Advent of Eternity - Chapter 25 (Patreon)

“Is there a reason you’re keen on tormenting you after I helped?” Knell asked. The others on the island had wasted a total of thirty seconds, but Hau was primed to ruin hours.

“That’s a cruel way to put it,” Hau said, crossing her arms. “I’ll just keep you company until your friends get back. That seems fair, doesn’t it?”

Knell’s eyes narrowed. She’d been watching them for a while, then. No pirates had arrived to try and take him in, so there was a fair chance she wasn’t affiliated with Sorfina.

“I don’t suppose you’d answer me if I asked you who you really were, would you?” Knell asked.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Hau deadpanned. “I’m Hau.”

“Right,” Knell said, sitting down on a slightly less clean pile of hay without taking his eyes off Hau. “Lovely.”

She flashed a stunning smile at him. “So, come here often?”

Knell suppressed a groan and settled for ignoring her. Hau didn’t seem bothered by that, and chattered to him – not receiving a single response – for the next half an hour until reprieve finally arrived.

Her endless stream of talking stopped and she let out a disappointed sigh. “Oh, bummer. We’re almost out of time.”

The door swung open and Cyll swaggered in, Stix tossed over one of his shoulders and a large bag over the other. He threw the bag onto the ground and plopped Stix down on top of it. She glared at him and hopped off, brushing her backside off and crossing her arms.

“Found her, cap,” Cyll said. He paused, then glanced at Hau. “Who’s this? New crewmember already?”

“Absolutely not,” Knell said.

“I’m his wife,” Hau said.

“She most certainly is not,” Knell said. “I had to silence some pirates before they brought too much attention to the alley, and she now refuses to leave.”

“Huh. You aren’t going to report us to the other pirates, are you?” Cyll asked.

Hau put a hand over her chest, affronted. “I would never.”

“Great,” Cyll said, flopping down on the ground beside her. “Want some jerky?”

“You’re just going to believe her?” Stix asked in disbelief. The bag let out a groan and she kicked it, silencing the noise. “She could be lying!”

“Are you lying?” Cyll asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No.”

“Well, there you go,” Cyll said. “She’s not lying.”

Stix let out an exasperated sigh. “Knell, are you sure this is smart?”

“No. But I also prefer to avoid killing innocents. Personal weakness,” Knell replied. “And, so far, she hasn’t actually shown that she isn’t innocent, so there’s no point making an extra enemy. We’ve got enough already.”

“I’ll take that jerky,” Hau said. Cyll reached into his ill-fitting pants and pulled a strip of dried meat out. Hau took it from him and popped it into her mouth. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Stole it from this chump,” Cyll replied, nudging the bag with his foot. It let out a groan.

“You were supposed to talk with someone, not kidnap them,” Knell said. “Is there a reason you brought them back?”

“We were in a bit of a time crunch and I didn’t get time to ask what I wanted to,” Stix said, crossing her arms.

Cyll let out an amused snort. “You should have seen it, Cap. She was trying to seduce the man, but by talking about all the animals she knows how to gut. I’ve never seen someone lose interest faster, but she just wouldn’t let up.”

“You don’t have to make me relive it,” Stix said with a miserable groan. “Why wouldn’t humans be interested in people that know how to survive in the wild?”

“We are, just not sexually,” Cyll replied, chuckling. “I can’t believe you spent over an hour hounding the guy. We thought you got kidnapped.”

“Maybe we can get on with this, both to save time and to spare Stix’s ego?” Knell suggested, hiding his own smile.

“It’s okay,” Hau said in a loud whisper to Stix. “I can appreciate a woman that knows how to look out for herself.”

“Please don’t flirt with my crew,” Knell said, pushing the bag open with the end of his staff. “I’d hate if one of them somehow got attached to you.”

Hau giggled and mimed zipping her lips up. Knell pulled the bag back, revealing a terrified man’s face. He was covered with small bruises and gagged with a strip of dirty cloth.

“Make a noise and I’ll kill you,” Knell said. “Nod if you understand.”

The man gave him a jerky nod. Knell nodded to Stix, who cut the gag away.

“What crew do you sail under and what’s your name?” Knell asked.

“Captain Sorfina. I’m Bleud.”

“Well then, Bleud. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Knell said. “Unfortunately, your captain has caused me some problems. That does not put me in a merciful mood. If you answer all of my questions, I might be willing to leave you unconscious instead of dead. Do you understand?”

“Sorfina will kill me if I tell you anything,” Bleud stammered, sweat trickling down his injured brow. “I’m dead either way.”

“Who’s going to tell her?” Knell asked, cocking an eyebrow. “We certainly won’t. If it helps, I won’t be asking anything about Sorfina herself. I couldn’t care less about her.”

Bleud swallowed and gave him a jerky nod.

“Brilliant. I’m glad we’re on the same page,” Knell said. “What is Mount Bloodwater?”

“It’s a mountain in the Shattered Sea. A pirate captain died there around forty years ago, but he had a powerful artifact that he used to seal the entrance to the mountain. The magic is fading now, so the pirates of Blackfoot Bay are going to fight over his belongings.”

“And he had something important enough to fight over?”

“A fragment from a Shard of Selenia,” Bleud confirmed. “Supposedly, a rather large one. And that isn’t counting all the other treasure he had. It’s a small fortune.”

“The goddess of the sea,” Knell mused. “I could see why people would want that. And when will this magic fade?”

Bleud swallowed again. Knell pierced him with a cold glare, and it didn’t take long before the man broke.

“A month, from what I’ve heard. Maybe a little less.”

“One more question. Where’s the closest Dungeon to Blackfoot Bay?”

“Silver ridge,” the man replied, his eyes darting around nervously. “There’s a town around it. The dungeon is an old mine at the center of the town.”

“You paused for a moment there,” Knell observed. “Why?”

“I-I’ve heard it’s haunted,” Bleud stammered. “It’s in guild territory anyway, so pirates don’t bother with it.”

“Thank you,” Knell said. He drove the end of his staff down into the man’s head with a loud thud, knocking him unconscious.

“Should I off him?” Cyll asked.

“No. I said I wouldn’t kill him,” Knell replied. “A word easily broken is worthless, as is the man who speaks it.”

“What if his word is hard to break?” Hau asked, cocking her head.

“Then it is life,” Knell replied. “We’re pirates, not saints.”

Hau laughed. “True enough.”

Cyll grabbed the man and dragged him off to the side.

“I’ll leave this bloke here for now. What’s the plan now, Cap? The city is swarming with pirates looking for us. Sorfina stuck a ten gold bounty on each of our heads.”

“That’s all?” Knell asked. “She really does look down on us. No matter. I don’t trust any of the other pirate crews enough to try to get aid from one of them, so we’re on our own. We need to get off Blackfoot Bay.”

“And then what?” Stix asked.

“You heard the man. Silver ridge at some point in the near future,” Knell replied, sending a pointed glance at Hau. “We can get into detail later. Hau already knows too much.”

“Aw, please?”

“No.”

Hau crossed her arms and harrumphed. “You’re no fun.”

“Did you really just find this girl in an alley?” Cyll asked, extending another strip of jerky toward her. Hau’s eyes lit up and she grabbed it. She ate this piece slowly, giving Cyll an appreciative nod.

“Unfortunately,” Knell replied.

“You’re like a rose,” Hau decided. “All thorny if you get close, but you’re pretty if nobody gets too close.”

All three of them stared at her.

“Was that supposed to be a joke?” Knell asked.

“I think I’d describe him as more scary than pretty,” Cyll said, rubbing his chin. “I suppose beauty is in the eye of the hand holder, but he’s really ugly. Like, wow. I’ve seen a lot of messed up people, but the Cap looks like he dipped half his face in lava.”

“Thank you, Cyll,” Knell said dryly.

“Beholder. Not hand holder,” Stix said, but her words sounded defeated. Getting through to Cyll was a feat that even the gods had failed to do, and so far, she wasn’t having much better luck.

“No problem, Cap,” Cyll replied with an upbeat smile. “It’s fine. We can’t all be beautiful. And Stix, I’m pretty sure we’re both wrong. I reckon its bee handler. Those things hurt when they sting you, so I’d listen to someone with a bee swarm if they told me something was beautiful.”

“I think Cyll is right,” Hau said, nodding thoughtfully.

“Can we keep her, Cap?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Damn,” Cyll said with a sigh. “Right then. Plan on getting out of here?”

“Well, we need a ship,” Knell said, glancing at Hau. It didn’t look like she was leaving anytime soon. “So we’re going to get one.”

“From what captain? We don’t know who we can trust,” Stix exclaimed.

“We aren’t going to ask,” Knell replied with a chuckle. “When we docked, there were quite a few ships there. We can board a skipper and make off with it sometime around sunset, when people are all heading over to the taverns. I doubt we’ll get it without a fight, but if we move fast enough, we should be able to get away before anyone can put up too much resistance.”

“Oh, that sounds fun!” Hau said. “I can’t help you do that, though. It would cause some trouble.”

“I think I’m more than okay with that,” Knell said. “But why do I feel like you’re still going to follow us around anyway?”

“Oh, you’re very insightful. I was absolutely going to do that. As long as I don’t do anything, it shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Issue with who? Your captain?” Stix asked.

“Nope,” Hau replied, offering no further elaboration.

“We wait until nightfall to move,” Knell said, shaking his head. He had absolutely no desire to learn more about Hau – not while she was there, at least. As soon as they got away from her, he made a mental note to figure out what crew she was associated with and determine exactly what she wanted from them.

“That’s quite a few hours,” Hau said, pulling a deck of ratty cards out from one of her pockets. “Say, do you gamble?”