close to gouging a new hole in Aven's belly. He cursed as he backed up, looking for an opening. There were no wild swings, no frenzied slashes. The jailer knew what he was doing, and Aven was running out of room to retreat.

Faking a dodge, he darted forward and managed to grab a hold of the guard's wrist. He tried to shake him off, but Aven held on, trying to keep his footing. The guard surged forward and pushed him back enough to break Aven's hold on his wrist. Undeterred, Aven slammed in the bars of one of the cells and scrambled sideways, trying to track where the next thrust was coming from.

The dim-eyed jailer disappeared, rising into the air as Bill grabbed him from behind. In one smooth motion, the pirate slammed the guard onto the floor. The jailer didn't get back up.

"I hope nobody heard that," Bill said as the rest of the crew crawled out of the pit.

Aven crept up to the iron door, ajar from the guards rushing back in. He took a careful look into the hallway. Crewmen and soldiers rushed back and forth, no one paid much attention to the brig. "I think we're fine," he said as he eased the door shut.

"We might not be," Bill grimaced as he rooted around the guard until he found his keys. "I thought Tsen would be sensible enough to try to get a hold of us in secret."

"Maybe he tried," Aven said, watching Cai grab the keys and head for the brig's strong room. "Do you think Ji and the others are alright?"

Bill shrugged. "Who knows?"

Aven frowned. It was a reasonable answer but not the one he wanted. "What do we do now?"

"Wait," said Bill, picking a chair and sitting down. "No one gives a damn about the brig in an emergency. We hole up and see what happens."

A gleeful cackle rang out from the other room. Cai hurried around the corner, arms filled with pistols. "I knew they'd bring our stuff to the brig too! Aven, here!"

Aven's thankfully sheathed knife flew at him, and he snatched it out of the air. "Is my medicine kit there too?"

Cai shook his head and laid his pistols out on the jailer's table. "Nor the summoning manuals. Those must have gone straight to the nearest Vao."

As the others dug through whatever was locked up in the brig, Aven's mind turned to their immediate future. Bill's plan had been desperate, but their only real option. Once Tsen saw how powerful the fleet was, he'd realize he couldn't possibly fulfill his end of the bargain, which meant he'd try to renegotiate. Bill had bet that he would reach out to the ones who weren't locked up first. All they had to do was get Tsen to agree to get them out, but he wasn’t here yet…

“Do you think something went wrong?” Aven asked. “If Tsen knew we were in the brig, maybe he got spotted when he tried to find Ji and the others.”

"I think it might be worse," Bill said, slipping over to the door. "You and I need to get eyes on deck to see what's going on."

"I should go alone,” Aven said, putting his ear to the door. Apart from the occasional sailor sprinting down the hallway, it was quiet. “You're too recognizable. If I grab a guard's coat, I can blend in."

"No, I need to come with you," Bill said, grabbing the iron door and pulling it open. "Don't question it, let's go."

Aven ventured out of the brig with Bill on his heels. The hallways were almost empty now, and Aven could hear a tremendous amount of noise coming from the decks above. Slowly, carefully, he crept his way up a stairwell, waving Bill back whenever the occasional soldier or sailor passed by. When they reached the final flight before the top, Bill waved him ahead while he hung back.

Peeking up over the top of the stairs, Aven could see that the deck was alive with activity. Squads of soldiers clustered around the base of each mast, kneeling with muskets held at the ready. Gun crews frantically loaded the cannons, elevating them as high as they would go. A flock of winged summons was spread all over the place. Azun sat on the back of one, spear in hand and shouting orders at the top of his lungs. Off in the distance, pillars of smoke rose into the sky, but Aven couldn't tell what was burning.

"What do you see?" Bill asked from below.

"There are soldiers all over the place," whispered Aven. "Summons too. It looks like–"

A shrill whistle cut him off. The soldiers reacted at once, rushing to the starboard side of the ship and forming into lines three deep, guns pointed skyward. The winged summons leaped off the other side of the ship, flapping frantically as they tried to fly higher. On the other side of the soldiers, he could see a line of specks bearing down on the ship at high speed. As the specks closed in, Aven recognized the flying summons. The three birds with mist coming off their wings were there, as were both of the two-headed birds.

But there was a sixth summon flying with them.

It was easily bigger than them, with long black bat wings and four legs that ended in sharp claws. It had a long tail and neck and its entire body was covered in silver scales that winked in the sunlight as it closed in.

A dragon.

Azun shouted an order and all three lines of soldiers cocked their guns, aiming straight at the incoming summons. Before they could fire, the dragon opened its mouth and a beam of intense red light burst out, sweeping across the ship from bow to stern. Aven felt the intense heat from his hiding place as some of the sail ignited, along with some of the clothes of the soldiers. They screamed and flailed to smother the fire, but a few held their position and fired as the summons swept over the ship. The two-headed birds and the dragon smashed right through the masts, sending some crashing to the deck along with their burning sails. As the crew rushed to put out the fire the three summons with misty wings swept low, blanketing the ship in fog.

"Hey!" Bill barked. "What just happened?"

"It's Tsen, he's attacking the ship," Aven said, crawling back down to where Bill was. "I recognize the summons he called when he left the ship. But there's a sixth one shaped like a dragon, so he must have someone helping him."

"No," Bill said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "That IS him."

"...what?" was the only thing Aven could manage to say.

Bill pushed past him and peered onto the deck. The thick fog still covered everything, lit by the glow of the burning sails. "Did he get all the masts?"

"How can Tsen be a–" Aven started before he shook off the shock. "No, maybe half at most."

"Come on," Bill said, making his way back downstairs. "We don't have long if we want to get out of here."