A staff is a tricky weapon. Most unskilled wielders use it from its middle, expecting the benefit of better defense. But unless you know the proper forms, this method is foolish. Wise opponents use the staff as a spear and a long club, interchangeably switching to suit their needs with blinding speed. The pirate swung his like a two-handed club for Grath's head. Grath deflected the force of the staff past him with the flat of his blade before kicking the pirate in the throat a split second later. The man stumbled away while his ally leapt over him towards Grath. This was the pirate with the dual swords. He twisted his body through the air like a cyclone. With the added effect of elixir 7, he skimmed through the air, feet barely touching the balloon beneath him. Grath blocked slash after slash. Wooden blades clicked and clacked like a chorus of fiddler crabs. His sword was larger and had more "mmph" to it, but his opponent moved like a hummingbird, zipping about him on the deck. He harried Grath, keeping him from finishing off the staff-wielding pirate, who was doubled over on the balloon, holding his throat and desperately trying to breathe. Grath switched tactics. He couldn't catch this opponent with a heavy cut, but maybe he could beat him in speed. Taking his own sword's hilt in both hands, he twisted his blade into a myriad of back-and-forth half circles. Now it was speed against speed; Grath began to lose. His opponent was quick on his feet to the point where if he was ever in danger, he could easily backstep out of Grath's range. But any time Grath missed a block or misjudged a feint, his own backsteps were barely passable. He took a glancing blow to his right forearm, and his wrist muscles sang from the blow. If it weren't for the klienah nectar flowing in his veins, Grath would have dropped his sword. But he held on. His bones had not shattered.

Gotta change tactics!

Grath decided on "Last Ruin." This technique is not exclusive to Cloud Shrike style. He again clenched his sword in both hands and brought it up, forcibly relaxing his chest as much as he could. The dual swords pirate stepped back, expecting the blow but then stopped just out of striking distance.

"That's a fool's gamble," he chuckled, grinning broadly.

"Not if I am quicker."

"Quicker's got nothing to do with it."

Grath watched the throat-kicked pirate with the staff getting up slowly, and worse, above him, ballistas began pointing down towards him.

Twunnnnng!!!

One ballista fired at Grath. A weighted net hurtled towards him. It spread like a malevolent jellyfish as it flew. Grath grinned broadly; he lunged to the right, practically diving to the ground but pushing himself up at the last second. His free left arm reached out and gripped the edge of the net by one of its trailing galena weight sacks. The net hurtled in a mad arc as Grath whipped it around and back towards the dual sword pirate. The man was ensnared in a moment. Grath was at him a moment later. The staff wielder tried to stop him, but Grath fended him off with his sword and landed a hard kick to the snared pirate's head. After that, the fight with his staff-wielding opponent was quick. When Grath shattered his left arm, he fled.

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"BOLT HIM!!"

The man shrieked in panic as he fled unarmed across the Flounder. Grath wanted to pursue him, but the multiple ballistas trained on him changed his mind; he dropped to the deck. Twenty-seven ballistas loosed glass shards simultaneously. Grath was already heaving the unconscious, netted, dual sword pirate up to shield his body. The shards rained down like hail. A large section of the Flounder's hull balloon and the pirate covering Grath were cut to ribbons. Grath felt dozens of shards pierce his flesh. Most are shallow; wait, no, my stomach! The pirate had been conscious enough to try to shield his own body with his ironwood paddle swords. At least that's what Grath would later guess. But much of the splinter glass had still gone through. And, of the bigger pieces, at least one had pierced deep into his gut. Grath felt the cloud wool beneath him buck and flutter lightly. The cloth was so torn, bits of wool were floating out through the holes. This is my chance! While they recock the ballistas! Grath whirled his left arm about himself. With his cord cutter, he sliced a massive circle in the cloth. Wool tumbled loose, floating into the now pouring rain of the storm cloud. The Flounder began to sag even harder, its weight dragging on the harpoon lines.

Swtchhh!!!

Grath barely noticed the sound of the pirate's heaviest galena sack, the one Trarn had mostly severed, finally tearing free. But the difference was instantly noticeable. The Flounder dropped hard away as the pirate hulk lifted up into the cloud. With a whining noise, the ballista harpoon reels began to wind out, the sudden weight too great for them. Grath stared about in surprise. What's going on? Dumping a little cloud wool wouldn't be enough for this? His eyes settled on the heavy pirate galena sack snared in the Flounder's top deck! It had fallen directly from the pirate hulk to the Flounder! Grath's giddy focus broke into feverish terror.

"NO NO nooo!" He exclaimed, charging across the balloon as it sagged and continued to eject cloud wool. The harpoon lines began releasing all over the Flounder with a series of loud twangs like broken harp strings. The next volley of ballista rounds was weak. Many of the ballistas were yanked in odd directions by the harpoon cables, and the Flounder was twirling wildly as it fell. Some pirates resorted to shooting crossbows, but the shower of glass largely missed Grath. A small piece dug into his back.

TRARN, BURY YOU, GET THE WEIGHT OFF!!!

Grath cursed as he stumbled to the balloon. Blood now poured from his stomach. He didn't feel it. The elixir was the only thing keeping Grath upright. He cut at the tangled wing lines of the Flounder's left wing where the weight had landed. His hands shook horribly, and he missed the cords twice, but with a dozen quick motions, he cut it loose. The sack lay in the balloon now, its galena stone bulk bending the fabric beneath it. Grath bent his back against it. Where was Trarn?! Was he dead?! Grath heaved with all his might, his feet sinking into the balloon. The weight moved slowly, deforming the balloon as it rolled. As it approached the Flounder's turned-over top deck, it began to sag the cloth at the balloon's edge so much that it rolled and tumbled over the brink and away into the abyss...