B2 Chapter 22: No Time to Rest (Patreon)

Things turned chaotic at the port as not everyone agreed with burning it down. Men and women rushed forth with buckets of water to try and staunch the flames. Meanwhile those responsible silently waited on their ships in the distance.

I turned away from it all.

This city was on a small island buffeted on both sides by high cliffs and with a naval blockade surrounding it, there was little chance of escape. But that would only be their first step. The next part would be to organize groups and sweep through the city piece by piece until I was discovered.

I started to consider my next move when Hugo messaged me. He and the others had managed to escape also and were hiding in an abandoned house on a residential street. When I pressed him for more information, he would not go into details but asked that I meet with them.

I agreed, though I was initially worried since their hiding spot was on the other side of the city. It might have posed a problem had I not discovered that the initial search parties were made up of local residents that were a little more than angry mobs. These loud, slow groups gave me plenty of advance notice to avoid being discovered.

But I knew that wouldn’t last. The countdown to the Golden Door disappearing would weigh heavily on everyone’s mind. Eventually escalation would occur as tower climbers joined the search. Yet another reason why I was eager to get back to the others and come up with a plan.

When I reached their safe house, I climbed up onto the roof as instructed where a bedroom window lay open for me. Before I could reach it, Hugo flew up and perched himself on its edge. He ruffled his feathers and looked back into the house before sighing.

“It’s that bad?” I asked.

“She blames herself. She knew a lot of them, working alongside them.”

He was referring to the Black Corsairs, who, despite not being tower climbers, had joined with them and now lay dead or missing.

“We don’t know that they’re all dead,” I began. “Some might have gotten scared and quit.”

Hugo fixed me with a flat gaze. “She sent out party invites to everyone she can think of and none have responded. Either they’re all dead or they’ve betrayed her. Personally, I think it’s a mixture of the two considering the Golden Serpent’s wealth, but you try telling her that and see if it makes her feel any better.”

He suddenly sounded a lot older than the boyish crow who just wanted to quote action movies. He was putting on a brave face, the loss of the Black Corsair company weighed heavily on him as well.

I was sympathetic to the both of them. I could only imagine the effort it had taken to build something from scratch like that, only to have it torn away in one fiery moment. But the tower doesn’t care about our problems and our very survival was hanging in the balance.

“I need to get down there,” I told him. “We have the map. All we need now is a ship and a way out.”

“See, this is what I was afraid of. She needs some time. Not everyone can bounce back like you can.”

“Bounce back?” I resented the insinuation, but kept my anger in check. “We don’t have the luxury of time. Jason has got groups roaming the streets looking for us. If we stay here, then we’re committing to a fight and a fight between tower climbers in a city like this means collateral damage.”

Hugo hopped from side to side on the edge of the window in thought. He probably wanted to fly to calm himself down, but was resisting the urge to do so.

“I know,” he said finally. “Everything you’re saying is logically correct, but it’s kind of like… what’s the saying?”

“Everything you said is true, but you’re still an asshole?” I guessed since I’d heard it before.

“Right. Elise is hurting, but she’s not dumb. She knows what the score is. Just try to be less forceful with your opinions when we talk about the next steps.”

I agreed to be more sensitive before following Hugo inside.

We found them in the kitchen and with the broken window on the backdoor; I surmised that was how they’d broken in. Hemi was sat on the floor with his back propped up against the wall. His eyes were half-closed, like he was fighting to stay awake while Elise was trying to force him to drink a small health potion.

Hemi reluctantly did, but seemed no different.

“See? I told you it won’t work,” he murmured before dozing off.

“It’s magical exhaustion,” Elise said to us as we entered the room. “He pushed himself too hard with that giant barrier of his.”

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked.

“Yes, he just needs rest.”

“I’m not sure we have the time for that,” I muttered.

Hugo shot me a cautionary look, but this wasn’t the time for easy lies. I pressed on and explained what I’d seen, from the blockade to the roving bands that were searching the city for us. I did take Hugo’s words into consideration though and refrained from reminding her of the Golden Door time limit.

“Did you see any survivors at the warehouse?” she asked.

I shook my head. “It was strange, actually. I didn’t see any bodies or blood at all. The fire was too great for me to have gone inside, but I would’ve expected to see signs of resistance outside the warehouse.”

Elise snatched a glass and hurled it at a wall away from us all. It shattered, and she cursed, “goddamn it!”

As a precaution, I activated Aura Sense and swept my gaze around the area to see if anyone had heard the noise. The room became hazier and I could see glowing aura spheres of my friends. Past that there appeared to be a few residents not moving in the upper section of houses that were probably asleep. My vision in this mode could reach half of the street, which was another way in which avoiding the search mobs became easier. Nobody had heard her outburst.

“They weren’t killed,” she said. “The Golden Serpent’s just bought them off while we were distracted at the hotel. They must have burned down the warehouse to destroy the ship we had in there.”

Hugo cursed, and even Hemi stirred out of his daze to mumble something about the bastards.

“Okay, so we can only trust the people in this room,” I said. “We need a ship and a way past the blockade.”

“I’ve got the ship covered, but we’ll need a couple more crew members,” said Hugo.

“You’ve got it covered?” I asked, skeptical of how casually he’d said it.

“That’s what I said. They may have gotten us at the port and the warehouse, but there’s another ship they don’t know about that I’ve been keeping separate from the rest. It’s well hidden and I know where we can get more crew members as well. The only real problem stands the blockade. If we try to sail off the island, the other ship's cannons will cut us down.”

“I can stop them,” Hemi murmured. His eyes were barely open. “I can get us past the blockade and shield the ship from attacks.”

“You can’t even stand!” snapped Elise. “You pushing yourself to death won’t help us.”

Hemi gently shook his head. “There’s a rare restoration potion. A special one called Allflower Rejuvenation that is sold in potion stores here in the city. It will fully restore me, but only temporarily.”

“And what of the cost?” Elise asked.

“Recovery will take longer. Once the potion wears off, I’ll be unconscious for a time for pushing my body beyond its limits. The potion is perfectly safe, though.”

Elise didn’t look entirely convinced, but could offer no alternative. She reluctantly agreed.

“Hugo and I will get this potion and acquire additional crew,” I said. “We will meet back here and then escape from this place together.”

[Pete Tavner has requested an invite to the party]

[Do you accept? Y/N?]

Our eyes snapped to attention.

“Should we accept?” she asked.

We said yes, but cautiously. He cannot track our location by gaining access to our party chat, and if we didn’t wish to be overheard, we could simply talk out loud. There was nothing to lose by hearing him out.

[Pete Tavner has joined the party]

[Elise Evans: What do you want?]

[Pete Tavner: I did not know that the others had been bought by the Serpent’s. By the time I discovered the betrayal, it was too late for me to stop them. They then began loading us Black Corsairs onto ships, separating us into small groups to ensure compliance. When no one was looking I dove into the water and swam back to shore.]

[Lucas Hudson: Why didn’t you stay with them? They have the greater numbers and the odds seem stacked in their favor.]

[Pete Tavner: Because I made a promise to Elise and Hugo. I’m not a traitor. Look, I know you have the map and are planning a way off this island. All I want to do is help and be a part of the crew.]

I considered his words carefully. Pete had been an invaluable asset in helping me reach this city, but that was just as much in his best interest as it was mine. Truthfully, I hadn’t spent enough time with the man to know one way or the other.

“What do you think?” I asked them. “It could be a trap, but you know him better than I do.”

“If he is telling the truth, then he would be a valuable crew member to add to our ranks,” Elise said. “He might not be a tower climber, but he knows ships better than all of us combined.” She opened her palm and fire sprang from it, crackling. “If he is a traitor, then his bones will be ash before he sets one foot in this house.”