Advent of Eternity - Chapter 66 (Patreon)

“Are you okay?” Stix asked, pushing the cabin door open. Her eyes widened and she fumbled, nearly dropping the dagger in her hands. “Sixteen Seas. What happened?”

Knell let the spell drop and his face returned to its normal appearance. “I discovered a way to disguise myself,” Knell replied. “One that will be much more effective than wearing a mask. Who would expect the crippled, scarred man to be whole once more?”

“Gods, you looked… wrong,” Stix muttered. “I’m so used to your normal face.”

Knell snorted. “As am I. Now we just need to figure something out for Cyll, and you can just keep your hood up.”

“He already got something that will probably help,” Stix replied. “We’ve got the name all scratched out, by the way. We’re just waiting on your command now.”

They walked out onto the deck, where Cyll was leaning against the mast. He’d braided his beard with tiny strips of leather and cloth, folding it in on itself so that it was only half the length that it normally was.

“Not bad,” Knell admitted. “And you aren’t half naked in ill-fitting clothes this time, so you shouldn’t draw too much attention to yourself.”

“Knell found a way to make his face look normal,” Stix put in. “So disguises are all covered as long as we don’t run into anyone that recognizes us.”

“Perfect,” Cyll said. “So… now what? Do we want to try to sneak into Mount Bloodwater early or something?”

“Nope. We’ll join in with the crowd and bide our time,” Knell replied. “We don’t know how to get into the mountain yet anyway. For now, we remain docked. I’ll share the current plan while we wait, although it will be subject to change. I don’t have as much information to work with as I’d like, but the nature of how we’re sneaking in hasn’t left much to work with.”

“I’m curious to see how we’re supposed to beat an entire group of powerful captains,” Cyll said, rubbing his hands together. “Go on, then.”

“To start, we won’t,” Knell said. “They’ll do it to themselves. These are pirates, Cyll. There’s absolutely no chance that they aren’t plotting something against each other. All we have to do is push on that and they’ll implode.”

“That easy?” Stix asked.

“Well, perhaps not easy, but that doable,” Knell said with a shrug. “Trust me, they’ve got something schemed up. I wouldn’t be surprised if things fell apart before we got there, but let’s not count on it. This plan will have two parts. The first will be getting the pirates to turn on each other, and the second will be escaping.”

“What if they don’t start fighting?” Stix asked.

“That’s what you’ll be for,” Knell said. “I’ll use a really strong Haste spell on you. With your cloaking abilities, you should be able to snag something from someone. Then just stuff it in Sorfina’s coat. By that point, I’ll have them at each other’s throats enough that I’m certain at least a small fight will start.”

“Let’s assume you’re right and they all start throwing punches and magic,” Cyll proposed. “Then we nab something and run. Won’t they chase us?”

“Oh, almost certainly,” Knell said. “But we’ll have two advantages. First, we aren’t going to take the Boon. That’s what they want the most, so we let them fight over it. And second, there are rumors of Blackfoot’s ship being inside the mountain. It will almost certainly be able to outperform the other captain’s ships if I use Exhume to bring it back to its original form. I’ll just have to figure out how to do that in time.”

Cyll cocked an eyebrow. “You confident?”

“Always,” Knell replied. Then he told them the rest of the plan.

***

The first of the pirate ships sailed in on the following day. It was a large, grey hulled galleon with a shark figurehead. Black flags rippled at its mast, snapping to and fro in the wind. They drew up to the bay but stopped earlier to remain in deeper water.

“Ahoy there! What crew are you with?” A man called from the deck.

“Independent, just hoping to pick up some scraps along the way!” Knell called back. He’d forgone his hat in the captain’s quarters and had restored his face once more. The staff rested at his feet and he used the railing for support instead of it, just in case.

“Ha,” the pirate called back. “More rabble. Whatever. Just don’t bother any of the captains if you all want to keep your heads. There’s more than enough trash to satisfy you grubpickers, but it’ll be end of the line if you go for the good stuff.”

“That’s not a problem with us,” Knell said. “We aren’t trying to get killed. The captains can have their dangerous artifacts. I’ll settle for gold.”

The pirate laughed. “Don’t I agree with you. Just make sure your cannons don’t point in the wrong direction at any point. It would be a shame to sink your little bucket.”

A rowboat descended from the galleon, piled full of pirates, and started to make its way over toward the island. Knell and the others watched it drop off half a dozen pirates, then return for more.

“Guess we should head over too?” Cyll said.

Knell nodded. “The sooner we’re on there, the more we blend in. Let’s go. We’re close enough that it should only be a quick little swim to land.”

The three of them headed off the boat. Cyll helped Knell to the shore, and they sat down a short distance away from the other pirates. Neither group approached each other, which Knell was perfectly happy with.

More ships drew in over the course of the next day, and the empty harbor was soon full. Everything from sloops to galleons floated in its waters, sea anchored in place. A few were a little too close for comfort and occasionally bumped into each other with strong waves, causing small infights between the crews.

However, nothing progressed beyond angry yelling. They were surprisingly well behaved for pirates, but everyone was on edge. Several hundred pirates had landed on the island, and amongst them were the Captains of Blackfoot Bay – not to mention the other legends within the Shattered Sea that had been close enough or curious enough to check out the mountain.

Nobody wanted to be the one to draw their ire, so all alterations quickly ended before they began. Knell and his crew seamlessly blended into the diverse crowd, drawing little attention themselves as everyone justled to try and spot the captains.

“Calm down, you saltridden rats,” a man boomed. The dull roar of chatter paused as everyone swung to try and figure out who had been impudent enough to break the fragile peace.

A massive man strode out from the crowd, a red cloak trailing from his shoulders. Knell wasn’t actually sure he was a man. He stood over eight feet tall and was a terrifying mixture of muscle and fat.

The man’s belly hung low over his stained pants, but his arms were like barrels. A ropey scar ran down the right side of his face and across one eye, which was covered with a golden eyepatch.

Everyone shut up. Knell didn’t recognize the man, but it didn’t take a genius to guess. As other people emerged from the crowd, the pirates instinctively shifted back to give them room. There was an invisible aura of bloodlust and danger that hovered around the men and women that stood before them. These were the Captains of Blackfoot Bay.

Knell caught sight of Sorfina on the edge. Maya stood at her side, but she didn’t look nearly as happy as Knell had expected her to. One of her arms was bound in bandages, and her expression was cold. He shifted, making sure the crowd was between them. It was incredibly unlikely they’d recognize him, but he wasn’t about to take the risk.

“In a few hours, the defenses on Mount Bloodwater will fall,” the red cloaked man thundered. “We’ve brought the lot of you because there will be far more loot here than the twelve of us and our crews can take. We’ll be focused on the final vault of Blackfoot. You’re here to deal with any defenses that remain in the mountain, and you may take anything else along the way.”